The Sun. — London, England, 1846-02-21 00:00:00

I)L?ERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LOJWS, Friday, Feb. 20. The Earl of SWAP/ESE:AT, in the absence of the Lord Chancellor, took his seat on the Woolsack at Five o'clock, THE CORN-LAWS. Lord FX.VERSHAM presented forty-six petitions from the North Riding of Yorkshire against the repeal of the corn-laws, and in favour of protection. The petitions were signed by landowners, tenant-farmers, merchants, millers, manufacturers, tradesmen and mechanics, and others in the townships of Gains borough, Pickering, Easingwold, and forty-two other town ships in ;he North Riding. He (Lord Feversham) concurred in the views and sentiments of the petitioners, said he viewed wit, l n alarm the measure brought in in the Lower House of Par liament, and they prayed their Lordships when the Bill was sent up to that House that they would, riot assent to it. They alluded also to the practices of the aneonstitutional body lolling itself the Anti-Corn-law Le?:Kue. He considered that if the sense of the country were taken, it would be found that the prevailing ot2t:,nion wad in favour of protection. TAN DIEMEN'S LAND. Lore. LYTTLETON requested the Marquis of Lansdowne to pospone his motion on the subject of Van Diemen's Land, which stood for Thursday next, to a future day, as further papers relative to the matter were about to be presented. The Marquis o f LANSDOWNE postpone d t h e motion to Monday week. the progress of private business in that House, there could be hardly any objection to its adoption. Mr.O'CONNELL could see no reason why this motion should be confined to Irish railway Bills. It ought in his opinion to tex move tended as an amendmenttoallprivateßills thatr relating the ting words tol rela,,n;., job 1. and he should rail way Bills " be left out, and the words " Irish Bills ' be sub stituted for them. Lord G. SOMERSET said it was quite impossible that the motion of the Hon.: Gentleman could be acceded to, and although no one seas more anxious than himself to facilitate the passing of Irish railway Bills, yet it was his duty to ask the House to resist the motion of the Hon, Gentleman opposite. Mr. STRUTT said that there were many parties in town who were the promoters of English railway Bills, and who had to pay hundreds of pounds per week to the witnesses whom they had brought with them from the country in support of their lines. The House, in his opinion, should deli berate carefully before they ventured to give priority to any Bills of this kind, unless they received an intimation from the parties who were put to expense by the delay that it was their wish that the Irish railways should be proceeded with in pre ference.—( Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member for Roscommon had proposed that all the Irish Bills should have priority over all English Bills, the consequence of which would b e th a t t h e agents of English railway Bills would be kept in town together with all their witnesses, for several days, doing nothing, and at great expense. Such a course as that would most undoubt edly cause the greatest discontent. On the other hand, the Hon. Member for Dublin proposed that one Committee only should be engaged exclesively in dealing with Irish railway Bills. He (Mr. Strutt) should be disposed to give his sup port to the latter proposal.—(Hear, hear.) He certainly wished, before the House came to any decision, and took upon itself the heavy responsibility which this matter would involve, Hon. Members would carefully weigh the question.--( Hear. ) Dr. BOWRING was proceeding to make some remarks upon the motion, but was called to order. Sir W. HEATHCOTE said that unless a preference were given to the Irish railway Bills, the arranghment which had been entered into by the House of Lords, which gave such Bills the priority would be perfectly imperative. The expense which would be entailed by the pro posed priority to the Irish Bills would net be so great as represented by Honourable Members. Under those circum stances, therefore, he should give his support to the motion for giving preference to the Irish railway Bills.--( Hear, hear.) Dr. BOWRING said he was of opinion that everything in their power ought to be done to facilitate the passing of Irish Bills through the House. He considered that it would be a very great advantage to have the Irish Bills come down from the House of Lords, after having received the sanction of their Lord ships, and he hoped there would be no delay offered to such Bills, as there-were a very great number of persons con nected with such lines now in town at vast expense. He considered that such persons had a claim to be first heard, as they were subject to great inconvenience in consequence of the distance they lived being so much greater than the witnesses attending on English lines ; and he hoped the Irish lines would be dispatched in preference to English ones, for the reasons he had stated. Sir JAMES GRAHAM ( who spoke in: a very low tone) said that he was of opinion the suggestion of the Honour able Gentleman was well worthy the consideration of the House, as the state of Ireland at present unfortunately required that some immediate steps should be taken. There was also in Scotland distress in one district of a very serious nature, and the proposed line passing through that district, he (Sir J. Gaaham) was of opinion ought also to pass the House with as little delay as possible. Mr. B. HAWES perfectly agreed in the propriety of the question just put to the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary for the Home Department respecting the measure which had just been proposed by the Hou. Member for Roscommon. Ho thought it was necessary that some measure should be taken, in order to save the disadvantage which might possibly arise from the Irish railways Bills being began in the House of Lords, It should not be forgotten that great expenses would be incurred by following such a course not long possibly before it could be known that the Bills had received the sanction of the House of Commons. He was aware that there were peculiar circum stances which would guard the railway Bills for Ire land, which might seem to justify the adoption of any ex traordinary course, yet he thought it would be better that they should be submitted to the Standing Orders' Committee, for he perfectly agreed in the opinion of the Hon. Member for,Derby (Mr. Strutt), that the Chairman of that Committee would be fully able to do justice to all the parties concerned. Having passed the ordeal of that Committee and the Sub- Committees, which were all composed of gentlemen, he thought the suggestion might be adopted originating the railway busi ness for Ireland and Scotland too in the House of Lords. He agreed, therefore, to this extent with the suggestion, but he thought it would be unwise to pass any formal resolution upon the subject. The gentlemen composing those Committees would sufficiently perceive the feeling which had been expressed on every side of that House, and the matter might, therefore, be safely left to the Committe of Standing Orders. Sir GEORGE CLERK perfectly agreed with the Hon. Member that had just sat down, that it would be un w i se f or t h e House to fetter itself by a resolution upon a matter whi c h ap. peered to him to be already sufficiently provided for. The feelings of the House bad been sufficiently shown to the ma nagers of the several companies, and he thought it better, therefore, that the Bills should be sent up without fetter ing the Committee with any resolutions of the kind. Sir G. GREY considered that some measure should be taken by which railway Bills might be disposed of without waiting tor the order in which they arc at present arranged. Mr. W. PATTEN stated that he had caused notices to be given to the Parliamentary agents to be reedy with their wit nesses on Monday next. The present number of railway Bills had been formed into 33 groups; and in the meantime the various Committees would consider which project it was ad visable to proceed with. Mr. FOX MAULE agreed wish the Right Hon. Baronet tha. a discretionary power should be given to the Committees. In the case of the Glasgow Railway, t sferred to by the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary of State for the Home Department, he considered that scheme should be proce,ded with as early as possible, in consequence of the distress which existed in the parts through which the line was to pass. Mr. AGLION BY did not think there would be any diffi culty upon the subject of the classification. Ile thought it necessary that the Bills should be proceeded with in their `chronological order; but if the Goverment should arrive at the conelusion that some particular Bill, on account of dis tress in the parts affected by the Bill, should be exempted front the operation of this general rule, they should mention that particular ceee to the House, and the House should then direct and instruct the Committee to take this particular case out of its order. The O'CONOR DON then agreed to withdraw his motion. Mr. P. SCROPE said that the present system of in quiring into the merits of different lines was very inefficient, and required some alteration. Last session one line of railway was 84 days before a Cominittee, and spent from 300,000'. to 400,000,., and yet at the fed of the session was very little far ther advanced than at the beginning. The most important works were, under the present system, postponed, and the time of the Committees was occupied in the discussion of trifling undertakings that were generally attended with little or no opposition. The real fact was, that a Commission, such as had been appointed by Lord Grey at the close of last session, should be formed, to analyse all railway projects placed before them, and they should at the meeting of Parlia ment make their reports upon the undertakings. Ile would ask the gentlemen of the House whether they supposed that the average Committees of the House, consisting of five Members each, were at all superior to a Commission composed of five of the most eminent men in the kingdom ? Mr. GISI3ORNE wished to as k t h e Ri ght Hon. Baronet the Vice-President of the Board of Trade, whether the Government intended to adopt any measures founded on the Gauge Com mission ? In their reeort he found a resoluti en to the effect that a gauge of 4 feet Bi, inches was the most efficient. Did the Government intend to bring the subject before the House? Sir G. CLERK said that he was not prepared to say that the Government was ready to make ar.y proposition at present. The Commission had presented a very voluminous mass of evidence, which was then in the hands of the printer. That evidence would have to be submitted to the Government in its printed form belt re any proposition could be laid before the House. Mr. HUDSON said it appeared to him that the diffi culty complained of might be obviated by appointing two or three additional Committees to take those Bills into their immediate consideration ; but he would throw it out for the consideration of the House whether time and expense could not be saved by assimilating the stand ing orders of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. After a Bill had gone through one Standing Orders' Committee, it was unnecessary to carry it through another. Under the present system great inconvenience was inflicted on the promoters of railways without answering any national purpose. Considering the great number of railway Bills before the House the assimilation of the Standing Orders' Committee of both Houses would be of great advantage, inas much as it would save a great deal of unuecessary expense. The motion was then withdrawn. BOROUGH OF WIGAN. IRISH GRIEVANCES. HOUSE OF COMMONS, Friday, Feb. 20. The SPEAKER took the Chair at a few minutes before Four o'clock. NEW EMB. Sir D z L ACY EVANS took the oatE RS hs and his seat for West inser, in th e room of Captain Rous, who has accepted the Ga fice ollantf one o f t h e Lords of the Admiralty. The Hon. and Captai n Pe Member, w h o was introduced by Mr. Bouv ar i e an d Mr. chell, w as received with loud cheers on his entrance. the room Goocw took t h e oaths and his scat for East Suffolk, in of Lord Henniker. 