History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce, Volume 3 (of 4)

by W. S. Lindsay

CHAPTER IV.

Lord John Russell’s first steps as Prime Minister: the Equalization of the Sugar Duties—He suspends the Navigation Laws, January 1847—Mr. Ricardo’s motion, February 1847—Reply of Mr. Liddell—Mr. Ricardo’s motion carried—Committee appointed, February 1847—Meeting of the shipowners, August 12, 1847—Their arguments—What constitutes “British ships”—State of Navigation Laws in 1847—Rules in force in the Plantation Trade—Their rigorous character—Their history from 1660 to 1847—First infringement of the principle of confining the American trade to British vessels—Absurdity and impotency of these laws—State of the law before the Declaration of American Independence—Trade with Europe—Modifications of the law—East India Trade and shipping—Trade with India in foreign and in United States ships even from English ports—Coasting trade—Summary of the Navigation Laws.

Lord John Russell’s first steps as Prime Minister: the Equalization of the Sugar Duties.

Suspends the Navigation Laws, January 1847.

The first measure introduced by Lord John Russell, when he succeeded Sir Robert Peel as Prime Minister,—the equalization of the Sugar Duties—was one almost as important to the interests of merchant shipping as the repeal of the Corn Laws. A change so great, affecting, indirectly, the general as well as the fiscal policy of the empire, was even more remarkable than the abolition of the Corn Laws. It was strenuously opposed by the Protectionist party, but Sir Robert Peel, having given his support to Government, the Bill was carried by a large majority. This measure in itself afforded much additional employment to shipping; and in the course of the debate upon it, Lord John Russell made the memorable declaration that he “did not propose in any respect to alter the existing Navigation Laws.”[37] He was, however, obliged immediately afterwards to suspend the operation of these Laws till the 1st September following, so as to facilitate the importation of grain and flour. Indeed, some such measure was absolutely necessary, as the crops of Germany and France had in many instances failed, and the French Government had also been compelled to suspend for a time their Navigation Laws, in order to obtain supplies of food from other countries.

As the necessity of increasing, at all events for a limited period, the facilities for importing grain from foreign countries and the admission of sugar more freely into breweries and distilleries, so as to augment the supply of food, had been pointed out in the Royal Speech, no opposition was offered to this temporary suspension of the Navigation Laws; but it was stoutly maintained by the Protectionists that the suspension must be limited to the period fixed in the Bill. The Free-traders, however, on the other hand, could not see the necessity of any limitation, and, though the Ministry did not feel strong enough to undertake the task of a total abolition of the Navigation Laws, one of its principal supporters gave notice that, on an early day, he would formally call the attention of Parliament to this important subject.

Mr. Ricardo’s motion, February 1847.

Accordingly, on the 9th February, 1847, Mr. John Lewis Ricardo brought forward his motion,[38] “That a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the operation and policy of the Navigation Laws.” Intense interest was excited among shipowners; the fact of Mr. Ricardo proposing the motion was deemed highly ominous, as he was known to hold very advanced opinions on Free-trade, and to be prepared to go further in that direction than perhaps any other member of the House. He was, indeed, at that time, one of the most formidable exponents of the Free-trade doctrines. His speech,[39] delivered in a tone of much confidence, propounded, as indisputable facts, what were then rather startling assertions. After briefly recapitulating the history of the Navigation Act, which had been held to be perfect till 1821-22, he pointed out that Mr. Wallace in those years, and Mr. Huskisson in 1824-25, had broken into the exclusive principle on which the Navigation Act rested. He then referred, at great length, to the labours of the Committee on British Shipping in 1844, and boldly asserted that that inquiry was instituted by the shipowners to prove the efficacy of the existing laws, and was allowed to drop because they had no case for further encouragement. He specially singled out the opinions of the late Mr. Joseph Somes, one of the largest shipowners of that time, who went so far as to demand a tax on Colonial shipping; and he successfully combatted this by contending that the colonists already suffered severely by the Navigation Laws. Millions upon millions, he said, were spent upon internal communications;[40] Parliament was looking with great jealousy lest a half-penny or a penny too much should be charged for inland transit; yet, when goods arrived by sea, there was a law which increased the cost of carriage over the greater part of their journey. He then referred to the opinions expressed by Mr. G. F. Young, one of the leading opponents of any change in the laws of shipping, who had also advocated a tax on Colonial vessels, stating, in his evidence in 1844-45, that he “considered the whole system of Navigation Laws as relating more to the encouragement of maritime commerce than to any other object, and that, therefore, many sacrifices of pecuniary interests ought to be made for it,” adding, “I have no doubt that private interests ought to be sacrificed for the general interests of the country. If the Legislature should decide that it was no longer necessary to keep up the Navigation Laws as a means of national security, no doubt the consumers of foreign articles could purchase at a cheaper rate, since this would be the natural consequence of admitting imports in the ships of foreign nations.”

