thy kind will be done, O Lord! If it be possible, let the bitter cup
pass from me--but spare not, if thy glory must needs be vindicated.
Bring me to thy feet in meek, and humble, and believing confidence--all
is well, then, for time and for eternity. It is merciful and good to
remove the idol that stands between our love and God. Father of
mercy--enable me to bring the truth _home, home_ to this most
traitorous--this lukewarm, earthy heart of mine--a heart not worthy of
thy care and help. Let me not murmur at thy gracious will--oh, rather
bend and bow to it--and kiss the rod that punishes. I need
chastisement--for I have loved too well--too fondly. I am a rebel, and
thy all-searching eye hath found me faithless in thy service. Take her,
Father and Saviour--I will resign her--I will bless the hand that smites
me--I will"--he stopped; and big tears, such as drop fearfully from
manhood's eye, made known to heaven the agony that tears a parent's
heart, whilst piety is occupied in healing it.
It is not my purpose to recite the doubts and fears, the terrible
suspense, the anxious hopes, that filled the hours which passed whilst
the condition of the patient remained critical. It is a recital which
the reader may well spare, and I avoid most gladly. At the end of a
week, the fever departed from the sufferer. The alarming symptoms
disappeared, and confidence flowed rapidly to the soul again. At this
time the father paid his first visit to his child. He found her weak and
wasted; the violent applications which had been necessary for safety had
robbed her of all strength--had effected, in fact, a prostration of
power, which she never recovered, from which she never rallied. Mr
Fairman was greatly shocked, and asked the physician for his opinion
_now_. The latter declined giving it until, as he expressed himself,
"the effects of the fever, and her attack, had left him a fair and open
field for observation. There was a slight cough upon her. It was
impossible for the present to say, whether it was temporary and
dependent upon what had happened, or whether it resulted from actual
mischief in her lung."
* * * * *
A month has passed away since the physician spoke these words, and to
doubt longer would be to gaze upon the sun and to question its
brightness. Mayhew has told the father his worst fears, and bids him
prepare like a Christian and a man for the loss of his earthly treasure.
It was he who watched the decay of her mother. The case is a similar
one. He has no consolation to offer. It must be sought at the throne of
Him who giveth, and hath the right to take away. The minister receives
the intelligence with admirable fortitude. We are sitting together, and
the doctor has just spoken as becomes him, seriously and well. There is
a spasm on the cheek of the incumbent, whilst I sob loudly. The latter
takes me by the hand, and speaks to the physician in a low and
hesitating tone.
"Mayhew," said he, "I thank you for this sincerity. I will endeavour to
look the terror in the face, as I have struggled to do for many days. It
is hard--but through the mercy of Christ it is not impracticable. Dear
and oldest friend, unite your prayers with mine, for strength, and
holiness, and resignation. Cloud and agitation are at our feet. Heaven
is above us. Let us look there, and all is well."
We knelt. The minister prayed. He did not ask his Master to suspend his
judgments. He implored him to prepare the soul of the afflicted one for
its early flight, and to subdue the hearts of them all with his grace
and holy spirit. Let him who doubts the efficacy of _prayer_ seek to
clear his difficulty in the season of affliction, or when death sits
grimly at the hearth--he shall be satisfied.
If it were a consolation and a joy in the midst of our tribulation to
behold the father chastened by the heavy blow which had fallen so
suddenly upon his age, how shall I express the ineffable delight--yes,
delight, amidst sorrow the most severe--with which I contemplated the
beloved maiden, upon whose tender years Providence had allowed to fall
so great a trial. Fully sensible of her position, and of the near
approach of death, she was, so long as she could see her parent and her
lover without distress, patient, cheerful, and rejoicing. Yes, weaker
and weaker as she grew, happier and happier she became in the
consciousness of her pure soul's increase. Into her ear had been
whispered, and before her eyes holy spirits had appeared with the
mysterious communication, which, hidden as it is from us, we find
animating and sustaining feeble nature, which else would sink, appalled
and overwhelmed. There was not one of us who did not live a witness to
the truth of the heavenly promise, "_as thy days, so shall thy strength
be_;" not one amongst the dearest friends of the sufferer, who did not
feel, in the height of his affliction, that God would not cast upon his
creatures a burden which a Christian might not bear. But to _her_
especially came the celestial declaration with power and might. An
angel, sojourning for a day upon the earth, and preparing for his
homeward flight, could not have spread his ready wing more joyfully,
with livelier anticipation of his native bliss, than did the maiden look
for her recall and blest ascension to the skies. In her presence I had
seldom any grief; it was swallowed up and lost in gratitude for the
victory which the dear one had achieved, in virtue of her faith, over
all the horrors of her situation. It was when alone that I saw, in its
reality and naked wretchedness, the visitation that I, more than any
other, was doomed to suffer. For days I could scarcely bring myself to
the calm consideration of it. It seemed unreal, impossible, a dream--any
thing but what it was--the direst of worldly woes--the most tremendous
of human punishments.
I remember vividly a day passed in the chamber of the resigned creature,
about two months after the first indication of her illness. Her disease
had increased rapidly, and the signs of its ravages were painfully
manifest in her sunken eye, her hectic cheek, her hollow voice, her
continual cough. Her spirit became more tranquil as her body retreated
from the world--her hopes more firm, her belief in the love of her
Saviour--his will and power to save her, more clear, and free from all
perplexity. I had never beheld so beautiful a sight as the devoted maid
presented to my view. I had never supposed it possible to exist; and
thus, as I sat at her side, though the thought of death was ever
present, it was as of a terror in a milkwhite shroud--a monster
enveloped and concealed beneath a robe of beauty. I listened to her with
enchantment whilst she spoke of the littleness of this world, and the
boundless happiness that awaited true believers in the next--of the
unutterable mercy of God, in removing us from a scene of trouble whilst
our views were cloudless, and our hopes sure and abiding. Yes, charmed
by the unruffled air, the angelic look, I could forget even my mortality
for a moment, and feel my living soul in deep communion with a superior
and brighter spirit. It was when she recalled me to earth by a
reminiscence of our first days of love, that the bruised heart was made
sensible of pain, and of its lonely widowed lot. Then the tears would
not be checked, but rushed passionately forth, and, as the clouds shut
out and hid the one brief glimpse of heaven, flowed unrestrained.
Her mind was in a sweet composed state during the interview to which I
allude. She had pleasure in referring to the days of her childhood, and
in speaking of the happiness which she had found amongst her native
hills.
"How little, Caleb," she said, "is the mind occupied with thoughts of
death in childhood--with any thoughts of actual lasting evil! We cannot
see these things in childhood--we cannot penetrate so deeply or throw
our gaze so far, we are so occupied with the joys that are round about
us. Is it not so? Our parents are ever with us. Day succeeds to day--one
so like the other--and our home becomes our world. A sorrow comes at
length--a parent dies--the first and dearest object in that world; then
all is known, and the stability of life becomes suspected."
"The home of many," I replied, "is undisturbed for years!"
"Yes, and how sweet a thing is love of home! It is not acquired, I am
sure. It is a feeling that has its origin elsewhere. It is born with us;
brought from another world, to carry us on in this with joy. It attaches
to the humblest heart that ever throbbed."
"Dear Ellen!" I exclaimed, "how little has sorrow to do with your
affliction!"
"And why, dear Caleb? Have you never found that the difficulties of the
broad day melt away beneath the influences of the quiet lovely night?
Have you never been perplexed in the bustle and tumult of the day, and
has not truth revealed itself when all was dark and still? This is my
night, and in sickness I have seen the eye of God upon me, and heard his
words, as I have never seen and heard before?"
It was in this manner that she would talk, not more disturbed, nay, not
so much, as when in happier times I never heard her speak of the
troubles and anxieties of her poor villagers. No complaint--no mournful
accents escaped her lips. If at times the soaring spirit was repressed,
dejected, the living--the loved ones whom she must leave behind her had
possession of her thoughts, and loaded them with pain. Who would wait
upon her father? Who would attend to all his little wants? Who could
understand his nature as she had learnt it--and who would live to
comfort and to cheer his days? These questions she has asked herself,
whilst her only answers have been her struggling tears.
The days were travelling fast; each one taking from the doomed
girl--years of life. She dwindled and wasted; and became at length less
than a shadow of her former self. Why linger on the narrative? Autumn
arrived, and, with the general decay--she died. A few hours before her
death she summoned me to her bedside, and acquainted me with her
fast-approaching dissolution. "It is the day," she said, speaking with
difficulty--"I am sure of it. I have watched that branch for many
days--look--it is quite bare. Its last yellow leaf has fallen--I shall
not survive it." I gazed upon her; her eye was brighter than ever. It
sparkled again, and most beautiful she looked. But death was there--and
her soul eager to give him all that he could claim!
"You are quite happy, dearest Ellen!" I exclaimed, weeping on her thin
emaciated hand.
"Most happy, beloved. Do not grieve--be resigned--be joyful. I have a
word to say. Nurse," she continued, calling to her attendant--"the
drawing."
The nurse placed in her hand the sketch which she had taken of my
favourite scene.
"Do you remember, love?" said she. "Keep it, for Ellen--you loved that
spot--oh, so did I!--and you will love it still. There is another
sketch, you will find it by and by--afterwards--when I am----It is in my
desk. Keep that too, for Ellen, will you? It is the last drawing I have
made."
I sat by and bit my lips to crush my grief, but I would not be silent
whilst my heart as breaking.
"You should rejoice, dear," continued Ellen solemnly. "We did not expect
this separation so very soon; but it is better now than later. Be sure
it is merciful and good. Prepare for this hour, Caleb; and when it
comes, you will be so calm, so ready to depart. How short is life! Do
not waste the precious hours. Read from St John, dearest--the eleventh
chapter. It is all sweetness and consolation."
The sun was dropping slowly into the west, leaving behind him a deep red
glow that illuminated the hills, and burnished the windows of the
sick-chamber. The wind moaned, and, sweeping the sere leaves at
intervals, threatened a tempest. There was a solemn stillness in the
parsonage, around whose gate--weeping in silence, without heart to
speak, or wish to make their sorrow known--were collected a host of
humble creatures--the poorest but sincerest friends of Ellen--the
villagers who had been her care. They waited and lingered for the heavy
news, which they were told must come to them this day; and prayed
secretly--every one of them, old and young--for mercy on the sufferer's
soul! And she, whose gentle spirit is about to flit, lies peacefully,
and but half-conscious of the sounds that pass to heaven on her behalf.
Her father, Mayhew, and I, kneel round her bed, and the minister in
supplicating tones, where nature does not interpose, dedicates the
virgin to _His_ favour whose love she has applied so well. He ceases,
for a whisper has escaped her lips. We listen all. "_Oh, this is
peace_!" she utters faintly, but most audibly, and the scene is over.
"It is a dream," said the minister, when we parted for the night--I with
the vain hope to forget in sleep the circumstances of the day--the
father to stray unwittingly into _her_ former room, and amongst the
hundred objects connected with the happy memory of the departed.
The picture of which my Ellen had spoken, I obtained on the following
day. It was a drawing of the church and the burial-ground adjoining it.
One grave was open. It represented that in which her own mortal remains
were deposited, amidst the unavailing lamentations of a mourning
village.
In three months the incumbent quitted Devonshire. The scenery had no
pleasure for him, associated as it was with all the sorrows of his life.
His pupils returned to their homes. He had offered to retain them, and
to retain his incumbency for the sake of my advancement; but, whilst I
saw that every hour spent in the village brought with it new bitterness
and grief, I was not willing to call upon him for so great a sacrifice.