111 r. F LOYER and Mr. S EYIIIR also took the oaths and their seats far the county of Dorset, in the room of Lord Ashley and Mr. Sturt. A petition vgas ilp4relsLenWteAdlraga rl inUstS l th N e E A S y S lesbury and Thame Junction Railway Bill. The following Railway Bills viz;_ read a s econd time, and were ord ere d to b e committed, ondon and Brighton Railway (Dorking B ranch). anchester,Buxt on , M atlock, and Midl an d Junction Railway. old Junction Railway. North and South Junction Railway. General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway. Stirling and Dunfermline Railway. Edinburgh and Leith Atmospheric Railway. Bristol and South Wales Juncti on Railway and Fe rry , Windsor, Slough, and Staines At mosp h eric Aylesbury and Thame Junction Railway. The O'CONOR DON moved that it be an instruction to the Select Committee on Petitions, that in all cases of Irish railway Bills, wherein the promoters shall have proved com pliance with the standing orders in the House of Lords, they do give priority to the investigation of the compliance with the standing orders of the House of Commons applicable to such Bills over all other cases which may stand for inquiry before them, provided due notice of the sitting of the Com mittee for such purpose has been given, and that the promoters of such Bills propose to prove the compliance with the standing orders, either wholly or in Fart, by viva voce evidence." The Hon. Gentleman proceeded to point out the difficulties at tendant do the present system, one instance of which he would point out to the attention of the House ; was the case of th e county surveyor of 'Westport. who, having proved his case in the House of Lords, had been . obliged to go b ac k t o I re l an d i n or d er to attend the ass i zes, and he would have to come back again, to prove the same case in the House of Commons. Another case was that of a friend of his, who having proved compliance with the standing orders in the other House, found that there were 184 cases on the list of the House of Commons to be heard before his case would come on, thereby putting him to great i nconvenience by the delay he would experience. Mr. GROGAN said his own motion on the paper was sub stantially the same as the one the Honourable Member had j oat proposed. It would be in the recollection of the House t hat at an early period of the present session both branches of the Legislature adopted a resolution to establish the rae tice of commencing Irish Railway Bills in the House of Lords. His own motion, and that of the Hon. Member opposite., was simply to carry out that measure more pra,tically and Offtlitlallh and toving that it would Iscilitatt rather thaia rouird Lord CAMPBELL rose, pursuant to notice, to present a petition of very great importance. It came from the inha bitants of the city of Cork, and emanated from a public meet ing heed i n th a t c it y , an d was s i gne d b y t h e mayor an d al o eer- Then and so many of the inhabitants, that the petition had been charged to him ill. for postage, but which, by the courtesy of the Postmaster-General had been returned to him. The petitioners stated that they approached the Honourable House most respect f u ll y , an d that, ever loyal to the British Crown and the public instition, and mindful of the pledge entered into by the. Sovereign, that the grievances of the people should 'be redressed, they laid before the House what they considered a very great evil —namely, the compulsory payment of a tax called " ministers.' money." So little was known of the impost in Englare:i, that since he entered the house he had been asked by a, - Noble Peer of great standing and intelligence, if the im r.,st of ministers' mow meant the grant of Re g i um D onum, which was voted toteff Dissenting clergy by the Parliament. Now, the petitioners did not mean tointerfere with the bounty of the Crown, nor was it their wish that the grant should in any way be intercepted er limited ; all they did was to lay a state ment before the:House of the weighty grievances that affected themselves personally. In the reign of Charles 11. an Act, which he should pronounce a very arbitrary one, passed, by which the inhabitants of certain corporate towns were subjected to individual taxation for the maintenance of the pastors of the Episcopal Protestant religion in Ireland. A 'Noires LORD—Ye;, the tithe. Lord CAMPBELL should state that it was an impost quite different fore tithes, and one paid to the clergy of the minoeity, by the Catholics and Dissenters. The late Srecretary for Ireland, Sir Thomas Fremantle, had likewise admitted in his place in the House of Commons, that it was a very great grievance. Now, after SO universal a condemnation of this tax, the only question for their Lordships to consider would be, what means they should adopt to remove it. He was rather astonished that when the Noble Lord opposite introduced his Act respecting Church Temporalities, that !his tax was not removed at that time, for though the pressure of it was lighter, that very circumstance made it a greater grievance. While the former amounted to about 60,0001. the latter did not come to more than 13,0001. or 14,0001. a year, and for that paltry sum it was too bad that all the religious sects in Ireland should consider themselves aggrieved. His . did not wish to say anything invidious of the Church, but he earnestly implored their Lordships to take measures for its removal, that the odium of ite might no longer attach to the Church. He did trust, therefore, that their Lorships would Look favourably on that petition. He did trust that along with the measures of concession which were contemplated, that the removal of this would also :be included, for, under the circumstances of that country, it would have a most favourable tendency. He would conclude by moving that the petition do lie on the table. The Earl of ST. GERMANS willingly admitted that he had stated in the other House of Parliament that this impost was a practical grievance, but he did not admit that it was evil in principle. He looked upon it as simply a grievance of a practical nature, and not to be considered as an insult ing act towards her Majesty's Roman Catholic sub jects. The Roble Lord was correct in stating that the impost was originated for the maintenance of the Protestant clergy in certain towns of Ireland, but the Noble Lord ought also to have recollected that at that time the Roman Catholics were by law incapable of holding any real property, and therefore the tax fell exclusively on the Protestants. It was only recently that Catholics were per minted to hold property in towns, and they purchased those properties subject to the payment of this tax. It was a grievance of a much lighter c h arac t er th an the tiths, inasmuch as it was levied on the occupiers of those houses in those towns. The basis on which it was levied had remained unchanged since the time of Charles the Second. In Dublin it so happened, therefore, that houses which in the reign of that monarch had been occupied by opu lent families, were now tenanted by the humblest families ; while the rates had remained, comparatively speaking, the same. The same held good in other large towns— in London, in Glasgow, and in Edinburgh, where an impost of a similar character existed for the maintenance of the Protestant clergy. He had more than once directed his attention to the subject ; and he had been in hopes of being enabled to submit some other provision lieu of it. Difficulties had, however, supervened, and he was ,sot at that moment in a condition to say whether her Majesty's Government were engaged in the considerations of introducing any alteration with respect to it. He was not aware that he had anything further to say ; he admitted that it was a grievance, but as he had before stated it was only a grievance of a practical nature and not one founded ow principle, or in. tended to insult the Roman Catholic subjects. Lord CAMPBELL had heard with great satisfaction the explanation given by the Noble Lord. Lord STANLEY could answer the question why ministers' money had not been dealt with in the same manner as the vestry cess. The ministers' money did not ap pear to him to partake in the slightest degree of the — nature of a personal tax. It h a d b een a t ax existing - since the time of Charles 11., and was levied, not on individuals, but upon houses, and was as much a tax on house property as tithe was a tax cri landed property in the country. It stood precisely on the same footing. It was in nu way a capitation tax, but was -an ad valorem tax. All house property was purchased subject - to this tax, and to abolish it would only be to put so much into the pockets of the house prop; ietors. The difference betwieen the vestry cess and the ministers' money was this, that the lattt was a certain tax, and the former an uncertain one. He ad /mitred that the present mode of levying the tax was a defective tine, but he did not see how it could be remedied. Lord MONTEAGLE fully agreed with the Noble Lord that ministers' money stood on the same footing as tithe. He would venture to say, that of all classes of the Irish clergy, those who had the most onerous duties to discharge were the least remunerated. He (the Noble Lord) was not then going to deal with the question of the principle of the law of tithes. All he should say was, that it gave rise to a most unhappy etruggle between the pastor and the farmer, as regarded agri cultural produce ; for certainly distraining the furniture and stock of the poor farmer, and selling them off, by public auction, was a most grievous proceeding. Now, the impost of minister's money differed from tithes in this way, that the former was levied under an old valuation, made as far back as the reign of Charles 11., the consequence of which was that the heaviest taxation fell on those parts of towns that were in the greate s t state of decay, and in which resided the poorest class Of inhabitants. His Noble Friend ouposite had done himself great credit by stating that, when he had been chief Secretary for Ireland, he was most anxious to find a remedy for the impost. Many of the clergy were obliged in conaequenee of the difficulty of collecting the tax to give it up altogether, and in such a state of things he submitted whether it was worth while to allow it to remain any longer on the Statute-book. He Bras perfectly persuaded that if half the ingenuity which yvess bestowed last year by a Noble Lord on a Bill relating to landlord and tenant was devoted to this question, it would be satisfactorily settled. The subject then dropped. THE GAUGE QUESTION. Lord KINNAIRD gave notice that, on Monday next, he would, put a question to the Noble Earl, the President of the Boaied of Trade, as to the intentions of her Majesty's Govern ment with respect to the report of the Gauge Commission. PROTECTION TO LIFE (IRELAND) BILL. The Earl of ST. GERMANS said that he introduced a iBi:1 a few nights ago for the better pro+ection of life in Ireland, and since that certain suggestions had been made to him which he wished to introduce in the Bill in the shape of amendments. He therefore moved that these alterations be printed, that they might be added to the Bill. Lord CAMPBELL suggested that the Noble Earl should withdraw the first Bill, and that a new Bill, including the amendments, be introduced. The LORD CHANCELLOR said that the alterations were of a technical nature. The Bill was then introduced with the suggested alterations, and read a first time. The second reading was appointed for Monday next. Their Lordships then d . d a journe . The SPEAK ER said he had to state to the House that he had received a communication from the Hon. George Lindsay, stating that it was not his intention te defend his return. ARMY RECRUITS. Captain LAYARD gave notice that he would, on an early day, bring on a motion for the better regulation of the recruit ing service, with a view to inducing younu men of a respect able class in society to enlist in her Majesty's service. CROWN SOLICITORS IN IRELAND. Mr. PIGOTT, in pursuance of the :notice he had given to that effect, to ask the Right Hon. Bar onet, the Secretary of State for the Home D e p ar t ment, t h e f o ll ow i ng ques tion-:-- Whether appointments have been made- of three persons as Crown solicitors for the Home Circuit i, a Ireland, or for cer tain counties belonging to it, in the room. of the Crown Soli.. citor for that circuit, who has died ? If that question be an swered in the affirmative, then to ask—Whether the salaries or emoluments of those officers have b ten fixed, and if so, at what amount ; when were the appointments made ; when was it determined to divide the circ' it into districts, with separate solicitors at distinct salaries ; and whether there be any objection, on the part of the Gay' trnment, to laying before this House copies of all documents 'relating to any alterations ' which have been made in the office .of Crown Solicitor, or in the arrangements for the conduct. tof Crown prosecutions in Ireland ? Sir JAMES GRAHAM said be had to state, in anwer to the question of the Right HOll. Gentleman, that there could be no objection to I,ty - upon the table of the House the papers he ha d asked for. In respect to the other part of the Right Moe. Gentleman's question, he begged to say that certain .appointments had already been made of some Crown Solicitors, . about three weeks sie, whi c h wou ld come i nto operation on tint 31st March. The home Circuit in Ireland consisted of six coi wales, and it was proposed to add two other counties to that t ircuit, and that a Crown Solicitor should be resident in one of those counties, all exPenses, makin g Ihe salary should be 500/. a year, twe hundre d a year to cover 2,100/. for all, bei meets of the late So n l l f 700/. for each, and an aggreetate sum of On the motion thatelt.