The Sun. — London, England, 1841-08-25 00:00:00

MORNING SUN _ the Thro' le announced the completion of a treaty , state from his own knowledge the distresses of present moment they would see that there would with sorra .: great commercial nation. It was on such a large body of themanufacturing population. He could Ibe wanting, a considerable quantity- of- foreign . grain things thr it he considered the greatneSs of this country to tell the House that in many districts in Manchester persons to meet the de m ands of the . home consuMP uePt-nd, rather than on 'any glory that might be acquired were unable to obtain the very necessaries of life. It tion. In considering What . quantity Might be re by feats or deeds 'of arms.—(Hear, hear.) He would had been ascertained that 102 individuals lived each quired, they ought to look to what would be the-con propose further, that in the Address to her Majesty they upon Bid. per week, or little more ' than one penny dition of the country, if thepeople, instead of being thrown should participate in 'the pleasure expressed "in per day.—(Hear, hear, hear.) He was informed out of work, were in the enjoyment of sufficient em eonseqraence of the evacuation of Ghorian by the Per - that ma n y of the cler gy stated their unwillingness to ployment. Let them not deceive themselves ; they ought aian trc cops," and in the circumstance that " her Majesty attend the s i c k, from their inability to' relieve the to consider what would be the healthy consumption had ord tered her Minister to the Court of Persia, to re- wretchedness and the distress which they were sure to of the people in moderate „circumstances, and not turn to Teheran." He was sure that he should have the witness. S uch was the state of things in Manchester what would be the consumpt i on of paupe rs. He would feeling eif the- House completely with him in the expression and th e surroundin g districts In' Bolton matters direct the attention of the House to the a_ hi of congr atul: Ilion wherever the good relations which had w e re, if p ossible, still worse. It had been stated effects of the reform advanced by Mr. Huskisson. Let neen tt rru pied had been renewed. He proposed further to him that man y families there p awned their them look to the success of that gentleman's policy with that they she veld express their regret " that the negocia- clothes during the night that they might reference to the opening of the trade of the lions be twee n her Majesty's Plenipotentiaries in China release their bedding, and pawned their bedding again in East. What were the forebodings with which and the Chi nese Government have not yet been brought the morning that they might release their clothes. the results of op enin g that trade_were threatened, to a sati sfar s t or y conc l u sion, and that it has been neces- In the shops, transactions instead of being and yet how futile were all those threats ? The nary t o e a a i n t o action the forces which her Majesty carried on in pounds were carried on in ounces people cried that the trade with the East Indies would be has se nt to .'the Chi nese s e as," but that with her Majesty and other small weights. Such a mode of pro- diminished if it were removed from the channel by which they stilt" rusted " that the Emperor of China would see seedingnecessarily led to a considerable loss on the it was t hen connected with this countr y . It was said the justic e of the demand which her Majesty's plenipo- part of the unfortunate purchasers. The distress extended that the silk trade would be destroyed. The result tentiary I sad been instructed to make." With reference to every trade. The number of tailors now employed showed how groundless' was that assertion. He would to China, perhaps, the House would permit him to offer was less by more than half than it had been a few years particularly address himself to the landed proprietors of a very few observations, which suggested them- ago. The trade of shoemakers and carpenters had simi- this country with regard to the article of wool. selves to his mind. He could not but regret and deeply larly declined ; and one of the l a r g est machinists in When the woollen trade was protected by a ueplore, , in account of British commerce, that the diffi- Manchester informed him, but two days ago, that though duty of 6d. per pound, it declined very much, eulties w hich had existed with China were not already the rate of wages paid to engineers had not undergone a When that duty was lessened, it rose, and maintained, brought to a successful termination. But it was reduction, yet that, such was the want of employment, even since that period, a higher price than it ever before matter, f or congra t ula ti on on behalf of this country, that one-half of those emplo.yed in making ma- attained. He mentioned this, that Hon. Members might that in attempting to vindicate the honour of the shiner y had emigrated during the last year. see how satisfactor y in its results was this liberal polic y . Country, they had not been driven into any act With respect to the o peration of the Corn-laws on those 'He would tell the landed proprietor, with reference to corn, .of violet it or bloody hostility against a nation who had classes of the community, it appeared to him, that so that the protection sought by them could not be main :been dis anguished for want of faith in their relations long as they were prevented by any laws from finding a tained for any length' of time, because the country w as with En gland. He congratulated the House that in the full scope for their industry—(Cheers)—so long as they languishing under the effect of that monopoly. He b e _ attack ' which had been made by the English forces were unduly pressed upon by those laws—(Cheers)— lieved that the best mode of putting this couutry in the upon C line., the loss of life had been remarkably so long as they were unable in co nse q uence of the nature highest position of commercial prosperity was by at small, : uid he -trusted they would gain honour in the 'of those laws to earn an honest livelihood by the exer- once increasing the trade, of the country by throwin g eyes of the -civilized world from the fact that, instead of cise of their industry—so long must the country be con- - down all the obstacles which shackled free trade and en . attemtiti ng to destroy a city, which was in their power, sidered in a state of danger, for the institutions of the terprise. Thereby they would confer the most lastinggood they hid • actiel with magnanimity, and shown that they country could not be considered as based on a firm footing which it was possible for a Legislature to confer upon merely m mie ; to d ema djustice, and not to retaliate inju- so long as this pressure upon the energies of the people a country.—(Hear, hear.) Finally, he would propose ries. It ai ,p eare d to him, that England occupied a existed, so long as the people thought themselves un- that they should assure her Majesty that they fully Prouder pa. ati on than ever from the course which she just l y dealt b y , and p ressed down b y the monopolies ,ex- shared in the deep' sympathy w hich her Majesty felt. had pursue di n her contest with China.—(Hear, hear.) isting in the country.—(Cheers.) It was with, extreme with those of her subjects, who were now suffering Re trusted • th a t, a lthough that nation had shown a great disgust that the inhabitants of the manufacturing dis- from distress and w a nt of employment, and Want of fair A i , and was so uncivilized as not to pay due re- tricts had, just previous to the late election, seen it that they agreed in her Majesty's prayer that Bard to trill hin the interchange of communications between stated in certain journals which were the or- all their deliberations might be guided by wisdom her author ties and the Plenipotentiaries of her Majesty, gans of the party seated on the benches and might conduce to the happiness of her people. He Yet the fc .rbearance of her Majesty's troops and repre- opposite, that if the manufacturing towns were to be en- could not sit down without recording his honest opinion sentatives would not fail of a good effect, and that tirely destroyed, and - the ploughshare were to pass over that at the present moment the suffering of the people, although • the trade of this country was for a time. Manchester, the country would not suffer in consequence deep and great as they were, were borne with a for suspended the ultimate result would be beneficial. He of such an iteration, and that it would be better for the titude arid patience which were beyond all trusted tl sat our trade would be eventually on a country if they had no existence. He hoped that none praise. They were bound to give their best better.... ..fo . otin_g, and that we should be able in that House would be found to respond to such attention to remed y those evils which afflicted the work to intatod ace into the system of the Chinese some sentiments.—(Hear, hear.) Yet he must confess ing classes of this country ; and he could assure them of theAot nmercial usages of civilized nations. A large that it appeared strange to him that such articles should that the eyes of the people were fixed on the House, Portion 01 . the trade with th a t coun try was shared with have appeared, if they did not represent the sentiments seeking relief by sound legislation. He felt assured Great Bt it a i n by th e U n i te d St a tes ; and we should of some of the leaders of that par t y .— ( Cheers.) He that the sympathy of her Majesty would be cordially have the . co-operation of America to place the trade o f wo uld a sk the believers in those articles what would be felt by all those distressed people ; but great and sin- China on a better system; He trusted that such would the condition of the landed interest on the morning after cere as that sympathy was, it would not of itself be the c o nsequence o f the negotiations which were at such an occurrence ? How would they p rovide the ma- create relief. lie would finally propose that they would Present a sending. It wou ld be e qually satisfactory to him, terials for their breakfast tables? How would they provide assure her Majesty that they would take into considerae who did not s t an d . up there - to vindicate the trade in opium their tea, their coffee, or their sugar?—(Cheers.) All don the subjects and broughtth under their end notice in her Ma and the • riolation.Of the .laws of the Chinese empire, if', these articles were brought from other countries in - jesty's Speech, thatthey wouldendeavour to con instead o f the traffic; he should see the money expended exchange for o ur manufactures.—(Cheers.) And if our duce as far as in them lay to the happiness of her Me ntion tun t pernicious drug coining to these shores, in ex- manufactures were destroyed, the only article the landed jesty's subjects. The lion. Gentleman concluded by change for those articles of our manufacture which would interest wo uld have to exchan g e would be wheat, and if readin g the Address which was as usual, an echo of his furnish the people . of. China with the means of impro- they carried their wheat to foreign markets, he speech. wing th eir own condition, and promoting their civilize- asked if they would be able to induce the foreigner Mr. J. DUNDAS, in rising to second the mo tion, w hereby also the trade would be a source of coin- to give them three times the value of a quarter of tion, felt relieved from going at any length into the sub • fort an .d happiness to a large portion of our Own people. wheat in exchange? He knew they would not.—(Loud ject by the admirable speech of the Hon. Gentleman who He a 4: 10 proposed that the House should assure her Ma - cheer§ . ) He trusted that the trade- in commerce, of had preceded him. In fact, it would be a work of supe iesty that they joined :with her Majesty in rejoicing "that agriculture, and manufacture, would never be treated rero.ation for him to go over those topics which had al the d ifference which had arisen between Spain and Por - light l y b y that House. Manufactures and a g riculture ready been treated of with such power, ability, and pre tuga I 'about the exe c ution of a treaty concluded between were dovetailed in each other—(Opposition cheers)— cision in the speech which they had just heard.