T I M 



457 



T I M 



quality, and much superior to the colonial timber. Sir 

 Robert Seppings, formerly surveyor of the navy, stated 

 before a parliamentary committee, ' that Canada timber is 

 peculiarly subject to "dry-rot; that frigates built of fir, 

 the growth of North America, did not average half the 

 durability of other timber ; and that the Royal Navy had 

 suffered so much from the use of Canada or North Ameri- 

 can timber, that its use was now altogether discontinued, 

 except for deals and masts.' A number of timber-mer- 

 chants, builders, and carpenters gave evidence before the 

 -same committee as to the inferior quality of the colonial 

 timber. One of the witnesses said : ' It is not allowed to 

 be used in government buildings, nor is it ever used in the 

 best buildings in London. It is only speculators who use 

 it, from the price of it being much lower than the Baltic 

 *iruber.' The inferior colonial timber is forced into use 

 by enormous differential duties, which, before the recent 

 alteration of the tariff, amounted to a bonus of 1000 per 

 cent, in some cases, as the following table shows : 



Duty on Ditto from Differential 



In 1787 the duty on foreign timber was only 6*. 8rf. the 

 load of fifty cubic feet, but it was raised at different times, 

 until, in 1804, it amounted to 25*. In 1810 the duty was 

 raised to 54s. 8</. ; and from 1814 to 1820 it was 64*. llrf. 

 and 65*. the load. The trade in colonial timber had 

 :'ly any existence before 1803, although until 1798 

 it had been admitted free of duty ; and the duty imposed 

 in that year was only 3 per cent, ad valorem, which was 

 changed in 1803 to a specific duty of 2s. the load. In 

 consequence of the war there was a great rise in the price 

 of European timber, and Memel fir advanced from 78*. to 

 320*. the load. In order therefore further to encourage 

 the supply from our own colonies, North American timber 

 was asrain", in 1806, admitted duty free. The stimulus was 

 no doubt justifiable, but it was continued after the tempo- 

 rary causes in which it originated had passed away. The 

 following table shows the effect of the differential duties 

 in substituting colonial timber for that of the north of 

 Europe : 



The return to a sounder principle of taxation has been 

 very slow. In 1821, in consequence of recommendations 

 from both Houses of Parliament, the duty on European 

 timber was reduced from G5v. to 55*. the load, and a duty 

 ol UK. was imposed on colonial timber, leaving a prefe- 

 rence duty of 45*. still in operation. In 1831, the govern- 

 ment of Karl Grey proposed, by gradual reductions, spread 

 over three years, to lower the duty on European timber 

 15*., which would still have left it at 40*.,' or 30*. higher 

 than colonial ; but the measure was defeated in the House 

 of Commons by a majority of 236 to 1!K). A committee 

 of the House of Commons which inquired into the timber 

 duties in 1835, recommended a very inadequate reduction 

 ;u- to that proposed by Earl Grey's government), but 

 it was not followed by any result ; and in 1841 the govern- 

 ment of Lord Melbourne proposed a reduction from 5.~>v. 

 on foreign timber, and an increase from 

 Id . the load to 15*. on colonial; but subsequent party 

 changes prevented this alteration being effected. In the 

 tariff of in 12 5 & 6 Viet., c. 47), the duty on colonial 

 timber has been reduced to a merely nominal sum, 

 namely, 1*. the load, and to 2v. on deals, and tid. on lath- 

 wood. The reduction on foreign timber is partly prospec- 

 tive. Until the loth . 1843, the duty will be 3().v. 