Such a step, indeed, was rendered unnecessary through the kind help of
Dr Mayhew, to whom I owe my present situation, which I have held for
forty years with pleasure and contentment. Mr Fairman retired to a
distant part of the kingdom, where the condition of the people rendered
the presence of an active minister of God a privilege and a blessing. In
the service of his Master, in the securing of the happiness of other
men, he strove for years to deaden the pain of his own crushed heart.
And he succeeded--living to bless the wisdom which had carried him
through temptation; and dying, at last, to meet with the reward
conferred upon the man _who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seeks
for glory, and honour, and immortality_--ETERNAL LIFE.
The employment obtained for me by the kind interest of Dr Mayhew, which
the return of so many summers and winters has found me steadily
prosecuting, was in the house of his brother--a gentleman whose name is
amongst the first in a profession adorned by a greater number of
high-minded, honourable men, than the world generally is willing to
allow. Glad to avail myself of comparative repose, an active occupation,
and a certain livelihood, I did not hesitate to enter his office in the
humble capacity of clerk. I have lived to become the confidential
secretary and faithful friend of my respected principal.
As I have progressed noiselessly in the world, and rather as a spectator
than an actor on the broad stage of life, it has been no unprofitable
task to trace the career of those with whom I formed an intimacy during
the bustle and excitement of my boyhood. Not many months after my
introduction into the mysteries of law, tidings reached my ears
concerning Mr Clayton. He had left his chapel suddenly. His avarice had
led him deeper and deeper into guilt; speculation followed speculation,
until he found himself entangled in difficulties, from which, by lawful
means, he was unable to extricate himself. He forged the signature of a
wealthy member of his congregation, and thus added another knot to the
complicated string of his delinquencies. He was discovered. There was
not a man aware of the circumstances of the case who was not satisfied
of his guilt; but a legal quibble saved him, and he was sent into the
world again, branded with the solemn reprimand of the judge who tried
him for his life, and who bade him seek existence honestly--compelled to
labour, as he would be, in a humbler sphere of life than that in which
he had hitherto employed his undoubted talents. To those acquainted with
the working of the unhappy system of _dissent_, it will not be a matter
of surprise that the result was not such as the good judge anticipated.
It so happened that, at the time of Mr Clayton's acquittal, a dispute
arose between the minister of his former congregation and certain
influential members of the same. The latter, headed by a fruiterer, a
very turbulent and conceited personage, separated from what they called
the _church_, and set up another _church_ in opposition. The
meeting-house was built, and the only question that remained to agitate
the pious minds of the half-dozen founders was--_How to let the pews_!
Mr CLAYTON, more popular amongst his set than ever, was invited to
accept the duties of a pastor. He consented, and had the pews been
trebled they would not have satisfied one half the applications which,
in one month, were showered on the victorious schismatics. Here, for a
few years, Mr Clayton continued; his character improved, his fame more
triumphant, his godliness more spiritual and pure than it had been even
before he committed the crime of forgery. His ruling passion,
notwithstanding, kept firm hold of his soul, and very soon betrayed him
into the commission of new offences. He fled from London, and I lost
sight of him. At length I discovered that he was preaching in one of the
northern counties, and with greater success than ever--yes, such is the
fallacy of the system--with the approbation of men, and the idolatry of
women, to whom the history of his career was as familiar as their own.
Again circumstances compelled him to decamp. I know not what these were,
nor could I ever learn; satisfied, however, that from his nature _money_
must have been in close connexion with them, I expected soon to hear of
him again; and I did hear, but not for years. The information that last
of all I gained was, that he had sold his noble faculties
_undisguisedly_ to the arch enemy of man. He had become the editor of
one of the lowest newspaper of the metropolis, notorious for its Radical
politics and atheistical blasphemies.
Honest, faithful and unimpeachable John Thompson! Friend, husband,
father--sound in every relation of this life--thou noble-hearted
Englishman! Let me not say thy race is yet extinct. No; in spite of the
change that has come over the spirit of our land--in spite of the rust
that eats into men's souls, eternally racked with thoughts of gain and
traffic--in spite of the cursed poison insidiously dropped beneath the
cottage eaves, by reckless, needy demagogues, I trust my native land,
and still believe, that on her lap she cherishes whole bands of faithful
children, and firm patriots. Not amongst the least inducements to return
to London was the advantage of a residence near to that of my best
friend and truest counsellor. I cannot number the days which I have
spent with him and his unequalled family--unequalled in their unanimity
and love. For years, no Sunday passed which did not find me at their
hospitable board; a companion afterwards in their country walks, and at
the evening service of their parish church. The children were men and
women before it pleased Providence to remove their sire. How like his
life was good John Thompson's death! Full of years, but with his mental
vision clear as in its dawn, aware of his decline, he called his family
about his bed, and to the weeping group spoke firmly and most
cheerfully.
"He had lived his time," he said, "and long enough to see his children
doing well. There was not one who caused him pain and fear--and that was
more than every father of a family could say--thank God for it! He
didn't know that he had much to ask of any one of them. If they
continued to work hard, he left enough behind to buy them tools; and if
they didn't, the little money he had saved would be of very little use.
There was their mother. He needn't tell 'em to be kind to her, because
their feelings wouldn't let them do no otherwise. As for advice, he'd
give it to them in his own plain way. First and foremost, he hoped _they
never would sew their mouths up_--never act in such a way as to make
themselves ashamed of speaking like a man;" and then he recommended
strongly that _they should touch no bills but such as they might cut
wood with_. The worst that could befall 'em would be a cut upon the
finger; and if they handled other bills they'd cut their heads off in
the end, be sure of it. "Alec," said he at last,--"you fetch me bundle
of good sticks. Get them from the workshop." Alec brought them, and the
sire continued,--"Now, just break one a-piece. There, that's right--now,
try and break them altogether. No, no, my boys, you can't do that, nor
can the world break you so long as you hold fast and well together.
Disagree and separate, and nothing is more easy. If a year goes bad with
one, let the others see to make it up. Live united, do your duty, and
leave the rest to heaven." So Thompson spake; such was the legacy he
left to those who knew from his good precept and example how to profit
by it. My friendship with his children has grown and ripened. They are
thriving men. Alec has inherited the nature of his father more than any
other son. All go smoothly on in life, paying little regard to the
broils and contests of external life, but most attentive to the
_in-door_ business. All, did I say?--I err. Exception must be made in
favour of my excellent good friend, Mr Robert Thompson. He has in him
something of the spirit of his mother, and finds fault where his
brethren are most docile. Catholic emancipation he regarded with
horror--the Reform bill with indignation; and the onward movement of the
present day he looks at with the feelings of an individual waiting for
an earthquake. He is sure that the world is going round the other way,
or is turned topsy-turvy, or is coming to an end. He is the quietest and
best disposed man in his parish--his moral character is without a
flaw--his honesty without a blemish, yet is his mind filled with designs
which would astonish the strongest head that rebel ever wore. He talks
calmly of the propriety of hanging, without trial, all publishers of
immorality and sedition--of putting embryo rioters to death, and
granting them a judicial examination as soon as possible afterwards.
Dissenting meeting-houses he would shut up instanter, and guard with
soldiers to prevent irregularity or disobedience. "Things," he says,
"are twisted since his father was a boy, and must be twisted back--by
force--to their right place again. Ordinary measures are less than
useless for extraordinary times, and he only wishes he had power, or was
prime-minister for a day or two." But for this unfortunate _monomania_,
the Queen has not a better subject, London has not a worthier citizen
than the plain spoken, simple-hearted Robert Thompson.
In one of the most fashionable streets of London, and within a few doors
of the residence of royalty, is a stylish house, which always looks as
if it were newly painted, furnished, and decorated. The very imperfect
knowledge which a passer-by may gain, denotes the existence of great
wealth within the clean and shining walls. Nine times out of ten shall
you behold, standing at the door, a splendid equipage--a britzka or
barouche. The appointments are of the richest kind--the servants' livery
gaudiest of the gaudy--silvery are their buttons, and silver-gilt the
horses' harness. Stay, whilst the big door opens, and then mark the
owner of the house and britzka. A distinguished foreigner, you say, of
forty, or thereabouts. He seems dressed in livery himself; for all the
colours of the rainbow are upon him. Gold chains across his breast--how
many you cannot count at once--intersect each other curiously; and on
every finger sparkles a precious jewel, or a host of jewels. Thick
mustaches and a thicker beard adorn the foreign face; but a certain air
which it assumes, convinces you without delay that it is the property of
an unmitigated blackguard. Reader, you see the ready Ikey, whom we have
met oftener than once in this short history. Would you know more? Be
satisfied to learn, that he exists upon the follies and the vices of our
high nobility. He has made good the promises of his childhood and his
youth. He rolls in riches, and is----a fashionable money-lender.
Dark were the shadows which fell upon my youth. The indulgent reader has
not failed to note them--with pain it may be--and yet, I trust, not
without improvement. Yes, sad and gloomy has been the picture, and light
has gleamed but feebly there. It has been otherwise since I carried, for
my comfort and support, the memory of my beloved Ellen into the serious
employment of my later years. With the catastrophe of her decease,
commenced another era of my existence--the era of self-denial, patience,
sobriety, and resignation. Her example dropped with silent power into my
soul, and wrought its preservation. Struck to the earth by the immediate
blow, and rising slowly from it, I did not mourn her loss as men are
wont to grieve at the departure of all they hold most dear. Think when I
would of her, in the solemn watches of the night, in the turmoil of the
bustling day--a saint beatified, a spirit of purity and love--hovered
above me, smiling in its triumphant bliss, and whispering----peace. My
lamentation was intercepted by my joy. And so throughout have I been
irritated by the small annoyances of the world, her radiant
countenance--as it looked sweetly even upon death--has risen to shame
and silence my complaint. Repining at my humble lot, her words--that
estimated well the value, the nothingness of life compared with life
eternal--have spoken the effectual reproof. As we advance in years, the
old familiar faces gradually retreat and fade at length entirely. Forty
long years have passed, and on this bright spring morning the gentle
Ellen steals upon the lawn, unaltered by the lapse of time. Her slender
arm is twined in mine, and her eye fills with innocent delight. Not an
hour of age is added to her face, although the century was not yet born
when last I gazed upon its meek and simple loveliness. She vanishes. Is
it her voice that through the window flows, borne on the bosom of the
vernal wind? Angel of Light, I wait thy bidding to rejoin thee!
* * * * *
COMMERCIAL POLICY.
SPAIN.
The extraordinary breadth and boldness of the fiscal measures propounded
and carried out at once in the past year with vigour and promptitude no
less extraordinary, wisely calculated of themselves, as they may be,
perhaps, and so far experience is assumed to have confirmed, to exercise
a salutary bearing upon the physical condition of the people, and to
reanimate the drooping energies of the country, can, however, receive
the full, the just development of all the large and beneficial
consequences promised, only as commercial intercourse is extended, as
new marts are opened, and as hostile tariffs are mitigated or abated, by
which former markets have been comparatively closed against the products
of British industry. The fiscal changes already operated, may be said to
have laid the foundation, and prepared the way, for this extension and
revival of our foreign commercial relations; but it remains alone for
our commercial policy to raise the superstructure and consummate the
work, if the foundations be of such solidity as we are assured on high
authority they are. In the promotion of national prosperity,
colonization may prove a gradually efficient auxiliary; but as a remedy
for present ills, its action must evidently be too slow and restricted;
and even though it should be impelled to a geometrical ratio of
progression, still would the prospect of effectual relief be discernible
only through a vista of years. Meanwhile, time presses, and the patient
might perish if condemned alone to the homoeopathic process of
infinitesimal doses of relief.
