representative of Mr
Edward Gibbon Wakefield's economics in the House of Commons, as Lord
Durham was before his political disciple, and the victim of his schemes
colonial, thus decisively disposes of adverse exchanges in the
celebrated debate on Import Duties, taking Portugal for an example.

"A large increase of importations from Portugal would
necessarily be attended by a proportionate increase of our
export trade. Was it not clear that every merchant who imported
a pipe of wine would anticipate the bills drawn against him on
account of it, and that, whatever would be the increase in the
amount of imports, there would be a corresponding increase in
the amount of the bills drawn against us? How were our
merchants to provide for them? There would be no difficulty in
it, whether the trade of Portugal increased legally or
illegally. Suppose an increase of imports into Portugal, there
would be an immediate demand for bills to Portugal. _The
consequence would be, that if there was any other country from
which Portugal received more than it exported, the bill-brokers
would get bills from that country_, and our manufactures would
be sent there instead of to Portugal. Admit that you could not
find in any other country the means of discharging your debt by
importation of your manufactures, bills on Portugal should then
rise to a certain premium, and gold and silver would be sent to
discharge the debt. The gold and silver would come from some
other country, and the consequence would be that we should send
our manufactures, not to Portugal, but to South America; while
Portugal would be obliged to send the bullion to some other
country that it might carry on a smuggling trade with its
neighbour, Spain. It was impossible for the ingenuity of man to
point out any different result."

The "bill-brokers" will be greatly amused with the new line of business
chalked out for them, of "getting bills" from other countries when short
in this. There are two descriptions of "bill brokers," but the class
bearing that designation purely deal with domestic bills only. The other
class are known as "exchange brokers," because they meddle only with
foreign bills; but as to "getting bills" from abroad when bills are
wanting here, that trustworthy and respectable description of agents
certainly never dreams of such an occupation. Lord Howick would see