—( .100/. per annum less than the emolu- Hear, hear.) until Monday next, Mr. BROTHERTON the House should, at it: s t rising, adjourn a s t u g ew g ei e l s: o e d o'clockth at inthe, l..orHdoeurstehasthtohuelyd sit to-morrow ( Saturday ) Crienstoofe'cimmite might be enabled to go at onc t taut measure before thern,—( se on the impor- The Hoe. AIEMBER, declined . Move, move.") to move ;he . throw out the suggestion, only wished to Sir ROBERT PEEL said that it w advantageous, both to the agriculturaloul A be extremely interests of the country, that th e and commercial sense o f the House should be taken on the pr, 'liinr but he did not see how the suggestion of tl t , lion.Ymem step,r would accomplish his desires, or what advant t - ge could be de rived from the House departing from its uses 1 rules.—(Hear.) Mr. S'T'AFFORD O'BRIEN suggested that as there was a long list of gentlemen on his own side ' if the House w h o the Government ' were anxious to speak upon the subject e/ measure, the de bate ought to be kept open until those gentle men had an opportunity of ad dre s sing the I l ouse , The motion was then agreed to. FOREIGN POSTAG' S. Mr. ROEBUCK was understood to x:a "-- the Right Hon. Baronet, the Fi rs t L or d o f the Treasur if there were any hopes of the penny postage system bei colonies? =tended to the Sir R. PEEL replied in so low a t the gallery. He was, however, one to . be inaudible in .a►rJn6 43 ay that it was to THE SU_N, LONDON, SATI7II I )Ait EVENING. F_EBRTJARI 21. 184& not in his power to give a positive answer to the question of the Hon. Member. THE POTATO DISEASE. Captain OSBORNE said that since the speech which the Right Hon. Baronet delivered a few nights ago, certain statements had been published with regard to the potato blight, to which he begged to call the attention of the Right Hon. Baronet. Those statements had been published on Thursday, and re lated to the proceedings of the Horticultural Society, a meet ing of which had been held.on Tuaday. Dr. Lindley, it appeared, had at that meeting exhibited some specimens of new potatoes, which had many symptoms of disease. The re sult was, that it might be expected that the crop of the eeming harvest would be exceedingly deficient. He wished to know whether the Right Hon. Baronet had received any communication or information on the subject ? Sir R. PEEL said that when he spoke on Monday night, he stated that we had great reason to apprehend that the danger resulting from the failure of the potato crop would not be re ducing during the forthcoming autumn. But when he spoke on Monday night he had had no direct communication with or. Lindley ; he spoke from the communications which he had received of a general nature from various scientific gen tlemen, who said that they apprehended that the next potato season would be marked by a great failure. He feared there was every reason to apprehend considerable danger from using the diseased seed. It was said that some new potatoes could not be detected as diseased by the closest microscopic inspection. 'The plant was supposed to be sound, but from receat information received, he had every reason to believe that the disease was quite apparent ; and it rested with the Government to give timely notice of this fact to the country at large. CORN-LAWS. Mr. BRIGHT presented petitions from Essex, Surrey, Stafford, Newbury, Reading, and one from Sunderland, signed by 4,000 persons, praying for the total and immediate repeal of the corn-laws. Sir THOMAS ACLAND presented a petition in favour of protection. Mr. R. PALNIEIIt presented petitions from several parishes in the county of Berkshire, against any alteration in the corn-laws. Mr. WAKLEY presented a petition from the parish of Clerkenwell. The petitioners stated that the present corn laws operated injuriously to their interest, and prayed fur a repeal of those laws. ADJOURNED DEBATE. Mr. G. BRUCE rose and said that it had been stated in the course of this debate that increased opposition to the repeal of the corn-laws would give an increased force to agitation. He (Col. Bruce) thought that if by conceding or voting in favour of the present measure he could succeed in putting an end to agitation, much of his opposition to the present measure would be removed. He could not, however, so persuade himself. He believed that if this measure was carried discontent of a more dangerous character, and agitation more difficult to re press then anything with which we had now to contend, would be the result. He could not eusiceee the point, that the passing of this measure would put an end to agitation. He feared that they could not but expect that the great masses of the people would be occasionally visited by distress. He feared that if the present cause of agitation were removed, there would not be wanting individuals who would point out other alleged causes of distress. There would be little diffi culty in indicating other of the most valuable institu tions of the country which would be exposed to the same danger as the corn-laws. The existence of tithes, the Established Church—the aristocracy—the existence of the great mass of property in the hands of the few, and the neces sary expenses of the Monarchy, would be made the most of by designing persons, in order to excite agitation. He certainly did not think that there would be much to be apprehended from such agitation, if they had a firm and steady Government, be cause agitation always derived its principle from the weakness or strength of the Government. He for one could not attach such importance to the association of the Anti-Cown-law League as would induce him to withdraw the protective duties on corn. The experience of the Right Hon. Baronet must have shown him the danger of any concession. The experience of every gentleman in that House would tell him the necessity of keeping up the national institutions. The country was teeming with an energetic population, and an occasional popu lar agitation would arise, but they should not concede to it when their reason and judgment were not convinced. He thought that the advantages derived by the people were generally in an inverse ratio to the strength of the agitation. He did not intend to go into the question of the corn-laws, as so many gentlemen had preceded him in the arguments that he could use ; and if they went on at their present rate of discussion, they would arrive at a conclusion soon after Easter. He did not blame those Hon. Gentlemen who had gone into the discussion of the corn-law question, be cause " Quand le emu est pleine, la bouche parle." it ap peared to him that ever since the members of the Government had taken upon themselves the task of acting upon the princi ples of political economy, they had made up their minds to act as if they had neither hearts nor feelings. It was upon this principle he presumed that the Right Hon. Baronet at the bead of her Majesty's Government was now acting : and when his Hon. Friend the Member fur Northamptonshire had made the speech which he supposed might have been addressed to one of his tenants, he had assumed to himself the character of a political economist. Now the fact was, that the friends arouud him were in the habit of acting as if they had hearts as well as heads; and had his Hon. Friend the Member for Northamptonshire spoken in his natural character, he would, instead of his own, have uttered the speech that the Right Hon. Baronet had made for him. Nose, if the Noble Lord the Member for London, when he failed in forming a Government, had declared that the measure now before the House would be carried—if carried at all—not by the votes of those who had the pleasure then of supporting the Right Hon. Bark - met, but by the votes of those who sat around himself, he (Mr. C. Bruce) thought after the speech of the Right Honourable Baronet—which he could not help de segnating as a most imprudent one—there would be less inclination ,than ever on his side of the House to sup port the views which the present Ministry entertained Now he was not disposed to think that there were not ten or twenty men to be found in the country able to undertake the management of affairs--( Hear, hear)—for that would be re ducing them to the condition of his poor country (Scotland) after the battle of Chevy Chase, when all their great men were slain ; but when the jolly English monarch heard of the death of Earl Percy, his words were-- " Now God be praised, said the King, Sith 'twill no better be, I trust I have within my realm Five hundred good as he." And he did net doubt that England was not in worse position than she was then, but that s'ie could easily find many able statesmen to guide her destinies. He considered that it they did pass this measure of the Government, they would see before two years elapsed an agitation which would compel them to repeal it. ftut, in his opinion, those considerations were overborne by considerations of public morality, and by that respect and con fidence which should ever be maintained between constituents and their representatives. In his own case many of those who voted for him were tenants of the Gallant Officer to whom he was opposed, but they bad confidence in his support of the opi nions in which he sought their suffrage—namely the sliding scale. It had been stated by the Hon. Member for Bridport that the landed proprietors of Scotland were in favour of the proposition of the Government. Now, he (Mr. C. Bruce) was of opinion that they were extremely dissatisfied with it. In Scotland the carrying out of this principle had been the means of creating the greatest alarm amongst the tenant farmers, and, in order the better to prove the truth of this as sertion, he would take the liberty of reading an extract from a letter which he had received from a friend of his, a considerable landowner in Inverness and Ross-shire. The Hon. Member then proceeded to read the extract, which was in substance to this effect : That the announcement of Sir Robert Peel's measure had been the means of casting a gloomy sensation over the inhabi tants of that large district." And he (Colonel Bruce) had no doubt that that was the general feeling of the entire people of Scotland ; and he looked upon such a fact as a set-off against the assertion of the Hon. Member for Redford. If he (Cc lo ne) Bruce) were to pass an opinion on the attempt of •the Noble Lord the Member for London, in his late endeavours to tu-rn a Government, he would say that his conduct was sue/ t as highly became an English gentleman, instead of an advan ce ment for office, as it had been called ; and, therefore, he vas entitled to treat his Lordship's letter as a speech from .the throne. The Noble Lord, however, failed to term aMinist ry, even for the temporary misgovernment of the country. :His Right Hon. Friend at the head of her Majesty's Governns out adopted the Noble Lord's letter. He found all that t hat letter contained was very true ; but he wondered the Right Hon. Baronet had not found it out before.—(Hew r. ) (At this time the Right Hon. Baronet Sir James Grah am entered the House.) He was glad to see the Right HOD. :Ba ronet come in, because he wanted to tell him how exceedie gig r anxious he was to say how his speech of the other evening read as compared with his admirable and conclusive speec b. of - 1839. He well remembered the cheering with which th at speech was received by the Members on that side of the house. He (Mr. C. Bruce) acknowledged that he had aim self cheered until he was quite hoarse. It had creatiltedaii;e,oenArwn:abiinellyi im pression upon him which had never been effaced—c not effaced by the speech of the other evening. He was ready to acknowledge that the speech of the Right ob H le e Ba ronet of last year showed a great modification of op , aiaa. would apply to the Right Hon. Baronet the l t a h..e n e,oe:sitt,toitbshi,lee had been used by the Ayrshire farmer to a Se kind and Lord. The farmer happened to meet in the st• invited th ► far mer Lord, the proprietor of the farm he held, and NlN X.ord, anxious, like all Noble Lords, to be exce , se li ng l y courteous where his rents were regularly praid., to his table, where he was placed, as honoured gee: it be side her Ladyship. Unaccustomed 'to the ape odour which surrounded him, he permitter!, the first c erurse to leave the table untouched ; bWt when he gIA a little more familiar, he was anxious to express his satisf, action in the most delicate manner to the lady beside him, and turn ing round in the most engaging manner, he said, " I ne t d na ask yer Leddyship wha made the pudding."