The Sun. — London, England, 1825-04-29 00:00:00

Oasts in Hampshire (eight in number) against any alteration in the Corn Laws. Colonel JOHNSON presented two petitions from two •hun dreds in Lincolnshire, against any alteration in the Coin Laws. Sr G. NOEL presented a petition from certain Landowners in Rutland, against any alterationin the Corn Laws. Mr. P. MOORE presented a petition from the cotton-spin ners of Stockport, against the Combination Laws. Lord CA-VENDISH presented a petition from Chichester against any alteration in the Corn Laws. -. Mr. WI LDM A N presented a petition from tjie eastern divi sion af the county of Essex against the Corn Laws. Mr. W. WHITMORE presented a petition from Daven port, praying for a revision of the Corn Laws. MOTION TO AMEND THE CORN LAWS. Mr, W. WHITMORE then rose. It now became:his duty, in pursuance of a motion, of which he had given notice is: he early part of the Session, to bring before the House taw consideration of the important question of the Corn 'Lima. 'Previous to his entering on this subject he was tlesirouit• of offering a few observations with respect to the sootivia which actuated him in undertaking to bring for lArcl 'this question at all. II is motives he was anxious_to ex plain, not from regard to any personal feelings, but from a yegard to the fate of the measure which he had undertaken to introduce.' If from personal vanity he had brought forward this question, or if he had undertaken it under the absurd notion r ofoccupying a prominent station in this,House, which his talents, his habits, and his inclinations alike unfitted him to. fill; he would then, indeed, well deserve the censure Which in the course of the last week had been so liberally case upon him ; but this was not the motive that actuated him; he was induced to introduce this question at this time, because the period had now arrived which called upon them to revise and alter the Corn Laws, which were disgrace ful tosthe country. The Corn Laws, as they now stood, were a glaring exception to the principle of free trade which the Go vernment and the country professed to hold. If continued, they would diminish, if they did not altogether destroy, the benefits which we may . hope to derive from the adoption of liberal com mercial, principles. It was impossible to reflect how deeply these restrictions on an article of prime necessity, affected the labourer and the manufacturer, without feeling the inconsist ency of continuing them whilst we professed to adopt liberal commercial principles. It was impossible to approach the sub ject of a free trade withotit meeting a striking grievance in the shape of this unjust and oppressive tax. He (Mr. W. ‘Vhitmore) had strong and deep conviction, that by conti nuing the restrictions on Corn, Parliament would inflict a most dreadful evil, not only on this country but on Europe. We should see agricultural interests again involved in the dif liculties from which it had lately escaped. It was strange that a body of men so enlightened as the agriculturists could not see their own interest on this particular subject. Every man of experience must be aware of the injurious effects pro daced by the prodigious fluctuation in the prices of Corn. There was another tremendous evil—an evil which it behoves every man of humanity and consideration to guard against—an evil which comes upon any people with horror, but which would come upon the people of this populated country, by circum stances of peculiar aggravation—he meant the probability at one period of dearth, and at another of a superabun dance and a glut. It was his considerate conviction that we were drawing gradually towards the evil which he had last men tioned- Tile stocks, which three or four years ago were very large, were now gradually diminishing. IVe had latterly be come More dependent upon the seasons, and if the stocks con ,inued to diminish, upon the occasion of a dearth we should find t exceedingly difficult to get from the whole world corn suffici ent for our consumption. It was easy to prove that restrictive laws upon corn operate to produce the more frequent recurrence of a dearth. Let Gentlemen conceive the probability of a fa. mine in a parish which was confined to itself for the produce of all the corn consumed by its inhabitants. Extend this pri.i c;ple to a county, and the danger diminishes, but still exists. Extend it to a kingdom, and although dearth would be of rare occurrence, it would be by no means improbable. It was clear that any king& was the mere liable to famine when the impor tation of corn was restricted.—(hear !)—lt was an indisputable maxim, that the wider the basis upon which we depended for a supply, the less chance there was of dearth, and the narrower the basis, the greater chance there was.—(Hear !)—He had no desire, unnecessarily, to alarm the country, but he must express Ilia belief, that although propitious seasons might for a while avert the evil, and Parliament, by altering thelaws, might avert it for ever, yet, he was convinced, if those laws were continued which were at variance with the free principles of trade, a period would arrive when we should reap the bitter fruits of such a law. Those wlio could contemplate such a period with coldness or in difference, were possessed of stronger nerves than he could boast. England was the grand regulator of agricultural produce , as well as of manufacturing produce, and the English Corn Laws Lad a very serious effect upon the agriculture' produce of other .-countries. When a great part of the lands on the Continent were cultivated, the corn intended for importation was thrown back on the ports by the Corn Laws, and caused a glut. Our Consuls abroad remarked this effect, which caused a range of price quite wonderful to an inexperiencA eye. It was his opi nion that the Corn Laws produced theemost injurious effects upon the whole cultivation abroad. The:Consequence of Eng lind shutting her market was, that it prpduced a glut in the foreign ports, which was found so injurious, that foreign powers passed lawsof asimilar tendency to those which wereibund so dis advantageous in this country. Spain, Portugal, and even Hol land, followed our example with respect to those restrictive _laws. He therefore charged it upon those laws, that they had changed. the whole course of trade, and 'had a tendency to re press production, to an extent which may ultimately involve riot only this country, but Europe, in distress. It was the opi nion of persons the best informed, of men of men of intelli gence, whose judgment was sharpened by an attention to their own interests, as connected with this subject, that production was not keeping pace with consumption. No man who is well informed on the subject, and had made up his mind, ought to withhold this opinion from the public. He would read an ex tract from a -letter written by a Gentleman of great intelligence and respectibility, residing at Antwerp. This gentleman was well informed on all matters of trade, but particularly on every thing connected with the corn trade. He stated, that " the Corn Laws had been productive of the most