The Sun. — London, England, 1842-03-01 00:00:00

MEETING AT MARYLEBONE. A public meeting was yesterday held in the y-a,rd of the Marylebone Workhouse, for the purpose of petitioning against the new Corn-law, and expressing a want of confidence in the present Ministry. The meeting was, however, • converted to a very dif ferent purpose. At an early hour the Chartists began to assemble in-oterwhehning force from all parts of the metropolis ; and at one o'clock, the hour appointed for commencing the proceedings, they had obtained almost exclusiVe possession of the platform and of the space adjacent. At one o'clock Mr. SA.NKEY took the Chair ; a Motion to that, effect having been put, and almost unanimously agreed, to. Mr. SAVAGE then came forward to move the first re solution ; which was to the effect, that the distress, the anguish, and suffering, to which a multitude of our fellow countrymen-of the working class were now exposed, were without precedent, and claimed the deepest sympathy ; that this distress results mainly from a want .of employment, arising out of our unjust and • ruinous commercial regulations, which having been passed for the interests of a particular class, cramp and cripple the industry of the country ; that the Corn-laws are the first and foremost of those, ruinous regulations ; and that the meeting looked upon those - laws as only one of a number of causes I which affected in a still more deadly manner the national prosperity ; that the people had nothing to expect from 'the present House of Com mons and that the adoption of the People's Ch art e r was tile - only, remedy for the evils un d er w hi c h the country was suffering.' Mr. Savage then proceeded at some length to allude to the five points of the Charter, which was based, he contended, upon the essential prin ciples of justice,, and the passing of which could alone give peace and prosperity to the country. Mr. lltraisE seconded the resolution moved by the preceding speaker.' Mr. FEAIIGtTS O'Coxston came forward amidst loud cheers to address the meeting. He said that he wished to express his approval of the speech of Mr. Savage? and his dissent from his resolution.—(llcar.) He could not approve of the, first part of that resolution.. which stated that the Corn-laws were one of the first and foremost causes of the distress which prevailed in the country. In his opinion all our evils were to be traced to class legislation ; and the only remedy for those evils was a full and free representation of the people.— (Cheers.) He should'therefore move -an amendment- to the resolution which had been proposecrto them, in which all trien4s of the Charter and or free trade might concur. Mr. O'Connor then read his amenampnt, which was to the effect, that—" While the meeting _ expressed their unqualified approval of . the principle of free trade, and their desire to see the present Corn-laws repealed,-they did not think that such a change could properly emanate from the- present House of Commons in the imperfect state of our representation, and that it could not, under those circumstances, tend to the benefit of the people." The amendment further recommended the adoption of the Charter as the only means of doing justice to :the people, and diffuSing prosperity throughout the land. Mr. O'Connor then addressed the meeting at some length in support of the amendment he had.thus moved.- No thing, he contended, was to be expected from the present House of Commons. That - -House ought to be the heart of the land, but the heart was now ossified—and the limbs were consequently decayed and withered.—(Cheers.) The rich, in our pre sent anomalous position, had their luxuries and their palaces, while the poor man had to go from the cottage to the cellar, and from the cellar to the cold shelter of the workhouse. The Whigs of the present day complained of the working of their own Reform Bill, and it was mani fest that until the representation was placed on a-new basis the people could expect neither prosperity nor justice. A good measure could be passed by Parliament as it was now constituted. The proceedings of that day would be the commencement of a new movrment for justice to the people. The present was not an unfavourable mo ment for a combined effort on the part of the friends of justice and freedom. The middle class. es found they could not do without the people; and the Queen was not so much against them as former Sovereigns ; but at all events they could dispense with. her assistance—she was but " number one," and she had no vote in addition.-- (Hear, hear.) No party should have them which was not ready to grant them complete justice; and their cry should be the Charter, the whole Charter, and nothing but the Charter.—(Cheers.) Mr. O'Connor concluded by moving his amendment. Mr. RIDLEY seconded the amendment. Mr. MACCONNELL spoke. in favour of the original reso lution, and Mr. SMART supported the amendment. . Mr. SAVAGE stated, that it was a matter of compara tive indifference to him which resolution was adopted. All that he wanted, was the adoption of the People's Charter. The amendment and the original motion were then put in succession, and the amendment was carried by a vast majority. This result was hailed with loud and repeated cheers by the larger portion of the meeting. Some further resolutions were, then passed, and the va•t assemblage, which amounted to some thousands, ser arated, DREADFUL EXPLOSION AT • LAMBETH. (From our Evening Edition of yesterday.) EXTENSIVE LOSS OF LIFE. This morning, about twenty minutes before twelve o'clock, a most extraordinary sensation was prodnced throughout Lam beth, in consequence Of the eiptosi ni of the extensive fire work-manufactory of Messrs. D'Ernst,. situated in Doughty street, :Lambeth-walk. The exp!osion was attended with a noise resembling a park of artillery, and was heard for miles sli,tant in every direction. The consternation that was occa siened 'was bernd description. Vast numbers of persons were seen ranging from all parts to the scene of destruction. Soon after the first alarm a body of the L &vision of police re paired to the spot, but were unable to appro.ich the building, in which the fire was raging with terrible fury, a constant succession of explosions taking place, froM the immense quan shy of fireworks and combustible materials which was kept on the premises. Several engines shortly arrived, and played on the burning mass. Fortunately the premises were detached from other buildings, otherwise it is impossible to say to what extent the calamity would have gone. We regret to say a great loss of life has occurred upon the melancholy occasion, as a number of men were employed when the explosion hap pened. It is, however, as yet impossible to say what is the loss of human life ; the mutilated burnt remains of two men were distinguished amongst the burning mass, bat no one dare venture near the spot, as it was well known an immense quantity of powder was kept on the premises. The proprietor resides in the Lambeth-road, near Bethlehem Hospital. He is in a very extensive way of busi ness, and supplies most of the places of amusement. At half past twelve o'clock, when the Reporter left, the fire was raging with the utmost fury, and the firemen were actively en gaged in arresting its progress. It must be several hours before it can be possibly ascertained what number of lives have been sacrificed upon the occasion. (A LATER ACCOUNT.) A few minutes before twelve o'clock this day one of the most dreadful events which it his been our duty to record for some ears. past, has occurred at the firework-manufactory of D'Ernst, situated at the bottom of Prince/-street, Lam teth,walk, and whi c h h as b een attende d, i t i s suppose d , w i th the hiss of eight or ten lives. From the confusi,n, alarm, and anxiety at present exi-ting in the vicinity, no c. rtain informa tion could be obtained beyond th .t, every human being who was on the premises, at the time of the awful catastrophe, was launched into eternity. The premises which stood on an ex tensive plot of g ound, aro levelled to the earth, and in their place an immense mass of ruins is only to be seen. At the time mentioned the whole portii4t of the southern part of the metropolis was thrown into the utmost consterna tion by two loud reports which shook the houses, while in the immediate neighbourhood the furniture was displaced, and which was thought to proceed from an earthquake. The reports were instantly followed by a noise resembling the 'discharge of artillery in rapid succession. The first impulse of the inhabitants in the neighbourhood was to rush out of their houses, when a sight, which can never be forgotten, met their eye—it was that of the entire pre mises, enveloped in smoke and fire, rising in the air, and with them the whole of the unfortunate persons at work. To such a height did they ascend, as to r.nder the mass of ruins visible to those who were passing over the metropolitan bridges, and which descended as rapidly. The instant they fell fire was seen to burst out from the aper tures, but owing to the prompt arrival of the engines the flames were quickly got under, and then a sight pre stnted itself which harrows the imagination ; remnants of human bodies were to be seen amidst the burning ruins, and from it being knownthat all the men were at work, every exertion - was made by the firemen and police to extricate them ; by a quarter past twelve three blackened masses, which once were living beings, were got out, but so dreadfully • disfigured, as to render it almost impossible to identify them, and at the time we write, two more bodies were taken out. The general impression is that more are still burned. How or by what means the accident happened will be for ever a mystery, as none of those who were within escaped to tell the cause. From the inquiries which were made, it was stated there were four barrels of towder on the premises at the time, besides other comlnstibles. housands of persons are on the spot, as well as a large body of the police. The mutilated remains recovered were taken to the workhouse. LATEST PARTICULARS—SEVEN O'CLOCK. About four o'clock, after considerable exertion on the Part of the police and firemen on duty, the bodies of all the unfOrtunate persons who lost their lives by this t melancholy er ' ca t astrop h e were extr i cated from the ruins ; names and ages (as nearly as could be ascertained in the confusion which prevailed) were as f o ll ows : Dlr. D'trnst, aged Eufactory ; rs. years, the owner of the ma admpshire, his sister-in-law, : bout the stimtekeage_ j enri lAn Whiting, aged 32, who worked on Lged abont eigh iLr en :ses n : and . an errand boy, As soo n: na me d George Tebbit, Has Stanley. shells could le procured from the Lambeth as workhouse, they NI ere removed there to up awa t i o t the e result of the Coroner's Inquest. however, om hich we write, no circumstance': I aye transpired by which the origin of tie me lancholy event could be ascertained, neither could. there be any accurate calculation made as to the amount of the property destroyed. - It - Was stated to the reporter by a person name 1 Wall, who worked in the Lion brewery, opposite where the explosion occurred, that - the unfortunate lad Tebbit passed through the brewery with a piece of tinder-lighting in his hand ; and upon his being asked the hour he re plied twenty minutes to twelve, and walked into Mr. IYEkist's manufactory. About ten minntes afterwards the first explosion took place. Three of the bodies were found amidst the mass of ruins, and the fourth was found in a garden about twenty yards from the premises, Into which it had been driven over a hngh wooden paling, Crowds were thronging every avenue. leading to the spot, and nothing but the gable end was left standing. We regret to announce the death of the Hon. Elisabeth Carpent .r, widow of Captain the Hon. Charles Carpenter, and mother cf George, third Earl of Tyreonnel, who died on service in the Russian 'campaign of 1812, and . also of John Delsval, fourth slid present Earl of. Tyrconnel. This W hiahly rospeeted lady di e d on th e 23d F e b ruary, at Bow nes age of 73. 