Daily Prices of STOCKS, from 20th AUGUST, to 20th SEPTEMBER, 1808. N.B. mit 66 664 Pl 4 6 p 6671 4 6 664 4 6 66 603 60 664 66% £99 1911 162 60 49 Of the line. 50 to 44. Frigates. Sloops. Gun-bgs. Total. VAN SOMMER, AND SONS, Stock and Discount Brokers, No. 36, lements Lane. Lombard Street THE LITERARY PANORAMA. FOR NOVEMBER, 1808. DISTILLATION FROM SUGAR AND MOLASSES. Fourth Report of the Committee on the Distillation from Sugar and Molasses.— With Continuation of Information derived from the Evidence furnished to the Committee of the Hon. House of Commons, on what other Provisions can be made for the Relief of the West-India Planters. [Ordered to be printed June 22, 1808.] [For the three former Reports on this Subject, Vide Panorama, Vol. IV. pp. 374, 385, 417, 442, 637, 645.] THE Committee appointed to inquire how far it may be expedient to confine the Distilleries of the United Kingdom to the use of Sugar and Molasses only; and also what other Provision can be made for the Relief of the Growers of Sugar in the British West India Colonies; Report that they have inquired whether any and what Relief might be afforded to the Colonies, by reducing the prohibitory duty on the importation of refined Sugar, to a duty which should be merely equivalent to that on Raw Sugar. It may be proper to premise, that there is a process called claying, which does not subject Sugar to the prohibitory duty, but only to an additional duty of 4s. per cwt., which is not more than proportionate to its additional value. This is, however, not what is meant by Refined, which is, properly speaking, Sugar that has undergone solution, and a fresh granulation, and such Sugar is charged with a duty of £8. 8s. per cwt.; which acts as an absolute prohibition of its import. The advantages which the Planter would derive from refining his Sugar, before he imports it, are: First, That immense loss would be avoided which now arises from drainage in the pas sage, amounting to nearly one-eighth of the whole. This loss to the Planter, if Sugar be estimated at its shipment at the low rate of £25s. per cwt. is not less on the whole importation than £600,000 per annum. VOL. V. [Lit, Pan, Nov. 1808.] It is indeed alledged, that this loss might be avoided by chying, but it appears that the process of claying is not applicable to all Sugars, and, from its increasing disuse, it seems to be regarded as by no means beneficial. Another benefit to the Planter would arise from the great increase of his Distillery; for every cwt. of Sugar refined would furnish materials for the distillation of nearly three gallons of Rum, and this additional distillation would be accompanied by no additional expence. A third benefit to be expected by the Planter, would be the reduction of his home freight. At present the ships on an average obtain barely one-third of a freight out, and are therefore obliged to charge two-thirds of their freight out on their freight home. Should the Refinery take place to any considerable extent, there would be a large export of coals and utensils. Besides, as the freight home is paid not on the Sugar that is taken on board, but on what is landed, it follows that the freight of that eighth of the Sugar which is lost on the passage must be charged on the remainder. Were this waste avoided, it is obvious that on this account only the freight home might be reduced one-eighth, without loss to the ship owner, and this would be, at the present rate of freight, a saving to the Planter of about £300,000 on his whole import. Lastly, a benefit of no small importance may arise to the Colonies from the number of Europeans which would be wanted in various capacities for the Refinery; and by this means would be obviated the alarming decrease of white population, which the present distress of the Colonies cannot fail to accelerate. To this may be added, that the Refinery would furnish to a considerable number of negroes an employment superior to that of field labour, and thereby contribute to that gradation among them, on which their improvement and well-being so much depends. To the Shipping Interest it does not appear that any injury could possibly occur. Instead of a cwt. of Raw Sugar, the freight home would be 56lbs. of Refined, 22lbs. of Bastard Ι Sugar, and three gallons of Rum, which is at least equivalent. With regard to the revenue, it is clear that if the duty laid on the Refined Sugar and the Bastard should equal in amount that of the Raw Sugar which produced it, no loss could arise. In some other points of view the alteration would be beneficial to the revenue. The waste being avoided, a greater quantity would arrive, and arriving at no additional expense, it might be afforded cheaper. The consumption thereby promoted, the duties must also increase. The revenue would also gain in another way. It has been found impossible to prevent the Molasses produced in the Refinery from getting illegally into distillation, by which the revenue is materially injured. No such consequence could result from Molasses produced in the West Indies, as the