disastrous conse vences in Poland ;" that production had in .consequence di. miaielied, and that the penury of the agricaltural classes had increased. He also stated, that the export of British, and Britiah colonial manufacture in Poland, did not now amount to one-half of its amount before the passing of the Corn Jews: It was also worth remarking, that Mr. Merry (the writer of the letter) states, that wool was found much more productive than corn, and that much land was being thrown nut of cultivation, because cattle were found to yield a better return. The peasantry in that country could afford to pay 355. per Winchester quartern for wheat ; but thcy could not sup Plied from Bohemia, the great corn country, under 38s. the quarter. He had adduced these facts to prove a position, to which no man could dissent, that if we determinately exclude 'the. produce of other countries from our market, we shall cause a great change in tire amount of foreign produce. When ever we are brought to that •situation„ when we shall require to eke out consumption by the produce of other countries; weeball find there will not be a sufficient quantity at the foreign ports. Ile would now refer to another, and nut a less im portant view of the case. If we refused to allow the importa tin of foreign corn, foreign states would produce something else, which would come in competition in our markets, and effect the price of our manufactures, particularly since we had begun to act upon the liberal principles of trade. How had the principle which he laid down acted upon the importation o f woo l It had increased in an immense proportion. -He did not mean to push this argument too - far; he knew altera tions had been made in the laws, but he wished to call the at tention of the House to the facts. The annual average import of wool for fire yeart, ending in December, 1823, was 13,104,502 cwt. ; in 1824, the import was 22,558,222 cwt., leaving an excess this year over the preceding years of no less than 6,363,720 cwt. 'fife. Corn laws not only affect the im portation of wool, and consequently its price, but they also affect.tho importation awl price of various other articles of pro d-action. If we refuse to admit the corn of Poland, we force' Poland to produce wool, And compete with us in the woollen markets ; and so in other branches of trade and manufacture. The importation of tallow had considerably increased, and also the importation of flax : upon which there was excess in 1824, compared with the annual average produce of five preceding years, of 221,150 cwt. Having entieavoured to show the inju rious effects of the Corn. Laws upon our agriculture and menu factures,,he would now turn and see how these laws affect the price of labour. No doubt when corn is double the price at which it is sold in other countries, our labourers must be paid at a much higher rare. Some Gentleman may think that the price of labour is of no consequence to any one but the consumer, as it is charged on the produce. — Others, however, with more reason, conclude that the high price of labour goes to dirninssh the profits of capital. Can this high price, - then, continue, without producing a fatal effect upon capital itself? The effect must be, that we shall at length drive that capital, upon which the greatness of England depends, to seek for employment in other parts of the world. The house should consider the result to which this must Inevi tably lead. In extent and population, compared with the lead. ia.! , Powers of Europe, England is only a second-rate Power. Cihiparing the extent and population of England with France, or even with Austria, England is only a second-rate Power; and comparing its extent and population with the extent and population of Russia, he would ask, how we could expect to compete with this colossal Empire ? The greatness of England depends upon its capital, and if we diminish that capital, and drive it from our shores, England will become a third-rate Power. if we turn our eyes from Europe and look across the Atlantic, we see a great rising country, whose power we may judge of by what she has already achieved, when called upon to resist oppression. The population and ex tent will immeasurably exceed that of England. It is her ca pital, then, that gives to Britain her weight in the scale of nations ; and if it isour object to preserve her station, it should • also be our object to -- preserve her capital. We have been able to contend not only with any single power, but with all power united, and we may be able successfully to do so again, but it is only by the force of our great capital. Could any man say that we ought to trifle with the power of our country in this re spect? There was no man possessed of so much boldness. He would now ask, had this system of restriction been tried in any country, in which that country had not reaped the bitter fruits of its folly ?- Holland had imposed an injurious tax, not upon the importation of corn, but upon the internal trade, and it had produced the most disastrous consequences. In no instance could a contrary effect be proved. It' it should be proved that restrictions on the produce of corn had produced beneficial effects in any country, he (Mr. Whitmore) was willing to give up his theory. Until this was proved, however, he should con tinue to believe o that if the Corn Laws of England be left with out modification,..it will ultimately give a mortal stab to the prosperity of England. This consequence may be remote, and he knew how difficult it was, when the country was enjoying prosperity, to induce Gentlemen to attend to re mote consequences, and examine whether the principle upon. which they acted, was intrinsically good. The evil which may arise from the ignorance of the principles upon which those laws were founded, was so serious, that it deserved the deepest attention; That the Corn Laws, as they at pre sent stood, had the effect of raising the rents, was, he 'con ceived, perfectly evident. Did they imagine that the people were not aware that those laws had this effect ? The people must know that the rents arc thus raised. He did not wish to give offence, but he must say that they raise the rents at the expence of the rest of the community, and this for .the maintenance of a law which is directly opposed in its principle, its details, and its operation, to every rule by which we had been heretofore regulated. He would put it to the House if this law had not the effect of creating a privileged class ? This was not a period of darknese—this was not a time in which the people were sunk in gross and grovelling ignorance. Exactly the reverse was the fact, at the present moment. The people were every day becoming more capable of reflecting and of forming sound judgments on all that concerned their own inte rests. Many were alarmed, and so should he be alarmed, if he were convinced that the Corn Laws were to remain unchanged. If that fatal system were to continue permanently, there would indeed be just ground for alarm, but he was persuaded that there would - be no danger if they would only square their legis lation according to the new order of things now spinging up. They need proceed with no false or secret system— they had no thing to conceal. Let them recur to the great principle on which the country went previous to the year 1815. Ile would beg • the attention of the House to the contrast which the law now ' presented to the legislation of former periods. Ttse principle of the law of 1815 was in direct opposition to those rules by which we had been previously guided. In 1773, there were two low duties, 2s. Gd. and 61 These were added to the prin cipal duty of 213. 