The Star And Newfoundland Advocate, 1841-08-07, vol. 01, no. 40

              %im
<; And   J\rewfoundlan
cute.
Vol. 1.
lftn% an*nyg ■yatflw|jM*g
SATURDA?Y, AUGUST/7, 1841.
No. 40.
"ST.   JOJlf^S,  Newfoundli
I Publisbed by  JOHN THOMAS EUR
lis OfScs, oooof.it.c-the prca;
of N. Gt?.1,, Esq. Yi'ATGR-sTn-n:
From Belts Weekly Messenger.
j misunderstood^ that they are now re-
| sis-ling- some menaced invasrou ol" this
DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT AlStrl
I1EU MAJESTY'S; SPEECH ON THE   '
PROROGATION.
If there he two constitutional prin-
. ciples, or ratlier two principles ol
common ami ordinary prudejttre, winch
woiild serin to admit of no tioubt,
they C-hll appear, wo think, to be t e
two lb Mo.vi tig. The fit*-*, that when
the sovereign comes forth to act in
its own proper person, he or she
should so act ami speak, as to be totally withqtft aity suspicion of party ;
**fiere shoiptlibe no hold upon whieh
the angr jTpa&jsipas of the people could
attach, and l^y which the public
reverence of the sovereign dignity
could he impaired. I his is the first
* pf'nuciple in the conslituli tu A se-
eond principle, equally sound, and we
should thiYiitTequally obvious ap
pears to be, that when any high authority, which'is about to^ct upon
lhe will and opinion ol anotuer, comes
forward Jo inquire what such will and
o(>iiiii>i) iibports, he or she should be
careful not, to impair 4rfnd prejudice
-the free declaration of it by any state'
ent of its own particular bias and
filiation. The first question, there-
hich occurs to us upon the
, whether these principles
i followed on the preset t oe-
For example, how isjtre-
vith the two above plain
al maxims, thai ihe minis-
aid have managed wiih the>r
r.oiti ess to give that turn to
a speech, which without
io place before the public
: at issue, 'contrives to in-
uate it in very obvious language;
nely, that the parliament has been
dissolved, because the " paramount
importance ol trade antl industry"
have been attacked ond because the
ance measures of her Majesty's
rvanis.liave lieen rejected by the
-louse of Commons. What, indeed,
«ays tfm3sp«*ech:—
*. " On a full consideration,of tha present
state of public affairs, I have come .tu the
determination bT~j>r©roguing this parliament,
with a view to its immediate dissolution,
" TheTauamount importnnce ofthe trade
and industry ofthe cot»ntryvantTiaiy anxiety
that the exigencies ofV_ib« public service
should be provided for in the mapi
o. the
posinj
e, and fighting tlie  battle of
resse.'i v trade and   iutiu*try
on iti "  against all b:h t  op*
ibiulng misses-. /
:i from, the crovfu oi
** j ii .mount" jmpbrtant ol
:c!i of industrfv as to/prVel ude
i! ittention toVijU-^uers.
rue, indeed, that a thriving
arid  ovev'flowing
id
ieh
•;t   tin
leant
burdensome to the community, have induced
nic to resort to the means which, the constitution has intrusted to me of ascertaimrlg
the sense of my people'upon matters' which
80 deeply concern their Welfare
" I entertain the lidpe that "tbe progress of
public iusiness may be facilitated, and that
divisions injurious to the eourse of'steady
'■ policy and useful legisloaion\may*be removed
by the authority of a new parliament, which
I shall airect to be summoned without  de-
^y" m
—--Ttwa^j-jihile the ministers appeared
to admit that it tyo ild have been in-
decent to pit into her Majesty's
mouth any language tending to produce cdIIimo i between the different
classes of trade aud agriculture, they
have not hesitated to insist Upon the
"paramount importance of trade,
and to signify, in   terms  not   to be
sources ol.puhlic prosperity! and that
every cheek and incumbrajice upon
thefn should be carefully removed, if
consistent with . fairness and. equal
dealing towards all other interests ;
but why this marked and invidious
preference? Does it not look like
a purpose to range the diflVreiit classes
o*-industry against each otlier, and to
exhibit her Majesty as ruhning to
ttie stlccoui of one particular branch
against the actual'or menaced invasion of, its proper interests hy some
powiTful.aud successful rival,?""
