The Sun. — London, England, 1830-12-10 00:00:00

V G'~ ~' ~: c , • MILL OFFAL AT. DEPTFORD. VICTIIALLING-OFFIOE, Du. 10, 1880. THE Commissioners for Victualling His M.tjegty's Navy, &c. do her, by give Notice, that ea Totes)Av, the 215 t day of December instant, they will be reedy to receive Tenders in writing (sealed up), and tireatdith each persons as will undertake to Purchase and Attiorwitfrom the Victualling Premisee at DEPTFORD, 4 - - the.OFFAL, consisting of MIDDLINGS, POLLARD, and 'IRAN, produced in his Majesty's Mill in the said Yard, from the Ist day of January to the 51st day of Detember, 1881. The Conditions of the Contract anay be seen at this Office. Each Tender must specify the price in words at length, Ind be delivered before One o'clock on the Jay appointed; mad the Person who makes the 'Tender, or some Person on his . behalf, must attend to answer when called'for. M. WALLER CLIFTON. LONDON INSTITUTION, Nov. 25, 1880. .THE COMMITTEE of MANAGE MENT of thisiNSTITUTION inform the Pro °Pristors, that Mr. BUCKINGHAM will deliver SIX LECTURES on PALESTINE and EGYPT, in the Theatre of this Institution. The First Lecture will be given on Mows4v, the 13th of December, at One o'clock ; .the Second, or FRIDAY. the 17th, at the same hour ; to b 0 continued on each succeeding Monday and Friday until `completed. lay Order, WILLIAM TITE, Honorary Secretary. 11 .13. The Tickets which have been issued for Mr. Partiagton's Lectures wilt admit to this Course. • S FATE OF THE COUNTRY. SUSSEX. A few benevolent persons are about to form a iSeciety for improviitg the condition of the agricultural hi loourera in th is county. .It is founded on the consideration ~that as there is a tiurplus of labour in the country, which c Jie low price sufficiently proves, the most effectual relief 4rot it would be to enable the peasant to sell the Whole or a portion of his labour to himself; or, 'in ,words, to assign him land, at a fair rate, to cul tivate with his own hands. It has been,proved, it seems, lb!' Nested experiments, that one acre.of land,- cultivated haltin potatoes and half in corn, will enable the labourer, while earning wages from the farmer at the rate of 21. a day, to impport We family in comfort without any necessity for applying to the parish fur assistance. The Society propose in the outset, to apply themselves to the Obtaining correct Information of the situation of the agri- Cultural labourers in various parts of the county, and will protnote all hy , possible means, wherever it may be deemed Aigible, the allotment of land and the building of cottages for them. Other objects relative to the moral condition ,of the peasantry are also included in the plan of this so ,tiety. The Committee for its formation already includes .;:,4 number of highly respectable names, and the Duke of ,Sussex, it is said, has expressed his consent to become its tpresident. The King, it is expected, will be the patron of this society, which is to bear the name of the Peasant's ?fiend Society. KENT. A curious fact has occurred since the change of Minis ters, deserving to be recorded. The inhabitants of Staple. burst, who were summoned to be sworn in as special constables, had presented a memorial to the Magistrates, stating their regret at the disturbances, and after alluding to the causes of the distress in energetic language, they declined the office of constable. However, since the pe- Siod when the memorial was signed, they have come for ward and declared their readiness to act in preserving the pease, because they state they feel confidence that his Majesty's Ministers will remove the causes of their com plaints. YORKSHIRE. The incendiary spirit has reached this county. Two Meehines were destroyed on Monday, at Elton, in the East kidlag; they were set on fire and consumed. Threatening letters have been received by many individuals in the titighbourheod of Beverley, where a meeting was held on Monday to swear in special constables, when a number of Individuals enrolled themselves. A reward has been of d fur the apprehension of the incendiaries. SUFFOLK.. Watarot.; Dec. B.—(Extract of a letter.)—" As early as eleven o'clock yesterday morning this very beautiful little village presented a scene of the utmost confusion, Ly the s rnrohltige of about SOO persons, principally farming labourers, who had been summoned by the magistrates on previous evening to attend here for the purpose of * sworn in as Special Constable*. By twelve o'clock me numbers had increased to about 1,000. The Mogi , - %tee procieedo to swear in special constables, from Ineongst the neighbouring tradespeople, chiefly persons, it tlity he said, in some degree connected with or dependent on the magistracy or their friends ; but the Magistrates bid not long proceeded in such useful duty, when a very teneral agitation amongst the labourers presented itself, intplayeti in grumblings, noises, and all sorts of signs .f uneasiness, accompanied with exclamations from the crowd of labourers, 'We are starving ! Do Yen Want us to be sworn in to starve one another ? ' 'Amidit this confusion, and a tolerably general refusal amongst the agricultural labourers to be sworn in special ca nitables,—/i refusal which, though it may have accorded %Pith their own views, was no doubt strengthened by the Orders of many of their masters that they would be visited with discharge if they submitted to be sworn in,—amidst the eonfubion that had by this time arisen, Major Bence, 'a of the M ag i s t ra t es i n a tt e ndance, entered into some ,ingtie with one of these malcontents. As the party thus pointedly a tt ac k e d did no t answer to the worthy Ma gistrate's satisfaction, and positively refused to take the 'math administered to him to be sworn in a special constable, th e worthy gentleman without further ceremony, col . r d this m a l content , an d procee d to c onvey him towards ion which formed the justice-room. The congregated '4bourers immediately culled out ' rescue,' and they soon cued th e i r companion, but not without dealing out se hill blows (I am sorry to learn) to the Magistrate. Ile w as iodetd knocked down, anti in the scuffle he lost his he, however, was soon afterwards enabled to recover L;''elies and to reg a i n hi s h a t, an d the worthy Magistrate am info rme d) then made the b est o f hi s way h ome , !bout stayiug even to attempt to swear in any more spe• till( constables f rom amongst suc h a dis or d e rly group. . 1 . 4 0 ,r1 Huntingfi e ld f are d very li tt l e b et t er ; lie got a tole !toly severe shaking and hustling, but I could not learn 'bat he had received any blows. His Lordship is not too :rat. amongst the agricultural labourers. Whilst these li l a geoni proceedings were taking place, there were con th t exclamations of ' Down with the tithes !" Reduce tk e . taxes and the rents!" Let the poor man have wages ,'it he can live upon,' &c. And, let me add, their ex nuttions were uttered with tremendous fury : and now, ZnaPa you will say, what next? About seven o'clock that same day, a fire broke out in the stack-yard 7 Mr. Sandford, of Westleton, about two :tniles from I,°, residence of Major Bence ; and another fire seen, also On the same evening, in the direc t of Sudb ourn ; but we have not beard the particulars. ,, Ought to add, that I have taken the greatest pains to as -I,nlyself of t h e accuracy of the above particulars ; but 414 s I such scenes i t is di ffi cult to collect the truth ; how 7, judging from all I have been able to learn, I have :ra .a o r n to believe that I have rather understated the parti. 