I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council
for Trade, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the
13th
October last, transmitting by desire of the Secretary of State for
the Colonies, a Copy of an Ordinance passed by the Legislature
of
British Columbia, "to amend Customs Duties."
In reply, I am to request that you will inform
Mr
Cardwell that
My My Lords see no reason to object to S.S. 1, 2 and 3.
With regard to the 4
th Section, to which special
reference is made in your letter, I am to state that as its
effect is to restrict, to a great extent, the navigation
at the ports of
British Columbia, to the vessels clearing
from one port of that Colony, My Lords are unable to recommend
its adoption on grounds of commercial policy, but that the
question of allowing the clause appears to them to be one
which must be decided with reference to the political considerations
advanced by the Governor.