19 



Canada could furnish for many years would he too small 

 to be felt as an injury, and yet the privilege of a free market 

 for Wheat, supplying but a few days' lonsumption. would 

 speedily elevate the Province to a condition she must other- 

 wise be very long' attaining. 



On the r2th October, 1842, the Canadian Le^^islature 

 passed an Act imposing a duty of 3s. per quarter on Foreign 

 Wheat. It stated that the objection of the British Govern- 

 ment to the free importation of Canadian Wheat and Flour 

 arose from the free admission of Foreign Wheat into Canada, 

 and that Lord Stanley's dispatch of the 2nd March, 1842, 

 afforded strong ground for expecting that on the imposition 

 of a duty on Foreii;n Wheat, her Majesty would recom- 

 mend to Parliament, the removal or reduction of the duties 

 on the importation of Wheat and Flour from Canada into 

 the United Kingdom. It was, therefore, enacted that 8s. 

 duty should be charged on all Wheat except British ; the 

 duty, fines, &c. under the Act to be paid to her Majesty's 

 Ileceiver General for the Province, and form part of the 

 Consolidated Revenue Fund thereof. 



On the 27th January, 1843, a Petition was forwarded by 

 Sir C. Bfigot from the President and Council of the Quebec 

 Board of Trade. It complained of the 2s. per barrel dut? 

 being imposed by the General Corn Law of 1842 on all 

 Foreign Flour imported into the British North American 

 possessions. If the Queen assented to the Canadian Act 

 for imposing a duty of 3s. on Foreign Wheat without con- 

 ferring on the Province some countervailing privilege in 

 their trade with some other parts of the empire, the Petition- 

 ers believed the result would be the utter prostration of the 

 trade of Canada. They, therefore, prayed that her 

 Majesty would withhold her assent to the Canadian Act 

 until the British Legislature had passed a law for admitting^ 

 all grain and flour from Canada, duty free into the United 

 Kingdom and other Colonies. The Governor General in 

 his dispatch sent with the Petition, said that the Canadian 

 Bill was passed with the expectation that all duty on 

 Canadian Grain and Flour would be removed ; and Sir 

 Charles added, that the rate of duty fixed upon American 

 Wheat was that originally proposed by the Vice-President 

 of the Board of Trad« on the introduction of the Colonial 

 Customs' Bill. 



At the same time was forwarded the report of a Special 

 Committee of the Legislative Assembly of Canada, on the 

 subject of Free Trade with Great Britain in agricultural 



F reduce and protection from competition with Foreigners, 

 t contained a series of resolutions which it recommended to 

 the Assembly. They were in substance — that to treat 



D 