Fortified by these quotations from his opponent’s evidence, Mr. Ricardo boldly came to the point by asserting it must be clear that, by every ton of shipping driven from the ports of England, there was lost the benefit of the sale of an equivalent amount of our merchandise, and that, thereby, our workmen were deprived of their wages, our manufacturers of their profit, and our Government of revenue. If the Spaniards wanted earthenware, the French sugar, and we wine, “why on earth,” he exclaimed, “should we forbid the natural course of the transaction!” He pointed out the roundabout and expensive way whereby such exchanges of produce must be carried,[41] instancing a case where American hides brought from Marseilles to Rotterdam, not finding a market there, were taken back to Marseilles; and when sent thence to Liverpool, were seized as imported in a French bottom, and released only on the condition that they should be sent back to New York! Such interruptions of commerce, Mr. Ricardo rightly contended, were alike inconvenient and wasteful. He next pointed out discrepancies in the working of the Act, with the various Orders in Council made under it, asserting, at the same time, that freights were artificially enhanced by protection. He espoused, too, the cause of the colonists, who now demanded as a matter of justice, that trade should be as free in shipping as it was in sugar. Could, Mr. Ricardo demanded, any ground of political expediency or any national advantage be shown to justify the retention of these laws? He admitted that the authority of Adam Smith would be adduced against him,[44] but denied that Adam Smith had brought forward evidence to support his argument. He allowed that a defensive navy was of the first importance for the welfare of the country, and that the commercial marine was the nucleus and nursery of that branch of the public service; but he emphatically contended that the way to encourage the commercial navy was to free the commerce of the country from all restrictions, impediments, and obstructions. He held that England could compete successfully with the United States and all the world in building ships, and he produced a variety of statistical statements showing the difference between protected and unprotected tonnage, one of which is especially worthy of notice.[45] “These facts,” added Mr. Ricardo, “speak for themselves, showing the unprotected tonnage has just doubled the increase of the protected tonnage.” He concluded by remarking that commerce was the parent of the merchant marine, and that if the parent were nourished the child would flourish.

Reply of Mr. Liddell.

Mr. Ricardo’s motion carried.