—(Hear.) thee e . Powers in 1'335, for regulating the navigation of and whatever was for the interest of one was for the None could rejoice more than himself in the prospect of the Dburo have be en a djusted amicably and with honour advantage of all. — (Chee r s . ) They should ende avour to the continuance of p eace, and he considered it matter of to bath parties - o - y the a id of her Majesty's mediation " work together.—(Opposition cheers.) He had seen the good augury that the civilized nations of the world had An I here he m; ht observe that whenever the mediation disadvantage of pr otectien in the m anufact urin g interest, recently adopted the satisfactory method of mediation of I ter Majesty had the effect of restoring amity amongst and he only asked the landed interest to do that justice for the termination of theirdifferences in preference to the eat/ anged natic ets, the consequence was to place this coun - which h e was p re p ared to g rant. He asked for no pro- ancient and unsatisfactory method of going to war. try in 'a higher position ;- and he hoped such would be the tection for the manufacturing interests, for he was con- He rejoiced to hear that the estrangement between this effec tin this : ease also. He proposed also, to thank her vincedthatprotection was altogether u seless. If they looked emir-try and France had terminated, and he was sure the Mak 'sty for I' .er communication " that the ilebt incurred back to the period when the C o rn-laws were first House would agree with him in feeling that it was their by I lie Le gislature o f Upper Canadie. , for the proposed in 1815, he would direct the attention duty to do their utmost to cement the alliance between Purpose of public works, was a sericiuS obstacle of the House to a protest aga inst them made two countries whose interests were so identical. — to fu, rther 'improvements which are essential to by certain Noble Lords in another place. That (Cheers.) It was almost impossible, however, that a the pr, ssper r i • ty oft the - Titnited Provinces; : and that protest appeared .to • him to have been dictated country, having large colonial possessions and ex her 1 ajef't y 14 authOrieed tlib . ', Governor-Ge- 'by sound' Wisdorne and in it he found an anticipation of tensire commercial connections, could boast of nefal t) n make a communication on - the' subject all the..ill -effects resplting f rom those laws which at peace in all quarters, of the world: It had to the (;( suncil and Assembly of Canada." He presentexisted.—(Hear, h e ar.) 'By perniission - of the :been necessary to .Previde • , against the contin would. fin tiler propose that the House should assure House he would read the first three protests, and when g encies of war, and .exPenses ' had been incurred her Majes . ty, that her Majesty might .rely with entire the House heard the names of the n oblemen b y whom 'which the revenue of the. country was unable to meet. confidence eon their loyalty and zeal to make adequate they were signed, he was slim that those names No one could be more sorry than himself for the feces- Provi - sion for the public service, as well as for the would comma nd res p ec t in that House as they sity of calling on the country for Teasincred supplies, b u t, further... ; • a ppli ca tion of sums granted . by„ the last had done wherever they had been mentioned. if anything could mitigate that evil, was the fact that, -t 'arliamey tt. He would not doubt but a lhat the These parties thus stated the reasons for the ir p rotest in consequence her Majesty's Ministers had been pro eanadenc, :s which her Majesty reposed in Parliament against-the Corn-bill of 1815. First, because the y were p elled into the adoption of a course of policy, and into Would b e fai r l y carr i e d out. He would propose, in the averse in principle to all unnecessary res traints on the p romulgation of great measures which he firmly be next. lilac e, that they express their agreement - •with her commerce, and thought that the public prosperity lieved were for the benefit of the country, and on the adop -Majesty relative to t h e ex traordinary expenses which would be best promoted by leaving uncontrolled the free tion of which he thought the very existence of the ma the even' es , in Canada, the Mediterranean, and China current of national industry. Secondly, because they nufacturing interest depended. It had been said that, al seas ha, ve occas i one d, an d th e ne c essity of main- thought that the great practical rule, of leaving all though under thepresent system commerce might decline, t aining e: . a force adequate to the protection, of co mmerce unfettered, applied more peculiarly, and the agricultural interest would prosper. He b e lieved, on o ur ex t .- ensive possessions, and the necessity which on still stronger grounds of justice as well as the contrary', that the different interests of this country arises, 11 "ierefrom of considering the means of increasing of policy, to the corn trade than to any were so united that the distress of one class m ust be f e lt the put -' )lic revenue ; that they fully participated in the o th e r. Irresistible indeed must be the necessity which by all. If the consumer of agricultural produce suf anxieta aexpressedhy her Majesty, that that objeet'should could in their opinion authorise the Legislature to tarn- fered distress, the producer must also suffer from a he effe ;t e d m th e ma nner least burdensome to her,people, per with the food of the people, and impede the free diminution of demand. It was his anxious hope th a t In p ro pisai ng t h a t portion of the Address which referred sale of that article, on which depended the existence of the House would ay the utmost attention t o to this , tairt of the subject, he was well aware that some so large a portion of the community- Thirdly, because the measures which 1 Hon. Friend had proposed for differ. !nee rof opinion existed in the House with they thought that the expectations a benefit the alleviation of that istress, and which, he was sure, regar. 1 to,the mode of relieving the people ; but inasmuch from this measure were false and delusive. They could might be adopted without injury to any class. But he as th ey were called • upon by her Majesty to gyve not think that the law would ever produce either plenty, or was sure that no such measures could be effectual unless their - they embraced a large system of liberal improvement in the , eaitiest consideration to the subjec t, he felt stead iness of price. Monopoly was the parent of dear that 1 :le gouse would not refuse to give their attention ness, of scarcity , and uncerta in ty . To close a g ainst commercialinterests of the country. If the manufacturing to tt tb e matter, whatever -might be the result at which themselves the cheapest market f or their commodities, population suffered distress, the agricultural population ia*Y m, igbt finally arrive. With reference *to the would be to enhance the price -at which all thenecessaries must suffer also for the unemployed of the manufactur- OP. ert duties, perhaps the Holisb would - permit of life could be purchased, and thus to refuse t o t heir in g p o p ulation would be thrown u p on the rural districts, hits to saY t 'that with that portion of the mercantile countrymen the supply which Providence had in - and distress would fill the union workhouses, and create Ivo: 'ld Withiwhich he was connected the greatest unani- tended for man. This protest was signed by. Fre- disaffection in the agricultural as well as in the manufac rah y prevailed in favour of such changes as had been derick Duke of Sussex, William Frederick Duke turing districts.—(Hear, hear.) He hoped that this rec . o mmend9d. in the report of the Import Duties' of Gloucester, Wellesley, Essex, Torrington, danger would be averted by the adoption of me asures e t c mmittee, Which ssat in 1840. He was aware that in Chandos Buckingham , Montfort , • Kin g , Carlisle. To for the im p rovement of the condition of the people. He 41 a last Session of Parliament ma n y ob j ections had been show that the o p inions of commercial men were in unison had the greatest confidence in the measures of his raised against that Report, and . object ions were even with those to which he had referred, he would read an Noble Friend below. As yet they had not had an oppor , a:l tide to the ,description of evidence that' had bee n . ten- extract from a s p eech delivered about the same time by tunity of ascertaining the views of the Right Hon. fien d !red b e f ore „ . - i that Committee. But it had always ap- Sir Robert Peel, the father of the Hon. Mem- tleman opposite.—(Laughter from the Opposition P eared to him very singular, that notwithstanding the ber opposite. The Honourable Member then read benches, answered by cheers from the Ministerial.) But 4 3 bjection s ra i se d on t hi s su bject, those who made the the extract, that the agricultural and commercial in- although they had not had an opp - ortunity of knowing 0 bjection lu m p never asked for a reconstruction of terests would not be o pp osed to each other ; they were on what measures of his they might rely, still it had 4 , a i tat Committee, t o see whether those allegations in enlightened p olic y the same, and the success been stated that if the doctor were offered an opportu- L sat h a d b eq , q , a d vance d were true or not. He.,eould or ruin of the one was the success or ruin of nity of seeing the condition of the patient, and of ascer o lily say that,. i the Report of that 'Committee had en- the other. Inasmuch as the country generally taining the state of the pulse, a remedy might be found, g rossed a great portion of public attention. Among the were ' enriched by the sale of the manufactures the and if the remedy which the doctor who might be a WitlfaCtUringkOMMUllity with which he was cotftiected l an dholders received their share of ,the benefit. It had called in should prescribe should turn o u t t o b e a - deep sense i ewas ex pr esse d of the necessity of been the wise policy of former Governments, to keep the the same as the one prescribed by the doctor s ame su ch c h ange as wa s suggested to be a49Pted. price of articles of subsistence as low as Possible. Upon already in attendance, he for one should greatly rejoice. l le would nob-tenter at large into. the subjeet,. be- t hi s s y s t em Mr. Pitt h a d acted. But if the resolutions On many Previous occasions they had seen the Ri g ht c Oise he knew -he should in that case trespass too upon the table passed in their present shape the Lord osed ( Lord y o r dh his Noble I N -tu o s h s l e e l 1 below him. had asu in re s s ta Lro es - Hon. Baronet subscribing the rescriptions of the Noble the eu many e 1 each upon' thee time of the House. But he should manufacturers . must be destroyed, and corn might be a.iaserve, thats: , it appeared to him that it had grown, but paupers would be the only customers for it. P bean truly stetted, in the Speech from the Throne, Still. with respeet t o the ma nufacturers, it could be suffered delay, but after long discussion th e y h a d tht t there wer+ B were many articles upon whichh ve shown that they were during the two years of apparent obtained the sanction of the Le g islature. Sometimes snit, 11 4.evenue '.vas collected, but which, from the.mode prosperity really approaching to the state of difficulty in with the adoption of tht Right Hon. Baronet, and some of cc-libation, oa•ierated most vexatiously upon the e parties which they were no w pl ace d by the operation of those times in spite of his opposition, many of them h a d b e ., who here ca' .led upon to pay ; while at there same laws. It was not a mere qestion of overtrading come the laws of the land. Such he trusted would be time t:* amoi - Int of the revenue was so triflingas to or the temporary loss o f a va luable market. But it the case on the Present occasion, and although now render'iteettn dl" little importance to the national re- was. a period of alarming risk to all the in- backed by such a formidable phalanx as that opposite, ..... a time ; still he felt that after a few years either soureei: t),,lit, therefore looked earnestly to a chitige in terests of the country, which it would require the the Right Hon. Baronet might delay those measures for the mode eif idling the duty upon these articleS: He greatest energy on the part of the Legislature to avert. was coti:v is: ice d. , that what the country wanted at (Hear, hear.) In his opinion there had been no by the adoption of the Right Hon. Baronet, or ins pite of the p I 64' a t fah - lent was an extension of its' markets overtrading since 1826. It was true that, in 1834, his opposition—forced on by that popular feeling against —(Laud ' erig"'of " Hear, hear")—which would re- 1835, and 1836, th ere h a d b e en very extensive credits. the Right Hon. Baronet, which his opposition t o th ose liev e ~,i i A • di s i i 4s s in which the people were now. a 'in' It was true that in those three years the extension of measures would on discussion be sure to raise—lie should fortuna ae'ly- - eph i nged, which he could not consider as a credit was in some instances improper, but was it to see the great measures-which his Noble Friend had pro niere 1 ,ce:iatnit,,ol which he did not look upon as the re- be supposed that the manufacturers who borrowed posed carried triumphantly.