The Sun. — London, England, 1842-02-23 00:00:00

Clear, hear.) He did not think that a repeal of the Corn-laws • would produce the good which some Honourable Gen tlemen opposite anticipated ; if he did, he would be one Gen kleof the first to unite his exertions with theirs.-( Hear.) was to the Right Hon. Baronet, the Member for enselrertb, must deserve the gratitude of the people of the hi II : I CY f(ss• the Proposition he had brought forward, for it was mYr ri fer t0,...c0 t he'greatest benefits. i ussz72al• 'O would not venture to intrude Poil the attention of the House to the exclusion of so . di se ? l ' Y . eers who were anxious to speak upon the subject under ~.s.sian, were itnot that he wished, for the reasons he would Hstwseo. . 11 "e_m the House, to explain his motives in taking the course years ag `o ;rawatislaabout to take, especially as it totally differed t course which he would have taken a year ag_o e , 0 , had the present question come before th . eo j d In considering this question, it was impossible it by that Right be considered disconnected with the Right Hon. Baro !n !i , ,a o t at the head of her Majesty's Government ; and as one of se who listened attentively to the measure brought forward that Hon. Gentleman, he (Mr. O'Connel l) . must say great and Changeneral expectation was never more signally die °r; washy the speech of the Righ Hon. Bar , c2n ... e r. °!l,,t.lsat occasion. A more completely negative speech he ( m a. IConnell never had heard : it was completely neg nive in reason, negative in calculation, and negativ e thes e ev erY other respect. The • contrast between there _„ctpech of the Right Hon. Baronet, and his speeches upon r aw"as so occasions, when he had heard him in that House, 71 great. The Right Hon. Baronet told the House . distress throughout the country, and he O'Coa The by the ti ll distress Was glad to see that assent had at last been g Right Hon . Baronet yen of which th e f or „ oc , y were so repeatedly told by the Hon. Members distress ltdpdort and Bolton.- ( gear , hear.) Yet, though that notrable 'l3 exist to an alarming degree, the Right Ho he aronet plainly said that the rheas ure which h t ver If Pr°l'nd would not afford any relief w a e . .. raw3.4es were lowered, it was not the effect of the Corn-laws, .vh a,nufaeureri were being destroyed, they did not do tha t. restricted' `"'tress existed whether commerce and trade w ere . , te ' fitof capitalist destroyed, or the im- Fr ov etooo , l'ro s the . s th e °f the operatives diminished. With all that distr t es e con, us .aws had nothing whatever to do. What were h r emise s which the Right Hon. Baronet drew fromt h e se AL o,s They from the strangest t atail:iiee man. mest ~tonnell) ever heard the lips of a reason ec l i oneof irop ort s ran ge, if he believed the measure he propos did no bairn' im p or tanc e °e' for, after telling us that the Corn-laws , _ th at ; h e said we must alter them. One would have supposed We art the words of the Hon. Secretary for the . Home ssetirTient, made use of in the debate of 1839, they m ight let ifalloweaP,e--one would have supposed that they weu d least,, lo b ens tne Corn -laws to pursue their course, harmless a t I • t,. (111%ti,,cial• When he considered the real nature of th e With i ••:,,a,' if a-rpeared to him ( Mr. M. O'Connell), and not • s -11" In" which had been passed upon the Prop ose I , e the Panegyric 'li h -`' p at. as it dto the country at large, the very t ei „,_ , appeare tim e th""„"ge on the ',resent laws, when they considered the lion, ~,,,e,, t a t Hon. Baronet had taken to mature the ques dasin,•'' t hat after all the inquiries made at home and . ab r o t ad e , t rie 4,, ants, nn and winter, after all these in quir i es . into the coti,tdial difficulties of the country which he had ..a do Wi i er o ' f i r i ?to th verdrawn matters in' South Australi d of li t „,`-k, h eavy o works to be carried on in the islan ~inionrm'''' he w would not say what . his h Mini e st w r n y "d tak e : ac, but lie would ask the Houjse if a 7 g d ' di an abor tise rlie sa Much time, and had brought forwar su bee n re 'llre as this whether one universal cry would not have tally sefl against ' them, if the Press would not . a t y n e h univer gnate Packed them from the thunder of Prin t ; g house o or three Poia ts 04 fAvn to the Bucks Herald. There were to him (Alr. , 1 ; °hPctin against the measure, which o c curred iefladvert. lle '" 'Connell) and to which he wnu r te cau leeted to the an proposed by the Right Hon.. Baron et, ever n l e ,i appearedpto contain the same vicious prine l ipl e e, o h f ow_-_ Previo,;)("fied, which had been the cause of the heardfai u no ar al . l Ru iz , '' to measures. And t t a e t, had under all cases 4 r at to "„tnee hi m of tis, • ,is li e u dot - than a sliding scale had e sh ould 3 was not better . Z ; , ' say furling on the point which Hon. Gentlemen • th t had ocon e l -r ned so a.ixious of dwelling on-the point a _ ho t f '',lded t o in the speech of the Noble Lord, the Mem n tlirtit -.oniloii, namely that the inconvenience of a sncl t ot o e (-n,,'"'°4 in th, duty 'should be controlled by the m l 4 bri..itu,'Nuellt of the day • a plan, which, in case of a . x t _ at a ed ,&depted he shou ' ld prefer. It appeared to . him ding 'eal e ''",l3, avoided all the evils which he perceived . in a t sl t r i n g tha• t 'h ''''ut with regard to the new plan, he did no m Ail: chniieje tendency and temptation to withho . ld col n Baron et 4e shvl b y it h t t which the Right hon. eled to t e ex en . of %I . '0 anticipate. If the temptation to withhold a stock yet they tat lyt n '''as not so great as under the old . syste _ so a t be tliriiini..e,tnember that the risk of loss by doing it wood tie !icall,"l3"ed ; and if that Were the case, he thought that, pr _ • aLlip o i 7 : th ey would fi nd the largest quantities of cern woult_l n b i e t Pap er ." t e ,d at the lowest point of duty.-( Hear, hear. ) I Pro o f ' 1 " had been laid before the House he . foun a . d clear dut y 'f this and an instance of how small a difference i the In the 1 /ee - 1 ; w°41 ,( 1 I cause a quantity of corn to be withheld. duty en'ii"3d of April, 1840, when the 1., as 16 the grirse s • Bd., the quantity o cor f n entered for encin,,e2,nsumption was 191,000 quarters. . he week In the the kne tt ,%`Be lith of April, when the duty had r!sen a the week ensin'. entered was only 3,122 quarters ; 'while for ' tat atno ur ,g 4 t he 2 4th of April, when the duty was 13s. Bd, at th at lver -' the enor u ' antity of 341,925 quarters ow f heat . e " ter . mous 9 t ` i tl 't 4s ". The difference of t luty between ss. and 45., -.°4 I and he 9 ., would give ample room for profit by specula results specula te ~ was afraid that from similar causes si mi lar l .° f oil fo '' Q w• Another part of the plan he should not a h 3 Dart 01 . at present, as he did not see many Members fro o m os i to bot' t he k' d ' their places, and he was anxi lee i t • mg om in . lt rists of Ireland were eitieh inter In their presence. The agricu u gen kll e d • not dims heard any rea ,ged b in oats, and he had Z 4 oa t i h e Right Hon. Baronet for . ishing the duty than he had done sha h th e ' ° , a greater extent, in proportion, imaiild "t 9 on wheatlt was singular tha , t this difference oats was ed " e made The . van ishing point of the duty on 11 at f ro • . ride r ~, of 345. to 375., while f or wheat it was left the sam e s,lis the ne w , old. 'He could not think why li st 110 111 , 1 pan as the the course of the Right 4 1. 1 , ro , be, when in_ _ e appealedh to the trade tstiottti)a nets own speechalisfactory trade that had 4ca4,„Plake'" s under the mm ex t istin s g system. Some said, it .t v . ias s"vi'a,-CY, the Irish, were to be punished for the opposi e l o o t n . „''(.ll ~-; sn i _evvn to the Right Hon. Gentleman's Governme nt. 0 _ `cittr,:,' 'leaf.. ) He would not pursue this point, but f i , ci t ',„' the absence of any reason, many things were . said ''',ll were not correct.He would not, however, detain the fixed by enterion t _ . s. hi He had said he preferred a l hast &Y undornsl circumstances to a sliding scale, ba t he struck `uit he heard sonic objections to a fixed duty which "i' . with ' f orce. He heard one from the apt i l mind great for Tamworth, which he ..asi,h,r,°',l•. Baronet, the Memberit was, that in time of ie t ar e i ty Vo be very powerful , and a fixed duty, and that if a li„ E 'd dti t „ . 7_Y could not maint ain it could never be re-imposed. t c askedas once taken away, ,gere w , 'tie House, and he appealed . to the country, whether .1t1,,, any half so strong urged agams . t the Corn •law 'at •-)." °".ieet' - 'ht H on. Baronet against a . fixed , y., , ,, , ion of the Rig • ;et ar, k n ear, hear, and loud cheers.) Could any hired 'it er' e *, • of the Gospel, who had, so cre- I , k h l V t• r any minister sty e - •,0 t hemselve s taken up the Anti-Corn-law question, Ils e ,. E " an th• '' half strong, or half so capable of in th "I' th 37 Ing so the admission of WI, mind. of the people, as Rua,si, 'gut If ' once the duty was taken , t c'n• Baronet that when ectild n e , h ar ) He er again be imposed. -( Hear ? .. e . h. . oll',kinv th e Right Hon Baronet, and those who joined him in -uo they '‘St o b. • ' fi d duty on corn, that for every Put t , 3 , e jection to a xe . 9 th e °,lverted from the ranks of the supporters of a fixed cj ' 1 would , from those ranks to the advocates tf• t. C/141 re draw 100 ) t hat irnnieral•-(Hear, hear. With regard to the effects I‘. t ho ( 1.,, late repeal on the agricultural interest he must say What he ( 44 1 .,, lu not attach any importance to them. . t _ e c'l L t h ,l s t Was the effect ' 1 the alarm that had been exci ed 'fist' - Nect le u He could not but recollect tts, l t4oic be te --( Hear, hear.) of lowering the duties on th e , ca,le when the question e cw .. Inch was raised by g,,, w t ool, 4 „.l e e r re the Houseand h rY almost inclined to say the wool s,y, er, °1 4 .. ! , 3-he was the Feet -(Laughter. ) But the (,117‘ sh o , N i tue House on s ubject.-(L aughter .) t. . tik(ar, heard e how entirely fallacious w e re their fears.- an article of V'trQt,,,) But it was said that wool was in rat. well, t h?i, h e e, nd, therefore, was not a s d h ea knew hat when the theses nook Ulu ease of butter, an lowered,e the graziers in •i., south o c t'eign butter were 1 lrmed but the only result st e tt th e kreland were great.y a a , d he would not say in li e of b ": kntter trade had increase_ , o e .... ( Hear, hear.) k l , itaq l ien L in consequence of, the change.-(Hear, g . Hon. Gentle /4, tf with great astonishment the Right 'll l , 'e V," rd of Trade, repeat the (li b , Y th,t -1-resident of the Boa . . . ree m . 'Mons /rater s 4 , the admission of two millions or th a, - 1 eon s ( '' kreign corn would have the effect of excluding i t . ukt 11,11iption an equal amount of home-rown corn. He Watlo a i i 'er a gradual departure from the p r esent sys tem , a by olitil belieYiitiishing duty, but fixed for a time at each based 44 illsti ee u ng that the motion before the House wa s It h ell ber f„'. he would support the motion of the Hon. e Rig ht 4- ' t-`W I l i ( Hear hear .) The , o ver arnpton.- , tent,,, dre"." oPposith, the Secretary for the Home I.lella,rnt theNe h il 7 In 1839 an affecting picture of agricnlture c imbi (1 1 1 . 1 (!o, aodt°PB under the influence of protection, surveying b : lre .ioicing at the progress of eemmer t e ll . se hill-tops ito 4 ilig koodustMell) confessed he would rather see e alti,, e o n I ne l 3 than growing bad bar , ey -1 (Hear, hear)- N. ati o git it would be better to let barren efi lds o out of g " s dila h 'tetl O'er which they were unfit, than to see factorie er n , fort 1114 wkritin_.-es mown out, and the people lately employed b y He thought n et agrie„,7ing in destitution.-( Hear, hear.) for it was to the t,ll`ziee could succeed without protection, d tate Itio t t he i od t hat had aearanced it to its present advance s 1.0.. toedi% by „ n stry and skill of the people. It had been p tyy OwCtk. we l',, n ee, and assisted by the aids of modern . chem c is on. : tld it ''''n he told that agriculture so sustaine!t_ Id wi th Pro mpe ' fair chance with the rest of the worldHis l sus a grie n e i t , s and those of his constituents were connected eet.by . - Po -,, Nit hr's t ie s ; out he thought he would injure n ith ssh, le lio,, motion. le Gentleman ''Pee e l l d itis t g OET l' said that the Honourab le a c h riticism on the Iv a / 4 th nl theT. down had made a most s evere . te shee In .' n •gght Honourable Baronet w o h had brought for (11 -4 ' F Burdett was not there to de v,ellspeee, • He (Sir F . Baronet, but he was te l d war e of . "of the Right Honourable n 'est • the effect it hadm a de u pon, the most im p or tant R,4ti toter eet had , en lan e „ ested class of the community. He had it from a 110„_;tterid :hriected with the aericulture of the eountry, who 1., "u, th e ' at th r• and its neighbour is,,,,-stisf St th e markets of Nottingham nr,„ t ett wi th o farmers and agriculturists were perfectly well i,, th,„ ht Ho ete li ar() ' Proposition brought forward by the 11!g_ _ as hs,.„le to th ose t ' et • The ) thought as much had been yielded it 1,,,-'aritaraet Whom they looked upon as their opponents- t in te ks as 10., urers-and at the same time they considered tha_ the res t ,. ~a j:rotection as could be given to the agricultural tlisi4g6enlt'l P"Pie were more inclined to conciliation than .tote_es tut s : of all people and classes they were the most s u r _ ted, liber 1 • - • . (Hear, hear. ) bse...4.lettourabl ' a , just, and considerate.