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

by W. S. Lindsay

Progress of Free-trade views.

It was very remarkable, that in the celebrated Petition of the London merchants to the House of Commons, so far back as 1820,[102] from which the Free-trade movement may be dated, no mention is made of the Navigation Laws. Mr. Tooke, who drew the petition, directed chiefly attention to the then unacknowledged fact that freedom from restraint was calculated to give the utmost extension to foreign trade, and the best direction to the capital and industry of the country. That the maxim of buying in the cheapest market and selling in the dearest, the rule of every merchant in his individual dealings, was as strictly applicable to the trade of the nation; but had Mr. Tooke at that time hinted anything about navigation, or the abrogation of the existing Navigation Laws, he would have exposed himself almost to personal danger. The success, however, of the Free-trade measures which had been adopted since 1842 had totally changed the current of public opinion, and it was now only the shipowners, and the still powerful Protectionist party in Parliament, which resisted this last crowning measure of Free-trade. The opposition of the shipowners arose from a deep-seated conviction that utter and inevitable ruin to their class would result from the abrogation of the Navigation Laws.

Parliament of 1849.

Parliament assembled on the 2nd of February, 1849. The commercial and manufacturing interests were rallying, but had not as yet effectually revived from the prostration occasioned by the commercial crisis of 1847, and the general want of confidence resulting from the shock of the foreign revolutions in 1848. The shipping trade was in a state of transition, as it was not until some time later that the gold discoveries in Australia gave a fresh impulse to the “long voyage” trade, and that towards a region of the globe which promised but a slow, however certain, future development of wealth and navigation. The shipowners were, in fact, still suffering a periodical depression of trade after two or three very prosperous years.

In the Speech from the Throne delivered by her Majesty in person, she said: “I again commend to your attention the restrictions imposed on commerce by the Navigation Laws. If you shall find that these laws are, in whole or in part, unnecessary for the maintenance of our maritime power while they fetter trade and industry, you will no doubt deem it right to repeal or modify their provisions.”

Death of Lord George Bentinck, 21st September, 1848.

When the House of Commons assembled, a great void was felt in the absence of Lord George Bentinck, who, during the recess, had been snatched away by death in the very pride of manhood. His devotion to the cause of the shipowners and Protectionist principles rendered his loss deeply felt by many classes. On the day of his interment, which was dark, cold, and drizzling, this feeling of respect was paid in a manner almost reverential. From nine till eleven o’clock that day all the British shipping in the docks and in the river, from London Bridge to Gravesend, hoisted flags half-mast high, and minute guns were fired from appointed stations along the Thames. The same mournful ceremony was observed in all the ports of the United Kingdom; and not only in these, for the flag was half-mast high on every British ship at Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Havre.[103] Whatever may have been the political errors of Lord George Bentinck, he was eminently the friend and champion of the shipowners. Shortly before his death he had renounced the leadership of his party in the House of Commons, and Mr. Disraeli had succeeded him. In the House of Lords the re-appointment of the committee of the preceding year was slightly mentioned; but upon an intimation from the Marquess of Lansdowne that the measure to be introduced by Government would not be delayed for the report of this committee, the shipowners abandoned whatever designs some of them may have had to prolong the inquiry.

Mr. Labouchere’s new resolution, February 14, 1849.

On the 14th February Mr. Labouchere, still President of the Board of Trade, moved a fresh resolution almost in the identical terms employed in the preceding year. He recapitulated at great length the arguments in favour of repeal which he had employed in the previous session. It will be unnecessary to dwell upon these here; but his new light with regard to the coasting trade deserves a place in tracing the progress of our mercantile marine: on this branch of the subject he seemed to tremble before the superior abilities of Mr. Gladstone; and the remarks of that gentleman intimating a strong desire to surrender the coasting trade, with a view to obtain in return that of the United States, evidently made considerable impression upon his mind, so that he scarcely knew what to grant or refuse. Mr. Gladstone asked, not merely that we should give colonial trade for colonial trade, but our coasting trade for theirs. It was asserted that the American trade, say from New York to California, was a foreign, or colonial, rather than a coasting traffic. But to argue that a voyage from London to Malta was to be held part of a colonial trade, while a voyage from California to New York was to be considered part of a coasting trade, was preposterous, and Mr. Labouchere affected to believe that the United States would not persist in a policy so contrary to the dictates of justice and common sense.[104]

Proposed change in the coasting trade.