[66] Mr. Colquhoun, now Sir Patrick Colquhoun, Q.C., at one time Plenipotentiary of the Hanse Towns at Constantinople, also gave evidence (see 3980, &c.); but, from a point of view entirely different from that of Mr. Richmond. The Hanse Towns, as carriers for the large continent of Germany, were naturally opposed to a system which circumvented their sphere of action, while Holland took the opposite view.
[67] Mr. Richmond was one of my constituents when I represented the Borough of Tynemouth, and, though he strongly opposed my return to Parliament, I have a pleasing recollection of him as a courteous man, and a fine specimen of the old school of Protectionists. In reply to a question of how it was that, in spite of such gloom and ruin, the shipowners of that borough continued to build more vessels, he replied, “Sir, do not you know that Hope is the last thing that forsakes the human breast?”
[68] See ante, [p. 42-8], Reports from their Consuls.
[69] Evidence of Captain Briggs.
[70] Evidence of Captain Briggs.
[71] These tables occupy much space. Vide ‘Report,’ p. 690. House of Commons Inquiry.
| Per Ton. | |||||
| £ | s. | ||||
| A ship | 12 years, | A 1 Class, | 300 tons old measure, built complete, sold for | 12 | 12 |
| ” | 10 ” | A 1 Class, | ditto | 10 | 10 |
| ” | 9 ” | A 1 Class, | ditto | 9 | 0 |
| ” | 8 ” | A 1 Class, | ditto | 8 | 0 |
| ” | 7 ” | A 1 Class, | ditto | 7 | 0 |
| ” | 6 ” | A 1 Class, | ditto | 6 | 0 |
[73] Vide Evidence of Mr. Braysher, 2297.
[74] It followed from the system, that there was coincidently a protected trade and an unprotected trade. The protected trade included in 1847 the whole coast of Africa and Cape of Good Hope, St. Helena and Ascension, Mauritius, British India, the British North American Colonies, the Australian Colonies, the British West Indies, the Fisheries, and the Channel Islands. The unprotected trade included Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Prussia, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Gibraltar and Malta[75], Turkey, the Morea and Egypt, Tripoli, Barbary and Marocco, China, Sumatra and Java, the foreign West Indies, the United States of America, Mexico and the States of South America, the Ionian Islands, the Cape de Verde and the South Sea Islands. In these two categories, protected and unprotected, the whole of the British trade was then comprehended.