Mr. James Wilson, who replied at great length to Mr. Herries, had a few years previously started a Free-trade journal, the ‘Economist,’ and, having obtained a seat in the House of Commons, became a staunch and formidable advocate of an extreme Free-trade policy. He was a master in statistics, and, as figures were the rage at the time, he happily seized the moment which led to a political fortune, and, using his knowledge of them to the best advantage became a valuable adjunct to the ministry of the day. His speech on the present occasion showed the beneficial action of Free-trade in the removal of needless restrictions, and, further, that, though our merchants had been exposed to great competition, the aggregate commerce of the country had been proportionally augmented; he therefore asked why the shipping interest should be exempted from a rivalry which other interests had successfully encountered. He then demonstrated the little real advantage the Navigation Laws gave to British shipowners, who, by the very policy of those laws, were exposed to competition in the long-voyage trade in the very places where competition was most injurious to them; and, further, that all the tests fairly applied to the question proved the ability of British shipowners to compete with the foreigner. In some cases, too, he held that the Navigation Laws acted as a protection to foreign at the expense of British ships; and while, practically, of little benefit to the shipowner, there could be no doubt that these restrictions operated injuriously, especially in emergencies, on consumers, and, ultimately of course, on shipowners themselves. If a commercial marine was necessary to support our navy, Free-trade had increased and would increase that marine. [Sidenote: Question of reciprocity.] But perhaps the most important part of Mr. Wilson’s speech was that relating to the question of reciprocity. The general question was, indeed, beginning to resolve itself into three points. All parties had come to the conclusion that some change was necessary; but it remained to be decided whether reciprocity, conditional legislation and retaliation, should be the principle of the measure. Mr. Gladstone last year had strongly urged the principle of reciprocity in some cases by special treaties. Mr. Wilson very strongly combated this principle. Nothing he thought would be more prejudicial to the spread of Free-trade principles among continental nations than that this country should sanction the notion entertained by foreign Governments, that the British Government was willing to make concessions not so much for the general benefit of commerce, as for the sake of other concessions, to be thus obtained from foreign countries in favour of England. Foreign nations considered England as an old and wealthy nation, and expected to be overreached in forming commercial treaties.