§ The EARL of CLARENDONsaid, that he rose for the purpose of moving the Second Reading of a Bill, entitled the British Possessions Bill, which was a Bill to enable the legislatures of certain British possessions to reduce or repeal certain duties of customs. In begging their Lordships to read this Bill a second time, it would not be necessary for him to trouble them with many observations. By the Act for the regulation of trade in the British possessions, certain duties of customs were imposed upon the importation into any of the British possessions in America, or in the Island of Mauritius, of several articles not being the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United Kingdom, or of the British possessions. The present Bill sought to enable the legislatures of the said British possessions, with the assent of Her Majesty in Council, to reduce or repeal all or any of such duties of customs, so far as they might be in force in such possessions respectively. These differential duties had been complained of by the Colonies, and the present Bill would enable them to alter or repeal them. As the Legislature of this country had established the principle of free trade, with certain exemptions for the purposes of revenue, as in the case of silk and timber, it would be 905 but fair that they placed the Colonies in the same position with themselves. The Bill now sought to be introduced permitted the Colonies to deal with existing duties, but not to impose upon British goods any tax not at present levied. These were the powers which the Bill conferred; and it was considered only fair to give them those powers under certain limitations. The Bill had no other object than to enable the Colonies to reduce the duties upon foreign articles—a power which the Legislature of this country thought they were fairly entitled to.
§ The EARL of ELLENBOROUGHdid not object to the object of the Bill; but he took many exceptions to the manner in which that object was to be carried into effect. He begged to know what advantage would be gained, even in point of time, by the Act now proposed for their Lordships' adoption? They would not surely desire to act with a uniformity of opinion upon the part of the Colonies generally? Surely such was not the course his noble Friend opposite (the Earl of Clarendon) or the Government intended to pursue? He had hoped that the noble Earl would have framed his measures so as to meet the general requirements of the Colonies, and not attempt to legislate for one to the prejudice of another. In order to adopt such a measure time would be required; and between the present time and the reassembling of Parliament in January next, a measure might have been taken into consideration which would have enabled Her Majesty's Ministers to come down prepared to propose some uniform system, which might, with equal justice, be made to apply to all the Colonies. However, there was a matter of much greater importance to which he wished to direct the attention of his noble Friend, and upon which it would be satisfactory to him to have the decided declaration of the opinions and intentions of the Government. The Legislature of this country had pronounced their opinion that it was but fair the Colonies should import our goods and the goods of foreign nations upon equal terms. That was conceded on free-trade principles; but he confessed he could not see how, on the strict principles of free trade, if they were to look at those principles alone, they could refuse to the Colonies free trade in ships as well as in goods—free trade in the ships that conveyed the goods, as well as the goods, inasmuch as the freight was a material element in the 906 price of the article. He was well aware of the deep importance of the subject, and he was ready to resist that claim at any cost if it should be made; for he knew there were other principles more important connected with it—the principles of public security—a due consideration for which ought to dissuade them from granting such a claim. He knew they had already lost by far the largest portion of the navigation connected with the whale fishery; and he apprehended that the coasting trade would in like manner be materially injured. He was aware that the number of ships and seamen increased with our increasing trade, and that such an increase would have an effect both upon the number of ships and the number of seamen; but he saw in the shipping and in the seamen of other nations an increase in higher proportion. It ought, in his opinion, never to be lost sight of, that upon our relative superiority, and not upon our strength and power, our security and safety chiefly depended. He would, therefore, wish to know from the Government in what spirit they were prepared to deal with the laws relating to navigation, and whether it was their intention to apply to them the principles of free trade.
§ EARL GREYremarked in reply, that with reference to the first part of the noble Earl's speech, he did not think he had sufficiently adverted to the existing state of affairs. The noble Lord appeared to think that some uniform system of levying duties on various descriptions of goods ought to be established for all the British possessions. Such, he was sorry to say, was not the fact; for, unfortunately, in all our Colonies there was an absence of any uniform system of taxing. Instead of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, having similar rates of duties upon imports, they had levied various duties, and had even taxed the goods coming from one Colony to the other. The present Bill, however, could not establish an equality. If all differential duties were to be repealed, there would be a deficiency of income to meet expenditure. One of the Members of the Executive Council of Canada was now in this country, and he had taken an opportunity of asking him whether a repeal by the Imperial Parliament of differential duties would be attended with inconvenience? and he had replied that such would be the case, and that it would be far better to allow the colonial legislatures to deal with the matter, and permit them to 907 repeal differential duties, which they most probably would do. He (Earl Grey) concurred with the noble Earl opposite, that the system of adopting different duties in different Colonies was productive of great inconvenience, and that an uniformity of duty, if it could be obtained, would be an object of great importance; and, as far as it could be accomplished, it was a subject to which the Government would not fail to direct their attention. He hoped it would not be supposed that, by passing this Bill, they abandoned the right and authority which Parliament always possessed, of regulating the general trade of the Colonies and the mother country, in the manner most conducive to the welfare and prosperity of the Empire. With respect to the navigation laws, he would only make a single remark. It seemed to him they stood upon very different ground. He believed that colonial shipping enjoyed a full share of the privileges which British shipping enjoyed, and that it would continue to do so as long as it was the interest of Parliament to maintain the navigation laws. As to the question of whether it was the intention of the Government to make any alteration in the policy that had hitherto been pursued, it would be extremely inconvenient to give an opinion. The question was one involving large and important considerations, and it would be rash to say more than that no alteration ought to be made that could tend to injure or diminish the extent of our commercial relations. Without expressing an opinion one way or the other, he would say that an alteration in those laws was to be considered, not so much with reference to the pecuniary effect, as to the effect upon the great commercial interests of the country. But, whether the navigation laws acted well or not, it would be highly inconvenient at this moment to enter into any discussion of their merits.
§ The EARL of ELLENBOROUGHhad no wish to intrude any observations by way of reply. He would be glad, however, to supply an omission which he had made in his former observations. It was to express his hope that in any communications that might be made with India, no imperative instructions would be sent, but that it might be left to the colonists themselves to decide whether it would be for the advantage of their trade and their interests generally to make any alterations in the duties they might think fit to levy.
§ Bill read 2a.—House adjourned.