Mr. Thomas Milner Gibson, then Vice-President of the Board of Trade, with whose concurrence the motion had been made, gave the Government’s sanction to the motion, and recommended on their part that the Committee should be appointed. His proposal, however, was strongly opposed by the Hon. H. T. Liddell (now Earl Ravensworth), who asked what could be gained by a Committee, as the Navigation Laws were already suspended until the 1st of September next. He quoted the opinion of Mr. Huskisson,[46] who, in making certain recommendations with relation to the reciprocity treaties, had said: “The object of the Navigation Laws was twofold: first, to create and maintain the great commercial marine of this country for the purposes of national defence; and secondly, an object not less important in the eyes of statesmen, to prevent any one other nation from engrossing too large a portion of the navigation of the world.” Mr. Huskisson, he stated, held that, in those two branches of our maritime system, the fisheries and the coasting trade, there appeared no motive for alteration, and that the laws referring to them must remain unchanged, so long as we were desirous of upholding our great commercial marine. With reference to the European trade, he also declared that the altered state of the world compelled England to enter into some new treaties; that, in so far as exclusion was within their reach, they were bound to grant and enforce a monopoly in favour of the British shipowner—not, indeed, for his especial advantage, but because the commercial marine was the foundation of our naval power, and the maintenance of that power the paramount duty of all governments. It was Mr. Liddell’s opinion, however, that the reciprocity treaties had ever been distasteful to British shipowners, and, that they had suffered in their carrying trade from unequal competition with other countries; but that it was now too late to think of giving them up or of altering a policy to which the country had pledged itself. With regard to the comparative expenses of British and foreign ships, it suited, he said, the case of the Repealers to make this comparison of expenses with the ships of the United States alone; but why not look to the Baltic States, with the trade of which the whole of the eastern parts of this island were directly connected? It was proved, he urged, before a Committee of the House, that the relative cost of a British and Russian ship, both as regards construction and current expenses, was much in favour of the latter, and he called, therefore, on the House not to fritter away the great interests committed to its charge. He, in a long and closely-reasoned speech, strenuously opposed the appointment of the Committee. The motion was supported by Mr. Hume, Mr. Bright, Mr. Labouchere, Lord Sandon, and Mr. Mitchell, and opposed by Lord G. Bentinck, Alderman Thompson, Captain Harris, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. Disraeli; but, Sir Robert Peel having given a very decided opinion in favour of inquiry, and Lord John Russell having supported the proposal on the part of the Government, Mr. Ricardo’s motion was carried by 155 to 61.

Committee appointed, February 1847.

Meeting of Shipowners’ Society, August 12, 1847.

This was the first blow aimed with serious effect against the existence of the Navigation Laws; and, though the Free-trade party affected slightly to disguise their intentions by only asking for inquiry, their zealous partisans out of doors made no scruple in avowing that the total abolition of the Navigation Laws was the real object of their agitation. Circumstances connected with this inquiry led the General Body of Shipowners to hold a special meeting on the 12th August, 1847, but, curiously enough, they did not advance a single remark on the increasing activity of their own business, brought about as this had been in a great measure by the legislation to which I have referred. It cannot be questioned that, if British shipowners had suffered severely in previous years, the reductions in the tariff since 1842, together with the demand for shipping to bring supplies of food for the starving populace of Ireland, had greatly increased their actual business and their future prospects. Nor were other causes wanting to enhance and to ensure this prosperity. A new trade had been developed by the discovery of vast deposits of guano in the islands of the Pacific (of far greater importance than those on the coasts of Africa), and this alone required a large amount of tonnage; while the rapidly increasing consumption of sea-borne coals secured for them another source of remunerative employment. In spite of these obvious advantages, shipowners, however, expressed no feelings of satisfaction, though these new channels of trade afforded them a profitable employment for their vessels: they probably feared that by so doing the Free-traders would at once introduce a measure for the repeal of the Navigation Laws. Nor were their fears groundless. Parliament having thrown out the idea that protection as a principle could not be maintained, the shipowner had to show that his case, as the advocate of maritime commerce generally, was an exception to this rule.

Their arguments.

The Shipowners’ Society of London alleged, with no mean tact and ability, that their members, as a section of the community, advanced no claim to special privileges, and demanded no exemption on abstract grounds, from any burdens to which other interests were subjected. But they argued that, if for objects of supposed national benefit wherein they had no special advantage, the State imposed on them burdens and restrictions, common justice prescribed that they should be protected from the competition of those who were not so tied down, otherwise they would not be able to compete with the shipowners of foreign nations. They further argued, and not without reason, that, by the Registry Laws they were compelled to use the most costly ships in the world; by the Navigation Laws to employ exclusively the highest paid and most expensively fed seamen, those of native birth; and, by a variety of laws, presumed, also, to be of essential importance, they were specially taxed, and, at the same time, were prevented from conducting their pursuits in the way most conducive to their own profit. Clinging, however, tenaciously as they did to the principle of the Navigation Laws, they could hardly expect that their view in favour of protection to their own interest would be entertained; and this, too, at a period when every vessel at their command was fully employed; when they were realizing large profits, and when, indeed, ships could scarcely be found to convey from other countries sufficient food to meet the wants of the people.