3, e stmoreland, of a pulmoaary coniplaint, at the advanced IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, Fib. 28. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat upon the Wool sack shortly after Five o'Clock. PRESBYTERIAN MARRIAGES. - Lord STRAFFORD presented several petitions from various places in the North of Ireland, praying for an alteration in the law relating to Presbyterian mixed marriages. 1 Lord CAMPBELL presented a petition from Antrim to the same effect. Lord BROUGHAM presented similar petitions from Langan and the county of Armagh, and from some place in Antrim. - LAW OF MERCHANT AND FACTOR. The Earl of RIPON gave notice of his intention to bring in a Bill for the regulation of transactions between merchants and factors. CORN-LAWS. The Earl of MINTO presented a petition from Roxburghshire, praying for a total repeal of the Corn laws. He begged to state to their Lordships that the petition was signed exclusively by farmers. The Earl of CLARE presented a petition from the Chamber of Commerce of Limerick, praying that the pro posed scale of duty for oats might be increased. The sub ject was a most important one to the city of Limerick, the quantity of oats exported from that town to England having been nearly doubled between the years 1821 and 1841. The Earl of CHESTERFIELD presented a petition from Derbyshire in favour of the Ministerial measure for an alteration of the Corn-laws. Lord BROUGHAM presented petitions from the con gregation of New Methodists of some town in the West Riding of Yorkshire ; from Canow, from Brighouse, from the Wesleyan Methodists of Sunderland, from some place in Durham, from Mark in Fifeshire, and from the corn factors and bakers of Montrose ; all praying for repeal of the Corn and Provision-laws. . Lord KINNAIRD presented a petition from Perth, with a similar prayer. COUNTY COURTS. Lord BROUGHAM wished to bring under the atten tion of their Lordships the subject of a Bill which lie had on a former occasion the honour of laying on the table of the House. With that Bill. great progress had been made 17 their Lordships passing in it into a law. He was now inchiced to again bring forward the subject, on account of a Bill having been laid before their Lord ships by his Noble and Learned Friend (Lord Cotten ham), the object of which was the establishment of County Courts, or such an improvement in County Courts as would in a great degree have the same effect as he (Lord B.) should have expected from his Bill. It was with the view of reminding his Noble and Learned Friend and their Lordships of the great success which had attended that measure, and how very near it was being carried into a law that he was now induced to trespass on the House. His Noble and Learned Friend proposed to increase the jurisdiction of the County Courts in all actions of debt, from 40s. and under to 20/. His (Lord Brougham's) - Bill, which their , Lordships had nearly passed into a law, con fined actions of debt, and in the nature of debt, to 20/. It gave jurisdiction also to local courts in all actions of contest, assault, and battery, slander, seduction, and in measures of arrest • also all personal actions of toll, &c., in which the sum did not exceed 50/. That was a measure much more extensive than the one introduced' by his Noble and Learned Friend. He (Lord Brougharo also • meant to give by his Bill, as his Noble Friend did, jurisdictions in • cases of bankruptcy. He proposed to give by this Bill a voluntary jurisdic tion to any extent, and also to establish courts of re concilement. He thought the latter especially an ex ceedingly important addition. On the Continent the system had prevailed to a great extent, and was found to be highly beneficial in its operation. In Denmark, where these . Courts were in full operation, the number of cases settled in the Courts of Reconcilement com prised two-thirds of the whole number, being 22,000 out of 31,000. With this explanation, he had the honour of laying the Bill before the House. It was nine years since a measure of equal extent was discussed by their Lordships. He never remembered a more strenuous and formidable opposition than that measure received from his Noble Friend ; and though the Bill was rejected by those who weri present at the debate, and who consequently were the best judges, there was but 'the barest possible m a j or ity. H e hoped he should be more successful now than he had hitherto been. The LORD CHANCELLOR had a Bill directed to the same object, which it was his intention to lay on the table in the course of a few days. It was for their Lord ships to say which of the measures should be adopted, or whether they would amalgamate the whole. Lord CAMPBELL trusted that before the present Session was concluded, some arrangement would be made for the establishment of Local Courts. Lord HAWARDEN presented a petition from Tippe rary against any alteration of the Corn-laws. The House then adjourned till to-morrow at 10 o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS, FEB. 28. The SPEAKER took the Chair shortly before Four o'Clock. - PRIVATE BILLS. The.following Private Bills, were -respectively read a second time—the Cottenham . Inelosure, • Clee Inelosure, Cottenham Drainage, Surrey and Sussex Roads, South Eastern Railway, Granton Pier, (Bristol) Bridge, Bristol Boundary, .sOiiiliwirk .- Instproyement (No. 1.), Leicester Sinall Debts, CWin UVD..and Blaina Iron Company, Cambrian Iron and ..Spelter Company, and Stalyliridge .Gas Bills.. . POOll-L,IWS. An I ION. MEMBER presenteta• petition from. a Board or Guardians, praying that Boards of Guardians might have the'power of appointing paid collectors of rates for the various unions. • • • PRESIWTERTAN I'ACARRIAGtS. Colonel CONOLLY - presented petitions from Ramel ton and other places prayiug the House 10 pass a measure legalising Presbyter' a n mixed marriages. Sir R. BATESON presented -petitions., from Garvah and other places to the same effect. • The Hon. Baronet stated that these petitions were signed by several of the fair sex, who took a deep interest in the subject. Sir E. HAYES presented a petition with a similar prayer from Donegal. • Mr. E. TENIStNr presented a similar petition from Belfast. ". CORN-LAWS. Mr. W. EVANS presented a petition from Chester field against the sliding scale. Mr.''CHRISTMAS presented a petition from some place in Ireland, praying that in any alteration in the Corn-laws care might be taken to afford adequate pro tection to the growers of oats. Dr. BOIVIiiNG presented a petition frlm Dysart, signed by 1,162 persons, praying for a total and imme diate repeal of the Corn-laws. The lion. Member like wise presented twenty-one other petitions with a similar prayer. _ _ - Lord DUNCAN presented 20 petitions to the same effect. Mr. ARKWRIGHT presented a petition in favour of the Government proposition respecting the Corn-laws.. Colonel AVIAGGART presented a petition against the Corn-laws. Mr. WALLACE presented ft . petition to the same effect. COPYRIGHT OF DESIGNS BILL On the motion of Mr. E. 'PENNENT, the second .reading of the Copyright of Designs Bill, was postponed to Monday the 24th of Mardi. Mr. CARTWRIGHT presented a petition against the Corporation Leases Bill. The Cottenham Inclosure and Drainage Bill was read a second time and ordered to be committed. Mr KEMBLE presented a petition in favour of the Southwark Improvement Bill. Sir D. ROCHE presented a petition from Limerick, praying for an alteration of the duties on barley and oats. ELECTION PETITIONS. IrnE SUN, LON Honourable Baronet at the head of the Government, whether he had received intelligence from Constan tinople, respecting an alleged imprisonment Of the Emir Beshir, by th 2 Turkish government, and also of the arrival of two Capidan Pachas at Beyroitt, on their way to govern the province, lately under the ad ministration of the Emir. Sir ROBERT PEEL begged the Gallant Commodore to reserve his question until to-morrow, when he should receive a full answer. LORD ELLENBOROUGH. In answer to a question from Mr. E. BULLER, re specting the salary of Lord Ellenborough, Sir R. PEEL said that he . had no doubt whatever that the compensation received by Lord Ellenborough for the office to which he was appointed by his father when Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, must, under the law, be continued. A question might arise whether under the Act passed at the time the new charter was given to the East India Company, an equal reduction ought not be made in the salary of per sons appointed to the Government of media, who held at the same time situations in this country, but that was a question between the East India Company and the Governor-General of India. That was now under the consideration of the East India Company. - When he (Sir Robert Peel) in the performance of his public duty offered Lord Ellenborough the appointment of Governor-General of India. believing he was best qualified to fill that office, he (Lord Ellenborough) said, that he considered it would be hard, if the compensation which was due to him, were forfeited ; but as he . accepted office from a sense of public duty, even though the office which he held fell within the provisions of that Act, still it would not pre vent him from acce;.ting the office of Governor-General. It was entirely a question for the decision of the East India Company. He looked at the Act, and he appre hended the Treasury could not stop the compensation. Mr. MITT made an observation, which was inaudible in the gallery. • • The following members were appointed Chairmen of Election Committees :—Lord Ashley, Sir J. Y. Buller, Mr. Divett, Mr. Home Drummond, Sir B. Hall, Sir E, Hayes, Mr. Haytor,_ Mr. Hogg Mr. Reddington, Sir P. M. Stewart, and Mr. Charl e s Wood. Mr. V. SMITH presented a petition from the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the borough of Southampton, expressing dissatisfaction at the Corn-law measure introduced by the Government, and stating their conviction that the system would never be settled on any sound basis except by a perfectly free trade in those ar ticles which form the necessaries of life. A petition was prese n t e d b y an Hon. MEMBER, on the Ministerial benches, praying that the charge of the County Rate be taken from the County, and placed on the Consolidated Fund. Mr SHAW presented a petition for regulating School Education in Ireland. ' Colonel ACTON presented a petition from the High Sheriff and Grand Jury of the County of Wicklow, cont.: plaining that Ireland would be greatly injured if the measures respecting corn, as proposed by Sir H. Peel, were carried into effect, and expressing a conviction that Ireland would be altogether ruined, if there were not a sufficient protection to agriculture. 