purposes except fine cutlery, is not only cheaper but reckoned better than the foreign article. The Norwegian iron is of various qualities, but in general it is thought superior to the British. The produce and value of this commodity are considerably affected by the state of the timber trade; when the latter is dull, charcoal for the furnaces can be more readily and abundantly obtained, which diminishes the cost in the production of the former article; and on the contrary, when the demand for timber is brisk, the expense in the manufacture of iron is increased. In the years 1829-30-31, the total exports of iron from Norway amounted in tons to 3164, 3000, and 2516; of this latter quantity, only 377 tons were imported into Britain. In Sweden there are from 330 to 340 smelting furnaces, which produce annually from 90,000 to 95,000 tons of pig iron; in converting this into bar iron, about 23 per cent. is allowed for wastage, so that the annual product of the latter will be from 63,000 to 65,000 tons. The total exports of this commodity, at an average of ten years ending in 1831, were 49,568 tons annually; of which 10,000 were sent to Great Britain, 20,000 to the United States, 15,000 to Germany, Holland, France, and Portugal; and the remainder to Brazil, including a small quantity to the Mediterranean.* British iron and articles of hardware at present find their way to the Baltic in considerable quantities. In the year 1835, there were exported to Sweden about 100 tons, to Norway 150, and to Denmark 3210. The extraordinary activity that has of late taken place in the manufacture of this commodity in England, is to be ascribed to the increased demand for it in building, machinery, railroads, and other projects.

The mercantile prosperity of Norway has been augmented by its association with the sister kingdom. Its foreign relations are extensive; but the principal countries with which it holds commercial intercourse

* Official Tables, p. 550-556. For an account of the mines in Sweden and Norway, and the amount of their produce, see the chapter on Natural History, section i. p. 309-395.

are Denmark, Hanover, Britain, Holland, and France. In 1831 the amount of vessels that entered its ports was 5649, and their tonnage 446,339; of these 2119 belonged to Denmark; 1060 to England; 937 to Holland, Bremen, and Hanover; 414 to Sweden; 385 to France; 175 to Hamburg and Altona; 151 to Russia; and 127 to Spain and Portugal. The total number that cleared outward to the same places was 5475, and a tonnage of 443,470; of these 413 sailed from Christiania. The exports consist chiefly of timber, bark, tar, fish, and other articles similar to those already enumerated. The customs duties amounted in 1831 to £161,840, 5s. 3d. inwards, and £47,381, 8s. 3d. outwards; making together £209,221, 13s. 6d., to which ought to be added, £27,436, 19s. 5d., received on account of tonnage, dues, lights, &c.

The principal imports in 1831 were coffee, 1,995,603 lbs.; tobacco, 1,191,512 lbs. ; woollens, 213,290 lbs. ; cotton goods, 191,823 lbs. ; sailcloth, 160,316 lbs.; barley, 160,982 qrs.; rye, 148,607 qrs.; salt, 143,493 lbs. French brandy, 80,107 galls.; wine, 48,313 galls.; sugar, 23,734 cwts.; tea, 48,671 lbs. ; oats, 15,597 qrs.; malt, 17,657 qrs.; wheat-flour, 6748 cwts.; hemp, 13,879 cwts.; flax, 4533 cwts. In 1824, the shipping employed between Great Britain and Norway was only 130,000 tons, showing an increase in seven years of nearly a tenth part of the whole commerce of the kingdom.

The shipping of Norway has not augmented in the same proportion as its trade, but it has increased and is now increasing. In spite of the impediments laid in the way of Norwegian vessels, they are employed with much advantage in the carrying trade for other nations. The tonnage, twelve years ago, was 53,000 last, and the number of vessels 1700; the tonnage may now be estimated at 72,000 last, and the vessels at 2200. The number of seamen is 12,000; ten years ago, the number was 8000. Between 1830 and 1834, nearly 3600 Nor-wegian vessels visited foreign ports.

From the superior qualities of Baltic timber, and the consequent demand for it by those countries that cannot raise an adequate supply of home growth, this branch

of trade holds a prominent importance in Northern commerce. The woods of Sweden and Norway contain rich stores for traffic, and have long furnished the chief article of export to Great Britain. In the provinces of Dalecarlia, Jamtland, Angermania, and West Bothnia, there are extensive forests sufficient to meet even an increased consumption in the foreign markets. It costs a considerable expense to float the timber down the streams; and these, almost throughout the whole of Sweden, require to be cleansed before this mode of conveyance is practicable. From motives of economy, the woods on the banks of the rivers are first cleared away; they have been felled along the margin of the Clara to the distance of 100 miles, and around the Lake Wener they have nearly altogether disappeared.