—(Cheers.) He would not suit c f a,pa ;4:..ag pressure. But it appeared told& th at money to b u ild mills and increase their works would have detain them further 'than to thank the House for the there , was u aanething at the root of our present system' done so had they not believed that there was a population kindness with which they had heard him, and would whir ;h was'at variance with the prosperity of the 'Country. ready to work them. Could it b e supposed that they would be at once second the motion of his Hon. Friend, (' j e er, ' wa r e .) He did not entertain et party ii:6W of the so insane as to raise the market against themselves if they did The SPEAKER, having then put the Address from the aut. Oct, and he did not think that the question;-could be not believe that they would have a full and profitable Chair, co;' .sidereefil.tAich a light. He trusted the House would employment ?—(Hear, hear.) They had now the same Mr. S. WORTLEY rose and said, that he Pr• eceed in a •Ideieit of fair inquiry to investigate , the pre • population, but far less means of employment, so that trusted he would not be accused of undue pre at sit . state Ot,„'oiir import duties, and he felt persuaded there was a large mass of our people scarcely able sumption in presenting himself to their notice fnat the inoaegie ma tter was inquired' into the.stronger to subsist. So de g radin g was their condition that at that early period after his re-appearance within those 'w ou ld b e t h e : i ' conv i c ti o ns on th e m ind of Honourable it was the duty of the House to ascertain by what means walls, in order to suggest to the House a different course Members, that w h a t he was now advocating the industry of the c ountr y could be relieved, whether by from that which had been p roposed by the Honourable Wa s b u t -,ii measure o f reason an - a justice those fiscal regulations to which he had referred, or by the Gentleman who had just addressed the House. tow a rd s th e commun ity a t l a rge. He could not allow adoption of a more liberal system, and the abandonment It would have been more conformable to his own wishes the oppoi vanity to pass by without 'recording his opi- of monopolies. By the latter they would find if he could have remained a bystander upon that occa sion as strongly as words could do in filvour of an markets ready and open to receive their sion, and have kept his place without mixing in alteration in' some of the leading' colonial articles commodities in exchange. Her Majesty had alluded to the present debate ; but feeling as he did a most imp or t e d info this country. With respe4r to sugar the Corn - laws , and their effect u p on the currenc y . It entire and complete concurrence in the views lie beggeeeteestate, that from inquiries he had made, he was his own opinion that the Bank of England never which had been professed by those Honourable Gen found that iiirl , ohe quan tity of sugar taken ie , home con- could be in security , if a ll the issues of this country tlemen with whom he had the honour to sit in that sumption, quid on which the duty'-had .been paid, at were to be regulated by the barometer. When the House, and agreeing as he did in the course Liverpool' %ince that que stion had latelykeen discussed bank felt that its b ullion was extracted to g o abroad which i t was p ro p osed b y those Hon. G entlemen in that' 'ilbuse, h hod been less - than ' during the for corn in a season of scarcity, its only course t o take upon that occasion, he felt he should corresPott ding period of last year ,- a l t hough there had was in self-defence t o c h ec k the excessive issue, b e s h r i n ki ng , an d, h owever b ac k war d h e • been a f; ell ,•14, in priae, and although .th e consumption last and the s y m p ath y s p read to -every issuing body might feel personally, he did not wish to avoid the task. year was:far ber.eath the average.-a(Hear, hear.) Such over the length and breadth of the land—(Hear, hear)— He felt he should be shrinking from his duty if he did appeared to him distinctly to in- so . that at the moment when the industry of the country a circa tnstane a not suggest to the House the adoption of a different dicate - that the power of the - peopije .. t 0... purchase required the greatest stimulus and support to enable it course from that which they had been called upon to the followers of her Majesty's w as ai n . 4n i t e e i ng f r om year to year , inarend of increasing tor contend against the calamity . of an insufficient crop, take by Government. — as it of igha to do with the increase er . popu a ion. .It became paralysed, and such is the unfortunate .e • ppl use ) But if he were liable to anything appe ar ,t,a to hi m that unless they made . ' some reduction state to which we h av e now arrived. He apologlsed l ‘ i t ke . a. presumption in his own person perhaps he they_would lose theirfor h • eying so long occupied their time in discussing in the. ,dutyupon• foreign sugar;- the might find something of justification in ortant markets Corn-laws, but he must :till say • trade _,- with one of the most important . . , in conformity the circumstances under which he had the honour to when the treaty with with all the views which n of thi . ,:s,country believed that e had - previously the 1 • - • Heable to renew it expressed, that, notwithstandin g time •'_ appear before the House.—(Cheers.) It was not long 3razils expired they would not 1 ? 0 . .h it rested. ofprosperity to which - ' periods since her Majestyaby, the advice of her present Ministry, upoi a the same favourable terms 911 _, whic - • -ousion had been made put it to the country at large to decide upon the to occupy the so triumphantly, the evil of the system was —(; frear.) It was not his intendn policy of their measures, and asked that country to Mtn' itiim of the Honse, and he inted out proceeding certainly 'and rapidly alth ht - 1 FierelY P . ° . ~ , • oug no so near tle .return her an answer which should serve as a guide in consideration. He surface as in eaar present unfortunate condition. In 1 4 83 thiiia sit cumstanee as a matter for their and 1835 -- those 1 - re working the future government of the country.—(Hear, hear.) wreild propose, in the next .placeagtat the House shouldher _ a v‘ o • f s w h : e is cn their . pernicious effects "915 the He (Mr. Wortley) appeared there the bearer of a portion le stably state to her Majesty, that, ." in obediene to a r _. 't people ~ t untry, a h nd if it were not fer the of that answer ; and he . hoped he might, without too temporary prosperity, we should ar Ne o ears 3 esjesty's express deSire, they should proceed to consider . ave . r i-d tw • , much presumption, say that he appeared there not as its It was said that trade —( ') sooner at their present state. was the law iithich regulated the trade in corn"— least significant i rt . (0 'Con p i ion— pposi i cheers)—and i d order to determine whether the law did not eggravate not paralyzed because there had been an increase that b • ' being the case, he trusted he would not be There n the natty al fluctuations of i supply ; 'whether it in , some articles of export. had been an out of place, early as it was in their proceedings, increase in cotton . twist, but that always did not embarrass trade, ':, derange the currency, in standing before them for the purpose of moving an and alt oge eller by its operation d;:ininish the comforts appeared to him.. to_ b . e matter of regret amendment upon that occasion ; and he felt satisfied he rather than of exultation, for it appeared to him a proof and ins cease the privations N , f. the great body of the might take such a course in strict conformity, not only lost a valuable branch of' trade—the conversion • community. : Since the . :.last dissolution of Par- that we had . with the wishes of his own *constituents, but with doff h H hear, hear. liament tu n e question. br'the Corn-laws had been of that twist into cotton ot .— w ( heenar,) those of the great majority of the people of this country brought, under the specltil consideration of every The time was not far. also spin the_ people —(Loud cheers from the Opposition benches)—while Member . s i t ti n e w ithin t 4 walls of that Hou se . It was ot the Continent would a subje e t w hil had beelA 'discussed at the late general for themselves, and we should lose that branch of menu- whether it was meet that persons sitting in the position eked , ,i-I,—(Hear, hear, the Opposition benches.) facture also.—(Hear, hear.) The _people of the Conti- of her Majesty's Ministers were those whom it wished it hr d been a subject of discussion among men of all nent justly said to us that we taught them how to encoura : ge to entrust with the future conduct - of affairs. par' see m and he - believed that there had not been their own manufactures. _y B our system of protection (Ch - ) He (Cheers.) e conceived that in recommending the a :single election in - which it 'had not en _ k t we were driven from the mar - e s near at home course which he was about to propose to the House, Sr led a large portion of public attention. — (Renewed t o t h e remo test parts of the_ . IN'otld- 7 (Hear, hear)— he was liable to -nothing-in the way of blame, or e• :ies of " Hear, heat'," from the Opposition bench es .) whe re our capital was expended with the greatest risk : imputation, because it had been an ancient practice. l Since the subject hid been last discussed in that House, 1 and the least profit.—(Hear, hear.) A great part 1 upon various -opinions of a similar kind, to ask that House to 'he regretted to saY that the privations of the people had of our present e xports was composed of goods , engraft upon the Address which was prepared by the advisers ' from which considerably i nc reased—(Cries of " Hear, hear,' . our manufacturers were . p compelled to send of the Sovereign, an amendment which would declare clittereilt. the , Ministeriaf 'benches) and that this condition abroad at a loss, to avoid depressing still sentiments from those which that Address might contain. It was a course which was in itself res ec had'become materially worse. He had in his possession more the mar k e t at home. He had received ~. . t ._ . _ p tful towards t h e in May l as t a `snfficient number of communications to 1 a letter this very day from one of the largest manufac- te .n r t o e w lli ni- bl i e was da curse h a e dd w a a l s ()in that constitutional and convince him- that the people o f this c ountry were .lovers in Lancashire, who had never exported before, ' _ , .upon that occasion H n Gentlemen apposite had no • . right to complain that they for that reason I ° ' suffering from a state of extraordinary distress ; but had lately been compelled to do so . : (the Opposition) should interfere in order to ask for an l . and from, all the communications he had since received, 'He wished it had been in his power to have i i tion of those sentiments. In the first place, he saids uc h a tera , and from the i n quiries he had made during the short brought the subject under their consideration in I was respectful towards the Crown, because the Crown having period • :12e had Spent in the manufacturing dis- ' a manner more, worth y of it. It appeared i put a q rnuestion formally and deliberately to the country—ha v i n g - tricts, he could- tell the House without a n y to him that, they were compelled eve r s ince the i seat them there to declare its opinion upon the topics Co *Saggoiatione .