7 1 1 than otherwise. In Wainford parish, which is in Lie_ immediate vicinity of the Earl of Stradlitoke's pro perty' hear that the refusal of the agricultural labourers be wont in special constables, has been very general." DESPERATE AFFRAY.— We are informed be r espectable corr es p on d ent w h o li ves i n th e neigh ...?'"ltood, th a t t h e affray with the mob at the seat of Mr. near Fordinbridge, was really terrible. On Mon iLar a party o f men came to the house sol i c i t i ng re - Ma ' m whom oney to was given. A short time after party arrived for the same purpose, but in til t '' . a more determined manner, to whom it was th4llla necessary t o g i ve an a b solute re f usa l. O n thi s a dart"%made th a t a l arge num b er would attac k t h e h ouse i o i ri nfi the succeeding night, break in; and bang them 114, To g uar d against such an outrage, Mr. C OO TIE, Mr. .Bazosit and a not h er gentleman, with som e servants, tr ve n in all, s t at i oned themselves on the steps of the ett -4 t114'T444*, Well arme d. At two o'clock in the morning t h e *44 approached, an d on b e i ng re f use d mone y, th e ir I 4 gave ,the signallift up their bars and strike." irfirst stroke was received by Mr. Comr, when instantly 071litnekeeper, with a single blow of a cutlass, cut off arm, which fell to the ground. Immediately e, 3 - 11 4i nff of the respective patties took , titer was most severe, At one time twenty.two men place, and the en tilldisabled in the field; and at length eleven of the mob, bu rs With m u d an d gore, were secured in the mansion, b have Since b een committed to prison.---Bridgewater T 1 1e elevation of Lord PLUNKETT to the ;O esz ellorshi p i s, we are happy to say, placed beyond uo• Sir Atertionv HART once or twice, on Satur n"! :poe of te almost immediate termination of his sit s Morniny Register. No. 11,933. LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER7IO, 1830 IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. " only give them the power to issue small notes to the extent for which they could depOsit Exchequer Bills as security. Never was there a greater mistake than to say, that to issue small notes would be a departure from the ancient policy of the country. This ;Mint the Noble Lord illus trated by referring to the several Acts upon the subject, and especially to the 17th George HI. [At this part of the speech he solicited and obtained leave to sit while he ad dressed their Lordships, on account of his infirmities,] He maintained that the 17th Geo. HI., and previous Sta tute., restricted the issue of small notes for fractions of pounds sterling, because they were made the means of fraud, as Sir George Sackville had established at the Bar of Parliament. The restrictions upon the issue of small notes were at variance with the maxims of political economy. Political economists said—" Let every man take care of himself;" but Parliament would net trust country bankers with the management of their own affairs. The next cause of distress assigned was excessive taxation. It was admitted by the late Mr. Pitt, that the .Excise alone took out of the pocket of the poor man two-fifths of his wages ; and here he might briefly notice a great deal that had been said on the subject of high rents. Rent was only about one-fifth of the produce of the land, and he mentioned it in order to relieve the landlords of the country froth most unjust odium. Those who pressed most heavily on the lower orders were a different class of persons, who interposed -between the bounty of Providence and the object of that bounty—be meant the inferior class of tradesmen and shopkeepers, who took more from the pocket of the 'poor man than the landlord and the taxer. It bad been said that rents ought to be reduced to the standard of 1793 ; and he (Lord Wynford) would under take that in most parts of the country—those only excepted that were peculiarly favoured—the owner of the soil had expended more upon the permanent use of it than he gained by his rent ; so that, in fact, land was cheaper than in 1793. He bad taken great pains upon this subject, and would pledge his character to support what he ad vanced by proof. He would undertake to prove, that rents, upon the standard of 1793, could not be col lected at present, without some alteration of the law ; nay, more, with regard to what were called tke se cond and third classes of land, no rent at all was taken by the owner of the soil. The political economist would say—" Then let them be thrown nut of cultivation, and let us buy corn in Poland and elsewhere at a cheaper rate." This argument, injurious as it was, had been sup ported by that powerful engine, the Public Press, which had hastened the ruin of the agriculturalists. Let it nut be forgotten, however, that if the poorer soils were left un tilled, millions of labourers must be thrown out of employ ment. Supposing alt's that the landed proprietor were compelled to reduce hie rents to the standard of 1793, what would be his condition? He would be degraded below any other class of the community; for he must pur chase necessaries and luxuries, corn, wine, and education for his children, at three times the price they cost in 1793. But it was not merely the landed interest that would be affected—it must drag down with it a dreadful portion of the other classes of society. What, ton, in that case, was to become of the home market for manufactures, which had always, and justly, been considered so valuable ? Al lusion had been sometimes made to bad seasons as a cause of distress ; but the last season was productive, and the evil instead of diminishing, had been augmented. Next it had been urged that the Corn Laws were must injurious and to repeal them was at once to afford a remedy. He had not the least objection to the repeal of the Corn Laws upon one condition, viz.—that the land should be relieved from all the burdens pressing peculiarly upon it. He was quite sure that the last corn law was of no benefit to the agri culturist, although it had imparted from the Stock Ex change a most mischievous system of gambling and spe culation into every market-town. Some fixed and perma nent system of law was absolutely required for the protec tion of the land as at present circumstanced. Ile par ticularly objected to the mode of striking the averages, into the calculation for which the price of Irish grain did not enter, as well as to the permission to foreign vessels to bring grain upon the same terms as British shipping, although the foreigners usually returned in ballast, ear. tying back nothing but British money, without Rion of British manufactures. He was then brought to consider the exclusive burdens to which the land was exposed, amounting at least to 25 per cent. What equivalent had the owner of the soil for this unfair distribution of the public burdens ? None. The chief weight of the poor rates, amounting to three-fourths of the whole, fell upon him, by the operation of the Statute of Elizabeth, and subsequent Acts. He supported, almost exclusively, the manufacturing poor. A manufacturer was rated only for his factory, and not upon the whole value of