state of the intercourse with foreign nations.
The Committee, especially, noticed the entire unanimity of the witnesses whom they had examined with regard to the unsatisfactory state of the laws then regulating international intercourse, not merely with the United States of America, but also with France, Spain, and Portugal; nor could they fail to perceive that every witness viewed with the greatest jealousy the restrictions still imposed by those nations on our shipping, and further, that we had not been met by them in that spirit of fairness and reciprocity we had a right to expect.
So far as regards the great question—the repeal of the Navigation Laws—into which the Committee inquired minutely and impartially, I may say that they were, unanimously, of opinion that it would be impossible to reverse the established policy of Free-trade, and that, in fact, it would not be to the interests of our Shipowners, if they had been able to do so. Indeed, the representatives of the then most conservative ports in the kingdom (Mr. Horsfall for Liverpool, and Mr. Liddell, now Lord Eslington, one of the members for Northumberland) were decidedly of opinion that any reversal of our policy would not merely be prejudicial to the great trading interests of this country, but, specially so, to those engaged in its maritime commerce; and, in fact, though they felt the advantages derivable by reciprocal advantages from foreign nations, they were not prepared to support an Order in Council against the admission to our ports of the ships of those nations which did not reciprocate.
The present depression beyond the influence of Government.
While admitting the depressed state of the shipping interest during the previous two or three years, the Committee pointed out that this depression had arisen in great measure from causes beyond the reach or province of legislation. They remarked, for instance, with great force, that as one-fourth part of the whole coasting trade was then carried on by means of steam-vessels, while one steamer could accomplish as much work as five sailing vessels, it must follow that the owners of the latter would suffer; the result clearly showing that the depression arose in the north of England ports to a great extent from causes no government could control. Instancing Sunderland, they remarked that while in 1852 there were no steamers whatever engaged in trade at that port, the number of such vessels built there since that period (between 1852 and 1860) had displaced the enormous number of 4000 sailing ships, each of 250 tons capacity. Hence, while the Committee could not but regret the heavy loss thus entailed on one industrious class of men, many of whom were, no doubt, totally ruined, it was impossible for them to remedy a state of things brought about mainly by the progress of science, and one, moreover, with which the change in our policy had nothing whatever to do. Indeed, not one of the witnesses examined, although many of them had been sufferers in this way, proposed to recur to the absolutely restrictive system in vogue previously to 1850.
General results of Steamers versus Sailing vessels.
When the figures brought forward by the opponents of repeal were closely examined, it appeared that, while the increase of all the sailing ships in the United Kingdom had for nine years previously to the change in our Navigation Laws been only 23½ per cent., the increase of steamers, during the same period, had been as much as 81 per cent.; but that since then to the end of 1859, while the increase of sailing ships had been 26½ per cent., steamers had increased no less than 184 per cent. These were transient evils against which no legislation could provide; and it was, therefore, obvious that, instead of attempting to render remunerative a class of vessels, now obsolete owing to the improvements of the age, Shipowners would have done better to direct their attention to the development of the new power, for which they possessed in vast abundance the requisite materials of iron and coal: in this way, there could be no doubt that they would be able to compete successfully with all other nations. In how remarkable a manner these words have been fulfilled I shall be able to show when I come to treat of the progress of steam navigation in the Transatlantic trades. Nor has our success been less remarkable in our competition with the Swedes and Norwegians, with whom it was repeatedly alleged we were unable to compete; for they, in 1859, had already become large buyers of ships in our markets, and, I may add, are still frequently to be found purchasers of British-built vessels.
The Committee resists the plan of re-imposing restrictions on the Colonial Trade.
The question having now been narrowed to that of re-imposing the monopoly of the carrying trade to and from our Colonial possessions, the Committee soon arrived at the conclusion that the extent, diversified interests, and increasing power of our possessions abroad, offered insuperable obstacles to the re-imposition of restrictions on that trade, while the daily increase of feelings of independence in our Colonies naturally tended to resist a system which would place the grower of British plantation sugar and coffee in the West Indies at a greater disadvantage than then existed, especially when compared with the producer of slave-grown sugar and coffee in Brazil and Cuba. The Committee, therefore, looking to our relations with Canada, our possessions in the East and West Indies, and, above all, in Australia, considered it their duty, unhesitatingly, to declare that any proposal having for its object the re-establishing an exclusive monopoly of the carrying trade to and from our colonial possessions must, both on political and commercial grounds, be rejected as altogether impracticable. Moreover, that, while such a step would be unjust to our fellow-subjects in the colonies, it would very likely embroil us with those foreign Powers to whom we were bound by existing treaties.
Difficulty of enforcing reciprocity.