- that he h 44l 4 tit t o su e Gentleman who had just sat down sa id h e Pteu ; i f he t the motion of the Hon. Member for Wolver e did so , in his • taa 4 , w eolc; do w ni 'one Himself. more than the Honourable Member, for IN3t verhart,;_---( Hear, hear .) The Hon. Member _ . ri 4 3 i t Rentle n ' t began his speech by stating certa o in t ly,.. e i on a s ins, '!'a' PossiblY Ina.nner. doctrines as strongand ° upon , 3 t Fti ve, (1,, ee to. imagine. He had heaped invec tive t t , s fi e Th est 11. agricultural interests, and had described . th em in. as hein ,attocious of classes. He represented their nu _ Ns. ta th e 6 ,, 6 Meat contemptible, and that those who suffered 14. sous berre!stors were most numerous. He spoke of •p, O OO s !al ;hgs i n a 7 "n a state of starvation, and described their suf (Sierdpfer hattnr sympathy which certainly would ha . ve o b t er i n e tite,t4 iltirdtt)aZoiunt of their sufferings beer tr , b least not ue to the irl , .:ntt ~,nesetibed by the n i o i t en belt ( e . v e t i l t was; __! Whatcould the Hon. tq!en l ati a o n ii rn ...L eati by thus p . oin i t e i n ng e o nl u a t u t . he landowners to the thi s rt e . oi t! ,, itig ul oi a : I t o a s e es. i, g people? What was the meaning of Y rho ri g of saying that the oppressors wer e . only k ' t,' ,l i nlin g ellt and the oppressed millions? What was it but, lAthe hion.'n iltandowners as monsters to be destroyed , : 14 0 e Jac o bi_ s e . t i"man had outdone what had ever been d " Lo. u eri „___ in Pr.:,nce. Although the manner of °the 4irs: th e doe ' t in , an was kmd and gentlemarey, it did not make up h a4 4l ,, s o t_ th e hulled ascii. Having delivered these invect ives eroao " t e4 o li r e e ° 4, 4 to sayinttelriaetatheefloen?d'ultittreY ttoheseHeona. debtorGentl and Ictives it,_rse,osuont stated, he the landed interests and the 't th ,e 1 - f the countr Now, they ts t e e. , ." roinutise of that Y. although could not a, q.l the fact th lt was account stated, yet the resu . ,70lti cent, for h. at the landowner was content to receive l'a s tl? was er mten ia t eaPital • , whil e . no other interes t . in the w as tL e found atioi of ° receive so little. The landed interest thari th e "e most valtiableeTY other interest, Fel the home trade latale,lf°ls'ign trade, aa:(rif %was infinitely more . valuab i l l e =merest, theY W ould find themmasenluvfeasetiuurtelse situ ati on te f ton o ,____. _ been stated that and the Land ;culiarly upon the those claims had the landed interest ese respects, which He held a differen t tithe. taxation. He justly chargeable e ready to make the tithe'question Dual ;,property, he e s altogether, aud ergyman.—(llear.) e conceived ought aged that tenants d a rack-rent, an subjected to very of the averages. Iship, and was pr tecting them. e! -ould be protectee lad taken out lease; if it appeared leas, e re repealed that there should ba In the speech of sion the Noble Lord .on as wou ld remov e precated conceding t settling. to Noble Lord was Corn-law ; for in short of a total his country. lite ter measure sho" agitation. The Ice of the Coll: sated dealing wit' denied that 04 proposed by til e own- rac be considered as )use an instance 0' been raised 0° A. At a m eet' and the 109 011 S; propositions aster, and th e :hat two resolutiel measur es dernanal the total repe.,!!,°, evened by the tot , ' 'us agreed to weht6 . Peel, en the isult to the inhabit, ilst the m eeting re, 's an insult th a t the °°' f the adoption 0 • Hear, hear,/ cou ld be a. grt t i e e f laws than floc",; wishing seat of the present law, the ice troyed that tad! He (Mr. C. ) g u , L us e they occasionie, people. Wvehilst t. v 01 protecti PI of hunger. 1 1, ° ,1j v murder 0 or ad produced fonio' alt that it was neces:f he House, bu t out 1 hat House, bea S , to take every u le r o , lion, as he c.b, as by which t he ' grievances. , to t was with regaro ,0, ere , and had t he ° conv i nce d no g, u , t repealed. la t4,7e o of pauperion• 10,{ oal labourer Ne il ,' t :ase be thoug ht • ' - o f iromo te the urii° o f Ireland, becaatia list between Ireol both on more 61" would allow Idol iad been a go°,as , to the Pof r f - h " . s is ed as one th th e the rentals robe' 'd a good dea l , ( 4,01 , by the Hon. '.. o „ot' ntry paid the .b l e to was impes ° ' the to say th at „ e rty , "P tion of prof' „,0 , the proprietor at!' th of that Prer fr oal fit a portion o ,-00 1 ~ 000 i. a yea r er Member the r how that the rests gricultural ,ar he country. orj , to similar ohlee t „, i d lO a same war - d oillf r poor-rates „. 00 , to was I, 26l ',det i he income of fa ker s and if tha t . t 3f' td property , 00 ; cons id e rable s t pa iderably redu ce , D rated, it ,v ias h rate wow. .'ety Ala ath e "Ufj pre ttent i o n to the re, property of bu t be oy hi m now:,, u fr:°, c o ie formed a t l e O'b oa , -third of; ropt', l _ l , l large an , ' . 1 . 0 t0. - buildings a f le" t ' s parishe s l ° )o o o g, se of the t ratle ° , rict. If the usc ior 3ne, withot t a great twr„ Ice to reina''ot it was ah l3 fbatl i° ibute more nit , 11° °'. 4 ;lion 0), 0a Or ulible, bu t he r of the 3 1 e T .do' ould tend t° goo: and Big ht o t t ! " ) isary to solli.-r.r but he 5 - ie word e d, and " a eon object of aebesre .__(He ar, e t t ), ,. en in favourote, word" 4 ° l f ool ie r 1 „ e good, th e and obl e t c on sc r e rolver bawl' e t [lns (if ther sett i, hpt did notesnre:i 'tended p re e agricultur°ol; louse. Th e teotiror la for ths,l`yote' ,t he wou l d hanipton%, o ha t ,,„ '_) ng hiinseoniog f Mr. Ca° 0 0 e Corn-laio werrit hat varia l e t 10c, 'at never Y ( eir .d." K e jeoqe is being ob, t justified evera t P° th e r, olely for bet he amen SjJ v"' o"°ir hat distrre „es, tv ? Th., Jt3, ▪ the Y e ' sh"e I t 's , and !h e e d if ta ti' t , Id be r ulfi )et the T0,e0,000, Ea a in eas° l 3o uf to then al: h i :4: er 1, and sow e 0 ,could el l cIA4 d 3 , 1 : 0u 1a Pr o o e of . to h is c el Ire to t h e trade,ia r that the4ie t becan' e ' o o o ,os )f those S ha t 55 e ratico t 11 0" se 110 0 * /1 0a " in tha sP ciAll' d e t t h a t , 0 dek o , 3 f all 11° , °' Iler• cb t .' r a in hesitatio itoo, tottevt°o coj obers.,, 4oos e, e i• the st ocra ht f the a il ° ot og ir. , c, Ye t ' h the 0 main I,}o yeghe ' a ct 1- he .„ .00 t hir !' ,",„ s ee wished --‘iou 'al o,o' 1 , 0 0 1,:re vi t :l a llure n ts, t a t i n l i abit a e a, e t ier pe e, hey ~ he f° even''? i s entoling it , and Plot i n f o ken no o ara 3 the t inri t be j lerg, of te; icirsh7 oug of er.) ition „ propofors qu estio; obi eb an d up t herc. le trustu'retion, ; an d clis t arot' liur al 55 0 , e t 'l va , ari l uriog u£P -t ' ct ßut ne tb° oo la that Jistrf d a reP e3l u riri 4 by eP and , e tu ' ring r o f ' r iog loanolachiit he • laws' that they.nvo,. iot true trrla, I,r ,e labour. e W ould ° t he had of of ;ries 0. pleat! °A ~~ the man who had killed his goose with the golden eggs. The Hon. Member for Wolverhampton had told them that the mea sure of the Right Hon. Baronet was an insult to a starving people—that when people were starving it was insulting to them to talk of a regard to vested rights. The words .of the Hon. ' Gentleman were " The people are starving, and cannot wait until you have made your arrangements.' And yet the Hon. Gentleman concluded his speech in a very different tone, saying all at once, to his (Sir F. Burdett's) great astonishment, that the people of this country were not so foolish and bigotted (he did not see why the word " bigotted" was brought in on that occasion, nor what it had to do with the question—as to demand an immediate free trade in corn in stead of waiting three or four years. That seemed to him entirely to destroy the argument, or rather the exaggerated statement of the Hon. Member for Wolverhampton. The Hon. Member for Finsbury, in the speech in which he had poured, so much abuse upon the landed interest, asked wha the people had gained by a change of administration. To be sure they had gained a very able Minister, said the Hon. Gen tleman, and they were about to obtain a very great improve ment in the Corn-laws; hut still he asked why the party of that side of the House had not proposed any measure to relieve the sufferings and distresses of the community. Now it ap. peered to him an extraordinary thing that persons in that House who were of no party, as the Hon ourable Gentleman declared himself to be, shot& abuse other people because they proposed no remedy particularly the Right Hon. Baronet, who had explained him self so explicitly on that point, holding out no delusive hope, exciting no expectation which he did not expect to satisfy and, in short, showing as much integrity as ability in the plan he finally proposed—(lronical cheers from the Opposition)— and which removed all the objections, whether fair or not, made against the old Corn-law.—(Hear, hear.) He thought, however, that all the charges which had been made against that law were not established. It had been stated that the combinations to affect the averages had enabled great capitalists to accumulate immense gains. Now he had looked at the prices for the last ten years, and he did not find any result which countenanced that statement. He did not see any of that up and down, sliding backward and forward, which had been attri buted to the Corn-laws. It would be found that there had been more ups and downs in America during that period than there had been in this country. Therefore he did not admit to the extent for which it was contended, the necessity for a change. The scheme of the Right Hon. Baronet did one great thing. "It takes away," (said the Hon. Baronet) "an inflammatory subject from people who make the high scale of duty a means of exaggeration to produce popular discontent and delusion." Besides that it did not afford the means of playing tricks with the averages, and it satisfied the people who thought that some protection ought to be. It did not fix a duty at Bs., whether a duty was wanted or not, and even when it was not necessary, or even when it was unwise to enforce any duty at all. But it did away by degrees with all bounty to the home grower, and et the same time it would not practically reduce the price of cern in this country. He was astonished to hear it said that the Corn laws affected the currency. That was putting the cart before the horse. Every one knew that the case was quite the re verse.—( Cheers and laughter on the Opposition.) Every one knew that the surplus produce' of the country went to a fund to feed and clothe the labourers, and that the money price of corn did not affect the food of the la ,ourer. (Cries of Oh, oh, oh; and much laughter. ) tabour, like everything that met with competition, was re duced in value by the number of competitors. It was certain, that from the increased wealth of this country, from the habits and wishes of the people, the distress complained of would not exist if it were not for the inundation of povery from Ire land. There was no doubt a good deal of distress in the country, but much of that distress, he believed, was owing to causes against which no prudence could guard. He thought that the present state of our currency was, in a great degree, the source of the evil. While the currency was in its pre sent state all would remain variable, and there could not be a constant price for any article. The Corn-laws were not the source of our embarrassments ; and those laws had not prevented the importation of large quantities of foreign corn. Nothing was more common in this country than to hear of individuals who had begun life in the lowest situations raising themselves to wealth and independence. He was persuaded that in no other part of the world was there so great a mass of persons enjoying all the advantages and comforts of life as in England. He contended that there was not any set of people in the world more just, more upright, or more honourable than the landed proprietors of this country. He had heard this sentiment expressed abroad, even in France, where the mismanagement of the late Government, which, by an untoward act, was considered to have offered an insult to the French Ambassador, had produced throughout the country a feeling which it would require all the caution, and all the prudence, of the Right Hon. Baronet, to avoid the consequences; and he believed that if there had not been a change of Ministry those consequences would have taken place. He proceeded to condemn the late Ministry as t daily incompetent, as able to do nothing but to produce a parcel of abortions, one after another, but none of which ever came to life and motion. He then reverted to the landed interest, stating that in his opinion none were entitled to more consideration than they were. He was certain that there was no inte rest so easy to govern, or so bound to principles of public utility or measures for the public good; so much so, that he was happy to say he believed the Right Hon. Baronet was firmly fixed in the esteem of that interest. Lord DUNCAN rose to address the House on the pre sent occasion with some hesitation—a hesitation arising from no doubt as to the cause he advocated, but of his own ability. He was not going to follow the speech of the Member for North Wiltshire • he was not going to dispute with hi m hi s a ff ec ti on for the landed interest ; he only trusted it was more sincere than the affection he once bore to the aristocracy of this country. How was old Cato changed— Oh ! quantum miftatus ab illo, Hectore, qui rediit spoliis indutus Achilles ! —( Cheers.) How changed was that Hon. Baronet, who once appeared on his knees at the bar of this House, the advocate of popular opinion !