—(Laught ter.) The pudding which had been dished up for them by the. Go vernment plainly exhibited the master hand of the aprons and white paper cap of the Home- office.—( Continued late& .er. ) This measure, in his opinion, would touch most seri° asl y in the department of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, an d he should like to know what that Right Hon. Gentleman 'Gould have to say on the subject, becatese he knew of no one on whose opinion, experience, or ability he should be more ready to rely than that of the Right. Hon. Gentleman himself. A ,n illus trious Dulee in another place had announced that he sup ported this measure, not b ecause hi s op i n i on had uncle, -gim e a change, but because his feeling were in its favour, and h e (Mr. W. Bruce) regretted exceedingly that that noble person; age had allowed his better judgment to give place to his fs ings. He thought that the Right Hon. Baronet had made one p; art o f his speech plain, but in other parts he signally failed tse show the truth of his position. He also thought that the Righr t. Hon. Baronet had signally failed to show that corn would be subject to a much greater amount of competition when the co . rn-laws were abolished. He failed, in his opinion, to show tl sat this country would not be deluged with such an amount of corn as effectually to destroy the agriculture of this country.._( Protec tionist cheers.) The Right Hon. Baronet had said tha the be lieved that such would not be the case, but he had entirely failed to show any grounds for his opinion. He had al: :o failed to show that he might not, with perfect certainty of e ;uccess, have made a great modifications in the existing corn-law, which would have met with the general assent of the He :use.— ( Cheers.) He had also, in his opinion, failed to sho w that there were circumstances in his position which, on his re sumption of office, justified him in bringing forward the I ?resent measure. He had failed to show whether it world be . either wise or expedient to leave this country dependent for i ts crorheirgga s r u atilighrd p ge a the on foreign countries, whi c h h a d a l rea d y adopted hostile ag o tariffs with regard t o th e manu f ac t ure d art i c l es e:tporte d from this country.—(Protectioni s t c h eers .) F ar b e i t fie sin him (Mr. B ruce ) t o j o i n w i t h any H on. Gentlemr,n in ; accusing fo rthgezißightnasr characters hi himi H e improper ph a t r p n i toe e pri t go nsh o a f tol t H a i vnoeHyns m ßpe hh p aae r rd e oh p e tnaoedo r t d m tt too o oe t rp i v 3zaat e krr S oeeng l ag n i yad f b .i o e for his integrity to do so.--(Cheers.) He believed t bat his motives were upright and honest. Ihe well knew that the Right Honourable Baronet hen , at all tim es hitherto enjoy e d t h e h igh character of being' most distinguished the distinguished ad voca t e i n that House of thrights ' ofthe people of this country. But whilst he honest! y made tin i 5 con fession, he doubted the policy of the present' Bruce),roposal the Right Hon. Baronet.—(Hear, h ear .) Ile (Mb. every due weight to the obligation of consistent ey, and toga ye opinions that emanated from such ; at the same time he bound to say, that he could not recognise in the p e „ em coarse of policy any such honest observance of former con., sisteney.—( Hear, hear.) Ile should say that he , could not urge anything like unfairness against the Right Ho. 1! Baronet at the head of the Ministry ; and such being his conviction, he should abstain from a single observation at variance with these convictions. It had pleased an all-wise Providence, to visit the nation, and in particul ar th e ki ng d om o f I re l an d, with a great calamity; and if the corn-harvest in Ireland had been deficient, as was the potato-crop, why that would be some justification for introducing a measure in suspension of the corn-laws, and he, and the Hon. Member who coincided in his way of thinking, would have fully concurred in such; but he could see no connexion between the failure in the po tato crop in Ireland. and the suspension --much less the repeal of the earn-laws. — (Cries of " Hear, hear," and cheers.) The trtae remedy for the distresses of Ireland was not to abolish the corn-laws, bnt to give the people the means of purchasing foodthe already the country.—(Hear, hear.) What he complained that they did no t g i ve t h e i r own l aw a f a i r Whattrial. circumstances had ari sen t o j ust if y t h em i n propos i ng of was, i s 7 : 1 to reverse, at the bidding of the League, the decision which the country had given at the last general election ? Was that the way they proposed to carry out the Reform Bill ? It could net be denied that the, question at the last general election, when so large a majority was returned to that House, was protection or no protection. It wax really too bad, therefore, that this de cision should be now rescinded, and they should be called upon to yield to the dictates of the League. He would ask, had not the country prospered under the corn-laws? And if this had been the case, why then were they no w as k e d t o a b o li s h them? '1 he imposition of the income tax had restored the funds and re-established the public credit. It had given an impetus to speculation and to c?mmercial transactions. All of these things bad for a long time previously been in a state of depres sion. This was followed by the mania for railway speculation, which required from the nation the deposit of an immense amount of capital—more, indeed, th an cou ld be conveniently spared. 'That mania caused a greatly increased demand for labour, with an increased price f or it. These things were, no doubt, very beneficial, but were they likely to continue so as to justify the changing of the en ti re pro t ec ti v e policy of this country, under which this country had arisen to be the queen of all nations. He for one, therefore, could not consent to sacrifice his principles to the opinion of the Right Hon. Ba ronet. He could not consent to embark with him:on the boundless ocean of free trade, to arrive at a distant shore, which no person had ever explored. E ven th oug h th e favour ing breezes of popular opinion swelled his sail and wafted him over the deep, he would not follow the Right Hoe. Baronet to the promised land of abundance ; for he could not be sure that the luxurious vegetation would not by its superfluity breed a noxious atmosphere, which would be poison to the English constitution ; for he saw in the perspective the troubled ocean of angry dispute, and he fea re d to encounter the sh i pwreck and disaster which it threatened ; therefore he should refuse to fire the first gun which, boomin g over t h e angry waters, s h ou ld give the signal for sailing. He thanked the I:ouse for the attention they had accorded to him, and resumed his seat, de claring that he felt it his painful duty to vote against the Go vernment. Mr. POTTLET SCROD]? ssi ,l " tew observations. It would appear that the measure was brought forward for the purpose of debate, for the arguments used for and against the corn-laws it would be found were the same as those used for the last ten years. He thought the object of the debate Has very truly described by the Hon. Member for Berkshire, who said the real question was whether protection was right or whether protection was wrong ?-- (Cheers from the Opposition.) If it was right let them main tain those laws, if it was wrong let them be abolished. These were the grounds on which they were to judge of the corn laws. When he understood a question, he had always the moral courage to act according to his opinions.—( Cheers from the protectionists.) He should say nothing of the potato rot in Ireland, because he considered the question in that House had reference to the condition of the people generally, and for their sakes it was to be considered whether a repeal of the corn laws was right or wrong. He should not follow the able statement of the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of her Ma jesty's Government, but he considered there were other reasons besides the relaxation of prohibitory duties for the increased prosperity of the country for the last three years. He consi dered that the abundant harvests which Providence had blessed them with had a claim in that prosperity.—( Cheers.) He maintained if that was the argument for a repeal of the corn laws, it was as strong in 1641 as now—in fact it was as strong 20, or 30, or 40 years ago. The corn-laws raised the price of corn, or they did not. If they did not they were of no benefit to agri culture, but were a gratuitous interference with the trade of the country which no arguments or no reasoning could justify. Take the other alternative—the corn-laws raised the price of eorn, and it was urged that a law of this tendency was necessary to enable the farmers to pay the heavy taxes which the Legislature inflicted on them. Now, how could the farmer be the party who paid the taxes, when the consumer paid him an increased price for his commodities? In fact, it was the consumer, and not the producer, „who paid the taxes whilst this system existed. " Oh," but said the protec tionists, "we give protection to every class of pro ducers; and in return for the high prices they pay us for our corn, we pay them an equally high price for their own produc tions." In his opinion this was an argument unworthy of being advanced in that House. They made them pay their heavy taxes, but they would not compensate them. There were hundreds of thousands of workers in cotton and wool in this country. They paid taxes upon beer, sitar, coffee, tobacco, malt, and other articles, that went towards the payment of the national debt. Did Hon. Members think that it would he any benefit to those persons to impose upon them a tax upon bread in addition to those other articles. There was another large class of persons, the moneyed interest, fundholders, annuitants, mortgagees, and other* they paid their share of the nation's taxes, but they could not be protected by protective laws, for they were not producers. Some Hon. Members seemed to have a notion, which he thought lie could best illustrate by an anecdote. A farmer in the Highlands was building a house, a few miles from a very pleasant sea-port; he was met by a person who was on his way with a little scrubby pony, with a large deal hanging on one side of the animal, and a large stone on the opposite side. The party who met him inquired of him if it was his intention to build his house with stone ? He replied, that was not the reason why he used the stone; it was to maintain a balance with the deal on the opposite side. He never thought however of cutting the deal in half, and thus making. the two pieces of deal balance themselves. This was just the ease with these protectionists ; they think that by adding another burden they are enabled to relieve the existing burden. lie put it to the gentry of England whether they would choose to protect themselves from their share of any burdens which might be im posed, in consequence of invasion or any other extraordinary expenditure, by the jugglery of a set of corn duties. He had vainly waited, during the whole of this debate, for a single valid argument in favour of protection, and he would ask the House whether the idle sarcasm which had been thrown out by the Hon. Member opposite was in favour of protec tion ? Why, he had always understood that it was one of the very vital principles of all trade, and the very foundation of political economy to buy in a cheap market and sell in a dear one. This was, it was true, the maxim of political economy ; and what was there cold-hearted in that? He had made a pathetic appeal to the House with a view to prevent the in troduction of a lower rate of paper-hangings and silk goods. If Honourable Gentlemen on the other side of the• House would only take the trouble to carry their principles to the extremes they would see what crude absurdities they held for opinions. If they were to strip that Hon. Member of all that he had about him, which was not the produce of British in dustry—if they were to take from him all that he had about him of German wool, of Russian flax, Of American cotton, of Italian silk, he would appear in his place in a condition more fit for a state of savage nature than civilised society. And if he followed out the principles of the Hon. Member tor Knaresborough, of abstaining from everything that was the produce of machinery, they ought to come down to the Hou-e clothed with skins, and they should follow their prey with clubs, tear it with their teeth, and grub up the earth with their nails. He would ask lion. Members who had expressed their intention of opposing the Government measures, to sup pose a manufacturer whose warehouse was glutted with the goods lie had produced, but which he could not sell ; whose correspondents were writing him from abroad that the foreign market was equally glutted. After having vainly struggled for a length of time against the difficulties which environed hiM, he put his workmen on short time, and then en short wages, until he finds it necessary to discharge them, and to shut up' his mill. Let them also imagine the condition of men, women, and children, suffering from the want of food, and unable to obtain employment. Let them imagine parents giving up their children to any occupation by which they might obtain their subsistence—no matter how de grading or immoral. Suppose they came and so licited assistance from the manufacturer, he would say to them, "My friends, my heart bleeds for you, I regret it, but I cannot help it ; my capital is locked up in yonder ware hor.se, or my money is exhausted. I can send no more goods ar,road, because, although 1 may obtain corn and other•commo- Aities in return, I am prevented from doing so by the law."