JB/010/221/001

Click Here To Edit

1831. 6 Dec.
J.B. to Bowring – 5 Dec. Commercial Treaty.

See Bowring to J.B. Decr 1831 saying that those measures
had occurred to the French Ministry.

Commercial Treaty.

The worst that can happen is (I take it) that the terms
shall be agreed upon; but for the present at least if not for
ever, nothing done in pursuance of it: nor am I without
my fears that this may also be the best that can happen.
Be this as it may, it will I suppose be found advisable
to keep it a profound secret: otherwise those whose wish it is
to overthrow the Ministry – viz. coté gauche republicans,
buonapartists, and cartists – would be unâ voce, tout
ensemble, all in co-operation, whether or no with concert, to
break out against it: joining in the declaration that
nobody could tell how soon this industry-beggaring operation
might take place.

Meantime, to prevent the extinction of it the following
are the alternatives which at the end and as the fruit of
a dozen vibrations more or less present themselves to me as likely
to have presented themselves to you and those with whom
you are.

1. Endeavour to persuade our Government here to lower
or take off the duty on this or that article with which the
French do or could supply us; and this without calling for any
corresponding exoneration in return. This you know is what has
been done already in the case of instance of wines. French
Wines lowered if I mistake not from 7s16d per Gallon to 5s16d p.
Gallon: No correspondent exoneration being called for to or made
by the French Government; no one in Francs was by this operation
turned out of employment. Whatever loss may be the result of
it, it is by the Portuguese that it will be borne, not by the
French. The Portuguese are – say four millions; the French – say
thirty millions.

2. What are the articles we might take from France
either without no loss or at any rate without acutely sensible
loss to operatives here; say for example fruit: other articles
I leave to you to hunt out. In this case being by the supposition
not to be paid for in money goods the things must

Identifier: | JB/010/221/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 10.
Date_1	1831-12-05	Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	010	Main Headings
Folio number	221	Info in main headings field	jb to bowring commercial treaty
Image	001	Titles	commercial treaty
Category	correspondence	Number of Pages	2
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering
Penner		Watermarks	street & co 1830
Marginals		Paper Producer	antonio alcala galiano
Corrections	jeremy bentham	Paper Produced in Year	1830
Notes public		ID Number	3657
Box Contents