The Sun. — London, England, 1822-05-07 00:00:00

~that they might be allowed to - import spirits into England as - the Irish Distillers are allowed to do.—Ordered to be printed. ILCHESTER GAOL. Sir FRANCIS BURDETT moved for a copy of the Report of .I.}r. Bryant, Surgeon to the Ilchester Gaoh—Agreed to. THE BANK. Mr. GRENFELL said that he had moved for the produc tions of certain -documents and correspondence respecting the renewal of the Bank Charter. He wished to know whether that correspondence would be laid upon the table in the course., of the evening, and if not, when ? He also would wish to know at what time it was the intention of the Chancellor of the Ex chequer to bring before the House the question respecting the rcnewel of the Bank Charter ? • The Marquess of LONDONDERRY said that, in the ab sence of his Right Honourable Friend, he could not - answer the lioneureble Gentleman. " • , IRISH LABOURERS. ' Mr. C. CALVERT said, that having had occasion within the lait week to leave town, on orre of the western roads he had - pa more than 50 groups of Irish, thronging to this city : to nay he bad, seen waggon loads of other Irish, sent out of Lon don. • He wished to know from the Right Hon. Gentleman op posite, whether that practice was tolerated ? Mr. Secretary PEEL said, that that was the first time hie attention had been called to the subject. AGRICULTURAL REPORT. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY moved the Order of the Pay for the House resolving itself into a Committee for !he further consideration of the Report of the Agricultural h'oretnittee. ' Mr. ELLICE wished to take the opportunity afforded by . the motion, before the House went into a Committee, of stat hog his opinion as to the course recommended by his Majesty's d'so-seerznent for relieving the difficulties with which the country -eon eppeossed. After having seen what the Noble Lord ro csed to do, he felt it his duty to stay the proceedings of the • House, until he Sheuld have entered his protest against all the - "0-ropositions of which he had heard, es being calculated, not to nelieve the Agriculturist, and at the same time to be injurious .die all the other irtereets of the country.. He should only have teutensthis course new, inconsequence of not being able other inie to avoid . the necessity of opposing the measures in all their progressive stages. .After- decidedly stating his dissent upon the present occasion, he should trouble the House no more upon the subject. The Noble Lord had expressed a 'ish' to take one proposition only to-night, that of, the advance ef etc million sterling for the purchasing and warehousing of corn. He could not see how that proposition was to be de - Wed with Out necessarily involving all the topics connected with the quegtion. When the Agricultural CoMmittee was first appointed, he .stated that the oely object and tendency of their labour must be to raise the price of corn, and, to place the Monopoly of corn in the hands of the English 'grower. ViThen that Committee made their Re port, he was quite eon 'winced-that he had formed a right and a tree belief. And the means about to be resorted to for effecting that object formed a.collection of nostrums and quackeries wholly undeserving of the; consideration of the House. Although so mary :plane had been proposed, yet no two of them agreed with each other. There was one from the Honourable Member for ..Sornersetshires another from the Honourable Member for Wiltshire, another from the Right Honourable Gentleman -opposite, and one from the Honourable Member for Porter lington, besides that of the Noble Lord. He found them .11 differing, and the conclusions of most were not warranted by their premises. He was quite sure that the plans would be highly injurious to the manufacturing interests, and he should therefore oppose them. The principle of shutting out competition in the supply of corn and creating monopoly must lead to that result. The Hon. Member then alluded to the difference of opinion which exists as to the necessary amount of protecting duties. He contended that gentlemen - must understand each other, and come to some agreement as to :he prices they expected to obtain by means of these duties. Suppose then, they were to say fifty-five shillings, as was the price of corn now. He knew that Gentlemen would not be satisfied with that, because they would say they could not meet their expenses and pay the taxes. He knew that; and he would support them in reducing taxes, so as to put them in a state to compete with the foreign grower. The Ho nourable Member then took a review of the protecting duties and the coincident prices of corn from the year 1773 downwards. In 1791 the price of corn was forty-nine shillings, and the duty (ine understood) five shillings and tenpence.— Now the Noble Lord proposed to protect the price of seventy ehillings by a duty of seventeen shillings: If agriculture was -distressed, the distress was not to he thrown off upon the corn enueity at large by such means as these. Let country gentle men reduce the taxes, and compel the Government to recon sider the question. Every thing had decreased in value, which rendered the taxes so much the more burthensome. In the :rstirnate of the property of the nation, made by Dr. Colquhouri se the year 1813, it was calculated . that the whole rental was 43,0e0,0001. Corn was then at 1003. and the price of gold was 103. per ounce. Now, the price of corn was between liOs. end 80s. and the value of property was reduced in proportion ; yet taxes remained on the same scale.