-. for he had no need to exaggerate.—that regulation of the laws respecting the importation 'prised in that question, it could not be otherwise than respect the ut m ost amount of distress and misery was now felt of corn from the • y ear 1828, during each year ml to the Crown, that they should take the earliest opportunity - in - th e b o rough w ith which he was connected, to import some quantity o f f o reign grain. If they of informing the Crown what was the anster whi c h t h e , h a d and its entire vicinity —(Hear hear.) He could ; looked to the condition o f the people at the been commissioned to give by their constituents. (ftear, THE SUN, LONDON. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1841. hear.) It appeared that it was not only net dist tspectful, but that it was due to the Crown, particularly at that moment, that they should give her Majesty an intimation of what they believed to be the wishes of the country, in order that she might be relieved from all uncertainty upon the subject. The course he was about to recommend was also conformable to the usual practice of the House ;and if he wanted any jus tification upon that point, he might refer to a precedent very much in point. He might refer to the proceedings in the year 1835, when his predecessor in the representation which gave him his present seat in that House (Lord Morpeth, we believe), took the same course as that which he presumed to suggest to the House upon that occasion. His predecessor had undertaken the duty, under circumstances in which,perhapa,,the justification was not quite so strong as it was at present, be cans:. he was then told that no fault whatever was found with _ _ the Speech on the Address proposed by her Majesty's Govern ment • but still it was thought fit that an amendment should be made upon the occasion. If, then, that course had been taken when the Address was thought unobjectionable, he had still a better right than his predecessor to ask that House to pursue a similar course ; and with respect to Hon. GAntlemen posite, and especially her Majesty's Ministers, he should say that they had no season to complain of the course he pro posed; but the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) ought to consi der it an act of the most obliging courtesy—(Laughter)—that he (Mr. Wertley) should propose an amendment to the Address. In the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell's) recent address to his constituents, he used these words:— . ‘ As soon as the new Parliament meets, we shall take the first opportunity of ask- ing . f; a clear and decided judgment on our policy." The Noble Lord would, therefore, acknowledge that the anticipa tion of the call was an act of courtesy.—(Laughter.) He was justified also by the Noble Lord himself, in asking the House not to separate, without expressing a strong opinion upon a point which they had a right to consider in the first instance,—whether her Majesty's Ministers were entitled, in the actual state of the representation of this coun try, to dictate the Address which should be presented to the Queen?—( Much cheering from the Tory benches.) He could not better show the position in which the House stood with respect to Ministers, than in the words of the Noble Lord in 1834, during the discussion on the appropriation of the revenue of the Church of Ireland. The Noble Lord had said,—" I consider that the Government of this country must be formed of persons agreeing with the principles of the ma jority of the House of Commons ; and I think the House has a right, if Ministers have not their confidence, to address the Crown, with the expectation that Ministers would be chosen who should have their confidence."—( Hear, hear, from Lord .1. Russell, and much cheering.) The Noble Lord had cheered. He was glad to perceive that he was able to concur with the Noble Lord, and he was doing that, which, he trusted would effectually fulfil the object recommended in that passage.—( Tory cheers and laughter.) But beyond that the Noble Lord and he would not concur. Those on the . opposite side of the House, and those with whom he had the honour to act took different views of the manner in which this night's debate should be conducted. The Gentlemen opposite said, that the distress of the country was owing to the rejection of the policy recommended by Ministers. But, althwugh it might be very expedient aid very politic for Ministers to identify themselves with cheap bread and free trade, yet in his mind they had no right to discuss these questions then.— (Cheers and laughter.) He would not preclude the Hon. Member for Manchester or .9thers from making speeches on free trade, but the question before the House was not whether those subjects were important or not, but whether the persons who compose her Majesty's Government were those whom the country would confide in to carry them out.--(Great cheering.) He had stated his opin, -7 on on the questions of corn and free trade, and he would have an opportunity of doiag so again—the sooner the better—but the only question now was whether Ministers had not forfeited the confidence of the House and the country.—( Renewed cheers from the Opposi tion.) They had forfeited it by an oblivion of their pledges.—(Cheers and "Oh, oh.") They had forfeited it by the abandonment of their measures, and lastly, by tampering with great practical questions which affected every important interest in the country, for the sake of party pur poses.—(Loud cheers from the 'Tories..) On the opposite benches he saw two Noble Lords who were members of Lord Grey's Government. In the ot;aer }lmre there was Lord Melbourne and other Lords who came into power with Lord Grey, and who were new in office, hut the declared prin ciples of that Government were these—retrenchment, peace, and reform.—(Loud cheers.) By these fundamental principles they were to be distinguished from all previous Governments, which, when in opposition, they were accustomed to condemn as extravagant in expenditure, inclined to war, and opposed to reform. But in ten years they have had five wars.—(Cheers and laughter.) First they had a little war at Antwerp.—. (Laughter.) Then a little war—an unintelligable war in Spain —next in India—next in China, anti...last of all in Syria.— (Cheers.) Yet the Hon. Member, for Manchester gave them an exclusive character for peace. 'At (Mr. Wortley) did not condemn the whole policy of the thy' Noble Lord on account of these wars—some of them might bo right._( Hear, hear. ) But what Matter for that ?—( Great laughter and cheers. ) There might be justification for some of those wars; still he maintained Ministers had no right at the out set to pretend that they had an exclusive secret, for maintaining peace. For fifteen years befo re their ac cession to office, the Goverment, whom they accused of a propensity to war, had maintained unbroken pe ace, with the exception of the isolated action of Navarino, wherea s in ten years the ministers pledged to peace have had five wars in ten years. What right had they then to lead people to' believe that they had ,a peculiar faculty fir preserving the .country from the evils of war? They promised to be the most economical Government the country ever saw, and yet the country had now an accumulated deficiency of seven millions and a fearful increasing expenditure.—( Hear, bear. ) Again he said, that although he did not preto. d to denounce all the sources of expense, from which this i ncrease had arisen— and God forbid he should oppose the a pTlication of money to improve the Navy—yet the Ministers had no right to make the promise of retrenchment one of their claims to office.—( Tory cheers.) With respect to rec:ir in, it might be said that in that item they had not deceived tb e country. He must grant that they reformed Parliament and the Corporations, but some had a lurking suspicion that there were amongst the supporters of those measures, persons who hoped to derive from - them personal gains and inn ortance. He would ask those persons who had watched the proceedings of her Majesty's Government fur the last few years, he should rather say for the last five years—(" Hear, hear," from the Ministerial benches)—he would repeat, the last five years, whe ther they had not in the course of that time lavished more places and peerages than any other previous Government?— ( Opposition cheers, and counter-cheers from the Ministerial benches.) And what was their last act ? It was :n indecent clutch, towards the close of last Session, at patronage, by means of a prospective and unpassed Act of Parliament, which was proposed to be brought into effect by whatever Govern ment m'vht be in office at the time of its coming into opera tion. There was no pretence whatever for its being imme diate y brought into operation. In fact, whether they looked to t. pc; connected with the Church, topics con nected with the Colonies, or topics connected with the internal government of the country, they would find in all those questions which gave rise to the same reflections—ques tions which justified the same charges. If they looked, for instance, to the question of the Appropria tion Clause—let them consider the history of that for a single moment. In the y ear 1834 it was roposed to ap propriate a• certain p ort i on o f the Irish Church revenue in a way that would facilitate the settlement of the question of tithes in that country. Government proposed a Commission to inquire into the subject, and that was opposed. In the year 18.35 what course did the same p ar ties in the Government pur sue ? They propo se d t h at Parliament should vote• that no thing could be satisfactory on the subject until it was a scertained what amount was to be appropriated. Well, they attained office by agreeing to settle that question, and in the ye ar 1838, after having gone through discussion after discussioo, they settled the question of the Irish tithes without includiog the question of appropriation. That was another case where the Government did not fulfil the promises with which they set out. Without detaining the House he would come now to the subject which was more especially , before the country at the pre sent moment. He would show what was the conduct of her Ma jesty's Government on the question of the Budget containing the topics of the reduction of the duties on sugar and corn. Let them look first 'to the question of sugar. Last year it was proposed to reduce the duty on that article. It was objected_ to that proposal that it was not fair at the present moment,. when the colonies were subject to the consequences of a great. experiment, to introduce foreign sugar in great quantities into• this country. If he (l%lr. Worthy) wanted effective argu ments upon this subject, he would refer to the speech delivered. ou the occasion referred to by the Bight Hon. the President of the Board of Trade. In June, 1840, that Right Hon. Gen tleman opposed the proposal, and again on the 11th of August in the same year, in a short discussion on the same subject, the Right Hon. Gentleman made the same statements with respect to his oppositiortto that proposal. He (Mr. Wortley> would only state that for himself his opposition to any altera tion in those duties rested on no ground of a financial nature. They rested on the conviction that the peculiar circumstances of the question at the present moment justified that opposi tion. In 1841, notwithstanding his opposition in the former year, the Right Hon. Gentleman was one of those who came down to the House to make that identical proposal which in the preceding year he had opposed. With respect to the Corn-laws, he had to say that h e h a d also seen some of that distress which the Hon. Member for Manchester (Mr. M. Phillips) had so feelingly spoken of that evening, and which no man could deny. In the course of all the distress and suf fering which he had witnessed lately, nothing struck him more than the calm and reasonable temper—the patient