3d. in proportion as the price sunk below the appointed price of 50s. From that period to •1791 the amount of the duties varied, but the same principle was acted one which imposed the highest of those duties on corn when the price was 505., 2s. 6d. was added when the price rose to 545., and Gd. ad ditional when it exceeded that sum. Afterwards the price for the highest duty was 535., and fid. additional was laid on when it amounted to 665. During this period the prices of corn rose, and generally during that time it was on the increase. This uniformly continued to be the case while trade was free. He was justified—fully justified in saying that whatever might have been the nominal prices at the time, the corn trade proved during that period. Ile would now broach a very im portant branch of the subjectenamely, the alteration which was deemed essential to be made, in order to put this great and important part of our trade upon its just and natural footing. His strong conviction was, that we should revert- to original principles, and make the trade, if not nominally, at least virtually free; subjecting, of course, the import of; corn. to a fixed duty. Previously to going further, he thought it neces sary to clear the ground from the difficulties which might be supposed to arise from the exclusive burdens under which the agricultural classes laboured—the imposts which exclu- • sively affected the land. These burdens he was not disposed to undervalue ; he was willing to make full and liberal com pensation to the agriculturists, so as that the weight of these burdens should not injuriously operate against than. These burdens were the poor's rates, the land tax, the tithes, and the expence of highways. The first of these amounted to 7,000,0901. the second to about 5,040,000/. including the English and Irish tithes, the third to 1,210,1271. and 2,000,0001. perhaps for high ways. Supposing, however, that these sums were under the mark, 13,000,0001. might be allowed to cover evcry thing. If an advantage to that amount were given to the agriculturi: - .t, he would surely be left without any just ground of complaint. The consumption of wheat annually amounted to I4,000„000 quarters, barley 3,500,000, and oats 3,00000. With a duty, then, of lOs. on wheat, and a proportionate sum on the other grains, there would be sufficient to answer the end in view. Fixing the duties at this rate would be taking from the pockets of the people no less than 13,000,01)01. annually, and he doubted not that they would be willing to make every reasonable con cession to cover the burdens under which the land excldsively laboured, for which purpose he conceived that the duty of 10s. would be found sufficient. The law that they had enacted raised the prices much :more than a moderate dory would have done, and much more than was consistent with justice towards the other classes of the community. He had already said, that , -any - system which prevented the admission of foreign corn was exceedingly injurious; that any alteration must involVe the int - - position of certain duties, enough to pay the 'exclusive burdens! under which the agricultural interest laboured, and for which purpose 10s. lie thought would suffice. Ile agreed to im posing this duty, on the• principle that the agriculturists ought to receive such compensation a.• would enable them to meet what fell more particularly on them. Besides that, he was an enemy to any measure which would produce sudden or violent change, and if that chenge had no existence in point of fact, the mere apprehension or it might produce evil effects. There were other reasons urging to this revision of the law—the Stocks were low and required renovation. Ile was aware that others thought differently from hint—that they were alarmed at the pow prices of foreign corn ; but Gen tlemen should remember, that the admission of oats did not produce this eFect. • If -they were able to procure es timates of the probable amount of the surplus of corn which could be spared to this country by the Continent, he felt persuaded that it would not exceed a tr.illion• of quar ters ; and if they looked to the information front Spain and Poraigal, they would see that there was little short of an actual scarcity in those countries. Ile could not doubt that a deliberate consideration of the subject would Lad the House to the con viction that such a trodificatiOn of the existing laws might be made as would prevent those fatal effects which he, and th ose who thought with him, anticipated on the one hand, and which those who differed from• hint feared on the other. He would now shortly lay before the House the view he took of the subject, and the means which he would propose. for remedy - - ing the existing evils, and for preventing the immense influx of foreign grain which is so much dreaded. Ile would pro pose that there should be imposed upon foreign corn a duty of 10s. when the price was 555. and that when it sunk still lower, the duty should be proportionate, ISa. when down to 455., and 20s. when below that, generally speaking, and for a permanency, the duty might be estimated at 10. s. In the state. menu which he had thus thought it necessary to lay before the House, lie might in some cases be in error, but he had taken pains to procure the requisite information, and to do-sO with all the accuracy in his power. He thought it desirable to remove an impression respecting the amount of imports, which were con ceived to be so large. From a return on time table of the House not yet printed, and to which he would earnestly call attention, it appeared that the quantity of wheat imported (including what came from Ireland) from the year 1800 to 1825, amounted to only 12,577,000 quarters, 502,700 annually. They could never have reason to apprehend that the consumption would be less than 14,000,000. Perhaps he may be permitted to allude to the state of the country as connected with this subject, and upon that point he would say that at no period could this measure be . more advantageously con s idered than at present, for no interests. was more deeply affected. The manufactures of the counrry were in demand, and therefore, as far as interest was concern ed, this question might be approached with safety ; and, as far as regarded the agricultural interest; there never was a time when it could be so little affected by - the discussion. An Hon. Member had said, " Wait till the dearth arises." Had that Hon. Member looked at all the consequences of his advice ? How could this question be calmly viewed w hen dearth arose..? Ile hoped the