§ Mr. Ellisonrose to present a petition from North Shields, to which he wished to call the particular attention of the president of the Board of Trade. The petitioners stated, that they had embarked a large capital in the carrying trade, and that, though they objected to the Reciprocity Duties bill, they had not thought proper to petition against it; but from the distress with which they had been overtaken, they were now obliged to throw themselves upon the justice of the House, and to entreat protection against foreign competition. They prayed, that protecting duties might be imposed on foreign shipping; but he hoped that other means of relief might be devised, and that, instead of such a measure, the withdrawal of some of those burthens which pressed most heavily upon them might effect the same object.
§ Mr. Huskissonbegged to acknowledge the courtesy of the hon. member, in giving him intimation of the petition which he had brought before the notice of the House, A similar petition had been presented about two weeks ago, when he happened to be absent from the House. He had no wish that the petition should not have been presented, but he thought it somewhat hard that his accidental absence should have been made the ground for a charge of neglect. The truth was, that on that day he had been engaged till near five o'clock at his office on the business of his own department. He had then left to go to another place on business of the same nature, after transacting which he had come immediately to the House. It was quite impossible that ministers could be always in the House while petitions were presented requiring their presence, unless some intimation were previously given. He was sure that they would ill discharge their duty to the public by spending three or four hours daily in the House, while petitions were presenting, in order to take the chance of there being, once in a fortnight, some petition to which their attention ought to be called. He did not think that the presenting a petition was a very favourable occasion for information on a subject of such importance as the state of our shipping interests and our navigation. He would, however, bring forward a motion on this subject on Tuesday next, for the express purpose of laying before the House what he conceived to be the present state of the British shipping, and what had been the effect of the Reciprocity laws which had been alluded to. He hoped he should be able to convince the House, that the effects of these changes had not led to any of those injurious effects which some persons had anticipated. Such an exposition as he was prepared to give on the state of our shipping, and other great interests connected with it, would, he hoped, satisfy parliament, that these interests have not been neglected by those to whom they were more particularly intrusted.
§ Sir M. W. Ridleyexpressed his satisfaction at what had been stated by the right hon. gentleman. He had no doubt that the facts would fully justify the measures which had been taken; but still, a public expression of them would be very satisfactory to the shipping interests.
§ Ordered to lie on the table.