294 
DIFFERENT OILS EMPLOYED IN MAKING SOAP. 
VEGETABLE OILS. 
(From Report of the Commissioners of Exeise 
Inquiry.) 
Customs' Duties on the Raw Materials. 
Although the instructions contained in our 
commission do not lead us to the examination 
of the Customs’ duties on the raw materials 
employed in the manufacture of soap, we 
trust that we shall not be considered as ex- 
ceeding the proper line of our duty by calling 
attention to the remarks of the deputation, 
as well as of Mr. Fincham and Mr. Taylor, 
as also of Mr. Tennant of Glasgow, upon the 
great disadvantages to which the manufac- 
turer is exposed from the heavy duties on 
importation, to which the vegetable oils are 
still liable. These oils would enter largely 
into the composition of soap, if their price 
were not so much increased by these duties, 
which amount on some descriptions to a 
virtual prohibition of their use. The French, 
at Marseilles, employ olive oil exclusively in 
their soap ; and in that town alone a quantity 
is made very nearly equalling the consump- 
tion of Great Britain. According to Mr. 
Tennant, the soap made from olive oil is 
better than that which is made from palm 
oil ; and if the present duty of 4Z. 4s. per 
ton on the former could be materially 
reduced, there seems to be every probability 
that after the abolition of the present re- 
strictions on the manufacture, such improve- 
ments would be introduced as would enable 
us to rival, and probably to surpass, the 
French in the North American market. Our 
manufactures are now placed in so disadvan- 
tageous a situation as compared with the 
French and other makers, that it is very diffi- 
cult for them to contend with them in the fo- 
reign markets ; and even if the restrictions 
imposed by the Excise on the process of ma- 
nufacture were removed, they would still suffer 
considerably from the duties on the materials 
which they employ, and on which no draw- 
back is allowed ; and it must be remembered 
that the difficulties under which the trade 
labour on this account have been materially 
increased by the discontinuance of the allow- 
ance of the tenths, to which we have already 
alluded. 
The representations which were made to 
us on this head appeared to be so much de- 
serving of attention, that we were induced to 
request the attendance of Mr. Crawfurd (the 
late resident at Singapore, and the author of 
a valuable work 'on the Indian Archipelago), 
for the purpose of obtaining such information 
as he could furnish with respect to the supply 
of those vegetable oils which might be obtained 
from the East Indies. Mr. Crawfurd ap- 
pears to have directed his attention, during a 
long residence in India, very closely to the 
productions of that country, with a view of 
extending its commerce with Great Britain, 
and it will be seen from his evidence, that a 
very large field may be opened for a mutual 
trade, especially with reference to the articles 
more particularly wanted for the manufacture 
of soap. He states, that there are no less 
than fifteen pZawfs in ordinary cultivation, in |i 
the continent and islands of India, from which j 
an abundant supply of oil is obtained for the i 
purposes of food and light ; and he adds, that, 
from the general facility with which this cul- ! 
tivationmaybe extended, he sees no limits to 
the quantity which may be furnished for the 
demands of this country. He particularly i 
points out the advantage which may be derived j 
from the cultivation of the Palma Christi, or j 
castor-oil plant, which grows in any soil, I 
however barren, and yields a most abundant | 
crop of oil. 
* * * * 
The present rate of duty on castor-oil, 
sesamum, cocoa-nut, palm-oil, poppy-oil, 
mustard, and pig-nut oil, and the amount 
received for the last five years, will be found 
in the appendix. The ad valorem duty on i 
pig-nuts, sesamum, and poppy-seed, and on 
the oil made from them, is so high (viz. 20 i 
and 50 per cent.) as to amount to a virtual !; 
prohibition of their extensive employment in 
any branch of manufacture. The duty on 
castor-oil “ from any British possession, but 
not the produce thereof,” is also so high as to 
prevent its use in manufactures. We are 
aware of the reductions which have been late- I 
ly made in the duties on some of the vegeta- ; 
ble oils ; but it has been almost impossible for il 
the manufactures to avail themselves of these ji 
reductions, on account of the Excise regula- |! 
tions. When these are removed, we anti- jj 
cipate the best effects from these reductions, i 
Our other trades and manufactures, the 
materials of which are subject to import duties, 1 : 
are not so much injured by them as to deprive i 
us of the means of carrying on a profitable 
competition in foreign markets. But our i 
Inferiority in the manufacture of soap, in so i 
far as it arises from the duties on oils,' gives 
the foreign manufacturer the power of exclud- !i 
ing us fi’om large poi’tions of the globe, ^ and i 
this certainly is a state of things from which L 
so important a manufacture ought to be 
relieved. We feel it to be our duty not to lose ' 
this opportunity of again representing the ! 
strong impression which has so often been 
made upon us by the consequences of the |l 
impolicy of taxing the raw materials of [! 
industry, because we are fully satisfied that our i 
commei’cial and manufacturing prosperity, i 
great as it is, would be still more increased if |! 
the principle of exempting all raw materi- i 
als from taxation were strictly adhered to. li 
Whatever the loss of revenue might be which i 
wmuld take place in consequence of repealing j' 
these duties, it would soon be made good by ; 
the additionab means of payment which would I, 
follow from increased national wealth. jl 
PRESERVATION OF COPPER J 
SHEATHING. [' 
Sir, — The following methpd of preserving j; 
copper under ship’s bottoms, for a consider- 
ably longer time than usual, is, 1 believe, but 1 1 
little known : — ' 
Tar from wood or tar from coal con- 
tains a quantity of acid, which is a par- 
