HOUSE OF COMMONS.

WEDNESDAY, March 8, 1775.

The Order of the Day (passed on the 15th of February) been; read, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House, to consider further of the Petition of the Merchants, Traders, and others, of the City of London, concerned in the Commerce of North America, and of the several other Petitions referred to the consideration of the said Committee;

Resolved, That this House will, upon this day seven-night, resolve itself into the said Committee.

WEDNESDAY, March 15, 1775.

Ordered, That Mr. John Morris do this day attend the Committee of the Whole House, to whom the Petition of the Merchants, Traders, and others, of the City of London, concerned in the Commerce of North America, is referred.

Ordered, That Mr. Samuel Need do attend the said Committee at the same time.

Ordered, That Mr. Heneage Parker do attend the said Committee at the same time.

Ordered, That Mr. William Stanford do attend the said Committee at the same time.

Ordered, That Mr. John Topott do attend the said Committee at the same time.

Ordered, That Mr. Thomas Rawson do attend the said Committee at the same time.

The Order of the Day being read, for the House to resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House, to consider further of the Petition of the Merchants, Traders, and others, of the City of London, concerned in the Commerce of North America, and of the several other Petitions referred to the consideration of the said Committee;

Ordered, That the several Accounts which have been presented to the House in this session of Parliament from the Commissioners of Excise and Customs, be referred to the said Committee.

Then the House resolved itself into the said Committee.

Mr. Speaker left the Chair.

Mr. Alderman Oliver took the Chair of the Committee.

Mr. Speaker resumed the Chair.

Mr. Alderman Oliver reported from the Committee, that they had made a further progress; and that he was directed by the Committee to move that they may have leave to sit again.

Resolved, That this House will, to-morrow, at twelve of the clock, resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House, to consider further of the said Petitions.

Ordered, That the several persons who were ordered to attend the said Committee this day, do attend the said Committee to-morrow, at twelve of the clock.

THURSDAY, March 16, 1775.

The House, according to order, resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House, to consider further of the Petition of the Merchants, Traders, and others, of the City of London, concerned in the Commerce of North America, and of the several other Petitions referred to the consideration of said Committee.

Mr. Alderman Oliver took the Chair of the Committee.

Mr. Glover appeared as Agent of the West India Planters, and Manager of the evidence in support of their Petitions, which was presented on the 2d of February.—[See Folio 1540.]

Mr. Glover. Sir, I appear in the behalf, and by the appointment of the Planters and Merchants concerned in the West Indies, who have presented to this honourable House an humble Petition, setting forth the great danger to themselves, to the Navigation, Revenue, and Commerce of these Kingdoms, in consequence of an Agreement and Association entered into by a meeting, held at Philadelphia, on the 5th day of September, 1774.

I bend under the weight of a subject so awful; a weight increased by my own thoughts anticipating calamities, in which every inhabitant throughout this extensive Empire, more or less, may have a share; at the same time, conscious as I am, that a Nation is behind me, generally unfavourable to my undertaking. But above all, I am fearful of a wide difference in sentiments between this great auditory, and the inconsiderable individual at their bar.

I rest, however, upon one consolation, that whatever may be the state of your minds, and of all besides, in every state, whether of dejection or elevation, in every conjuncture, whether adverse or prosperous; let me say, in all time of tribulation, in all time of our wealth, information hath its use, knowledge is salutary; and when presented in their genuine simplicity, untainted by prejudice, passion, or party, not looking towards any one quarter in preference to another, without courting any—meaning to offend none—but soliciting the attention of all, information and knowledge in such a shape cannot be unacceptable to any assembly, and I am confident will be acceptable here.

To throw lights into the Committee is the sole object of your Petitioners, limiting themselves to the line of facts, which, from their peculiar situation, none can fully explain, but such as themselves. I shall ask no opinion from witnesses; and if asked from any other quarter, the answer will be, that to establish facts is their part, to judge and decide is yours: opinion, therefore, might be constructive presumption in them, like an interference with the counsels and measures of the state; whereas, they entertain but one expectation, that the information delivered this day, if not in the present juncture, may be found of some utility at some future period during a portentous series of events, whose final issue is known only to Him who alone knows all things.

I proceed, sir, upon another consolation, in thinking myself secure of one merit with the Committee; that upon the present subject, the variety of matter already lying before you, might by a variety and multitude of witnesses be prolonged, perhaps for twenty days; and that I can pledge myself, so far as rests upon me, to despatch the whole in less than half that number of hours. I shall call but two witnesses, from whose evidence, and from a very few papers respecting the Colonies, out of the large quantity transmitted by Office to the House, it shall be endeavoured to give you a clear insight into the two capital branches of Colony Trade, the West Indies, the North American, and the immediate dependant upon both, the African, with the relations and proportions of each towards the other, and towards the several great interests, the Manufacture, Commerce, Navigation, Revenue, and Land, of Great Britain.

George Walker, Esq., called in.

Question. What is your situation?

Answer. I am of Barbadoes; resided there a great many years, and have been their Agent ever since I left the country.

Q. Please to inform the Committee what you know in relation to the state of Barbadoes, the Leeward Islands, and the rest of the Sugar Colonies?

A. My situation having been such as to afford me the means, I may be presumed to know something of the slate of Barbadoes, of the Islands in its neighbourhood, and of the Sugar Colonies in general. Barbadoes, and all the Sugar Islands are to be considered as countries in which a great Manufacture is established. It is a manufacture of Sugar and Rum. Instead of being able to purchase at market, the raw materials for the manufacture, they are obliged to produce the raw materials from their own soil. They ingraft the Farmer upon the Manufacturer; not (in the intention of furnishing the workmen with food, but,) but from the necessity of growing the raw material. Thus the land and labour of the country being devoted to the cultivation of the Sugar-cane, the Corn and Provisions they raise are merely accidental; they are no more than can be raised without prejudice to the Sugar Cane. To the Sugar-cane every thing is sacrificed as a trifle to the principal object. In Barbadoes, I doubt whether the Corn, (it is Indian Corn, not Wheat) and the ground Provisions (I mean Yams and other Roots,) raised in the Island, are sufficient to maintain the inhabitants for three months; I am certain they will not maintain them, for four months, unless the four months be those in the beginning of the year, in the season for ground Provisions. The Indian Corn and ground Provisions cannot, by common means, be preserved for any length of time. I ought to add the uncertainty of the native products, especially of Indian Corn and ground Provisions: dry