his pro perty; besides, lie had his factory !in one place, whilst his workmen obtained settlements in the adjoining and agricultural parishes ; so that it might be truly said, that scarcely a bale of cloth was exported to which the land had not contributed. Next came the land-tax, originally intended to be paid by every description of property ; but every other description of property bad by degrees crept nut and left the land to sustain the whole weight. The bounty at first given to the proprietor of the soil had been taken away, and many modern taxes were made to bear with much greater severity upon him than upon any other person in the community. Capital, too, hail been drawn from the land for the support of the manufacturer : he would not trouble their Lordships with details upon this point, but he would refer them to documents upon the table, by which it would appear, that while everything pro duced by the soil of this country might be imported almost at a nominal duty, articles that would interfere with the into. rests of the manufacturer were excluded by heavy impolite. There was one other circumstance to which he wished to allude. There were great complaints of the 4istressed state of the country. He believed that representation to be true ; but lie was convinced that the distress of the manufacturing interest and the commercial interest was but a symptom of that which affected the land. It was impossible but that it must be so. If they looked at Mr. Colquhoun's work, they would see that he represented the landed interest as almost every thing, and surely he was as much to be relied on as those other gentlemen profess ing political economy who held a different opinion. But there was one criterion even safer than that of Mr. Col quhoun's authority—he meant the proof afforded by the income tax ; from a view of the returns under that tax, their Lordships might judge of the different importance of the agricultural and the manufacturing interests. In 1815, the last in which that tax was levied, it would be found that the income tax, levied on a rate of ten per cent. produced for the land 8,200/., and deducting two millions for houses, that left six millions as the contribu tion of the laud alone. If they looked, then, at the re turns of the same tax upon commerce and manufactures, what would be the result ? Commerce, manufactures, professions, and trades, together with property abroad, which paid a tax in this country, produced but three mil lions. Take from that sum este million for property abroad that paid a tax here, and that left two millions as the whole of the income tax upon commerce, manufae turn, trades, and professions; while the land alone paid six millions. Could it be denied, after that fact, that the landed interest was the most important in the country? his might add, with regard to the calculation he had just made, that he believed it would be found that three fourths of the money paid on behalf of the towns was pro duced front the owner of the land and his tenants, and from those concerned in the home trade of the country. He did not undervalue the foreign trade, but he did not think that, in order to preserve it, we should sacrifice our internal means of prosperity. If the foreign trade left us, as there was good reason to believe it would, still we should find ample means for the deveaopment of our industry in the home market, and in our commerce with our colonies. Our merchants would still be able to keep us, in any case of necessity, above the possibility of a deficient supply, so that it was impossible a country like this could ever feel itself dependent on any other for a supply of corn. We saw already symptoms of the decline of our foreign commerce, and we ought to provide ourselves with a substitute in the additioqal en couragement given to our aeripultere. Onr commerce was declining, because other countries had become, like us, manufacturers. France had her manufactures.— Americe had hers—and to that extent, too, that they had occasioned a great falling off in our exports. The Rut trial's and Germans also had their manufactures. Those people were so stupid as not to attend to the wise opinions of our political ecoomphts, who told them to take our manufactut es—they refused to do so-aahey manufaCtured their own goods. The Dares did the sense. Ile hail seen a very clever estaty—no doubt very clever— a ie which the Danes were told not to mannfaptere their Qs ,• ll cletutr because they could get it ao touch cheaper here ; but they said, If I buy bout you I must pay money for it, but if HOUSE OF LORDS, DEC. 9. The Loan CHANCILLOA took his seat on the Wool sack at Five o'clock. His Lordship gave judgment in the Scotch Appeal " v. Earl Dalhousie," in which his Lordship affirmed the judgment of the Court of Sessions without costs. ',4K,e_ L"'"*Yl7/-e,f---, — "' - - z--z-- --- L7 • .., , , , ~,, • ; 0 -*,.., , a . ..1, , „ 0 , . 1 ,./ivi, q , ~. ,i, , : . , , ,v- 0., ~----"'''' nn ....... k, 1 (..._....' '''' '' , .. ''''` - '"-im. • ~? ~, - I"' - 1 4 . • Zt 0 ", , "c , 4 I ,itiLie NEGRO SLAVERY. Anti-Slavery petitions were presented by the Earl of ROSEHERRY and the Marquis of BUTE. Lord. TEYNHAM presented a petition from Mayo, praying for the better application of the Parliamentary grants for the education of the labouring poor. The Nonx Loan also presented a petition from the merchants and tradesmen in the counties of Middlesex and Surrey, praying for a vote from Parliament for the cul tivation of waste lands. The Earl of WINCHILSEA presented .a petition from a place in Kent, praying for Parliamentary Reform, and relief from Agricultural Distress. The petition attributed the great distress under which the country at present boured to the alteration of the currency, and the great burthen of taxation. 0 STATE OF THE NATION. Lord WYNFOItD rase for the purpose of making his promised motion on this subject. In doing so, he confessed he entertained fear, notfor the success of his motion, for he felt confident of presenting such a case's would make it im possible for the House to refuse 'his application. He was afraid, however, lest in attempting to do a great deal of good he might do some evil. He was afraid, lest ho should add to the excitement which already prevailed in the country to an enormous extent. With this, however, he felt satis fied, that nothing by possibility could fall from him which was calculated to continue that excitement in the country, and he hoped when the people of the country knew, as he trusted they would do to-night, that Parliament and Government were determined to do every thing to relieve that distress, he trusted that the good sense of the people of this country would, in justice to Parliament, do every thing they could to put a stop to that die. tress. He was persuaded that a great deal of the disorder that prevailed arose from the existing distresses of the country in all classes of society, but he did not consider the fires which had of late taken place in different counties were to be attributed to that cause. He was well aware that when the English people were distressed they ex pressed themselves strongly and firmly upon that subject, but they never resorted to such wicked means as that of destroying their neighbour's property. He (Lord Wynford) had no doubt that the patty who had done this had been led on by