IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 |50 "^* i^ 2.2 1^ 1^ us I 40 1.4 2.0 i.8 1.6 Photographic Sdeices Corporation 23 WESf MAiN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. )4;80 (7;6) 872-4303 cF ^\\ a 'V ^5*^ 1». '"^0^ T1NUED"), or tha symbol V (moaning "END"), whichavar applias. Un daa symbolaa suivants apparaftra sur la damlAra imaga da chaqua microficha, salon caa: la symbola — *> signifia "A SUIVRE", la symbols V signifia "FIN". Ma(»s. plataa. charts, ate., may ba filmad at diffarant raduction ratioa. Thoaa too larga to ba antiraly includad in ona axposura ara filmad boginning in tha uppar laft hand comar, laft to right and top to bottom, aa many framaa aa raquirad. Tha following diagrama illuatrata tha mathod: Laa cartas, pianchaa, tablaaux, ate, pauvant dtra fttmtm A daa taux da rMuction diffirants. Lorsqua la documant ast trop grand pour dtra raproduit an un saul cliche, il aat filmd i partir da I'angia sup4riaur gaucha, da gaucha i droita, at da haut an baa. an pranant la nombra d'imagas nicassaira. Laa diagrammas suivants iilustrant la m^thoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 c A LETTER ((Sox / ON LORD GREY'S DESPATCH Of SlsT March, 1848, WELATIVE TO CANADIAN CUSTOMS DUTIES. Bt J. W. GAMBLE, Es '4M >f ^ I LETTER O* Lord Giusy's Despatch of the 31st of March, IS4d, RELATIVK TO CANADIAN CUSTOMS DuTISS. r Vaughan, 1st MarcH) 1849. To the Editor of the Globe : Sir, — A friend has just handed me your pap6r of yester- day, containing the despatch from Earl Grey to his Excel- lency the Governor-General, of 31st March, 1848 ; to it you have called my especial attention, an act of courtesy I beg to acknowledge, and without which in aU probability, the despatch might have escape'd my notice. The great Lord Chatham declared " he would not have the plantations in America make a hobr ail for themselves." It was only in 1835, that the 6th George IV. repealed an act " to prevent the exportation of hata out of any of His *' Majesty's colonies or plantations in America, and to " restrain the number of apprentices taken by hat-makers in " the said colonies or plantations, and for the better en- " couraging the making hats in Cfreat Britain^''^ and also, " an act to prevent foreign goods of certain descriptions " being brought from the United States of America into " Canada, and to allow a greater quantity of worsted yarn " to be exported from Great Britain to Canada." The first Canadian tariff imposed by Great Britain, as will be found by looking at the statutes, mentions but two dutiable articles — spirituous liquors and molasses — but it breathes the same spirit, the intention is evident, and to those who will learn it is full of meaning ; it enacts, that if the colonists chose to regale themselves with British brandy or gin, the duty would be M. per gallon ; if with the ram of the West Indies, the next favoured interest, 6d. per gallon ; if their beverage must be the apple brandy or New England rum of their then fellow colonists, M. must be paid, while if nothing but BB foreign would serve their depraved taste, la. per gallon was the forfeiture. Again, if they sweetened their toddy with syrup, brought in a British ship, 3d. per gallon was. the duly ; if brought in any other bottom, double was exacted. In 1848, Earl Grey says, " we disclaim any wish to in- terfere with their liberty of action in this respect, for the sake of protecting the exclusive interest of the British manufacturer ; but if, as is alleged by the complainants^ and in some cases it would appear to be the case, any of these duties have been imposed, not for the purpose of re- venue, but with a view of protecting the interest of the Canadian manufacturer. Her Majesty's Government are clearly of opinion that such a course is alike injurious to the interests of the mother country, and to those of the colony," &c., stating that the duties comialained of, are those imposed on leather and leather manufactures y on paper ^ on the staple manufactures of cotton^ linen and woollen^ and on some specific articles, such as silk dresses^ scythes, and a<€eSy asserting that Great Britain could supply us with those goods more cheaply than we could make them for ourselves, and for which they will kindly take our raw pro- duj^ft in payment, endeavouring to shew, that her Majesty's Government know, much better than we do, what is best for port him— in our own country, to create a capita] by his industry, to buy food from our farmers at their door to employ other trades, and build up our towns and om villages ; or in Great Britain or the United States, to add to their wealth