'Sir W. CLAY presented several petitions, praying for the total and immediate repeal of the Corn-laws. Mr. BARCLAY presented three petitions, one from the Wesleyans of Sunderland, and two others from places in the county of Durham, with the same prayer. Lord SANDON presented a petition (we understood from Liverpool) praying the House to consider the propriety of allowing foreign corn to be ground in bond, under proper regulations. Sir Q. STRICKLAND presented a petition from some places in the West Riding of the county of York, praying that every male, twenty-one years of age, and untainted with crime, should be- allowedto vote in the election bf Members of Parliament. An HON. MEMBER presented a petition from York shire praying for an alteration in the Bastardy clauses of the New Poor-law Bill. NOTICES OF MOTION. Dr. BOWRING gave notice that to-morrow week he would move for the correspondenc e respecting the esta blishment of an English Bishop at Jerusalem. THE CORN PRICES' AVERAGES. Mr.:BARCLAY gave notice, that upon the Committee entering upm this part of the Corn -law question, he would move that no towns be added to those from which the returns have been hitherto made up. THE NEW POOR-LAW. Dr. BOWRING begged to ask the Right Iron. Ba ronet whether he had any objection to lay before the. 'louse copies of a memorial, addressed to the Govern-. ment (as we understood), complaining of certain pro c;!eJings of the Poor-law Commissioners, and also of the c n -respondence that had taken place between those par= ties on the subject ? Sir JAMES GRAHAM said that if the Ho nourable Gentl.l`nan would put his question to-morrow he (Sir James Graham) would be able to give a definite answer. At present he had no objection to produce a copy of the memorial, and of the answer. . THE EMIR BESCHIR OF LEBANON. SiT CHARLES NAPIER begged to ask the Right RiN, 'TUESDAY MORNING-, MARCH te, 1842 sire • changes in the commerce of the country. The Hon. t Member complained of riot having got an 'answer respecting the intentions of the Government on this subject. If the Hon. Member knew how many questions were sent privately to him (Sir R. Peel) on this point and on that point, he would feel how great was the difleulty of replying to all these inqui ries. He (Sir R. Peel) had no hesitation" in stating now, that the Government had no intention of altering the law as regards the importation of-foreign malt. With respect to barley he thought he was justified in stating that, generally, the soil of England was better fitted for the production of that grain than that of other countries —( Hear, hear.) As regarded the barley brought from France, or any other country, inferences were to b e d rawn f rom t h e investigation of facts generally, and not from any special in stances. His Hon. Friend had mentioned that barley was used for food. In many parts of the country barley was used for food; and in Yorkshire and Lancashire, ports with which he (Sir R Peel) was well acquainted, oatmeal constituted part of the food of the labouring classes.--( Hear.) This question had been very fully discussed in it'27 and 1828; and he was unwilling now, considering the e xt e nt t o which oatmeal was used for. food, unduely to increase the protection on oats ; but they were not now discussing the question of oats, but of barley. If they diminished the price of wheat, lie thought they ought also to diminish the price of barley. Believing his Hon. Friend's amendment to have been brought forward on the ground that his (Sir R. Peel's) plan did not afford suffi cient protection to the barley g: ower, he must say that he was hardly prepared for such an amendment from his Hon. Friend ; because in every case where barley was consumed, there was scarcely any difference between the scale of his llon. Friend and his own. By his ( Sir R. Peel's) scale, when barley was above 303. and ,under 31s. the duty would be es., and by his lion. Friend's scale the duty would be precisely the same : the only difference between them was, that by his (Sir R. Feel's) scale, when the price was under 265. in the home market, the duty would be I Is., whilst by his Hon. Friend's scale the duty would be 13s. Now he (Sir It. Peel) thought that the reduction of protection which he proposed on barley was founded on the same principle as that which had induced him to diminish the protection on wheat; he thought there would be no disturbance of the present relations existing between barley and wheat ; but he considered, that when the time had arrived for the reduction of the protection on wheat, the time had also arrived to reduce the protection on bailey, anti that was the principle on which he had proceeded. He trusted that the impression of the House would be, that the scale which he proposed bore a fair relation to his scale for wheat; and he believed that there was no fear of any danger arising to the barley groan from his scale, or that it would much interfere with the barley interest. Mr. WODEHOUSE said he had bad a communication with the Speaker, upon the subject of his intention to move this resolution—( Hear, hear)—and it was from the Speaker's lips he had heard, that the proper course was that which he (Mr. .Wodehouse) had adopted. Mr. GREENE having said something, which was inaudible in the gallery, Mr. WODEHOUSE said it was upon that point he had risen. Before Mr. Greene had taken the chair the Speaker had seen the resolution—he (Mr. Wodelaouse) asked him, was there any impediment in the forms of the House to move that the consideration of the duties hereafter to be imposed upon .barley might be deferred. The Speaker's answer was that that could not he done whist the House was in Committee, and that the roundabout course " of moving that the Chair man do leave the chair," should be adopted. That was th e cause why he (Mr. Wodehouse) had taken the course he was so pecularly unfortunate to pursue. Mr. GREEN E—What is your motion, now? Mr. WODEIIOUSE—That you repeat the resolution to the House. After a few words from Mr. DARBY, Major CUMMING BRUCE said he concurred that the object of his Hon. Friend was, by deferring the subject, to give her Majesty's Government time to reconsider it in all its bear ings. lie thought the scale proposed by her:Majesty's Govern ment, did not afford adequate protection to the cultivatiou of grain. It was the opinion of intelligent men, farmers, corn dealers; and others conversant with this, subject, that the pro. posed scale of duties would involve consequences extremely in jurious to agriculture. The alteration in the law as respected the duties to be levied upon wheat would cause a considerable portion of land now employed in the cultivation of wheat to be emplojed in the cultivation of oats and bat ley ; and it there - fore became more important to the agriculturists of the United Kingdom that those grains should be adequately protected. it appeared that the protection proposed for barley and oats was lower than that proposed for wheat. The reduction per cent. of the protection was higher against barley and oats than it was against wheat. The reduction in the protection to wheat was 45 per cent., while the reduction in the protection to barley was 54 per cent , and that in the protection to oats 59i per cent. Now it had never been said that barley and oats would not bear a higher protection than wheat ; in fact, no comp'aint had even been made on the subject of the protection to those grains. With respect to the Scotch corn grower, he would ob serve, that the freights from the north of Scotland to London were nearly as high as those from the Baltic, and that the port charges in London were the same on Scotch grain as on foreign grain, so that the Scotch corn grower was excluded from the protection which those charges afforded to the English corn grower, and which had been dwelt upon with so much empha sis by the Right Hon. the Vice-President of the Board of Trade. Oats imported at 235. would bear e duty of tis. This showed that the Scotch agriculturists required a highe figure to pro. tact them. An English farmer could send his corn to market for 2s. a quarter : but an extensive Scotch farmer lately told him that he (the farmer), in sending 200 quarters of oats to market at 18s., he had to pay 3s. 6d. a quarter to get it con veyed to the shore, and then ss. freight. In short, the new law would take away all encouragement ft-6m the grower of oats in Scotland ; and if it were passed, as it stood at present, the existing distress of Scotland must be greatly increased, in con sequence of the number of persons thrown out of *employment. He believed, with regard to prices, that when the demand was great, prices would be high ; but when prices fell, the corn sent to this country would be a complete bugbear, and would be sold at any price that could be obtained for it ; and by. 'that means drag down the price of wheat in the country. Such had been the improvement in the cultivation of foreign . barley that it was now frequently imported at a weight of from 521bs. to 50,bs, per buchel. Such barley was perfectly fit for malting, if it had not been long in store before it was brought into this country. Under thee circumstances he had no doubt that there would he a great competition in the qualities of Barley used for malting. He had also some remarks to make on the duty on beans; they formed an important part of the rotation of their crops in Scotland when pre paring for wheat. The lowest remunerating price for beans was 355. a quarter, the highest duty on importivion was I Is. Now last year Mehemet Ali had imported to this country 50,000 quarters, which were sold duty and all ex penses paid, for 28s. a quarter. It would be imps ihle to compete with this, and the present proposed duty would be a total prohibition of the home growth. He therefore trusted her Majesty's Government would reconsider that part of the scale whi h referred to these deeeriptions-01-grain. He shou!d take warning, however, by what had occurred to the Hon. Member for Lincolnshire; and as he was also one of the "skir mishers" that had been alluded to, if he could not get the Go vernment to change their position, he should fall back on the main body rather than fall into the hands of the enemy. The scale of duties proposed would cause a fall in the value of land in Scotland of 25 per cent., causing distress to the land lord and tenants, who hold under leases, and the peculiar nature of niany tenures there would not allow the proprietors to reduce their rents. In conclusion, he would only say that he too much appreciated the great advantages which the country enjoyed in having not only a strong, but an honest and upr gilt Government. And be would not put such a Go vernment in jeopardy for any proposition they might melee on the Corn-laws.—( Hear, hear ) Whether as regarded ilia own feelings or the opinions of his constituents, he would rather submit to larger concessions than endanger their stability. But he could not see how a certain mod fication in the scale of duties on barley and oats could be rejected, if it were proved to be for the salvation of the agriculturists of the couutry, or why the Government should be obstinate in adhering to their scale ; yet if it were persevered in, and bad consequences were to follow, they would have the satisfaction to believe that it would not be persevered in in consequence of any hostility to the agriculturists of the country, but that a sincere desire to maireain and promote their prosperity, had been the object and motive of her Majesty's Ministers.—( Hear, hear. ) After a few words from Colenel fluent:our which did not reach the gallery, Lord W ORSLEY said that an lion. Gentleman opposite (Mr. C. Bruce) had stated that he thought the proposed amount of protection to the growers c.