 *,he load on timber, and after this date 25*. ; on foreign 

 P. C., Is 



deals the reduction in the first instance is to 35*., and after 

 October, 1843, it will be 30*., and the duty on lath-wood is 

 at once reduced to 10*. the load. In 1841 the duty bn 

 timber produced 1,566,291/., and, without allowing for an 

 increase of consumption in the first year, the loss of reve- 

 nue is estimated at 601,4911. ; and for the year ending 

 October, 1844, when the reduced duties will be fully in ope- 

 ration, the loss to the revenue will be 589,99H. according 

 to the estimate of the minister, who allows for an increase 

 of 12 per cent, on foreign and 20 per cent, on colonial tim- 

 ber, and 20 per cent, on foreign and 24 per cent, on colonial 

 deals. (Speech of Sir R. Peel, llth March, 1842.) The 

 mode of charging the duty has been improved and rendered 

 less complex under the present arrangement. Planks t 

 deals, and battens were formerly charged by the great hun- 

 dred (120) in classes, and the duty was disproportionably 

 heavy on the smallest and least valuable kinds. In mea- 

 suring timber in logs, or unsawn, the cubic contents were* 

 it is alleged, not fairly calculated, but were over-estimated 

 to the extent of from 10 to 20 per cent. ; and the sawyers 

 complained that timber partly cut up was charged with a 

 lower proportional duty than in the log, by which their 

 interests were needlessly injured. The public however 

 have still reason to complain that the duties are calculated, 

 as before, to interpose restrictions on the use of superior 

 timber, in order to benefit those who are engaged in sup- 

 plying the inferior article. The direct loss sustained pre- 

 vious to the recent alteration of duty was estimated at 

 1,500,000^. annually ; and a great sacrifice of revenue has 

 now been made without attaining the benefits which 

 might have attended a return to a better policy, though 

 the disproportion will be only 24*. instead of 45*. the load. 

 Prussia, Norway, Sweden, and other countries are still 

 restricted in the means of exchanging their products for 

 British manufactures ; the preference duty on Canadian 

 timber prevents a supply of timber being derived from 

 the forests on the banks of the Danube and on the coun- 

 tries bordering the Bk,ck Sea ; and the general shipping 

 interests have been sacrificed to the owners of six or 

 seven hundred half worn-out ships. In the colonies 

 the monopoly duty has diverted industry from agriculture. 

 It has been repeatedly shown that neither to any portion 

 of the shipping interest here nor the timber interest of the 

 colonies would a complete equalization of the timber 

 duties be more than temporarily injurious. 'The fixed 

 capital embarked in saw-mills does not, it is believed, 

 exceed 200,000/., and some descriptions of Canadian timber 

 would command the English market under any circum- 

 stances, while there is a growing demand for all kinds in 

 the Northern states of the American union. The floating 

 capital now engaged in the trade of ' lumbering ' could of 

 course be transferred with little difficulty to the cultiva- 

 tion of the soil, and the export of flour, tobacco, hemp, 

 flax, and ashes, would fill up the vacuum occasioned by 

 the diminished export of timber, and would require the 

 shipping which had not found full employment in the 

 new channels to which the timber-trade would be directed. 

 The consumption of timber in the United Kingdom in 

 1841 was as follows : 



Battens and Batten Ends 

 Deals and Deal Ends from 



British America 

 Deals and Deal Ends from 



other parts 



Staves 



Timber 8 in. sq. and upwards 



from British America . 

 from other parts. 



Great Hunda. Gross Herenne. 



18,969 156,120 

 44,148 90,113 



24,242 

 89,699 



l/i, ills. 



613,079 

 131,479 



491,980 

 40,777 



337,795 

 370,302 



Other sorts are technically called ' woods,' meaning fancy 

 woods for furniture, &c., and dye-woods. Of mahogany 

 the consumption was 18,170 tons in 1841, having been 

 20,451 tons in 1840. (Report of Committee on Timber 

 Duties, 1835 ; British and Foreign Reciew, No. 4 ; Por- 

 ter's Progress of the Nation, vol. ii.) 



TIMBER AND TIMBER-TREES. Timber-trees are 

 those the wood of which is used for building or repairing 

 houses. Oak, ash, and elm, of the age of twenty years 

 and upwards, are the trees most generally included undev 

 that, denomination ; but there are many other kinds of 

 trees, such as beech, cherry, aspen, willow, thorn, holly, 

 horsechesnut, lime, yew, walnut, &c., which are, by the 



VOL. XXIV. 3 N 



