§ Mr. H. Davispresented a Petition from the West-India Merchants and Planters of Bristol, complaining of severe distress, and praying for a reduction of the duties on Sugar and Rum. The hon. Member said, that much as the House had heard of distress from various parts of the country, there was no pressure so severe as that which was felt in the West-India Colonies. This subject had been so forcibly and clearly explained by the noble Lord, who had on a late occasion presented a similar Petition from the West-India Planters and Merchants of the Metropolis, that he (Mr. Davis) was relieved from a considerable part of that duty which he should otherwise have felt himself called upon to perform: still there were many points which he must briefly refer to in order to explain the evils under which the petitioners were suffering, and the remedies which they 1067 proposed for their own relief. In the first place he must state that the prices of Sugar were so depreciated as not only to deprive the planter of all profit, but to ensure his utter destruction if remedial measures were not immediately applied. The duties on Sugar in the year 1796 were at the rate of 27 per cent on the price of that commodity. In 1824 they had mounted up to 80 per cent, and in 1829 to 110 per cent, and on the lower-priced Sugars from 140 to 160 per cent. That great ascent in the scale of duties had arisen from two causes; viz. an increase in the duty, and a fall in the prices, arising out of an enormous increase in the foreign Slave Trade, and also on account of the Sugars from the Mauritius having been allowed to be brought into the home consumption of this country, amounting to nearly an eighth part of the whole importation. The remedies which the petitioners suggested for their relief were:—first, a reduction of, and secondly, a classification of, the duty, agreeably to the scale proposed by a select committee of the House in the year 1807; namely, that the duty should be 30s. per cwt when the average price of Sugar was 80s. per cwt., and rateably downwards to 20s. per cwt. when the average price was at 60s. If he were asked whether the duty so proposed to be taken off would go into the planter's pocket, he should say, that a part of it would go to the planter's relief, and the other part to the lowering of the price of Sugar, by which the consumption would be increased, and thus the quantity in the market would be lessened. With regard to the last duty laid upon Rum of 1s. 6d. per gallon, the West-Indian Planters were suffering not only injury, but injustice. This duty was laid on at the period when Rum was permitted to be legally rectified: and it was stated by Mr. Robinson, the Chancellor of the Exchequer of that day, as necessary for the protection of the English distiller: but he promised at the time, that if in practice the duty should not be found necessary, he would repeal the tax. Not a gallon of Rum had been rectified since that period. He therefore called upon his Majesty's Ministers to redeem the pledge given by Mr. Robinson and take off this duty. When we were discussing the interests of the West-India planters, we ought never to forget that they consumed 5,000,000l. or 6,000.000l. of our manufactures,—that they paid 1068 6,000,000l. sterling into our Exchequer annually, and that they employed a large portion of British tonnage, which was a considerable nursery for British seamen. Nor could he avoid again pressing upon the attention of his Majesty's Ministers a revision of the law of the registration of Slaves. In many instances which had come to his knowledge, it had borne very heavily, and in some instances most unjustly, on the West-Indian planters. It was an evil that was increasing daily, because, as estates in the islands were becoming exhausted and worn out, there was less and less profitable employment for the Slaves. It was therefore highly desirable that, under certain restrictions, so as to exclude illicit trade, it might be allowed to remove the Slaves, when necessary, from one island to another.
§ Mr. C. Pallmersaid, that in deference to the anxiety of the House to proceed to the appointed business of the evening, he should forbear to offer to its attention some facts and observations which he had found no opportunity of doing upon a former evening upon this truly important subject—one, which he was prepared to prove was of vital interest, both to the Kingdom and the Colonies. As a right hon. Gentleman below him had given notice of a motion on that subject, he should reserve to that opportunity his humble but earnest endeavours to persuade Parliament to save the Colonies from ruin, and itself from the merited charge of the most infatuated policy and the most fatal injustice.
§ The Petition was then read.