—(Hear, hear.) But he said it was not his intention to follow him in the course of the speech he had made. He would give his most cordial support to the motion of his Hon. Friend, the Member for Wolverhampton, because, in se doing, he opposed the measure of the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Government.—( Hear, hear.) He did not so much object to that measure in its details as in its principles. He thought the Government had a right to levy taxes, but he thought it should be done equally.—( Hear.) It was with surprise he heard the Right Hon. Baronet state that they ought to deal lightly with interests supported by a prescription of 150 years ; but every hour that the protection was kept up added to the difficulty of solving the queation —(Cheers. ) Let them not look back to 150 years, but let them cast their eves six centuries back, when, to relieve the people from taxation, the mailed Barons of Runnymede made their swords fly from their scabbards.—(Cheers.) Let them also look to 1642, when Pym, and Selden, and Hampden, stood upon the floorr of that House, and argued against monopoly ; and he need not say how the monopolists of that day fared.—( Hear, hear.) Let them look to modern times. The principle of unjust taxation lost them America.— (Hear, bear.) They founded an empire in India by promis ing protection against unjust taxntion ; and while that lost them an empire in the West, protection against it gained them an empire in the East.—( Cheers.) Let the House look to the speech of the Right Hon. Baronet at the need of her Majesty's Government. Did they find any finality in it?—( Hear, hear.) During the last century and a half intelligence had made rapid strides throughout this country. Let Hon. Gentlemen oppo site follow him into the cottage of the villager, and they would find that there tea and tobacco, which were once the luxuries of the few, were now become the comforts of the many. Let them come with him into the workshop of the mechanic, and they would find him perusing books which were formerly only in richer hands. Let them accompany him to the Crown and Anchor, and they would hear the artisan discussing ques tions, which formerly were entertained alone by the scholar and the statesman.—( Hear, hear.) They would find the working man deep read in political economy, and able to demonstrate that wages depend upon the demand for labour, and not upon the supply of food.—(Cheers from the Opposition.) Let them compare the speeches which they would hear there, with those which were delivered in this House.—(Hear, hear.) He would then ask the aristocracy, whether they were willing to rest their claim to station upon a protection against the people's food?—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) What ? Should they the aristocracy of England v ,i,f which, he was one, stoup to scramble with the people fbi' their food ?—( Cheers ) He would not appeal to the Hon. Member for East Kent—he would not appeal to the Cabinet Miei tar who, in the nine teenth century, came down, and, while the interests of the manufacturers of this great manufacturing country were trem bling in the balance, enlightened the Hou c with his views of the home-grown tobacco.—(Cheers and laughter.) He would appeal to that Right Hon. Baronet, whose name was identified with our greatness, industry, and commerce—a name of which he might say— " Labitur, et labetur, in omne volubilis sevum"— he appealed to the Hight Hon Baronet by the name he bore— a name which should . be written in letters of gold in the history of the English nation— clarum et venerabile nornen Gentibus." Well might the people of Manchester conclude the sentence of the poet, and add—. —(Cheers.) He appealed to th e Ri g ht Hon. Baronet et quod nostrre multum proderat urbi." whether ambition b w i touinind of f u r h n i his s n b e e a s ck to r s upon att i t n h e a d t I i a t d s d e g r oal y .? which_ Hear,( tb w the n e n oe r b . l He appealed to him as the first Minister of the first country in the world—havi ng a la rge ma j or i ty i n b ot h H ou ses of the Par liament, and trusted with the confidence of his Queen, and looked up ts- by the people with anxious expectations. When he saw men bending the knee to him for bread would he give them a stone ? He stated that he was in circumstances of difficulty ; he stated that he heard whispers on his own as well as on that side of the House. He asked for their ad vice. He would give him his advice. He knew that it was worth nothing, but he would give it to him without being asked.—( Laughter.) He advised him to trust to the gene rosity of the people of England ; he advised him not to trust to the tender mercies of the. veterans of his Praetorian Guards. Mr. W. H. STANTON said he should feel himself com pelled to vote against the motion of the Right Hon. Member for Wolverhampton. He thought, however, that the sliding stale prepared by the Right Hon. Baronet was also very ob jectionable, and he trusted that the . Right Honourable Baronet would apply the great energies of his mind to a more satisfactory settlement of the question.—( Hear. ) He could only say, that he was sure the worsir b or class was the Corinthian capital of the pillar of S oc iety. He would riot trouble the House with any further observations; but he con ceived that his duty compelled him to vote against the motion of the Hon. Member for Wolverhampton. Mr, P. M. STEWART should be unwilling to deviate from the plan ho had hitherto pursued in giving a silent vote, if he were not placed in a particular position in that House as the representative of an important county ( Renfrewshire),containing a combination of the agricultural and manufacturing interests. They had had pathetic appeals made in that House in behalf of the agricultural interest of England. They must all have felt the force of those appeals, but he thought the effort was unne cessary, for no man of sense would seek to injure a part of the community so important, and of such vital consequence, as the agricultural interest. He (Mr. S.) held that the manufac turing and agricultural interests were bound up with and de pendent on each other. If by any chance they were compelled to make a choice among the various interests, the House would no doubt select the agricultural. 'They could pass no law which could affect one without affect ing the other, and in the wise words of the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth, the best protection the agricultural interest could receive, was the continued prosperity m tt d el heo s eoe t n t a: lh of commerce and manufactures.—(Cheers.) He had not had the advantage of hearing the speech of die Right Hon. Bat onet when he brought forward his measure. He (Mr. P. Al• Stewart) was at that time in the county he represented, and .anca l i toctß a eu d ttsar: o otener c fnim c , e a tNtely s la i eas o shs n una e rne d i tl drtih, attributable t ane he could not describe to the House the surprise and conster nationpprr iessent htad : i which tshtree that i a g t oh s ft p the u r n r i ti a no w ot s hd , ne presentrii dilycolnasmtneei circumstances that a tot Hear. t I Co Sur prise country.hi of the h hl e t had couldiproposed rt notof i n o o s d e. Baronet, on this question should judgment • have so differed from that of all those who were residing at the scene of their suffering ; and that he should have • failed to see the connection that sub sisted between the principle of the Corn -laws and the distress of the country. The Right Hon. Baronet had said, and said rightly, that there were many concurrent causes tending to produce that distress. He said rightly that it was part) , at tributable to the derangements, financial and om mercial, under which our best customer the United States had u been suffering ; that it was partly attributable to th e war in the Mediterranean and to the war in China. Doubtless these causes had tended THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 23, 184 to aggravate the distress, but no practical man, of clear and unbiassed judgment, could fail to attribute that distress prin cipally to the restrictions on our commercial policy, and, above all, to our pernicious Corn-law.—( Cheers.) He would refer to the petitions of the people, notwithstanding the manner in which the Hon. Gentlemen opposite had last night spoken of those petitions —a manner in which he thought the petitions of the people ought never to be spoken of; but in referring to those petitions he would not allude to the petitions from the working people themselves, because it might be said that they had been forced to sign those petitions ; but he would refer to the unanswerable arguments set forth, in the petitions of the master manufacturers themselves, who stated that they had been obliged to•discharge those people because hey had no employment for them, for their trade was com pletely stagnant. He would throw overboard the petitions of the agricultural labourers, and would advert to the petitions presented by their richest landowners in Scotland, who told them that in their part of the country the whole scene was one of destitution. There was one petition, he thought, that refuted the assertion that the present state of misery in the coun try had no connection with the state of the Corn-laws. He alluded to the conference he had with the Government the other day, when he presented two petitions from starving thou sands in the west of Scotland, praying that the bonded ware houses might be unlocked, in order that they might obtain food. If these things were not caused by the Corn-laws, it was at least the disease that must be cured at their hands. A little incident had occurred to him that morning, which he thought I illustrated the pernicious effects of the Corn-laws. An indus trious man, an optician trading to Hamburgh, had called upon him that day, and, alluding to the present discussion, he said his case showed the benefit that would arise from a relaxation of the laws regulating the importation of corn ; for if such a relaxation took place, he should be able to buy twofold the amount of provisions he now did with the money he re ceived. There could he no wonder, considering the impres sion her Majesty's Ministers entertained with respect to the Corn-laws, that they should have proposed such a measure ; he acknowledged that it was an improvement, but it embodied the same bad and vicious principles that the law that it was to succeed did. He did not wish to infer that he was one of those who were calculated to alter the opinion formed upon the sub ject, but he felt that any measure which would have the effect of obstructing trade was pernicious to the interests of the country. In the Right Hon. Baronet's speech, which he (Mr. Stewart) did not hear, but which he read attentively, it appeared to him that the Right Hon. Baronet argued for the protection, while he sought to get for the landed interests upon two grounds, and these were the special burthens thrown upon the landed interests ; and the other ground was, that it would be worth while to pay something to be independent of the supplies of corn from other or foreign countries. These were the two principal grounds urged by the Honourable Baronet in favour of his measure. Now he (Mr. Stewart) would simply put be fore the House in figures the real state of the facts ; first, with regard to the special burthens upon the landed interests of the country. He (Mr. Stewart) admitted that there were large burthens pressing upon the landed interests of the country , but he denied that tithes formed a portion of those burthens ; he was not a political economist, but avoiding the mystifications it threw about such subjects as the House was then engaged in dis cussing, he asked how was it possible that tithes could be a burthen upon land? It was sought to infuse tithes into rent, but that was contrary to common sense. How could they be considered to form any part of rent ?—( Hear, hear.) If an estate were bought subject to tithes, that was a clear purchase, and could they be looked upon as a burthen upon the land? He did not admit that tithes formed any item in the settlement of the question of the Corn-laws. Then there were other rights which were based upon the rights of property. He should admit that he did not well know his way through official documents, but as to county rates, he;would state to the House the returns which had been made in 1826. He wished to show what the basis and extent of those burthens were in 1826. The taxes upon land were 4,892,000/. The taxes upon house and other property, 2,074,0001., making a difference of 2,818,0001., and amounting Li the rntire to 6,966,0001. From 1826 to 1834, the burthens increase 1; but this year owing to th se laws that had been enacted, the burthens were deer asing considerably. It was said that land w.,s subjected to stamp and other du ies ; in 1819, the whole mum levied on land for stamp duties was 1,699,Cn/. Taking off the 699,000/. it would be at last 1,000,0001 charged upon land for stamp duties. It was used as an argument in de.enee of the landed interests, that th y were subject to certain duties for s'ames for which other p operty was n t charge -lite. In 1839 it would be found, according to the returns, that p •rso :al property hid paid upwards of 40,003,0301. for stamp duty, and 2,170,0001. for legacy duty. Real property was now exempt d from that duty. If real property was now subject to that description of duty, upon a valuation of tha taxes it would amount to '1,200,003/. a-year at least ; the rental o' the kingdom was 50,000,000/. a-year ; the purchase of that wou'd be 1,250,000,0001., and the present legacy duty would be 2 000,000/. ,which would be a burthen upon land, and the special exemption would be 2,500,000/. lie said nothii.g of the question of Corn-laws; the argument for protection w .s founded upon two grounds, namely, the special burthens upon land, and the necessity of paying something to render this country indepen dent of foreign supplies ; 13,000,000 quarters of A heat we; e brought into this country since the proposed law was intro duced. In 1828 the Right Honourable Baronet stated that it was quite clear this country did not produce sufficient corn for the consumption of cur popula tion. The population had considerablyincrea ed since then, for that was three years before the census had been taken ; yet the Right Hon. Baronet in 1828 admitted " that it was quite clear this country could not produce a sufficient quantity of corn for the consumption of her population."—( Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Stewart) was not prepared to admit that this country was not capable, in ordinary years, of producing a sufficiency of corn for her population ; and, backed as the Right Hon. Ba ronet was, he (Mr. Stewart) did expect something of a bolder and a more effectual measure of relief than that proposed by him. He should say he was surprised at the Right Honourable Gentleman, the Vice-President of the Board of Trade, arguing in favour of the relaxation system with Russia ; because the fact was, the tariff of Russia was never so stringent as at present. England con sented to take her flax, oil, &c., and now the people of Russia were entirely independent of this country, except for one article, cotton twist. He (Mr. Stewart) thought that the Right lion. Baronet should have directed his attention to the Act of 1793, which repealed more stringent Acts with respect to the trade of this country in corn. That Act remained in force for many years, and during that time, it seemed as if the object was ac complished for which the people were now groping in the dark, namely, to obtain a stability in the price of corn, which, he believed, did exist during that time. The Right lionourab e Baronet, the Member for Dorchester ( Sir J. Graham) concluded his speech a few evenings ago by stating his opinion that a fixed duty on corn was absolutely dangerous to the interests of this country ; that had not a ways been the opinion of the Right Hon. Bart.—(Cheers from the Opposition benches. Mr. Stewart then quoted certain pas sages of speeches delivered by Sir J. Graham, in which he ex pressed opinions in favour of a fixed duty on corn.) The Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Wiltshire (Sir F. Burdett) had also voted upon that occasion for a fixed duty upon corn. The opinion of Mr. Huskisson had been quoted by both sides of the House, and unequivocally relied upo n . —( Hear, hear.) The authority of Air. Huskisson's opinion fully sanctioned the course taken by him (Mr. Stewart) in holding that this country shou,d have a free trade in corn.—( Hear, hear.) In 1828 Mr. Huskisson expressed an opinion in favour of that principle ; he then said that be should be prepared the next Session to bring in a measure iu favour of a fixed duty—that principle was recognised by Mr. Huskisson, was fully approved of, and upon that position he (Mr. Stewart) now stood. He voted heartily and entirely in favour of the motion of his Hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton.—( Hear. ) He (Mr. Stewart) had had the honour of. presenting to the House several petitions from the most influential parts of the country in favour of the principle he then advocated, and he called upOn the House to devise some remedy, and under no circumstances to impose upon the people so odious and so cruel a tax, as they were now subjected to. The last object of taxation should be the food of the people. Now the history of the Corn-laws was a very instructive his tory. The Hon. Member for Canterbury told them last night that he had been studying it, and let them look at the effect of the Hon. Member's study. And though he (Mr. Smythe) spoke on the other side, and would vote on the other side, his study was a useful subject for those who advocated free trade i n corn. The Hon. Gentleman divided his admiration between four principles. In the first instance he considered the thanks of the country were due to Lord North for the act of 1773 for free trade ; in the second instance thanks were due to Mr. Canning for his act of 1826 ; thirdly, the Noble Lord the Member for London was entitled to thanks for his fixed duty; and lastly, though not least, the Right Hon. Baronet the .Member for Tamworth was entitled to thanks. The Hon. Gentleman, not knowing which way to give his praise, divided it into four.---( Hear.) The law of 1815 was ushered in with the strong recommendation that it would reconcile all parties, in the same way as it was said the present measure would do. Hear, however, Mr. Huskisson's opinion of that law. He said, " I lament from the bottom of my soul the evils, losses, and misery, occasioned by this Act, which have caused prices to be lower than would otherwise have been the case." Look at the law of 1828, and the debates which took place upon that occasion, they would see the difference of opinion that existed between gentlemen at that time and the present, though the Acts were in reality the same. This was enough to stagger any man, and it had brought him (Mr. Stewart) to this reso lution, that he would not legislate on that principle, and would not vote on that principle, which had proved to be a fraud on the landed interest, a fraud on the consumer, and on the com mercial interest.—( Hear, hear.) These were his (Mr. Stewart's) views on the question, and he thought that every one—that the Right Hon. Bart. himself—would be convinced that the question, to be properly settled, must be formed on some principle diametrically opposite to that which constituted the foundation of the present 13111.--( Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Stewart) was not astonished that the country at large was so disappointed at the Right H on . B aronet ' s measure, when they considered the time that the Right Hon. Baronet had taken for deliberation, the mysterious silence which had been pre served ; and when they beheld the bearings and labour ings of the mountain, no wonder, as had been said before, that the people were diviptillyl at the mi serable mouse.—( Heais hear,' dea" ), rilevniserable mouse, though it might be diversion to those who hau 'strength and spirits left, was an Oject of dark dismay and terror isa, thousands ousands of our suffering cointrymen.—( Het -, hear.) This how ever, must eventt'ally force its way from the statute-ho-\k. I„ the body of the ' , reposed scheme was the same pernicious prin tchi Actat wh i an c h h o b a i l e rm o f e n d a t t o e n e a lv distress,i I s ofits p a r n e d c u a r s s r u , c a h n ( 0 1 r hai t m io a n d a e i diseont mt.--( Hear, hear. ) Mr. WODEHOUSE said he always helieved the Corn. laws ought to be banded on general grounds, and in proporsion as they were based on that principle, they deserved our sum ort or condemnation. He went on this principle, and if it cold( be proved that the Corn-laws Worked ill for general prosperi y, they ought tl he repealed.—( Hear, from Opposition benches, ) When they arrived at this, which was the argument on which they rested their case, he would go back to the e%Wence of the last fifty years; and it was admissible of the clearest prof that the a•cendancy of this country, both as regarded agriculture and manufactures, was confined within the period embraced between the war of the cdonies of America and the war of the French Revolution, Or, in ether words, between the years I'M and 1815. The export of wheat, prior to the year 1792, nearly balanced the imports. An Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. C. Buller), said last night that it was better to depend on foreign supplies constantly than o^casionally ; and he adverted to the year 1810. He (Mr. W.) was surprised that the Hoe Gentleman should advert to that year without men tioning the peculiar circumstances by which the year was marked. ( Hear.) That was the year in which Bonaparte gave his Generals leave to become dealers in corn, by which they amassed great wealth. Dantzic fell into th e occu pation of the French in 1806, and continued in their occupation till 1813 ; and he would refer to the prices and import of corn during these years. During the year 1806, the total import of wheat from Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, G ermany, , Holland, and Flanders, was 112,0€) quarters, w ith t h e pr i ce from 735. 6d. to 765. In 18 0 7, the total quantity i m p or t e d of the Emperor was 70,000 quarters, and the price was 735. cilrurltBeo,sB,itmhpeogruteadn tity imp, ted was 60,000 quarters at a pri ce of 78e. In 1809 189,000 quarters were imported at the price of 945., and, ob serve True ;butthis, that t l Bwlaos, owing tiiere to were the 1,232 ,C Na poleon.connivance In 1811, the price being 92 5. , the total imp or t was 163,000 quarters and no more, whilst in the year immediately prece di ng , ithadwleellenkonne: n in Yorkshire as " the dea r year, " when therly one million and a half quarters. In 1812. a year price was 122 e. there were 100,000 quarters admitted, and in 1813 339,000 quarters. This appeared to him (Mr. Wode. house) to be a most curious argument for the Hon. Gentle. men opposite to adopt as a reason why they thought it better to have constant dependence on foreign supplies than a partial de pendence. In 1801 the King of Prussia declared that when the prices here were famine prices he should kcep his duty up to the full, but if the prices got lower here he should reduce his. A great deal had been said with respect to the burdens upon land; it had been said that the agriculturists had no right to a sk for any protection.—( Hear, hear.) On the sub ject of burdens upon land he (Mr. Wodehouse) would refer to what took place many years ago on the subject. The present Sir Geo. Phillips was connected with certain returns made at that time ; by those returns it appeared that the taxes on land were' four millions and a helf. One million on houses, and 300,0001., and no more, was the amount of the taxes upon the trade and manufactures of the country. When this return came back, Sir George Phillips said there must be some mistake, and he recommended that a second re turn should be made. The second account came back in the same shape as the preceding one, and they never heard Sir G. Phillips on the subject any more. With respect to wages, did they think it possible that wages should keep pace with the price of provisions.—( Hear.) The Honourable Member opposite, in speaking of this subject, had gone back to the earliest periods, when wages were 9.1. a day.—( Hear, hear. ) He would refer them, however, to the wages of labour between the years 1800 and 1810, w h en it would be found that wa; es were nearly doubled. It had been stated that these laws would be really a great obstruction to foreign commerce; he (Mr. Wodehouse) hoped he did not undervalue the commerce, but he did not believe the proposed measures would in any way materially affect our relations with foreign countries. In speak • ing of this question, however, he should quote from what had been said by a eentlernan,whose correctness h e presumed would not be doubted e by Hon. Gentlemen opposite. (The Hon. Member here proceeded at some length to quote some remarks of Dr. Bowling on this subject, which have already appeared in the course of the debate.) He believed the measure of the Government was intended to act fairly towards the landed and the manufacturing interests; but he did not view it without fear of danger--( Hear, hear) — for though there might be an obvious necessity to relax the duties on foreign wheat, which was the food of man, or on fo reign oats, which was also the food of man, what necessity was there to relax the duties on foreign barley ?—( Hear, and laughter.) He maintained that the cultivation was most im portant to the cultivation of wheat, for the sowing of barley maintained the land in heart. Yet the correspondence laid on the table would show that the prospects of a supply of barley from Elsinore alone were enough to alarm this country. This was the principal point of objection he had to make to the mea sure, and having now stated his views, he thanked the House for its kind attention. Dr. BOWRING, in explanation, referred to the period when he met the representatives of the Govern ments composing the Prussian League at Berlin, on behalf of her Majesty's late Government, to consider the question of a mutual modification of the tariffs of Prussia and Great Britain, in order that the twenty-four mil lions of inhabitants comprised within the territories of the League, might be induced to take our manufactures, on condi tion that we should open our markets to their agricultural pro duce. The Deputies were willing enough to consider the corn and timber duties of England on this principle, but our engage ments with Canada prevented any modification in the latter, and the corn question was not so ripe in or outside the House then as it was now; consequently, nothing was done. Con sidering the motion of the Hon. Member for Wolverhampton, he (Dr. Bowring) was glad to recognise one great merit an it, that was, the introduction of the word now." That word appealed intelligibly to all. There were around us multitudes suffering from want, and " now" was the time to relieve them ; and if the claims of the landed in terest interposed injustice between us and this great act of duty, let those claims be investigated, and if they were proved ' not a man in the Hou se wou ld b e more willing to afford them compensation. Before they came to a vote on this question, they should consider how it was regarded by public opinion. While every one admitted the awful gravity of this question, two petitions, signed by less than 100 persons, had been sent to the House in support of 'the Right Hon. Baronet's measure; whilst theee had been presented 1,694 petitions, si g ned by 427,600 petitioners, expressing dissatis faction with the present Corn-laws, and almost unanimously demanding their total and immediate repeal.