— ( Hear, hear.) Thus their intercourse with foreign nations was destroyed, or, if not destroyed, rendered almost abortive. In the Queen's warehouse, for instance, at the present moment there were hundreds of thousands quarters of foreign corn, which they were prevented from purchasing on account of the high duty exacted. Well, now he would ask, would it not be desirable to pass a measure that would remedy this evil? They had at present an ill-paid, discontented, and demoralised pea santry under the present system. Under the altered system would it not be desirable for the succeeding tenant to be a man who could afford to pay better wages than his predecessor, and employ more labourers? He could not see that there was anything very terrible in all this; and surely if the operation of the proposed measure would have this effect, it would be a most desirable measure to have passed into a law.—(Hear, hear.) The farmer then, instead of using his two-horse plough, and wast ing his manures, and persevering in a bad system of cultiva tion, and allowing the rains of heaven to lodge upon his lands until it had rotted his crops, and produced nothing but weeds, would adopt a very different and much more profitable system. He thought it was by such reasoning as that used by the Hon. Member for Stockport, that they ought to consider the import ance of the question. If, then, the Hon. Gentlemen who op posed the abolition of these restrictive laws could not convince the country that protection could be maintained for the mutual benefit of all, they could not do better than abolish those laws, and he could not but think that the motives which actuated the Hon. Members in opposition to her Ma jesty's Government on this question were dictated by very sus picious motives.—(lronical cheers.) What lie meant by sus picious motives was, that they were dictated by a party and a selfish feeling, and to convince the country of the contrary, they should at once support the Right Hon. Baronet's measure, t h h e a d prin ciples las and thereby enable the people to purchase a sufficient quantity of the article of life at the cheapest possible rate. ad d A r l e r s . s e N d E t h W e H DE O o G s e A T h a E d a s a t t i d a c , kted tlt ] o hi e (s n c . 0 11 0 s l t e s m t ebnecy. o r • wh t o and arguments of his Hon. Friend the Member f or Northampton. to answer ln h t the eHon. m absence o e of b his er Hon. Friend,Hon. G he Gentleman t l tu a l n ri endeavour had said that his Hon. Friend was not consistent on the ques- tion of buying in the cheapest and selling in the dearest market. ' He did not understand the argument of buying in the cheapest and selling in the dearest market as implied by the Hon. Member, the principle was indeed true as respecting trade, but it did not hold geed in Legislature. He d e n ie d that the functions of Gnvernment were merely to increase the wealth of the country, he conceived ether that it was the duty of Go vernment to secure the happiness, the peace, and the welfare of the population. He denied that a case which might be trtie when applied to trade was as universally true when applied to Government. Were this principle applied to Legisla ture now, could they justify the expense in provi ding. for th e nat i ona l defence. The flame justifica tion might be equally applied by the Legislature to the defence of labour and prosperity, that the military establish ments would apply to the preservation of personal safety. How could it be said in the case of an army that they should buy in the cheapest market? No doubt they might get tnen cheaper in some parts of the world than at home, but could they place the same dependence on them. Would the same men possess the same motive or quality ? It had been said that the repeal el' the corn-laws must reduce the prices, or it must not reduce them. But if they reduced the prices of corn, did they not risk unsteadiness in the markets. The Hon. thesealem ber la s t: e s m edwearlotogeotobaecrtotdo have to overlooked eoso ros t the e ad i fact nesso that f prices. Even if they bought in the, cheapest market,market mitimghigthbtesoanhaepxpceenetdhinagt exceedingly market,sue cheapest one, and the country oainthoietmi their s ta t r e sa; dv w e: h r :ohwt bard and 1842. The distress of these years was produced by their commercial relations with America and the reaction on the mone tarytt might refer to this argument, because it was a most unhappy one for I e n e f o o n r . thei d m extensiono political t a ca i d l ofe th e that the manufacturers should pay a duty on corn in addition e to their other taxes. He was prepared t zmsht system t ryeols a nvt g eeg a mse i s at t fi i n ou mt advocateset h s . elf in same state as in the Years 1841 to prove, in the first pleas, tha t s which were compensated for by the corn-laws. If the mere question had been one of political economy, the H( n. Member and those who coincided with him would be required to prove that manufacturers formed a majority of the country. But there was ample evidence before the House that they were note majority in it. What objection, he might ask, could there be to a law which protected the interests of the majority. He would now, with the leave of the House, refer to the other considerations involved in the question. He did not wish to go through the various subjects in the course of this argument ; he would not even charge the Government with its present change of opinion, After the Right Hon. Baronet had rendered this country sub ject to foreigners in respect to its monetary system, he wield hardly have expected that the Right Hon. Baronet would render this country dependent upon foreigners for its supply of food. Although some of the leading Members of the Go vernment had repudiated arguments, facts, writings, and speeches of times long gone by, and had committed a sort of political suicide, he was not aware that any of them had repu diated the speeches which they made in the last session of Par liament. He (Mr. Newdigate) listened to those speeches with deep attention, and he wished now to show from them how sudden this change had come upon the country. What was the substance of the speech which the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Government, delivered last year upon the subject of the corn-laws. It was an able argument in favour of the maintenance of the corn-laws — it proved their tendency to produce steady prices without diminishing the activity of manufactures—it proved the great increase which had taken place in manufactures under the corn•laws—and it proved that in September, 1844, the price of wheat was 455. 2d. per quarter ; and he appealed to the repre sentatives of the manufacturing interest to say whether this was an unreasonable price. He used the argument that the landed proprietors of this country did not look upon their land in the light of mere commercial speculations, and expressed his belief that it would be a great evil if they did. Now, how could the Right lion. Baronet reconcile that feeling sentiment with his present course of action.—( Hear, hear.) In that speech the Right Hon. Baronet said that if they were to ex tend the principles of free-trade at home, they should extend them also to the colonies ?—( Cheers.) He (Mr. Newdegate) heard the Hon. and Gallant Member for Liverpool say in his speech, that, Such should be the result with respect to their colonies. He (Mr. Newdegate) could not conceive what were the motives which actuated the present policy of the Right Hon. Baronet for not adhering to the prin• ciples which, during the greater part of his life, won for him horeu7rernrWesecneteery great commercial prosperity.— ( Cheers.) Was it possible that he sought to establish a direct bartering of the products of that country with those of any other? Suppose that even they could establish large exports, that was a principle that could not be advocated by any sensi ble political economist. That system would find its level in the way that bullion relieved your monetary distress, by an importation of it from abroad. They would now remove by such a measure as the present the only barrier efelt ye_ between th em an d th e di s t ress w hi c h wo uld h h thou being unprotected. He trusted the House would excuse him while he explained the basis on which he formed his opinion of the measure now before the House. It was an extremely disagreeable duty to differ from the opinion of the Right Hon. Baronet, but no personal considerations should induce him to act against the opinions of his constituency ; almost the whole of whom would be seriously injured by that measure, as some were extensively engaged in the batting trade, and others in the manufacture of hardware._( Cheers.) If they adopted those free-trade principles—if they carried them out—they would unshield almost every class of his constituency, and ex pose them to privations that their struggling trade could very badly endure. The great mass of trade, in the majority of instances, in this country will be found to be hindered in their progress by the application of the principle of abandonment of protection; and further, it will be necessary for this principle to be followed up until almost universal distress is produced. He would now enter upon the question of whether or not re laxation or prohibition had characterised the policy pursued with respect to commerce—whether or not protection had been abandoned and relaxtion adopted. The Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary for the Home Department thought the policy • for the last twenty-five years had been to impose prehibitory duties, and as they became burdensome to abandon them • gradually until they had become relaxed. Mr. Huskisson %ca. , au advocate for protection, but not for prohibition. The Right Hun. Baronet had said that nothing but extreme emer gency should justify the retention of protection, and that • protection . should only be extended to some part of the • country that was in a suffering condition. Was this paternal treatment from the Government of a great country ? It would not, in his opinion, bear the name of a paternal Government. The labour of this country had been obtained at an exorbitant sacrifice. The currency had also been depreciated up to 1820, and he would inquire, how much it had been appre ciated since? The lite Mr. Ricardo, before he died, said that the currency had depreciated 15 per cent. The Right Hon. Baronet had also stated that the advantage which capital had obtained over labour amounted to about 85 per cent. Previ ously to the year 1820 the depreciation in the currency amounted to about 10 per cent. According to returns from official sources, the rental of land amounted in 1814 to 39,555,7051., and in 1843 it was 45,753,6151., shelving an increase daring a period of thirty yeas of about 6,347,910/. • in this amount were included 1,500,670/ for tithes, which being deducted, would leave a result of 4,813,545/., being the real increase. The rental of houses in Great Britain and Ireland during the same period in 1814 was 16,259,3491. annually ; and in 1543 the rental was 38,475,738/., being an increase of income during thirty years of 22,215,3391. From these returns then it would appear that the value of land had increased 12 per cent. during thirty years, while during the same period the value of house property Liu. increased more than 40 per cent. The Honourable Gentleman then showed that during the period between 1814 and 1843, the increase he the productions of the land had been fifty per cent., while the inereae in the population had been rather more, about fifty-seven per cent. He would consider now whether no strain had been put on the labour of the country—whether capital had gained nothing during the perioe to which he had referred. If, according to the Right Hon. Gentleman, the depreciation be ten per cent. on house pro perty and land, the same principle would apply to money an it intrinsic value, as applied to the purchase of corn. The average price for five years, from 1815 to 1819, when the currency was returning to its proper level was 80s. 4d. per quarter. During the two years from 1819 to 1821, the corn-law - being then fixed, the price of wheat fell from the average of 80s. per quarter to 445. 