The Committee[47] who were appointed on Mr. Ricardo’s motion had examined during the session a great number of witnesses, and in the course of their inquiry made no less than five reports, limiting themselves, however, to the evidence taken, the substance of which I shall hereafter lay before my readers.

What constitutes “British Ships.”

But before I do so, it is necessary, even at the risk of wearying my readers, that I should give the meaning which has been usually attached to “British ships,” especially as this has varied in different trades and, from time to time, in the same trade, and explain, in as condensed a manner as possible, the more important changes in the old Navigation Laws, not already noticed or sufficiently described. Originally, a “British ship” was held to be one owned by the people of England, Ireland, &c., or, if built in the Plantations, owned by the people thereof, being British subjects. In 1786, an Act was passed (26 Geo. III., c. 60), by which it was provided for the future that no ships should be entitled to the privilege of “British ships” but such as were British built as well as British owned and navigated; exceptions, however, being made in favour of foreign ships built before May, 1786, and belonging, at that date, to English owners. Ships of this class might engage in all such voyages as were previously open to British-owned ships though not necessarily of British build. From the time that these ships of 1786, or of older date, became worn out, the term “British ship” acquired the sense in which it was used, up to 1847, except as regards the coasting trade, for which this further provision was made, that no foreigner was permitted to serve in her as a seaman.

It is also necessary to notice the effect of some clauses in the Act of 34 Geo. III., cap. 68, which provided that no ship, registered or required to be registered as a British ship, could import or export any articles whatsoever, unless duly navigated by British subjects. Thus a restriction, previously unknown, was placed on our export trade to foreign parts, and on the import from Europe of other articles than those enumerated in the Act of Navigation.

On further examination of the Navigation Act, it will be seen that exceptions from its general rules occur in two instances (Levant and East India goods) in favour of certain imports in British-built ships; while, in two other instances (Spanish and Portuguese colonial goods, bullion and prize goods), they were in favour of importations in British-owned shipping.

Lastly, provision was made in the 10th and 11th sections of the “Act for the Prevention of Frauds” (13 & 14 Car. II., cap. 2) with reference to the purchase of foreign-built ships, and for securing that such ships should be wholly owned by English persons, before they could avail themselves of the privileges conferred by the Act on such ships.

Such were the leading conditions of the “Act of Navigation” so far as regards “British ships;” but the “Statute of Frauds” further enacted (sect. 6, par. 2) that no foreign-built ship (that is to say, no ship built anywhere except in England, &c., or in his Majesty’s dominions in Asia, Africa, or America), except ships purchased before a given day and prize ships, should enjoy the privilege of a “British ship,” though owned and manned by “British subjects”; and such ships were deemed as aliens’ ships, and were liable therefore to all duties applicable to this class of vessels.

By a subsequent Act (15 Car. II., cap. 7, sect. 6) no goods from Europe were to be imported into the British possessions except in British-built shipping; and, by the Plantation Act (7 & 8 Will. III., cap. 22, sect. 2) all importations into, and exportations from, these possessions must be in British-owned, and British-built, and British-navigated vessels. Prize ships, if British owned, were, and always have been, entitled to the privileges of British vessels; the system of registering vessels having been first prescribed by the last-named Act.

Having thus stated the principles regulating “British ships,” I must now proceed to notice in some detail the more important changes in the Navigation Laws.

State of Navigation Laws in 1847. Rules in force in the Plantation Trade.

These Laws, in 1847, resting as they did on the Act of Parliament then in force, so far as regards The Plantation Trade provided (Rule 1) that “No goods shall be exported from the United Kingdom to any British possession in Asia, Africa, or America, nor to the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, or Sark, except in British ships” (8 & 9 Vict., cap. 88, sect. 7). But vessels belonging to the United States may carry goods from this country to the principal British settlements in the East Indies (59 Geo. III., cap. 54, sect. 6). The Sovereign had the power to conclude treaties, allowing the same privilege to the ships of other foreign countries, and some such treaties were actually concluded: e.g. with Austria and in fact Russia (see 8 & 9 Vict., cap. 90, sect. 9).

Rule 2. “No goods shall be carried from any British possession in Asia, Africa, or America, to any other of such possessions, nor from one part of such possessions to another part of the same, except in British ships” (8 & 9 Vict., cap. 88, sect. 10).

