Thursday, April 29, 1813.

A Petition of several merchants, manufacturers, cotton spinners, and calico printers, in the city and vicinity of Glasgow, was presented and read; setting forth,

"That, by the Act 49 Geo. 3, c. 98, for repealing the several duties of customs chargeable in Great Britain, and for granting other duties in lieu thereof, a duty" was imposed upon cotton wool equal to two-pence per pound weight, if imported into this country in a British built ship, and three-pence per pound weight if imported in a ship not British built; and that, for a considerable period, the cotton trade of this country has been in a state greatly depressed and declining, the losses to those engaged in it, both upon their stock and by bad debts, and the privations of the operatives, from the depression of their wages, have been unprecedently great, as a consequence; and, in proof of this, the fall in the value of fixed stock has been enormous, and a very considerable proportion of it is wholly abandoned; and it appears to the petitioners, that the existing tax has contributed, along with other causes, to produce this effect, and that numerous manufactures of cotton have of late been established in many of the United States of America, and the natural influence of the present state of war is to increase these establishments, the tax complained of must operate as an additional premium, not only by raising the price of the raw material here, but by lowering it to the manufacturers of America, Germany, Russia, and Turkey; and, if the cotton wool of America is thereby excluded from the British market, she is rendered less able, and, although this were not the case, she will refuse to purchase our manufactured fabrics; and that, in the cheapness and superiority of the raw material, in the saving of freight, and other charges, in the command of power which the rivers every where afford, in the extent and increasing demand in the American market, in being less likely to be involved in European politics and wars, and other circumstances connected with his situation, the American manufacturer possesses highly important natural advantages, of which it is impossible to deprive him; industry and skill have never been long wanting, where such premiums have been furnished, to call forth and reward them; the skill of our own mechanics was the creation of a few years, many of these have already emigrated to the United States, and the increase of the manufactures of America is in perpetual operation to promote their natural tendency to emigrate; not only is the rapidly increasing population of America likely soon to deprive this country, in a great measure, of the advantage a rising from cheaper workmen, but there is no description of manufacture in which, in proportion to its extent, so few hands are employed; in spinning, weaving, calico-printing, and ornamenting, human labour is now greatly superseded by mechanical skill, and every day, by the introduction of new machines, the demand for labourers, and the advantage arising from possessing them in abundance, is diminished; and that the Sea Island cotton of America forms the staple of the muslin manufacture of Glasgow and that part of the empire; it is impossible for the manufacturer to make the same perfect fabric without it, or for our colonies to supply him with wool of equal quality; of this wool there is but a small quantity at present in Britain, as it is necessary to the manufacturer of the fine descriptions of piece goods, it must be purchased at whatever price, So that the proposed tax, in so far as it bears upon this description of wool, must be paid by the British manufacturer and consumer; and that the petitioners are far from complaining of any peculiar encouragements which the legislature may, in its wisdom, see meet to give to the linen manufactures of the country; they do not complain of the bounties being continued to them, of which a branch of the cotton trade has lately been deprived; they cannot, however, forbear stating, that, although the continental markets were now opened, the petitioners would, in a great measure, be excluded from a fair competition not only by the British and Irish linens thus supported, and by the piece goods of the East Indies, but by the foreign manufactures of muslins and linens, which come into market in most cases free of tax, or taxed to a much smaller extent; nor has any permanent advantage at all equivalent resulted from the tax to the British colonial planter and ship owner; the former can hardly be expected to make any material alteration upon the system of his cotton plantations upon the faith of a tax which may be speedily repealed; and with regard to the latter, the discrepancy between the amount of the tax to neutrals and British ships has been found, by experience, to be more than counterbalanced by the additional freight and charges, the circuitous voyage, and the transhipment of the goods, and other charges necessarily attendant upon importation in British ships, and whatever affects our manufactures will ultimately injure our ships, colonies, and commerce; and that, upon the whole, the petitioners entreat the House to allow them to state, that the cotton trade, especially in its present state, cannot, without manifest danger to its existence, be converted into a means of political annoyance to America; and they are hopeful that the legislature will not continue to put that to hazard which is not only so im- portant to the country, but upon which so many thousands depend for their employment and daily subsistence; and praying the House to relieve the cotton trade from its present situation of difficulty, by the repeal of the existing tax upon cotton wool, or by allowing such drawback upon yarns and manufactured goods, on exportation, as will enable the British manufacturer to compete with the manufacturers of other nations in foreign markets."

A Petition of several planters, merchants, and others resident in the city of Glasgow, interested in the trade and prosperity of the British West India colonies, was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That by the Act of the 43d of his present Majesty, the importation of certain articles is permitted into the United Kingdom, direct in neutral ships, from the countries of our enemies, a system which the petitioners humbly conceive to be highly injurious to the commercial interests of the empire; and that, among the evils attendant on allowing our enemies to relieve themselves of their surplus productions in the markets of this kingdom, it is not the least that those of friendly countries are thereby precluded from advantages which otherwise they would enjoy, and that the produce of the British colonies is rendered unprofitable to our planters, merchants, and ship owners, to a most injurious degree; to exemplify this remark, the petitioners beg leave to point out the article of cotton wool, of which abundant quantities, of every requisite description, may be procured from the British West India colonies, South America, aud the East Indies, for it is a well known fact that some years ago a quality of cotton superior to any Sea Island Georgia was raised in the island of Tobago, from Bourbon seed; were our planters, therefore, sufficiently protected against importations from the American states, there is no doubt that not only the island of Tobago, but almost every other British colony in the West Indies, would produce cotton of the very finest description; and that importations from the countries of our enemies not only prove highly injurious to our own planters, and those of friendly states, but also, in a great degree, deprive British shipping of a profitable employment in bringing to this country the produce of South America, and our manufac- turers of the benefit of the vent for those goods with which the payment would be made in return; and that, in every point of view, therefore, when the produce of our own colonies is exposed to many heavy additional expences, arising out of a state of war, it becomes a wise and highly expedient measure to prohibit the importation of all articles the growth and produce of the United States of America, which 30 materially interfere with the vital interests of our own colonies, and with the general interests of the empire; and that, towards accomplishing this salutary system, the petitioners see with much satisfaction the measures lately adopted by his Majesty's ministers in the blockade of the southern ports of the American states; but as cotton wool, and the other productions of these countries, may still find their way into this kingdom, the petitioners pray, that the aforesaid Act of the 43d of the King may be repealed, and farther, that all articles the growth and produce of the American states may be prohibited from being imported into this kingdom during the war."

Ordered to lie on the table.