7d. per quarter In 1822 the corn-law was again altered, and the price of wheat had recovered to 61s. per quarter, fell again to 565. 2d. The average price from the year 1822 to 1827 was 575. per quarter. During the years between 1828 and 1841 the average was 555. I Id., and the average for the last four years to the present time had been 525. per quarter. It thus ap peared. that since the peace, with abundance in the country, while the rent of land had not comparatively increased, the price of corn had fallen 5 per cent. If we tak, the official value of corn, which is the fixed, we can appreciate the difference of the increase. It is a singular fact, that iv, 1819, the declared value, which was also the official value, are which during that year had been less than the free-traders' value, fell below, and has never since recovered the amount. The amount of difference was very great. In 1819, the official value, which was the fixed value, had exceeded the declares and actual value by about 96 per cent, or, in other words, money had gained a value over produce and labour of more than 96 per cent.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") Had not therefore the value of labour in this country been ii sonic degree depreciated? The character of this period ha, been marked by an unequal distribution of property. Labour had fallen in value in the hands of the great capitalists. He would now address himself to another part of his subject. li was his firm belief that the burdens upon the land amounted to 12,160,000/. annually, in which sum was included the payment of tithes. It was sometimes argued that tithes did not con stitute a burden on land. The Hon. Gentleman then quoted Ricardo, M'Culloch, Dr. Pavey, and Dr. Smith, to show that tithes were a burden on the land, inasmuch as they im• peded the improvement of the soil, and were obnoxious to the interests of both landlord and tenant. The total amount ot taxes paid by the land, including the property-tax, arnounteo to 1 0 ,339,0641. Tee Hon. Gentleman' having specified the items of this amount, proceeded to say that it was impossible,. by any argument, to gainsay his statement as to the exis tence of burdens on the land. It might, perhaps, bi supposed that he was willing to have these burden , commuted ; lie would accept free-trade for a commu• tation. To these he would reply, that . compensation: would not only be improbable, but it would be impossible Before he sat down he wished to express what he understood by the meaning of the word protection. He did not under stand that it meant prohibition, but it meant the regulation of trade. Taking protection in this sense, he believed it was the duty and function of the Government to afford protection 0 the trade of a majority of the community, but in such a marine , as not entirely to sacrifice the interest of the minority. Now in relaxing this system of protection, it ought to be done rather . with a view to its relaxation than a view to its abandonment. He could not conceive that it was profitable, in a constitutional point of view, for the majority of that House to give up opinions which they had advocated and entertained for year the dictation of a Minister who had proved himself to be the master and dictator of his own Cabinet. When he heard the expressions which fell from that Right Honourable Baronet it, respect of the aristocracy and the monarchy of the land, In could not help looking at the ensign of the authority of the House, and reflecting that the Right Hon. Baronet would have acted with more wisdom had he paused a little longer ere he gave utterance to such sentiments.— ( Hear, hear.) He, for one, did not admire the manner in which he had trampled upon his supporters, and by using threats had overpowered their better judgment—it was not the conduct of a constitutional Minister, but was subversive of the freedom, liberties, and best rights of the subjeCt. Unless. therefore, the flight Hon. Baronet subjected his conduct in changing opinions to the proper and constitutional tribunal, namely, au appeal to the people, he should say that the Right Hon. Baronet was the Minister of her Majesty by necessity,, who had already indicated her choice by calling another to her. councils ; and likewise that he was the Minister by necessity ot the country, but not of its choice.—(Cheers.) • The Right Hon. Baronet had told them that if they did not yield now, they would have to yield hereafter by force. He confessed he should not have been surprised to hear :such an argument from a leader of a band of agitators ; but when a Minister of the Crown turned round upon his faithful supporters, and,. seising them by the throat, demanded that they shoulo yield up their principles or he would force them from them, he was in truth alarmed. But let them see what this force was, and he for one told the Hon. Baronet that he was not afraid to look it in the faces Such ten ms must certainly be unbecoming a Minister of the Crown, and he was sure if the broken-up party with which he was connected per sisted stedfastly and firmly in their constitutional opposition to this measure, they would only be preserving the rights and liberties of the people from the grasp of ruthless agitators. The Hon. Gentleman concluded by saying that whilst the agriculturists had such men as the Miloses and the Barings , they need not entertain any doubt as to their ultimate success. (Laughter on the Opposition benches, and cheers from the protectionists. ) Mr. BARKLY (who was very imperfectly heard in the gallery) said that he was so circumstanced as to be able to enter upon the consideration of this great question as calmly and deliberately as he should do upon any other question of equal magnitude and equal commercial or social iinpettanee• It was true that he was connected with the protected branches of in proeraisoinossigtwithuyltPrhstel psrhootueled duetrv, and he must also own that those who had done him the those would IloineCer 'end. him to that .House as their representative be lievede is be more likely to be free from the bias of prejudice N g v i e v r e e h n s l u y p h i t i s w iti o (hind, would , b in o h i p e e t o o n ti s d id ti ej i a ,i t e l. ° l n a) . of tla t this t kr i u e b s j t e ci c t o , f was, the or self-interest.—( Hear, hear.) The question which pre stinted freedom ti B riti sh Honourableemo f p empire Baronet, etc whichror r e; thootat had continuethose ti een a d i ti o hu c ed t e r pd i r n e e st s oe n w tb i py t th r ee e c g t a i o r n e l tt Rightto e tion side m of er t e h l e e, agriculture, which had existed for centuries past. The' ques tion should be tippitac!ied stith the Rreatest caution and de -11 liberation. It had been said that this Hon. Mg:tames on his Honourableeitheir opinions Baronet u r on had this thought proper to change those which he had so long advocated, but be it (Mr. Barkly) would beg to tell those who had-ventured to sohenel.fth t:trh Butat l say so, that he himself was influenced by no such:,motives. He would not be influenced by the opinion of any number of men, however high their character fur wisdom and experience. It did strike him that the simultaneous advance which had been lately made by the two great leaders in that House in the direction of free-trade was a very remarkable fact.—(Hear, hear.) For he maintained that it area not a real change, but merely an advance of opinion tris favour of free trade. The Hon. Member for Wiltshire had, the previous evening, said that 'Ps had listened to hear froni the Right r!C I Hon. Baronet the reasons of his change. But could there be any doubt that the fear of a bad crop, and an alarm of a de ficiency in the wheat harvest, had produced the change? That apprehension might be well founded or ill founded—time alone could show. But it served as an awful warning to the people of this country not to place too much reliance on the political conduct of Cabinet Ministers. The Hon. Member went on to say that it eves absurd for the Anti-Corn-law League to pro fess superior enlightenment and intelligence on this subject than the agriculturists. The real fact was, that it was self interest that influenced the members of that body in all their sieliberations.—(Proteetionist cheers.) At the same thee, ha would maintain that the manufacturers of this coan try were entitled to a fair share of consideration from the Members of that House. If it were simply a question be tween the manufacturers and the agriculturists of this country, the question would not possess half the importance which was attached to it; but the fact was, that on the issue of the nuestion depended the national honour and prosperity of the country. All the trading interests in this country were directly or indirectly concerned in the resolution to which the House might come.—(Hear, hear. ) The Hon. Member then pro ceeded to make a few remarks upon what had fallen from the Hon. Member for Sunderland (Mr. Hudson) on Tuesday night. The Hon. Member then drew a comparison between the con dition of this country and the people of Holland, who paid t txes to the amount of 265. per head; but in consequence of the low tone of voice in which the Hone Member delivered this part of his speech, his remarks were quite inaudible in the gallery. The Hon. Member, as we understood, contended that the arguments which had beenbrought forward against the repeal of the corn-laws on the ground that it would make this country dependent for its supply of food upon fore gn countries was wholly untenable. He stated that we had imported greater quantities of wheat in seasons of comparative plenty, end argued that we were, in consequence, dependent in some measure for our supply of food. And as to the question of in dependence, in the time of a general war it was only a question of degree, because this country had already imported 600,001) qrs. of corn. A general war (continued the Hon. Member) is not likely to burst upon us in a moment. The farmer would have time afforded him for turning his grass-land into arable. He did not attribute the present miserable condition ,of agri-* cultural labourers to the operation of the corn-laws. He apprehended that the small farmers of this country, who were obliged to cultivate their land with limited sesources, would be the class that would most suffer by the change. He was • sure if they took the benefit of the tenant-class of farmers. into consideration, they would not pass the measure in its present shape. In conclusion, he would say a few words on the effect which a repeal of the corn-laws would have on the landed interests of this country. [Here the Hon. Member turned round and addressed himself to the protectionists sitting at the lower end of the House, and we could not in consequence catch his observations.] We understood him to iay that it was e mistake to suppose that the people slid not take a great interest in the measure now before the House, and that if they (the pro v s tioniat.)tbought otherwise, they were egregiously mistaken.• me confidence that was placed in the Right Hon. Baronet by a great Conservative party when he came into power re ,nained unshaken.—(" No, no," " hear, hear," from the Oppo sition benches.) That confidence was placed in the, Right Hon. Baronet, because it was felt that he would never - bring 'orward any measure which would create such financial changes if he had not the support of his own party, and he (Mr. Barkly) would venture to predict that that support would re main undiminished. The Hon. Member concluded, by saying, that he would give his support to the measure. Mr. BENNETT (Member for Suffolk), who was very in distinctly heard in the gallery, was understood to say, that not eithstanding the able statement made by the First Minister of the Crown, in his speech the other night,—and notwithstand mg the ability with which he conducted the financial affairs of the country, he could not place his confidence in him, as he had so often changed his opinions, and because he had seen him desert the Protestant religion in this kingdom, and repudiate die sentiments he once expressed so eloquently . in defence of that establishment. And when he beheld him unsaying all that he had ever expressed before, he locked with the utmost alarm AS to what would be his next desertion of principle.