The statesman who entered upon the Government with his scheme of policy,
reflected and silently matured as a whole, (as we may take for granted,)
with principles determined, and his course chalked out in a right line,
was not, assuredly, tardy, whilst engaged with the work of fiscal
revision, in proceeding practically to the enlargement of the basis of
the commercial system of the empire. An advantageous treaty of commerce
with the young but rising republic of Monte Video, rewarded his first
exertions, and is there to attest also the zealous co-operation of his
able and accomplished colleague, Lord Aberdeen. This treaty is not
important only in reference to the greater facilities and increase of
trade, conceded with the provinces on the right bank of the river Plate,
and of the Uruguay and Parana, but inasmuch also as, in the possible
failure of the negotiations for the renewal of the commercial treaty
with Brazil, now approaching its term, it cannot fail to secure easy
access for British wares in the territory of Rio Grande, lying on the
borders of the republic of the Uruguay, and far the most extensive,
though not the most populous, of Brazilian provinces; and this in
despite of the Government of Brazil, which does not, and cannot, possess
the means for repressing its intercourse with Monte Video, even though
its possession and authority were as absolute and acknowledged in Rio
Grande as they are decidedly the reverse. The next, and the more
difficult, achievement of Conservative diplomacy resulted in the
ratification of a supplementary commercial convention with Russia. We
say difficult, because the iron-bound exclusiveness and isolation of the
commercial, as well as of the political, system of St Petersburg, is
sufficiently notorious; and it must have required no small exercise of
sagacity and address to overcome the known disinclination of that
Cabinet to any relaxation of the restrictive policy which, as the
Autocrat lately observed to a distinguished personage, "had been handed
down to him from his ancestors, and was found to work well for the
interests of his empire." The peculiar merits of this treaty are as
little understood, however, as they have been unjustly depreciated in
some quarters, and the obstacles to the accomplishment overlooked. It
will be sufficient to state, on the present occasion, that notice had
been given by the Russian Government, of the resolution to subject
British shipping, importing produce other than of British, or British
colonial origin, to the payment of differential or discriminating duties
on entrance into Russian ports. The result of such a measure would have
been to put an entire stop to that branch of the carrying trade, which
consisted in supplying the Russian market with the produce of other
European countries, and of Brazil, Cuba, and elsewhere, direct in
British bottoms. To avert this determination, representations were not
spared, and at length negotiations were consented to. But for some time
they wore but an unpromising appearance, were more than once suspended,
if not broken off, and little, if any, disposition was exhibited on the
part of the Russian Government to listen to terms of compromise. After
upwards of twelvemonths' delay, hesitation, and diplomacy, the
arrangement was finally completed, which was laid before Parliament at
the commencement of the session. It may be accepted as conclusive
evidence of the tact and skill of the British negotiators, that, in
return for waiving the alterations before alluded to, and leaving
British shipping entitled to the same privileges as before, it was
agreed that the produce of Russian Poland, shipped from Prussian ports
in Russian vessels, should be admissible into the ports of Great Britain
on the same conditions of duty as if coming direct and loaded from
Russian ports. As the greater part of Russian Poland lies inland, and
communicates with the sea only through the Prussian ports, it was no
more than just and reasonable that Russian Polish produce so brought to
the coast--to Dantzig, for example--should be admissible here in Russian
bottoms on the same footing as if from a Russian port. To this country
it could be a matter of slight import whether such portion of the
produce so shipped in Prussian ports as was carried in foreign, and not
in British bottoms, came in Russian vessels or in those of Prussia, as
before. To Russia, however, the boon was clearly of considerable
interest, and valued accordingly. In the mean time, British shipping
retains its former position, in respect of the carriage of foreign
produce; and, however hostile Russian tariffs may be to British
manufactured products--as hostile to the last degree they are, as well
as against the manufactured wares of all other States--it is undeniable
that our commercial marine enjoys a large proportion of the carrying
trade with Russia--almost a monopoly, in fact, of the carrying trade
between the two countries direct. Of 1147 foreign ships which sailed
with cargoes during the year 1842 from the port of Cronstadt, 515 were
British, with destination direct to the ports of the United Kingdom,
whilst only forty-one foreign or Russian vessels were loaded and left
during that year for British ports. Of 525 British vessels, of the
aggregate burden of nearly 118,000 tons, which anchored in the roadstead
of Cronstadt in that year, 472 were direct from the United Kingdom, and
fifty-three from various other countries, such as the two Sicilies,
Spain, Cuba, South America, &c. The number of British vessels which
entered the port of St Petersburg, as Cronstadt in fact is, was more
considerable still in 1840 and 1841--having been in the first year, 662,
of the aggregate burden of 146,682 tons; in the latter, of 645 ships and
146,415 tons. Of the total average number of vessels by which the
foreign trade of that empire is carried on, and load and leave the ports
of Russia yearly, which, in round numbers, may be taken at about 6000,
of an aggregate tonnage of 1,000,000--ships sailing on ballast not
comprehended--the average number of ships under the Russian flag,
comprised in the estimate, does not much, if any, exceed 1000, of the
aggregate burden of 150 or 160,000 tons. This digression, though it has
led us further astray from our main object than we had contemplated,
will not be without its uses, if it serve to correct some exaggerated
notions which prevail about the comparative valuelessness
of our commerce with Russia, because of its assumed entire
one-sidedness--losing sight altogether of its vast consequence to the
shipping interest; and of the freightage, which is as much an article of
commerce and profit as cottons and woollens; oblivious, moreover, of the
great political question involved in the maintenance and aggrandisement
of that shipping interest, which must be taken to account by the
statesman and the patriot as redressing to no inconsiderable extent the
adverse action of unfriendly tariffs. It is only after careful
ponderance of these and other combined considerations, that the value of
any trading relations with Russia can be clearly understood, and that
the importance of the supplementary treaty of navigation recently
carried through, with success proportioned to the remarkable ability and
perseverance displayed, can be duly appreciated. It is, undoubtedly, the
special economical event of the day, upon which the commercial, and
scarcely less the political, diplomacy of the Government may be most
justly complimented for its mastery of prejudices and impediments,
which, under the circumstances, and in view of the peculiar system to be
combated, appeared almost insurmountable. Common honesty and candour
must compel this acknowledgment, even from men so desperate in their
antipathies to the political system of Russia, as Mr Urquhart or Mr
Cargill--antipathies, by the way, with which we shall not hesitate to
express a certain measure of participation.
We shall not dwell upon those other negotiations, now and for some time
past in active progress with France, with Brazil, with Naples, with
Austria, and with Portugal, by which Sir Robert Peel is so zealously
labouring to fill up the broad outlines of his economical policy--a
policy which represents the restoration of peace to the nation, progress
to industry, and plenty to the cottage; but which also otherwise is not
without its dangers. Amidst the whirlwind of passions, the storm of
hatred and envy, conjured by the evil genius of his predecessors in
office, and most notably by the malignant star which lately ruled over
the foreign destinies of England, the task has necessarily been, yet is,
and will be, Herculean; but the force of Hercules is there also, as may
be hoped, to wrestle with and overthrow the hydra--the Æolus to recall
and encage the tempestuous elements of strife. A host in himself, hosts
also the premier has with him in his cabinet; for such singly are the
illustrious Wellington, the Aberdeen, the Stanley, the Graham, the
Ripon, and, though last, though youngest, scarcely least, the Gladstone.
Great as is our admiration, deeply impressed as we are with a sense of
the extraordinary qualifications, of the varied acquirements, of the
conscientious convictions, and the singleness and rightmindedness of
purpose of the right honourable the vice-president of the Board of
Trade, we must yet presume to hesitate before we give an implicit
adherence upon all the points in the confession of economical faith
expressed and implied in an article attributed to him, and not without
cause, which ushered into public notice the first number of a new
quarterly periodical, "The Foreign and Colonial Quarterly Review," in
January last, and was generally accepted as a programme of ministerial
faith and action. Our points of dissonance are, however, few; but, as
involving questions of principle, whilst we are generally at one on
matters of detail, we hold them to be of some importance. This, however,
is not the occasion proper for urging them, when engaged on a special
theme. But on a question of fact, which has a bearing upon the subject
in hand, we may be allowed to express our decided dissent from the
_dictum_ somewhat arbitrarily launched, in the article referred to, in
the following terms:--"We shall urge that foreign countries neither have
combined, nor ought to combine, nor can combine, against the commerce of
Great Britain; and we _shall treat as a calumny the imputation that they
are disposed to enter into such a combination_." The italics, it must be
observed, are ours.
We have at this moment evidence lying on our table sufficiently
explanatory and decisive to our minds that such a spirit of combination
is abroad against British commercial interests. We might indeed appeal
to events of historical publicity, which would seem confirmatory of a
tacitly understood combination, from the simultaneity of action
apparent. We have, for example, France reducing the duties on Belgian
iron, coal, linen, yarn, and cloths, whilst she raises those on similar
British products; the German Customs' League imposing higher and
prohibitory duties on British fabrics of mixed materials, such as wool,
cotton, silk, &c.; puny Portugal interdicting woollens by exorbitant
rates of impost, and scarcely tolerating the admission of cotton
manufactures; the United States, with sweeping action, passing a whole
tariff of prohibitory imposts; and, in several of these instances, this
war of restrictions against British industry commenced, or immediately
followed upon, those remarkable changes and reductions in the tariff of
this country which signalized the very opening of Sir Robert Peel's
administration. Conceding, however, this seeming concert of action to be
merely fortuitous, what will the vice-president of the Board of Trade
say to the long-laboured, but still unconsummated customs' union between
France and Belgium? Was that in the nature of a combination against
British commercial interests, or was it the reverse? It is no cabinet
secret--it has been publicly proclaimed, both by the French and Belgian
Governments and press, that the indispensable basis, the _sine qua non_
of that union, must be, not a calculated amalgamation of, not a
compromise between the differing and inconsistent tariffs of Belgium and
France, but the adoption, the imposition, of the tariff of France for
both countries in all its integrity, saving in some exceptional cases of
very slight importance, in deference to municipal dues and _octrois_ in
Belgium. When, after previous parley and cajoleries at Brussels,
commissioners were at length procured to be appointed by the French
ministry, and proceeded to meet and discuss the conditions of the
long-cherished project of the union, with the officials deputed on the
part of France to assist in the conference, it is well known that the
final cause of rupture was the dogged persistance of the French members
of the joint commission in urging the tariff of France, in all its
nakedness of prohibition, deformity, and fiscal rigour, as the one sole
and exclusive _régime_ for the union debated, without modification or
mitigation. On this ground alone the Belgian deputies withdrew from
their mission. How this result, this check, temporary only as it may
prove, chagrined the Government, if not the people, and the mining and
manufacturing interests of France, may be understood by the simple
citation of a few short but pithy sentences from the _Journal des
Débats_, certainly the most influential, as it is the most ably
conducted, of Parisian journals:--"_Le 'ZOLLVEREIN,'_" observes the
_Débats, "a prodigieusement rehaussé la Prusse; l'union douanière avec
la Belgique aurait, à un degré moindre cependant, le même résultat pour
nous.... Nous sommes, donc, les partisans de cette union, ses partisans
prononcés, à deux conditions: la première, c'est qu'il ne faille pas
payer ces beaux résultats par le bouleversement de l'industrie
rationale; la seconde, c'est que la Belgique en accepte sincèrement es
charges en même temps qu'elle en recuiellera les profits, et qu'en
consequence elle se prête à tout ce qui sera nécessaire pour mettre
NOTRE INDUSTRIE A L'ABRI DE L'INVASION DES PRODUITS ETRANGERS, et pour
que les intérêts de notre Trésor soient à couvert._" This is plain
speaking; the Government journal of France worthily disdains to practise
mystery or attempt deception, for its mission is to contend for the
interests, one-sided, exclusive, and egoistical, as they may be, and
establish the supremacy of France--_quand même_; at whatever resulting
prejudice to Belgium--at whatever total exclusion of Great Britain from
commercial intercourse with, and commercial transit through Belgium,
must inevitably flow from a customs' union, the absolute preliminary
condition of which is to be, that Belgium "shall be ready to do every
thing necessary to place our commerce beyond the reach of invasion by
foreign products." Mr Gladstone may rest assured that the achievement of
this Franco-Belgiac customs' union will still be pursued with all the
indomitable perseverance, the exhaustless and ingenious devices, the
little-scrupulous recources, for which the policy of the Tuileries in
times present does not belie the transmitted traditions of the past. And
it will be achieved, to the signal detriment of British interests, both
commercial and political, unless all the energies and watchfulness of
the distinguished statesmen who preside at the Foreign Office and the
Board of Trade be not unceasingly on the alert.