anticipations of that lion. Ge ntl e man, and others , who wish e d f or delay, might be realised, and that, in the next Session, th e su bj ect might he approac hed would b e b etter t h an the• present; • with more benefit I than at pre sent , that the time re commendedbut he could not believe but he begged Gentlemen to recollect that the benefit of their recommenda tion depended upon the state of the crops, which was a fearful chance to depend upon. The Honourable Gentleman adverted to the average s , been unjustly com pl a i ne d o r, an d, by a little care , the incon and observed that he thoug ht that they had - venience attendant upon them might be obviated , and declart d his Opinion that a fixed protecting duty could not be safe l y proposed. The Honou ra ble Member, in conclusion, expressed • his,gratitude t o t h e H ouse f ur the indulgence wi th which they had he ar d hi m„, an d move d that the House do resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House to .consider the Corn Laws. Lord MILTON seconded the motion, and Mr. GOOCH immediately rose and observed, that he thought the Hono ura bl e M e mber had not made out a case. .The growers and consumers of corn had been satisfied for these last six years, and when he stated that the average price of wheat had been 51k. 3d. during that period, he thought it could not be considered as too high a price to remunerate the farmers. The present corn-law worked well; it had procured a remu nerating price for the farmer: For himself, he thought 693. a fair protecting price. •The expepces falling on land were ex clusively heavy ; for instance; there were bridges, roads, poor rates, and gaols, to he kept up by that class. He thought that the Ilonourable Gentleman had a great deal to answer for in now agitating this question. The country before was in a per fect state of quiet, anti now it was in a complete ferment ; but, however, he believed that 603. was now as good a remu nerating price as 80s. was some years ago. The agricultural interest had once been in danger, and so it would again if these laws were tampered with, and therefore he should move the previous question. After the amendment had been put from the Chair, Mr. CURWEN rose, and was for some minutes inaudible in the gallery. He observed that the state of pdpulation had brought the consumption of corn nearly to the production of it. A change had taken place_ in the value of money, however , great and the taxes coonec,ed with agriculture, and therefore he thought that 60s. was a fair remunerating price. Certainly 60s. wimli do Setter now for the agriculturists than 705., or certainly 655. would some time since. Five years ago he thought that it was not over production, but under consumption that produced the depression in the price of corn, and he believed so still. The supply of corn, however, was never so short as present. The Hon. Member, under every view of the case, opposed the mo tion of the Hon. Gentleman. ' Lord OXMA NTOWN opposed the motion. He thought a preference ought to be given to the agricultural classes over all others of the coMmunity, for the same reasons as the hardy rustic, the natural defender of the country, ought to be cherished before the feeble manufacturer. Mr. II SK I saws and Lord MILTON rose at the same time, but the call for Sir. fluskisson was general through the House. Mr. HUSKISSON said, that as he did not intend to advert to the details which his Hon. Friend (Mr. Whitmore) bad with such great labour and research submitted to the consideration of the House, he hoped tics Hon. Friend would not think it any disrespect to him, if he only stated that he concurred with hi:n in his general principle, that the trade in corn ought to be conducted with the same liberal policy which was adopt ed with respect to other branches of the commerce of the coun try. Not intending, therefore, to follow his Hon. Friend through the facts he had mentioned, he should not have occa sion to trespass for any great length of time on the attention of the House. He did - not for a moment mean to deny that the question was one of very considerable importance, and deserv ing the most 'serious consideration of Parliament, hut he did not think (and to that point he would confine his ob servations) that the present ,time was the most fit for its iitroduction. In the outs-t he wished it might be distinctly understood, that it was to the time only that he objected. If it should be the pleasure of the House to go into the Committee, he might have to propose measures, differing not in principle, but in degree, &Om the view which his Hon. Friend took of the subject. • He was anxious not to be misunderstood in the course he was about to pursue on thiS occasion._ His opi nions on the Corn Laws were, lie believed, not unknown to the House and country. They were on record in the report cf the Committee of 1821, and since then he had seen no reason to depart from them.—(Hear!)—WithOut arrogance, an consi dering that report as the work of the. Committee, and not of any individual Member, he might call upon Gentlemen to re-peruse it, and to reflect on the circumstances which had since happen ed, and. he thought they might be brought to view it whit less hostility than they had done. There were few gentlemen, he believed, who were once disposed to differ from this report, but would now be found to concur in its general conclusions; but .while they admitted these, there might, he admitted, be still a great difference as to the tine, mode, and degree of mak ing any alteration in the laws as 'they now stood. He did not mean to show any disrespect to the respectable class of indivi duals whose petitions had been presented that evening against any alteration in the present Corn Laws ; but lie could not shut his eyes to the fact, thatsome of those very petitioners had here tofore prayed the House to have those very laws reconsidered and revised, as not affording theta sufficient protection. Looking at those laws, and at the circumstances which had since oc curred, he would contend, that there was no inconsistency in defending their principle, and at the same time maintaining that the present was not thtt, proper time for making any altera tion with respect to them. lie would assert that, with the facts before him, of cornl:log sold, in the ports of France and the Netherlands at half the price at which it could be purchased here, no Man would be warranted in contending that the present corn laws could be adopted as,a permanent system.