If we turn to our statute hook, w
slmii iinti un act passed for tbe pu
poses of trade* and commerce, in the.
reign of one of her Majesty's an-***
cestors, which has usually been deemed as. wise a statute, and the work ol
as able men, as ever flourished in this
country. The act is the l5lh of
Charles I!. ; if is entitled " An -"Act
for the Encouragement of Trade,"
and it begins in \hesev remarkable
words, •' Forasmuclvas the encouragement of Tillage ought to be in an
especial manner regarded and endeavoured, and the surest antl tnrst
effectual meanSy-e-f promoting and advancing aay trade, occupation!, or
employment, being to render Unprofitable to the users thereof," &e.—
TheVct then pro eeds tp make those
provision*- which -ire well known to
the commercial leader. f
Now', we quoie the preamble o
Ihis statute, mereiv fo show lhe tlii ■
fer ent sentiments which were-at tha*'
time entertained by our ancestois ;
wlien the foundations'of our ti *yiga-
tiopdaw antl colonial trade were laid
upo'n the broad basis of wisdom and
experience, ami when- Great Britain
firr£ became a manufacturing, a commercial, and an expoiting nation, -
solely, and for* no other reason, hut
by the improvement of its agriculture.
But let us examine a little, further
into vibe policy of a dissolution to
advance the trade ami industry ofthe
country, postponing for the present
all consideration of the corn-laws, except so far as to remark: That the
constitution of the government of the
United Kingdom in all its parts, and
the symmetry and security ol tlfe
whole, are founded and depend upon
landed'properly, and cannot subsist
in their present form if the value of
-njeli property be materially diminished, ard its due Weight in the government of the country destroyed-; and
.that any national ami legislativeinji ry
to that property, by altering the just
balance of tiie constitution,, inuV.   . at*
to the ove/th.iow of theexistiii
of government, and the subsi
.of some new 'orsn. unless the u   j'ej •
t.'f tbe general confusion si ..
the country   back   to   liiat   .*•
which has produced its bappiues  anu
prosperity'lor so many centuries.—
This is all we shall now . ;.\
culture. \ •
Admitting, there, lhat the exigi :■-
cii b ol trade  and  commerce-^oulii;
...
justify a diss dution al  any time, we
obstructions to.lndusiry and traflt ?
Surely 'hose who are r.sainlv coh-
ccriied i-n ihcrn.
The leading interests .of the country,
as regards tra.de and coihmi•vr, 'ai • ■
her colonies* her*^Wppihg in tercet, and
her domestic conuiA'ce and manti-
fhctur-es ; batAvlly s,ty aH flies, classes
to the proposed commercial thai ;i s
of ministers? The Colonics • nji-ct
them altogether as tlestructive of their*
trade, their purpose being to upplant
vthetn by foreigner; and to destroy their
■•JiUtyW Niaiktis. No-v the colours,
if we inclutUi the liast lirdies, n>m-
prehend a population of niore than
do.uble the amount ol'the population
of- the mother country ; they coi-
sume of our manufactures mere than
tr.eble the value of those exported to
foreign nations But is tin's larg*e
customer, the colonist, this nurse ol
our navy, and this sure so'iiree of our
maritime*>greatne*aS, to he cast off antl
endangered, for the mere chance ol
giving an enlarged trade to the merchant antl manufacturer ot a few
peculiar coniinotlities ?
As respects the shipping inter, sf,
in wliich, next to ibe land, the largest
capital is invested, there is hut /m*-*
voice of reprobation of the new
eha*nges proposed by ministers. -Wt*
rel'e'otir readers to the annual meeting
ofthe Bill ish shipowners, -assembled
in London on Friday the l*Sili. It
must bealisoluleiv fatal, say thev, fo
the B'ith'rrmari'ne ; it sirikes ;,t tire
^lory of the naval Hag; it introduce"
the foreigners into the carry in <> trade
former!)1' possessed hy ouF.selvTs ; it
makes ft impracticable to maintain
the navigation laws,which impose so
many..restrictions ou British-built
ships • it throws oiut of employment
the British sailor/,.and, iu the lan^miqe
of Mr. Alderman Thompson, it will
necessarily lead to such an intrusion
of the foreigner into tne coasting trade,
as Jo diminish the value of British
shipping npaHy seyenty-five per
cent. '
N"ow, consider the effect which this
diminution of our maritime' trade
would produce" upon the ..numerous
external occupations with which it
stanis connected. It would besome-
thing like abolishing house bu'rldtng
from the list of mechanical employments, and it is impossible to conceive any increase in any other branch
of industry, which could make com
pensa ion
tiius be ef;
t
fflFthe
injury w Iwcli would
iihtnge cnulfktha proposed
u te upon our domestic.markets?
