On Thursday Sir J. Woodhouse, by moving the adjournment of
the House, opened a very interesting, though not very conclu- sive, debate on the Atlantic Shipping Combine. Mr. Bowles, who seconded the Motion, appealed to the Goverment to enlighten the House, and raised the point noticed by Middle Temple" in our correspondence columns, as to the liability to forfeiture incurred when the ownership of British vessels passed into the hands of foreigners. He also raised the question as to the crews of the vessels, who in many cases were Naval Reserve men. After denouncing the Government for their want of knowledge, he turned to the question of remedies, which, he suggested, should take the form of subsidies to shipping and a revival of the Navigation Laws, which had been "abolished in an age of universal peace and glass exhibitions, but were effective laws for the encouragement of British trade." Even Adam Smith had approved of them.
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