On ac Malt Leather.. estimate which he had formed, Tea The And yet, during these three years, taxes to the amount of no less than eight millions had been repealed. Thus, even more than what had been promised, had been performed; and it had been distinctly proved that the reduction of duties on articles of consumption had raised the produce of such duties by increasing that consumption, and had thus kept up the revenue, while it added largely to the comforts of the people. The increase of consumption in different articles in 1825, as compared with 1816, was various, but it was uniform. Some of them were as follows: .... In the expense, too, of collecting the revenue, a large saving had been effected. In 1818 that expense had amounted to 4,353,000l.; in 1825 it had been reduced to 3,832,000l., being a diminution of more than half a million. While taxation, and the cost of collecting, had been thus diminished, both the principal, and the yearly charge, of the debt had likewise been reduced. On the 5th of January, 1823, the funded debt amounted to 796,530,000%. ; on the 5th of January, 1826, the funded debt was reduced to 778,128,000l., being a reduction, in the three years, of 18,401,000/.; or at the rate, in each year, of: 6,133,000l. On the 5th of Jan. 1823, the unfunded debt was 36,281,000l.; on the 5th of Jan. 1826, it was only 31,703,000l. ; being a reduction of 4,577,0001. The reduction in the total charge of the debt, is the true way of estimating the real reduction effected in the burdens of the country, rather than by looking. only at the reduction in the capital of the debt. Now on the 5th of Jan. 1823, the charge on the funded debt was 28,123,000l.: on the 5th of Jan. 1826, it was only 27,117,000l.; being a reduction of 1,107,000l. On the 5th January, 1823, the interest on Exchequer, bills was 1,100,000l.; on 5th Jan. 1826, it was 800,000l.; being a reduction of 300,000l. Taking both together, the charge on the funded and unfunded debt was on In the year 1825 the following man in the kingdom could never Duties were repealed: 250,000 3,146,000 £.30,712,000 Total repealed in 1825.... mission of Taxes since the 3,190,000 year 1816 of ..... £.27,522,000 ........ have had the confidence to an- £200,000 mate founded on the basis of While twenty-seven millions of taxes had thus been reduced, that reduction, so far from affecting the revenue of the country, and diminishing the productiveness of its various branches, had, in fact, given to them new energy, and justified every anticipation. He had been accused, he said, of uttering promises of prosperity which had not been fulfilled, and holding out prospects of increasing resources which had ended in disappointment; but the results of the last three years, 1823, 1824, and 1825, would sufficiently shew, that he had erred neither in his calculations, nor in the facts and principles on which they were made. A reference to the finance accounts would prove, that, in respect of each of them, not only were the expect ations which had been held out to the House in 1823 completely realized by the event, but that they were absolutely exceeded in a degree which the most sanguine On ac Malt Leather.. Coffee... Tobacco. estimate which he had formed, Tea And yet, during these three years, taxes to the amount of no less than eight millions had been repealed. Thus, even more than what had been promised, had been performed; and it had been distinctly proved that the reduction of duties on articles of consumption had raised the produce of such duties by in creasing that consumption, and had thus kept up the revenue, while it added largely to the comforts of the people. The increase of consumption in different articles in 1825, as compared with 1816, was various, but it was uniform. Some of them were as follows: On the consumption of Candles Paper per cent. 161 55 ...... In the expense, too, of collecting the revenue, a large saving had been effected. In 1818 that expense had amounted to 4,353,000l.; in 1825 it had been reduced to 3,832,000l., being a diminution of more than half a million. While taxation, and the cost of collecting, had been thus diminished, both the principal, and the yearly charge, of the debt had likewise been reduced. On the 5th of January, 1823, the funded debt amounted to 796,530,000%.; on the 5th of January, 1826, the funded debt was reduced to 778,128,000l., being a reduction, in the three years, of 18,401,000l. ; or at the rate, in each year, of 6,133,000l. On the 5th of Jan. 1823, the unfunded debt was 36,281,000l.; on the 5th of Jan. 1826, it was only 31,703,000l.; being a reduction of 4,577,000l. The reduction in the total charge of the debt, is the true way of estimating the real reduction effected in the burdens of the country, rather than by looking only at the reduction in the capital of the debt. Now on the 5th of Jan. 1823, the charge on the funded debt was 28,123,000l.: on the 5th of Jan. 1826, it was only 27,117,000l.; being a reduction of 1,107,000l. On the 5th January, 1823, the interest on Exchequer, bills was 1,100,000l.; on 5th Jan. 1826, it was 800,000l.; being a reduction of 300,000l. Taking both together, the charge on the funded and unfunded debt was on amounted to 3,135,000 lbs., and, during the following three quarters of that year, ending on 10th October, to no less than 3,431,122 lbs., being more than the importation of the whole preceding year. The importation again, for the year ending 5th January, 1824, had been only 2,512,164 lbs. Nay, so far was this spirit carried, that, in February, 1825, there appeared in a Macclesfield newspaper, an advertisement to the following effect: "To the overseers of the poor, and to families desirous of settling in Macclesfield. Wanted between 4,000 and 5,000 persons, between the ages of seven and twenty-one years." Thus the manufacturers themselves held out the assurance of the trade being about to become so prosperous, as to suggest a favourable opportunity for families to settle, and for the overseers of the poor to put out parish apprentices. After such efforts to induce so