THE FRENCH TARIFF—M. DUCHATEL- M. THIERS.
THE commercial and manufacturing districts of France have been once more thrown into a state of violent commotion, by the cir- cular recently addressed to the various Chambers of Commerce by M. DUCHATEL, convoking a superior council to meet in Paris for the purpose of deliberating on the measure to be submitted by him to the Chambers, for the further modification of tha Tariff. It has long been evident that the existing prohibitions cannot be continued, nor the present rate of duties supported ; and notwith- standing the obvious wish of Louis PHILIP to imitate the Do-as- little-as-possible system of the Grey Cabinet, the voice of the country has been so unequivocally pronounced—the facts and merits of the subject have been so industriously promulgated by the Press—that his Government is forced forward, in spite of all its struggles to retrograde or to stand still. Something, therefore, must be done—at all events, in appearance ; but the manner in which the new Minister of Commerce has commenced—the show of activity and bustle he has put forth—are not calculated to in- spire us with flattering anticipations of the result. When M. THIERS desired to reconcile the magnificence of his promises with the meanness of' his acts, lie called together a similar council, in which a hundred selfish crotchets were produced, and all degrees of ignorance and cupidity displayed. He demanded the opinion of the iron-manufacturer and the cotton-spinner as to the pro- priety of what they considered equivalent to cutting their own throats; and he received from them the only reply which persons exceedingly averse to that operation could be expected to give. The " protection of existing interests" (as the cant phrase for monopoly goes) alone was thought of : the oppressive burdens endured by the people in consequence, were carefully kept out of sight; the consumer, and the extortion that " protection " entails upon him, were beneath the consideration of so complete a statesman as M. TRIERS. Fortified with the opinion of this dis- interested body, he proceeded to the Chambers, and was delivered of his mouse. But the contempt and laughter and ridicule which accompanied the abortion, hurried him from the Ministry of Com- merce, with the precipitation a dog exhibits when a canister is fastened to his tail. He proved himself to be a mere magpie—a talking jay—possessing abundance of specious quackery, but in reality destitute of sound principle, and, as some have not hesi- tated to assert, of personal probity. To the level of M. TRIERS his successor cannot descend. M. DUCHATEL is distinguished for his liberal views in matters of trade ; and his knowledge of the interests liable to be affected by an alteration of the Tariff is said to be perfect. Those to whom he is best known, speak of him as a man not likely to sacrifice his convictions to ambition or to office; and they assert that his personal respectability of character is a good security that he will not lend himself to the sordid views that his master and some of his coadjutors notoriously entertain. We do not see, however, that in this there is much to be relied on. The worst and most unprincipled Minister that ever cursed England, was an amiable and honourable man in private life. M. DUCHATEL is confessedly in bad company, and we all know what the effect of evil communication is. The men by whom he is sur- rounded will never willingly concede their selfish interests to the public weal ; and we cannot but regard his present imitation of TRIERS as extremely suspicious. With every fact necessary for deliberate legislation before him—with the distinctly admitted conviction that the manufacturing monopolies cannot be reconciled to the general welfare of the people—any new appeals to Cham- bers of Commerce, or any additional collection of interested opi- nions, resemble more adesire to mystify, a wish to escape froeathe dilemma in which his avowed sentiments and the belief of his in- ability to carry them into effect has placed him, than a firm reso- lution to attempt at least the only wise measure that remains for his adoption.
Such at least appears to be the opinion in France. The Chamberof Commerce of Bordeaux has already, in a pithy letter, evidently free the pen of HENRI FONFREDE, declined to send a delegate to the council at Paris. It is stated that all the facts upon which useful or beneficial legislation can proceed, are sufficiently known to the Minister ; and that, to expect new information from a general council so composed, is mere mockery, from which they anticipate a continuation of the unjust measures to which the best interests of the country have hitherto been sacrificed. The Council of Havre has also refused to send a representative; but it adopted an address which immediately received the signatures of the en- tire body of merchants of that city ; and has for its conclusions, I. The reduction of all duties to take place at a fixed period; 2. The maximum of the new duty to be 20 per cent.;
3. To reduce immediately to a very low rate, the duty on all
unmanufactured articles (matieres premieres), in the first
rank of which are placed coals, iron, wool, cotton, &c.
M. DELAUNAY, whets at the head of the Havre commerce, and whose name carries great weight with it throughout France, has published a letter in which he looks upon the expedient of a gene- ml council as altogether unworthy the character of M. DUCHATEL, and asserts that any measure that can spring from it will only be a fresh deception and a new disappointment to the country. It appears that this and the spirited remonstrance of Bordeaux have touched the Minister nearly : he replies, that his only wish is to have every information and every possible light thrown upon the subject, and that he himself is resolved to take the whole respon- sibility of the law which is to be brought forward.
Lyons, Marseilles, and one or two other places, will follow in the wake of Havre and Bordeaux. Indeed, the former city has tenfold reason to view with alarm the injudicious and illiberal conduct of the Government; for should England find, after all its patience, that France is really determined to trifle with us, and that the reciprocity is only to be on one side, who can tell but she may retaliate, by shutting the door to the manufactured silks of Lyons?—a measure which we certainly could not recommend, but which would receive strong support in this country, and if adopted would create a panic in France sufficient to shake the artificial system to pieces.
On the other hand, we have the rapacious monopolists of Rouen, Lille, and some other towns where the exotics are fostered, loudly demanding a continuance of existing prohibitions; and declaring that the smallest diminution of the present duty on all articles, not indispensably necessary to their own manufactures, is fraught with ruin to themselves and to the thousands of artisans depend- ing on their prosperity for subsistence. They talk also of the danger and impolicy of being dependent on foreigners, and ring changes on all the exploded twaddle which constitute the staple of the arguments of the enlightened advocates of prohibition and high duties.
In this state the affair at present stands. Whether it is to be decided that a few grasping manufacturers shall continue to fill their purses at the expense of the people, or whether the people shall be permitted to buy at a fair market, remains to be seen. A feeble and timorous step in advance may possibly be made; a small payment on the nail, and a large promise for futurity may be offered ; but any thing sufficient to redeem the honour of DUCHATEL or to satisfy the just expectations of the country will be looked for in vain. The decisive proposition of Havre will be scouted as monstrous ; and, in fact, we have serious doubts of the power of the Ministry—supposing it to be proceeding in good faith, which it is not—to carry a liberal act of the sort through a Chamber of Deputies, the numerical majority of which is directly interested in a continuance of the hateful system. We know also how much personal interest the King has in the matter ; and any measure that invades his pocket is sure to be thwarted. In the good intentions of M. DUCHATEL we place, after all, about the same amount of' reasonable faith we have yielded to Lord GREY or Lord ALTHORP : but " good intentions • are of little avail now- a-days ; and in the present instance we fear they will merely add another square to the mosaic which is said to constitute the pave- ment of a place never mentioned to ears polite.
Previous page
