GENERAL HISTORY. 



[69 



goods coming from all countries 

 dependent on France. It would 

 give him great pleasure to see those 

 duties lessened by the diminution 

 of the number of those countries. 

 — They were not to attach to the 

 exports of any country in amity 

 with his majesty ; and the declara- 

 tion of that amity would imme- 

 diately cause the cessation of those 

 duties. The only other additional 

 duty on exports which he meant to 

 propose was, a duty of a penny a 

 pound on the exportation of foreign 

 hides, which would operate very 

 advantageously on our leather 

 manufactures in foreign markets, 

 and it would have been proper 

 perhaps that ere now this measure 

 should have been adopted, as hides 

 might be considered as in some 

 measure a military store. The 

 only remaining article of proposed 

 taxation was one which he was in- 

 duced to adopt on political as well 

 as on financial principles — it was a 

 duty on the importation of Ameri- 

 can cotton wool. The American 

 government had declared their 

 principal ports to be in a state of 

 blockade, extending from Rhode 

 island southward ; thus endeavour- 

 ing to deprive our manufacturers 

 of that important material. He 

 had every reason to believe, that, 

 if proper encouragement weregiven 

 to the importation of cotton wool 

 from our own colonies, this stop- 

 page on the part of the Americans 

 would be wholly innoxious to this 

 country. It was obvious, however, 

 that to create this encouragement 

 it would be necessary to secure the 

 merchant, bringing cotton wool 

 from such a distance, against losing 

 by his speculation. If the merchant 

 incurred the danger of having his 

 cotton intercepted in our market 



by the American cotton, he would 

 be in a state of little promise 

 and great uncertainty. Unfortu- 

 nately such an occurrence had 

 lately taken place : — when the 

 American government imposed the 

 embargo on their ports, which occa- 

 sioned a temporary stoppage of the 

 exportation of cotton wool from 

 the United States, encouragement 

 was given by government (in order 

 to prevent injury to the British 

 manufactures) to the importation 

 of large quantities from our own 

 colonies. But unluckily it came 

 too late — the Americans had 

 taken off their embargo ; and, un- 

 protected by such a countervail- 

 ing duty as that which he was 

 about to propose, the British mer- 

 chant sustained very considerable 

 loss. It was to prevent the occur- 

 rence of similar events that he was 

 induced to make the proposition to 

 the committee. The committee were 

 aware that the Sea Island cotton 

 was the finest imported from Ame- 

 rica. The object which he had in 

 view was, to procure the fine 

 article from the East Indies, by 

 affording a sufficient encourage- 

 ment to the importers. There was 

 at present a sufficient quantity on 

 hand of every kind, except the 

 Sea Island, and it was a necessary 

 ground of his measure, intended 

 to promote the importation of the 

 finer kind, to prevent the ruin 

 which would fall on the importer 

 by any sudden competition. With 

 this view, he proposed to lay a 

 protecting duty of three half-pence 

 per pound on all American cotton 

 imported in British ships, and a 

 duty of sixpence per pound on all 

 such cotton imported in foreign 

 bottoms. The whole consumption 

 of cotton in our own manufactures 