and our poverty, by sending our raw products, lood and materials, there at their prices, and taking part of the latter back in payment, at five hundred per cent, ad- vance. With regard to the latter, the late Lord Sydei*- feam said, and said with truth, "the objection rests on a jnisconcepUon of the nature and grounds of protection to domoHtic industry, — it is pTotoetion ngainnt foreign com- petition, and it is founded on this principle, that it is for the common nationul advantage to have each separate na- tional interest in a prosperous state, just as it is for the advanta^ of the human body, and of each individual mem- ber, to have every separate member in a heahhy and vigor- ous state. If any national interest be depressed, the depres- sion extends to (^very other interest ; but if it be prosjxirous, they share the prosperity, because the better that branch of industry is rewarded, the more of its btmefits are expended on t!»e other branches, and thus if they pay by protective duties an extra price for any article, they receive an equi- valent therefor in the extra sales of their products to the producers of that article." The true policy of nations, on this head, is the same as that of individuals or families, iiamtdy, to purchase nothing from others that they can pro- duce themselves. What has our one sided free trade hitherto done for us ? What on the other hand has protec- tion done for the United States? — Look at the busy villages of New England, described by Dickens, as if just painted and set out to dry, with their clean and tidy streets, their snug and comfortable dwellings, with their stores of fuel and other necessaries and comforts of life — and behold Protection. Look at our feeble and miserable efforts in the same way, ricketty and tenantless houses, broken windows, badly constructed mills, poverty apparent — and behold Free Trade. Now look on this picture and look on that, and say which course of policy does common sense point out as the most beneficial to a eommunitv. Oh, but we are going to have the reciprocity bill, — without Protection on the pro- ducts of our borne industry, what will it effect — the transfer of the profits of the " plantation policy " from England to the United States, from our proximity to the latter, leaving our farmers to be crowded out of theiV own markets by the free admission of American live stock, pork, bult«r and cheese ! ! ! Can the free-traders produce a single instance of a purely agricultural country with free labour, ever rising to eminence and wealth by exporting its raw products, much less by free-trading with Great Britain. Russia tried the experiment of low duties in 1818, how did it end? in ^he same manner that similar attempts have ended in the United Siates-^their a:gricuhurtil, comriiercial and manu-^ <^ v'^ %» 9 facturing industry naralyzed and bnmght to the brink of ruin---und Huch will be (Mir fate if we free-trade either with England or the United Stales. No country on the face of the globe can now have free- trade with England, with profit, ho vast is her accumula- tion oi capital, so great her natural resources, so abundant and clieap her labour, so exquisite the skill of her artisans and operatives, so admirable her motrhinery, and all these advantages crowned by her insular ^ositioii, that let other countries but open the door freely for the atlmission of her fabrics — other competitors would immediately be driven out of any market, equally acicessible to both partiej^—their own manufactures would jxjrish in the struggh;, their agri- culture, deprived of a home mtirket, would decline, and Great Britain would secure, that which her economists have planned, the monopoly for her own operatives of the work- ing power for the clothing of the human family. These, Mr. Editor, are my vit-ws; the course recom- mended by me would retain in Canada, in addition to the value of her raw products, the wages of labour and the pro- fits of stock accruing from every description of manufacture congenial to our soil, climate and the genius of our people ; the two latter, at least equal in value to the former, have hitherto been lost to the country by our importations from abroad, and this in my opinion is the true secret of our snail-like progress. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, J. W. GAMBLE, ■■■•'■i 'nil ;:., DESPATCH DowNwro Street, • ' « >■ SUt March, 1848. My Lord,— Her Majesty »s Government have received eeveral representations from merchants and others carrying on trade with Canada, complaining of the increased rales of duty which will become payable on various articles of British Manufactures, when imported into the Province, by tke, Act lately passed by the Provincial Lei?islature TNo ,_j — ^ _ . _ . 