The exorbitant duty imposed by Great Britain upon this commodity, has proved injurious to the Baltic trade, and led to a very general concurrence of opinion, in both countries, as to the propriety of its reduction. The origin of this oppressive tariff is to be found in the events that took place in 1808, when the Baltic was shut to English commerce, and a deficiency in the accustomed supply of timber began to be apprehended. To encourage its importation from Canada became the object of the British government, and supplied the motive for increasing the duty on that imported from the north of Europe. In 1787 the rate was 6s. 8d. the load of 50 cubic feet in native ships, and 2d. more in foreign; in 1801 it was raised to 14s. 8d.; in 1809 to £1, 7s. 4d.; and in 1810, which was the commencement of the protective system, it was doubled. Three years afterwards, five per cent. was added; and by the Consolidation Act of 1819 it amounted to £3, 5s. The duty on deals rose in the same proportion; in 1787 it was £2, 13s. the great hundred (of 120 pieces under twenty feet in length); and in 1819 it had increased to £20, 15s. 8d. In 1821 the scale of dimensions was changed; the rate was then made £19 upon the 120 deals not above sixteen feet long; and £22 upon those from sixteen to twenty-one feet in length. At the same period the duty on colonial deals of

16 feet long, was only £2; and £2, 10s. for those of 21 feet. The consequences of this inequality soon produced their natural result. In 1809 the amount of British shipping entered inwards from the north was 428,000 tons; whilst in 1814, the year after the twenty-five per cent. of additional duty had been imposed on Baltic timber, and when the ports of that sea were open, only 242,000 tons were entered.

This falling off in the exportation of Norwegian timber to England has thrown a larger proportion of the trade into the hands of France. In 1805 the quantity of lasts shipped from Christiania, Drammen, Laurvig, Frederickstadt, and the other southern ports, was 147,761 to Britain, and only 5511 to France; in 1819 the former imported 69,448, and the latter 26,448; in 1829 the proportion was 47,659 to 49,013; and in 1834 it stood 51,263 to 60,305; thus showing that the balance had completely turned to the advantage of French commerce, which follows a more equitable system of duties.

The measures adopted by the British government in 1821 for remedying these inequalities, by reducing the duty on Baltic timber from £3, 5s. to £2, 15s. per load, and at the same time imposing an addition of 10s. on that imported from America, proved comparatively inefficient. The difference in favour of Canada was still too great to produce the advantages intended by the nearer approach to equalization; so much so, that several instances occurred of ships loading in the Baltic with timber for England taking the route by America, the difference of duty being found nearly sufficient to cover the enormous expense of this circuitous voyage. The evil resulting from this system was twofold, because it laid the heavier burden on the superior article. All competent judges have admitted that the American timber is softer, less durable, and more subject to the dry rot, than the same description of wood produced in the north of Europe. The consequence of thus excluding the better commodity is, that not only does the British revenue suffer a great loss (calculated in 1829 at a million and a half sterling), but the merchant is forced either to

purchase it at an extravagant rate, or to use a cheaper material of a very inferior quality.

The principal reason urged for keeping up the high discriminating duties is, the apprehension that their abolition would prove injurious to Canada and the shipping interest of Great Britain. The soundness of this opinion, however, has been called in question; and it is believed that the loss to the colonies would be of inconsiderable extent, and but temporary in its consequences.* Proposals have been repeatedly made for modifying the timber-duties. It was attempted in the House of Commons (March 1831) to reduce them gradually, by taking off 6s. a-load in January 1832; other 6s. in 1833, and 3s. more in 1834, making a total of 15s. on Baltic timber, and leaving a protection of 30s. in favour of Canada. These propositions were negatived; but in 1835 a select committee was appointed to take the subject into consideration, who gave it as their opinion, that the difference of 45s. of duty upon European timber, as compared with American, is too great; and that a reduction not exceeding 15s. a-load appeared to them to be a fair arrangement, and having a due regard both to the shipping and colonial interests which had been created under the existing system. They proposed no augmentation of duty on Canada timber; but they recommended a uniform mode of rating deals throughout the United Kingdom, such as might approach more nearly to a payment according to their contents, instead of their dimensions in length, breadth, and thickness. This plan would cause an improvement in the quality, and also be more convenient for builders, by allowing the importation of a greater variety of sizes.

* This question will be found discussed at some length in an article on the Commerce of Canada, preparing for a future volume of the Cabinet Library, by a gentleman long resident in that country, and conversant with the details of the timber-trade. It is the opinion of that writer that the reduction of the Baltic duties would prove beneficial both to Britain and her colonies, and that although a quantity of shipping, perhaps about 42,000 tons, might be thereby thrown out of employment, yet a portion of this would be absorbed by the increased exports of other articles from America, whilst the remainder would be profitably transferred to other channels of industry.