fortitude— with which the people discussed that question, and the refusal which they evinced to make themselves the tools of a party. The country had been enlightened on the subject by nothing more than by the course which the Government had taken in proposing its adoption. If there had been any legiti mate ob ject in view in making that proposal, it might have been at tended with:successful effect. But the suspicions of the people were excited from the manner in which the subject was brought before them. The result was, that the people. had looked at the question; and saw that there was something tts be said on the other side, and that they were not to take all that was advanced by the advocates of the proposition of the Go vernment. In the year 1840, the Noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies was of opinion, that unless there was a gene ral wish for an alteration in the Corn-laws, such as would en able the Government to step in and home the machinery of that measure, any meddling with the question would do no. more than excite the animosity of party discussion, which. would not promote but retard the ameliorations of the question. Notwithstanding that view of the subject, the Noble Lord come down to the House in 1841, and proposed a measure of the very uescription to which he had adverted. The course which. her Majesty's Government had thought fit to pursue on the subject of the Corn-laws, was one which he (Mr. Wortley). thought had done more to cause them to forfeit the confidence of the people of this country than any other measure which they proposed. They all recollected that Lord Melbourne de clared, in the House of Lords, that the repeal of the Corn-laws was one of the maddest schemes which ever entered into the heart of man to conceive ; and in the year 1840 that Noble Lord renewed his announcement, that it was not the intention. of Government to propose any change in those laws. Further,, the Noble Lord at the head of the Government had declared, that any attempt to introduce the subject of a fixed duty on. corn would sever the frame work of society to its foundation, and he would not be the man to attempt any such course ; 17et, in the year 1841, although the arguments upon the subject were not different from those of 1841—although there was dis tress in the year 1840 —although there was a deficiency for • fears past in 1840—although the objects which they stated as those which justified the proposal of the measure in 1841 were in existence in 1840—notwithstanding, in 1841, they did not scruple to come down to the House, and say, as the N . oble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies had told them, that it was a questibn betvteeti the profit of the few and the interest of the many—if, on all these subjects, they could see that the affairs of the country had been so conducted as to have led to cheer ing results, why, then, they might consent to give the Govern ment some credit, notwithstanding all those grievances. But what appeared in the state of the country ? They were told in her Majesty's Speech that she received friendly assurances from the various Powers of Europe, that the question of the Otto man empire was almost settled. ‘i'hy, there were dis turbances in Syria and in Candia, and yet they were told that that state of things was a satisfactory settle ment of the question. Let them look to India, and they would see we were engaged in a war which it was difficult to say in what manner it could be brought to a satisfactory ter mination. In China we were engaged in a war the object of which it was difficult to understand. He was not disposed to doubt that the conduct and valour of the British forces in that country were likely to accomplish all that could be accova plished by any troops, but at the present nument he mlO pot think that the Government was justified in saying that there was a distinct prospect of that war being brought to a satisfac tory conclusion. He thought they might look to that, among other points, to ascertain how far Ministers were able to bring the affair of that country to a satisfactory conclusion. And, whilst on this subject, he would venture to express his asto nishment that there was not a syllable mentioned about cur affairs in another quarter of the globe, which it was impossible to deny at the present moment wore a somewhat threatening aspect. He did not suppose that the house cr the country would expect any explicit information from the Noble Lord on that subject. But where there was a subj ect of foreign policy which excited more attention, it was strange that neither in the Address nor in her Majesty's Spec al was there a syllable about the relations of this country with The United States. He had no reason to believe that in our relations with that country the national honour would be compromised. /Ss no change was made in the circumstances which presented that threatening aspect. We hail no reason, as it appeared to him, to congratulate ours' elves on the foreign rela tions of the country; and if they 'turned their view home ward they would see a general stagr.ation of trade, from what ever cause it may have arisen, whirl was so disheartening, and which the Noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies, in ad dressing his constituents at. London, told them justified the Government in agitating the country for the purpose of carrying those great questions.—(" No, no," from Lord John Russell.) If the Noble I aird referred to one of the earliest speeches which he pronoun ced on the occasion of the late elec tion, he would see that he said that he (Lord John Russell) had been accused of agitlecing on the subject of the Corn-laws, but in some questions ag ttation was justified—that the Habeas Corpus Act was obtaine d by agitation, and that for the same reason ha was justifie d in the course he had adopted. —Cries of " Hear, he ar," from the Ministerial benches ) Here, then, they had :a Cabinet Minister giving the weight of his authority to agitatic :n—(Hear, hear)—and the Government itself was in close Bihar ce with those who, in one breath, sullied the name of Sovereign with the grossest and most fawning adulation, and in the next breath gloated over the prospect of foreign war, in the hopes of receiving armed assistance from our enemies.—( Loud cheering.) He thought he bad said enough to show, that before discussing any of the great ques tions affecting the interest:3 of the country, they ought to de cide if a Government lying under all these imputations was fit to be trusted with the ad' i ustment of any of these questions.— ( Cheers. ) He felt con.vinced otherwise.--(Cheers.) The late returns showed than her Majesty's Ministers did not re ceive that support from the country which for some years past they had enjoyed. The: result of those returns had been, ac cording to the confession of the Noble Lord himself, to show that the Government was in a minority in that House, and therefore it was their duty to assure her Majesty, in unison with the opinion of their constituents, and in accordance with theresponsibility imposed upon them by the fact of their being returned to that House, that neither the House nor the country had any confidence in her Majesty's Government.—( Loud Opposition cheers.) Their constituents had sent them there to express those opinions.—(Cheers.)The country expected, to use the words of the Right Hon. Baronet, that a new phy sician would be called in. —(Hear, hear.) The Ministers, by the course they had pursued, had forfeited the confidence of the nation, and they must give way to those whose senti ments and position were more in unison with the sense of the majority of the country.---(Cheers.). On these grounds, he called upon the House te adopt a different course from that which had been recommended by the Hon. Gentleman who had preceded him, and to return such an answer to her Majes y's Speech as would be consistent with their responsibilities to those who had sent them there, and to record on their Journals that they had come to a decision in unison with the opinions of those from whom they derived those powers.—( Loud cheers. ) The Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving, as an amendment, " To leave out all the words after last Parliament, and to insert words to the following effect:—We beg humbly to represent to her Majesty that we have observed with great concern that the public expenditure has of late, for several successive years, ex ceeded the annual income, and that we are deeply impressed with the necessity of adopting measures for remedying those evils ; that we are deeply sensible of the importance of all measures affecting the revenue and commerce of the country, and of deciding on the course to be pursued which should be most in accordance with the interest and welfare of all classes of her Majesty's subjects, but that we consider it essential to the satisfactory result of those deliberations, that her Majesty's Government should possess the confidence of the House and the country, and that we respectfully submit to her Majesty that that confidence is not reposed in the present advisers of her Majesty—(Cheers)—that we join in the expression of deep sympathy expressed by her Majesty with those of her subjects who are now suffeing from distress and want of em ployment, and that, in the expression of that sympathy we re cognize an additional proof of the tenderness with which her Majesty regards all classes of her subjects, and that we join her Majesty in an earnest prayer that our deliberations may he guided by wisdom, and may conduce to the happiness of her Majesty's beloved people.—(Loud cheers.) Lord BRUCE, in seconding the amendment, said it was with extreme reluctance that he trespassed upon the House, and that nothing but his duty to his constituents, as the repre sentative of a large and increasing commercial town, could have overcome that reluctance, and he could assure the Hon. Mover of that amendment, that however wide might be the differences in the local connections, interests, and position of his (Lord Bruce's) constituents and those of .the Hon. Gentleman, yet they all cordially concurred in the' sentiments of the amend ment.—( Cheers.) Another reason for his trespassing on the House was, that as the amendment expressed the sympathy between the present and the late House of Commons, and was, in fact, an expressionof a concurrence, in a resolution which had passed that House, it was unbecoming in him, as a new Member, to second it—( Cheers)—and he thought that, in the present peculiar posture of public affairs, it would be inconsistent , with the dignity of the House, if they were to discuss any specific propositions whatever until they had ascer tained what had been the effect of the late dissolution.— ( Cheers.) He felt that the Government had already given sufficient reasons for a vote of want of confidence in the Go vernment; and, if he wanted any additional reasons, he found them in the address of the Noble Lord to his constituents. From the style of that document,—from the manner in which it had been given to the world, and from the manner in which it had been received by the supporters of the Government, it was evident that that document was intended to be no ephemeral production • and in that address he found a full admission that by the dissolution of Parliament they had failed in obtaining a verdict for the Government.—(Cheers.) In ordinary ca;es, success was no criterion of merit; but if ever there was a case in which failure might be considered to argue incapacity and recklessness, it was one in ;which a Minister of the Crown having lost the confidence of one - House of Commons, should advise a dissolution, and find the verdict of the House con firmed by the country.—(Renewed cheering.) It was to presume that they had tendered that advice, in the pro spect of getting the verdict of the House reversed by the country ; but when the result of that advice had been an utter failure, then the tendering such advice must be considered an additional proof of incapacity.