—(llear We were now in the tenth yetr ef peace, and it was not unrea sonable to expect that the price of corn here could not continue so much above that at which it night - be procured at the ports on the continent ; but if this fact was wordly of consideration, there was another which it was also of important:: to bear in mind. For 40 ySars tilis country allowed a free trade in corn, end for every year of that time we imported a quantity more or less front the continent. That importation had been discontinued for the last sixyears, during winch, we did not receive front abroad any addition to, our home supply. • This interruption created One of the greatest difficulties under which we Were called upon to revise the present corn laws; for, the consequence of the interruption was, a great accumulation of corn in all the countries from which we were,in the habit of importing. To this was to be. added, .that since we had ceased to import corn, our harvests at home had been more than usually productive; and he believed the same might be said of the other countries of Europe. . There was then a great increase in the stock of corn on hand in all the continental ports from ,which We had usually imported, , and this was farther increased by the fact that Spain and Portugal, imitating our example, had latterly received less than their usual supply from the northern ports. The result of. all these circumstances- wa.y that the supply was at present so much beyond the demand in many Of the Ehropean pores, that in some corn did not produce half, in others not one third, and in others again not one fourth of the average prices of the last 40 years, before they had ceased to export corn to this country.—,(Hear, hear !)—Now it was not travelling into any . new theory of political economy to assert that - the average. Klee in those ports of the last - 40 years, might be talc .n as the fair price, which would give. Some remuneration to the grower, and that any thing less .would be a loss to him. From returns which he had seen, it appeared that the ave rage price in Daritzic for the last forty years, before importation to this country was interrupted, was 455. and a fraction.— It must then be evident that any thing much below that price would be a loss to the, grower. It would be unfair to infer the real cost price, at the present day, front what the corn would fetch in the market. fie would ask the Hon. Mernber.Who intro duced this mb:ion—he would appal to the lion. members for rre- • land, and ask . what differance would it not have made es. that country if, some years back, we had unloved its free trade in the export of corn to Gre a t Britain, And not allowed a vent fox its superabundant harve s t s ? l i f t e o u v ld as b, s e il . r t e ak n e o n would fallenob u e l de contended, du suchad n , a s nia. interruption, should o the price to whi c h co r n wou ld h ayn he s staischilpto.aiini t cr u iterion of the cost of production ? main tained that neither could it be contended with respect'to the cost of growing the article in those countries, whose import of corn to England h,id been internipted. He did not say this out of any particular feeling is compassion for the holders of corn in foreign ports, but merely to point out to the attention of the House, that when we came to any permanent measure for regu lating the importation ofe corn, we should look rather at the cost of producing it in the. countries where it was now so c. ap, titan .at the price which it might bring to the. grower alter so long an interruption of hiS exports. Another view of the question was, that some of tile counties front which we had formerly imported grain, h av in g - no ot he r ven t f or th e ir surplus produce but what our wants under particular circums stances might create, would discontinue to grow corn, and em ploy their lands to some more neofitable purpose; and that thui the surplus in the market would remedy itself. This was an im portant feature in the case, when they came to look at the ques tion in another light. His Hon. Friend had stated, on theautho rity of several letters from (he continent, that this had al ready been the cas e • in some placess-that many individuals had discontinued the cultivation-of corn, and had laid dostn their lands under pasture for large docks of sheep. As he was on this subject, he would gay that the tax on foreign wool, Which had now happily ceased to exist, was a source of injury to the woollen manufacturers cfthis country. In consequence of not . finding a mark e t f or their produce here, t h e woo l growers o f Silesia, and some parts of Germany, established manufactories for coarse cloths, which were sold at a more reduced price than we could sell them, and e sale of them in the American mar ket produced ‘ a competition injurious to our trade. The re moval of th e t ax on foreign wool, however, remedied that ev il. As soon as it could be imported here, it rose in price to the manufacturers abroad, from 23 to 33 florins. We were thus enabled to compete with them, and in a short time drove them front their own -and the American market. Ile mentioned these facts to shew the effects of an accumulation in the fb reign market, and the difficulties which it threw in 'our way at the present in a ny bringing a bout effectual alteration i n t h e Corn Laws. llhimselffact, that e could not disguise from the if we now opened our its to an unrestricted corn trade, we ports might i n t ro d uce all at once the great accumulation in the 0- reign ports, and thus disgust the`hoine.grower with a free trade • in corn. That there were inconveniences at en , . in whichever way we treated it, he did not deny, but they were die necessary result of the system which we had adopted in 1815___Of that alteration of free trade, and monopoly to which that system necessary exposed us, and which he would show. before he_ sat down, co y uld not afford a ,permanent advantage to any party. The - question, then, was, with this accumulation in the foreign market, what course ought we to pursue ? There were various ways of t • the subject. Those who thou g ht • that the ho grower ought to have a monopoly op to a COK tale price, and that above that there should be a free trade, I would introduce the same alternation of monopoly and free trade to which he had just adverted ; but then the question came—at what should the free trade begin ? His Hon. Friend the Member fbr Suffolk (Mr. Gooch) had in a fair and candid manner said; - that loOking to the alteration of circumstances since lills, he should consider the prohibition of corn at 60s. as quite sufficient to afford as fair a remunerating price to the British grower as Ns. did in the year 1815. This, however, , was an admission contrary to the sentiments of the petitions which he (Mr. Gooch) had that evening presented. It was a fair and honest admission that the time was not far distant be yond which the present system could not be continued. One mode suggested would thus be to prohibit importation as long as corn. did not exceed 60s. here ; and another was to have the ports constantly open, with such a duty as would afibrd pro tection to - the English farmer. If, however, the reduction were made to 61)4., the whole of the accumulation of the ports of the continent would be thrown upon the country. What the , effect of that would be, he would not attempt to describe, though he did not partake of the general fears entertained on the subject—( Hear, hear !)