—( Hear, hear.) He represented an agricultural county,' and he had lived constantly in an agricultural district, consequently he had an opportunity of witnessing the kind feelings which existed between the yeoman, the labourer, and the country gentleman—( Hear, hear)—whilst Hon. Members on the other side of the House were not acquainted with the habits of a country life.—(Loud laughter, and cries of " Oh, oh.") There was not a country gentleman of his acquaintance who looked to the measure which they were then discussing as merely iffecting their rents. They looked to it with the most kindly feelings in order that they might be able to make the labourer more comfortable.--( Hear, hear.) He wished to see the Learned Soliciesr-General in his place, in order thathe might ask him had he changed his opinions on the subject of protee ion, for he held in his hand a speech made by the Learned Gentleman when returning thanks at a dinner given to him when elected for the borough of Cambridge, in which he speaks of the folly of those who advocated a free-trade policy. —(Hear, hear.) He would not trespass further on the House, but would conclude by expressing his 'intention to vote against the proposed measures of commercial Mr. MUNTZ said, that during the last thirty years no change had come over his opinions with respect to the present question. He often differed in opinion with the Right Hon. Baronet and with those Gentlemen beside him, who called themselves philosophers— (Laughter ) —but with all those differences of opinion no man in that House was more desirous than he was that the present Bill should pass into law. It was gratifying to him to see, however, that this question was at length coming to an end. He had often told the Right lion. Baronet that there were two courses open for him, and as he had taken the wrong course now, he would take every opportunity to support him in carrying it out.—(Laughter.) lion. Gentlemen might laugh, but he thought there was no .eason whatever for laughter, for anything was better than that things should remain in the state of uncertainty in which they at present existed.—( Hear, hear.) .. The past cry, which was raised by the Gentlemen opposite, was protection to agriculture. Now, it was protection to native industry. For his own part, he wished that they had gone he full length and protected all native industry ; but they did not, however, do so. They only pro tected a portion of it, and that was one reason why he was induced to support the present measure. The Hon: Member ror Newcastle had stated that he (Mr. Muntz) had only paid one-sixth of the amount which he had paid thirty years ago for labour. He defied any man to say that he had ever pro fited by exacting labour from the poor man at an inadequate remuneration. lie might pay now one-sixth of what he paid thirty years ago, but the variation in the remuneration for abour between this and that period, was in the same ratio. The advocates for protection had, he admitted, protected cer tain portions of native industry. They had given protection io carpenters, smiths, and other trades, that were immediately connected with domestic industry, but they had not protected that industry which came into the foreign market. They had heard speeches from the Right Honourable Baronet at the bead of the Government, from the Right Hon. Gentlema n he Secretary for the Home Department, and from the Secre tary at War—all to the same effect. 'fhe latter Hon. Gentle man indeed went a step further than the others, but he (Mr. eluntz) would go a step further still. He would ask, of what ti,e was the repeal of the corn-laws unless it reduced the price of corn ? If he did not think that this effect would follow, he Would not vote for the present measure, and that was the very reason why it should receive his support. The real reason why the present measure was proposed was, because the prin ciples.of free-trade must shortly regulate the commercial po licy of this country. It was not the famine in Ireland to which this great change must be attributed. It was all very well for Gentlemen to make an outcry about the misery of the country, but that was not the reason for bring ing forward the present measure. He would ask, did the Whigs, when in office, do anything to alleviate this misery ? Did they do anything to sympathise with the afflictions which were acknowledged to prevail when the Government of the country was in their hands ? They did not. When he (Mr. Muntz) alluded to it they sneered at his statement, and re fused all relief. The retribution was now come, and it was quite impossible that any other course could be adopted than that now proposed.—(Hear, hear.) For thirty years they had protected themselves, and now when they saw the game was up, when protection could be maintained.,no longer, they came forward with an affectation of great generosity, and said that " honesty was the best policy," and that they would give up those laws from which they had hitherto derived so much advantage.—(Hear and laughter.) Their conversion it must be admitted was a sudden one.—(Laughter.) He would not, however, be captious, but he called upon them to give the Right Hon. Baronet a straightforward and manly support, or a decided, unmistakeable opposition. Either the Right lion. Baronet was right or he was wrong. Bat in any case, they should not be propping him on one side while they were undermining him on the other.—(Hear, hear. ) they should either approve or condemn, and exhibit a conduct consistent with these opinions. The Right Hon. Gentleman ( Sir R. Peel) had stated that the rate of wages far the last few years had nothing whatever to do with the price of corn. in reference to this point he would take the liberty, with the permission of the House, to read them a fe w ex t rac t s f rom Adam Smith.—(The lion. Gentleman here read several quotations from Adam Smith on the relation which existed between the price of corn and the wages of labour.) The House would remember that there had been a very mate rial change since 1841 to 1'245; between those periods there had been a very great depression. During those periods we had an undeniable depression in the revenue. Since then how ever the revenue had materially increased. The Chinese war made a great increase in the revenue. There was then a great deal which added to the prosperity of the country. There was the increased demand for labour by the spread of railways, and he was sure that if they were to do away with railways they would cause iron to fall fifty per cent.—( Hear, hear ) fhe railways in this country made a very great increase in the wages paid by himself. There was one great reduction caused by the general depression, and that was in the manufacture of zinc. There was now so considerable a re 'situation in that article that it was scarcely worth working. :Some time ago the peice was much greater, but so considerable a reduction bad taken place in that brought from abroad, through the reduction in the tariff, that it was manufactured to no extent - whatever in this country.— (Hear. ) He did not, how ever, mean by this argument to have it inferred that he was eteainst a repeal of the corn -laws ; on the contrary, he was entirely in favour of the repeal of those laws.—( Hear, hear. ) By adverting to this depression he was only showing that the change in the policy of the country had been detrimental to many trades. Indeed, it was not to be denied that foreigners could get their work done at prices so much lower than in thismountry that an injurious result must naturally be the con sequence. Why, on the continent iron could be had at 4/. per ton, while in this country it could not be had for less than about 14/. Now, with respect to the Right Hon. Baronet, every one thought him right in his policy till very lately—in fact his own supporters thought him infallible—but many of these had said to him (Mr. Munts), how is it that the Right Hon. Baronet has all at once changed a line of policy which he has followed for forty years ? And they added that if he was now right, he must have been wrong all that time.— ( Hear.) Having failed, then, for such a time, could the Right Holt. Baronet now deny that he had deceived himself, for most endoubtedly, if he was at that moment right, he must have been wrong for forty years.—( Hear, hear.) Well, then, his object was to get all that he could into his boat, and the reason he asked them to join him was because they well knew his plans, for he had never made a secret of them. —(Hear, hear.) If, then, the Right lion. Baronet would join him (Mr. Munte)—would enter his boat— he would engage that he would land him in a place of safety.—(Cheers.) Mr. B. DISRAELI—Sir, I believe that the Right Hon. Baronet, in the first year of his present Ministry, settled the currency, and be is now supported in that measure.— ( Hear, hear.) But in order to understand that measure well we must refer to the speech of the Noble Lord the Member for Liverpool. (Hear, hear.) There is one point, how ever, upon which no doubt any longer exists. Whatever may be the opinion of the two great parties which constitute this House upon the general merits of the measure —whatever may be our conviction upon the subject of protec ti in--however sanguine our expectations m a y be of the benefits to be conferred on the Constitution b y this measureed,h ere is one point at least upon which we are a ll agreed—a point upon which no misunderstanding can exist, and that is, that her Majesty'9 present Ministers h a ve changed their opinions.— (Ch eers.) Whatever mayhave been the opir.ions which for merly prompted the measures they proposed, it is quite certain that they expect to benefit this country more by the question now before the House than any which preceded it.—(Hear, hear.) That is the question which we are now called upon to declare in favour of—that is the question which I shall now consider, and upon which I propose to offer some sugges tions, which hope will have the effect of inducing this House to hesitate before they accede to the great change which the proposed measure will bring about.—(Hear, hear.) I will endeavour to show this House that the system et,Pr et tection is not the odious system it has been slesignated. an eee. been long assumed to be. I pledge myself to meet the o gle; ments against it on their merits; and though I waY : l ee able to meet those arguments; with the talents that char e; to , them, them, I shall not shrink from the endeavour to a,__; But while I presume to ofer this consideration to the Pe,' to in support of that system, it would be more conveel:Sie notice the arguments that have been ofered by her let,Je Government in favour of the chimps that are prof batted clear the course, to illustrate the way ; help me tQ dist" which I aspire to reach, and you will thus facilitate theeis sion very much.—( Hear, hear.) We have be en add,r 7ierst support of the measures of Government by n o less tlreeest of the Ministers of the Crown ; and it is but due to tee Tes Hon. Gentleman at the head of the elinistrc et i e his position. as also from the more cotnPr.e oor statement he made—that perhaps I should ta ho d tesy, first notice what he said. (He ar ' est e The Right Honourable Gentleman affirmed that the ro od part of this discussion had been wasted in party artd e ? e e et, attack. I have no wish myself to enter into the stAi tt e e eet should I have noticed it had not the Right Hen: '''', j, e tiel o , seemed to entertain ideas different from thus' whle",'. e ase' the gentlemen who sit on these benches. Sir, we h a n'auct d hefird from these benches many commen ts on the co ei. t o party : but, for my part, I associate different ideas solitemeret ws.rd "party" from those which the Right Hon. Ber t r. e , ee l to entertain. I do not understand party as any of e lb than the embodiment of public opinion—( C ries e ell hear.") There are, to be sure, distinctions between toffefr opinions and embodied opinions ; but the embodlo o r 08 lie opinions, wht ther the opinion of the • majori t y ( ller; minority, represented a great section of the cumenenitleeeetis hear.) In this country, Sir, where the nation 1 , parties, where great results are brought about bYesaysae cussion, and by the erganisation of material interests, _d o f 0 0 agencies of reason and probity, we arrived at a obit , o e f . t e controversies. This is a beneficial consequencedoire agencies; and however the question may be agitete d ' ee st 4; yet wel find, ellen the question has once be ffete en by the legitimate exercise of what the Righ t b e ast w ee Baronet calls " party," but which, in reality , e ° ,„ t e.tbegle , organisation—the nation is content and satisfieu , -; no t e• - e tion is not again opened.