parties whose only object was dis turbance, and who had no interest in what he had done. If any man doubted, however, of the distress that prevailed in the county, he would ask him to take a journey for fifty miles round London, and see the distress which pre vailed in every quarter. He would then see the number of vigorous labourers out of employ, and the troops that were employed upon useless and expensive labour. If this did not satisfy him, let him attend a parish vestry—see the difficulty of providing means for the support of the poor, and mark the sudden transition from the tax payer to the tax receiver. Let him look, too, at the immense and rapid increase of crime—the necessary consequence of distress. The Judges of the land were often called upon to punish for offences which the wisdom of Parliament ought to have prevented ; and no man could behold the frightful increase of the calendars in different parts of the kingdom during the lest two or three years, without being convinced of the deplorable distress of the people at large. Upon this point he begged to refer to a return chewing the increase of offenders transported to New South Wale,. In 1825, the number was only 293; in 1826, it had in creased to the surprising extent of 1,815 convicts ; in 1827, it had risen to 2,587, while in 1828, there was only a trifling reduction to 2,449 persons transported to Botany Bay. It was impossible to present a more com plete picture or a more irrefragable proof of distress and guilt. if be stopped here, he might be told by the Noble Earl opposite (Grey), for wham he had the highest re spect, that what he had advanced could be inquired into by the Committee at present sitting upon the Poor Laws. This was true, for that Committee would not only inquire into the state of the Poor Laws, but Into the actual con dition of those to whom the laws applied ; but to stop there would be to do nothing—the Conimittee was not empowered to go far enough. What were wanted were funds for the relief of the poor, and with out these funds the inquiry would be little better. Allan use less. The other day the Committee had been very pro perly stopped, when it was proposed to extend its inqui ries ; but it was in vain to talk of the administration of the funds for the relief of the poor, when there were no funds to lie administered. Therefore he proposed to go on to show what was the cause of the diminution of these funds; and be could not refer to a higher authority upon the subject than that of the late Secretary for the Home Department, Sir It. Peel, who, in the debate to which be alluded, had been followed by Mr. Huskisson, who, in fact, had only said nearly the same thing in different words. Sir R. Peel had said, that there was no want of capital in the country—which had previously been urged by a Noble Duke (Wellington)—but that capital was in an unhealthy state; that it was in too few hands—that it was kept in strong boxes. Another Hon. Gentleman, in the same debate, also a considerable authority—Mr. Al derman Thompson—stated that the amount of capital was not equal to the wants of society, in consequence of which the tradesman was obliged to pay hie labourer in goods. What must be the condition of any country where the ca pitalist locked his money in a strong box, instead of ad vancing it at interest fur the benefit of agriculture, com • %tierce, and manufactures ? The state of things was precisely this: speculations in trade and in land, how ever wisely projected or prudently executed, bad so lamentably failed, that the capitalists rather preferred to keep their money by them without profit, than to lend it with so great a probability of loss.-- He did not want confidence en the present Ministers. It was not the fault of this or of the preceding Government; the country had been brought into this unhappy condition by various circumstances, some of them beyond the con troul of any Cabinet ; but this fact rather increased the obligation to investigate with a view to relieve. As had been said on a previous occasion, the capital of the farmer was exhausted ; lie had no means of employing the poor; and this was a fact he was prepared, if necessary, to prove at the Bar of the House. A great variety of causes for the evil had been assigned by those who had spoken and written upon the subject, to some of which he would advert, in order to show that there was sufficient ground f. r inquiry. It had been said, there had been a recent im provement in the manufacturing districts ; God grant that that improvement might be permanent, but he much feared that it would not be of long continuance ; these dawning& of success would soon be overcast. Supposing that the present state of the Continent bad given a sud den stimulus to our manufactures, when the Continent became tranquil its own industry would revive and the impulse in this country would be lost ; but lie feared that the present activity was owing to the excess of speculation, fur it was generally found in this country that speculation outran the demand. The failure of that speculation must be followed by corresponding adversity. The late Earl of Liverpool had talked of the evil arising from excessive production, but that could not now be the cause of agricultur.il distress, as no man could deny that the produce of the land within the last few years had diminished to a frightful ex tent. If there were an extraordinary glut of manufactures, it might perhaps be accounted for by the use of machinery. Here lie begged to be understood, that he was no more an enemy to the use of machinery than to any other means of production, properly regulited ; but if the effect of it were to overstock the market, it injured the manufac• Curer, arid drone the workmen upon the poor rates. The diminution of the quantity of the precious metals was another alleged cause of distress, and upon this point also inquiry seemed necessary, in order to ascertain whether there should not be some alteration in the state of the cur rency. The Noble Lord, in noticing this point, dwelt upon the loss produced by the difference of signiorege, and by the moderu regulation of coining a pound of silver into 665. instead of 625. as formerly; end from thence be proceeded to the question of the issue of small notes by the Batik of England and country bankers, lie denied that a r e -i s sue of small notes would make an alteration in the standard of value, or in the nature of contracts be tween individuals. The advantage of the issue would b e that accoinniodation could be given to those who needed it. The Noble Duke (Wellington) in the last Session bud asked—'! What ! will you give country bankers sn tudi• united power of coining;" His reply was, that he could /2 I buy it at home I may appear to pay a little dearer for it, but I can make that payment in paper." in his opinion,we ought to follow the same course, and give the same answer to the advice of those political economists who recommend us to buy the agricultural produce of other countries, and to continue to pay in gold ; for whilst we paid in money, we diminished our means of competition, and threw out of employ the workmen by whose labour we were sup ported. He wo'uld just call the attention of the House to the history of 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, and 1820, in confirmation of what he had just stated. If