—(Hear, hear.) In the House, too, the question of repeal had made a great ad vance. In 1829 Mr. Hume proposed a fixed duty of 205., and was supported by only te elve Members. In 1833 Mr. Whit more brought the question forward, and was supported by 103 Members. In 1e34 Mr. Home's minority was raised to 155. In 1836 the motion of the Hon. Member for Wolverhampton was supported by 195 Members ; and in 1840 it was supported by 177, in a much less numerous House than that that who heard the previous debate. Now in 1842 we saw that 226 Hon. Members declared that the present state of things ought not to be tolerated, and that the measure of the Right Hon. Baronet ought not to be accepted. Let us again refer to the evidence of advancing distress in the country. The 150 market towns which furnished the averages showed that from 1836 to 1838 the consumption had been 12,346,000 quarters, making an average of 4,145,000 quarters; while from 1839 to 1841 the consumption had diminished to 10,938,000 quarters, being an average of 3,646,000 quarters, proving in these towns a falling off of 469,300 quarters. This referred to wheat alone. An Hon. Gentleman opposite remarked that the duty was but ss. 9d. a quarter • but he should remember th at t h e lower the duty the higher the price to the consumer. The Hon. Member for Shropshire said this would be but a tax of five farthings a week to each man. Now there were hun dreds of thousands in the country who did not earn more than Is. a week each. Yet on these unfortunate people the bread-tax, even accofding to that Hon. Member, would be 10 per cent. out of their earnings. The Right Hon. Baronet, the Secre tary for the Home Department, said the Bill of the Govern ment would give a protection of 14s. a quarter ; this would be 30 per cent. out of the wages of those miserable people who earned ls. a week; but adding the ss. 9d. to this, they would have an aggregate of 19,000,0001; and adding 6s. more for transport, the amount of tax paid by the consumer would be 26,630,000/. The Hon. Member for Kent spoke of thp burthens land was peculiarly liable to. The history of this country on the contrary, was a history of the exemption of land from burthens. The Hon. Member said the landlords were not allowed to grow tobacco. No one would object to it, if they paid the 3s. duty now paid by the consumer. Upon the same principle on which they now spoke, the landed in terest would have cultivated beet-root sugar, and would have insisted upon compensation, if the proposal by Lord Sydenh am some years ago to lay a duty of 245. on foreign beet-root sugar were carried. Returns presented to the Chamber of Deputies in 1810, showed that in forty-three departments of France east of Paris, an a-ea of 64,600,000 acres, growing 6,280,000 quarters of wheat produced on the average 14 3.20 th bushels an acre. Now, our land produced not less than 28 bushels an acre ; yet, while the whole direct land-tax paid by this country did not exceed 1,250,000/., that paid by those 43 departments in France, exceeded 3,000,0001., and this was but one kind of tax. After alluding to the feudal system still prevailing in those parts of Poland. Russia, and other districts to which we might look for supplies, the lion. and Learned Gentleman alluded to their want of capital and labourers, and added that he should be more afraid that they would not be found able to supply our growing population, rather than that our agriculture should be overwhelmed by the abundance of their exports. It was said that there were sliding scales in other countries. Would the Right Hon. Baronet adopt some of these? The scale in France was most complicated, or, rather, there were four scales acting in the four zones into which that country was divided. Under the French tariff, when wheat was 445., the duty was 9s. 6 d. ; at 58s. 3d. it was 6d. a quarter. In Hol land, when the price was under 235. 9d., the duty was 14s. 3d. ; given Nei nn pbbrl Member r e L t :00 e r : d i T theai p v e p Ar l e a oe n t . i b o Te n rht for re the London, d r ro i e n nv c ,e i n p a un l es but when the price was ab ove 425. 10d., the duty was Is. °id. e th tr T he ee l ne Noblenii n Dutch e ndLe o h dr a d d bythteh was collected as well en the produce of industry as on the land, and it was taxed at the mill. He could not help saying that this was one of the causes which produced the rebellion in Holland, and led to the alienation of Belgium, and the creation of a separate Government. In Belgium the importation of corn at 565. was duty free, and when it was under 275. 9d., its importation was prohibited. Therefore, when he referred to the sliding scales or the Continent, and compared with them that of the Right R on . B aronet, h e cou ld not b u t feel that the people of E ng l and were unjustly dealt with.— ( Hear, hear.) Taxation i n H olland was high, the cost of the Government was great, the comforts and conveniences of life were nearly at the same price as in En land, ls. 2d. ( Hear, and, and yet they could import corn for 42 5 . at a duty o hear.) He now came to th e averages, .and he recollected the Hon. Member for Shoreham had said the landed interest was willing to make concessions on this point. An opinion was prevalent: abroad that a fall of 4s. or ss. in the averages would take place, but the Hon. Baro ne t i n t ro d uce d new ele ments hear.) (Dr. Bow ring)e tithe commutation had bee n set tled w in was the e ft opinion aking of th th at ern th.--( Hear, the p theon re systement mode, of averages but which had been establi s h e d un der the Right lion. Baronet was now about to supersede it altogether. If the new system would cebedultncgawmhetieohto the have the effect, as he believed it would, of lowering the averages, then he was dealing unjustly with those interests for which he professed so much attachment.--( Hear.) The Hon. Member for Pontefract had referred to him (Dr. Bowring) with regard to the Prussian League, and he stated it was a failure, but he (Dr. Bowring) did not think so. It was true that with the aid of other States it might turn out un fortunately, but the opposition of that House to the introduc tion of a moderate fixed duty, or free trade in corn, added greatly to its influence.—( Hear, hear.) The agricultural in terests of Germany were enfeebled, and the manufacturing interests were encouraged, by their legislation.—( Hear.) That League was becoming more powerful every day, and a free trade was now being established without embarrassment or impedimentbetween 24,000,000 or 25,000,000 of persons, who before gave every resistance and annoyance to each other.— ( Hear, hear. ) Many others had expressed their intention to join that League, and he (Dr. nowring) considered its creation, both in a commercial and political point of view, one of the most remarkable events of modern times. The Hon Member for Pontefract had made allusions to the Legislature of France, and quoted the opinion of M. Dupin, whom he considered the Brougham of that country, and who looked upon the sliding* scale as the beau ideal of political invention. But M. Dupin was not the individual whom the lion. Member represented him to be. He stood high facts h sattattehhies of e v idence ea ntrsiein gnsf indeed, with respect to many valuable contributions which to the progress employed, the extensive.—( The hadltwrhea'es distressn e t m o a f made m e ou t foe much e e a literature, r k , nlcr b t uhtadul classesop b on eae In s (wli t ti a na, a t sat i so s o at statedwi nn c t idho a n i teegt ought show the not greatto ex exist, distress remehiasc would xo n ui e sl r td y e d, be but enridef equally he they looked machinerya Mouse to dis chargeduction in the price of wages which had taken place in those of Question, and he'could not branches of trade to which machinery had not been applied, Hon. Member was then pro when he was met by loud cries of " Question" from the 111 i • nisterial benches.) It was with great pain he spoke of the that sad and painful . duty of representing their i s n tat t e be of tha t u h n in t g ry s , w a h n i d ch w e h x e i n s c t r e l d teh , sey suffer ings, it was met by loud from but contrast the s h ou ts which proceeded n Bart t h e party oppos i te with the testimony of the Right el co the sufferings of the people and the patience with which those sufferings were en dured.—( Hear, hear.) The Hen- Member for Bath repu diated the idea of the present being a religious question, but he (Dr. 13owring) thought they were only acting ; 2 ; and legislating in a true Chaistian spirit in endeavouring, as f ar as it could be done by legislation, that the hungry should h e f e d area the naked clothed.—(C"" of " Hear, hear.") The Honourable Member for Knaresborough had spoken of the women of Manchester, but they only endeavoured, as far as they were able, to remove the distress with which they , were be cast sur rounded, and whatever obloquy may upon them in that House, they would find their recompense in their own bosoms. And he thought that when the women put them se l ves forward as they had done iu M anc h es ter, lion. Gentlemen might anticipate out of this discussi on a n ew state of things would arise. The Hon. Member for Finsbury was right In saying that the hope /yard to le mess of the people with the repeal of the Corn laws would create new demands for political changes. A feel ing existed out of doors, and it was spreading widely, that in that House were many w ho rePreseintfd a few, and but few who represented the many ; and until t ie interests of the many were attended to with more devotion than they had been heretofore, the: demands for organic e hang! would become more cla morous. The pressure from Wit Houotn—the power of which had been recognized by the Rig ht • rtarenet—would pene trate to that assemble, and the result would be another Parliamentary re f orm , the consequence of which would be the removal of ev e rything th h e people dee me d to b e op pressive, and whi c h one d a y or ot would be swept away. Mr. BENETT said, that the 11 ? n• Member who had just sat down had made allusion to the tithe c omposition, and the mode of taking the average's; but he should recollect that under the present system the tithe had risen five per cent. ( Hear.) The Honourable Member bad also spoken of the number of petitions against the Corn law, and the thousands by whom they had been signed, but with all the exertions of the Anti-Corn-law leaguers, and the expense of hiring Anti-Corn-law orators, there were only 400,000 who signed these petitions, whereas in the last year they obtained 1,300,000 signatures.—(Loud cheers.) Did he not see in this very circumstance that a re-action had taken place amongst the labou r i ng port i on o f t h e people? Was it not clear that thy had begun to see what would be the effect of a repeal of the Corn-laws upon their wages ?—(Hear, hear.) Attempts had been made to get up petitions against those laws by the agricultural labourers. Not a single petition, however, had been obtained from that class of society. Hear.) The agricultural labourers all knew, that if a repeal of the Corn-laws took place the inevitable effect would be to reduce the price of labour in proportion to the reduction in the price of corn. The amount of wages paid to the agri• cultural labourer of this country was at present ii. upon every quarter of wheat. If they imported two millions quarters of wheat they must grow two million quarters less ; and thus there would be 2,000,0001. lost to the labourers. —( Heat.) That was a truism of which the labourers themselves were cognizant. _(Hear.) Now it had been stated that there was great distress existing in the manufacturing districts, and he ad mitted the truth of that statement. During the war, the ma nufacturers of this country had a perfect monopoly, nearly of every article of manufacture. One of the immediate conse quences of peace was, that foreigners endeavoured to obtain for themselves a share in those advantages which had hitherto been exclusively enj o yed by our own countrymen._(W ar.) He had the means of knowing, that they were at the pre sent time rivalled by continental nations in many of the use ful arts, and that in cotton goods, stockings; and several articles of manufacture they were constantly being undersold by foreigners. They need not be surprised at that state of things; for what was said by the manufacturers on the Continent ? " Unless your best hands can work for sd. a day, we can and will beat you ; if you cannot reduce your wages, we vial con tinue to beat you. —(llear, hear.) He recollected when gen tlemen in that House contended for an r'teration in the Corn.laws, on the ground that it would reduce wages. Now the same Honoprable Gentlemen contended for an alteration on the ground that it would raise wages.