—Thiawas monstrous; - and he would ask the House if it was not morally' impossible that things could remain in such a state. He agreed in some measure with the causes laid down by the Honourable Member • for Portarlington ; only - the maaimum of his Honourable Friend waglis minimum,' and vice versa. His Hon. Friend stated, that over-production was the greatest cause, and the niteration of the currency the Least ; while he said that the ~Iteration of the currency was the greatest, and over-pro duction among the least. The Hon. Member then reverted to • fOrrner, periods, when metallic currencies had been restored, arielatetcd that all-such effects had been followed by a lower ing of thaprice of corn. In 1809, the first depreciation of the pap currency took place, owing to the issue of four millions lied a half of additional circulating medium. Mr. Homer then said that the depreciation amounted to fifteen per cent. Mr. Horner also confirmed his own opinion with regard to the fallacy of a gold standard. He contended that the country had been deceived into measures all along the late extravagant war, which had now brought such distress upon the country. • He= did not mean to com plain of the Right Honourable Gentleman's measure oppo site, hut of the measure of the year 1797. which was the great ?source of all the evil. In 1816 the Chancellor of the Exchequer came down with his Budget, and proposed to borrow a loan . twelve milliops, and to extend the circulation by the issue of paper to a greater extent than was ever known in the history of the country. Then came the Right Hon.-Gentleman's meas sure, and created all the difficulties which pressed upon the country. He supported the resolution which led to that mea sure, and he was not disposed to shrink from it. He should • be one of the last to depart from thanresolution, or to wish for the return of a paper currency. Best he contended that the con traction of the currency did produce the distress. In the course of two years a contraction of about one-half took place, and this was unquestionably the.cauee of the great depreciation in the valee of agricultural produte. He would never consent to elite:don the good to be de:iv:el from the Right Honourable Gendunan's measure, for th e 'sake of any little, petty, and nap. rcw plans, which could not afford relief -to the distressed inte rests "lhey had heard a great deal from the Noble - Lord about the prosperity of the commercial interests ; but he believed that ric man connected with commercial persuits would be found to corroborate the Noble Lord's statements. With re gard to cur manufacturers, he believed that our manufactories had been considerably . advanced of late ; indeed they had ad vanced to a state of activity never before known in this country. Yet he contended that this prosperity arose from unnatural catiece, sod could not be expected to last. The increase of the revenue had been also constantly sounded in their ears, and upon that ground there was little real cause for congratulation. He attributed this to the circumstance of wages pot having yet been adjustedeto the priees of provisions. Every Gentle man knew that if he asked his tradesman why his charges were not •lciwer in consequence of the cheapness of the necessa ries of -life, he would be told that the high rate of wages pre vented it. Labour being paid for at this extravagant rate, the workman had more than sufficient for his wants, and that surplus went to th e gin-shop at the ale-house ; and thus ha the revenues of the Excise swelled up in all parts of the kingdom. He intreated the House to consider what they were about to do. They had better leave the core Laws as they were, and wait until circumstances called for interference. The old laws gave. a monopoly to the home grower, and the -new ones would only do the same. Bet, the fact was, that they wed making those laws without the power of carrying think into effect, should it ever be necessary to do so. Sup ;insist that when the rate of wages are brought down, as they must le, to meet the price of provisions, there should be a re verse in the manufacturing interests ; would the population steed quiet and see the peasant of France and of America supplied with corn at half the price they were obliged t 1 pay ? it was quite impossible to conceive that they would. An Hon. .Friffid of his, the Member for Nottingham, had lately told him that there never was such a demand for artificers and mecha nics as at thepresent moment. It was a cruel thing at any time to xevent aenan from going to any foreign country freely and opre-rely ; but to prevent him from carrying his labour to the best market would be adding injustice to injustice. But if we oppressed and injured the working classes of mechanics' byeneesuees intended for the relief of other interests, we should inevitably drive them to other countries, and our commerce and manufactures would fall into decay as those of Holland did from the same cause. With regard to America, if ho had been told ten years ago that America could become asnanufacturing coat:try, he should not have believed it ; because where land might tee 'had for a pound as acre, it was not to be expected that :nen would shut themselves up in a manufactory in pre ference to living independently tipon their own soil. But the _ manufactories of 'America had, nevertheless, grown up in a surprising e degre. At Philadelphia the numbers had con siderahly increased., arid the peas of those [previously established had occasioned the starting of nine manufac tories there in the last year. He was sure that the mon strous proposition of the Noble Lord relative to the ad vance of a million for w arehousing corn must be abandoned. — , The question which might then be put to him was, "what would you do a" And he was ready to grant to the Noble Lord, that he could see no way which the Noble Lord or the Government would be bold enough to adopt, that was likely to afford relief. There-were no measures now upon the table., he was sure, that could have that result. It was impossible to go on under the present system of taxation. While every thing. else had so exceedingly decreased in value, the taxes had been advanced, at the lowest calculation, which was that cf the Member -for Portarlington, ten per cent.,; and, according to himself and others, forty per cent. or more. Thus, within the last two years, an additional ten millions of taxes had been levied upon the country. The only thing they could do, then, was to reduce taxation. That was the only way in which they could proceed safely, until they understood th e question ; for he contended that every thing they now .did was done in the dark. The plan of the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Ex chequer he considered to be a round-about way