The Press. — London, England, 1853-07-30 00:00:00

JULY 30, 1853. THE SALT DEBATE. SALTED FOR PRESERVATION. Sir JOHN PAKINGTON moved that the East India Company be ordered to obey the law. They monopolised salt in India, and the consequence was that the native, to whom it was more necessary than to anybody else, had only half as much salt as other people ; and forty per cent. of what he bought was dirt, for which he paid exactly fifty times as much as the English peasant paid for a good article. There was his ease, in a nutshell. Sir CHARLES WOOD (playfialy ): Then it should be settled in a crack. Ha! ha! Sir J. Pakiugton's constituents made salt, therefore it Was clear Sir John was unfit to say whether a Hiudno ought to eat it or not. Besides, Sir John had shown sympathy for the British fanner, therefore it was strange ho should have any for the Indian agriculturist. Lastly, the Company did not care which way the matter went, therefore it was obvious that it ought to remain as it was. Mr. J. PHILLIMORE said he had been called a schoolboy. He had been so once, and had read in his Latin grammar that surgere gal überri►nusu est. This meant that a rise in salt was a very fertile source of profit to the Company. He had some other Latin quotations handy, but he would not repeat them then. Sir JAMES HOGG said that it was all stuff and nonsense to say that an Indian wanted salt, when he could get ghee, and putully-nautch, and bangles, and saluamaleikoom, and other condiments, all of which he assured the House, for he knew India, were very nice to eat. But people talked about what they did nut understand. Sir James then eulogised the Directors for about an hour and twenty minutes, and expressed a hope that he had refuted Sir J. Pakington. Mr. HuME said that he had been in the House a great number of years, and that the subject was very important, and, as expressly con nected with it, he was very desirous to explain to the House the real history of the republics of South America. (Oh, oh ! ) Well, they might cry " Oh," but South America was a continent, and so was Asia, and the same rules of supply and demand would govern both. He concluded several times, and finally sat down. Mr. LowE observed that a whole lot of things had been said, but what was the odds so long as none of them had anything to do with the question? Salt was salt; if it was good it wits good, and if it was bad it was bad, he supposed ; and if a man bought bad salt, thinking it was good, he was in the same category as a nmn who bought good salt thinking it was bad Very well, then, if bad was bad, and good was good, and the consumer of the good was equally affected with the consumer of the bad, the argument of the Hon. Baronet fell to the ground, and the least said the soonest mended. (At least so we under stood the Hon. Member; but the frightful pace at which his tongue went baffled all short-hand.) Mr. DANBY SEYMOUR said that ho had been at Eton, and hail seen a Montem, and must therefore know all about salt. At least he knew no other reason why he should speak on this subject or any other. (Approbation ) Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that neither in Magna Chart'', nor in the Bill of Rights, documents which had been framed by very shrewd statesmen, was there any provision fan• reducing the price of salt in India. Therefore he was obleeged to assume that such reduction was foreign to the theory of the Constitution. But there was another argument, not less cogent, and that was this. If you give the Hindoo cheap salt, and thereby he eats so much that he gets thirsty, how was that thirst to be quenched in a land where water was not plentiful? Were Hon. Gentlemen prepared to go to the Hon. Member for Derby, and ask him to export additional supplies of pale ale? ( Laughter.) Well, but if not, what did they mean to do ? He thought no ease had been made out for departing from a course which he was authorised to state was laid down by Providence for the direction of India, and therefore, whatever might be the result of the division, he should have the satisfaction of knowing that he and his colleagues had done their best for the conservatism of those principles which had so long and so triumphantly upheld the mighty empire entrusted to us. Mr. DISRAELI replied : This question was not one of mere money. (Mr. Lowe : Ain't it?) There wits a great principle involved in it— (Mr. Lowe : Lor! you don't say so!)