—(Hear, hear.) He was free to admit that, until the Noble Lord had issued that address, he had a fair right to say that he had had no means of constitu tionally knowing. the opinion of the new House of Commons ; but the Noble 'Lord had disdained that subterfuge, and with the courage and manliness for which he (Lord 13ruce) gave him credit, boldly avowed that the majority was against the Government. But after that admission he was surprised to learn that the end of Government influence had not been shortened, and the stream of honours, dignities, and emolu ments rolling forth from the Treasury, had continued as co piously as ever.—(Cheers.) Did the Noble Lord say he had repented of the advice which he had tendered ? Did he say that he regretted having stirred up society to its foundations, and raised a conflict of class interest ? Did he say he regretted that the sufferings of the poor operatives of Holton should have been aggravated by the general stagnation of trade conse quent upon the continued discussion of these abortive mea sures?—(Cheers ) Did he resign his trust into the hands of his Sovereign, and advise her to give it into the hands of those who possessed the confidence and support of the Hou-e of Commons? Did he ever, having lost the reality of power, refuse to retain the semblance of it, and to exercise those functions of it which are not imperatively required by the necessities of the State. The Gazette had every day given the lie to such a supposition.—(Loud cheering.) With a free and undaureed front the Noble Lord, bearing the censure of one House of Commons, braved the indignation of a second.—(Cheers. ) Tbere were only one or two points in the amendment to which he would draw the attention of the House; and first, with regard to the expenditure. He did not believe that that increase had been occasioned wholly by foreign expeditions necessary to defend the honour of the nation. He believed that by inconsideration and reckless expenditure at home, the evil had been aggravated; and, as a proof of this, he would refer to the enormous increase in the miscellaneous estimates. —(" Hear, hear," from Col. Sibthorp, and a laugh.) He could not consent to the deficiency in the revenue being made a stepping-stone for important changes in our commer cial system, unless he were convinced of the merit of those changes.—( Hear, hear.) The object of the Government in proposing them seemed to be to pre vent criticism on their own misconduct by representing all those who criticised these measures as opponents of free trade. Many persons at the last election had voted against the Government because they did not believe they were sincere in bringing forward these measures; and others, most intelligent men, had opposed them because they did not believe that the measures of the Government and those of the free trade policy were convertible terms, whether they regarded free trade as it had been regarded by Mr. Huskisson, or by those whom he might denominate the ultra free traders. For himself he did not consider that he was at all compromising his free trade opi nions by seconding the amendment, and he had always been an advocate for free trade, based on reciprocity and a due regard to existing interests, according to the doctrine of Mr. Huskis son.—( Hear, hear.) A great deal had been said of the benefits which landlords and capitalists would derive from a repeal of the Corn-laws, but he wanted to know how the labouring classes would be benefitted ; and unless it could be shown what was to become of that section of the labouring classes who would be deprived of their ordinary and habitual employment by such an alteration, he for one would never consent to it. It was quite true hat the landlord might derive' some wivan tage from the increased value of his property from the factory mills that could be erected upon it ; it was equally true the capitalist might withdraw his capital from a milling concern and employ it elsewhere ; but the only capital of the labourer was his skill in his own branch of industry, and it was a mockery and a fallacy to tell him when you had deprived him of the resource, that he could find satisfactory compensa tion ; and this led him to say that he sympathised, from the bottom of his heart, with another expression in this amend ment, in which he coincided with the Address, namely, that in the gracious expressicn of her Majesty's sympathy with the sufferings of those who are in want of employment, they re • cognised an additional proof of her Majesty s tender regard for her subjects. He believed that a just regard for the interests of the labouring classes was the paramount, the most weighty reason which could be adduced for proceeding warily in the applicatipn of the doctrines p romul g ated ; and as he was upon this subject , he could not hel p alludin g to the very harsh', to the very severe, to the very unjust terms in which it had been the fashion to designate those who on these questions had taken opposite views from those of her Majesty's Government In a day in which monopolies were denounced he must be permitted to say that of all mono polies the most intolerable and the most odious was, the pre- tention to a monopoly of public virtue.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear," from the Opposition be ) Never to his mind was that pretension urged with a worse grace than when it was advanced by those who but an hour ago, but a little moment ago, might with propriety have been classed amongst those whose pretensions to monopoly and whose selfish, and unreasonable, and ungenerous considerations were now the objects of their reproach. He had, he feared, already trespassed at too great length ; and as this was his first appearance, lie could only return his grateful thanks to the House fur the kind manner in which they h a d listened to him ; but there was one subject to which lie begged permission to refer for two or three minutes.—( Hear, ar. ) He had observed, in the general tenor of the observations which had been made by the Ministerial portion of the press, and by the supporters of the Government generally throughout the country, especially since the result of the elections had been known—he had observed an attempt at a studied and elaborate recapitulation of all the possible difficulties and dangers which the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth would have to encounter, should he, in the present posture of affairs, be called to administer the destinies of this nation. When he had read over these statements, containing as they did refe.• rences to the disordered state of our finances, to dangers which beset us both at home and abroad, it had always struck him that the authors of these paragraphs and their abettors might, indeed, have contemplated most of these circum stances with feelings of the deepest and most poignant self-reproach, and that there were none at le as that th e . ) , could have reg ar d e d w i t h any other feelings bnt those • a sincere and p a t r i o. i c regret, had it not been for an under c . arrent of exultatio n w hi c h h e t h ought he had perceived o t o run through those statem en t s. —(H ear, hear.) But what. ever m ht be the feeli ngs o f t h e authors of these statements, whatever hypothesis which th ey assume d , h e trusted that the . Right I-1, al. Baronet, conscio us o f t h e hi g h dest i ny to which he was calk( 1. in being summon e d t o extr i cate hi s country from these diff culties—of the high hopes entertained of him in the country, and of the gener ous con fid ence w hi c h was reposed in him by . al 1 classes, as manifested by the zeal and alacrity with which th ey had come forward at the late general election, and by the lai ge majority returned to that House—that the Hight Hon. Bat nnet considering these circumstances wood be able to face those t difficulties, whatever they were; not in a spirit of presumpt• sous deflate, nor with the intention of having re course to the arts of empiricism, but with a firm, with a manly re -• -nee upon the,good sera**, the honesty, the fairness of the people is... —retry, an d w ith g; still more constant reliance upon the or this t;.-_ . . - "tat P rov sdetree whose watchf u l arm h a d kindly spirit n.._ in difficulties, and so long as she ever supported Britain . . d 3,er guided her in the paths had been true to herself, ha -till to argue upon that hypo of honour.—( Cheers.) And, . that of others, when the thesis, which was not his but . 1 was very far distant, period should arrive, which he truste. " circumstances, the 's igh trust to those %then in the cou rse o f na t ure , or o r Honourable Baronet would res i gn th a t 1. t‘e would leave who should succeed him, he trusted that ._ bequeath to them a very different legacy—that he would ~ in trade, them a healthy exchequer, peace at home, prosperit, _ (Loud prosperity abroad, and a happy and contented nation.-- Cheers. ) _ . _ _ Mr. LABOUCHERE said the Noble Lord who had juss addressed the House, as well as the Honourable Member for the West Riding of Yorkshire,_ had taken great pains to assure the Governm e nt that they were in a minority. He did not stand there to contrast their 'position ; but if that were true, he was too well aware cf the disposition of the House to doubt that they would give to any Member of that Government, however humble a patient, an indulgent hearing.—(Hear.) Those Gentlemen had expressed a great eagerness that the House should decide upon the questions before them. He could assure the House that that eagerness was at least equally shared by her Majesty's Government, and that they were rejoiced that the time had come when they were able fairly to put before the House the policy upon which they believed the affairs of this country should be conducted, to take the opinion of the House upon that policy, and, if they should fail to receive from the House of Commons that support which could alone enable them to carry out that policy to a successful conclusion, without loss of time to devolve the responsibity of governing the country on other principles, upon those who were of a different opinion on such subjects from themselves. He had listened with great attention, and with no small curiosity, to the speeches that had been made from the other side of the House, and he confessed that he was entirely at a loss to understand the intention of the amendment. He clearly understood that it was intended to express a want of confidence in her Majesty's Ministers ; and he could assure the Hon. Member for the \Vest Riding that it was totally unnecessary for him to take up the time of the House, as he had done in asserting the right to express such a sentiment. It was not only right, but it was the duty of the House, it upon general grounds they did not feel confidence in the advisers of iwr Majesty ; it was due to the CrOwn—it wa s due to the country—he might say it was due to the Govern ment itself at once to declare that opinion, that no doubt might remain upon the subject.—(Hear.) Still he must say, that after hearing the amendment, and the speeches by which he had been supported, he was at a loss to understand what was its import. Before, however, he alluded to that part of the subject, he would take the liberty of referring to some of the observations which had fallen from the mover and seconder of the address. The Noble Lord who had just sat down (Lord Bruce) had said that the Government had no right to come down to the House of Commons as a Government; it was notorious, he said, that the result of the late elections was unfavourable, and under such circumstances it was an insult both to the country and to the Crown for them to retain office.—( Hear.) He thought the Noble Lord could hardly have observed near whom he was sitting.—( Hear, hear.) He must remind him that when the Right Hon. Gentleman the Member for Tamworth, in 1835, acted as the Minister of the Crown, the result of the elections had placed him in an ac knowledged minority. He was perfectly aware, when he met that he met a hostile majority arrayed against him ; at any rate, if be could have any doubt about it, the point was very soon settled.—( Hear, hear.) They began with the Speaker ship, of which he would say no more.