they read the history of those years, they would see that our manufac turing interests were as they always must be, affected by the prosperity or decline of our agriculture. When the latter flourished, the former were prosperous—when the latter declined the former felt the consequences of the pressure. In 1815 corn, from the monopoly of agricul ture existing during the war, in consequence of which our lands were well cultivated, was very cheap; and though he admitted that manufactures were then suddenly depressed, be knew that depression was occasioned by other circumstances. In 1816 the quantity of c .rn in the country was exhausted, and the agricultural interests were distressed, In the same manner the manufacturers were affected. In 1817 the corn got up in price; no supply was obtained from abroad, and corn was at 105 s. per ,guarter ; yet, in spite of that, and because the agricultural interest was flourishing, manufactures %etre in a pros perous condition, and the Prince Regent, in the opening Speech of the Session, congratulated Parliament on the flourishing state of the country. In 1818 both the agri cultural and the commercial interests were prosperous, but in 1820 corn fell lower than it had ever before been known, and manufactures at the same time suffered an exactly similar depression. At that time his Majesty, in his Speech from the Throne, expressed his sorrow at the unfortunate state of the country. He now begged to re mind the Noble Earl at present at the head of his Ma jesty's Government, that when the Address in answer to that Speech was moved, that Noble Earl desired that some expressions of a stronger nature than those inserted in the Address should he employed, on the subject of the dis tress of the country. He wished now to mention another circumstance not less important than the flourishing or decayed state of the trade of the country—he meant that of the danger of famine if the agriculture of our country should be suffered to go without its full support. That danger had existed when agriculture was in a better state than now. In 1817, if we had Corn Laws such as those now in force, that evil would have happened, for, instead of corn being 105 s. a quarter, he believed that a great body of the people would have perished from famine. The same causes which produced a scarcity in England would produce it abroad. He -was sure, that unless care was taken to accomplish this object, some dreadful famine would fall on the country. In the course of his professional life he had become a little acquainted with the matter of Ex changes, and, from what be had learnt, he was of opinion —and he believed ethers agreed with him—that the Ex changed of the country ought to be kept as uniform as pos sible--at least that they ought not to be allowed to go against us. That which he regarded as an evil—the Ex changes being against us—was a matter always determined by the importation or non-importation of corn. During two kaf the years which he had before referred to, when corn had been imported, the Exchanges were against us in one instance to as great an amount as 6 per cent. ; when the importation ceased the Exchanges rose, and in a very short time were actually in our favour. In his opinion, protection ought equally to be given to every species of labour. Toe same cause which depressed the agricultural interest deprived a part of the industry of the country of that protection which it deserved. The agricultural pro duce of this country was, in consequence, not equal now to what ithad been in some former years. In what he had already stated he had not mentioned all the mete of the present distress, but all those things which were usually described as the causes of it. He would not diminish the security of the fundholder—he would not deny that per sou'sjust demands upon the State; but lie was persuaded that if things went on as they did, though the fundholder might now have his full dividend, the security of his pro perty would be worth nothing. He would not appeal to' their Lordships on the score of interest—that would be the last motive that would influence their conduct; their only motive was to exert themselves in the best manner for the protection of others, not of themselves. Their Lordships held their high situation to protect the interest of the poor, who could not protect themselves—for their sakes he im plored the House to adopt some course of inquiry, in order to discover some means of remedy for present evils. Lord Graham, in a most excellent pamphlet that had lately been published, had used these striking expressions, addressed to another Government,' but equally applicable to the present Government as to any other. The Noble Lord then read the following extract Let me entreat them to depart from their usual course of awaiting the event : a great and an lumwdiate end is necessary to burst the cord now orawn so tight around them ; If they he sitate, they will be entangled in such complicated difficulties, that resistance and escape will soon be alike Impossible." his Lordship would not weary the patience of the House, which, he had already tried at so great length, but would at once submit the motion of which he bud given notice— ...net a Committee should be appointed instantly to inquire into the causes of the present lame of the distress in the country, and, as far as might be, Into the nature of the remedy to be apopted." The Earl of ROSEBERRY having been in the course of the la+ t Session a warm supporter of a tnotioa of this sort, felt bound now to state why he dissented from the present' motion. The first reason on which be objected to the present motion was, that a few days ago a Committee on the Poor Laws had been appointed ; and thinking, as he did, that the mal-administration of those laws was a principal grievance of the people, and therefore one of the instruments of the present distress, by bringing a redun dancy of population and a constant interference with la bour, breaking the spirit of the labourer and destroying all his feelings of independence, inducing him no longer to trust to himself and hia own industry—thinking this, he could not but feel satisfied, that if that Committee did its duty, and the Government did their duty (of which he had no doubt), by co-operating with the Committee, the evils now in existence would progressively be removed. It must be a subject of grief to their Lordships that the state of the labouring classes, was as in other countries, date. riorated within the last few years; and what was more important, this depression was coexistent with the eleva. Con of their minds by the diffusion of knowledge, and by the vast strides which education and readingill, d made within the same time. The second ot.jection which he had to this motion arose from the recent change made in the Government, and from the circumstances which had led to that change, and from the pledges which his Ma jesty's Ministers had made to the Parliament and to the country. The Noble Earl now at the head of the Go. vernment had, immediately upon his introduction to office, on the very first night of his appearing there in his pre sent office, not only agreed to a motion made by the Noble Marquis for a Committee on the state of the Poor 1.4174, but made a most solemn declaration, that he tool hit rol -1 leagues would take the whole state of