§ Mr. F. Baringwished to put a question to the right hon. the President of the Board of Trade, which he had mentioned on a former occasion. It was, whether under the Treaties which had been entered into with Denmark, the sugar of the Danish Colonies was, under the New Sugar Duties Bill, to come in at the lower rate of duty? Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman would also state whether he had communicated with the Queen's Advocate on the subject, and if so, whether the Government had come to any decision in consequence?
Mr. Gladstonereplied, that the Government had not communicated upon the subject with the Queen's Advocate at present, and it was not their intention to do so. This question, the right hon. 452 Gentleman would be aware, was not new; in connection with our commercial relations with Denmark, questions had at various times arisen in which the claim would have been made by Denmark, had there been any idea that it existed. In the Navigation Laws, the privilege of navigation in regard to our West-India Colonies had been conceded to many countries without being conceded to Denmark; and when, long after, they were conceded to Denmark, it was not as a matter of right. This, then, was a question in which there was an established interpretation of Treaties recognized by both sides; and that being the case, he did not think it necessary to make the question the subject of a reference to the Law Officers of the Crown. There was no party claiming on behalf of Denmark; and if at any future time she should claim the privilege, she would urge that claim much better than they could. The Government stood upon the construction which had been already implied in dealing with the rights of Denmark under her early Treaties in regard to our West-India Colonies, in which those Colonies never had been included. Up to the present moment no communication, no application had been made by Denmark on the subject. If she desired the privilege she would no doubt make the claim, and the Government would in that case be in a better condition to refer the question to the Law Officers of the Crown and the highest authorities than they were at present.