—( Hear, hear, from the Tory benches.) They then proceeded to move an amendment to the Address, blaming the dissolution of the previous Parlia ment, and clearly int mating that the majority of the House did not repose confidence in the Government. Still the Right Hon. Gentleman retained office, exercising the patronage, and using all the executive functions of the Minister, though be was never able, during the whole time that he sat as Minister, to carry one single measure which was proposed to the House. There was, too, this peculiarity in the defects of the Right Honourable Baronet—they were unchequered by a single triumph, though on one occasion he was defended from an attack which proceeded from the Duke of Buckingham by the co-operation of his opponents—co-operation which, he trusted, would always be afforded when an improper attack was made upon the existing Government.—( Hear, hear.) His Hon. Friend (the Member for the West Riding) had charged the Government with having abandoned those pledges which Lord Grey had given of peace, economy, and reform. He felt convinced that the calm judgment of the country and of posterity would give them credit for having maintained those three principles of Government, as far as it was favourable under the circumstances. The Hon. Member said there had been some cannon shots fired since the Government had been in office. The pledge of Lord Grey was to this effect—that the Government would, as far as possible, preserve a pacific policy, that, as far as possible, they would prevent an European war, or any breaking up of that great confederacy, which was the best p'edge of peace. When Lord Grey took office, ten years ago, it was said that it would be an astonishing thing if peace were maintained for six months.—( Hear, hear ) Yet, with some slight interruptions, peace had been maintained for ten years ; and if the event of these discussions should be to bring Hon. Gentlemen opposite into power, it would indeed be matter of congratulation most fortunate to the interests of the human race, if at the end of ten years the world had not suffered more calamities from war than during the ten years that were pass. He next came to economy. The Hon. Gentleman said there had never been such profuse expenditure, yet the Government came in with pledges of economy. If that were so, if the Government had been lavish in their expenditure, it implied a very great censure upon their political opponents. (Hear, hear.) It was the peculiar province and duty of an opposition to watch the expenditure of the country, and to check any dis position to excess. (Laughter from the Opposition.) The complaints from the other side of the House had uniformly been that they did not spend enough; that they were not suffi ciently lavish. ( Hear, hear.) Mr. STUART WORTLEY explained. He said be had complained of the result. Mr. LABOUCHERE said he had always supposed that " economy" was a relative term. No one could imagine that Earl Grey had pledged himself not to spend more than a cer tain sum of money; or not to increase when it was neeessary the establishments of the country. It might in some cases be the truest economy to increase the expenditure.—(Hear, hear ) Ilis Hon. Friend had made a charge against the pre.. sent Government that they had never introduced reforms unless when it served their own party purposes; and that it was for that reason they had reformed the old borough system. Now he ( Mr. Labouchere) did not think theta charge which they should shrink from ; and he hoped they should always have a party interest in reforming acknowledged abuses. "But he would also remind his Hon. Friend that there was a large class of subjects in which reforms had been introduced, while the Whig party had wcupied.power, to which the observation could not apply. With respect to the reform in Church-rates, the reform in tithes, and many other important reforms introduced during the last ten years, it was impossible to, say that they could be attributed to party motives. He felt it a matter of just pride to those with whom he had the honour to act, that they could look back with satisfaction upon the results of many of those important changes which it was predicted would lead to the most cala mitous. consequences. It was said that the Reform Bill would lead to ruin arid confusion in the country; but so far was the prediction from being verified, that in his (Mr. Labouchere's) opinion the institutions of the country had been thereby placed upon a sounder basis, and had become mere an object of love and reverence to the people of this country than they had been before that event. lie held it that the legitimate object of Reform was preservation , and he could not look back to that long series of measures introduced during the last ten years but with a feeling of satisfaction at the success which had at tended their efforts to amend and consolidate the institutions of the country.—(Hear, hear.) Hon. Gentlemen opposite said they were not in a condition to discuss those measures of trade, and it had b. en intimated that the Government had not brought forward those measures upon reflection and a conviction of their propriety, but merely to serve some temporary purpose, and that therefore they had not received the full consideration of the country. He (Mr. Labouchere) could only say, on the contrary, that if ever there were measures deliberately con sidered before they had been brought forward, they were the measures which it had been attempted so unfairly to charac terise. He could assure the House that the Govern ment, in bringing forward those measures, were aware that they were likely to meet with very great opposition. It was impossible to look to the history of our commercial legislation of late years without anticipating that result, for it was a remarkable fact, that wh ile the y had improved the insti tutions of the country in other respects, nothing had been done for our commercial legislation during a long series of years, al though no important alterations had since taken place in the condition of the country and the commercial relations of the world. The Government were aware they were undertaking a task of great difficulty. The Hon. Gentleman opposite had said that he was a disciple of Mr. Huskisson—with the support, be it always remembered, of the Whig party, who did not think it fit to make such subjects party questions. With th e s u pp ort of the W higs Alr. Huskis son had, undoubtedly , introduced many impottant al tterattifoonllsowineros. our eGrcriaailltsy(sntoew Lord m, in spit e o f hi s over-reluc au Glenelg) and Mr. Huskisson, had, it should be recollected, brought forward the very question of the sugar duties ; and the proposal they had made went much further than the late proposal of her protection to th e c olonies and Ma jesty'sbein moreGernovfmaveonutr, favourable giving t o less the home consumer.—( Hear. ) He had no doubt but his Honourable Friend (Mr. Wortley) vo t e d upon that occasion with Mr. Huskisson; but he was op posed to the Duke of Wellington, to the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth, to the Right Hon. Member for Cambridge, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the the proposal failed. Now he (Mr. Labouchere) had no hesi tation in saying that it that measure had been carried at the time, the results to the commerce and the finances of this country, as well as the general comfort of the people, would have been almost incalculable.—(Hear.) What was the next considerable attempt made to change our commercial system? The next attempt was made by a Government that could not be designated a weak Government —it was made by the Go vernment of Earl Grey, the year after they had come into office.—( Hear, hear.) That Government brought forward a measure relating to the timber duties; and the Noble Lord the Member for North Lancashire, and the Right Hon. Bar one t th e M e mber for Dorche ster ( Sir J. Graham ) , said it was an ill.advised measure. But the proposal meet with a party oppos iti on , and it did not succeed. He should observe that if public men made such subjects party questions, and made use of them as a mean s of embarrassin g and harassin g a Government, he was afraid that they would never see a Go vernment strong enough to carry out any important improve ments.—( Hear, hear.) He was not surprised that, after the failures he had enumerated, succeeding Governments felt slow and reluctant to propose any considerable alterations with re_ spect to those important matters, and fully admitted what lie had heard that ni g ht, that there was a g reat evil i n bring i ng forward such measures unless there was some chance of carry ine them. He had never denied that. It was the duty of a Government fairly to weigh the one against the other—the danger and the evil of leaving things as they were when they became injurious to the brst interests of the country, and the hazard of dealing with such questions. He should not forget to mention that Mr. Huskisson, in his attempt to alter the s ugar duties, was opposed by the entire of the party opposite, with the single and most honourable exception of the late Mr. Peregrine Courtenay, and after that experience he did think that Governments might be well reluctant in bringing forward measures of a similar description. It was also to be observed that, when the Corn-law ques tion had been brought forward year after year by independent Members of that House, the proposal had been always negatived by very considerable majorities. But they had been constantly told, and by the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth among' many others, that if the Go- MORNING SUN t i n te e r r n e m i a e i n p took gsi a i i o n n to o c f o cons i e d e r e a o t u i o n n t r t y h e s o w h a o s l e t o s t a d te o j o u f s t t i h c e c i t c : m a ll classes, Hon. Gentlemen opposite would not be indispo led :to consider the Corn-laws. The Government, therefore, put ti to sincerity of that declaration to the proof ; but they had b,ee n disappointed. But when they had made up their minds th. at it was their duty to submit the commercial system of the co at try to the revision of Parliament, they believed that that was a favourable opportunity to ask the powerful landed inter .est fairly to be considered while other interests were under( elusion. They had been told that evening that the mean: res of the Government had been improperly brought forward 1 ast session. The Hon. Gentlemen opposite had said that if theev had been brought forw a rd d e lib era t e ly, an d if Mr. Id uskiset-; had brought forward his measure, he might give them a fa it consideration. Now he (Mr. Labouchere) wished the Hose .0 to remember in what manner the measure in question ha d been bt ought forward. They had first proposed certain Ml] - sures affecting British possessions abroad, and he though t that it was a necessary preparation before dealing with articles of colonial produce, that they should redress any grievare ses which the Colonies justly complained of. He hoped th ey would yet take into their consideration the case of the W. set Indies ; and after they had placed the East and West Ind; ies upon the same footing as regarded their produce in the mark. ate of that country, he thought that nothing could be more unf.tir or unjust than to leave the West India subject to the ex cessive and intolerable burdens under which they now la boured. He thought that the subject deserved the serious consideration of Parliament. He found that during the fret six months of the year 1840, 99,600 cwt. of sugar had been imported into this country from the West Indies, while the quantity imported during the corresponding six months of thet • sent year amounted only to 70,700 cwt., making a decrease o" f ncu .3. 20,000 cwt. Th e Hon. Gentleman opposite said he was a we-trader ; but he was no advocate for tile ministerial measures -that was to say, he was a free-trader with the ex ception of d2.'rn, sugar, and timber.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.