—(Hear, hear.) He was an advocate for cheap corn.—( Hear, hear. ) He did not stand there to plead for any class interest, bat for the country; he advocated cheap corn, but he was not merely for having cheap corn, bee. for enabling the labourer to purchase it. lie had always thought that 553. was the price at which corn should remain. So confident was he of that, that before the measure of the Right Hon. Baronet was proposed to the House, he had pulled out his pocket-book and we itten down that.—( A laugh.) Forty shillings was, in his opinion, the extreme price at which foreign corn wor'd be brought into this country. His constituents, as well as himself, weft extremely anxious that this 13ill woad be passed into a law. In letters which he had received f-om them, some of them stated that they would rather suffer by a low price of wheat, than that the price should be kept too high; the only thing which they dreaded was the reduction of the wages of the labourer.— (Hear, hear.) He honed that no amendments would be pressed by those Gentlemen woo were .liendly to protect'on, but that they would all unite in passing the proposed measure into a law.—( Cheers. ) Mr. M. GIBSON said the Hon. Gentleman had taunted the supporters of the Anti-Corn-law cause, with having failed to obtain such a number of t:gnatures to their petitions as would show that any considerable number of the people were in favour of a repeal of the Corn-laws, but if they were to infer from that remark that any number of signatures would induce him to agree to a repeal of those laws, he was rfraid that they would be very much mistaken.—(Hear, hear.) Certainly he agreed with one remark which the Hon. Gentleman had made, namely, that no person ought to make inflammatory remarks on that subject, and, let them come from where they might, ho (Mr. Milner Gibson) should disapprove of remarks which deserved such a description. But there were occasions, and this was one of them, in which it did be come Members of that House t a call things by their right names.—( Hear, hear.) The present was one of those occa sions in which they would not do their duty unless they spoke up to their convictions; in which they ought not to fear the giving offence to the over-refined and the over-delicate, or to shrink from declaring to the country what they believed to be the nature and object of the laws under discussion. There was one position, it was admitted by all parties in the House, with the exception, perhaps, of the Right Hon. Gentleman the Paymaster of the Forces, which to his mind was highly satisfactory, namely, that the Corn-laws could no longer been maintained, merely for the benefit of a class, but could only be vindicated upon the ground of the general good. Th e H on . G ent l eman w h o had just sat down declared that he was of ro class—he was for the country. This was a most satisfactory statement. Hon. Gentlemen now began to admit that different orders of men had a right to increase their industry , in different ways, and had a right to bring the produce of that industry into the markets of the country, and thus no obstruc tions should he thrown in their way which were not throw a in the way of any other class of the community.—( Hear.) Hon. Gentlemen began to see that the corn and the cattle which were impor ed into this country in exchange for our manufac tures and coals, were just as much the produce of Brttish in dustry as though they were grown on British soil, and that the Legislature had no right to raise obstructions to a fair ex change ,between nation and nation. This position was ad mitted, and a very impoi ;:ant position it was, compelling those who defended the Corn-laws to d fend them on certein reasons of state, and of public utility, and also on the ground that there were certain burdens upon the landed interest which did not fall upon other classes in the community. But before they discussed the question itse", it behoved them to bear in mind the position which the supporters of the Corn- laws held in that House and in the country. They could not forget (he said it in no obnoxious sense)—they cor'd not forget that Hon. Gentlemen opposite had a personal into est in the question, and therefore it would be proper to subject the reasons which they ad.anced in support of the course they were pursuing t i a more rigid and sea• citing investigation, than ;f they were eerf_ctly disinterested parties.—( Hear, hear.) Th. re was one thing wh eh gave their cause a very unpleasant complexion ; the country believed these laws were made by the landed interest for their own especiel advantage, and when Hon. Gentlemen opposite attempted to justify them, they differed in the reasons they advanced for that purpose. One Hon. Gentleman said one thing, and another lion. Gentle. man took a different line of defence. They all knew that when pasties charged with an offence in a court of law differed with each other in their defence, it gave a suspicions complexion to their case. They found in this Session of Parliament the Noble Lord who moved the Address stating that the Corn laws were maintained for the puipese of enabling the landed proprietors to bear the general and local burdens of the country. The Right Hon. Baronet at the head of the Government said that they were passed simply in order to enable the landed interest to bear the special burdens imposed upon them, while the Right Hon. Gentleman, the Paymaster of the Forces, said that the object of those laws was to keep the la,nded aristocracy in their present station in society. Now theirdifferent statements were at variance with each other ; and therefore threw a suspicion over the sincerity of the parties who brought forward such defences.—( Hear. ) He believed that any party enjoying the power of the landed aristocracy of this country would convert that power to the same purposes to which they had converted their power. He did not say that the landowners of England had less bene volence or a less sense of justice than other men ; and he dared say that legislators of any calling would endeavour to benefit that particular calling. Adam Smith stated that in his day no persons of the same trade could meet together without entering into some contrivance for raising their prices to the injury of the public generally. That was the disposition and tendency of human nature, and it behoved Hon. Gentlemen opposite to consider that that was the position which they occupied in the minds of the people in this country. It was believed that they were maintaining a particular law for their own advantr3e. If Honourable Gen tlemen opposite were to witness a combination of workmen forcibly preventing other workmen from offering their labour in the corn market, they world hesitate before they admitted that these parties were acting for the general good, and not for their own particular benefit. —( Hear, hear.) It should not be forgotten that Hon. Members had not lost their characters of men in entering that House, and that they were just as likely to use the power they possessed for their own advantage as any other men. Let them consider what were those special burdens to which land was subjected, which the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of the Government offered as a defence of the Corn laws, and he (Mr. M. Gibson) did not admit that special burthens always formed a just ground for compensa tion to the landowners. If that wore the case any parties who were more heavily taxed than others had a right to ask for compensation from the public. It would be an argument, for instance, for those who paid heavier highway-rates, or Church rates, than their neighbours, to ask for compensa tion, or a diminution of such burdens. But tithes existed before the Corn-laws; and he would ask any Hon. Gent. whether it could be contended that, if tie Corn-laws were repealed, the should puy no tithes. That was the position, however, which Hon. Gentlemen opposite had taken ; and such an argument must of necessity create great alarm among those who consider Church property as vested property, and that the Church had the same right to tithes which the landlord had to his estates. —(Hear.) He would not go into the question of special burdens, as it had been already so ably discussed by the lion. Member for Renfrewahire. With regard to the argument of the advantage of our being independent of foreign supplies, he was surprised to find that an Hon. Gentleman opposite had pointed out no single case of a country dependant for a supply upon other countries, which had failed to get that sup ply when they had the means of purchasing it.—( Hear, hear, hear.) On the means of pc-chasing, the certainty of the supply entirely depended. He was perfectly cer tain that if we were dependent on our own landlords for our supply of food, and had not the means of pnrchasing it, we should never get such a supply from them.—( Hear, hear, and a laugh.) But the Right Hon. Baronet the her for Dorchester had quoted Scripture for the purpose of showing that a country should seek to be independent of other countries. He told his constituents that there were two countries mentioned in llolyWrit, namely Tyre and Judea; and that Tyre which was a powerful country, had a quarrel with Judea, which was a weak country, and ambassadors were obliged to go from Tyre to Judea to solicit peace, because the latter country was supplied by the former. The Bight lion. Baronet told his constituents that that particular passage was written for their use and instruction.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) He said that it went to the essence of the question, and that it showed the necessity of an independence of foreign countries for supply of food. But did it not occur to the Right Hen. Baronet that that very dependence was the means of insuring peace, and putting an end to war? The passage which the Right Hon. Gentlemen quoted, offered one of the strongest arguments in favour of maintaining a system of mutual intercourse with distant countries.—( Herr, hear.) But the Right Hon. Gentleman the Alember for Tamworth would not admit that the Corn-laws had been to any considerable extent the cause of the distress now prevailing in the country ; and he attributed that distress to over-specula tion, to the connexion between master manufacturers and joint-stock banks, and to the facilities for obtaining credit, which induced parties to manufacture more goods than they could reasonably hope to sell. But he wished to call the attention of the House to this cir cumstance—that in the cotton trade there had been no over production, and the quantity of raw cotton brought in for consumption during the four years ending in 1837 was less by mane thousand pounds than the quantity used in the four years ending in 1841. The home market had of late fallen off, and that was the reason why a greater quantity of cotton goods had been expoited of late years than at preceding periods. The Right lion. Gentleman at . the head of her Majesty's Government, had also stated that tnere had been a decline in our expoits with China, but the Honourable Member for Paisley had contradicted that state ment ; and it was really important that the house should receive some accurate information, and some further ex planation on this subject. It appeared from the last census that the increase of population had been greater in th e manu facturing than in the agricuhural districts; and th a t was a fact which showed the necessity for encourageng manufactures which gave employment to the su. plus populati. n in the agricultural parts of the country. It was stated that a reduction in the price of food would be attended with a reduction in the wages of labour; but he (Air. Gibson) wou 'd put it to Honourable. Gentlemen opp os i te whether there was any force in that argument. In his belief the wages of labour were totally irrespective of the price of food. competition, would not the If wages were reduced by labourer be better off if he could get a larger amount of food for his wages than if he could only get a smaller e— ( Cheers. ) The Right Honourable Gentleman had in stituted a comparison between the F.nglish labourer and the Prussian labourer.—( Hear.) Did the Right Honourable Gentleman mean to say that if there had been less food in Prussia, the Prussian labourer would have got more—(Hear ' hear)—and th a t if th ere h a d b een a greater amount of food in England, the English labourer would have got less ?—( Cries of " Hear, hear. ') It appeared to him (Mr. Gibson) that if wages were reduced by foreign competition, the differe nce i n the price of food would make a vast difference in the welfare of the English artisan.---( Hear.) If there were more food in the country, undoubtedly he would get more; and if the quantity of food in the country were re duced, undoubtedly he would get less.—( Hear, hear.) But how was it possible, he would ask, for the English manu facturer to compete with the foreign manufacturer, if they forced upon him the necessity of pur chasing his agricultural produce at a greater cost than the foreigner ?