10 497,) " for repealing and consolidating the present Duties of Customs.' To some of these representations I have already called Your Lordship's attention by my despatches No. 167, of llth February, and No. 175, of the 6th of March. I now propose to explain the views entertained by Her Majesty's Government in regard to the duties complained of, in order that you may take the earliest opportunity of bringing the subject under the revision of the Provincial Legislature. In advising the Queen to assent to the Act No. 479, which has bee:i passed for the twofold purpose of repealing the Differential Duties of Customs payable under the Posses- sions Act and for a new tarift of Customs Duties, Her Majesty's Government were not unmindful of the objections which would probably be uro^ed by the manufacturers and others in this country, to the mcreased rates of import duty to which many articles of British manufacture are made liable. But aware of the importance attached by the Pro* vincial Government to an early decision on the Act, and that the Colonic revenue for the present year was in a great measure depen^ient on the duties to be levied under this tariff, we were unwilling to offer any impediment to t!.e Act receiving Her Majesty's sanction, preferring to leave these objections to be considered and dealt with by the Provincial Legislature. The duties which are more particularly complained of are those imposed on leather and leather manufactures — on paper, — on the staple manufactures of cotton, linen, woollen, hardware, and on some specific articles, such as silk dresses, scythes and axes. Her Majesty's Grovernment readily acknowledge the pro- priety of leaving to the colonists the task of raising the revenue which they may require, by such methods of taxa- tion as may appear to them most expedient ; and in the present case we disclaim any wish to interfere with their liberty of action in this respect, for the sake of protecting the exclusive interest of the British mannfacturer ; but it, as is alleged by the complainants, and a»in some instances would appear to he the case, any of the duties comprised in the tariff have been imposed, not for purposes of re\ei»ue, but with the view of protecting the interest of the Canadian ,, J^m. 11 ^ Jm, manufacturer, Her Majesty's Government are cle; rly of opinion that such a course is injurious alike to the ijilerests of the Mother Country, and to those of the Colony. Canada possesses natural advantages for the production of articles which will always exchange in the markets of this country for those manufactured goods of which she stands if) need. By such exchange she will obtain those goods much more cheaply than she could manufacture them for herselt', and she will secure an advantageous market for the raw produce which she is best able to raise. On the other hand, by closing her markets against British manufactures, or ren- dering their introduction more costly, she enhances their price to the consumer, and by the imposition of protective duties for the purpose of fostering an unnatural trade, she gives a wrong direction to capital, by withdrawing it from more profitable employment and causing it to be invested in the manufacture of' articles which might be imported at a cost below that of their production in the Colony, while at the same time she inflicts a blow on her own export trade by rendering her markets less eligible to the British custom^er. You will remind the Provincial Legislature, that the abandonment by this country of her former restrictive sys- tem, has left the British rnerchant at liberty to draw his supplies from those markets of the world from whence he can procure them most cheaply. If the merchant finds that by exporting his goods to Canada they produce him in return a large quantity of corn, and thus yield a greater profit than they would if exported to any other country, he will of course give the preference to Canada. But if by reason of increased import duties those goods produce a diminished return, the result will be, either that the Cana- dian farmer must submit to a proportionate reduction in the price of his produce, or the British manufacturer must resort to another market. It is obvious, therefore, that it is no less the interest of Canada herself than of Great Britain, that this tariff of import duties should undergo a careful revision. I have, &c. ^, „ (Signed,) GREY. The Right Honble. The Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, &c. &c. &c. Canada.