—lf a permanent duty was to be fixed, how, he would ask, were they to deal with the accumulations on the Continent ? Were they to be admitted at once, or gradually , ? These considerations shewed the diffi culties with which the question was surrounded at the present time, and which could not be expected to embarrass it at another period. The circumstances of the present day which prevented en attempt to alter the corn laws were so forcibly alluded to in the report of the Committee of 1321, that he was induced to trouble the House with the extract. After suggesting the pro priety of a trade in corn, open to all nations in the world, sub ject only to a fair protecting ihty, the Committee proceeded to say—" In suggesting this change of system for further consi deration, as a possible improvement of the corn laws at some future time, the Committee are fully aware of the unfitness of the present moment for attempting such a change, when, owing to the general abundance of the late harvests in Europe, and to the markets of this country having been shut against foreign corn for near thirty months, a great accumulation has, taken place in the shipping ports on the Continent, and in the warehouses of tbreign cora in this country ; and when that ac cumulation, from want of any vent, is held at very low prices, and Might tend Stillfurther to depress the already overstocked markets of this country, if allowed' to be introduced at this period, .except at such a high rate of duty as it would be inex pedient to attempt, and morever very difficult to determine.— The present market-price of the corn thus accumulated is not the measure of the cost at which it has been produced, or of the rate at which it can be affineled by the grower, but the re. suit of a general glut of the article, of along want of demand, and of extreme distress end heavy loss on the part of those by whom it has been raised, and of those by whom it is now held either in the warehouses of the continent or of this country."— It was here evident that the difficulties which at present existed Were fully contemplated by the committee four years ago. He would, however, repeat, that the present system could not in the nature of things remain permanent. The Act of 1815 was passed . under circumstances very different from those which now exist ed. Nl'e were at the time shut out'from many ports of Europe, and at war with America. It seemed also to be the intention of the Legislature in 1821 and 1822, that it should not be con aidered as et permanent measure ; but that the time must soon arrive when it should undergo a revision, with a view to the per manent settlement of the question. Hiving said the present time was not the most fit for such an alteration, it was not for him to Assert that the whole of the difficulty would be removed by the next Session. It was possible that some vent might be obtaioed for the glut at present in the foreign market. if it should be absorbed, it would remove one great difficulty in meet ing the question ; if not, he for one, looking at the time which the present laws had been in operation, and the chance of having better infbrination on the subject next session, would beprepared, when it arrived, to go into the full consideration of it with the view of providing some mermanent measure. Difficulties he was prepared to expect ; but they were not such as in his opinion might not be overcome. Looking back to another great mea sure—he meant the law forregulating the currency of the coun try, against which insuperable difficulties were supposed to exist—lie remembered what had been observed by the Hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. A.'Baring), that those seeming dif ficulties should not deter the Legislature from coming back to the sound principle of political economy. That great measure was carried, and the result had fully justified the wisdom which dictated its enachnent. So he trusted it would be found with the: present question. He should in the next Session be pre pared concur in some measure which would fix the duty at a certain rate, to be gradually reduced, so as that the supply from foreign countries might by degrees come to its thir level. He believed it was the intention of the Le gislature in 1821 to give to the British farmer - a monopoly of the home market, for a certain period, ,in order to re deem the great losses:he had sustained ; but, by the commence ie.eut of next Session, that period would have been sufficient ly extended. He could not believe the stock on hand at home to be very great. Indeed, the high price at this season, induced him to think that the supply was little, if any thing beyond the demand; and it was not at all improbable, that before the 15th of August next, if the corn laws were allowed to remain in their present state, we might beforc that period have the whole of the foreign markets pouring in their accumulations upon us. This was a circurnstance which for the sake of the country ought to be guarded against. He would therefore take an early opportunity of submiting a proposition to the House, of opening the stores here, anti allowing the bonded corn into the market; and after the admission of the Honourable Member, that 60s. would be a fair remuneration to the farmer, he thought that to this proposition there could be no objet-• tion. He could not look at the possibility of having the ports thrown open . to the 15th of Au g ust to the glut in the foreign market, without feelings . of apprehension as to the conse quences,—not as it might affect the owners of corn here, but as to its operation on the public in general ; and if he could so arrange as to keep the price ham , / that which would admit fo reign corn, without keepin e er it too low, he - thought he should be performing great service to the country. The quantity of foreign corn at present in bond in this country Was not so great as was imagined. It was estimated at 39-1,000 quarters of wheat, and a very small quantity of other kinds of grain. He was sure that if any Honourable Gentleman were to object. to the admission of this corn, which wes calculated to release a capital that had beets so long locked up, he must take .a very different view of this question front that which presented itself to his mind. It was not front any feeling of regard to the owners of the corn that he made this statement. They had speculated in the article, and must stand by the conse quences of - their speculation. They might have made a profit out of it; —as things had turned out, they had sus tained a loss. Considering, therefore, the charges which the parties had already paid .upon this corn, and the loss. which 'they. had sustained, not only in being deprived of all interest on the capital which had been locked up - by it, but also in being deprived of the use of that capital it self,: he.. was - sure that if they were .not allowed to sell that corn at eighty shillings per quarter, they would be losers by, such, a procedure. The proposal which he should hereafter make to the House would be this—that the corn now. in bond should come out at 795. per quarter. Now the averages at the end: of March, before this question began to be• agitated, were 695. - 'per quarter, and before this time would have reached 70s. per quarter, had it not been for its agi tation. He thought, that when the price of corn reached, that sum, the House would not object to