article is not of sufficient value to pay the charge of importation. It has been observed, that the Planter loses one-eighth of his produce one-eighth of his capital may therefore be regarded as unproductive. The same remark applies to the Shipping; being obliged to take on board a quantity of Sugar, equal to one-eighti, which does not arrive, it follows that oneeighth of the West India Shipping is also unproductive. Capital, under such circumstances, not only detracts from the income of individuals, but is so much loss of national | stock, and in this light must be regarded the two sumis before stated, making an aggregate loss to individuals and to the nation of £900,000 annually. There may be about 60 pans in Ireland, the buildings and utensils of which may be valued at £180,000; making in the whole £1,812,000 for building and utensils. The capital requisite foreach pan is £3,000 two-thirds to the buildings, one-third to the utensils. To keep a pan at work, in London, £6,000 additional, and a larger sum in the out-ports, is requisite for the purchase of Sugar, and to discharge current expences. But this latter capital does not come into the present view, as it would not be engaged were the Refinery to stop. £3,000 for each pan, is £1,464,000 for those employed; and £348,000 for those not employed. But as this latter capital may perhaps not become again productive, it would hardly be reasonable to allow for it as though it were so at present; and perhaps half the value only might be considered as liable to depreciation. This deduction would leave the total of the buildings and utensils subjected to loss at £1,638,000: this would not however be total loss, for many of the buildings would be convertible to other purposes, and all the site and materials would retain their value; neither would the utensils be entirely lost. The total eventual loss might be one-half of their cost, or £819,000. Your committee thought it right to present to the House the extreme case, in order to shew that even the extreme case could not occasion a loss equal to that which arises annually in the present system. This extremity could however hardly occur. In a matter so new, it is impossible to say It is next to be considered, what effect such what difficulties might arise, to obstruct the alteration of the duty would have on the progress of Refinery in the West Indies. It Domestic Refinery, for the encouragement of is probable, that from want of capital there, which it was obviously first imposed. In as such progress would be very gradual, and for as the Colonial Refinery might be promot- that the Colonial Refinery would at last be ed by such alteration, there can be no doubt confined to such Sugars as are exposed to the but the Domestic Refinery must decrease; greatest waste in the passage, and are least and if this effect were extensive and imme-able to pay their freight in a raw state. diate, the greatest injury could not fail to arise to those, who, on the faith of existing Jaws, had embarked their capitals in these establishments. Presuming that the House would not entertain a measure which could have such an effect, without at the same time entertaining a consideration of compensation to the individuals who might be injured by it, your committee thought it incumbent on them to make inquiry as to the amount of these capitals and the nature of their investment. It is stated that there were, two years ago, 363 refining pans in employ in London alone; 70 of these are now out of employ. The number of pans in other parts of the United Empire are supposed to be 240, and it is presumed that an equal proportion of these, viz. 46, are now unemployed. Total, 488 pans in employ; 116 out of employ. Thus it may be supposed that ultimately not above one-half of the Domestic Refineries would be superseded by those of the West Indies; and therefore not above half the abovementioned injury could arise; and even this would be rendered less by its being gradual, and in great part remote. So much however is certain, that in as far as the measure shall produce any effect, that effect will be highly beneficial to the Planter and the Nation, and that the benefits arising from it, will furnish ample funds for compensating any injury that it could produce. On the other hand, should the Refinery not succeed in the West Indies, it cannot be imagined that from an unsuccessful speculation any serious injury could arise to the Refiners of this country. It has appeared obvious to your committee, that effectual relief to the West Indian Colos nies was only to be expected in one of the it; nor would it be difficult to produce high three following ways: 1. A change of their commendatory authorities from writers on the staple commodity Sugar for some more lucra- subject of aliment in almost every country, tive produce; 2. A reduction of the expences with which the observations of the best inattending its cultivation and sale; or 3. An formed Colonists agree. The apparent results advance of price, whether effected by an in- from the evidence of an honourable