Source: TW
Sea coal duty reduction
COALS.
If it were clearly established that there was a surplus revenue, and that a remission of taxation could properly be made, I know of no duty which I should be more forward to repeal than the tax on sea-borne coals. I know of no one measure which could produce greater benefit, physical and moral, to the poorer classes, than that which would facilitate their obtaining a sufficient supply of coals at a moderate price.
I am of opinion that the relative difference in regard to the amount of physical comforts enjoyed by the poorer and wealthier classes in this country is more felt in the increased ability of the latter to purchase a sufficiency of fuel than in any other circumstance :-much more than in the circumstances of lodging, board or clothes. As to lodging, as regards comfort only, the poorer and the richer classes are placed very much on an equality. As to food there is no material difference, and with respect to clothing, the price of the article used for that purpose is so very small, that there is no material difference in that respect between the upper and lower classes.
When I state this, of course I do not mean to refer to those who are sunk in abject poverty, but to the great mass of the labouring population. With regard to these, as compared with the higher classes, I think the great difference is the facility which the one class has over the other in obtaining fuel. From the nature of the duty, these facilities are much greater in some parts of the country than in others. To subject the poorer classes to such difficulties in obtaining so necessary an article as fuel does seem contrary to all principles of justice and good policy.
I contend, also, that the difficulty of procuring sufficient fuel affects the moral condition of the poorer classes. At all seasons it is necessary, more or less; and in winter, fuel the poor must have, in order to enable them to go on with the labour by which many of them gain their subsistence. If they have not the means of purchasing it, they naturally betake themselves to pilfering from the woods of their richer neighbours; and this, besides confounding right and wrong in their minds, necessarily creates a degree of ill-will between those whose property is stolen and those who are of necessity, as it were, compelled to turn pilferers. A state of animosity, therefore, is engendered by the difficulty which the poor find in obtaining a supply of fuel. Assuming, therefore, that the finances of the country will permit of a reduction of taxation, I think no tax could be selected with more propriety and more advantage than the reduction of the duty on sea-borne coals.— The Budget, Feb. 11, 1830.
I should give my cordial support to the gradual reduction of the coal duty. I should be happy if there were none at all.Coal Trade (Port of London) Bill, July 12, 1838.
COALS-DUTY ON THEIR EXPORT.
My mind has not been relieved of the doubts which I entertain as to the policy of encouraging the export of coals. No doubt it will act as a temporary relief to certain distressed interests in the North, but transitory relief will be dearly purchased by a measure which goes to deprive the country of one of its greatest natural advantages-the almost exclusive monopoly of coals.
I am not at all satisfied as to the proofs of the very abundant supply of coal in this country.(5) I know that the reproduction of coal (and the evidence of reproduction is far from convincing - in fact, I may say, that there is no positive evidence of a reproduction), is not so rapid as the consumption.(5) Then the legislature is surely not to contemplate merely the present interests of the country-it is bound to look forward-to look forward even for a period of 400 or 500 years.(5) In matters of legislation or fiscal arrangement, the interests of remote periods ought always to be considered, unless some immense ultimate advantage is to be gained.
I am not satisfied that the supply of coals in this country-I mean, of coals lying so near the surface as to be procured upon cheap and moderate terms, is so abundant as some hon. gentlemen suppose. That somewhere in the bosom of the earth there is a supply that may last for centuries, I do not mean to deny; but if it has to be procured at such a cost as to render the price of coal in this country equal to what it is in foreign countries, there must be an end at once to the great advantage for manufacturing, which we now enjoy.(5)
The right hon. gentleman (Mr. P. Thompson) says, that we cannot maintain our monopoly of coal, because coal-fields have been discovered in several parts of the continent. Now that, in my opinion, instead of being an argument in favour of becoming exporters of coal, is directly an argument against it. If there were any coal upon the continent, the countries of the continent would encourage the use of it in preference to coal coming from this country. Therefore, the amount of our export is not likely to be great, though, if the countries of the continent have coal of their own, it would induce them to establish manufactures to rival ours. If, therefore, we have any advantage in the production of this important article, it is proper to maintain it to the fullest extent.The Budget, July 25, 1834.
I have forseen the consequences of permitting foreigners to purchase our coal free for many years. I foresee the injury it will be likely to create as regards competition with foreign manufacturers, and it is the fault of this House that an exception has not been made with regard to this particular article, thereby securing to England the elements of future prosperity. — Coal Trade (Port of London Bill), July 12, 1838.
THE GOVERNMENT PROPOSITION ON THIS SUBJECT.*
I must say, I cannot conceive any more legitimate object for the imposition of duty than coal exported to foreign countries. I speak of a reasonable and just duty; and I say that an article of our production, like coal-an article necessary to the production of manufactures, and by the exportation of which we increase the competition of foreign manufacturers with our own-if, I say, we can raise a reasonable amount of duty upon this article when exported to foreign countries, it is a perfectly legitimate source of revenue.
It is important to consider the rapid increase in the quantity of coal exported. In 1831 it was 356,000 tons, and the duty levied upon that quantity was £50,000; in 1833 the quantity exported was 448,000 tons, and the duty was £64,710; in 1839 it was 1,192,000 tons; and in 1840 the quantity of coal exported had increased to 1,307,000 tons; but, instead of realizing £64,710, which was the revenue derived from a smaller quantity in 1833, the whole amount of duty was only £6,905. I do not propose to increase the duty; I will not attempt to prohibit the exportation of coal; but I propose that the duty which was originally intended to be levied on coal exported in foreign ships, namely 4s. per ton, shall be levied upon coal exported, whether in British or foreign vessels. By imposing the same duty on British as on foreign ships, we deprive foreigners, under the operation of the reciprocity acts, of all grounds of complaint. If the duty of 4s. per ton should continue to be paid upon the same number of tons of coals as are now exported, I shall obtain from this legitimate source of revenue about £200,000. That will be a not inconsiderable augmentation of revenue, operating, as very few taxes do, to the encouragement of native industry.— Financial Statement, March 11, 1842.
Coal is an article not capable of reproduction, one which this country possesses in greater abundance than any other.(5) I do not say, that in order to suppress foreign manufacture, the export should be checked, but that, having a great national advantage in the possession of this article, we should not lose the opportunity of raising some revenue from it.(5)
The right hon. gentleman (Mr. Baring) makes a confident prediction that this duty will greatly prevent the export of coals. I will tell him the reason why I think it will not. The export was, in the year 1836, 916,000 tons, and in 1838, it amounted to 1,313,000 tons. This is a strong indication that the article would bear a small duty; and I doubt
- One of the alterations which Sir Robert Peel proposed to effect by his new tariff, was the levying of a duty of 48. per ton on all coals exported, whether in British or foreign ships. The complaints of the influential coal-owners of the North were, however, so vociferous on this matter, that the government were subsequently obliged to modify their original proposition.
whether a 2s. and 1s. duty will have any effect in reducing the exports, particularly when I remember that every town on the continent is now, or about to be, lighted with coal gas, and that the English coal is peculiarly adapted for that purpose and for steam navigation.-Customs Acts-Committee, June 14, 1842.