!    i ti     . between tow^i nud town,
juid thow .   H the channels  of our insular
commeftf.   i    re would    be a stnr.par*e  i
. the Buspimded am'
.terruptt-d,  all   sucfi   of  tl
market-ttjwns, as uere not  immediately
i : . utlit-cd of the  pints, would  a
!   -ise to be places of sale and resort.—
| The Britfsli corn-factor and nuli-owner would
transfer his custom to the sea-
port towti in which foreign com was entered
and 1" :>.!>-.] ; aad instead of trade being dis-
, p.*. it is  now,  throoghoQt  the  or-
i  mercial and agricultural districts,
! f w< uld be confined upd dammed up withm
1/1*0 cr*r.clusion, v\b, it arc all these changes
i in producp but an increase  of our
inaiuif.e'lirep  for'sforeigfi* consumption,—aa
[ object which will alv,avs\be steaHllv opposed
e jealousy and rivalry of the conbntntal
nates, and by the interests of their own
traders end manufacturers ? Such trade, if
it could be secured, would never ocount to
one-fifteenth part Of our home dealers, nor
to r>m*-fq,irtli part of our coloMal trade.—
Under any possiblo circumstances, stfch
Im'de, amd su li'jdsily depfendt nee upon
f--rcirtiers, rnusl L. precariouspand unsafe;—
W*e should ahvn s he in contention with such
foreigners on ti. *-ubject of duties ; them
would be a ;. inal Custom.bouse jarring
and wiai',(.:-*.*. Our commerce would al-
v.'.ivs becorn.e Iti ' I to be suspended by war,
and'our mercfiants and manufactures would
be exposed tr ti -!. Iluc;i>aiicns, and from so
many .causes,— I '■ 1:1 civ il dissensions, as
well, as -from national wars,—that no firm
and no large. ii,*. i.sunent of capital could be
deemed long safe. A Civil war, like that of
Spain, would throw such a glut of our own
manufactures upon our hands, and fling them
back upon eti*- own markets, or rather, into
our own warehouses, as to throw «ut of^em-
p'pymsiit ali that increase of popu1atio6-*Sriich
the stimulus ofa foimt-r demand might have
called inio our factories and magazines,—
snd thus occa<*i.m that degree of distress of
v. Ijicli we bid some example in the first
wars that succeeded the war of 1814. To
ciiint upon such a trad? fjr revenue would
in- to coitnt upon the burren sea shore for
i".dJ ; ii would be but an unnatural con-
trivancent Lest, and, like ail ariiflcinl sys-
ttms, which are f'lrmed iu opposition tor natural relation^ would scarcely outlive *Xhie
first fe-. years ofthe experi%ient.
In.all ihat we have above  said, it is not
our purpose  to  contend   that   out   present
. itnuiug aud commercial Bjawtri is perfect in
I it's present form ; that many of our lawn have
hot become obsolete, anu are no longer fit-
led.'or at leas*, required, for the purposes for
whiili they were iiist passed '; »and  that our
naVy, in its' present degree o£ strength, does
not require that large sacrifice  of other in-
t-rest**, which was wisely afforded to it under
the Act of Charles the Second.    We conulnd
only for lhe nia'.t*ten*>.nce of the general principle, and admit    ^at  every  ten  or  twenty
vears may produce a new slate of-things in
particular trailer, which may render it prudent and wise to revise any old laws whu*h
may hear too heavily upon present eirrum- *
stances..  Laws of mere regulation are not to
be   confounded    with    those    fund a menial
maxims which are justly   termed  constituii-*
onal principles; the former, except in their
general spirit,  were  ceVer  intended   to be
permanent, and therefore there is no  sound
objection against submitting them  to that
revision   which  any   new  state of circumstances onay seem to require.
But an ancient Mode of dealing, which
was begun two centuries back, and   which
has been Untinued up to the present time,
has obviously so far answered jts purpose,
as to have rendered us the richest and  the
mest powerful nation in the w-orld, because
our   agrii-ultttre,  our   commerce, and  cur
'--ade, have grown up together, have inter-
'.......'* their associated roots, and yielding
.'■ -sch other a neighbourly sustenance fro» ..