Member. crease of demand, or a diminution of sup- of this House appear discouraging; but it ply. The first of these modes has been repre- does not seem impossible to account for them sented as impracticable, and if practicable, without concluding against the general effect it could not be effected to so great an extent, of Sugar, given in larger quantities and in a and within so short a time, as to prevent the less diluted form. Experiments, which it is ruin of a great proportion of West Indian hoped will prove more decisive, are about to Proprietors. Difficulties nearly equal have be instituted. As however it is evident, that been alledged against an efficient reduction even the present price of Sugar, swelled as it of the expence attending the cultivation and is by the duty, must prove an insuperable bar sale of colonial produce; and against opening to its adoption for this purpose, your commitnew markets in any of the modes hitherto tee thought it advisable to inquire into the proposed, a pertinacious struggle has been possibility of admitting a drawback, to be remaintained by different parties, each respec- ceived on all so employed, without risk to tively jealous of alterations in the present sys- the present revenue, which appears, by the tem, as likely to be injurious to their parti-evidence of Mr. Frewin, to form the only cular interests. As to a diminution of the ground of doubt concerning the allowance. supply, it could not be effected without loss, except by the discovery of some profitable mode of employing the labour of the negroes. which (as is above stated) has not yet been devised; and this object, even if it had been otherwise attainable, must have been defeated by the great increase of colonial produce imported by our recent conquests. That those experiments however are absolutely conclusive, or of themselves form a sufficient basis for a legislative provision, your committee mean not to affirm, and therefore do not at present recommend the indulgence alluded to; but they regard the magnitude of the subject, and the prospect of success, as sufficient to justify their having entered on the inquiry, and to warrant their hope, that before the next Session of Parliament it may be prosecuted with such diligence and zeal as completely to develope the truth. On private application, Mr Parkes, a very intelligent practical chemist, in a manner very creditable to his public spirit, undertook, and has detailed in a very clear and able paper, a course of experiments capable of being so united with Sugar as to prevent its being again used either for common economical purposes, or in wash for distillation, and from which it Under such circumstances, your committee cannot be again separated without very consicould not but favourably entertain the considerable skill, difficulty, and expence, at the deration of a plan for employing Sugar in fat- same time, not injuring, as is supposed, its tening cattle. The advantages of this scheme, nutritive qualities. supposing the success to be but moderately answerable to expectation, are obvious and peculiar; the relief of the most desirable kind, that of opening a new source of consumption within ourselves, and therefore independent of external accidents, or war; not interfering with the interest of any body of men whatever; extensive in proportion to the degree in which it should prove beneficial to those great classes, the feeders and consumers of cattle; and if eminently successful, it would be attended with this especial advantage, that whatever increase of the price of Sugar might arise from the increased consumption from this cause, the burthen would fall generally on the whole country, and might perhaps be even compensated by a reduction in the price of cattle, arising from the improvement in the mode of feeding them. The positive evidence in favour of this plan cannot be stated as very strong; nor indeed could such be expected, while the public attention has not been immediately called to the subject, and experiments have been so discouraged by the cost of the material, as to prevent their having been tried to any satisfactory extent, or in sufficient variety to ascertain accurately either the absolute or the comparative advantage of the practice. A nearly universal current of opinion may however be alledged in support of Your committee are aware, that relief to the Growers of Sugar has been looked for and solicited in a reduction of the duty paid on. the British consumption of that article. It is sufficiently obvious, that the duty in this, as in other cases, ought to be so proportioned as to fall entirely upon the consumer, whereas it is certain, that for some years past, the tax on Sugar has been borne, not by the consumer, but by the cultivator. It is equally certain, that excessive duties are apt to check consumption. If a quantity of Sugar, considerably exceading the average ordinary quantity consumed in the United Kingdom, could, at a reduced price, be forced into consumption, the revenue, in effecting that object by lowering the rate of