—(Cheers.) Hon. Gentlemen opposite were not perhaps aware of the quantity of agricultural pro duce which was used in certain branches of our manufactures. —(Hear.) in many instances the quantity of agricultural produce consumed in the process of the manufacture exceeded in certain branches the amount of agricultural pro duce consumed by the people empleyed in the manufactories. If the manufacturers had to pay a large al - tomtit:for the produce thus employed, was it not evident that an additional difficulty was thrown in their way of competing with those who could pur chase this produce at a less rate. The action of the Corn-laws on the manufacturer was in the first place to limit his power of exchanging the produce of his industry, and in the next to render the process of manufacture more expensive.__( Hear, hear, hear.) This was a most important question in reference to the employment of the p mple. How could they extend their manufactures if they limited the manufacturer's power of exchange, and if they would not allow the manufacturer to take what other nations offered him in ex change for his commodities ? Gentlemen opposite seemed to read the amount of our exports as if they were jealous of our foreign trade—as if they imagined they saw a species of rivalr y existing between commerce, and manufac tures, and agriculture ; as if they were afraid ofevery advance of the commercial classes, and viewed thee] as a power desirous of deriving them of the stations they occupied. It was in a jealous spirit they read the list of the exports. They said you have added much to your exports this year, are you not satisfied?—( Cheers.) Now it appeared to bins (Mr. Gibson) that the question ought to be not what was the amount of the exports, but were they as great as they might have been if they had not been re stricted by Act of Parliament ?—(Cheers.) Was it right that trade should have only so much extent as the landed proprietors chose to permit ?__( Hear, and cheers.) Were the merchants and manufactnrers to be considered only as a secondary class, dependent upon the indulgence and pleasure of the landowners ?—( Hear.) Was it right that they should be allowed to trade to a sufficient extent to minister to the luxuries of the higher orders, but be debarred from trading when they sought to benefit the condition of the humble?—( Hear, hear. ) They might be allowed to import wines and every other article that ministered to the splendour, luxury, and gre a t ness o f the aristocracy, b u t th ey must not be permitted to import bread to better the condition of the working classes.—(Loud cheers.) The co m p e titi on f or f arms, to which an allusion had been made by the Hon. Member for Sheffield, was another consequence of the Corn-laws.--( Cries of " Divide ! divide.") The farmers were complaining that by damming up all the channels of trade and commerce. They were unable to pro vide for their families, except by bringing them up to agricul tural pursuits, and hence the ruinous competition for farms which the Hon. Member had described. Was not such the case? Had not the farmers sons and daughters; and how were they to be pros:ded for, if all the channels of trade and commerce were dammed up? He had ob served in the Mark Lane Express, which he believed was the organ of the Corn-law supporters, that the Editor ex pressed his surprise at the exi eaordinary apathy existing among the farmers upon the question of the Corn-laws. He (Mr. Gibson) was not surprised at it. Th e f armers k new well that it was a question of rent —( Loud and continued cheering)— and that if prices were reduced they would be enabled to make their agreements accordingly ; and whatever might be the state of the Corn-laws, they knew very well that competition for farms was so great that they would never be enabled to get more than ordinary profit for their capital.— (Hear, hear.) The present system had a tendency to make the occupation of the farmer more dangerous than it aught to be. The farmer must, under it, be prepared to meet, first the usual haze-d of his &ling ; secondly, the chance of a repeal of the Corn-laws—( Cheers)—and thirdly, the chance of the Corn-laws not fulfilling their purpose.---(Loud cheers.) The Corn-laws had proved faithless to the farmer. They were a • rotten foundation, and the farmer, when malsing his eereement on the faith of the Corn dews, thought anxiously of that period of agricultural distress against which the Corn laws had failed to protect him. He would admit that the agitation of Corn-law repeal made the application of ca pital to land pm :lous. He admitted that that agitation was an evil, but whose fault was it ? Certainly the fault of those who maintained the law.--( Cheers.) So long as the Corn-law re mained, so long would they have Anti-Corn-law agitation. It was therefore entirely the fault of those who maintain the Corn-laws.—(Cheers.) He did not lay any blame to the Anti- Corn-law League. He believed they were performing a sa cred duty in endeavouring to expose wriest legislation. He would advise the farmers to be cautious in taking their leases. He knew the amount of this agitation. He knew what bitter feelings were rankling in the minds of merry who did not openly express them. From his place in the House of Com mons he called upon the fr fliers to payee before they allowed themselves to be again deluded by the Corn-laws. —(Hear, hear, and loud cheers.) The proposition of the Right Honourable Baronet could not be considered as anything like a permanent settlement of the question. —(Loud cheers.) He was not one of those who would hold out to the landlords the hope that the C ern-laws could be re pealed without some suffering to their property.—( Hear. ) He could not see how cheap bread could be obtained and high rents maintained, at the same time. He believed that, ultimately the Iredloeds world share in the genera , prosperity which meet follow a repeal of the Corn-laws, but he believed that that eluld only be obtained at the expense of some present sacrifice, and if the aristocracy were so very patriotic —so disinterested, so high-minded, and so magnanimous, as they repres nted themselves, he would call upon them at once to mite that sacrifice, and not for the sake of high rents risk the per manent safety of the country.—( Cheers.) He wor'd cell upon the landlords not to be so blind to the" own interests as for the sake of grasping at some temporary advantage to peril the permanent welfare of the costa y , and he would bid them recollect that it was impossible that a temporary good should be long based on injustice and wrong.—( Cheers. ) Mr. ESCUTT said it was impossible for any Hon. Mem ber in that House to be impressed with deeper feelings of the immense importance and very great difficulties of the question they were now called on to decide than he. It was said on the opposite side that the plan now proposed was for the interest of but one class. (Hear, hear.) Ile (a 4 e. Escett) begged to tell Honourable Gentlemen that, if such were the case, no consideration would ever induce him to rise in that House as the advocate or such a class. He could not conceive how this clamour with respect to the agri cultural interest of the country had been raised. He could net but recollect the pr"t taken by Hon. Gentlemen opposite on this question duri n g th e l as t S ess i on of Parliament. That part was now being played over again, but for different results. If ever there was a plan of mischief devised by the cunningest of men in any country, it was that of procldming cheap bread in a partly dis tressed country. It was striking upon the most tender, the most vital, the most vulnerable point—the life and existence of all those who lived by land. The question now raised must be met by argument, not by assertion. Before the Hon Member for Wolverhampton (Mr. Villiers) called on them to repeal the principle of a law under which the agricultural interest was protected, and the people of England supplied with foreign corn for more than twelve years, it appeared to him (Mr. E.) that the Hon. Gen tleman ought te prove two propoitions—first, that the distress which they all lamented was the consequesce of the principle of the law which he would repeal, and next, that the repeal of the principle of that law would not. cause greater distress to the agricultural interests of the country than the benefits which he thought it would confer on the working classes. He (Mr. E.) never heard one of those propositions either ar_ ued or proved in that House ; but until that were the case, that man must be a madman or something worse who sought to unsettle the principle of a law under which the great agricultural interest had thriven, and recovered from the reverses into which it, as well as the other great interests of the country, had fallen during sema years preceding. The commutation of tithes had just taken place, and before the commutation decd was dry would they pass a law that would have the effect of bring ing down the price of wheat in this country to that of wheat in Prussia or Russia—namely, 405., and make that the standard of landlords' rents, and the amount of tithes to be received by those to whom such should be paid ? They talked of free-trade in corn. Was that a free -trade when the produce of every other commodity in England was protected by a heavy ad valorem duty ? Did they think that wheat should be the only untaxed article, whilst every other article of production was heavily taxed? Did they forget that if they were to have a free trade there was no class in the community 30 able to bear free trade as the agriculturists were ?—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear," from the Opp os it ion b enc h es. ) L et them not talk of feee trade, and mean a different thing ? It had been admitted by the Hon. Member for Wolverhamp ton, that the agriculturists had exclusive burdens to bear, but that a proposition for th e remova l o f t h ose burdens would be submitted to the House. His (Mr. E.'s) answer to that was, they did not wish to break up the financial system of the country. If they did get an increased price for the articles they pro duced in consequence of the heavy expense of taxes, what would the Hon. Member do? lie would, by introducing an unlimited importation of foreign corn, deprive them of getting that large price.—( !dear, hear.) He admitted that they paid the malt-tax--(Hear)—the highway-rates, the tithes, and the land-tax—(Hear, hear)—he admitted that they paid these things, but then he said that they went into th e price of corn, and then he proposed a plan to bring the price of wheat down to ss. a bushel. That was the sort of free trade which came from the Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite.—(Cries of "Ques tion, question," and " Divide, divide.") The Right Ho nourable Gentleman who spoke last night, the Member for Edinburgh, said that the present was only a question whether bread ought to be cheap or dear. The question of cheap or dear, in his opinion, was a gross fallacy: cheap bread was a good thing, there could be no doubt; but cheap and dear were only relative terms ; they depended not only on the supply and demand, but also on the money in circulation. Ile was astonished that those who were crying out for cheap ness, did not see that they were far more likely to ruin the manufacturer and trade,than the land, because the land they could not annihilate.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) The manufacturers owed to the landowners what the land owners never owed to them—they owed to them their very existenee—( Hear)—and they ought also to remember whence they derived their prosperity and their origin. They derived them from that comercial system in the country which they would now annihilate. He could not think what had induced the manufacturers to adopt the course they had unless too much prosperity had driven them mad.—(Laughter, and cries of " Divide, divide.") He believed the neglect of domestic agriculture had been the forerunner of the miseries of the people. It put him in mind of the stords of the Roman poet, and he would read the original, if the House would bear with him. [The Honourable Member read the quotation to which he referred, amid considerable laughter and confusion.] The meaning of that quotation was this—he did net com plain of farmers reduced to poverty, of the crushy of land lords, or of a starving people ; he did not speak of classes, he knew better than to consider agriculture as a class in terest—he spoke of the life of all, of the whale people of his country, .reduced to fifteen days' provision —not because they did not import corn, but because they would import it ; because they preferred a precarious commerce to the improve ment of their own lands.—( Cheers, laughter, and cries of " Divide, divide.") It was the same thing here.—(Cries of " Oh, oh.") There was no country in the world, nor in any period of the world's history, in which such an experiment was more likely to fail, or more certain to be atteneed with extensive inisery.—( Tory cheers.) li would now say one word more on the measure of his Right -Hon. Friend.-- (Cries of " Divide, divide.") He could well unders'and the argument, that Parliament ought to stand upon that which had proved to be good, rather than experiment upon that which might be supposed to be better. But there was another and a wiser course to be taken on this oc casion.—( Cries of " Short, short," and " Divide.") They must divert mischief by the means which Providence had put into their hands for avoiding mischief ; and he thought it wise to accept the present measure as a present settlement of the question.