-f barley was insufficient, but as the measure came from an honest Government, sooner than displace that Government, he would withdraW his opposi tion to the proposal. Now he ( Lord Woreley) was ready to admit the good intentions of the Governm- nt, but at the same time he' should say that they were mistaken in thinking that the protection they proposed. to give would be sufficieet. He should say from communications he had had with intelligent far mers of different political opinions, that the whole body seemed to be unanimously of opinion that the existing, protection was not too great to the home grower of barley ; and they did not think it possible they would continue to cultivate their land for that crop with a less protection. A friend of his had lately' told him lately that in correquence of the proposition of the Govern ment, only 225. had during the last week been offered fur bar ley in his part of the country, and the maltsters stated that if that proposition were carried, they would get the greater part of their barley from Amerieti: e It must be recollected that none but the finest barleys were included in the averages. There was a very great quantity included. As was sold at an i n f er i or pr i ce, wh i ch was not As far as he had been able to ascertain with respect to his own country there was but one opinion on this subject.' As re garded the alteration in the duty on the importation of foreign wh -at the common expression was that they' must grin and bear it ; but he trusted that the ease was not so hopeless with respect to barley. He feared that if these resolutions passed there would be agricultural distress added to manufacturing distress. That number of persons who now cultivated land would be thrown out of employment and find no other means of obtaining a subsistence. If the forms of the House had per mitted, he should hive moved that the duties with regard to spring corn should remain as they were at present. From that, however, he was precluded by the decision upon the mo tion of his Hon. Colleague. But with respect to the duties on barley and oats he could not see why any change whate ter should have been proposed. As he had stated before, he re gretted extremely that the measure had been brought forward. He gave tho Government credit for believing that it would afford sufficient protection, arid that it would be a settlement of the question ; at the same time he differed from them in opi nion, and should feel it his duty to offer every opposition to its passing into a law.—( Hear, hear. ) Mr. CHRISTMAS said he was quite aware that any gen tleman on that (the Ministerial) side of the House who engaged in a skirmish against her Majesty's Govern ment, was placed in no enviable position. He wished, however, to call the attention of the House to the state of' this question as regarded Ireland. A vast deal of a'arm existed in that country in feference to the proposed change. He had that day presented a petition of his, not from the monopolising agriculturists as they were often called, but from the Chamber of Commerce of the city, which he had the honour to represent, praying for an increase of the duty upon oats and barley.— (Hear, hear.) Oats were not generally grown in England but in Ireland. This crop employed a greater number of the popu lation, who supplied this country, as might be inferred from the fact that, while England imported from 1826 to 1841, 3,98 -,969 quarters of foreign oats, she imported nearly 1 2,000,000 quarters of foreign wheat. The withdrawal of the protection for oats from Ireland, would increase the 1000,000 unemployed persons to 2,000,000 or 3,000,000, so that the workhouses could not hold them. And it should be borne in mind that in. Ireland there were no manufictures to fall back on as here. Since the passing of the present Act, there had been iruporteelirsto this country from Ireland, 27,914,039 quarters of oats, valued at 2,000,0001. It would, therefore evidently be dan gerous to, throw this kind of grain out of cultivation, for most certainly the foreigner could beat the Irish oats out of the market, under the proposed scale—a result that she more parti eulaely avoided, considering that Ireland had now the burthen of Poors'-rates, for the first time, thrown upon her. The three places on the Continent, from which the largest impor tation of oats might be expected, were Petersburgh, Elsinore, arid Hamburgh. The price at Petersburgh was from 12s. to 14s. ; at Elsinore, from 12s. to 16s. ; and at Hamburgh, from 14s. to 165.: so that they might consider the average price to be 13s. a quarter. To this they would have to add 2s. a quarter for freight ; and that, wi'h a duty of 65., foreign oats could be brought into the British market at 21s. a quarter. .The price of oats was also always lower in Ireland than it was in England; and, therefore, be thought he wasjustified in aaying that the proposed scale did not afford sufficient protection to the Irish grower. He should be sorry to do any thing to obstruct - hi 9 ' S a it I tl i the proposed measure of which, as a whole, he approved. As . tection to the growers of barley and oats as contras'e W s ego ; ~ for himself, he had no objection to a fixed duty-( Hear, hea-) wheat. The important consideration was, ateahat prices litre- , 5i ., 0 1 . , e•-provided it were sufficiently high, but it ought to be much quantities of grain couldbe brought into the country. He mien' ~',' higher than the bne p r oposed by the Noble Lord. He hoped assn ne that the calculations made by gentlemen on bet's sides . .u (1 the Government would take Imo then' eielsideiation the yard- of the House, and by his Right Hon. Friend the Member fe'r.,4l - circumstances of the case as regarded Ireland, and shape i ntiblin-in the first place, that Right Hon. Gentleman (Ase,•es c i,.. their legislation accordingly. He felt a difficulty in voting on Shaw) said, that, hi 1829, there were 193,000 quarters of 02 .4( O,' the motion before the House, because he did not understand the • paid 11 s. duty; and, therefore, assenting that those oats "T r :hee t 's effect it might produce.-( Hear, hear, and a laugh.) If it got at average price, that left the price of foreigr; , . I , eo woa'd induce the Government to re-consider the question as oats at something under 125., which was the lowe: 1 7,1 ~.., far as related to oats, he should not hesitate to vots for it. Under 'it cou'd be introduced for-but the cgures before the II"' eel the present circumstances, he scarcely knew how he should vote showed that in that year there were not 190.000 quarte r ' C . l7' ' I A • on the motion. oats, but 850,000 quarters ; that clearly showed that the tranSeeet; Mr. CHRISTOPHER said, if be thought that by voting for actions were not good mercantile transactions; 19,/,00 0 ( 1° 34•- • - e (1 1 the motion :hey should arrive at any practical result-( Hear, tees of oats sounded a large quantity in that House, but if any I et) bear)-if there was any ultimate or reasonable pro3pect one reflected upon the quantity which was sufficient for ir:',19 . 0 . 4 . e lose of inducing the Government to increase the protect- consumption of the country, that could not be consider" lug duty on barley, and the kinds of grain that had ; great deal; there were 2,500,000 quarters of oats for illsta ne • ,g g 7; been mentioned, he would support the mot with imported from Ireland. Now, suppose 15.000,000 quartet!, the utmost satisfaction, for he concurred entirely with what were taken as sufficient for the United 'Kingdonss , :: had been said as to the inadequate protection which the pro- i was a very moderate calculation, and ipo,ooo Tort e re „. The posed scale would afford t o th e b ar l ey grower . B ut t h e prac . was on ly one - e i g hth part o f t h at quantity. tical question to considerwas, how was it possible for them by was another case quoted by a n H on . M e mber ; that be supporting the measure o f hi s H on . F r i en d, to g i ve thethemlion. Gentleman said that there were three hundred thonsir that protection which th e y cons id ere d a b so l ute l y necessary . H e - quarters o f oa t s i mpor t e d i n 1 836, an d t h e average price r also thought it would b ear h eavy on t h e grower o f b eans, an d state d was 21 s . 9d. Time lion. Gentleman referred to illa ., the cultivation of th e s t rong c l ay so il s. F rom t h e tat i ons w hi c h t oo k place in speculative years; the duty Chet present state of the market of oats and barley, and' paid was I Is. Suppose the duty as it is now proposes!, le from their not enteri ng so great l y i nto t h e genera l , wou ld ma k e t h e price 145., so that it would allay the' .pii e s.s . co sumption of the p eo pl e , h e th oug h t t h ere was not I a l arm o f t h e agr i cu l tur i sts, w hi c h arose f rom t h e id ea that by s such a pressing necessity f or a lt er i ng th e d u t y as f or a l ter i ng ' the proposed scale oats could be imported at 1 Is., 125., or 'f c e , the duty on wheat. If h e th oug h t t h e mot i on wou ld i n d uce : -The Right Hon. Gentleman the Member f o r Essex referreu et the Government to place a higher pro:ection on these articles • several cases too , he said he had been told, and there w e . of grain he would support it, but he did nit see how they no doubt the Hon. Gentleman's mercantile experience ? I, ' , ', ; . could - arrive at any practical conclusion by proceeding to a i entitled to great weight, he said that the best oate is - cul et e division. The sooner this question was settled, one way or had on the Continent at I Is. 61. Now, suppose, freight Te ri ether, the better it would be for the convenience of the House ! other charges were added to that, it would make it 16s. ri t e, and the satisfaction of the country. ; (Mr. Gladstone) did not deny that particular parce/s of (4 _, • e Mr. SHAW said that the part of the scale referring to oats ' might be had at that price, but 11 s. 6d. could not be taken ,;,,W1 , ',.. had occasioned 'great excitement in Ireland, and the general . the average price. Again, according to the returns, it . ael:lt i ' h ,..lo impression that prevailed was, that it did not give a sufficient ! be seen that Sweden, for instance, was not likely to suPPi.es 'l a l s i protection to agriculture. It was his desire to allay that ex• i more than 12,000 quarters of oats annually. Then what ! flie ! te e eitement, and without - going into any sietail of figures, or ; the official information before the House? HO Was certai nly j e troubling them on more than a single point, he would beg the I disposed very much to place the most implicieeeliance, b rhe ~ „.; i0 Government, as far as their plan went, to give some i n te rnee - I upon the returns of the Consuls and the calculation in l e e el tion to the House- If he was rightly - informed, the Govern- 1 Report of Mr. Meek-he was the more disposed to do set 'nett' e l ment assumed that 225. was a sufficient price to protect agri- Ihe did not know that Hon. Gentlemen, or any body of 'n et ''' i fr, culture. Ile would not give any opinion upon that point, but ; had come forward to complain of th ise calculations , ° e e • he believed, on the whole, that if it did afford protection it I say that the estimate's included in that Report w e :, would be rather a scanty one . . A ssum i ng t h at 22 5 . wou ld b e 1 erroneous or unwort h y of cre di t; and upon the discussion lie a sufficient protecti on t o oa t s , h e w i s h e d to as k t h e a tt ent i on o f i t h e w h eat question, both aides of the House relied tipoo et e • the Government t o th e f act t h at f ore i gn oa t s m i g h t be sold at I general returns of the Consuls. H e (M r . Gl a d stone ) dd P 4 16s. .If his Eon. Friend could convin c e him th a t that w as the i therefore thi n l a that the returns of barley or oats were at "a average price of for e i gn oa t s , t h en he shoal say that that was 1 less worthy of credit than wheat was. The returns sbo a e e t , , l e a sufficient prot e cti on t o agr i cu lt ure . If h e h ad b een r i g h tly . t h at t h e average pr i ce of oats was 18s. 2d. ; and the VW ,' .'' . informed oats might b e o bt a i ne d f rom S we d en at 9s. 6 d . th a t cou ld b e em b ar k e d at that price was 835,000 qua rters a‘se , s , j 5, ,Ir a quarter, and 2s. 6d. f. eight. 