—and it must be considered in reference to that principle. (Mr. Lowe : How about interest?) The Hon. Member for Kidderminster would find his advantage in studying a little volume—he believed the price was one shilling—entitled the "Book of Etiquette." It contained some instructive suggestions in reference to interrupting other persons while speaking. Mr. Lowe thenceforth remaining tolerably silent, Mr. Disraeli finished his argu ment, and in a quarter of an hour more the Government were defeated by a majority of ten ! probably the first of a series of lessons in deci mals now in preparation for them. THE PRESS. LETTERS FROM A SILENT MEMBER. LETTER V. TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS." House; or COMMONS. THE process of pairing proceeds with increasing rapidity, insomuch that soon it will be scarce possible to make a House, and the forty mem bers who do make it will be able to steal Bills through in a manner worthy of Ali Baba himself Peers, when they go away, may leave their proxies ; for these " pairs " are but clumsy substitutes ; the theory of the former being, " we shall generally agree ;" the theory of the latter, •we shall invariably differ." Thus, the Peer who holds a proxy may himself vote without using it, while the Member who has paired can never vote at all ; or, if ho be accidentally " shut in," must vote as he knows his pair would have voted, and explain himself afterwards to his constituents as best he can. " Will you pair, A :"' said one Whip to another. " Yes, with B." " Write it down then—my man. A, against your man, B." The names were written down thus :—" Mr. A.—all night—Mr. B." " Now you have done it, I may tell you I've done you, for my man, A, is ill, and can't come down to-night." " Done me ! have you ? why, my man, B, is dead, and can't come down at all !" But pairing, always imperfect, is, in the present state of parties, delusive also, the lloyenunent needing the aid of Con servatives, now and then, against the few who still venture to rementber that there wits once a Radical party. We have released all Members above the ago of sixty from attendance at Election Committees— would it not be possible to allow some other modifications of our parliamentary thmltlom ? Slaves formerly earned their freedom ; could any kind of manumission be extended to the Representatives of this free people ? Could a Member, for instance, win a proxy until that part of October which is to witness the end of the present session, by proving that he had eat through a certain amount of speaking—to be gauged in Hansard by the column—or by referring to the division lists for a given number of votes, exclusive of Waterworks and Railway Bills ? Might not votes that are recorded between the hours of eight and ten—those being the dinner hours—count for more than votes at mid night, when the voters "Intplentur veteris Barad pinguisque &rimer' [How often since early boyhood have 1 longed to bring in this noble line !] One important duty of an Opposition is to Chobhantiso the tioverninent now and then with a few night surprises, not for carnage, but discipline. How valuable, therefore, any Member who is found at his post on such occasions. Or could we—as it scents our sessions are to be henceforth of eight months' duration—could we have relays of Members, as they once had of pack-horses—could London send eight, Liverpool four, and so on, to speak and vote for alternate weeks, months, or sessions, as might be arranged among themselves—what a relief it would be to see two new faces from Maryleboue ; no mutter whose, even if they came flout that atomizing body, the vestry ! In• stead of this unpleasant Sligo contest between the Ministers, could not Lord ABERDEEN'S nominee vote during the first four• months of next session, and then give way to Lord PAt.mmtwros'em, Lord PAL• mEasTos of course withdrawing Mr. Somsas's petition? Peers might be returnable fie• spring Members, as the House of Lords is now wholly use less till July. How blest to the Duke of A Roy Lt. a few months in the House of Commons might be ! At all events something should be done, for Mr. liwoH must remember, unlike Sir TnomAs lan. so E, that OBE dangers are greatest now the nights are shortest. The House of Commons pro gramme of last week announced fifty-six Bills in various stages ; and this in addition to amendments, motions, questions, and private business. Now observe, we have been sitting since November, and all this work is still before us : it was the same thing last year, it will be the same thing next year, and yet not only we marvel that the whole world does not With one accord adopt m r represen tat ive system►, but our wonder is actually exceeded by our contempt ! Sir Cu A1114:14 WOOD spoke last Monday week on the India Bill in a grey shooting-jacket. This is as it should be ; and the rest of the Ministry are to follow it up, we believe. STRL'TT at last will appear in a wide-awake, MorKswourn has fitted himself with fustian, and tit.Ansross got what they call a cut• away from the Oxford mixture. OstioasE has already assumed the Versatio or turnable coat, in which he is to appear at the next election ; and GRAHAM a Jim Crow, cocked very much on one side. PALMERSTON wanted a Fez cap, and tried it on when he answered Mr. Ltoot:t.t. about the Danube ; but ABERDEEN will not hear of his wearing it. MAC KINNON'S and SHELLEY'S MUM'S were first on the motion list tOr Tuesday week, the House of course was counted out, those minus signs being prefixed to it. Thus every human being is born for some good, even the merest chatterers ; how much more, then, A SILENT !Ii)111Elt 801