Other and unmistakeable signs of the spirit of commercial combination,
or confederation, abroad, and more or less explicitly avowed and
directed against this country, are, and have been for some time past,
only too patent, day by day, in most of those continental journals, the
journals of confederated Germany, of France, with some of those of Spain
and of Portugal, which exercise the largest measure of influence upon,
and represent with most authority the voice of, public opinion. Nor are
such demonstrations confined to journalism. _Collaborateurs_, in serial
or monthly publications, are found as earnest auxiliaries in the same
cause--as _redacteurs_ and _redactores_; pamphleteers, like light
irregulars, lead the skirmish in front, whilst the main battle is
brought up with the heavy artillery of _tome_ and works voluminous. Of
these, as of _brochures, filletas_, and journals, we have various
specimens now on our library table. All manner of customs, or commercial
unions, between states are projected, proposed, and discussed, but from
each and all of these proposed unions Great Britain is studiously
isolated and excluded. We have the "Austrian union" planned out and
advocated, comprising, with the hereditary states of that empire,
Moldavia, Wallachia, Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia, as well as those
provinces of ancient Greece, which, like Macedonia, remain subject to
Turkey, with, perhaps, the modern kingdom of Greece. We have the
"Italian union," to be composed of Sardinia, Lombardy, Lucca, Parma, and
Modena, Tuscany, the two Sicilies, and the Papal States. There is the
"Peninsular union" of Spain and Portugal. Then we have one "French
union" sketched out, modestly projected for France, Belgium,
Switzerland, and Savoy only. And we have another of more ambitious
aspirations, which should unite Belgium, Switzerland, and Spain under
the commercial standard of France. One of the works treating of projects
of this kind was, we believe, crowned with a prize by some learned
institution in France.
From this slight sketch of what is passing abroad--and we cannot afford
the space at present for more ample development--the right honourable
Vice President of the Board of Trade will perhaps see cause to revise
the opinion too positively enounced, that "foreign countries neither
have combined, nor ought to combine, nor can combine, against the
commerce of Great Britain;" and that it is a "calumny" to conceive that
they are "disposed to enter into such a combination."
With these preliminary remarks, we now proceed to the consideration of
the commercial relations between Spain and Great Britain, and of the
policy in the interest of both countries, but transcendently in that of
Spain, by which those relations, now reposing on the narrowest basis, at
least on the one side, on that of Spain herself, may be beneficially
improved and enlarged. It may be safely asserted, that there are no two
nations in the old world--nay more, no two nations in either, or both,
the old world and the new--more desirably situated and circumstanced for
an intimate union of industrial interests, for so direct and perfect an
interchange of their respective products. The interchange would, indeed,
under a wise combination of reciprocal dealing, resolve itself purely
almost into the primitive system of barter; for the wants of Spain are
such as can be best, sometimes only, supplied from England, whilst Spain
is rich in products which ensure a large, sometimes an exclusive,
command of British consumption. Spain is eminently agricultural,
pastoral, and mining; Great Britain more eminently ascendant still in
the arts and science of manufacture and commerce. With a diversity of
soil and climate, in which almost spontaneously flourish the chief
productions of the tropical as of the temperate zone; with mineral
riches which may compete with, nay, which greatly surpass in their
variety, and might, if well cultivated, in their value, those of the
Americas which she has lost; with a territory vast and virgin in
proportion to the population; with a sea-board extensively ranging along
two of the great high-ways of nations--the Atlantic and the
Mediterranean--and abundantly endowed with noble and capacious harbours;
there is no conceivable limit to the boundless production and creation
of exchangeable wealth, of which, with her immense natural resources,
still so inadequately explored, Spain is susceptible, that can be
imagined, save from that deficient supply of labour as compared with the
territorial expanse which would gradually come to be redressed as
industry was promoted, the field of employment extended, and labour
remunerated. With an estimated area of 182,758 square miles, the
population of Spain does not exceed, probably, thirteen millions and a
half of souls, whilst Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 115,702
square miles, support a population of double the number. Production,
however, squares still less with territorial extent than does
population; for the stimulus to capital and industry is wanting when the
facilities of exchanges are checked by fiscal prohibitions and
restrictions. Agricultural produce, the growth of the vine and the
olive, is not unfrequently known to run to waste, to be abandoned, as
not worth the toil of gathering and preparation, because markets are
closed and consumption checked in countries from which exchangeable
commodities are prohibited. The extent of these prohibitions and
restrictions, almost unparalleled even by the arbitrary tariff of
Russia, may be estimated in part by the following extract from a
pamphlet, published last year by Mr James Henderson, formerly
consul-general to the Republic of New Granada, entitled "A Review of the
Commercial Code and Tariffs of Spain;" a writer, by the way, guilty of
much exaggeration of fact and opinion when not quoting from, or
supported by, official documents.
"The 'Aranceles,' or Tariffs, are four in number; 1st, of
foreign importations; 2d, of importations from America; 3d,
from Asia; and, 4th, of exportations from Spain.
"The Tariff of foreign importations contains 1326 articles
alphabetically arranged:--
800 to pay a duty of 15 per cent in Spanish vessels,
230 " " 20 "
80 " " 25 "
55 " " 10 "
26 " " 30 "
3 " " 36 "
2 " " 24 "
2 " " 45 "
about 50 from 1 to 8 per cent, and the rest free of duty.
"The preceding articles imported in foreign vessels are subject
to an increased duty, at the following rates:--
1150 articles at the rate of 1/8 more,
80 " " 1/4 more,
10 " " 1/2 more.
"There is, besides, a duty of 'consumo,' principally at the
rate of 1/8 of the respective duties, and in some very few
cases at the rate of 1/4 and 1/2.
"Thus the duty of 15 per cent levied, if the importation is by
a Spanish vessel, will be increased by the 'consumo' to 20 per
cent. And the duty of 20 per cent on the same articles, in
foreign vessels, will be augmented to 27 per cent.
"The duty of 20 per cent will be about 27 in Spanish vessels,
and in foreign vessels, on the same articles, 36 per cent. The
duty of 25 per cent, will in the whole be 33 per cent by
Spanish, and by foreign vessels 44 per cent.
"The duty on articles, amounting to seventy-three, imported
from America, vary from 1 to 15 per cent, with double the duty
if in foreign vessels.
"The articles of importation from Asia are--sixty-nine from the
Phillipines at 1 to 5 per cent duty, and thirty-six from China
at 5 to 25 per cent duty, and can only be imported in Spanish
ships.
"The articles of export are fourteen, with duties at 1 to 80
per cent, with one-third increase if by foreign vessels.
"There are eighty-six articles of importation prohibited,
amongst which are wrought iron, tobacco, spirits, quicksilver,
ready-made clothing, corn, salt, hats, soap, wax, wools,
leather, vessels under 400 tons, &c. &c. &c.
"There are eleven articles of exportation prohibited, amongst
which are hides, skins, and timber for naval purposes."
Such a tariff contrasts strangely with that of this country, in which 10
per cent is the basis of duty adopted for importations of foreign
manufactures, and 5 per cent for foreign raw products.
Can we wonder that, with such a tariff, legitimate imports are of so
small account, and that the smuggler intervenes to redress the
enormously disproportionate balance, and administer to the wants of the
community? Can we wonder that the powers of native production should be
so bound down, and territorial revenue so comparatively diminutive, when
exchanges are so hampered by fiscal and protective rapacity? Canga
Arguelles, the first Spanish financier and statistician of his day,
calculated the territorial revenue of Spain at 8,572,220,592 reals, say,
in sterling, L.85,722,200; whilst he asserts, with better cultivation,
population the same, the soil is capable of returning ten times the
value. As a considerable proportion of the revenue of Spain is derived
from the taxation of land, the prejudice resulting to the treasury is
alone a subject of most important consideration. For the proprietary,
and, in the national point of view, as affecting the well-being of the
masses, it is of far deeper import still. And what is the financial
condition of Spain, that her vast resources should be apparently so
idle, sported with, or cramped? Take the estimates, the budget,
presented by the minister _De ca Hacienda_, for the past year of 1842:--
Revenue 1842, 879,193,400 reals
Id. expenditure, 1,541,639,800 id.
-------------
Deficit on the year, 662,446,400
Thus, with a revenue of L.8,791,934, an expenditure of L.15,416,398, and
a deficit of L.6,624,460, the debt of Spain, foreign and domestic, is
almost an unfathomable mystery as to its real amount. Even at this
present moment, it cannot be said to be determined; for that amount
varies with every successive minister who ventures to approach the
question. Multifarious have been the attempts to arrive at a clear
liquidation--that is, classification and ascertainment of claims; but
hitherto with no better success than to find the sum swelling under the
labour, notwithstanding national and church properties confiscated,
appropriated, and exchanged away against _titulos_ of debt by millions.
It is variously estimated at from 120 to 200 millions sterling, but say
150 millions, under the different heads of debt active, passive, and
deferred; debt bearing interest, debt without interest, and debt
exchangeable in part--that is, payable in certain fixed proportions, for
the purchase of national and church properties. For a partial
approximation to relative quantities, we must refer the reader, for want
of better authority, to Fenn's "Compendium of the English and Foreign
Funds"--a work containing much valuable information, although not
altogether drawn from the best sources.
In the revenues of Spain, the customs enter for about 70,000,000 of
reals, say L.700,000 only, including duties on exports as well as
imports. Now, assuming the contraband imports to amount only to the
value of L.6,000,000, a moderate estimate, seeing that some writers, Mr
Henderson among the number, rashly calculate the contraband imports
alone at eight, and even as high as ten, millions sterling, it should
follow that, at an average rate of duty of twenty per cent, the customs
should yield additionally L.1,200,000, or nearly double the amount now
received under that head. As, through the cessation of the civil war, a
considerable portion of the war expenditure will be, and is being
reduced, the additional L.1,200,000 gained, by an equitable adjustment
of the tariff, on imports alone, perhaps we should be justified in
saying one million and a half, or not far short of two millions
sterling, import and export duties combined, would go far to remedy the
desperation of Spanish financial embarrassments--the perfect solution
and clearance of which, however, must be, under the most favourable
circumstances, an affair of many years. It is not readily or speedily
that the prodigalities of Toreno, or the unscrupulous, but more
patriotic financial impostures of Mendizabal, can be retrieved, and the
national faith redeemed. The case is, to appearance, one past relief;
but, with honest and incorruptible ministers of finance like Ramon
Calatrava, hope still lingers in the long perspective. With an
enlightened commercial policy on the one hand, with the retrenchment of
a war expenditure on the other, the balance between receipts and
expenditure may come to be struck, an excess of revenue perhaps created;
whilst the sales of national domains against _titulos_ of debt, if
managed with integrity, should make way towards its gradual diminution.
