§ Mr. Laboucherewished to put a question to the noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies—namely, whether it were the intention of her Majesty's Government, to propose to the House to alter the duty now levied on corn imported from Canada into this country, during the present Session of Parliament? Under ordinary circumstances he should not think himself justified in putting that question, nor would he require the noble Lord to give any answer to it; but, as the noble Lord must be aware that the despatch which had been sent out to the Legislature of Canada, and the acts of that Legislature founded upon that despatch, had raised expectations that it was the intention of her Majesty's Government to make some speedy alterations in this matter, a state of suspense was created in the Canadian trade, which produced considerable difficulties and embarassments. The noble Lord, he perceived, smiled at the statement, but he could assure the noble Lord that he was not making the 701 statement lightly, or without the best information in support of what he said.
Lord Stanleycould assure the right hon. Gentleman, that the smile to which he had adverted was caused, not by what the right hon. Gentleman stated, but by the length into which the right hon. Gentleman thought it necessary to enter in putting a question on this subject. He was ready to give the answer required. The only reason why he had abstained from entering into any detail on this subject on a former occasion was, because he conceived the papers in the hands of hon. Gentlemen furnished the best answer. But if the right hon. Gentleman asked for a distinct statement of the intentions and views of her Majesty's Government on the subject, perhaps the right hon. Gentleman would allow him to answer the question at as much length as that at which the question had been put. He might remind the House, that as the law now stood, the produce of the United States was exported into Canada free of duty, and there converted into flour, and that it had been imported for many years into this country as colonial produce, and at colonial duties. The effect of that was, that this American or foreign corn was imported in its most convenient form, namely, that of flour, at a maximum duty of 5s., and a minimum of 6d. In course of the discussion last year, the hon. Gentleman the Member for Limerick, had urged her Majesty's Government to do that which had been urged repeatedly upon them by the colonial Government—namely, to admit colonial wheat and flour into this country at a nominal duty, or without duty at all. He had then answered the hon. Gentleman precisely in the same spirit and on the same grounds as those on which the Government had written to the Governor-general of Canada in the commencement of March. That answer was to this effect. Inasmuch as a great proportion of the corn introduced into this country as Canadian produce, would only have passed through Canada, and would, in fact, not be Canadian but American produce, her Majesty's Government saw some difficulty in the proposed plan. He had no hesitation in saying that the despatch which he, in concurrence with his Colleagues, had sent out to the Governor-general of Canada, bore upon it that fair, natural, and legitimate inference which 702 the Legislature of Canada had put upon it—namely, that if an equivalent duty was put on the importation of corn from America to Canada, every disposition would be shown to allow bonâ fide Canadian corn to be imported into England at a nominal duty. The Legislature of Canada, acting upon that, had passed an act imposing such a duty; he had received a despatch conveying that information in the month of December last from the Governor-general, with an intimation that the next mail would bring out the full information which the Governor-general was anxious her Majesty's Government should have upon the subject. The next mail arrived in January, and brought no such information; upon which he thought it his duty to impress upon the Governor-general the necessity of furnishing the Government with the necessary information of the course adopted either by the Colonial Legislature or the executive council. At the same time he had thought it his duty to call the Governor-general's attention to a particular clause in the act relative to flour or grain imported for the use of the fisheries, which he thought calculated to facilitate fraud. He trusted he should soon be in possession of all the information he required. Upon that information being received, and upon the Government being satisfied that sufficient protection was afforded against fraud and collusion, would depend the course her Majesty's Government would adopt. With respect to the Colonial Legislature, he had no hesitation in saying that, in passing that act, they had put the construction upon the despatch of the 2d of March which it was intended by the Government they should put upon it.