Mr. Thomas Baring avowed his opinion that, as a general principle, restriction must be an injury to trade. If the whole community were to be regarded as a community of merchants, certainly it was desirable to allow the importers to get their wants supplied, and ship their goods where and whence they pleased. If we were, like the inhabitants of the Hanseatic Towns, mere receivers and distributors, then we might say, let every other consideration be disregarded. But the real grievances of the merchants might fairly be taken from their representations, and, if they had sustained such grievances as had been represented, surely they would not have been either indifferent or adverse to the removal of those laws. If he understood the Bill rightly, it was framed on the principle of removing all restrictions on foreigners, and of maintaining restrictions on Englishmen. Let the House mark, he said, that Government which, after great research and trouble in obtaining information, had told us that there was an inferiority on the part of our captains and sailors, now told the Shipowners that they were to compete with those, who had the power of employing better workmen. The only facility given by the Bill to Shipowners was the privilege of building ships abroad; on this he would make one remark, that every person knew the difficulty of recovering a manufacture once lost. With respect to conditional legislation, suggested by Mr. Gladstone, public opinion was divided on it in the United States. Sweden, in such a case, had nothing to give. Holland could only give one-third, as the Dutch Commercial Company carried on the other two-thirds of the Dutch trade by contract in Dutch vessels. As regards the United States, he was satisfied Mr. Bancroft did not intend to practise a deception. The navigation of the United States offered advantages which might be of account; yet there the favoured-nation clause came in to create difficulties, and it might be that we would feel compelled to abandon the Navigation Laws with respect to those States, or relinquish the advantages which were offered prospectively. We ought to adhere to the main principles of the Navigation Laws in all instances, and make such concessions to each country as our interests might dictate as expedient. The principles of Free-trade ought to be applied to each measure under discussion, according as our particular interests were affected thereby. Sir James Graham had put the question as one decisive between retreat and progress. Reaction was as much to be feared as a rash progress, for reaction might be fraught with suffering to the people, as dangerous to the interests of the country as the proposed change was ominous of evil. [Sidenote: Lord J. Russell.]