As there is much misapprehension, and many exaggerations, afloat
respecting the special participation of Great Britain in the contraband
trade of Spain, its extraordinary amount, and the interest assumed
therefrom which would result exclusively from, and therefore induces the
urgency for, an equitable reform of the tariff of Spain, we shall
briefly take occasion to show the real extent of the British share in
that illicit trade, so far as under the principal heads charged; and
having exhibited that part of the case in its true, or approximately
true, light, we shall also prove that it is, as it should be, the
primary interest of this country to regain its due proportion in the
regular trade with Spain, and which can only be regained by legitimate
intercourse, founded on a reciprocal, and therefore identical,
combination of interests. In this strife of facts we shall have to
contend against Señor Marliani, and others of the best and most
steadfast advocates of a more enlightened policy, of sympathies entirely
and patriotically favourable towards a policy which shall cement and
interweave indissolubly the material interests and prosperity of Spain
and Great Britain--of two realms which possess each those products and
peculiar advantages in which the other is wanting, and therefore stand
seized of the special elements required for the successful progress of
each other. Our contest will, however, be one of friendly character, our
differences will be of facts, but not of principles. But we hold it to
be of importance to re-establish facts, as far as possible, in all their
correctness; or rather, to reclaim them from the domain of vague
conjecture and speculation in which they have been involved and lost
sight of. The task will not be without its difficulties; for the
position and precise data are wanting on which to found, with even a
reasonable approximation to mathematical accuracy, a comprehensive
estimate, to resolve into shape the various and complex elements of
Spanish industry and commerce, legitimate and contraband. Statistical
science--for which Spain achieved an honourable renown in the last
century, and may cite with pride her Varela, Musquiz, Gabarrus, Ulloa,
Jovellanos, &c., was little cultivated or encouraged in that decay of
the Spanish monarchy which commenced with the reign of the idiotic
Carlos IV., and his venal minister Godoy, and in the wars and
revolutions which followed the accession, and ended not with the death
of Fernando his son, the late monarch--was almost lost sight of; though
Canga Arguelles, lately deceased only, might compete with the most
erudite economist, here or elsewhere, of his day. Therefore it is, that
few are the statistical documents or returns existing in Spain which
throw any clear light upon the progress of industry, or the extent and
details of her foreign commerce. Latterly, indeed, the Government has
manifested a commendable solicitude to repair this unfortunate defect of
administrative detail, and has commenced with the periodical collection
and verification of returns and information from the various ports,
which may serve as the basis--and indispensable for that end they must
be--on which to reform the errors of the present, or raise the
superstructure of a new, fiscal and commercial system. Notwithstanding,
however, the difficulties we are thus exposed to from the lack or
incompleteness of official data on the side of Spain, we hope to present
a body of useful information illustrative of her commerce, industry, and
policy; in especial, we hope to dispel certain grave misconceptions, to
redress signal exaggeration about the extent of the contraband trade,
rankly as it flourishes, carried on along the coasts, and more largely
still, perhaps, by the land frontiers of that country, at least so far
as British participation. Various have been the attempts to establish
correct conclusions, to arrive at some fixed notions of the precise
quantities of that illicit traffic; but hitherto the results generally
have been far from successful, except in one instance. In a series of
articles on the commerce of Spain, published under the head of "Money
Market and City Intelligence," in the months of December and January
last, the _Morning Herald_ was the first to observe and to apply the
data in existence by which such an enquiry could be carried out, and
which we purpose here to follow out on a larger scale, and with
materials probably more abundant and of more recent date.
The whole subject of Spanish commerce is one of peculiar interest, and,
through the more rigorous regulations recently adopted against
smuggling, is at this moment exciting marked attention in France, which,
it will be found with some surprise, is far the largest smuggler of
prohibited commodities into Spain, although the smallest consumer of
Spanish products in return. It is in no trifling degree owing to the
jealous and exclusive views which unhappily prevail with our nearest
neighbour across the Channel, that the prohibitory tariff, scarcely more
adverse to commercial intercourse than that of France after all, which
robs the revenue of Spain, whilst it covers the country with hosts of
smugglers, has not sooner been revised and reformed. France is not
willing to enter into a confederacy of interests with Spain herself, nor
to permit other nations, on any fair equality of conditions, and with
the abandonment of those unjust pretensions to special privileges in her
own behalf, which, still tenaciously clinging to Bourbonic traditions of
by-gone times, would affect to annihilate the Pyrenees, and regard Spain
as a dependent possession, reserved for the exclusive profit and the
commercial and political aggrandisement of France. That these
exaggerated pretensions are still entertained as an article of national
faith, from the sovereign on his throne to the meanest of his subjects,
we have before us, at this moment of writing, conclusive evidence in the
report of M. Chégaray, read in the Chamber of Deputies on the 11th of
April last, (_vide Moniteur_ of the 12th,) drawn up by a commission, to
whom was referred the consideration of the actual commercial relations
of France with Spain--provoked by various petitions of the merchants of
Bayonne, and other places, complaining of the prejudice resulting to
their commerce and shipping from certain alterations in the Spanish
customs' laws, decreed by the Regent in 1841. We may have occasion
hereafter to make further reference to this report.
The population of Spain may be rated in round numbers at thirteen
millions and a half, whilst that of the United Kingdom may be taken at
about double the number. With a wise policy, therefore, the interchange
should be of an active and most extensive nature betwixt two countries,
reckoning together more than forty millions of inhabitants, one of
which, with a superficial breadth of territory out of all proportion
with a comparatively thinly-scattered community, abounding with raw
products and natural riches of almost spontaneous growth; whilst the
other, as densely peopled, on the contrary, in comparison with its
territorial limits, is stored with all the elements, and surpasses in
all the arts and productions of manufacturing industry. Unlike France,
Great Britain does not rival Spain in wines, oils, fruits, and other
indigenous products of southern skies, and therefore is the more free to
act upon the equitable principle of fair exchange in values for values.
Great Britain has a market among twenty-seven millions of an active and
intelligent people, abounding in wealth and advanced in the tastes of
luxurious living, to offer against one presenting little more than half
the range of possible customers. She has more; she has the markets of
the millions of her West Indies and Americas--of the tens of millions of
British India, amongst whom a desire for the various fruits and
delicious wines of Spain might gradually become diffused for a thousand
of varieties of wines which, through the pressure of restrictive duties,
are little if at all known to European consumption beyond the boundaries
of Spain herself. With such vast fields of commercial intercourse open
on the one side and the other, with the bands of mutual material
interests combining so happily to bind two nations together which can
have no political causes of distrust and estrangement, it is really
marvellous that the direct relations should be of so small account, and
so hampered by jealous adherence to the strict letter of an absurd
legislation, as in consequence to be diverted from their natural course
into other and objectionable channels--as the waters of the river
artificially dammed up will overflow its banks, and, regaining their
level, speed on by other pathways to the ocean. We shall briefly
exemplify the force of these truths by the citation of official figures
representing the actual state of the trade between Spain and the United
Kingdom antecedent to and concluding with the year 1840, which is the
last year for which in detail the returns have yet issued from the Board
of Trade. That term, however, would otherwise be preferentially
selected, because affording facilities for comparison with similar but
partial returns only of foreign commerce made up in Spain to the same
period, little known in this country, and with the French customhouse
returns of the trade of France with Spain. It must be premised that the
tables of the Board of Trade in respect of import trade, as well as of
foreign and colonial re-exports, state quantities only, but not values;
nor do they present any criteria by which values approximately might be
determined. Where, therefore, such values are attempted to be arrived
at, it will be understood that the calculations are our own, and pretend
no more--for no more could be achieved--than a rough estimate of
probable approximation.
Total declared value of British and Irish produce and manufactures
exported to Spain and the Balearic Isles in--
1840, amounted to L.404,252
1835, 405,065
1831, 597,848
From the first to the last year of the decennial term, the regular
trade, therefore, had declined to the extent of above L.193,000, or at
the rate of about 33 per cent. But as for three of the intermediate
years 1837, 1838, and 1839, the exports are returned at L.286,636,
L.243,839, and L.262,231, exclusive of fluctuations downwards in
previous years, it will be more satisfactory to take the averages for
five years each, of the term. Thus from--
1831 to 1835, both inclusive, the average was L.442,916
1836 to 1840, 320,007
The average decline in the latter term, was therefore above 27-1/2 per
cent.
Of the Foreign and Colonial merchandise re-exported within the same
period it is difficult to say what proportion was for British account,
and, as such, should therefore be classed under the head of trade with
Spain. It may be assumed, however, that the following were the products
of British colonial possessions, whose exports to Spain are thus stated
in quantities:--
1831. 1835. 1840.
Cinnamon, 284,201 123,590 144,291 lbs.
Cloves, 15,831 9,470 23,504 ...
India Cottons, 38,969 3,267 10,067 pieces
India Bandannas, 17,386 11,864 16,049 ...
Indigo, 16,641 5,231 8,623 lbs.
Pepper, 227,305 69,365 194,254 ...
To which may be added--
Tobacco, 64,851 2,252,356 1,729,552 ...
The tobacco, being of United States' growth, may, to a considerable
extent, be bonded here for re-exportation on foreign account merely. The
foregoing, though the heaviest, are not the whole of the foreign and
colonial products re-exported for Spain, but they constitute the great
bulk of value. Taking those of the last year, their value may be
approximatively estimated in round numbers, as calculated upon what may
be assumed a fair average of the rates of the prices current in the
market, as they appear quoted in the London _Mercantile Journal_ of the
4th of April. It is only necessary to take the more weighty articles.
Cinnamon, 144,290 lbs. at 5s. 6d. L.39,679
Indigo, 8,620 -- at 6s. 2,586
Pepper, 194,250 -- at 4d. 3,232
Tobacco, 1,729,550 -- at 4d. 28,825
Indian Bandannas, 16,049 pieces at 25s. 20,061
It may, we conceive, be assumed from these citations of some few of the
larger values exported to Spain under the head of "Foreign and Colonial
Merchandise," that the total amount of such values, inclusive of all the
commodities non-enumerated here, would not exceed L.150,000, which,
added to the L.404,252 already stated as the "declared values" of
"British and Irish produce" also exported, would give a total export for
1840 of L.554,250.
We come now to the imports from Spain and the Balearic Isles, direct
also into the United Kingdom, as stated in the Board of Trade tables in
quantities; selecting the chief articles only, however:--
1831. 1835. 1840.
Barilla, 61,921 64,175 36,585 cwts.
Lemons and Oranges, 28,266 30,548 30,171 packages.
Madder, 1,569 3,418 6,174 cwts.
Olive Oil, 1,243,686 1,793 1,305,384 galls.
Quicksilver, 269,558 1,438,869 2,157,823 lbs.
Raisins, 105,066 104,334 166,505 cwts.
Brandy, 69,319 15,880 223,268 galls.
Wines, 2,537,968 2,641,547 3,945,161 galls.
Wool, 3,474,823 1,602,752 1,266,905 lbs.