'lids was not a time to Suppose freight and other charges of that sort'antounteu io,. e . , e i make an experiment on the staple trade of the country. a quarter, that would make the price 235. 2d. a ettar li ' h e Honourable Gentlemen opposite would recollect that agri- 793,000 quarters of oats was the quantity supposed to lid culture was the only so u rce o f emp l oyment f or a great mass annua ll y i mporte d ; an d t h at cou ld b e h a d f ree in b e e ,. • of our population. They were engaged_ in agriculture, at lls. 3d. a quarter. Suppose freight to be e eh . anti that alone, and it had been found more advantageous to te quarter too, that would be 16s. as the price at tor . , cultivate oats than any other grain. If, therefore, any serious oats could be imported, and the duty of 6s. added would g i ' o e o . change was made in the trade between this country and Ire- total of 225. ; and, surely, no gentleman who was at all re's, _ t land, it. would ent a il a mos t ser i ous ev il. H e therefore hoped able in his calculations could expect oats would be admitted at his Right Hon. Friend would reconsider this subject before less than that. By Mr. Meek's report it appeared that e", pi °posing his scale. He: knew that it would be in vain to resist teeth' be obtained in Ostend at 295. 80 .; hut the low , et 1 11 1 , ; it. if it were proposed.--( t ries from the Opposition of " Try he stated was at Elsinore, where oats were only 13s. (ju ts it." Laughter.) Certainly, if a fair division was insisted if 4s. were added for freight, and 6s. duty, it we old make e 1 1 ,,, upon, he should vote f or th a t w hi c h was sugges t e d b y hi s 23 5 . (id. a quarter. It was quite plain that, according t° ase Right lion. Friend, but h e cou ld h ave h ope d to h ave seen t h e s t a t emen t s re li e d upon b y b ot h s i des o f t h e H ouse , t h e pret e ;; scale 2a. higher; but h e s h ou ld l eave the proposition in the tion afforded to barley and oats, according to the scale pi tri p hands of the Governme n t, and he should give them his last by the Government was very ampl e , and bore sufficient re et support. two to the duty upon wisest. It was said that barley and scr ee - Sir D. ROCHE made some observation across the table, ' had frequently sold at 143. and 16s. a quarter. -114 00 . which was inaudible in the gallery. were extremely low prices I that might be, and eer , Mr. C. BULLER said that he had heard of a fairy tale, in doubt it was, a great grievance upon the gre" tioe which w fairy was continually occupied in making all sorts of - but these low prices were not owing to the altere As i • experiments. One of the greatest difficulties she had to sue- proposed by the Right Honourable Baronet (Sir R. Pe'',./ e t ; W ; mount, was to separate• barley from oats, which she could only on the contrary he (Mr. Gladstone) was firmly convinced tlee do by the aid of a magician, He (Mr. Buller) wished they in point of fact the glutted state of the markets with eefere4 had some magici a n there.-( Laughter. ) The Hon. Member to 'oats particularly, was the real cause of the law that el' eo; for Norfolk seemed to be of opinion, that. the best way of set- When agriculturists were getting low prices for their pre:el:l,lf thing the question was to stop the business of the House alto- when even the prices of age icultural productions were extrew - a gether, and repo r t progress. In order to enable Hon. Gentle. low in this country, the agricu turists had been always disli.l e .. men to collect their ideas on the subject. He (Mr. Buller) .to consider that it was.because the protection was not sufficie er , did not know how long that might take, but he believed it and whenever the prices were low they always petitioneareeli .- would take a consid era bl e port i on o f the t i me of the House.- li ament upon t h e su bj ect. T hey d i d so for instance in ' e V (Great laughter.) A n d h e , t h erefore, hoped suc h a step an d t h e C omm i ttee then pertinently replied that it was c le l o e • would not be adopted. W i th respect to the question then be- true di s t ress did ex i st, b ut that the protect i on tiS i t fore the House, he (M r . B u ll er ) cou ld take no other course corn cou ld not b e decrease d . U pon the whole, he conce ive , than that of voting with th e Ri g ht li on. B aronet. In the first was qu i te man if est t h at t h e scale of d uty upon oa t s an d li s r ,e ,V, place, it was useless putting the same ques ti on . I n t h e second propose d b y t h e G overnment a ff or d e d as su ffi c i en t p r otect' place, the Hen. Member for Norfolk should devise some as it afforded to wheat. plan upon whi c h h e can ac t, an d prov id e aga i nst t h e i n. M r . M. J . O'CONNELL regrette d t h at h e had neteree had .. superable forms of the H ouse . Th e H onoura bl e M em . th e pl easure o f hesringthe whole of the speech of t'.-e 1°,4. her wished to in crease th e ameunt of dui just y upon oats, Gentleman who had sat down. He had risen Ine r `e, and, therefore, he had not courage to say " No,' to the propo- to ask why the ground which was taken up on the t e a .. aition of the Right lion. B arone t, an d ve t, at t h e same t i me , glnal proposition (of thi s ques ti on h a d b een der' ow '. he said his only course was t o go on w i t h t h e sca l e propose d b y from ?-(Cheers from th e Oppcsition.) It was stated by or the First Lord of the Treasury. What. was the use of ex- Right Hon. Baronet, when he first addressed the House ° I r , pressing their opinion, unless they supported them with a vote. this subject, that he intended to abide by the relative Pi e t° -(1-lear, hear, and cheers.) The 1-lon. Gentleman said it tion of duty upon wheat, barley, and oats. It appeare i ( lor e was no use trying his motion, and yet he was averse to say he him (Mr. M. J. O'Connell) most strange that the Hight 1 1 would not try in-( Laughter, and cheers.) Why did he not Baronet's proposition should be held between wheat be , emulate that Noble Lord, so much admired on the other side of oats in the maximum duty, but the proposition, er e - the House, and who asked if the r e w as ever an ythi ng got e i t h- tween th e m i n i mum parts was not a t a il h e ld.-0 1 , e w et out a trial? Let. them take th e nobl e ex ampl e o f the D u k e o f As 5 rise s t o 2, so d oes 50, not to 18, b ut to 20. That .4 'Buckingham-" Pluck up your courage, ma n, an d d o it. ' the proportion, and he wi s hed for a n e xpl a nation why the 'gel • Mr. IVODEHOUSE said his answer to the Hon. Gen- had been departed from in the maximum and minimum, • tleman simply was, th a t. b e w i s h e d t h e G overnment to g i ve up.-(llear, -hear.) All that he heard the Right re for some expression of their future intention with respect to the Gentleman say went to prove that the scale was suffecifil' br el .; admission of fo re i gn oa t s . H e rece i ve d t h at expression, and protection, but he required to know why the pro portion l be he could not do more than thank his Hon. Friend. Now he been departed from in the case of oats.- ( Hear, hear.) te es (Mr. Wodehouse) would go one step further, and state that Right lion. Gentleman had stated that the trade in vats sus s in his opinion the present system of protection was inadequate, the most satisfactory of all under the existingtr ite t o and he admitted it to be a fair subject of national revenue. there was . not the same over- holding to obtain the lower a s e e Put he did not think that, because it was necessary under the in the instance of wheat; and yet it was with regard.tootre.-) i. circumstances of the country to raise a revenue upon wheat, trade ; that the greatest change was to be made.-( Hear, h e ta rs e : that therefore there was a corresponding necessity to raise a He (Mr. Gladstone) stated that out of the 3,000,0 00 'r ut 0,05 revenue on all other. sorts of grain. Admitting the weakness . taken put of bond, there were . 248,000 quarters taken P r me if: i of the revenue, yet every man knew that the agricultural in- home consumption at a duty of Is. 9d. ; 690,000 ,]names o lifi e s t terest efts a subject of paramount importance. 3s. 3d. ; 243,000 at 4s. 9d; 9 10,00 at fis. • o ri ), e ll& / Mr. G. PALMER -said, he would net be cried down by when it thus appeared upon the Honourable tee etv e s e4 lion. Gentlemen on the opposite side, who took up this guess man's own confession that the trade in oats %eed ', t 4 i -ti ii in so unseemly a manner. By the forms of the House, he better than the trade in any other sort of grain, he yet P l 'tieh s ,.., found that they could not propose a higher duty then ; there. to make in that trade a still greater change than in that wo k e s s h • fore he thought it better not to press the motion. had workediess profitably.-( Cheers.) He might have d. • 0 1. 1,4 Mr. R. D. POWELL was understood to say, that there that the tiuty was 7s. 9d. on 5 , 15,000 quarters, 91- 3 ; e ta' ,0 , J were so manyconflicting statements made to the House, that he 193,000 quarters, and 10s. 9d. on 485,000 quarters, wh ic h' s ttee, thought it would 'be better for the flight Hon. Latenet to been taken out for home consumption ; and; that re.pe ;e ' .A' t ' -. revise the scale. - . how coull it be said that a fair proportion could have beet' , d i Mr. GLADSTONE said, he ' thought at that late hour it with regard to the duties on oats and wheat? lie hear e i . j, would be better for the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Wodelsouse) to cause of that disproportion, but. of course he Of • A .' i , s tbl s ji wait till the queation of oats was brought forward regularly O'Connell) did not believe it, attributed to pelitical aid i ce e ., , , s ; before the Committee, when the question was fully discussed. ore the part of the Right Hon. Baronet.; but ; it e i h it," Mr. -S. O'BRIEN said he thought it would be better to do o. at all events, unfortunate that his conduce et e li . ,. 40. 1,, ( ,4; The motion of Mr. %Votlehouse was then withdrawn, an d question should appear so utterly: inexplieeh:efoile, e, the original resolution was put from the Chair and passed. irrational. With regard to the speech of the Bight t ieeles;b l Mr. S. O'BRIEN, who was for a considerable time inaudible Gentleman, if the protection be proposed were 'ee lt i PPitifi 1 0 in the Gallery, wss understood to say he thought it was impos • regard to the inferior grain, he would ask him how ii.,be . a it sMe not to perceive tbat the scale proposed would encourage that in the oat market so great a fall in the price of 'ink t -st i trade wits the foreigner. Foreign oats could be sold in this had taken place within ten days after his plan, had bees',., int u it market at a profit when time price was at 20s. and the duty 6s • nounced ?-( Hear, hear.) •He (Mr. M. J. 0 - C11: iti f il° eew ee st . es so that in the western parts of Ireland th e price would of opinion that protection was riot beneficial to any, ln . tes I scarcely ever exceed 7 d. or 7 %d• a stone. The price the country, but if a certain amount of protection were ehy . it ,d i had never exceeded 10,1. or Is. und er th e present la show that this was not an exagg era t e d s t atement he would P s e . T o peculiar intere s ts in thi s c ount r y, h e sh ou ld lik e to know ° toe es i roportionate amount o f protection was no t g ive n to the e !ic iori . 