—(Hear, hear.) We ue ,,,40 11 ,, jialebliceettlir plain that the Right Hon. Baronet has changed ble,"rottoe what we complain of is not that he has detested 7„joidee public opinion, but that he has outraged public ee re eti ( i tear, hear, cheers, and laughter.) That he' h o g, tkor. that legitimate action and settlement of the queitionroo of party—that he has aimed at and may ac hieve l e o eCi may not satisfy the community-- i s complained of w es e e iee t by the great mass of public opinion which we reel' by whose aid the Right Hon Baronet was raised l e .. ) and by whose aid a Parliament was elected that sue d c e„, in such power. —(Cries of " Hear, hear," and lets ef f el e If the Noble Lord who represents another s ection ja iefo opinion—if he and his friends had succeeded 10 ?oil S majority, and had settled this question, public optliosire have yielded, because they would believe_ tbafebe-or - c 0 anal constitutional freedom of expression of opin,i ° , ll e ' • ' carried into effect. But what they complain 0 1 .' - . t o the question is not settled, nor can it be settled, i° 1 jia. 0 , tional manner.—( Hear, hear.) For though' e lefte se Ile ; spectacle of the Premier surrounded by a .re e it - be while they accord him their support, profess in tn' e aei , aversion to his policy, the public o pinion te: eerie professes to represent has not been fairly" de M.Oee (Loud cries of " Hear, hear," from the P r otection e i 7;lte with " No, no," from all parts of the Reuse-) Pri 'gro rip complain of the Right Hon. Baronet not treatfegoeseel fairly, we do not speak of the three hundred,.g.O r e, Ce h jel sit on the benches at this side of the 1 - 1 0 01 - ei 710( " Hear, hear")—but we allude to the great , 1 they tue, they represent outside the House.—(Heartr: l4 t be e ; F ee that is the only observation I will make ene e ,a / I conceive that the Right Hon. Gentleman, in e:!' e it tort of what should be the proper subject of discesslt'billoo described and indicated the fallacy of his position, ll l44l o4 ,el character of his policy. The Right Hon. Genelleeleteleree that they were not met to discuss a party queseinejelL°, an emergency, and to construct a system,. if i t C ,, - - ,- r i fle structed, more complete than it had hitherto heel,Ofe se at once the position of the Right Hon. B aro pete, ft; 1; e step he counsels us to a course w e b i l i e o itte r ei/ i consider it as the policy of a Pit a foreign country, .we could not look ' 4 0 1 9 s wise than as a great mistake. I think if the 0 00 o i opposite had to deal with a national emergencel.iteersdels been unwise in him to have said that he had telerfede7 sores to meet the emergency, but that he .eeffi e br eil e / make a permanent measure to meet it. What estop or, a Minister who asks us to re-construct our corate ue . to and says that we must do it in opposition to whe t l ee et .111 : / / our duty. Will you second the Right Hon. 1 3 $'" IP t r , a proposition ?—( Loud cheering from th e ec oce i f, benches.) As regards the present etne r e o n, Ol the state of Ireland, that is a subject 004 I have never spoken without attention or f e ebls4 levity. 'What I have spoken of with levity is the esk enet that has been adopted with regard to it. 'file g r e tsei s 0 4 policy proposed by the Right Honourable Gentlesets9 That and some other points I will pass, as will go er . , P,, 1 2 of the Cabinet. I believe that there is no eseir trA Member in the Cabinet—(Hear, hear)—a n d ion e< e* perhaps we may be favoured with the opts t ity Member. It is a i emarkable circunseter sloe .: present anomalous state of affairs Cabs t hl r at the same time a protectionist ei g ",, - °Dere; free-trade Minister. The point I wish to Pr e- e eerie tention of the House is the fallacy under which th e oe. P:, Baronet labours in his proposition of changingeetrest Pes o system. The Right Hon. Baronet had sal" ef edie 0 wished that the measure should have been 1 1 , 0 10 .4 4 parties ; but at the same time he informs us tu; 0 01- re this measure to the Cabinet long before he felt , • •t ett I break up that Cabinet.—(Hear, hear.) e s eserSs he proposed this measure, and in cu e d to e l ti j the opposition he received, he was ind eee e teireVl up the Cabinet. How does he reconcile this e t a - v el a .) the assertion that he wished that this measure 1 1. e e j swite o ; forward by others ?—(Cheers from the Ministe•eleebi p will notice the commercial principles on which t b e ejell 0 1 Baronet seems to have founded the measure 10 ,feet tlo° adverted. With regard to an emergency, the Rifilere d iAr g6 tleman was right to do that which would be c° 40" : 11p by the constituencies, and which Parliamea t ' le nd mend. I am prepared to assist in doing fo r if : In t , O F human judgment can do, but 'I do no- r e. oil the position of the Right Hon. Gentleman with r b e t o o 9 l subject. his involved in great obscurity. The fl i t t eelt r Ol i t ; tleinan says that he was for opening the ports, s s er ery,eltiii a rapid review of the commercial state of the en; r ostne l , that whenever the ports have been opened t h ee tkoo been beneficial. He then turned round and tteu des' x was very welt to cheer him for his resolution , be d too bil ts o o prepared to open the ports, but he was not, prepac e ref erle A l again. The Right Hon. Gentleman was Ot e roh e /re the ports, but he had resolved, in the bottom of 00 .-eees , the present system of the corn-laws s hould et t te P oo e„ from the Ministerial side.) Compare thii faetbeur, f l o g, ment and declaration made by an Hon. MeT r e e rel j? A l hustings, but before the constituency of the )ri e l a oleW What is the declaration of the Secretary l'i l eoele t v O . said that he wished this proposition should 6 e st ~ oe, another party i that was to say that them, 09 liament might have gone on and might I r e newel of its seven years' lease ef •ct e , b .. tL esic r tes," majority, but now his own declaration was pr. is ttl i effeet making no charge—s am throwing out no l ees ° y tectionist member of the Cabinet, who nealitse t e e his opinions in the course of the debate;. 6, 4 ' ; 'tbe el'," t. a al whether it was not the foregone coreclusielet",' r ge 11 i fri I for Ireland was not authorised'to.makethie el eo ssief o ree liament was dissolved. The' Right Hon. Gen t e a t° V first proposed this measure to. the House, seloitif 0 0 0 1 on the last i etures, . and took the re, '` , sly he seemed to adopt in his last speech. He s teitt6;l o , ll on the returns for the last three years, but , ee l s& 0 1 the commercial state of the country for mill , bO 4 /0 1 , seen that a relaxation of the protective dutiesrf sl et s' increase of the imports and exports. It iL le 07 0 , 0 hear that fact stated, and if the Right W e b ' t$ o ro oil making an income-tax, I would not object to t e 0 001 0 1 0 00 it, but when a great commercial f O s f i founded on it, it becomes the duty . e ee tiles:oo to be very cautious, and to endeavour to tr b o to t o cause of these measures. There is one cause w d flo o it ci been mentioned in the course of this debate,.looo 1 ;9 4 account for the increase of trade. I wil l t ee el l ...0 exuberant harvest, the magnificent railroads , Ir y- I , 1009 that nature, and go to one thing that has ne ve tit+ s e d s t o od to. It has been acknowledged by every perser i b e et J or t io! of the Right Hon. Baronet's argument was:t t ee I : i i O f There was an important agency omitted hl op eri t L p o ol Baronet in relation to the commercial Pr o efi; si country. Nothing effects the imports and til l, 1 , 0 9 0. 4 0 country so much as the seasons. I will c a d leeerof s at . to a case relating to our exports an t , enollt e d!: such will illustrate the principle I a 00'10 v o ir to impress upon your minds. Look at the:OP:oo4dt i ports of the past year. There was a great i c r i s t he P;00: 11 . , portation of sugar from the Mauritius ao.„, t ive r 0 ; , r port.. It is imposiible to attribute this aw e s. o f traffic to the alteration of the sugar a tt er oe. to be accounted for by the abundant b i e b le tt u eile ell in the Mauritius and the East Indies, and e 0 1 2 1 6 i e cargoes of that article being imported. e je t h e e lt/ had been a great abundance in the sugar cloy 00$ Oi y and the Indies, there was a total de 6et ' t oot e idl eo oef the Havannah. I will now trace the iin i lfj o et ' dere the seasons on our commercial rele e rice 0 oc e 4 countries. In Russia, sugar r ‘ e vb t tb, e ;Of, for their supplies on the Havaonah• " : r otiinatino An Imperial decree was issued by the 9. ° o e e Pi s ete 4 , authorising the importation of sugar i r we s $ the !if, practical effect of this was, that while there and 00 0 11 0 tation of sugar from the Mauritius 0 is Id ol Indies, on account of the defic ien ea si 0 : 1 0 $ 0 0 0 10 t o vannah, from which Russia was fro gs ee) there was as great increase of exportatttebnus jot:. o.o .f o d o f Rusia. The imports and exports were that theseteeorese,e influence of the seasons. No one can sale to t he 4,1 t o , irs consequence of the tariff I know th t: rof v o e , 0 , and uninteresting, but I am bound to ee te he ar.) a 10 0 , 0 1 0 1 though I represent a fallen:- party.—( g ea u ' w ell. e e ieli c leshiel gain the attention of Hon. Gentlaeme _. O - 5 A! ro P oi s l e P v 1; 00 statements. Suppose that there h D'' d A r neele s ' t j i l et ° o p e t t , cotton crop of the United States of to 50 sea ft' JO mainly derive our supplies, do you men itell jelled reduction. you have made in 'tlus import.l e ,i' e ee o_ ti pi e iii ioo o wool would have led to the great I i r ei• Del e el to t o which has taken place in the present Y ea ., of h e eette u e os;e4 that there would have been an increase of eV 00 st et o lo t bales? No. But that increase 1 rne t s trade wet c ele" ee d I d ° favourable season alone.. In the woo ae our gre o ll o ill et is e the influence of season. In fact, " in a nd ceffe`'iheer')toteill trig foreign imports, cotton, wool, sueaes t i oo .--e her tee I re e to Ilease e el& 01. a se risk of wearying the House I wish 0 whet he evee tes,eo e ri season is a most important consictera , eo et ato „ The Right Hon. Baronet referred t 'te the atte se d . ' s ette of the silk trade, and said that wheneeere_ha fore o ice_ f , 11 , ..,0 'em ber ler - wile' 1, 0 ore . i _ e ee braise War, do ow, trade advanced their princy e , of the silk trade. The Eon- t 0.... M o t d l Honourable Baronet stated in le' r_ ~__ nro tea. ea l c o. 0 t o e tration of how the relaxation of the 4; VeY in . 0 . , •00 to this subject, and I will makeAereLeernener to 1,40 .r.,i0040, refuse or waste silk imported, a I, " best it tlir- -G.° -- inf 0° rated against it, I will not inc i lu a a v e arag i n g . fr a e sea seals t t o e+ a pound; but only tee „, ; will e sS ote.o 4, ear 4 ;olb * 113 1 4 e% 15s. to 255. per pound.—( He with eat° s.; 1 importation of raw silk ha l t", was 4, 16 0 rs s ree. o o .o er e and und er f f ° l3 - 1 0'- 't B.44 entYet ir e ° i " Sr lsi m ill. tb l .L l 0 The amount imported in under the protective system' tv twenty years after that period, ibs This 7 . 01 ,40..",; i ptier• ' r otr, v "ato d the 10 :w an,Yuy h - L - sbe - .; tbler fr o f tion, we imported 4,260G,W00ti0.m' ments of the Right Hon. statementt h orit y of of those well i re a to, e Cls - r o d e a riod I -Tc fer od or tines e In tive system, or the former p! ~_ ..., an d 00. oarcr mast $l tion of raw silk was s,ooo,°Y .a t . p ilight Id _ 0 • ist ou e ; ,;e1 Right t n n acno.ni3v er r s a a a n e t t is relaxation, 6,000,000 lbse ;t • t: ur • aesete e ' r e e_ ll c lesc r r ' elei vouring to make it __s_,P . P to .6;oo o Pe u eb P ies teet o tiel taken taken .Pl ac ! s t to tir f sttr i heo P is supposing an increase __ r... _ et e re ee 1 ;o v , fuer, , e ,,„ cannot the Right Hon. /e, duet place from 3,000.7 d L• t h e peoP 1 %;„?- --0. preterill e ' s . energies and perseverancee elates beliedce it I le, "e• F el t§ it to the principle that e g, end I . . v ooe .st ee , re If the country has prospereee; ite of W u ; free, 00 .. . ere, is attributableeto---the theacti a protec tte ,t e eet ttj e e el e 75 14 pendently. of either e believe ee er bateeee t e e the elele.—(Hear; li has iiiosoie4. . b e u i l t i. 7l, ii) t anit eo i s b Pe ei r ieo • - t hat, W I PrinciplOit ia.caperettion i ° A ~~