Applying the same plan of calculation upon an average of the prices
ruling in the London market, we arrive at the following approximate
results:--
Barilla, 36,585 cwts. at 10s. per cwt. L.18,292
Lemons and oranges, 30,170 packages, at 30s. per packet, 45,255
Madder, 6174 cwts. at 30s per cwt. 9,261
Olive oil, 1,305,384 gallons, at L.45 per 252 gallons 233,100
Quicksilver, 2,157,823 lbs., at 4s. per lb., 431,564
Raisins, 166,505 cwts., at 40s. per cwt. 333,000
Brandy, 223,268 gallons, at 2s. 6d. per gallon, 27,900
Wines, 3,945,160, gallons, at L.20 per butt, 730,580
Wool, 1,266,900 lbs., at 2s. per lb., 126,690
---------
L.1,965,642
The value of the other articles of import from Spain,
which need not be enumerated here, amongst which
corn, skins, pig-lead, bark for tanning, &c., would
certainly swell this amount more by 200,000
---------
Total direct imports from Spain, L.2,165,642
On several of the foregoing commodities the average rates of price on
which they are calculated may be esteemed as moderate, such as wines,
brandies, raisins, &c.; and several are exclusive of duty charge, as
where the averages are estimated at the prices in bond. In other
commodities the average rates are inclusive of duty. Wines, brandies,
quicksilver, barilla, are exclusive of duty, for example; the others,
duty paid, but in some instances duties scarcely more than nominal. On
the other hand, it must be taken into the account, for the purpose of a
fair comparison, that these average estimates of the prices of imported
merchandise do include and are enhanced by the expense of freights and
the profits of the importer, and therefore all the difference must be in
excess of the cost price at which shipped, and by which estimated in
Spain. The "declared values" of British exports to Spain embrace but a
small proportion, perhaps, of these shipping charges, and are altogether
irrespective of duties levied on arrival in Spanish ports. As not only a
fair, but probably an outside allowance, let us, therefore, redress the
balance by striking off 20 per cent from the total estimated values of
imports from Spain to cover shipping charges, profits, and port-dues,
whether included in prices or not. The account will then stand thus:--
Estimated imports from Spain in round numbers L.2,165,000
Deduct 20 per cent, 433,000
-----------
Value of imports shipped, L.1,732,000
Deduct declared value of British exports to Spain, 554,000
-----------
Excess of Spanish imports direct on equalized
estimates of values, L.1,178,000
The acceptation is so common, it has been so long received as a truism
unquestionable as unquestioned, as well in Spain as in Great Britain, of
British commerce being one-sided, and carrying a large yearly balance
against the Peninsular state, that these figures of relative and
approximate quantities can hardly fail to excite a degree of
astonishment and of doubt also. It will be, as it ought to be, observed
at once, that the trade with Spain direct represents one part of the
question only; that the indirect trade through Gibraltar, and elsewhere,
might, in its results, reverse the picture. The objection is reasonable,
and we proceed to enquire how far it is calculated to affect the
statement.
The total "declared value" of the exports of British and Irish produce,
and manufactures to Gibraltar, for the year 1840, is stated at
£1,111,176
Of which, as more or less destined
for Spain, licitly or illicitly,
cotton manufactures, 635,821
Linens, &c., &c., 224,061
Woollens, 97,092
It may be asserted as a fact, for, although not on official authority,
yet we have it from respectable parties who have been resident on, and
well conversant with the commerce of that rock, that, of the cotton
goods thus imported into Gibraltar, the exports to Ceuta and the
opposite coast of Africa amount, on the average, to L.70,000 per annum.
Of linens and woollens a considerable proportion find their way there
also, and to Italian ports. Of British and colonial merchandise exported
to Gibraltar in the same year, the following may be considered to be
mainly, or to some extent, designed for introduction into Spain:--
Cinnamon value, 77,352 lbs., say value L.21,000
Indigo 26,000 lbs., say 7,800
Tobacco 610,000 lbs., say 10,166
Some cotton piece-goods from India, and silk goods, such as bandannas,
&c., pepper, cloves, &c., &c., were also exported there; say, inclusive
of the quantities enumerated above, to the total value of L.100,000 of
commodities, of which a considerable proportion was destined for Spain.
Assuming the whole of the cotton goods to be for introduction into
Spain, minus the quantity dispatched to the African coast, we have in
round numbers the value of
L.565,800
Say of linens one-third, 74,660
Of woollens, ib., 32,360
Of cinnamon, India goods,
and other articles, in
value L.90,000, minus
tobacco, one-half, 45,000
-------
L.717,820
Tobacco, the whole, 10,166
----------
Total indirect exports 727,986
To which add direct 554,000
---------
L.1,281,986
Again, however, various products of Spain are also imported into the
United Kingdom _via_ Gibraltar, such as--
Bark for tanning or dyeing, 5,724 tons, say value, L.51,500
Wool, 292,730 lbs. ib., 29,270
It may be fairly assumed, therefore, that to the extent of L.100,000 of
Spanish products, consisting, besides the foregoing, of wines, skins,
pig-lead, &c., &c., is brought here through Gibraltar, which, added to
the amount of the imports from Spain direct, will sum up the account
thus:--
Imports from Spain direct, L.1,732,000
_Via_ Gibraltar, 100,000
-----------
Total, L.1,832,000
Exports to Spain
direct, L.554,000
_Via_ Gibraltar, 727,900
---------
L.1,281,900
-----------
Excess in favour of Spain,
and against England, L.550,100
--A sum nearly equal to the amount of the exports to Spain direct. As we
remarked before, these figures and valuations, which are sufficiently
approximative of accuracy for any useful purpose, will take public men
and economists, both here and in Spain, by surprise. Amongst other of
the more distinguished men of the Peninsula, Señor Marliani, enlightened
statesman, and well studied in the facts of detail and the philosophy of
commercial legislation as he undoubtedly is, does not appear to have
exactly suspected the existence of evidence leading to such results.
From the incompleteness of the Spanish returns of foreign trade, it is
unfortunately not possible to test the complete accuracy of those given
here by collation. The returns before us, and they are the only ones yet
undertaken in Spain, and in order, embrace in detail nine only of the
principal ports:--
For Cadiz, Malaga, Carthagena, St
Sebastian, Bilboa, Santander,
Gijon, Corunna, and the Balearic
Isles, the total imports and exports
united are stated to have amounted,
in 1840, to about L.6,147,280
Employing 5782 vessels
of the aggregate tonnage
of 584,287
Of the foreign trade of other ports
and provinces no returns are made
out. All known of the important
seaport of Barcelona was, that its
foreign trade in the same year occupied
1,645 vessels of 173,790
tonnage. The special aggregate
exports from the nine ports cited to
the United Kingdom--the separate
commodities composing which, as
of imports, are given with exactness
of detail--are stated for 1840
in value at L.1,476,000
To which add, of raisins
alone, from Valencia,
about 184,000 cwts,
(other exports not given,)
value 185,000
Exports from Almeria, 13,000
---------
L.1,674,000
Although these are the principal ports of Spain, yet they are not the
only ports open to foreign trade, although, comparatively, the
proportion of foreign traffic shared by the others would be much less
considerable. It is remarkable, under the circumstances, how closely
these Spanish returns of exports to Great Britain approach to our own
valuations of the total imports from Spain direct, as calculated from
market prices upon the quantities alone rendered in the tables of the
Board of Trade.
Our valuation of the direct imports
from Spain being L.1,732,000
The Spanish valuation, 1,674,000
The public writers and statesmen of Spain have long held, and still
maintain the opinion, that the illicit introduction into that country of
British manufactures whose legal import is prohibited, or greatly
restricted by heavy duties, is carried on upon a much more extensive
scale than what is, or can be, the case. In respect of cotton goods, the
fact is particularly insisted upon. It may be confidently asserted, for
it is susceptible of proof, that much exaggeration is abroad on the
subject. We shall bring some evidence upon the point. There can be no
question that, so far as British agency is directly concerned, or
British interest involved, in the contraband introduction of cottons, or
other manufactures, or tobacco, it is almost exclusively represented by
the trade with Gibraltar. We are satisfied, moreover, that the Spanish
consumption of cotton goods is overrated, as well as the amount of the
clandestine traffic. Señor Marliani an authority generally worthy of
great respect, errs on this head with many others of his countrymen. In
a late work, entitled _De la Influencia del Sistema prohibitiva en la
Agricultura, Commercio, y rentas Publicas_, he comes to the following
calculation:--
Imported direct to Spain, L.34,687
To Gibraltar, 608,581
To Portugal, £731,673, of
which three-fourths find
their way to Spain, 540,000
---------
Total, L.1,183,268
Again, Great Britain imports annually into Italy to the amount of
£2,005,785 in cotton goods, £500,000 worth of which, it is not too much
to assume, go into Spain through the ports of Leghorn and Genoa. Adding
together, then, these several items of cotton goods introduced from
France and England into Spain by contraband, we arrive at the following
startling result:--
FRANCE.
Cotton goods imported into
Spain, according to the
Government returns, L.1,331,608
ENGLAND.
Cotton goods through Spanish ports, 34,637
Through Gibraltar, 608,581
Through Portugal, 540,000
Through Leghorn, Genoa, &c. &c. 500,000
----------
Total, L.3,014,826
An extravagant writer, of the name of Pebrer, carried the estimate up to
£5,850,000. Señor Inclan, more moderate, still valued the import and
consumption at £2,720,000. A "Cadiz merchant," with another anonymous
writer of practical authority, calculated the amount, with more
sagacity, at £2,000,000 and £2,110,000 respectively. Señor Marliani is,
moreover, of opinion--considering the weight of tobacco, from six to
eight millions of pounds, assumed to be imported into Gibraltar for
illicit entrance into Spain, on the authority of Mr Porter, but the
words and work not expressly quoted; the tobacco, dressed skins, corn,
flour, &c. from France, with the illegal import of cottons--that the
whole contraband trade carried on in Spain cannot amount to less than
the enormous mass of one thousand millions of reals, or say _ten
millions_ sterling a-year. Conceding to the full the millions of pounds
of tobacco here registered as smuggled from Gibraltar, of which,
notwithstanding, we cannot stumble upon the official trace for half the
quantity, we must, after due reflection, withhold our assent wholly to
this very wide, if not wild, assumption of our Spanish friend. We are
inclined, on no slight grounds, to come to the conclusion, that the
amount of contraband trade really carried on is here surcharged by not
far short of one-half; that it cannot in any case exceed six millions
sterling--certainly still a bulk of illegitimate values sufficiently
monstrous, and almost incredible. We shall proceed to deal conclusively,
however, with that special branch of the traffic for which the materials
are most accessible and irrecusable, and the verification of truth
therefore scarcely left to the chances of speculation.
First, for the rectification for exact, or official, quantities and
values, we give the returns of the total exports of cotton manufactures,
taken from the tables of the Board of Trade:--
1840. Cotton manufactures, L.17,567,310
Yarns, 7,101,308
And for 1840 here are the exports to the countries specified:--
Declared Value.