4 , refer to a return he held in his h an d, an d b e f ound that in tuency-unreas oni ng, perhaps, lion. Gentleme n , might con lb bo e, 1837, when the average price was 235. a quarter, th a t not l ess but who would understand that que s ti on ver y we t -wh ic woos than 826,270 quarters were admitted at 6s. duty. lii 1839 he represented.-( Hear, hear.) He hoped the Right flone e ete • • found that not less than 855,000 quarters were intr o d uce d at a tleman would giv e an exp l anat i on on t h e su bj ect ; a nd Il s o duty of 6s. 5d., being higher than that. proposed by th e Ri g h t aware that for hi mse lf i t m i g h t not b e cons i stent to reclutie of Hon. Baronet ; this quantity of 855,000 quarters received in increase of duty; as he had already voted for the reintri t ee 1839 being greater than that received by the whole of E urope. protection altogether.-(Ministerial Cleering.) He itel/ d e ti e vt During the last year not less th a n 841,000 quarte rs were sent Right H on . B aronet , h owever, wou ld s h ow w h y be, 'erica, into London alone. In conclusion, he thought that th e sca l e keep up the p ro p ort i on o f th e d uty on oa t s , an d w hy he °ell - e re' of time Right Hon. Gentleman wo u ld a ff o rd q u it e sufficient in the interv a l w h en h e p ro d uce d hi s propos i t i on , and !be e t,' protection to Ireland. sen t ti me , f rom what lie stated in his first proposal -( "'Geo' Sir D. ROCIIE said be felt that the constituency be repre • Sir R. PEEL said, that the greater part of the Hone bie to rented would deeply - suffer by th e re s o l ut i ons p ropose d b y the tl eman ' s speec h . went to s h ow t h at i t was imO os - 3 'o e tis° ; Right Hon. Baronet. He h o p e d t h e Ri g h t H on. Baronet k eep up an exact arithmetical proportion between the A r ed would reconsider the subject, as it was one o f vital importance that applied to oats and wheat ; hut his Hon. Frie n d w et , to Ireland. - prove that the p ro p or ti on , th oug h no t ar ith me tically ele Sir R. BATESON congratulated H on . G ent l emen on that was su b s t an ti a ll y so , an d t h at pra c t i ca l an d equa l nreP rftio sort - &de of the House for the number of converts they had gained was kept up between the duties on cats and Wh eat 2,pir to their opinions of the necessity of p ro t ect i on to t h e agr i cul- wh en th e H onoura bl e G ent l eman ca ll e d f or an t fr osti , turi-t. He could assure the House that there was a very gene- nation, he (Sir Robert Peel) thought that it was see > nil feeling in Ireland, amongst landlords, land-owners, and the Honourable Gentleman the explanation ought to -.0 7 e sho fat niers. that if the protection was not increased, there would from him who voted against all duties at mac time. h e we' • net he such protection to the grower in Ireland as would enable now cal ed for an increase of them.-( Cheers.) The, 0 him to compete with the foreign grower. Thi s, h e could as-- Gentleman quoted his (Sir R. Peel's) speech with refer.; o 01 0, sure the House, was the general ; feeling in Ireland, and the importation of oats, and said he was not dealing fair'Y ee to he' hoped that Gentlemen opposite would, if they should find regard •to the importation of Irish oats, but hose h e m . th l : at afu etre time, that they had been mistaken, consent to afford reconcile that with the vote Which he had given "seal/ such protection for the spring corn as they did for wheat. removal of all protection to Irish oats, he (Sir R. e rlo a' •. Mr. %V. 0. STANLEY believed the scale of the Right Hon. could not understand. They could _obtain' from B e w e t l ird ( Baronet would be quite aetisfactory to the constituency which . fi ern Stettin, and from every part of the Continent, tha eer o he had the honour to represent.• ele which constituted almost the whole agricultural prod ,glr' Mr. REDINGTON could not but congratulate the Right Ireland, on which Irish prosperity so much depended.--( 1 ,,t oe •' Hon. Baronet, the Member for Tamworth, for the number' of ter.) The Hon. Gentleman limed with much dil l % ea" ' conversions lie had made ; he certainly was the most successful some small difference between the degree of protection :iieeee missionary that had ever been seen. He had convert, d many, and wheat, and hinted that Ireland was to be ruined beea e o bie!! ' but there was one nobleman, great, powerful, and had not that sixpence of protection-( Laughter )-- t er , itii' mighty, who was still refractory, unconvertible.--(Laughter.) she had a right, but the Hon. Gentleman would make s .ti ro te , e! He ( Mr. Redington) understood Hon. Gentlemen opposite to nitely greater hardship, by depriving Irish produce del; te ' say that the reduction in the duty on oats and barley was pro- tion whatsoever. How the Hen. Gentleman could recone_ l s , o A portionate to the reduction on wheat. If that were the case to the House-tohis unreasoning constituency-the tin!" i e tee' t when wheat was 565. the old duty being 30s. Bd. and the pro- part of his constituency -not to men who could examin e e ottl i o '. posed duty 165., when oats is 22'. the old duty being 13s. 9d., with nice arithmetical calculations-(A laugh) -- ek e e iurY t . 4 the new duty ought to - be. not 61. as proposed by the Right leave the Hon. Gentleman to say. But, the greatest I,e, pee . Hon. Baronet, but 7s. lid. He (Mr. Redington) would the progress of free trade proceeded from the unreasellitifor eo, .t difference sink the 2iel. then the difference would be only a Is. The of the community. When the Hon. Gentleman callel o bale j :).„ difference was small, but it was still a difference. He further explanation from him, he ( Sir K. Peel) doubted if 11t! . . , eoe',.. y, thought' that the rest on the idiot of the scale, ought to be in tants of Kerry, if that were a great oat-growing coutwe ae, elle -4 , 5 1 the middle. lie should take the opinion of the House not rather demand an account from the Hon. Gentlemeitea s ee e svhhther the words "75." ought not to be left out, and the voted last year for a duty of 3s. 4€1., and never whiep l e e the wards " tes." substituted Mr. GLADSTONE said that in the proposed ecale the re- country would be more enlightened . ; and he would ask fore 1 4 lation between wheat on the one side, rice and barley on the other, Gentle.mer• who abused him for insulting the people e eo eld r e i P:e was the same in all essential proportions. It was true if land by proposing his Corn-law-lion. Gentlemen 51 '00 0 . ' 4 1 t they assumed an arbitrary point, they might find .a certain collect that to touch their protecting monopolies era' a 1 0 4. 1 ml degree of variation from the just relation i and here it was task.-( Hear, hear.) Yes, but Hon. Gentlemen w er fe e illt"t e somewhat gratifying to mark the difference existing between their outcries against them, and charged him with Vttr o e i the two . was very small. The divergency was very small, and the people of England ; and now, when the interesteisee ei, what divergency there was had arisen from the circumstance own constituencies were touched, their outcry was 1,04t00 .of Hon. Gentlemen not having taken the pains to understand the ► other side, and they called for explanations, becau' il is r o° the grounds on which the proposed scale wa s f o u n d e d, I t was guilty of the enormity of touching Irish oats;---(C heer iele o 4 , 1 trues that the relation throughout the scale between wheat and People of England paid 300,000/., and he was asked „ A A ) , 0 .4 .; ", oats was not exactly preserved the same. The Hon. Gentle- g oing to increase the misery by reducing the duty on e T e ettel. l "' man had taken one end of the scale, and had shown that But the longer these debates continued the more trW e t our -W , , the duty on oats was somewhat lower than the duty on would be enlightened, and the people would ace that tn idet g a te 1 e wheat; but he (Mr. Gladstone) could take the other end of he had taken was the most moderate one and the bast e e ore cat e :•l the scale, and show that the duty on oats was higher then the to reconcile the conflicting interests of the country. He r e ret, d' l44 duty on wheat. Hon. Gentlemen had not objected to taki ng as one of the greatest evils the increasing of the \ eetere'; s -s'; 225. as the figure for oats , which would correspond with the tress by any violent disturbance of a grietfltura e ' reo ter e ' e .. price of 563. for wheat ; and he (Mr. Gladstone) might add, which would be sure to reach the commerce and tna i r itt ie ce e t v 9t., , that 295. was the corresponding figure for barley; but the re- -( Cheers. ) He trusted the people of Englioa fee . and J o e 4 . lation between oats and barley, to which was the highest rela- to the conclusion that his measure was founded on, ..,„ e rie e es ,e , Lion they had had for a long time. In 1663, when, wheat was Principles.' And be firmly believed that 1003., oats was 275. ; in 1774, when wheat was 1003„ oats was would confirm the impression which a great P the b e st 5r „, 4 335. In 1815 oats remained' at the same price, community were coming to, namely, that it was tn .s , ter e In 1822 it was raised to 355. ; and in 18"8 to 40s. tlement that could be made.-(Cheers.) H - eht ill °. it'' at which price it was proposed to be continued. With regard p attics] r i 0 7 , 0 f tn v . , e,: i Mr. ORMSBY GORE agreed with the e of t o; , to barley for a long period the price was taken a' half that of ronet as the inconsistency of the Hon. Gen e o f Ire'''. or 1 ' wheat. In 1828 it was raised from fifty in a hundred to fifty- should be recollected that ems was the main produce land triii, , three in a hundred, and at that they wished to keep it. He Ireland had a much larger extent of uncultieat n e t i v :„ s oug2 o • wished to point out to the lion. Gentlemaa opposite the error England, and they all knew that when waste la I` w ee e h vi .r • ..tti' which had insinuated itself into his calculation. Ile (the to be reclaimed, oats, and not wheat, was the graine et e ri s. Hon. Gentleman opposite) assumed that the new duty on oets tried in such soil, and which would best repay T et gOO% fie. (l . ought to bear the same relation at 225. as the old dot Ureter those circumstances, he entreated the Rtgf g 6 n .stly li p , y on wheat bore to 565., but the old duty at 565, on wheat ronet to consider fully this question before he etel e ; or eny t ei t • was that which happened to fall on 56, , and tided upon it. He (Mr. Gore) did not wish to to; the n e o n- it had not been chosen upon ficulty in the way of the passing of the tneasul" uo i n t if' t o any calculation . what ever. lie (Mr. Gladstone) would suggest to the Hon. Hon. Baronet, but he entreated that, as a firm"i r with retard r''' . Gentleman, that if he assumed that 16s. was the aum which would measure, oats night be considered not merely_W, _ chief la to afford such protection when wheat was at 56s as to prevent any Ireland but this country also. Oats was one of the Is rosp ec e t se , extensive foreign competition, the duty on oats at22s. ought to deletions of North %Vales, where a bad season. :T yro , th_ e r e , bear the same proportion. He must, however. state that the old that article, was almost destruction to the farmer•lt t his th u e of duty of Ws- was quite an accidental figure, which had been fore, a material subject in the consideration of .ee „ow e ., founded on no calculation whatever. He wound not trouble tion. He could not conclude without alludine le ek • el e ._Ti e the" House by goingewer the entire details with respect to the Hon. Gentlemen opposite, who charged lleler s rr w i t e t r t li ie, duty upon barley. The duty upon barley exactly- corresponded hers on that (the Ministerial) side of the 11 . , u , „ vo re on_ co r wilts the duty upon oats, and he was happy to find that the Hon. versation, with advocating one opinion wt, en they had; to Member for Anglesey added to the testimony that had already benches opposite, and a different opinion I . 