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or manufacture of the United States, and they were to be allowed to export from our colonies to the United States any articles whatsoever. While this liberal Bill was before the House the Ministry were beaten upon another matter, and resigned. Their successors dropped this Bill, of regu- and, to save trouble, vested the power
lating the trade with America in the Crown by a temporary Act, which was from time to time renewed.
Considerable discussion arose immediately after the passing of this Act, as to the mode in which the power of the Crown ought to be exer- cised. On the one hand the West Indians represented the fearful position in which they would be placed if they were not allowed to trade with the United States. On the other hand the loyalists of the North American colonies pleaded that they were quite able to supply the West Indians with all that they needed, and prayed that the monopoly which the war had given them might not be put an end to. These were supported by the shipping interest, on the plea that if American ships were allowed to export West Indian produce they would take it
to foreign countries as well as to the United The case was States, and so become carriers. fully argued before the Board of Trade, and ulti- mately the shipowners and the loyalists prevailed over the West Indians". The order which was issued under the temporary Act, allowed certain articles to be imported into the West Indies from the United States in British vessels, and certain other articles to be exported from the West Indies to the United States, also in British vessels; but
no American vessels could engage in the trade at
all, and many articles of great importance (salt
meat, fish, train-oil, &c.) were not included in the
list of legal imports.
The order gave great offence to the Ame- ricans. "The assemblies of three of the States actually made a requisition to Congress that they would prohibit all commercial intercourse with the British Coloniest:" and it appears that
See the account of the whole affair in Edwards, vol. ii, p. 495, et seq.
+ Macpherson's “ Annals of Commerce," vol. iv, p. 26.
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between the time of the issue of this order and the first meeting of Congress (which took place
in 1789), provisions were in fact made by nine
of the States for retaliatory measures upon British commerce and navigation*.
On the meeting of Congress two Acts were inmediately passed, one of which laid a tonnage duty of 6 cents on all American-built and Ameri- can-owned vessels, of 30 cents on vessels built in the United States, but owned by foreigners, and
of 50 cents on foreign vessels. The other Act im- posed a tariff of import duties in the ordinary form, and provided for the remission of 10 per cent. on such duties, in case the goods were imported
in an American ship. It is sometimes, but erro- neously, supposed, that the Americans imme- diately adopted a Navigation Law, which was the counterpart of our own; and some persons have said that such a law was passed by Congress in 1792-93; but the Act to which they refer was only one for defining the vessels which should be admitted to be American for the purposes of the Tonnage Duty Act. No Act analogous to our Navigation Act was passed till 1817. The real advantages given to American shipping were, that it paid lower tonnage duties, and that the goods which it imported paid lower import duties.
The effect of the decision of the Government upon the West Indians, is represented by Bryan Edwards as having been most injurious. The West Indians, having been afflicted by several hurricanes, which destroyed that portion of the sustenance of the negroes which was home grown, and being unable to obtain the requisite supplies from the North American colonies, and being restricted in drawing them from the United States, suffered severely from scarcity; and it is alleged in a memorial from the planters of Ja- maica, that no less than 15,000 slaves perished from this cause in that island alone, between the years 1780 and 1787†.
Notwithstanding this, our Parliament perse- vered in the system they had adopted, and after continuing the orders in council for some years,
• See Report of the Board of Trade, January 28, 1791.
+ Edwards, vol. ii, p. 515.