many young persons to flock into Macclesfield, was it wonderful that it should have been soon found out that all this was extravagant, and most imprudent speculation, which speedily led to its usual consequences? or that the silk manufacture should not have been found to be an exception to the re-action and difficulty which had been felt so severely by every other branch of trade. It was true that the bill of 1824 proceeded upon the idea that a duty of 30 per cent on foreign silks would afford sufficient protection to the home manufacturer; and it was likewise true that this idea was correct. The committee of the House of Lords had not proceeded without the most cautious investigation; instead of acting precipitately, or founding their recommendations on pre-conceived notions, or theoretical reasonings, they had availed themselves of the best attainable evidence on the subject. Foreign merchants, who had both gone to France, and come to this country to purchase goods, and who, of course, were only interested to procure them on the best terms, declared, that the difference of price between goods of equal quality, bought in France and England, was not more than 20, or 25 per cent. Others had stated that the difference did not exceed 20 per cent, and, in articles of silk hosiery, they would give the preference to the English manufacture both in quality and cheapness. On that occasion, the manufacturers themselves had expressed their conviction, that, with proper guards, they could compete successfully against the continent; and those guards they explained to be, a reduction of the duty on the raw material, and a protecting duty of 15 per cent. The former measure had been adopted; and in regard to the latter, the protecting duty had been fixed, not at 15 per cent, but at 30 per cent. The manufacturers had gotten more than they asked, and no clamour could be more unjust or contradictory than that which was now raised. In regard to the alleged inferiority of England to France, in some parts of the requisite machinery, the fact, if it existed, was a new proof of the necessity of never returning to the system of entire prohibition. From what cause could that inferiority arise in a country like this, in which every other branch of machinery had been carried to the highest perfection? It could only be accounted for by that system of prohibition, which, if it did not prevent, certainly did not encourage the application of learning and ingenuity to this branch of industry. Why did the silk trade not enjoy the same advantages of machinery as the cotton-manufacture? because the trade was not open. Hence had arisen the long unimproved continuance of the old defective looms which were used in Coventry. But even already, amid all that had been said of the hopelessness of endeavouring to meet continental competition, this mischief was disappearing, and only the necessity of proper exertion would ever make it disappear. Already power looms had been erected in Manchester, each of which, with the attendance of one woman at 14s. a week, produced 108 yards weekly. This made the cost of the manufacture not more than 34d. a yard, while the cost of the same species of article in France was 7d. a yard. There being, therefore, no reason in principle or in fact, why the House should retrace its steps and return to the former system of universal prohibition, still less could any good be obtained by farther delay, which was confessedly the only object of the motion. Two years had originally been allowed; and the experience of these two years shewed sufficiently what might be expected from farther procrastination. They had been employed, not in paration, the purpose for which they were granted, but in improvident speculation. Much time was yet to come, which, if properly employed, might be converted to the best purposes; while, if further time were granted, the same arguments would be again used, and a similar attempt would be again made to postpone the execution of the measure to a still more distant day. pre It would be an act of injustice to the silk-weavers and their employers to excite in them fallacious hopes by seeming to yield to their expectations; and, as the House evidently neither wished nor intended, that government should abandon the more liberal principles which had now been adopted as the basis of the commercial policy of the country, the wiser and more humane course was, by putting a negative on the motion, to close the discussion for ever.* * In the course of the debate, Mr. Huskisson mentioned the following circumstance, as illustrative of the groundless jealousies entertained of foreign manufactures. "A French manufacturer, of the name of de Pouillet, came over to England, established his looms, and commenced business. Forthwith the British manufacturers openly stated, that this establishment was nothing but a cover for smuggling foreign goods into the country. My right hon. friend (Mr. Grant) on being applied to, sent for the parties, and put them upon their trial. He heard the charges advanced by the British manufacturers, and then he had the opposite party called in. And what did this indignant foreigner say foreigner, who had come over to this in reply to those charges-that country, where he had embarked and risked a large capital, from the knowledge that here industry and talent were certain to be encouraged? His immediate reply was, "send for my books, you shall see them, and they shall be delivered to you for examination." His books were accordingly brought, and his whole transactions were minutely looked into. The officers of the revenue by this means ascertained the persons employed by him; they went to the houses in which his men were at work, and they found them they had been described in his books, man for man, employed exactly as and upon the very pieces of silk that were there set down. But the inquiry, in order to satisfy the British manufacturers, was prosecuted still farther. Those manufacturers themselves were called upon to select from among them those persons who had most skill and |