1 " J d sorne P' s' to that side of the House. He wished he a show 04 , 0 been given; so far as his constituency were eoricerned, they thought' the protective dut pen barle ery fair, and bring down-some Mirror of I'cvliantent to u...t vi be `IA he (Mr. Gladstone) was - eo u nvinced that v if it were been the sentiments he had expressed on this aor ( ti s3. , p eo , j ec't sat on the other side. Al them; h he had totally t.e h i al t o t, j o not the general opinion with refereece to the measure pro posed by his Right Honourable Friend Sir Robert Peel, this of the repeal of the duty on corn altogether, y 0 ,_ e a P end ne -- d e or debate would have been prolonged much longer than it was. that the present scale was most defectiven t .n __ es , by 1 11 _, a le, Another conederation was, that the charge of conveyance de. prepared to support any measure brought t t he e" - e xisting:lid pended very much upon the bulk of the article, and, therefore, ponents, provided it was an improvement sca.e. se 01 e the duty and charge of the conveyance afforded a distinct pro s but presersingthe prinsjple of the sliding scal e. TREATY WITH NAPLES. Mr. BAILLIE wished to ask the Right Hon. Gentle man, at the head of her Majesty's Government, whether the Neapolitan Government had entered into a treaty with Mr. M'Gregor, and if so, whether he had any ob jection to lay that treaty on the table of the House. Sir R. PEEL said he had the satisfaction of being able to state that negotiations were now pending with the proper authorities, and (as we understood) when it was properly ratified that there would be no objection to lay it before the House. AMERICAN CORN. Sir C. NAPIER' asked a question relative to what had fallen from the' Right Icon. Baronet, the Member for Tamworth, on a former night, relative to the time, in which a vess e l cou ld ma k e th e p assage f rom A mer i ca to Liverpool. The Hon. and Gallant Member stated that there was a proper officer whoSe duty it was to ascertain, and who in fact did ascertain, by questions put to the captain, as to the periods of the ship's departure and ar rival, the exact time occupied by the voyage. Sir R. PEEL said, if he found on further inquiry, that the means of giving such information existed, and that there was an officer who had such a record of the time of voyages, he should have no objection to state it to the House. Mr. FITZROY hoped that if there were the means of supplying • the :information asked for by the Honourable and Gallant Member for Marylebone, the Government would give it. He hoped they would go farther—(Order, order)—he would ask if the Right Hon. Baronet would also grant a return of the quantity of flour brought over by American vessels to Liverpool, with the number of days such vessels were on their passage: Mr. TIIORNELY was about to make a few observa tions, when he was called to order. Sir R. PEEL repeated what he had before stated, that if he found any public authority had a record of the time referred to, he would immediately furnish the information required by the Hon. and Gallant M em b er. Sir CHARLES - NAPIER rose again, but was loudly called to order; and the conversation dropped. ENGLISH REGISTRATION BILL. Mr. ELPIIINSTONE asked what were the inten tions of the Government with respect to the English registration ? Sir R. PEEL said, as soon as they had made some progress with the important measure now occupying the House, the next Bill to which he should call their atten tion would be one relating to English registration. He should not lay any other Bill on the table till the present measure was disposed of. • RAILWAYS. The Order of the Day for the second rending of the Railway Bill having been read, Mr. F. MAULE begged to ask the Right Iron.. Gentl eman the Secretary for the Home D e p ar t ment , a question, to which his attention had lately been drawn, relative to a practice in Scotland, which had been adopted by certain sheriffs. In the case of railways requiring more land, they were frequently in the habit of taking any land contiguous to the railway, of which they were in need ; and questions not unfrequently arose between the railway company and the former proprietors, as to the amount of compensation to be received by the latter for the land thus taken. In these cases, the Sheriffs, when called upon to interfere, considering that they were acting in an extra-judicial duty, believed themselves entitled to remu neration for their services. His object in referring t o thi s matter was, that it m i g ht be made known ; he was sure the Right Hon. Gentleman would not refuse to call the attention of the Government to it, and he was content, therefore, to leave the matter in the hands of the Govern ment. Sir J. GRAHAM confessed that until list week, his attention had not been drawn to this subject, when he was directed to it by a paragraph in a newspaper. On general principles, he thought that great inconvenience would arise from officers who salaries for their official duties, looking for other compensation for their services. If their salaries were not sufficient re muneration for all their duties, they should be in creased.—(Hear.) When people were called on . to act as arbitrators they were generally paid by both parties con • corned in the arbitration He did not know how that was in this case, but he was disposed to consider the subject. Mr. FOX MAULE said that in the case he referred to he believed the Sheriff had not been remunerated by - 1:0th parties, but only by one of them. Mr. THORNELY wished to put a question to the Right Hon. Baronet. He (Sir R. Peel) had just stated that an order had been sent to America for flour, which flour had been received in Liverpool in six weeks. He (Mr. Thornely)- begged to state-that he had received a letter from Liverpool, stating that it was fifiy-one days from th; sending out of the order to the arrival of the flour in Liverpool. The Right Hon. Baronet had just stated that the flour was ordered on the 13th September, his (Mr. Thornely's) informant stated it to be the 24th. He begged to ask the 'Right Hon Baronet whether he had any objection to lay on the -table of the House a copy of the statement he had referred to. Sir ROBERT PEEL said he had a letter in .the hand-writing of the person who imported the flour, and if he (Sir Robert Peel) had made any mistake, he was sorry for it. His information stated that the flour was ordered on the Ist of August, and received on the 13th of September. He felt quite sure this was the statement he received, but he would refer to it again, and . give the Honourable Member the information he wished. Mr. THORNELY—I am much indebted to the Right lion. Baronet, and if he would bring that statement for ward.—(Cries of " Order, order," in the midst of which Mr. Thornely sat down.) Lord SANDON said he did not wish to delay the Bill upon Railways passing through a second reading, but he hoped that a pledge would be given by his Right Hon. Friend that ample time would be given for going into the consideration of this great branch of enterprise, in order that communications, if necessary, might be had with parties interested. Mr. GLADSTONE said he believed that no very great time would be required to proceed with this Bill; the parties interested were quite alive to its merits. He (Mr. Gladstone) could readily give a pledge that no nttempt would be made to interfere with the interests 01 certain parties connected with the subject, without giving ample time to those parties to make any commu nication they might think proper. COLONIAL PASSENGERS BILL. Mr. HAWES begged leave to ask the Noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies a question re specting this very important measure. Believing the Bill the Noble Lord meant to introduce to he precisely the same in principle, though per haps not in all details, to the Bill before the House last year ; he (Mr. Hawes) meant to give the present measure his most strenuous opposition. Therefore, he !iegged to ask' the Noble Lord whether he meant to move the second reading of his Bill this evening. If 'so, it would be necessary for him to take the sense of the House on the question ; on the other hand, if the Noble Lord did not mean to proeeed .. 'to night, he trusted the Noble Lord would die some day when the l House would have an oppor tunityiSrAthNe STANLEY Y lnds of placedof going i n t o a di scusS i on on the second reading. n Lord admitted i‘iem th bo at rs his th ß at ill m h o ad rni b n e g en ; still it could not be said to have taken them by sur prise, as it Was in a great degree an embodiment of the clauses founded upon the Report of the Commissioners of Emigration, which had been furnished to the House. Looking . to the period of the year now approachin g in which the business of emigration commences, he was very anxious that the Bill should b e p asse d as speedily as poi.- Able ; but being anxious to meet the wishes of the Hon. Gentlemen and others who were anxious on this subject, he . (Lord Stanley) would not proceed with the Bill. that evening, but would promise to fix a day for the dis. cussion on the second reading, which would allow Hon. Gentlemen to have amply considered the question. Mr HAWES said this answer was perfectly satisfac tory ; he hoped however the Yale Lord would give them due notice when he determined to fix the day. • THE RAILWAY BILL. This Bill was then read a second time. VAN DIEMEN'S LAND BILL. This measure then went through Committee. MARRIAGES IN IRELAND BILL. 'On the Order of the Pay for the House going into Committee on this Bill being moved, Mr. VERNON was understood to say he was pleased to see the Government bring in the Bill so soon ; but lie hoped the measure would be strictly retrospective, in order that before any further measure were introduced, the whole law of marriage in Ireland, which was in a very anomalous state, might be reconsidered, and assi , milated to that of England. Mr. SHAW concurred in the views of the last speaker. Ile (Mr. Shaw) agreed tea retrospective Bill;' but at present, if a prospective one were proposed, he would oppose it in behalf of the clergy of the Established Church, and for the sake of the interests of soeiety. Sir R. BATESON was determined to advocate the rights and interests of those persons who sent him there and he assured the House that there was no subject which had excited greater terror and- more alarm among the respectable as well as the humble classes of the people of the North of Ireland than that of the Presbyterian marriages ' se many of tho se marr i ages h av i ng b een solemnized, and the number of persons who would be supposed not to have been born in wedlock if those marriages were held to be invalid, The greatest apprehension was naturally excited. The number of petitions which had been presented to the. House upon the subject, of which he himself had this day presented many, showed clearly what the extent of alarm was ; he, therefore, hoped that no time would be lost in calming the fears and apprehensions of the Presbyterians of the North of Ireland, and that the proposed measure would be passed into a law as soon' as possible and without dis cussing the merits of any future measure. Mr. O'CONNELL thought the great object of any measure upon the subject should be to legalise those marriages retrospectively, as well as prospectively— the law should be made