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

by W. S. Lindsay

Slightly modified by the Treaties of Utrecht, 1713, and of 1763, in favour of England.

That system, known among French economists and lawyers under the name of the “Pacte colonial,” from the implied contract supposed to have been entered into between each colony on its foundation and the mother-country was, so far as the rights of the latter were concerned, characterised by three principles, which dictated, as far as expediency allowed, all the laws and measures of the various Governments previously to the Second Empire.

These may be briefly stated as follows:—First, no goods, the growth, produce, or manufacture of the colonies, were to be carried to any but a French market. Secondly, the colonial market was to be reserved for the commodities and produce of the mother-country. Thirdly, the carrying of all goods between the colonies and the mother-country was to be reserved for the shipping of France.

These rules, which embodied the spirit and policy of France with regard to her maritime dealings with her colonies, though undergoing from time to time various modifications necessitated by circumstances, have, as far as possible, been upheld and enforced, and in many cases with considerable severity. Thus, while the exclusion of alien shippers was jealously secured by the most stringent measures, as, for instance, by the law of 1727, Article 3, in which it was further ordained that no foreigners should land with their ships or other vessels in the ports, bays, or harbours, of the French colonies and islands, nor navigate within one league round the said colonies and islands, under penalty of confiscation of their vessels and cargoes, and a fine of 4000 livres, jointly and severally, upon the master and his crew. These rigorous prohibitions concerning sailing near the coast were, however, relaxed in favour of England, after the cession to this country by France in 1763 under the Treaty of Paris of various islands on the American coast, but with reference only to such as were in the vicinity of British possessions.

But these stringent laws, ere long proved most disadvantageous to France herself, and became a very great hardship to some of her colonies; for, having lost Canada and Louisiana, which carried on a flourishing trade with the Antilles, the inhabitants of these islands were deprived of many essential commodities. Some of their ports were, consequently, opened to foreign shipping for the importation of certain enumerated articles, and the exportation of such of the goods produced by them as could not find a sufficient market within the French dominions.

Such, in a few words, were the ancient Navigation Laws of France; nor did the Revolution, which cast aside so many of the most venerated laws and customs of that country, discard the system of protection which those ancient laws were assumed to afford to their shipping. This system, on the contrary, seems to have suited the views of the chiefs of the revolutionary period, and, being, also, in accordance with the spirit of the stern legislators of that period, was rendered by them still more stringent by the addition of special prohibitions, which their predecessors had not considered expedient.

For instance, a decree of the 13th May, 1791, prohibited the acquisition from that date of all vessels of foreign build; and on the 21st September, 1793, another decree was issued, of a more comprehensive character.

But it must be remembered that France was then at war with all the Powers of Europe as well as with her own Rulers (the King having been beheaded 21st January, 1793), and, consequently, her commercial and naval laws were in accordance with the spirit of war, which has been ever opposed to the progress and well-being of the people. The laws, therefore, relating to trade and navigation, from 1792 to 1814 must not be considered such as the nation would have approved of if at peace, but rather as warlike measures, presumed to be necessary for the welfare, and, indeed, for the very existence of the nation. England being the nearest and most powerful enemy of France, as well as the financial supporter of all the other nations then leagued against her, it is not surprising that French statesmen should have passed such laws as had special reference to the injury of her maritime commerce and her power at sea; and that those laws should have been thought to display a spirit of revenge and hatred, though in reality they were merely counterparts of our own.

Consequently, Article 3 of the law of the 21st September, 1793, enacted that “No foreign commodities, productions, or merchandise, shall be imported into France, or into the possessions or colonies of France, except directly in French vessels, or in vessels belonging to the inhabitants of the countries in which the articles imported grew, were produced or manufactured, or from the ordinary ports of sale or exportation.” All officers and three-fourths of the crew were required to be natives of the country of which the foreign vessel bore the flag, under penalty of the confiscation of the ship and cargo, and a fine of 300 livres, enforceable under pain of imprisonment, jointly and severally, against owners, consignees, and agents of the vessel and cargo, as well as against the captain and mate. Article 4, copied from the most ancient laws of France, ordained that foreign vessels should not carry from one French port to another any commodities, productions, or merchandise, of the growth, production, or manufacture of France, or of its colonies or possessions, under penalties similar to those provided under Article 3. Another article stipulated that no vessel should be allowed the privileges of the French flag, unless built in that country, or in the colonies, or other possessions of France, or condemned as a prize, or for any infringement of the laws of the State, and, unless all the officers and three-fourths of the crew were French.

Amount of charges enforced.