> lint the proposal of the Government with regard to the Sugar Duties, did not gs: so far as the proposal of Mr. Grant and Mr. Huskisson, and no one could say that it was an extravagant. measure. He had last year supported an alteration in the Sugar Duties ; and so far from having since altered his opinion upon that subject, he con fessed that everything that had since occurred had only tended to confirm it. What did he find was the pre sent condition of the sugar trade ? They had been told last year that there would soon be abundance of sugar for the con sumer, and that the revenue would be proportienably benefited.. The predictions had not, however, been verified. He found that tee quantity of sugar consumed in the first six months of the rear 1840 amounted to 2,050,000 cwt., while the amount. ee enumed during the six corresponding months of the present year . amounted to no more than 1,861,000 cwt., making a de crease o: 130,000 cwt. ; while there had been a falling off its the revenue during the period, allowing the 5 per cent. addi tion, of 278,0,`0/. His Hon. Friend had accused him of hav ing oppcsed an ate: ration in the sugar duties in 1840, while he supported it in 1841 ; but he should observe in his own de fence, that upon all comn:ercial and financial grounds he had always wished for the alteration, and he always treated the question as one of time. lie should next come to the ques tion of corn ; and he should say he had listened with the most intense anxiety—and the country at large would participate in the feeling—he had listened with intense anxiety, for the pur pose of learning what were the views of Hon. Get tlemen op posite upon the subject of the Corn .laws.—( Hear, i ear.) He considered that the manner in which the question had been mentioned was very enigmatical. However, he gathered a hope from what had fallen from Hon. Gentlemen that evening, because he could not conceive any party could in a solemn manner address her Majesty in the manner that was proposed, unless they intended to consider the Corn-laws, with a view to their alteration. He could conceive no course more daVere ous, or more improper, than " Spargere votes per vulgum ambiguas." —(Hear, and laughter.) He could conceive ne course more improper than stating to her Majesty that they were deeply sensible of the important considerations to which her Majesty had directed their attention, and to conclude by stating that Ministers had not the confidence of the country, unless Hon. Gentlemen opposite were themselves determined on taking the subject into their consideration. He should remind the House that the question was not whether they should have foreign corn, but what were the laws by which that importation was to be regulated. :He found that the average quantity of wheat introduced during the ten first years of the present century from 1801 to 1810 amounted to 555,000 quarters from the colonies and from foreign countries, and 70,000 quarters from Ireland. He found that in the next 10 years, from 1811 to 1820, the average amount of foreign and Irish corn annually imported to this country amounted to 606,000 quarters ; from 18'20 to 1830 it amounted to 993,000 quarters ; and from 1830 to 1840, taking the whole period, lie found the average importations of each year was no less than 1,500,000 quarters of foreign co:TO The question therefore was not whether we should have a foreign trade in corn, but upon what. principle that trade' should be conducted.—(Hear, hear.) We were not indepen dent of foreign corn, and we could not be—and he would go further and say " God forbid we should be."—(Cheers. ) There was another consideration connected with the subject, to which he would advert, as he had not heard it before in that House. It related to the quantity of corn imported from Ireland and the Colonies. It was a remarkable fact that the quantity of corn imported from Ireland had been increasing up to the year 1833, but from that year there hod been a great and progressive diminution.—( Hear, he, In 1833 the quantity of corn imported from Ireland was 844,1,`00 quarters. In 1834 and 1835 there was a considerable decrease; in 1836 the import was 664,000 qrs. In 1837, 534,000 gee. ; in 1839, only 258,000 quarters,. and in 1840 the quantity im ported from that part of the United Kingdom was no more than 174,000 qrs.—( Hear.) That decrease was not owing to , any falling off in the prosperity of Ireland, but it would be traced directly to the fact that the people consume more corm themselves, and have the less to export. He believed there was this cause also, that in consequent a of the increase of steam-boats, a very large quantity of butter, poultry, live stock, and other articles of agricultural production were im puted, and the Irish farmers were induced by the profit of that trade to turn their attention in some degree from tne rais ing of wheat.—( Hear.) If the gentlemen who had hitherto opposed any alteration whatever in the existing Corn laws were not convinced by the experience of the lest two. years, he should despair that any thing short of actual famine would convince them.—( Hear, hear.) He should wish to, bring the attention of gentlemen connected with the landed. interest to the manner in which the system of taking the ave-• rages had worked in the la.t two years. He had found it to be a system of fraud and gambling, alike injurious to the traie and to the class for whose supposed benefit it was established.. —ln consequence of the information which he received from. gentlemen connected with the corn trade, who complained from. time to time of the frauds which were practised, he made in quiries, and ascertained that certain London merchants had combined to effect fictitious sales, for the purpose of altering the averages, so as to let in at the lowest duties the foreign corn which was in bond. These sales commenced in the early part of July, and were continued till the 28th of August, and upeu comparing the quantities sold in each week of that period in London, with what had been sold in that city in corresponding periods in ordinary times, he fOund that it was exactly four times as much. On the 28th of August, when the fictitious sees terminated, the average by which the duty was regulated, so high as 795. 6d. the quarter, whereas the average of the whole kingdom, (excluding London,) was 725. 6d.—( Hear,. hear.) The six weeks average of the whole kindom (exclud ing London,) was only 70s. 10d. ; but by these operations the average was fictitiously raised, se as to cause a reduction of the duty from fis. Sd. to 2s. in the week ending the 4th of September. —( Hear, hear. ) In that week 1,217,000 quarters of foreign wheat were let out of bond at that merely nominal duty.—( Hear, hear, hear.) What protection would gentle tleman suppose the agricultural interest derived from such a system of fraud and gambling?—( Hear, hear.) The course of the corn trade was this, that when there was a prospect of scarcity, a great quantity of corn was accumulated in the bonding warehouses, but none came out until, for several weeks, the country had suffered great privation.—( Hear, hear. ). The present price: of corn was a great calamity to the country, —(Hear,)—and he was sure that every gentleman 'opposite regretted that bread should be so dear as it had been for weeks past.—( Hear.) But in the mean time there were 800,000 quar ters of corn in hand, none of which came out, as no one would pay the extravagant duty, knowing that the corn will soon be admitted at the nominal duty of Is. per quarter.— (Hear.) All that corn might have been gradually brought out to meet the wants of the people, without injury to the far mers. But now, what would be the case ? Just at the mo ment when our own farmers (if it pleased God to give us an abundant harvest) would be ready to supply the market, one million and a half of foreign corn would be thrown into com petition with them.—(Hear, hear.) That would be when the needy farmers were obli ge d t o se ll th e i r corn f or what ever price they could get. —( Hear, hear.) Under these cir cumstances, was he to be told that those laws were for the just protection of the farmers, and that a modification of them was proposed only to serve party purposes ? He would urg e the House to take the'whole q ues ti on into consideration, and delibe y there should be a vete on a remedy. At th e same t i m e, Ministers had never hesitated t o express their own op different law for corn , inions. He for one had always a s k e d w h from any other i m p or t at i on ? H e did not see why ther e should be a sliding sca l e f or t h at a l one . H e believed that a fixe d dut y was the best form of protection. The merchant would then know what he had to depend on, and not be uncertain whe ther, when his corn came here, he should have to pay a duty of 20s. or of l s . —( Hear, hear.) The present laws were so absurd, that almost any alteration would be an amelioration ; but the nearer the approximation to . The more was left, a fixed duty the better. injuries to commerce, to the which it was wished to benefit--( Hear, country, and the class the hear.) The measures which . Government had proposed to improve the finance, bus to relieve were not intended alone When he looked at the state of commerce and commerce. the greater the tax to meet the exigencies of the State. fi nance , be could n ot see how the y could venture to impose a n ew opposite expressed surprise at the propositions of Government,but the surprise was confined to them.—( Hear, hear.) Ministers had been told by gentlemen who usually suppo r t e d them, ‘• In the present stem of the finances, we no t conceive what you will do ; we shall not press you with ques tions of free trads, but wait until we see your Budget, Ge t e G en tlemen and if you do not make some satisfactory alteration, we will bring forward our own measures." He felt that the time was come when it behoved the House to take a calm and deliberate view of the import duties, with a view to relieve commerce, and, at the same time, assist the revenue. He would not go at large into all the parts of that question, but he would touch upon some parts, premising that if Parliament last Session had not terminated so abruptly, he would have produced aNew Cus toms Duties Bill, and would not have recommended, in the present state of finance, any doubtful experiment, but would have proposed such alterations as experience had proved to be adequate for the increase of the revenue, and the relief of trade, to a great extent. One of the commodities which he had in view was that of provisions, such as live stock, upon which the duties amounted to a prohibition. He thought that was a disgrace to the land, and he hoped it would be reyised.—( Hear, hear.) Another important branch of duty which required revision for the sake of our manufactures was that upon raw material. For in stance, the duty on foreign stopper, which was prohibited ex cept for the purpose of smelting. The effect of this was that our skill and the abundance of fuel which we possessed were made available only to the foreign manufacturer, for our own manufacturers were not allowed to use the smelted metal, which was all re-exported. Were those things of no conse quence, struggling as they were with foreign i ivals ? Foreign ships now went abroad, where they were coppered more cheaply than they were here. Of course no revenue of any amount was derived from copper, but he adduced it as a proof that it was with sa!ety to the revenue they would, by making alterations and relaxations in the import du ties, very materially diminish the pressure which, unfortunately, exists in the mercantile and manufacturing communities of this country. Of the existence of that pressure there could be no doubt. Unfortunately, that pressure was notorious. His be lief was that the present state of things in th's country was connected in a very considerable degree with that want of em ployment which was Now prevailing in the manufacturing dis tricts, and which was caused by the want of demand in the fo reign markets, which we were losing in consequence of our not taking those articles alone which they could give for our manufac tures. He would particularly call the attention of lion. Members to two important branches of our manufactures—hardware and cutlery. The Right Hon. Gentleman here read some returns relative to the exports in those branches of manufacture in the years 1640 and 1841, which showed a great falling• off in the latter year ; and then proceeded to say that such a state of things was well deserving the attention of the House. Whose were not questions which they could postpone, for markets ease lost were net to be regained—industry once paralysed was