the country into their moat serious, unceasing, and deliberate considera . lion ; that they would use their utmost efforts to relieve the country, as far as retrenchment could effect its relief, and, as far as their power went, would do their utmost to restore present confidence, and to lay the best founds. tion for the future prosperity of the country by Reform in Parliament and in every other department of the State. Under these circumstances, he asked whether it was fair and courteous to persons who had so recently been Galled to fill their situations to interfere in this Wapner, pot " 1 Y with the duti es t h ey were celled on to discherge, 'but with those which they hail expretsed themselves willing and ready to enter upon? Stich an interference consumed time and disturbed their labours by cornpelliog tbent to attend a Committee, when they . had tys geotl, if oot hetter, means of examinetion hende, tyhen they might, in a few weeke, state their owo piton to the House. He tipped with the Noble Baron, that the present admi nistration of the Poor Laws w as All evil of itielf • and the cause of many others—that the present distress was very extensive and dreadful, and that there matters might to be the guided of a Parliameotvy inquiry. He should, be sorry, either b, whet he said, or by the vote he otiould givN to stifle) a Parliamentary inquiry ; bp he thought it would be better for them to weit t , since he believed it' was i n the powe r of Miniotere. an'h tat4 a more effectutil measure t h aA etld ow tOmitted by suY . N°hls PaitiCnlee. t WAS not his Woo iqn tl o : peals ;opp t O f, 14toptIgn of their Lortl.hips, \t v ;he Noble ttord would velthdraw his motion—(Lord 74 4 f0rd.-.No, no !)-..but, as he found that was not likely, he should take the liberty of saying a few words on rpma topics introduced by that Noble Utile The Noble Lord PRICE 7D. seemed to imagine, that the Right Hon. Gentleman now no more, had asserted that the capital of this country was locked up in strong boxes, or lent out to usury. Although he did not mean to enter into the circumsteoces of the distress of the country, he had no hesitation to state what he hail gated last Session, that one of the causes that con tributed to the distress had been the unnatural or impro per, and inconvenient distribution of the capital of the country; but it would require more than the imagination of the Right Hon. Individual alluded to, to suppose, that my part of the capital of the country was hoarded in the strong boxes. The Noble Lord bad gone at length into the subject of rents, and had stated that rents throughout the kingdom had materially lowered since the peace ; and he had been understood to say, that if rents were more lowered, the distress that might ensue to the landlords, espe cially those on whom it would be charged, would he such as they could not bear. His belief was, that rents hid been con siderably lowered, but he would not go the length of saying, that they had been universally lowered to that level which the price of produce and the expence of farming made necessary, and he did not agree in the interference that ' the distress on the landlords was such as they could not bear, for if the farmer was unable to pay the present rents, they must be reduced to the price of produce. At the same time he must be allowed to say that in his judgment the distress among the agricultural population did not arise from the high state - of the rents.' He believed that distress was greatest where low wages existed from the competition of the labourers, arising from the excess in the number of labourers above the demand for them—an excess which was mainly attributable to the tned-tuhninis tration of the poor laws. In reference to the general in• ternal state of the country, and, perhaps, more particularly with respect to the observations of the Noble Lord with regard to the increase of crime, he could not close the few observations he had to snake without adverting to the state of the game laws. He was conviaced that the game laws of England demoralized the people, while no good was obtained from their continuance. As he saw by the votes of the other House that a Bill on this subject had lately been introduced with enactments similar to those which hail formerly passed that House, he trusted that this Ses. sion would not pass away without a total alteration of those laws. He felt the greatest confidence in the recti tude of the Noble Lord now at the head of the Govern ment. He believed that the Ministers would co-operate with the Parliament, and do not only as much as Parlia• ment required, but more ; and would lend their utmost ability, and all their faculties, to ascertain the causes of the distress—a matter more easy than to discover a remedy. The Earl of ELDON and Lord KING rose together ; the !louse called for the former, and he observed that he should detain the House but a few moment,. He was surprised that the Noble Earl opposite should object to the motion ; and for himself he must say, that he had long felt a Parliamentary inquiry to be absolutely necessary. He differed from the Noble Lord who had made the motion, with respect to machinery. There were, he knew, many persons who declared the necessity of altering the laws re lating to machinery—in otherwords, there were persons who thought that machinery ought to be put an end to in this country. But how WAS that possible ? In this country, as in every other, labour had at first been performed by the hand of man ; but afterwards machinery was invented, and the various combinations of it gave us the means of easily and cheaply manufacturing many things that we had before been obliged to make slowly by the hand. Ma chinery had, therefore, given us wealth; and if we were to destroy it, and return to the old course of hard labour, we should but ruin ourselves, by throwing into the hands of foreigners the benefits we now obtain from machinery, and thus enabling them to beet us by the very means by which we had at first obtained an advantage over them. He was for some inquiry, but he did not wish it to be understood that, by what he now stated, lie presumed to cast reflections on any Administration that was past, or to express his distrust of any present Administration ; but he would say, that in the state in which this country now was, they were imperatively called on to grant a Portia. mentary inquiry. He hid net conception how a Committee could embarrass the Government, and he should therefore support it. Lord KING could not but confess that, in moving an inquiry into the causes and remedies of the present die. tress, the Noble and Learned Lord had taken a view of the matter peculiar to himself. In taking that view, he had shown that an inquiry so conducted would be utterly fallacious ; for be had marked out a path which, if fol lowed by the Committee—as it was likely to be by a Committee of his own nomination—no good could arise from it. The Noble and Learned Lord had derided at once the science of Political Economy and the Public Press. He had said, " What evils have the political economists produced !"—Why, it was because the political economists had not been attended to, that the country was in its present state of distress. Now; lot their Lordships see what was the pokticaal economy of him . who derided political economists and the Public Press. 