HL Deb 17 February 1840 vol 52 cc314-6
Viscount Strangford

said, that when on a former evening he had asked the noble Viscount opposite, whether he had any objection to produce any communication from the Board of Trade or Treasury, or from any fiscal board, on the subject of the probable effect on the revenue of the proposed inland warehousing system, the noble Viscount answered, that such communications were unusual. Now, to show that they were not at all unusual, he held in his hand a communication of the 26th or August last, relative to certain sugars then in bond, in which the opinion of the Board of Customs was directly addressed to the Board of Trade. He would take that opportunity of giving notice, that on Monday next he should bring under the consideration of the House the disadvantages under which the British trade on the coast of Africa laboured at this moment. He had frequently called their Lordships' attention to this subject, and its importance, he conceived, justified him in bringing it forward again. With respect to the state of our trade in South America, he begged leave to read an extract of a letter from Buenos Ayres, which, as it came from a most intelligent quarter, was well worthy of attention. The writer said, There are 218 cargoes all ready for shipment to British ports, and the property of British subjects. They were all brought down for shipment in the natural belief that we had a Government at home that would succour and protect us, and put an end to this iniquitous blockade. These cargoes are daily perishing under our eyes, and will ultimately become worthless. The writer then emphatically said, "I wish Lord Palmerston were here!" This was a state of things for which last Session the noble Viscount opposite gave hopes that some remedy would be provided, but for which this Session he told their Lordships, that there was no remedy at all; and, moreover, that it was a slate of things with respect to which he saw no prospect of a speedy alteration. Now, he would say, that it was a principle of the law of England, that there was no wrong without its corresponding remedy; and such also, he contended, was the principle of the law of nations. If the noble Viscount would descend from that lofty sphere which he so proudly occupied, and would deign to communicate with such persons as merchants and traders, and ask them what they thought of the protection afforded to their interests, and the general interests of the country, by the present Government, he would hear one, universal cry of censure and condemnation—he would find one wide-spread, general, unalloyed opinion, that at no former period were the vital interests of the country so frequently and so shamefully assailed. Why was this? It was because the Administration of which the noble Viscount was the head, was not respected abroad. And why was it not respected abroad? Because it was not feared. And why was it not feared? The answer to that query was to be found in the statements relative to our naval force which were recently made by a noble Lord, and also in the extraordinary estimate of what "constitutes," or rather, he would say, of what "does not constitute," the character of naval and military men, as it was explained by the noble Viscount on the occasion to which he had alluded.