Timber Trade.—Several centuries ago the woods and forests of England were sufficient to supply all the timber required for the building of ships and houses, as well as for fuel. In the 16th century we begin to hear complaints of their exhaustion. An act was passed in 1531 requiring coopers to sell their barrels at fixed prices, and ordering that the exporters of beer should import clapboards sufficient to replace the barrels sent out of the country. Another act, passed In 1541, was designed to enforce certain restrictions respecting the felling of trees, and to prevent the conversion of woodlands into pasture or tillage. In 1559 an act was passed, entitled An Act that timber shall not be felled to make coley for the making of iron,' which prohibited the use of timber one foot square in iron-works within fourteen miles of the sea, or within the same distance of eight of the principal rivers of England, or any navigable stream having an outlet on the coast : but three southern counties, Kent, Sussex, and Surrey were exempt from the operations of the act. The design seems to have been to encourage the trade in timber fit for building, and to benefit those parts of the country which did not possess a sufficient supply. In 1592 the subject again attracted notice, and an act was passed, which, amongst other things, prohibited aliens exporting fish, unless they imported clapboards; and altogether prohibited the exportation of wine-casks. In the following century the scale of prices turned in favour of pit-coal.
During the decline In the internal supply of timber, it gradually became an article of extensive demand from other countries. In 1830, according to a statement of Mr. Huskisson, the fir timber used in England for building purposes was nearly all brought from abroad. The proportion of timber of native production used for similar objects is not known or even guessed at. The north of Europe, especially the countries on the Baltic, and our colonies in British North America, are the great sources of supply. The timber of the north of Europe is generally of excellent quality, and much superior to that from the colo nies. The inferior colonial timber was for many years forced into use by enormous differential duties, which amounted to a bonus of 1000 per cent. in some cases : that is, the one duty was ten times as much as the other. In 1787 the duty on foreign timber was only Cs. 8d. the
load of fifty cubic feet, but it was raised at different times, until, in 1904, it amounted to 25s. In 1810 the duty was raised to 54e. 8d.; and from 1814 to 1820 it was 64s. Ild. and (358. the load. The trade in colonial timber had scarcely any existence before 1803, although until 1798 it had been admitted free of duty ; and the duty imposed In that year was only 3 per cent. ad valorem, which was changed in 1803 to a specific duty of 28. the load. In consequence of the war there was a great rise in the price of European timber, Memel fir advancing from 78.8. to 3208. the load. In order therefore to encourage the supply from our own colonies, North American timber was again, In 1806, admitted duty free ; and from that time it was more largely used than Baltic timber. The return to a sounder principle of taxa tion was very slow. In 1821 the duty on European timber was re duced from 65s. to 55s. the load, and a duty of 108. was imposed on colonial timber, leaving a preferential duty of 45s. still in operation. In the tariff of 1842 the duty on colonial timber was reduced to a merely nominal sum, namely, Is. the load, and to 2s. on deals, and 6d. on lathwood ; while that on foreign timber was to be gradually reduced to 30s. and 35s. on different kinds. The mode of charging the duty was at the same time improved and rendered less complex than before. The difference of duty was from 24s. to 30s. in favour of colonial timber. This difference was reduced in 1847 to 14s. In 1851 the differential duties ceased altogether ; the duty was established at 7s. 6d. to 10s. per load, without respect to country. In 1860 it was reduced to ls. and 2s. per load, or ls. and 2s. per ton, according to the mode of measurement. It may here be remarked that timber is sold by the load, the cubic foot, the square foot, the foot run, the ton, the lb., or the number of pieces ; but the greater portion is by the load. A load of unhewn timber is 40 cubic feet ; of squared timber, 50 cubic feet ; of planks, 150 to 600 square feet, for thicknesses varying from 1 to 4 inches. Of a very -usual kind of plank, 12 feet long, 11 inches wide, and 3 inches thick, 18 make one load.
The imports of timber, in the fifteen years from 1844 to 1858 in clusive, ranged from 1,500,000 loads to 2,500,000 loads annually. In 1660 the quantities and classification were as follow :—