Rule 3. “No goods shall be imported into any British possession in Asia, Africa, or America, in any foreign ships, unless they be ships of the country producing these goods, and from which they are usually imported”[48] (8 & 9 Vict., cap. 88, sect. 11). But an Order in Council might declare that goods, &c., the growth of any foreign country, might be imported into Hong Kong from the same or any other foreign country, in vessels belonging to the same or any other foreign country, and however navigated (see 8 & 9 Vict., cap. 88, sect. 12).

Her Majesty might also, by Order in Council, declare that goods of any sort, or the produce of any place, not otherwise prohibited by the Law of Navigation, might be imported into any port or ports of the British possessions abroad, to be named in such Order, from any place, in a British ship, and from any place not being a part of the British dominions, in a foreign ship of any country, and however navigated, to be warehoused for exportation only (8 & 9 Vict., cap. 88, sect. 23).

Their rigorous character.

Rule 4. The privileges of trading allowed to foreign ships under Rule 3 were limited to the ships of those countries which, having colonial possessions, should grant the like privileges of trading with those possessions to British ships, or which, not having colonial possessions, “shall place the commerce and navigation of this country, and of its possessions abroad, on the footing of the ‘most favoured nation’: unless her Majesty, by Order in Council, shall in any case deem it expedient to grant the whole, or any of such privileges, to the ships of any foreign country, although the conditions aforesaid shall not in all respects be fulfilled by such foreign country” (8 & 9 Vict., cap. 93, sect. 4).

Rule 5. “No goods shall be imported into, nor shall any goods (except the produce of the fisheries, in British ships) be exported, from any of the British possessions in America by sea, from or to any place other than the United Kingdom, or some other of such possessions, except into or from the several ports in such possessions called ‘Free Ports.’” (See 8 & 9 Vict., cap. 93, sect. 2.) The 62nd section of the Act applied this principle to the Mauritius, as well as to the American possessions; while, under the 90th section, the trade of other colonies was regulated by the Queen. Goods could be imported by inland navigation into any place where there was a custom-house. The rule was not to extend “to prohibit the importation or exportation of goods into or from any ports or places in Newfoundland, or Labrador, in British ships;” and by the 2nd section, certain articles might be imported from Guernsey and Jersey into places where the fishery was carried on, though the same were not free ports. These five rules comprise the Law as it stood in 1847. But it is also as well to give some account of its previous history and its various modifications.

Their history from 1660 to 1847.

The Act of 1660 established two rules applicable to the Plantation trade, which were deemed of the highest importance to the country: first, that the whole trade of the Plantations should be carried on in “British” ships only; and secondly, that the principal productions of these Plantations should be allowed to be exported only to the mother country, or some other Plantation. A third general rule was introduced, a year or two later, by the Act of 15 Car. II., cap. 7, sect. 6, viz., that no goods of the produce of Europe should be imported into any of the Plantations in Asia, Africa, or America (except Tangier[49]), in any vessels whatsoever, but such as were bonâ fide and without fraud laden and shipped in England, Wales, or the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in English-built vessels.[50]

In the year 1825, on the general consolidation of the Customs Laws, the above limitations of the right of exportation were removed, and the law with regard to the Plantation trade was placed nearly on the footing on which it stood in 1847. In fact, the further consolidations of 1833 and 1845 made little change in the previous regulations. With regard to Rule 3, viz., that goods, the produce of Europe, were only to be imported into the colonies from the United Kingdom, this was subject, originally, to a few exceptions: thus, salt might be taken to the fisheries from any port of Europe; and wines of Madeira and the Azores might be imported thence, &c. A relaxation of the rule was first made in favour of Irish linens, various subsequent alterations having been introduced, till at length, in 1825, the law with reference to such importations was placed on nearly the same footing as prevailed in 1847; that is to say, the importation and exportation of all classes of goods into or from the “Free Ports” in different colonies were, generally, legalised, subject to certain prohibitions against the importation of particular articles, some of which were afterwards removed, while others (e.g. those against pirated books, counterfeit coin, &c., and the restrictions on gunpowder, arms, &c.) remained. A tariff of differential duties on foreign goods, of which duties one-tenth (subsequently increased to one-fourth) was to be remitted, when the goods were imported through an English warehouse, was, at the same date, enforced.