duty, might find a compensa tion in the extension of that duty to the additional consumption. But the Planter, it is evident, under his present circumstances, however desirable the object may be to him, is unable to bear that it should be accomplished at his expence, for even now receiving no return of profit by the present price, the only expedient in his power would be to reduce in a ruinous manner his cultivation to that point, which should proportion the supply to the existing demand of the Mother Country. To what extent the consumption of Sugar in the United Kingdom might, under judicious encouragement, be carried, must be matter of conjecture. It appears in the evidence before your committee to have been progressive, even under the heavy accumulations of duty which it has sustained; but more rapidly progressive ander those low prices at which, with much disadvantage and loss to the Planter, it has lately been sold. Your committee think it necessary to state that the cultivation of the old British Colonies has done little more than keep pace with the extension of British Consumption, and that the excessive glut of the market is imputable chiefly to the admission of the produce of the conquered colonies into the privileges of our own; at a time too, when access to the Foreign Market was subjected to unusual difficulties. Thus circumstanced, the British Colonics appear to your committee to have a well-grounded claim on the Legislature for such Regulations of Duty on Home Consumption, and of Bounty on Exportation, as may place them at least in a situation as advantageous as that which they would have enjoyed had they been left in the exclusive possession of the market of this kingdom. Your committee did, in the first instance, propose a measure which, whilst it promises some immediate relief, must only be considered as a temporary expedient; but they cannot refrain from pressing, under circumstances of such severe distress, the necessity of a reduction of the duty, unless some other effectual modes of relief shall be adopted. They are clearly of opinion, that if a practicable commutation of any part of the duty can be devised, such a reduction must afford relief to the Planter, either by diminishing his charges to that amount, if the market price should continue unaltered, or by increasing the number and competition of consumers, if the price should fall. In this view your committee recommend to the serious attention of the House a Regulation of the Duty on Sugar, to be governed by the average price taken at stated periods, under the authority and direction of the Legislature. A principle which they find recommended by a Committee of the House of Commons, in their Report, 24th July, 1897; and, with Assembly of Jamaica, 13th November, 1807. some variation, in the Report of the House of terially reducing the Duty on Coffee, is now Your committee understand that a bill, main its progress through the House, and have to any particular investigation on that subject. not therefore thought it necessary to enter inThey cannot, however, refrain from expressing their opinion, that this measure, inasmuch as it may tend to increase the consump tion of Coffee, will not only benefit the grower of that article, by relieving the market from advantage to the grower of Sugar, by with the present glut, but may prove of ultimate drawing a proportion of the negroes to another object of cultivation. It must also tend to the additional security of the islands, by increasing the number of that middling class of White Settlers, on whom their defence so greatly depends. The following are Extracts from the Evidences adduced. Premium offered by the Board of Agriculture for ascertaining the Utility of Sugar in feeding Cattle. To the person who shall make and report to the board the most satisfactory experiments value of brown Muscovado Sugar in feeding or to ascertain the quantity, the effect, and the fattening oxen, cows, hogs, or sheep, a piece of plate of the value of 25 guineas. stock when put to this food, and the effect on Accounts, describing the condition of the their flesh or milk, with the quantity of food eaten, verified by certificates to be produced. on or before the first Tuesday in 1809.-N.B. The board has been informed, that the addition of Sugar to other food should be gradual. It has been recommended to be given dissolved in water, and drank by the cattle, or poured on cut chaff or bran." Effects of Sugar. where milk is worth 2d. per quart, it is imMr. Curwen observes, that in those districts possible to fatten any calf upon milk without the farmer's being a considerable loser. effect on calves. Sugar, which in some respects Molasses were found to have a very laxative appeared to answer better, did not seem to have the violent purgative quality; but in no instance, after three months' experience, was there any hope of producing any thing like fat; yet Sugar, it is thought, may be applied Consumption of Sugar in feeding Animals. for rearing stock, giving a part skim-milk. and don has consumed 123,000 oxen, |