the admission of bonded corn into the market, on payment of a duty of O. or 10s. per quarter, especially as it would still leave the owners of it liable to a very considerable loss. They would not be at liberty to take out of bond all at once; but as four months must elapse before the commencement of the next harvest, they would be at liberty to take it out in four quarterly portions, provided that if the whole of it were not withdrawn by the 15th of next August, the owners ofit should beliable to all the conditions upon which it was originally imported. • lie thoughtthatbysuchasystem thecountry would be saved from that revulsion which might otherwise tal:e place, should a large importation of foreign corn take place before the month of August next ensuing. Another advantage which would' arise from it would be this—that much of the accu mulatedarrival of the period when the corn laws must come under the • revision of Parliament. , lie therefore thought that there could h p it e e r re q s u ts art o e f r a w ll ou p l a d rt b i e es quite be no rational objection to the details of the measure which he had just mentioned ; he should bring it forward on an early corn in this country day, and he trusted that he should then be able to convince length into the statement of the : nor to enter upon the view con cerned in this great question. The House would not, he was Mire, sufficientnse Memberrt the a fo d p r u r t o ß y t e r o j e d f t g i 8 0: t l le expect him to go at any which he took of the proper course to be adopted • upon this sub ject. The reasons why such a mode of proceeding. would be highly impolitic were so obvious, that lie deemed it unne cessary to recapitulate them. He could not, however, refrain from dissenting from the language which had fallen - from his Honourable Friend the Member for Suffolk, who had mo destly asked " Why not let well alone ?"—(Hear!)—" The present law," his lion. Friend said, " worked well." He (Mr. Huskison • ) had always understoodthat the great desideratum in 'this important question was to provide for a steadiness of price, and to guard against e vicissitudes of trade. now excessive fluctuations in _ _ did the present law provide for these e' • ads ? By limiting the markets from which we drew our supplies—by destroying the vent which we should otherwise have for our produce whenever we were blessed with a super abundant harvest —and by exposing us to an alternate fluctua • tion of high and of low prices. 'Io say of a system which af fected the price of labour andthe comforts of the labourer, and which cramped the resources of the manufacturer, but not only . it also of the farmer himself—to say of such a system that worked well, wa s so completely refuted by the report of 1021, loorrft hlt would be disposed of before the that he was surprised that any man should be bold enough to make it. What did they think of its working well in 1822, when corn was as low as 38s. per quarter ? ( Hear, hear !)-- when Gentlemen came down to the House nightly to talk of a national bankruptcy, and to propose the most extraordinary changes in the currency ? - -(llear !)—At the present moment it might work well ; but had the Country Gentlemen forgotten their own misfortunes, their former predictions of ruin to the , country —nay, their repeated requests that this system, which now worked so well, should be instantly altered?—(Hear, hear !l—ln two years the price of corn had varied from 112 s. to 38s. per quarter. Such ,a fluctuation in price deprived the business of the farmer of all security; and converted it into a business of mere gambling. The bubbles in the shares of mines could not produce more gambling than that to which sub fluctuations ninst_nece&qtrily lead. The man who engaged in a long lease, could not at present be aware of the conditions upon which he was taking it, or of the results which it might produce upon his family arrangements. Ti is was not the only inconvenience of the system. Look at the situation in which we were placed when a bad harvest made it necessary for us to go to the foreign market. The price of corn immed'ately ad vanced there : the foreign Government, seeing our demand for it, laid a tax upon the article : this further increased the price, and the result was, that it was raised to many thousands ster ling, to the derangement of the currency. After illustrating this point at considerable length, and showing that it was a monstrous fallacy to suppose that tbi4 system worked well, he proceeded to notice an assertion which had been made in the course of the debate, that if the prices ' did fluctuate excessively, they . still produced a fair average price.-- A fair average price ! Ile wondered what this phrase meant,' when applied to the provisions of the people. He should like to know how any gentleman, who was accustomed to eat a good diaper every day, would like to be kept one week without food, and to be supplied the next with twice las much as he wanted. Would he feel satisfied at being told that he had got a fair- average quantity of provisions for each day in the two weeks ?—( Hear, hear ! and a laugh.)—lle thought that the gentleman would not be satisfied—that ho would find such an averaging system to be neither wholesome to his constitution nor pleasant to his stomach.—(Hear, hear !) —But it was Said that to withdraw cur protection horn th.; manufactUres of the country, and to continue it to the corn, was acting upon an erroneous system. He denied this position entirely, and contended, that reasoning from analogy in a case like the present must necessarily lead to an erroneous conclu sion. In the first place we could manufacture cheaper, than every other country ; but every other country could grow corn cheaper than we could. In the next, we exported 30 millions of cottons annually, and not 30 bushels of corn. Then thole was no accumulation of cottons on the Continent, but there wait an accumulation of corn. When there was an accumulation of cotton, the manufacturer could contract his supply ; but could ra similar measure be adopted by the agriculturist, when there watt an accumulation of corn ? Besides these considerations, there were several ethers, applying to agriculture, and not to mane factures, which were sufficient to convince any impartial man that the argument founded upon this analogy was any thins but logical.—( Hear !)—He was not one of those who wished to lesien the rank which the agriculturists held in the country. 