The principle of this tariff and of the practice of remission were retained; but legislation was constantly effecting small changes, to meet the wishes or, rather, the demands of colonial legislatures which perhaps, naturally, looked only to their own interests.

Such may be taken as the intermediate history of the Navigation Law as it affected the Plantation or Colonial trade.

First infringement of the principle of confining the American trade to British vessels.

The first decided infringement of the general principle of confining the trade to British ships took place on the conclusion of the treaty with America, the effect of which has been described.

In 1808, when the King of Portugal emigrated to Brazil, the same privileges, as had been granted to the United States, were extended to the inhabitants of the Portuguese possessions in South America, by the Act (48 Geo. III., cap. 11) which allowed the produce of those territories to be imported thence into Great Britain and Ireland in vessels built in those territories, or made prize by Portuguese ships, and owned and navigated by Portuguese subjects resident in the said territories. After the conclusion of the treaty with Portugal in 1810, a further Act (51 Geo. III., cap. 47) extended the above facilities to all Portuguese-built vessels or prizes owned and navigated by Portuguese subjects, without requiring that they should be residents in America.

Absurdity and impotency of these laws.

On the revision of the Customs Laws in 1822 (3 Geo. IV., cap. 43, sect. 3), the principle and the above exceptions in favour of the United States and Portuguese colonies were preserved, and were further extended to countries in America or the West Indies, being, or having been, under the dominion of Spain. It must be remembered that, as respects the principle that the produce of Asia, Africa, and America was only to be imported into England from the place of its origin, the old law recognised the doctrine of the 5th section of the Navigation Act, that goods manufactured in any country should be held to be the produce of that country, even though made from materials produced elsewhere.

State of the law before the Declaration of American Independence.

At the commencement of the American War of Independence, the chief regulations as to trade, the operations of which have been already described, were that the Americans could neither import nor export in any but British ships; they could not carry important articles of their own produce to any part of Europe other than Great Britain; and they could not import any goods from any part of Europe other than Great Britain.[51]

Trade with Europe.

With regard to the trade with Europe, the law in 1847 declared that the several sorts of goods hereinafter enumerated, being the produce of Europe, viz., masts, timber, boards, tar, tallow, hemp, flax, currants, raisins, figs, prunes, olive-oil, corn or grain, wine, brandy, tobacco, wool, shumach, madders, madder-roots, barilla, brimstone, bark of oak, cork, oranges, lemons, linseed, rape-seed and clover-seed, could not be imported into the United Kingdom, to be used therein, except in British ships, or in ships of the country of which the goods were the produce, or in ships of the country from which they were usually imported, 8 & 9 Vict., cap. 88, sect. 2. But such goods, not being otherwise prohibited, might, by the 22nd section of that Act, be warehoused for exportation, though brought in other ships; a privilege confirmed by the 3 & 4 Vict., cap. 95.

Modifications of the law.

Some embarrassing questions having, from time to time, arisen as to the right of importing the produce of particular European States in ships built in countries incorporated into those States subsequent to the passing of the Navigation Act, as, for instance, the question whether Prussian produce might be imported in ships built in East Friesland, it was enacted, 22 Geo. III., cap. 78, that the enumerated articles might be imported in ships, the property of subjects under the same sovereign as the country of which goods were the produce, although the country or place where such ship was built or to which it belonged, was not under the dominion of such sovereign at the time of the passing of the Navigation Act. It will be observed that this statute not only effected its immediate purpose of putting the dominions and sovereign of any one country on the same footing in respect to the Navigation Law, but also extended the right of importing, originally confined to ships “built in” the country of export, to ships “belonging to” such country. Several alterations of an unimportant character were made, bearing upon these points; but, in the consolidation of 1825, the proviso was introduced into the Navigation Act, and still retained in 1847, “that the country of every ship shall be deemed to include all places which are under the same dominion as the place to which such ship belongs.”

