[92] In 1787, we equipped a fleet to support the Stadtholder. In 1790, we had a misunderstanding with Spain about Nootka Sound; and in 1791, we raised a naval armament to check the ambition of Russia.
[93] By the law then in force every seaman, before he could be employed on board a merchant ship, was required to produce a certificate from the officer of the Registrar of Seamen, called a register-ticket, showing that he was duly qualified for his duties, either as able or ordinary seaman; but the system was found to be impracticable, and was so grossly abused that it has since been abolished.
[94] In the United States the old English measurement is still adhered to, and the poops of ships are not measured, which accounts for much of the difference observable in the measurement of British and American ships. For example, the Henry Clay, of 1207 tons American measurement, where the poop was not included, measured 1467 tons by the new English mode, on which light, dock, and other dues are charged. The ship Queen of the West, 1106 tons American, measured for light dues in Liverpool, 1270 tons English. The effect of this would be that the calculation of $70 per ton would be diminished in a corresponding ratio if taken in English tonnage, and with the poops included. The estimate of $70 per ton, that is, American measurement, applies to the cost of a ship with her spars and sails, rigging, and everything complete ready to receive a cargo, but without her sea stores.
CHAPTER VIII.
Motion of Mr. Herries, 1848—Protectionist principles stated—Extent of shipping trade—National defences endangered—Mr. Labouchere’s reply—Alderman Thompson—Mr. Gladstone’s views—Mr. Hudson—Lord George Bentinck—Mr. Hume—Mr. Cobden—Mr. Disraeli—Sir Robert Peel—The resolution carried by 117, but abandoned for a time—Temper of the Shipowners—Efforts of Ministers to obtain reciprocity by a circular from the Foreign Office—Reply thereto of America—Mr. Buchanan’s letter—Reply of other Powers—Progress of Free-trade views—Parliament of 1849—Death of Lord George Bentinck, September 21, 1848—Mr. Labouchere’s new resolution, February 14, 1849—Proposed change in coasting trade—Mr. Bancroft recalcitrates—Hence, withdrawal of the coasting clauses—The debate—Alderman Thompson, &c.—Mr. Ricardo—Meeting of Shipowners’ Society—Their report—The manning-clause grievance—Policy proposed—Agitation in the country.
Although the shipowners appear to have placed much confidence in the House of Lords, they saw that unless they could convince the Commons that the repeal of the Navigation Laws would be prejudicial to the interests of England, they would have no hope of maintaining the status quo: and, further, that no modification would satisfy the demands of the Free-traders, who, strong in their principles, consequently repudiated all compromise with Protectionists.
Motion of Mr. Herries, 1848.
One of the most earnest leaders of the latter class had just re-entered the House of Commons after a long absence from it. Mr. Herries had been Chancellor of the Exchequer so long before as 1828. He was an able and honest Conservative; sound in his principles and earnest in everything he undertook. To him, therefore, the Protectionist shipowners in their hour of trial appealed for aid; nor did they appeal in vain. Mr. Herries was heart and soul with them. He saw nothing but ruin and desolation in the abolition of these ancient laws. They had, in his judgment, been tampered with and weakened by Huskisson, and now they were about to be destroyed by such men as Cobden, Bright, Ricardo, and Milner Gibson, backed, alas! “by his old friend and colleague, Sir Robert Peel.” No wonder, therefore, that he buckled on his armour with vigour for the fight; and, soon after the debate on the resolution of the Government, he submitted, though on a separate occasion, the following counter-resolution:—“That it is essential to the national interests of the country to maintain the fundamental principles of the existing Navigation Laws, subject to such modifications as may be best calculated to obviate any proved inconvenience to the commerce of the United Kingdom and its dependencies without danger to our national strength.”
This resolution had been framed with great care. It had been the subject of unusual consideration by the Shipowners’ Society of London, then the oracle of all the other Protectionist societies in England, whose object was the maintenance of the Navigation Laws; and, in their opinion, the maritime greatness of England depended upon its success. If defeated, “Rule Britannia” would for ever be expunged from our national songs; the glories of Duncan and Nelson would “wither like the aspen-leaf, and fade like the Tyrian dye;” and, as none but “Yankees, Swedes, Danes, and Norwegian sailors would be found in our ports, who, they demanded, would there be to fight our battles and defend our sea-girt shores?” These were, then, no mere words of course; they were the honest expressions of the thoughts of earnest men, who, however mistaken in their views, or perhaps in some instances blinded by what they conceived to be self-interest, firmly believed that the power and greatness of their native land depended on the preservation of the Navigation Laws.
The counter-declaration of Mr. Herries was therefore introduced with the sole object of getting rid of the Ministerial measure, failing that, of modifying it in such a manner as not to abrogate the principle of these laws. Hence he embodied in his speech all the leading arguments of the advocates of a restrictive policy. Thus, after alluding to the proceedings of the committee of the previous year, Mr. Herries found fault with Government for having, without further inquiry, announced in the Speech from the Throne their evident intentions, however vaguely worded, of making an entire change in the maritime policy of Great Britain. Six months had elapsed and Ministers had proposed no measure; while the House of Lords, acting more wisely, had instituted the further inquiry then going on, a portion of the evidence taken having been already laid before the House of Commons. If, argued Mr. Herries, the Lords should, from the evidence taken before them, resolve on the maintenance of those laws and on the rejection of the Government measure, such a course might occasion embarrassment. He complained that while the British shipowner would be exposed to foreign competition by the removal of all protection, the heavy burden of being required to man his ship agreeably with the rules of the Navigation Laws was still retained. Criticising in succession the various pleas in behalf of Prussia, America, and our West Indian Colonies, for the repeal or modification of the present code, he remarked that Prussia had nothing to give us in return for the concessions she sought, and that her warnings and threats of withdrawing such advantages as she had already conceded were of trivial moment. America, in the most friendly way, no doubt, requested to participate in our foreign and colonial trade, in return for reciprocal concessions to be made to us: but America had no colonies; and it was wholly out of her power to give us any equivalent for the advantages she would be sure to acquire by the abolition of our Navigation Laws. “Why did not ‘free’ America,” he exclaimed, “show us an example, and abolish her laws, which were quite as stringent as ours?”