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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 58

Chapter V. — Malta

Chapter V.

Malta.

The natives of this small island are noted in the many places where they are found for their industrial qualities; they are a frugal and hard-working people, painstaking in all they undertake and persevering in their objects. Education leaves something to be desired, otherwise, in a position so open to the world and so much visited, one would expect to see fewer prejudices and more of that industrial, economical, and commercial tact and knowledge which has made the fortune and reputation of many places less favoured by position in the Mediterranean and other seas. The Maltese, it is true, are renowned as successful petty traders, and have made a reputation in certain callings and industries they almost may claim as their own, but these qualities do not suffice, of themselves, to create a great commercial centre. When the vested interests of a powerful class are involved in any established system, it is of little use endeavouring to remodel or alter it, however mischievous it may be, unless other interests equally strong and powerful, if not more so, are on the spot to insist on a change. This is the reason, and the only one, why protection flourishes page 72 anywhere. What can be more difficult than the getting rid of an obnoxious tax when there is no public opinion of sufficient political potency on the spot to urge the administration into action? The high duties on grain in Malta have had more evil results for the people of the United Kingdom than many grave calamities. The people and the merchant mariners of adjacent countries may hear much of British policy, but they can see for themselves that in the British colony of Malta protection in its worst form is maintained, and it is not unreasonable for them to argue that when the British Foreign Office and British commercial agents urge the advantages of free trade they are not acting consistently; a suspicion would be aroused that the fiscal policy so much vaunted must have something against it, when the people who talk so loudly in its favour allow their Crown colonies to so heavily tax, as to almost exclude, the grain and flour of their neighbours. Neither has the tax in any measure benefited Malta; half the sad diseases in the island are known to be due to the low-class diet of the labouring population. It is said the people of the island oppose the free introduction of grain, not because they have too much for their own use—which is not the fact by a long way—but because such introduction would endanger the not too great profits now obtained by its cultivation. Yes! the growers of grain must be supported, even at the cost of the physical health of the people, and the children of the humble must remain ill-fed in order that certain proprietors may effect a satisfactory balance sheet. How would they like the English people to act on the same principle, and exclude the 107,000 cwt. of potatoes they sent to the United Kingdom in 1883? The proprietors of Malta would do better to grow those crops which require no bolstering, and not to have the starving poor to contribute their mites to their income. It is conceivable the military governors of Malta should not have been very zealous in this matter. The position of Malta is so unique and excellent that the trade of its chief port is even now considerable, and were it a free port, this might become so extended as to interfere with its position and status as a military stronghold.

In most Crown colonies the two opposing influences of free trade and protection are struggling for the upper hand, and the former has by no means always on its side the local Government authorities. On the whole, the Crown colonies have not, with some notable exceptions, been al page 73 together unfortunate in the contest. The sympathies of the people of the United Kingdom in this matter happen to coincide with their material interests, but under any circumstances they would be on the side of the people of the colonies struggling against those who favour high tariffs, either for protectionist or for revenue purposes. But it has been seen how the interests of a class of local cultivators, the desire of others to shift the chief burden of taxation from their own shoulders on to those of the consuming public and the labouring classes, who have no voice in the matter, and the satisfaction of the colonial executives at having a form of taxation by which they avoid immediate contact with the contributors, all combine to keep up a system in the Crown colonies that has been condemned at home as unjust and impolitic.

The revenue for 10 years, 1874-83, amounted to £1,857,000, of which no less a sum than £1,066,000 was raised by duties of customs. In 1884, the revenue was £212,569, the share of duties of customs being £119,080, During the same year the population of all the islands was deemed to be 156,675 (153,812 Maltese, 1801 United Kingdom, 1062 foreign), the taxation per head will therefore be a little under 27s. 2d. Considering the nature of the population, the average earnings of labour, and, above all, the form in which the revenue is raised, most people will think it sufficient.

The Maltese tariff is 10s. per strike salm for wheat, 6s. for Indian corn, 4s. for barley, 3s. to 5s. for other grains. Manufactured grain pays 6s. per cantar; damaged grain, unfit for food, 2s. the salm; pulse and seeds pay 2s. 6d. per salm; olive oil pays 6d. per caffiso. Spirits are charged 22s. to 24s. 2d. the Maltese barrel, wine and ale also pay a duty. Tobacco and all other articles are free. There is a revenue from land (it came to nearly £15,000 in 1884), and there are other rents (worth over £23,000 in 1884). There are licences and dividends, and there was an imperial grant in 1884 of £10,000 for maintenance of Egyptian and other refugees.

Malta shows a very large total for imports and exports, but nearly all of the produce and merchandise included in them simply entered the harbour for a time, and then cleared out in the same bottom, to proceed to the destination intended. This traffic is almost entirely with steamers. Out of 3,278 British vessels which entered in 1884 only 14 were sailing vessels; out of 290 vessels under foreign (European) flags—not page 74 including Italy and Turkey—only 13 were sailing vessels. With Italy and Turkey it is different, the Italians had 978 sailing vessels to 133 steamers, and the Turkish flag 60 sailing vessels to 19 steamers. The imports for 1884 were valued at £13,343,789, but only merchandise valued at £634,744 was landed, the balance (£12,709,045) went on its way. Much of the merchandise landed at Malta is subsequently re-exported.

In the 5 years, 1879-83, the Board of Trade returns show importations into the United Kingdom from Malta and Gozo valued at £863,000, of which £324,000 was for potatoes and onions. The exports to Malta and Gozo of the produce and manufactures of the United Kingdom were valued at £4,522,000, of which about £2,000,000 was for wearing apparel and haberdashery, cottons, linens, and woollens. £1,180,000 for coal and fuel, and £277,000 for sugar refined in the United Kingdom; much of this was for sale to passing vessels and for re-export.

The imports of British beer and ale into Malta are considerable; in the 5 years these amounted to £211,000. Among articles of foreign and colonial produce and manufactures imported from the United Kingdom in the 5 years, the most prominent were coffee (£229,000), rice (100,000), sugar (£137,000), and tobacco (£133,000). Much of the provisions will be for the supply of the large garrison. The total exports to Malta from the United Kingdom of foreign and colonial produce and manufactures were valued at £932,000 for the 5 years 1879-83.