In the meantime, however, the Act of 1822 (3 Geo. IV., cap. 43, sect. 6) had made an important alteration in the law, by allowing importations of the enumerated goods, either in ships of the country of which the goods were the produce, or in ships of the country whence these goods were usually imported. At the same time, the prohibitions against the importation of articles from the Netherlands, Germany, Turkey, and Russia were taken off.[52]

In 1822 tallow and tobacco were also added to the list of enumerated articles: and, since that time, wool, shumach, madder, barilla, brimstone, bark, cork, oranges, lemons, linseed, rape-seed, and clover-seed have likewise been added; while salt, pitch, rosin, potashes, wine, and sugar were struck out.

The only alteration of any consequence in the European trade, since the consolidation of 1825, was that made to carry out the Austrian Treaty of 1838, which will be noticed hereafter.

East India trade and shipping.

The trade, however, with the East Indies has always been exceptional, and deserves special notice, as the exclusive right of trading within certain limits, long enjoyed by the Company, together with the peculiar nature of the Company’s jurisdiction, produced some anomalies.

The two points most worthy of notice are, first, the concession of the rights of British ships to ships not fulfilling all the usual requisites of the law; and secondly, the admission of certain foreign ships to an equality in some respects with British ships.

On the first point, the statute 21 Geo. III., cap. 65, sect. 33, provided that ships belonging to the East India Company should be held to be British owned, although the Stock of the Company was held by a considerable number of foreigners. Other statutes (35 Geo. III., cap. 118; 42 Geo. III., cap. 20) allowed to ships built within the territories of the Company, or in places in the East Indies under British protection and owned by the Company, the privileges of British ships in trade with India, though such ships were neither British built nor duly registered. When the exclusive privileges of the Company were broken in upon (53 Geo. III., cap. 155) the same privilege was extended to similarly circumstanced vessels, the property of private individuals, by Order in Council. But when the Registry Laws were extended to India, from this time nothing but British-built ships were to be entitled to the privileges of British vessels (54 Geo. III., cap. 35; 53 Geo. III., cap. 116). Exceptions were made in favour of ships under 350 tons burden, and of others, the property of British subjects, and built or building before 1st January, 1816: but these classes of ships were only to be employed in trade within the limits of the Company’s Charter. Subsequent changes were made; and, by the Act 3 & 4 Vict., cap. 56, in force in 1847, the Governor-General in Council had power given him to declare all ships built within the limits of the Charter, and owned by those of Her Majesty’s subjects for whom he had power to legislate, entitled to the privileges of British ships within those limits. By the fourth section of the same Act, the Governor-General had, also, the power of conferring the same privileges on ships belonging to States in subordinate alliance, or having subsidiary treaties with the East India Company.

Trade with India, in Foreign and United States Ships,

With regard to the navigation of East India ships, it is sufficient to notice, that, by the 20th section of 4 Geo. IV., cap. 80 (still in force in 1847), as well as by the 17th section of the Navigation Act (8 & 9 Vict., cap. 88), Lascars and other natives of Asia were not to be deemed British seamen. But by section 21 of the same Act, any number of Lascars might be employed; provided only that there were four British seamen to every hundred tons of the vessel’s burden: by section 23, however, it appears that British seamen need not be employed in certain voyages within the limits of the Charter.

On the subject of privileges granted to vessels of foreign countries in the trade with India, reference must be made to Act 37 Geo. III., cap. 117 (still unrepealed in 1847), which authorised the Directors of the East India Company, subject to the approval of the Board of Control, to make such regulations as they thought fit with respect to the trade to be carried on in ships of countries on friendly terms with England. The case, however, of America was peculiar, in this sense, that her ships were enabled to clear out from English ports to China, while English merchants could not send a British ship to that country! Thus, the Act of 59 Geo. III., cap. 54, sect. 6, allowed United States ships “to clear out from any port of the United Kingdom for the principal settlements of the British dominions in the East Indies,—videlicet, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, and Prince of Wales Island,—with any articles which could be legally exported from the United Kingdom to the said settlements in British-built ships, subject to the same regulations, &c., as applied to British-built ships.”

even from English ports.