1840. Cottons to Portugal, yards 37,002,209 L.681,787
Hosiery, lace, small wares, -- 20,403
Yarn, lbs. 175,545 2,796
Id. Cottons to Spain, yards 355,040 7,987
Hosiery, &c. -- 2,819
Yarn, lbs. -- 345
Id. Cottons to Gibraltar, yards 27,609,345 610,456
Hosiery, &c. -- 21,996
Yarn, lbs. -- 3,369
Id. Cottons to Italy and Italian Islands,yds.58,866,278 1,119,135
Hosiery, &c. -- 41,197
Yarn, lbs.11,490,034 510,040
-----------
Total, L.3,022,430
The discrepancies between some of the figures in these returns and those
cited by Señor Marliani, arise probably from their respective reference
to different years; they are, however, unimportant. We have already
shown, that, deducting the re-exports of cottons to Ceuta and the coast
of Africa opposite to Gibraltar, the value of those destined for Spain,
by way of the Rock; in 1840, could not exceed
L.565,800
We shall assume that _one-fourth_ only of the cottons exported
to Portugal find their way fraudulently into Spain--say 176,290
Say re-exports of cottons from Genoa to Gibraltar, assumed to
be for Spain, as per official return of that port for 1839, 31,400
Cotton goods direct to Spain from the United Kingdom, 11,150
---------
Total value of British cottons which could find their way into
Spain, direct and indirect, in 1840, L.784,640
----------
Instead of the amount exaggerated of Señor Marliani, L.1,663,268
Or the large excess in estimation, of 898,628
We have the official returns of the whole imports of cotton
manufactures, with the exports, of the Sardinian States for 1840, now
lying before us.
The imports were to the value of only L.443,360
Of which from the United Kingdom 242,680
Exported, or re-exported, 458,680
The _whole_ of which to Tuscany, the Two Sicilies, the Roman States,
Parma and Placentia, the Isle of Sardinia, and Austria. It will be
observed that there had been a great falling off in the trade with the
Sardinian States in 1840, as compared with 1838 and 1839; and here, for
greater convenience, we make free to extract the following remarks and
returns from our esteemed contemporary of the _Morning Herald_, with
some slight corrections of our own, when appropriately correcting
certain misrepresentations of Mr Henderson, similar to those of Señor
Marliani, respecting the assumed clandestine ingress of British cotton
goods into Spain from the Italian states:--
"Now the official customhouse returns of most of the Italian states are
lying before us--the returns of the Governments themselves--but
unfortunately none of them come down later than 1839, so that it is
impossible, however desirable, to carry out fully the comparison for
1840. Not that it is of any signification for more than uniformity,
because, on referring to years antecedent to 1839, the relation between
imports of cottons and re-exports, with the places from which imported
and to which re-exports took place, is not sensibly disturbed. The
returns for the whole of Sardinia are not possessed later than 1838, but
those for Genoa, its chief port, are for 1839, and nearly the whole
imports into Sardinia, as well as exports, are effected at Genoa. Thus
of the total imports of cotton goods into Sardinia in 1838, to the value
of about L.843,000, the amount into Genoa alone was L.823,000. That year
was one of excessive imports and 1839 one of equal depression, but this
can only bear upon the facts of the case so far as proportionate
quantities.
In 1839, total imports of cottons
into Genoa--value L.494,000
Of which from England 313,680
Total re-exports 475,000
Of which to Tuscany L.131,760
Naples and Sicily 110,800
Austria 61,080
Parma and Placentia 40,840
Sardinia Island 28,320
Switzerland 22,240
Roman States 14,880
GIBRALTAR 31,440
The total value of cottons introduced into the Roman states is stated
for 1839 at L.108,640, of which the whole imported from France,
Sardinia, and Tuscany--
1839. Total imports of cotton and
hempen manufactures classed
together into Tuscany
(Leghorn) L.440,000
Of woollens 117,200
"The total imports of woollen, cotton, and hempen goods together, in the
same year, were to the amount of L.155,000.
"Of the imports and exports of Naples, unfortunately, no accounts are
possessed; but the imports of cottons into the island of Sicily for 1839
were only to the extent of L.26,000, of which to the value of L.8,000
only from England. In 1838 the total imports of cottons were for
L.170,720, but no re-exportation from the island. The whole of the
inconsiderable exports of cottons from Malta are made to Turkey, Greece,
the Barbary States, Egypt, and the Ionian Isles, according to the
returns of 1839."
From these facts and figures, derived from official documents, of the
existence of which it is probable Señor Marliani was not aware, it will
be observed at once how extremely light and fallacious are the grounds
on which he jumps to conclusions. What more preposterous than the vague
assumption founded on data little better then guess-work, that
_one-fourth_ of the whole exports of British cottons to Italy and the
Italian islands, say L.500,000 out of L.2,000,000, go to Spain, when, in
point of fact, not one-tenth of the amount does, or can find its way
there--or could, under any conceivable circumstances short of an
absolute famine crop of fabrics in France and England. Neither prices
nor commercial profits could support the extra charges of a longer
voyage out, landing charges, transhipment and return voyage to the
coasts of Spain. It has been shown that in the year 1840, not the
shipment of a single yard of cottons took place from Genoa, the only
port admitting of the probability of such an operation.
Not less preposterous is the allegation, that three-fourths of the whole
exports of British cottons to Portugal are destined for, and introduced
into Spain by contraband. Assuming that Spain, with thirteen and a half
millions of people, consumes, in the whole, cotton goods to the value of
L.2,200,000
Why should not Portugal, with more than
three and a half millions of inhabitants,
that is more than one-fourth the population
of Spain, consume also more than one-fourth
the value of cotton goods, or say only 550,000?
Brazil, a _ci-devant_ colony of
Portugal, and with a Portuguese population,
as may be said, of 5,400,000, consumed
British cotton fabrics to the value, in
1840, of 1,525,000
So, also, why should not Italy and the
Italian islands, with twenty-two millions
of people, be able to consume as much
cotton values as Spain with 13-1/2 millions;
or say only the whole amount really exported
there from this country of 2,005,000?
It is necessary for the interests of truth, for the interests also of
both countries, that the popular mind, the mind of the public men of
Spain also, should be disabused in respect of two important errors. The
first is, that an enormous balance of trade against Spain, that is, of
British exports, licit and illicit too, compared with imports from
Spain--results annually in favour of this country, from the present
state of our commercial exchanges with her. The second is, the greatly
exaggerated notion of the transcendant amount of the illicit trade
carried on with Spain in British commodities, cottons more especially.
In correction of the latter misconception, we have shown that the amount
of British cotton introduced by contraband cannot exceed, _nor equal_,
L.780,640
Instead, as asserted by Señor Marliani, of 1,683,268
And, in correction of the first error
relative to the balance of trade, we have
established the feet by calculations of
approximate fidelity--for exactitude is out
of the question and unattainable with the
materials to be worked up--that an excess
of values, that is, of exports, results to
Spain upon such balance as against imports,
licit and illicit, to the extent per annum
of 550,000
It is therefore Great Britain, and not Spain, which is entitled to
demand that this adverse balance be redressed, and which would stand
justified in retaliating the restrictions and prohibitions on Spanish
products, with which, so unjustly, Spain now visits those of Great
Britain. Far from us be the advocacy of a policy so harsh--we will add,
so unwise; but at least let our disinterested friendship and moderation
be appreciated, and provoke, in reason meet, their appropriate
consideration.
The more formidable, because far more extensive and facile abuses,
arising out of the unparalleled contraband traffic of which Spain is,
and long has been, the theatre, and the attempted repression of which
requires the constant employment of entire armies of regular troops, are
elsewhere to be found in action and guarded against; they concern a
neighbour nearer than Great Britain. According to an official report
made to his Government by Don Mateo Durou, the active and intelligent
consul for Spain at Bordeaux, and the materials for which were extracted
from the customhouse returns of France, the trade betwixt France and
Spain is thus stated, but necessarily abridged:--
Francs.
1840.--Total exports from France into Spain, 104,679,141
1840.--Total imports into France from Spain, 42,684,761
-----------
Deficit against Spain, 61,994,380
France, therefore, exported nearly two and a half times as much as she
imported from Spain; a result greatly the reverse of that established in
the trade of Spain with Great Britain. In these exports from France,
cotton manufactures figure for a total of
34,251,068 fr.
Or, in sterling, L.1,427,000
Of which smuggled in by the
land or Pyrennean frontier, 32,537,992 fr.
By sea, only 1,713,076 ...
Linen yarns, entered for 15,534,391 ...
Silks, for 8,953,423 ...
Woollens, for 8,919,760 ...
Among these imports from France, various other prohibited articles are
enumerated besides cottons. As here exhibited, the illicit introduction
of cotton goods from France into Spain is almost double in amount that
of British cottons. The fact may be accounted for from the closer
proximity of France, the superior facilities and economy of land
transit, the establishment of stores of goods in Bayonne, Bordeaux, &c.,
from which the Spanish dealers may be supplied in any quantity and
assortment to order, however small; whilst from Great Britain heavy
cargoes only can be dispatched, and from Gibraltar quantities in bulk
could alone repay the greater risk of the smuggler by sea.
Señor Durou adds the following brief reflections upon this _exposé_ of
the French contraband trade. "Let the manufactures of Catalonia be
protected; but there is no need to make all Spain tributary to one
province, when it cannot satisfy the necessities of the others, neither
in the quantity, the quality, nor the cost of its fabrics. What would
result from a protecting duty? Why, that contraband trade would be
stopped, and the premiums paid by the assurance companies established
in Bayonne, Oleron, and Perpignan, would enter into the Exchequer of
the State."
The active measures decreed by the Spanish Government in July and
October 1841, supported by cordons of troops at the foot of the
Pyrenees, have, indeed, very materially interfered with and checked the
progress of this contraband trade. In consequence of ancient compact,
the Basque, that is frontier provinces of Spain, enjoyed, among other
exclusive privileges, that of being exempt from Government customhouses,
or customs' regulations. For this privilege, a certain inconsiderable
subsidy was periodically voted for the service of the State. Regent
Espartero resolutely suspended first, and then abrogated, this branch of
the _fueros_. He carried the line of the customhouses from the Ebro,
where they were comparatively useless and scarcely possible to guard, to
the very foot and passes of the Pyrenees. The advantageous effect of
these vigorous proceedings was not long to wait for, and it may be found
developed in the Report to the Chamber of Deputies in Paris, before
referred to; in which M. Chégaray, the _rapporteur_ on the part of the
complaining petitioners of Bayonne, Bordeaux, &c., after stating that
the general exports of France to Spain in
1839 represented the aggregate sum of 83,000,000 francs,
1840 " " 104,000,000 francs,
1841 " " 101,000,000 francs,
proceeds to say, that the general returns for 1842 were not yet (April
11) made up, but that "_M. le directeur-général des douanes nous a
declaré que la diminution avait été enorme_." But although the general
returns could not be given, those specially referring to the single
customhouse of Bayonne had been obtained, and they amply confirmed the
assertion of the enormous diminution. The export of cottons, woollens,
silks, and linens, from that port to Spain, which in
1840 amounted in value to 15,800,000 francs,
1841 also 15,800,000 francs,
1842 had fallen to 5,700,000 francs.
A fall, really tremendous, of nearly two-thirds.
M. Chégaray, unfortunately, can find no other grievance to complain of
but the too strict enforcement of the Spanish custom laws, by which
French and Spanish contrabandists are harassed and damaged--can suggest
no other remedy than the renewal of the "family compact" of the
Bourbons--no hopes for the revival of smuggling prosperity from the
perpetuation of the French reciprocity system of trade all on one side,
but in the restoration of the commercial privileges so long enjoyed
exclusively by French subjects and shipping, but now broken or breaking
down under the hammering blows of Espartero--nor discover any prospect
of relief until the Spanish customhouse lines are transferred to their
old quarters on the other side of the Ebro, and the _fueros_ of the
Biscaiano provinces, which, by ancient treaty, he claims to be under the
guarantee of France, re-established in all their pristine plenitude.