'The notion he had of political economy was this said' that there was capital in the country, but that it was loCked up in strong boxes. Nuw, what was capital ? It was com posed of roads, canals, food, and raiment—end yet, said the Noble Lord, it was locked up in a strung box l Yes ! indeed, in a strong box as big as the island itself—long might it be so locked up ; the longer the better.—(Hear, bear.) The Noble Lord had quoted Sir Robert Peel where the opinions of that Right Hon. Gentleman would answer his purpose ; but where they were opposed to him, he said nothing of them, though in the very same line with that which he did quote, for the Noble and Learned Lord recommended that It. notes should be again brought into circulation, while it was Sir Robert Petil wbo had introduced the Bill to put an end to them, The Noble Lord and the Right Hon. Gentleman were, therefore, as much opposed to each other 41 condemnation to approval of tke same thing could possibly make them. Another part of the political economy of the Noble Lord was, that the Russians and Danes were now about to be the ruin of us, for they bud engaged in manufactures. Why ? The reason was, no doubt, that we would not take their raw produce in return fur our manufactures. The reason the Noble Lord gave was, that they paid in paper for their work (Lord Wynford t "No !") lie certainly so understood the Noble Lord. The Noble Lord forgot why the4aati ma nufactories, and why their manufacture. flourished ; it was because we r e fu se d t o t a k e t h e raw pro d uce off their hands and return our own manufactured goods kr them; it was because we had acted oa the system of exclusioa. The Noble Lord was perfectly wren on that part of the question. Dial he imagine that the goods we received from them were given us fir nothing? We must pay for them ; but that was the mistake of these people, that they fancied what we got frem foreigners woe obtained for no thing t they thought we obtained the Saw produce for no. thing. Ile wished it wee so; but foreigners did not exactly do this ; they did not exactly give their produce for nothing; but expected an equivalent Advent :It for it. Another sample of the Noble Lord' political economy was, that he talked of the impel Wee of maintaining the uni formity of the limbianges, If that could be maintained, he said, we must not import corn, for the exchanges went down when we imported foreign corn—there could be no doubt of that. He asked the Noble Lord whether, in ma of necessity, lie would not rather have theeign corn than not have it ? If he would not here it regularly, and in a way that could be subjected to known rules, he must be content to NO t•,p witii the sudden effects with which its intradtiotioo in cases of necessity was attended, But the Noble Lord had not said lie would mat ilaye corn when necessity required it—he only insisted that when it ryas introduced it turned the gxehenges against us. For W:m. self he would rather hare the corn when it was %vented, then not hale it, titougla theexpence of the intaela,valeed 4311anef, Ad Noble Lord had given flaw, a action of his political economy, he (Lo r d King) waltald give them a notion of his pilitieal economy., lie took the distress of the country to arise from their legislative measuree, which haul a tendency tik encourage the over-supply of po- Imitation With `an under-supply of food. The opt %yea koduced by the makulministration el the poor laws, by the detestable practice ot underpay. ing single men, and overpqmo married men ; so that they made it *IA advantage to a toast to be improvi. dent! f ocaxwo of his acquaintance had told biros an aueciiptc ttiat abatvstl the spirit in which these laws wetly atianioistered, and sufficiently proved its affect, 4,1 young.... a very young couple came to him to get marri es ; he ob. served that they were • young, rand asked the reason of their marriage; he lok, t 214 by the young man the cause in these words em a very young man; I can't get work; if lam married, they must find it fur me," That, accounted fur the excess of the populetioo. 'the under. supply of food was occasioned by the Corn Laws, Some I ", 1815, the supply 14144 . in this "cuu'utry ‘ haa,lietn grau dly diminished. Ile could prove that fact.' It was ad • 'bitted by all persons who had the means of taking* view of the agriculture of the country, that it itit..beett . driven hard lately, and th a t th e p ro d u ce o f the land now was not equal to what it was in 1815. In the same manner abro id, large quantities of land had been laid iliiwii in guise —they were told so on the Wool Cmmittee, and that was given as a reason why, instead of corn, wool was received from our foreign 'agriculturists. fly the effect . of the corn laws the quantity of food or capital waii dimi nished, and the labourin? classes could not gat: a bay full. And if the 'quantity of food was diminished while the population remained the same, that must be. a coils:, of great distress ; and if the quantity of food was dimi nished while the population was increased, that molt he a muse of most severe distress. lint the pOpulation had increased by two million,. within thi!se last fifteen years ; and could it'be wondered at that the distre s a w is most acute? Food was capital, and 'administration of food was administration of capital; and Rothe proportions between population and capital or food were deranged, while it was in the appointment of the'amount of food to the population that the prosperity of a country consisted. If food was scarce, then the masters were under a peeuliar temptation to employ machi ner y; an d t h e diminution of food was, therefore, the occasion of a dituinution of manna! labour. Then the Corn Lawe had diminished the supply of corn from foreign countries, and diminished the de mand there for our productions; and these Acts might. therefore, he considered as one of the greatett sources of the ineurreetions in England, owing to the severe distresa which they occasioned ; and although advantage might have been taken of it by ill-disposed perßeme, yet there could be no doubt but that distress did actually exist to it very seriousextent and intensity. Then the distress led to ins advance of wages, and that led to a greater consumptiort of capital or food. The capital thus consumed could not be replaced with the usual rite of profits, and it was doubtful, if such a state of things continued for any great length of time, whether it' would be replaced at all, and if not, then the toes of capital became per.. marmot. An advance' of wages, therefore, under sue)* circumstances, was an expedient alai Could no 'be long continued ; and what . war avarst4 as a rsmedy a for the, distress was not temporary exPetlient, bpt a measure for the perManent improvement Of the general prosperity. In the course of the three hot winters the distress of a great portion of the labouring population hall been severe to a degree that almost exceeded all enduranee. But how was that distress to be remedied ? If you aug mented the wages of labour, the burden must fall on the rents of land. So that the thing must come; and then the question was, whether the wages of labour were to be augmented in a manner that led to a prrmanent loss of capital, or by the permanent removal of the operation of the Corn Laws? They had tried the experitnent of these Corn