It was under the security of this clause that the traders of the United States sent their vessels to the port of London, to clear out, not for the special ports mentioned in the above Act, but for China, the only exclusive trade at that time retained by the East India Company. Whether the omission of the word China in the Act was an inadvertence, or whether it was, in fact, a violation of the law for United States vessels to go to Canton as well as to the other places within the limits of the Company’s Charter detailed in this Act, the authorities of the Board of Trade did not care to distinguish.[53]

Coasting Trade.

As regards the Coasting Trade, the law—8 & 9 Vict., cap. 88, sect. 8—in force in 1847, declared that no goods nor passengers could be carried coastwise from one part of the United Kingdom to another, or from the United Kingdom to the Isle of Man, and vice versâ, except in British ships, although the original Navigation Act of 1660 did not prevent foreign-built vessels from engaging in the coasting trade. The prohibition in the ancient Act extended only to such as were foreign owned, 12 Car. II., cap. 18, sect. 8. By the Act of 1 James, cap. 18, an extra duty of 5s. per ton for every voyage was laid upon all foreign-built ships engaged in this trade. Subsequently, by 34 Geo. III., cap. 68 (extended to Irish ships by 42 Geo. III., cap. 61), it was enacted, that vessels engaged in the coasting trade should be wholly navigated by British subjects; and this provision was still in force in 1847 by virtue of the definition of a “British ship,” given in the 12th section of the Act of 8 & 9 Vict., cap. 88. The absolute restriction of the coasting trade to British-built ships was not introduced till the consolidation in 1825. The trade of the Isle of Man was put on the footing of a coasting trade in 1844.

Such is an abridged history of the law of Navigation during the intermediate period between 1660 and 1847, comprising the four great divisions of the trade and navigation of the United Kingdom.

No one can rise from a study of these laws without a feeling of amazement at the trouble our ancestors gave themselves “to beggar their neighbours,” under the erroneous impression which too long prevailed, that, by their ruin, our own prosperity could be most effectively achieved. It is, therefore, not surprising that, under such legislative measures, maritime commerce was for centuries slow in growth, and that British merchants and shipowners frequently suffered quite as much through the instrumentality of laws meant for their protection as their foreign competitors, against whom these regulations were levelled.

Summary of the Navigation Laws.

For the convenience of reference it may be useful to give before closing this chapter a condensed recapitulation of the principles of these extraordinary laws, as they stood in 1847, so that my readers may more clearly understand the discussions in the Lords and Commons preceding their repeal:—

1st. Certain enumerated articles of European produce could only be imported into the United Kingdom, for consumption, in British ships, or in ships of the country of which the goods were the produce, or in ships of the country from which they were usually imported.

2ndly. No produce of Asia, Africa, or America could be imported for consumption into the United Kingdom from Europe in any ships; and such produce could only be imported from any other place in British ships, or in ships of the country of which the goods were the produce and from which they were usually imported.

3rdly. No goods could be carried coastwise from one part of the United Kingdom to another in any but British ships.

4thly. No goods could be exported from the United Kingdom to any of the British possessions in Asia, Africa, or America (with some exceptions with regard to India), in any but British ships.

5thly. No goods could be carried from any one British possession in Asia, Africa, or America to another, nor from one part of such possession to another part of the same in any but British ships.

6thly. No goods could be imported into any British possession in Asia, Africa, or America, in any but British ships, or in ships of the country of which the goods were the produce, provided, also, in such case, that such ships brought the goods from that country.

7thly. No foreign ships were allowed to trade with any of the British possessions unless they had been specially authorised to do so by Order in Council; and

8thly. Powers were given to the Queen in Council which enabled her to impose differential duties on the ships of any foreign country which did the same with reference to British ships; and also to place restrictions on importations from any foreign countries which placed restrictions on British importations into such countries.

It will be remarked, that in the regulations respecting the trade of Europe the restrictions only applied to imports. Exports were not affected; in fact, so far as the Navigation Act was concerned, foreign ships might export any goods from this country. British manufacturers had naturally required that no impediment should be placed upon the exportation of British goods. This was perhaps the only sensible clause in the whole paraphernalia of these laws.[54]