It is surely time for the intelligence, if not the good sense, of France
to do justice by these day-dreams. The tutelage of Spain has escaped
from the Bourbons of Paris, and the ward of full majority will not be
allowed, cannot be, if willing, to return or remain under the trammels
of an interested guardian, with family pretensions to the property in
default of heirs direct. France, above all countries, has the least
right to remonstrate against the reign of prohibitions and restrictions,
being herself the classic land of both. Let her commence rather the work
of reform at home, and render tardy justice to Spain, which she has
drained so long, and redress to Great Britain, against whose more
friendly commercial code she is constantly warring by differential
preferences of duties in favour of the same commodities produced in
other countries, which consume less of what she abounds in, and have
less the means of consumption. Beyond all, let her cordially join this
country in urging upon the Spanish Government, known to be nowise averse
to the urgency of a wise revision and an enlightened modification of the
obsolete principles of an absurd and impracticable policy both fiscal
and commercial--a policy which beggars the treasury, whilst utterly
failing to protect native industry, and demoralizes at the same time
that it impoverishes the people. We are not of the number of those who
would abandon the assertion of a principle _quoad_ another country, the
wisdom and expediency of which we have advocated, and are still prepared
to advocate, in its regulated application to our own, from the sordid
motive of benefiting British manufactures to the ruin of those of Spain.
Rather, we say to the government of Spain, let a fair protection be the
rule, restrictions the exceptions, prohibition the obsolete outcast, of
your fiscal and commercial policy. We import into this country, the
chief and most valuable products of Spain, those which compose the
elements and a very considerable proportion of her wealth and industry,
are either untaxed, or taxed little more than nominally. We may still
afford, with proper encouragement and return in kind, to abate duties on
such Spanish products as are taxed chiefly because coming into
competition with those of our own colonial possessions, and on those
highly taxed as luxuries, for revenue; and this we can do, and are
prepared to do, although Spain is so enormously indebted to us already
on the balance of commercial exchanges.
This revision of her fiscal system, and reconstruction, on fair and
reciprocal conditions, of her commercial code, are questions of far
deeper import--and they are of vital import--to Spain than to this
empire. Look at the following statement of her gigantic debt, upon
which, beyond some three or four hundred thousand pounds annually, for
the present, on the capitalized _coupons_ of over-due interest accruing
on the conversion and consolidation operation of 1834, the Toreno
abomination, not one _sueldo_ of interest is now paying, has been paid
for years, or can be paid for years to come, and then only as industry
furnishes the means by extended trade, and more abundant customhouse
revenues, resulting from an improved tariff.
_Statement of the Spanish Debt at commencement of 1842_:--
Internal--Liquidated, that
is verified, L.50,130,565 Without interest.
Not liquidated 9,364,228 with 5 per cent in paper.
Not consolidated, 2,609,832
Bearing 5 per cent, 15,242,593 Interest, L.762,128
Do. 3 do. 5,842,632 -- 233,705
----------- -----------
L.83,189,850 L.995,833
----------- -----------
External Loan of 1834, and the conversion
of old debt, L.33,985,939 5 per cent, L.1,699,296
Balance of inscription to the public
treasury of France, 2,782,681 -- 160,000
Inscriptions in payment of
English claims, 600,000 -- 30,000
Ditto for American claims, 120,000 -- 6,000
----------- -----------
L.37,488,620 L.1,895,296
Capitalized _coupons_, treasury
bonds, &c., amount not stated,
but some millions more 3 per cent,
Deferred, 5,944,584
Ditto, 4,444,040 Calculated at 100 reals
Passive, 10,542,582 per L. sterling.
-----------
20,931,206
-----------
Grand total, exclusive of
capitalization L.141,669,676
The latest account of Spanish finance, that for 1842 before referred to,
exhibits an almost equally hopeless prospect of annual deficit, as
between revenue and expenditure; 1st, the actual receipts of revenue
being stated at
879,193,475 reals
The expenditure, 1,541,639,879
-------------
Deficit, 662,446,404
That is, with a revenue sterling of L.8,791,934
A deficiency besides uncovered, of 6,624,464
Assuming the amount of the contraband traffic in Spain at six millions
sterling per annum, instead of the ten millions estimated, we think most
erroneously, by Señor Marliani, the result of an average duty on the
amount of 25 per cent, would produce to the treasury L.1,500,000 per
annum; and more in proportion as the traffic, when legitimated, should
naturally extend, as the trade would be sure to extend, between two
countries like Great Britain and Spain, alone capable of exchanging
millions with each other for every million now operated. The L.1,500,000
thus gained would almost suffice to meet the annual interest on the
L.34,000,000 loan conversion of 1834, still singularly classed in stock
exchange parlance as "active stock." As for the remaining mass of
domestic and foreign debt, there can be no hope for its gradual
extinction but by the sale of national domains, in payment for which the
titles of debt of all classes may be, as some now are, receivable in
payment. As upwards of two thousand millions of reals of debt are said
to be thus already extinguished, and the national domains yet remaining
for disposal are valued at nearly the same sum, say L.20,000,000, it is
clear that the final extinction of the debt is a hopeless prospect,
although a very large reduction might be accomplished by that enhanced
value of these domains which can only flow from increase of population
and the rapid progression of industrial prosperity.
All Spain, excepting the confining provinces in the side of France, and
especially the provinces where are the great commercial ports, such as
Cadiz, Malaga,[27] Corunna, &c., have laid before the Cortes and
Government the most energetic memorials and remonstrances against the
prohibition system of tariffs in force, and ask why they, who, in favour
of their own industry and products, never asked for prohibitions, are to
be sacrificed to Catalonia and Biscay? The Spanish Government and the
most distinguished public men are well known to be favourable, to be
anxiously meditating, an enlightened change of system, and negotiations
are progressing prosperously, or would progress, but for France. When
will France learn to imitate the generous policy which announced to her
on the conclusion of peace with China--We have stipulated no conditions
for ourselves from which we desire to exclude you or other nations?
[27] See _Exposicion de que dirige á las Cortes et Ayuntamiento
Constitucional de Malaga_, from which the following are
extracts:--"El ayuntamiento no puede menos de indicar, que
entre los infinitos renglones fabriles aclimatados ya en
Espana, las sedas de Valencia, los panos de muchas provincias,
los hilados de Galicia, las blondas de Cataluna, las bayetas de
Antequera, los hierros de Vizcaya y los elaborados por
maquinaria en las ferrerías á un lado y otro de esta ciudad,
han adelantado, prosperan y compiten con los efectos
extranjeros mas acreditados. ¿Y han solicitado acaso una
prohibicion? Nó jamas: un derecho protector, sí; á su sombra se
criaron, con la competencia se formaron y llegaron á su
robustez.... Ingleterra figura en la exportacion por el mayor
valor sin admitir comparacion alguna. Su gobierno piensa en
reducir muy considerablemente todos los renglones de su
arancil; pero se ha espresado con reserva para negar ó
conceder, si lo estima conveniente, esta reduccion á las
naciones que no correspondan á los beneficios que les ofrece;
ninguno puede esperar que le favorezcan sin compensacion."
We could have desired, for the pleasure and profit of the public, to
extend our notice of, and extracts from, the excellent work of Señor
Marliani, so often referred to, but our limits forbid. To show, however,
the state and progress of the cotton manufacture in Catalonia, how
little it gains by prohibitions, and how much it is prejudiced by the
contraband trade, we beg attention to the following extract:--
"Since the year 1769, when the cotton manufacture commenced in
Catalonia, the trade enjoyed a complete monopoly, not only in
Spain, but also in her colonies. To this protection were added
the fostering and united efforts of private individuals. In
1780, a society for the encouragement of the cotton manufacture
was established in Barcelona. Well, what has been the result?
Let us take the unerring test of figures for our guide. Let us
take the medium importation of raw cotton from 1834 to 1840
inclusive, (although the latter year presents an inadmissible
augmentation,) and we shall have an average amount of 9,909,261
lbs. of raw cotton. This quantity is little more than half that
imported by the English in the year 1784. The sixteen millions
of pounds imported that year by the English are less than the
third part imported by the same nation in 1790, which amounted
in all to thirty-one millions; it is only the sixth part of
that imported in 1800, when it rose to 56,010,732 lbs.; it is
less than the seventh part of the British importations in 1810,
which amounted to seventy-two millions of pounds; it is less
than the fifteenth part of the cotton imported into the same
country in 1820, when the sum amounted to 150,672,655 pounds;
it is the twenty-sixth part of the British importation in 1830,
which was that year 263,961,452 lbs.; and lastly, the present
annual importation into Catalonia is about the sixty-sixth part
of that into Great Britain for the year 1840, when the latter
amounted to 592,965,504 lbs. of raw cotton. Though the
comparative difference of progress is not so great with France,
still it shows the slow progress of the Catalonian manufactures
in a striking degree. The quantity now imported of raw cotton
into Spain is about the half of that imported into France from
1803 to 1807; a fourth part compared with French importations
of that material from 1807 to 1820; seventh-and-a-half with
respect to those of 1830; and a twenty-seventh part of the
quantity introduced into France in 1840."
And we conclude with the following example, one among several which
Señor Marliani gives, of the daring and open manner in which the
operations of the _contrabandistas_ are conducted, and of the scandalous
participation of authorities and people--incontestable evidences of a
wide-spread depravation of moral sentiments.
"Don Juan Prim, inspector of preventive service, gave
information to the Government and revenue board in Madrid, on
the 22d of November 1841, that having attempted to make a
seizure of contraband goods in the town of Estepona, in the
province of Malaga, where he was aware a large quantity of
smuggled goods existed, he entered the town with a force of
carabineers and troops of the line. On entering, he ordered the
suspected depôt of goods to be surrounded, and gave notice to
the second alcalde of the town to attend to assist him in the
search. In some time the second alcalde presented himself, and
at the instance of M. Prim dispersed some groups of the
inhabitants who had assumed a hostile attitude. In a few
minutes after, and just as some shots were fired, the first
alcalde of the town appeared, and stated that the whole
population was in a state of complete excitement, and that he
could not answer for the consequences; whereupon he resigned
his authority. While this was passing, about 200 men, well
armed, took up a position upon a neighbouring eminence, and
assumed a hostile attitude. At the same time a carabineer,
severely wounded from the discharge of a blunderbuss, was
brought up, so that there was nothing left for M. Prim but to
withdraw his force immediately out of the town, leaving the
smugglers and their goods to themselves, since neither the
alcaldes nor national guards of the town, though demanded in
the name of the law, the regent, and the nation, would aid M.
Prim's force against them!"
All that consummate statesmanship can do, will be done, doubtless, by
the present Government of Great Britain, to carry out and complete the
economical system on which they have so courageously thrown themselves
_en avant_, by the negotiation and completion of commercial treaties on
every side, and by the consequent mitigation or extinction of hostile
tariffs. Without this indispensable complement of their own tariff
reform, and low prices consequent, he must be a bold man who can reflect
upon the consequences without dismay. Those consequences can benefit no
one class, and must involve in ruin every class in the country,
excepting the manufacturing mammons of the Anti-corn-law league, who,
Saturn-like, devour their own kindred, and salute every fall of prices
as an apology for grinding down wages and raising profits. It may be
well, too, for sanguine young statesmen like Mr Gladstone to turn to the
DEBT, and cast about how interest is to be forthcoming with falling
prices, falling rents, falling profits, (the exception above apart,)
excise in a rapid state of decay, and customs' revenue a blank!
* * * * *
_Edinburgh; Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes Paul's Work._