Laws long enough, and they ought now to try whether the prosperity of the country would not be best promoted by their repeal ; and the opinion that it would thus be best and permanently promoted, was sin opinion that now fortunately began to be generally entertained,_..,. Even the Noble Lord (Wynford) himself had admitted that they were inefficient for his purpose, and that agri culture to this country had declined under their operation ; and if they were inefficient (Or his purpose, they *ere most pernicious for every other. He would vote against the motion. The Earl of WINCHILSEA—After the zealous sup port which he had given to a motion of the,seme desorip_ Lion as this, when made by a NobleMemlier of this House in the course of the last Session, it would be the greatest inconsistency in him not to vote for the present motion. But it did not follow from this that the present Adminis tration had not hit confidence. It wits far from his de sign to betray a want of due confidence in them, or to withdraw from them his support as long us they pursued the course which the vital interests of the country de mended. But the subject to which this motion referred was one which ought not to be IA to any Administration. He fully agreed with the Noble Moser, that the agricul tural interest WAS in a situation of almost unparalleled di,- tress. He agreed with him, that the rents had been re duced to as low a state as that in which they were in 1797, and that in many places the lands paid no rent. The Committee of the Noble Marquis (Salisbury) applied only to the Adtninistration of the Poor Laws, and was not an inquiry into the state of the great body of landlords and te nants. He wished that the Noble Marquis's Committee might do good ; but he agreed with the Noble Mover, that that was not sufficient, and that the inquiry now proposed was necessary, as the lauded interest could no longer struggle with the diftloulties of its present situritiou. It was not just thatone species of interest should bear the whole of the public burdens. Why was the burden of the support of the poor thrown on the landed interest alone ? 'Why was the bur. den of maintaining the peace of the countryi thrown en ' tire! ) , upon the lend ? Why was the burden of supporting the highways thrown on it alone? Had not the mercheist anti the manufacturer the same interest in these objecti ? He had presented petitions from agriculturists who eiim plalned that although a liberal reduction in rents and tithes had been allowed them, they were still unable to do justice to the labourers, and this inquiry might be to then, of great advantage. A groat body of the most important classes in the state were looking up to Parliament for re lief ; and he hoped that they would not he diseppointed in the hope that Parliament would apply itself aeriously and zealously, and without delay, to the subject. He agreed with the Noble Moyer, that the alteration in the currency bad added to' the grievence—that the public debt and other burdens had been contracted iu a depreciated and fictitious currency, and were to be paid in a metallic cur rency, and that this circumstance added greatly to the distress. He agreed with him, that to revert to a paper currency, with security, would be of great advantage tinder present circumstances. Earl STANHOPE contended that an aunt to the pre sent motion implied no went of confidenee in the present Administration. It was not liable to the objection of being hostile or injurious to the new Administration ; and the motion, if agreed to, would have a strong tendency to restore internal peace and happiness to the country. This was the only mode of effecting the object of the restoration of prosperity-411e next and only mode of arresting t h e progress of disturbance. Ile himself had, at no &smut period, most earnestly but ineffectually urged their Lord ships to an inq u i r y i n t o a ll t h e moat important interests which their Lordships were bound to protect—an inquiry most awful in its nature anti extent. He concurred in what had been said relative to the continuance of the dis tress of the country, and its effect in producing disoonteut ; and how could they not have continued, when, after all thereduotionswhich the landlords had made in their rote, they had only attempted to recover the remainder, but had not got it; and when they in many insteneea got nothing for their lands but merely the interest of the money laid out in the buildings? Hart not the distresi conti nued when the farmer Lund that, notwithstanding all his industry and his skill, his capital wait wasting away, and he had no other to trust to except the se curity of the miserable pittance of the poor rates? Was it surprising that the distress still continued to be great, when all OVUM of merchants, suaaufsr.tu rera, and of shipowner*, were carrying on their several trades anal occtVlons not only without profit, but at a loss; and when Meiners and artisans were &rived of employment, and driven to the pittance of the poor laws? They might remember that when he teldreseed their Lordships on a former occasion, he had raised his feeble voice to warn them of the consequences of the measures which the mater; of this country had been for Some years' past pur- Wog. He had warned them of the danger, and had pointed out the meek but his warning had been iii Ste. garded. That danger had now arrayed; and that, too, in all respects more tremendous than any den ger that had occurred at any period since the. AM revolution its France. Now the period Ivo, conic when their Lordships could not refuse intitory with the least regard to the safety of the Csmatitetion. As to the argowents derived from confidence in the Administratiou, he lied certainly differed froi, o , m an y o f them as to the proper mums to be purineA ; but b e aid not at all honour consistency in error tend he hon e d th e Ministers, in their uew aituationt, would see cause to re. consider their former opinions ; and he was the more ma. heed to hope that they would do rat from seeing among them a Nettle Duke (Riebniond)---an ornament to their body, who had formerly very much concurred with him in his views of the state of the Agricultural interests;, a n d the proper remedies to ha applied to their distresses, There was a Worthy Bayonet, too, among them, to whom be might appeal on the same grounds, although his proper sphere would have been finenee—rether than the situation whip! ) , be occupied. If the new Administration did this, they would have his most cordial support, which, of how ever little moment in other respects, would have the value of being consrientioua turd free. Ile fully concurred with the Noble Earl audits heed of the Adminiatration, in his po. !icy of nett-,hitervention in the affair's of foreign countries, anti la his determination to pmerve peace with oth er nations ) if possible. There Was another subject, with reference to which he considered that the new Ad ministration deemed the gratitude of the country.. -lee: meant the eukjeet of Pullin:neuters. Reform. He woe oont OMlVert to. Reform on proper prineiplef—thnt nebula which had a tendency to preakve, anti lint to destroy—m strengthen, and not to imp a i r the Constitution; bur still 3 .' real and substantial Reform in tin t 4)411vr Howie of ParK A ., silent, fle easy stow a Noble Lord on the Woolsack witiiipi,o