—( Renewed confusion, and cr° 3 of "Divide.") He had not f orgo tt en. th e ye a r 1829, and th e events conse quent upon that unhappy era—( Laughter and re newe d confu 3ion)—nor th e i mpetus given to the downw ar d movement by the misguided efforts of well-intentioned men. —(Tory cheers. ) He was sure that some of them had retreated from their mis.• taken line of conduct, and when he looked round he could not but congratulate some upon their glorious retreats as the most glorious of recorded victories.—(Hear, and immense cheering, hooting, and laughter.) The Noble Lord who had led that movement was beginning to perceive his error.—(Oh, oh, and laughter.) The Noble Lord admitted, that while the agricultural interest made no aggressions upon the other interests of the country, it must . constitute the leading party in Parliament.—(Tory cheers. ) But the adherents of the Noble Lord said that this was a farming Parliament ; and under this present Constitution it was impossible to obtain redress for the wrongs of the people.— ( Loud cheers on bath sides.) He asked, would the Noble Lord follow the leaders of the downward movement ( Cheers.) Wouli the Noble Lord hold back and tremble when pressed to join the democratic school of Parlia mentary Reformers ?_(Cheers, and crie s of " Whatever the Noble Lord did, or the new school to which he long belonged, he (Mr. Escott) was resolved to stand by the landed interest, which was well called the Eng lish interest—( Cheers)—and he would resist the schemes of those who, by their conduct in this debate, showed their utter incapacity to govern this country. (The Honourable member sat down amidst loud cheering, and cries of " divide.") On the motion of Mr. EWART, the debate was adjourned. The House resumed, and the CHAIRMAN obtained leave to sit again to-morrow. The House then Adjourned at Twelve o'Clock. COURT OF ALDERMEN. Yesterday a Court was held for the despatch of business. BAPTISM OF THE PRINCE OF WALES. Mr, FIRTH, of the Town Clerk's-office, read the following official record of the r ece pti on o f t h e Lord Mayor and the She riffs at Windsor Castle, upon the ceremony of the baptism of the Prince oY Wales : " The ceremony of the baptism of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales having been fixed to take place in the Chapel of St. George at Windsor Castle, on Tuesday, the 25th day of January, 1842, the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs had the ho nour to receive, through the Lord Chamberlain, her Majesty's gracious invitation to attend the same ; they were also further honoured with invitations, through the Lord Steward, to the dinner at the Castle after the Christening, and to a banquet in St. George's Hall in the evening. Apartments were provided for the Lord Mayor in the Castle, and for the Sheriffs at Frogmore. In obedience to these commands the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs left London on Monday, the 24th of January, and upon their arrival at Windsor Castle in their state car riages, were received by the Earl de la Warr, the Lord Cham berlain, who conducted them to the Waterloo Gallery, where all the distinguished guests invited to the ceremony were to assemble previously to their going to St. George's Chapel ; and at the hour appointed the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs, as well as the other guests were conveyed to the Chapel in the Royal carriages. " At the dejeutter after the ceremony the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs retired to the apartments provided for the Lord Mayor in Lancaster Tower, to which they were conveyed in the Royal carriage, and after attending a - Levee, held by the King of Prussia in the apartments allotted to his Majesty, when they were respectively presented t o his Majesty, the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs again assembled in the Waterloo Gal lery, and at the hour appointed proceeded to the banquet at which her Majesty presided. They also joined with the other distinguished personages in the Royal party in the drawing.. room, and after having drank bumpers of claret to tho health of the Prince of Wales, attended the Court in the evening, and quitted the Castle at half past eleven o'clock, and returned to London on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 26. JOHN PIRIE, Lord Mayor, WILLIAM MA GNAY ' Sheriffs. A. ROGERS, OFFICE OF CORN INSPECTOR. Upon the motion that Mr. Lcvick should be appointed to the office of Corn Inspector, vacant by the death of his father, whom he had ably assisted as deputy for many years, Alderman COPELAND raised a question as to the propriety of electing an Inspector pending the proceedings in Parlisment on the subject, but stated, in consequence of the representations of several members of the Court, that he would not make any motion. Mr. Levick was then unanimously elected. The Rev. W. Way te was elected Chaplain of Giltspur-street Compter, in the room of the Rev. W. Boddington, resigned. The Court then adjourned. MARYLEBONE BANK. • t A meeting of the Shareholders of this Bank was held last • night at the Boar and Castle, Oxford-street, for the purpose of receiving a statement of the affairs of the bank, and trans ' acting other business relative to the accounts and prospects of the Bank. Mr. PARNELL was proposed, and took the chair. The minutes of the last meeting were confirmed. Mr. ABRAHAM said that since the last meeeting little had been done in the affairs of the Bank beside litigation on the part of the Directors against acme of the Pro prietors. With respect to Mr. Hannay's meeting, on 31st Ja ' nuary, they (the Proprietors) fully expected that at that time the accounts would have been gone in.o, and that they would have been able to have ascertained what was the real position of At-. Hannay's affair% They had had a communication with Mr. Roy the day previously, and he simply stated that he had a letter from one of the Directors in the country, stating that a meeting of the Direction would be called in the course of the week. Mr. Bebb and himself (Mr. Abrahams) had seen the official assignee, who stated at that time that in all probability the meeting of the creditors could be adjourned for the purpose of giving time for investigating the affairs, and Mr. Bebb received a letter from Mr. Hannay, stating that lie should be most happy to meet him at the official assignee's the following day, in order to look over the accounts. In conse quence of this note Mr. Bebb saw Mr. Hannay on the 29th of January at the official assignee's, and they went over the ac counts, but they were not so explicit as they could have wished. The official assignee said, that Mr. Hannay had been engaged rimy days in writing the statement of his accounts, but they were not sufficient:y plain, and therefore, an adjournment must take place. Mr. Hannay was told that if he (I'd not pre pare his accounts, so that they could be understood, an ad journment would take place sine die. This Mr. Hannay' did not seem to care much about this, for he said if it was so it must be so. —( Hear, hear.) The offi cial assignee said, if Mr. Hannay did not produce a satisfactory statement of his accounts, it would be of no use to address the Commission for the purpose of naming a specific day for the adjourned meeting. The meeting was ultimately adjourned for three mouths. The Committee, upon considera tion, thought this was a reasonable time. Soon after the last meet ing four gentlemen were served with writs. Not from Ray and Co. ; they were ashamed of the transaction ; but they were from Mes rs. Richards and Walker. As soon as these writs were served Mr. Bebb wrote a letter to Messrs. Richards and Walker, asking them to continue their actions upon one bill instead of the whole four, as by this means they would decide the whole question without the additional expense. This they refused, and shortly afterwards a declaration was issued and placed ou the record, and this was the present state of the bills. Mr. Bebb was defend:ng these actions Mr. Abraham then read a letter from Mr. Ray, the Solicitor to the Directors, recommending an amicable arrangement o the affairs. He (Mr. Abraham) would tell them what their expenses had been since August last, and they would see that the Committee had net been very extravagant. The expenses had not been paid out of the fund, but had been paid out of the pockets of himself and of Mr. Bohte. Mr. Bohte's account, as secretary, would be about 13/. or 141., and he thought his (Mr. Abrahams) own was something like 111. or 121., and 201. for printing, and that was all. They had endea voured to save as much as possible. He concluded by moving that the meeting at its rising be dissolved. A Proprietor thought that an amount, say 1001. might be granted to the Committee to defray these expenses. Mr. ABRAHAMS said they could not pass a monied resole. Lion without first calling a meeting by circular for the purpose, with a week's notice. Mr. REEK seconded the resolution of Mr. Abrahams, which was carried. Mr. DEEK proposed a resolution, to the effect that the Com mittee should be empowered to get in any accounts, and eater into their examination, in order that they might be laid before the Proprietors at the next meeting. Mr. ABRAHAMS seconded the resolution, which was carried. Mr. SALTER moved that the Committee should put them selves in communication with the Directors, in consequence of the letter received from Mr. Ray. Mr. WARD seconded the motion, which was carried. The meeting shortly afterwards separated. EASTERN COUNTIES RAILWAY. A Special General Meeting of the Proprietors of this Com pany, was held yesterday, at the offices of the Company, Shore ditch, for the purpose of raising a sum of money by creating new Shares, and also for declaring certain Shares to lie forfeited. HENRY BOSANQUET, Esq., took the Chair, and in doing so, said the meeting had been called at the earliest moment subsequent to the, last meeting, this being the first legal opportunity, after duo notice had been given of the meeting. In order to put them in pos• session of the details of the plan they intended submitting to the meeting, for the purpose of raising the remainder of the funds necessary to car, y them to Colchester, the resolution prepared by their legal adviser, would be read. These pro ceedings would not have been necessary if they could have bor rowed tho money under the provisions of the Act of Parlia ment, viz., 2,300,000/. Mr. HULL then read the resolution to the meeting, which was extremely lung, empowering the company to issue new shares. Mr. HESILTINE, in moving the resolution, wished to ask whether, if the money was paid immediately, there would be a dividend allowed upon the new shares at the next distri bu ion. The CHAIRMAN said that if the money was paid up in full interest would be allowed up to the date of the last call, but no dividend,would .be allowed, because that would be unjust to the other shareholders. Mr. 1 - lEsturtris—Then they will only participate in divi dends after July. The CHAIRMAN—That is SO. Mr. HESILTRUE then moved the resolutions, which were seconded by Mr. ESDAI LE. Mr. HAMILTON said it did not appear to him that their pro ceedings were being conducted with their usual fairness to the debenture holders. The debentures were equal to 61. 6s. Bd. paid up, while the Shareholders had paid up, but hi. Os. Bd., yet the Shareholders were entitled to the same amount at the distribution as those who had paid 8/. Os. Bd. This was giving to the Proprietors a great advantage over the debenture holders, although they had paid up 30 per cent. less. He thought, therefore, that in fairness the last call on the shares ought to he made, and slim they would all stand on an equality. If this course were adopted and the immediate payment demanded, instead of their beirg in the receipt of 50,0901. they would be receiv ing 200,000 e The Hon. Gentleman concluded by urging upon the Directors the necess.ty of making the last call of 2/. upon the Shareholders. The CHAIRMAN said the question had been under consi deration for some time, and they had come to the determina tion of not making the call, as the old Shareholders had borne the battle which the Company had been fighting for upwards of seven years. —( hear, hear. ) If they made this call they would not get what they wanted, as that would only realize about 40,0001. or 50,0001. He would state two facts in reference to this subject. The 13irmingham Railway h a d not ma d e the i r Last call, and th e Great Western had only called 651. out of every 1031., and yet they were borrowing money and increasing their stock. The Company had done all in their power to keep faith AA ith the debenture holders, and they would do so still. Mr. KENNEDY wished to ask when the interest would com mence on the new shares ? A r. HALL said it would commence on the 4th of July, and. on the 4th January next a dividend would be declared with th 4 oti..er shares. Mr. HERBERT wished to ask whether it was the intention of the Comp an y t o ma k e any ca l l upon the 24 per share not paid up during the time the new shares were being paid up. The CHAIRMAN said the ques ti on had b e tter not be pres sed at that time, and it was withdrawn. The resolutions were then put :. nd carried. A PROPRIETOR said he had noticed in the Railway Times a paragraph stating that a reduction had taken place in the tolls upon the railway from 4d. to 2%d. ; and he wished to know if such an arrangement .aidh ha d th ate been e ntered egia iti ti into.ot The Cat A I.l:Ma N had be en entered into between the Company and the North ern and Eastern Company respecting the tolls on goods, whi c h h ad been arnica.