i 7o MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Mr. Do you think there would be more facility in using deficient weights than mea- Isunc Stewart, sures ; would there be more danger of weights being deficient?— No, I think not; " ^ ' I think there would be no danger whatever of the weights being deficient, no more ( 22 May.) tj) an there is Jn corn or any thing else in the city of Dublin. Then, on the whole, you think that the consumer would be better off if they were to pay by weight?— I think it would be a great advantage to all the trade. Do they weigh coals in London ; is it by weight they sell them in London ?— I believe they sell both by weight and by measure in London, but their manner of measuring differs materially from the practice with us. Veneris, 23° die Mail, 1823. SIR ROBERT SHAW, BARONET, IN THE CHAIR. Mr. Isaac Stewart again called in; and further Examined. ( 23 May.) YOU have stated that the trade of Dublin is decreasing; can you state how much it has decreased between 1817 and 1822?— In respect to coals, I can. I can also, with respect to the general trade ; the decrease in Dublin in 1822 as compared with 1817 is 36,445 tons of coal. How was the relative proportion of the whole importation in Ireland within those years?-— The whole decrease within those years was 61,971 tons. Were there any principal trading towns of Ireland increasing during this period? •— There were. What is the comparative tonnage of Dublin compared with Cork and Belfast?— Cork imported in 1817, 88,89410ns, and in 1822, 100,120 tons, making an increase of 11,296 tons; and Belfast in 1817 imported 68,898 tons, and in 1822, 74,445 tons, making an increase of 6,067 tons; the comparative tonnage of the coal- trade of Belfast and Dublin in the year ending the 5th of January 1822, Belfast bad 2,999 tons, Dublin 5,850 tons; of foreign shipping in same year, Belfast had 62,491 tons, and Dublin 91,144 tons ; of natives, which includes all trade with Eng- land except colliers, Belfast had 7,005 tons of shipping with coals and coasters, and Dublin 229,851 tons of colliers and coasters; I make this statement in order to show the small difference there exists between the cross- channel and the foreign trade between Dublin and Belfast; Dublin not exceeding Belfast by more than about a third of the entire trade. Has the duty on coals been reduced by any and what Acts in England?— It ap- pears by a paper which I have extracted from reports furnished by the Commissioners for foreign trade, which I will beg leave to hand in, that the duty in Cheshire has been reduced by different Acts in 1814 and in 1817, two different periods. [ The Witness delivered in the same, which was read as follows;] Note:— By a report which I observed in a newspaper this week, it appears, that the duty on sea* borne coals in all ports in England, except London and Wales, is 6 s. per chaldron. You