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

by W. S. Lindsay

Evidence of the Shipowners before the Lords’ Committee.

The contest being thus transferred for the time to a Committee of the Lords, the shipowners feeling sure of success before this tribunal, brought forward a large amount of evidence, much of which was instructive, though somewhat conflicting. Mr. G. F. Young, who again took the leading part, insisted that if foreign ships were allowed to trade indiscriminately with British possessions, and took part in the indirect trade with foreign countries, it would be impossible that British ships could obtain an equivalent, because by far the greater proportion of foreign States do not possess any colonies. But, even if they had anything to offer in return, he had little faith in “reciprocity;” because every nation, except England, appears to exhibit, with respect to its maritime commerce, an intense feeling of nationality, and a fixed determination to support its commercial marine. Sweden, he said, admits any article used in the construction and equipment of Swedish-built ships duty free, and remits to such vessels, for the first year after they are built, the export duties on goods charged to others. Russia adopted a somewhat similar policy by exempting all vessels built in that country from the payment of her port-charges, for the first three years after they were launched. But Mr. Young failed to see that, while all such concessions as these must be made good by extra taxes on the people of the respective countries, they were at the same time prejudicial to their own shipping, in that they encouraged the production of cheap and inferior vessels.

Numerous arguments of a similar character were adduced, some based on facts, others on conjectures; and not a few adverted to heavy losses the British shipowner contemplated from causes which never had and never could have any real existence. Prussia, for instance, he said, confines the trade in the importation of salt to her own ships, which was true; America, invariably, gave the preference to her own ships, a statement either conjectural or, in some degree, supported by the fact that her merchants often found it to their interest as traders, and, not through any feeling of “intense nationality,” to employ on certain trades their own ships in preference to those of any other nation. He further alleged that British shipowners would be irretrievably ruined by the admission of foreign ships, an assertion, of course, speculative, or purely imaginary. While maintaining that the evils of the Navigation Laws had been greatly overrated, he thought the advantages of these restrictive laws were equally exaggerated. He, however, attached the very greatest importance to the “Long Voyage clause,” considering that it was far from clear that the interests of the country required its repeal, or that it could be safely repealed without the most injurious consequences to British navigation; in a word, he thought no other clause in the Navigation Act so essential to the maintenance of British navigation.

Mr. Young proposes some modifications,

He could not, however, fail to see that the impossibility of bringing American cotton from Havre, cochineal from Teneriffe, or hides from Buenos Ayres (about which great complaints had been raised), occasioned great inconvenience. The cochineal from Teneriffe was no doubt, as explained elsewhere, absurdly exaggerated as a grievance, but it involved other articles, and could not be maintained on principle. Mr. Young, therefore, to remedy this evil, suggested a modification of the third clause of the Navigation Act, by introducing some words with respect to the produce of distant quarters of the world, as that which regulated by the second clause the importations from Europe; namely, by the limitation of the restriction to certain articles to be specifically enumerated; the enumerated articles being made to comprise all those bulky commodities, the retention of the importation of which to British shipping was of the last importance, while the surrender of the remainder would not materially affect British maritime commerce, and ought therefore, in his opinion, to be conceded to general convenience. The effect of this would be to exclude from the restriction such minor articles as are not the staple produce of those countries, and which, though not entering largely into British consumption, might occasionally be required as part of assorted cargoes. Another relaxation Mr. Young proposed, guarding himself, however, by stating that he had no authority to do so from any constituted body of shipowners, was to introduce in like manner, in perfect accordance with the general principle of the Navigation Laws, a permission to import the produce of Asia, Africa, and America, not only from the country of production, but, from the country within those distant parts of the world in which the produce might be found. Under such a regulation, he explained that if it should happen that the hides of Buenos Ayres were found at New York, it would enable those hides to be imported into England either in British ships or in American ships; and it would enable tea, the produce of China, in like manner to be imported from New York, or any part of Asia, Africa, or America.

the first concessions of the Anti-Repeal party.

This was, perhaps, the first concession which the anti-repeal party had made with regard to the Navigation Laws. They vainly thought it would tend to settle the whole question. They saw that the relaxation proposed, if fully carried out, while meeting many of the cases of real grievance complained of by commission merchants, would practically retain most important advantages they would never consent to relinquish, but which they would as certainly lose if they were to allow the importation of goods, the produce of distant quarters of the globe, in foreign ships direct into Great Britain from the place of production.

This modification of the Navigation Laws was, doubtless, important, and was said to be in strict harmony with the principle then regulating the importation of goods from the various countries of Europe, which, in 1825, was permitted by Mr. Huskisson to be made from the place where found, the earlier restriction having been that the importation must be from the place of production.

The shipowners would still have retained to British shipping the advantage of the direct voyage, which was, after all, their great point. In consenting to the plan, they urged that, in the end, the interest of the consumer would be equally secured with that of the shipowner, by giving that encouragement afforded by the Navigation Act to direct rather than indirect importation. The opponents of repeal exhibited great alarm lest, if indirect importations were permitted, these would take place from distant ports of the world into the nearer ports of Europe, and be there warehoused: and they expressed the fear that the people of this country would then consume considerable proportions of the productions of tropical climates, burdened with the expenses of previous importation into the ports of continental nations, in addition to what was then paid under the limited direct importation!! It was only, he said, with the view of remedying palpable absurdities, such as that of the hides brought from Buenos Ayres to Hamburg, that Mr. Young suggested a modification of the existing law, which he thought would not merely meet that case, but also remove the greater part of the inconveniences complained of arising from the operation of the Navigation Laws.

Government insists on Total Repeal.