Petition of the Merchants and Manufacturers of the Town of Manchester

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A Petition of the Merchants and Manufacturers of the Town of Manchester, interested in American commerce, was presented to the House, and read, setting forth —

That the Petitioners have for several years carried on a very extensive and beneficial trade with the Continent of America; and that the payments for Goods exported to that country, have been such as to encourage the Merchants and Manufacturers to execute orders from thence with cheerfulness and confidence; and that the stoppage of trade occasioned by the late unhappy differences with the Americans, will soon render it necessary to discharge vast numbers of workmen, who have been maintained by this commerce; and that it is not requisite, were it possible, to enumerate the evils that must arise from the precarious situation on which their intercourse with America now stands; they therefore recommend themselves to the care and protection of Parliament, and rely on the justice, wisdom, and attention to the publick welfare, by which their present apprehensions may not only be removed, but a system

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A motion was made, and the question being proposed, that the said petition be referred to the consideration of the Committee of the Whole House, to whom the Petition of the Merchants, Traders, and others, of the City of London, concerned in the commerce of North America, is referred;

An amendment was proposed to be made to the question, by leaving out from the word "whom" to the end of the question, and inserting the words, "it is referred to consider of the several Papers which were presented to the House by the Lord North, upon Thursday last, by his Majesty' s command," instead thereof,

And the question being put, that the words proposed to be left out stand part of the question,

It was resolved in the Affirmative.

Then the main question being put,

Ordered, That the said Petition be referred to the consideration of the Committee of the Whole House, to whom the Petition of the Merchants, Traders, and others, of the City of London, concerned in the commerce of North America, is referred.