'To be admitted into that class, ought to be the ambition of every man who by his industry and his talents had acquired a fortune for his family. He was quite willing, seeing that the rents had already adjusted themselves to the alteration in the currency, and to the improved condition of the country to say thet he was ready to give any protection to the agricultural interest, which would obviate the necessity of any reduction in the relative situation which- it now held with regard to the rest of the community. Still it was quite evident that there must be some limit at which foreign corn must be admitted into the. country. The difficulty—and it was a difficulty which re quired all the vigour and attention of Government—was to see at what point the price of labour was likely to produce, such a diminution of profit and of capital to the manufacturer as to compel him to seek protection in a foreign sate. Ca pital and skill could not be compelled to remain in,this coun try—they were certain to emigrate if they were impeded by burdens they were unable to bear ; it was therefore the duty of the House to watch the effect of the priceof labour °ti the advantages we at present possessed; and if gentlemen reflect ed that it was to the capital and skill which our manufacturers possessed that the agricultural interest owed its present prospe rity, they would see that if their capital and skill was removed from us, the agriculturalists in the long run must be the greatest sufferers. At this moment America, which procured the raw ma terial snore easily than we did, was manufacturintr cottons F' ) cheaply as to ,b, uriving our cottons out of the market. At this , moment American cotton goods were on their passage to differ ent ports in the Mediterranean, and were selling there at a price at which we could not afford to furnish them to the consumer. If capital had not a fair remuneration here, it would seek for it in America. To give it a fair remuneration, the. price. of labour must be kept down ; far if it were not kept down; the distress it would occasion to the manufacturer would soon ree vert with tenfold force upon the agriculturist. An Hon. Mem ber had stated, and almost as if it had been a reproach to them, that the workmen of London had roast beef and plumb-pad` ding on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. He did not mean to assert that they had it not, and he had little doubt that they were accustomed to wash suei dainties down by large draughts of the ancient and constitutional beverage of the na tion, beer. Now he would wish the Hon. Member the next time that he presided at the Farmers' Club, to ask the members of it, whence came the roast beef, the plum-pudding, and the beer: on which the workmen banquetted ? The answer must be, that they were all the production of the country ; and that being the case, he would ask, what would be the condition of those who produced these articles, if .the workmen could not. procure money to purchase them ? Agriculture could not flourish, unless all other classes in the country were in pros; perky. Commerce and manufactures could not be sustained here, if they met with greater advantages in other countries- The profits now derived from them were smaller than they had been at any former period, and any thing which tended to in crease them would be productive of great benefit. lie men tioned this circumstance to prove that it would be necessary to , enter at a • future time upon the revision of the Corn Laws.; though he maintained, as he had before done, that the present was not the moment for commencing it. We had done a great deal already to promote the freedom of trade; but every thing could not be done at once. We had allowed the importation of w001,._ of iron,and ofvarious articles which had formerly been prohibited , and the effect of that measure had been to produce a large importation of the prohibited articles. Some difficulty- might arise, if we proceeded too far in such a system ; and it was-there fore prudent to wait awhile where we now were, to see whether such difficulty would arise; and if it did arise, how was it to be obviated ? There were other considerations which deserved the notice of Government. We knew that several Foreign countries were in some distress, owing to our exclusion of thtir , corn, and that they had, in revenge, shut out our manufac - ' tures. It might be worth while to consider, whether we did not hold in our hands at present the keys of unsolving this difficulty —whether, to those who excluded our colonial produce and our manufactures, we had not a right to say, " We will not admit' you to the benefit of a free trade in corn, unless you will at tins ' same time admit the free introduction of our manufactures? —This was one of the principal reasons why he thought that this question might be perniitted to stand over to a more con venient period. Ile was aware of the responsibility which was incurred by Ministers in general, and by himself in parts.. cular, in recommending to Parliament not to legislate on this subject at present. Circumstances might arise beyond the reach of human thought, which, by their effects and conse quences, might induce him to regret that he had offered such a r:commenda ion to it. The risks arising out of such circumstances were not, however, faults of his creation, but faults of the exist ing system. He was not shutting his eyes against .them, but was judging from all the circumstances of the case, when 11 said that at present he thought it right to postpone the dis cussion of the Corn Laws to another Session. Ile complained of the excessive speculation which was now going forward, not only in shares and Companies,. but also in foreign merchane disc. Stich speculatior e was the ofilpring of unnatural excite; ment ; and in the bOdy mercantile, as well as in the body phy sical, such excitement was generally followed by depression and exhaustion. Ile called upon those who to. a certain degree were the controullers of the currency, to watch with care and die ligcnce over the fbreign exchanges ' • and implored the country ba ks not to lend their money to the 'encouragement of crud! and hasty speculations. One of, his great reasons for not let ting the Corn Laws loose at present, was. the excessive specu lation which was now so prevalent... It had already dertng , d the foreign exchanges, and he wished not to derancre their" corn. The {l 4 i is ;ht former Honourable further by opening th e d oor to s i m il ar specu l at i on i n f ore ign o a u r r g a u b m l n e ehts,s Gentleman, atdo;n after a nii d sh c o o r n tl s y i d e re r ; capitulating able cheering. _ Mr. A. BARING then rose.—The - lIOn. Member was for Il i considerable tim e i nau dibl e i n the gallery. We understood him to say, that the Right IlOn-Gentlean (Mr. Huskisson) appeared, from hi s s p eec h, to liaN; ni e lost sight of the principles aivnatel by him in 1815.—(Hear, hear !)—The present sys! tern was then maintained by him L•he was almost its authors Now, however, he came forward to say, that. considerable change must take place in the Corn foams. He had been tangPt , perhaps, som e new thander.—(A laugh.)—Much agitation prevailed on the present subject, and the speech of the Itig h l Honourable Gentlunian was calculated to fix the public Into still more. How can the country now say what is the in tention of Government ? To follow the arguments, of the Right Honourable Gentleman, he (Mr. Baring) was ready to admit the disproportion that existed between the prices of foot in this and other countries. He perfectly concurred that that disproportion pressed heavily on the manufacturing classes; at the same time it was his opinion that no period could be o °, propitious as the present f or t A ki ng th e whole question