what every person sup posed it was before. He had himself occasion, more than once, to consider the question, and he had no hesitation in giving an opinion that those marriages were legal. Mr. Justice Perrin, to his (Mr. O'C.'s) own knowledge, had also given an opinion to the same effect, and he also followed up that opinion by deciding that those marriages were valid. The Right Hon. and Learned Gentleman then suggested the propriety of enacting some decisive measure as soon as possible. The House then went into Committee on the Bill. Sir R. FERGUSON said a question arose on the first clause, whether Presbyterian Ministers, members of the Established Church In Scotland, were to be regarded as Dissenting Ministers in Ireland. Mr. Sergeant JACKSON said there could be no doubt that in Ireland, where the Episcopal Church was the established form of religion, Presbyterian ministers were Dissenters. Mr. O'CONNELL inquired whether there was any occasion to leave the question undecided.' No one would suppose that a Protestant clergyman of the Esta blished Church in Scotland, on going to Ireland and marrying parties there; became a Dissenting minister. It appeared to him, that by inserting the words " Pres byterian Minister" in the clause, the difficulty would be removed. After a short conversation, in which Sir R. Ferguson, Mr. Jackson, and Mr. Vernon took part, the chime was agreed to. On the second clause being read, Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN - said it was his intention to oppose the clause in its present form. Ile could not go further than to say that parties contract ing second marriages, should not be subject to be prosecuted for bigamy ; that }vas the ut most extent to which he could go. He should say No to the clause as it stood at present, and if any Hon. Member would support him, he would divide the Committee on the clauSe. Mr. Sergeant JACKSON defended the clause. Mr. FOX MAULE said they had in the first case a woman who had been married several years, and had most probably a large family—the marriage having been supposed to be legal, and the children to be legitimate up to a recent period. In the next place, ' they had a woman newly married, with probably no family at all, and who at the time of the marriage was probably perfectly aware of the circumstances under which the husband had deserted who, until recently, had been considered his wife. They had to choose between these two evils, and cer tainly he thought that justice required that they should recognize the first marriage, and not the second, further than' to exempt the parties from aprosecutiOn for bigamy. After a few words from Mr. O'CONNELL, The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said that they could not, unquestionably, make the present Act have a retrospective effect, by declaring illegal second marriages contracted by parties who had been married, in the first instance, under the late law, and while those marriages, according to the decision of the Judges, had not been legal. All that could be said upon the subject was, that the law now about to be' enacted could not meet the whole of the evil. He also wished to observe that the present Act did not declare that the former marriages were invalid, and it did not in any way confirm the decision of the Judges if any doubt could be entertained upon that subject. Mr. S. O'BRIEN was understood to say that he thought it .proper that those should be absolved from bigamy, who had married a second - wife, their former marriage having been declared illegal.. Sir GEORGE GREY thought if those parties were absolved from bigamy much annoyance and expense to the parishes would ensue, as it would be a great inducement for those who had large families to marry again, whereby they would become chargeable on the parish. Sergeant JACKSON said a few words which were quite inaudible in the gallery. Mr. MURPHY suggested that a clause should be in serted in the Act which would make any father who had contracted a marriage subsequent to the decision of the Judges, liable for their cht!dren. Mr. FOX MAULE said it would be a va s t h ar d s hi p that a marriage whi c h h a d existed upwards of twenty years, and the issue of which had been a large family, should be set aside anti the man be enabled to marry again. Let them suppose the case of a man who had died since the decision of the Judges, the law permitted that the property should. descend to hix children, and yet would it not be a hardship that these children should nut be declared legitimate - ? lie would divide the Com mittee on the question. The-Committee then divided, when there ttppearett For the clause • Against it 63 Majority in titvour of the clause — 96. The clause was therefore carried. iv The remaining clauses were then agreed to, and the House resumed. CORN-LAWS. The Order of the Day that th 6 House should resolve itself into a 'Committee of the whole House to'take into consideration the • corn and provision laws, having been read, Mr. KEMBLE presented a petition, which was read by the Clerk at the table from the mill-Owners of a place in the environs of London, complaining that theproposed scale of duty upon corn would have the effect of encou raging the importation of foreign flour instead of wheat, which would greatly prejudice their interests. The peti tion was ordered to he on the table, The House then went into Committee. • Mr. WODEHOUSE said he would not trespass at any great length on the patience of the House. The motion which he intended to propose was, that the Chairman should report progress and ask leave to sit again. Ile well knew that that motion would be rejected, but he still felt bound to state why he propOSed it for adop tion. There were peculiar considerations with respect to barley, which" demanded that it should receive peculiar attention. The pa pers laid before Parliament showed that Denmark was better adapted to the growth of barley than of any other grain. And notwithstanding the arguments of the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, they should not forget that at Elsinore thou sands of acres were waiting for the plough ; and moreover railways would soon run through Denmark, Mecklenburgh, and Holstein. It was impossible then to came to any other conclusion than that, however the case stood quoad wheat, it was impossible to say e hat quantities of oats and barley might not come in under the new scale from those countries. It had been stated that foreign barley would not malt. This he doubted. He had heard from Mr. Coding that the finest sample of barley he had ever seen was grown in France. True, under the present law the importation of foreign malt was pro hibited. He (Mr. Wodehouse) had twice asked the Earl o Ripon whether the law would be allowed to remain so He had asked more than once for information on this subject. but could get none. The first time he asked the question of Lord Ripon he had no answer_; on the second occasion he was told he must wait. They must not suppose that he intended to cast any censure on Lord Ripen for so doing ; if there was one public man with whom he had been connected more than any nther, it was Lord Ripon; and when he found he could obtain no answer from him, he could look to nothing but Par liament. This was a question that involved the fate of millions, and as far as concerned the country, which had for twenty years placed him in Parliament, he would say distinctly that the permanent peace and welfare of that country were vitally concerned in the answer whieh might be returned on this subject. It seemed to him, that with respect to this matter, the intentions of her Majesty's Government could no longer be doubted ; and this was the special reason why he stood there to make known to the House that he had hitherto asked in vain as to what were the inten tions of the Government with regard to the admission of foreign malt. It was at present prohibited ; in former years, when the export of corn was prohibited, there was an ex ception in favour of barley, because at that time they -had a. very profitable 'export of malt.—( Hear. ) Why was not that export continued ? Because there was a duty of 20s. a quarter placed on malt. He begged to call the attention of the Secretary of the' Home Depattment parti bcuylatrhe ly to n i this gh t subj ect ,llan. R a bero Baronet to preside over a Committeese he had been e s p ec i a ll y c h osen ' which had inquired into this subject, and he would ask him, supposing a person had taken a farm under the present system, and on condition that if alteration weie made in the duty on malt, whether. such alteratiop would not be a fair ground for his making a claim for compensation. He considered it, therefore, a hard thing that he had not been able to get thy information on this question.—( Hear, hear. ) There was another Member of the Government to whom he would allude, the Paymaster of the Forces, and he would ask him was he prepared to deal out so harsh a measure to the people—a measu re w hi c h M r.. H us kisson would not fair object give his sanction to. He wou ld b eg t o t e ll theßight that though offici a l s t a ti on was a • . There Hon. Baronet of honoura.b`o ambition, it was scarce ly wort h the stain of insincerity. g was another Member of th e G o vernment to Ith om hewould allude. The Ri g ht H on . B arone t a t the head of her Majesty's Government would remember that he (Mr. Wodehouse) had called upon and p resse d t h e matter o n his consideration , in the interview h e h a d w i t h him, he also took the liberty of calling his attention to the int ro d uc ti on o f foreign live stock and malt. As far as he was concerned, he was in total darkness as to the intention of the Government with regard to foreign malt, and how the l aw was to be altered with respec t to live stock. H e sought to i mpresson h i m that the quest i on of duty was of min or consideration, but that the larger consideration was to give permanent employment to the agr icultural labourers. Now, in his opini on , the new Poor-law Bill could not be carried into effect, if th e proposed duty were to b e p a ssed into a law. H e represented a county received greater benefit from the New Poor-law than any other in the country, which it now pressed upownhiethhemanufacturing labourer. Ho but he. apprehended that, with the adoption of the proposed duty upon barley, that law would press upon the agricultural labourer with the same severity with begged admitted that the Poor-law was a useful measure, but if the present motion were acceded to it could no longer act. The Mr. GREENE, the Chairman of the Committee , Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving that tho Chairman should then report progress, and obta i n leave to sit again, leave , to ask the Hon. Gentleman what was the effect he anti eipated from his motion? had PerhaP Mr. WODEHOUSE said that the effect he anticipated was, that barley would be erased from the scale. Mr. G REENE said that the motion would not have that effect. The only result of its being adOpted would be, that the next time the House met they should find the question in precisely the same state as at present. He supposed that the motion, which the H on . Gentleman intended to have put was to the effect. that he (Mr. Greene) should report the resolution to the House. Sir ROBERT PEEL commenced his observations in on low a tone of voice as to be almost-inaudible in the gallery. W e understood the Right Hon. Baronet to say that he had listened with attention to what had fallen from his Hon. Friend, but be did not mean to follow his arguments, by which he had at.. tempted to show that the scale proposed she M ld produce Wan-