of doing what might much better , have been done by the simple method pro posed by his Hon. Friend, "of empowering the CommiSsienere of the Sinking Fund to advance a loan of 2,80 0 , 0001 . annually until the end of the period for which they were now to contract. To the country Gentlemen he would say, that they had forced the Government to this reduction" of 1.100,0001. of taxes, and he took that with satisfaction, glad to obtain it upon any terms. If they went on they would obtain double the amount of re duction. What he should propose wits that Parliament should adjourn after repealing the taxes, and leave the question open until the end of the year, when the House might re-assemble to consider it. He had felt it his duty to protest a g ainst these measures, because they wculd be injurious to cne class of the people, and that without any benefit to the -other. He should take the sense of the House against going into the Committee. Mr. J. BENET,T contended, that the existing Corn Laws did not give a monopoly to the grower of this country. The importations from Ireland within the last four years had been so great, that the corn imported never could have been grown in that county. The increase in the proportion of corn over, the importations of former periods was four-fold, and that of flour seven-NA. But although he did not -allow that they. gave the British farmer a monopoly, ,yet he. was desirous of getting rid of the Corn Laws, and all their oppressive machi nery cf averages and other grievances. lie had heard a great' deal said about consumers, . and he - should be .glad to know who the consumers in this country were. Fle considered . them to be chiefly the manufacturing classes, and these' could only be supported by the prosperity of agriculture. Bence. the home trade had been diminished by the distress of agri • culture, and it always had and alWays must depend upon that interest for its prosperity: Some prices could not, there fore, benefit them, and the only parties who. would. benefit by the depreciated value of agricultural produce would be the money dealers, for whom he should haveno feeling. He con sidered the causes of the existing distress to be numerous; but the first was the transition from war to peace. He had been pleased with the speech of the Noble Marquis the other night, because it admitted some of the principles for which he had had the honour to contend. It admitted that the reduction by taxation would give relief to the distress of the country. The Honourable Member then went into a comparative cal culation 'of the value of land and produce in 1792. He would take a farm which should produce' 2000 bushels of wheat, amounting to 6271.—A third of the gross produce was in the year 1792 considered as a fair rent. That third would, of course, be 2091. But at the present time, a fourth of the produce only could he given as rent, in consequence of the in -1 crease of taxation and poor rates. Now, according to pre-1 sent prices, the landlord received no more rent than he did in the year 1792; and this he thought was abundantly accounted for by a reference to the increase he had mentioned in the taxes and the poor rates. Every one must admit that the landlord was entitled to a higher rent under these circumstances ; but he (Mr. Benett) looked to a decrease pf texation for this pur pose, as that decrease of itself would in its effects amount to an advance of rent. When he recollected the number of persons who were connected with agriculture, he was induced to hope for sorneetipport in this, his opinion. Much had been said of the poweroi landlords over rents, but this in a great measure.svae to be attributed to an attachment to the soil by the tenants. Not withstanding this circumstance there were many farms 'out of cultivation ; and he could instance Somersetshireein which one of the finest flume in the kingdom was uncultivated; a farM -he believed in which the Hon. Member for Somersetsidre was interested. This state of things would not: be remedied by -mere high price, for they would benefit the merchant and not the farmer, because high prices would permit 'exportation and would necessarily lead to it. The principle on Which all his opinions were founded was, that taxation was in a , great de gree the cause of the distress, and that et reduction of one would contribute to the removal of the other. He had had the honour to give evidence before a Committee of 'this House, on' this very subject, on a former Session.; and an idea prevailed that that evidence was not strictly consistent with his present opinions ; but a careful examination of his evidence would con vince any one that he had fallen into no inconsistency, as the evidence proceeded on the same principle. Sir JOHN NEWPORT thought the more correct course would be to go into the Committee ; indeed this had been un derstood on the former discussion to be the intended mode of proceeding. Even cut of regard to the Righ*Hon. Gentle man in the Chair, he Shauld propose the going into a Commit teeefor the ,labours - of that Right Hon. Gentleman were such . as to call for a little relaxation. 1 he subject could be more rationally discussed in the Committee than in the. House and he trusted H Hon. Gentlemen would not wish to decide without hearing. Mr. BROUGHAM assured his Hon. Friend that-he did not treat the projects of Ministers with any more respect than his HOn. Friend did. He no more admired their pawnbroking plan than he did any of their other plans, but still he thought the matter could be best discussed in the Committee. He did not believe that there was any individual in existence who could approve of the Corn Laws upon principle ; but he still was for going into the Committee. Mr..IIIONEK supported the opinions of the Hon. Member for Coventry. lie fully agreed in the arguments of the Hon. Gentleman thatlosv prices were fairly attributable to high tax ation. Many honourable Gentlemen had recommended vari ous plans for the relief of Agricultural Distress, but none had, in his opinion, touched upon the true one, namely— the amount of taxation. With reference to the scale to be established, he thought that on low prices only could de pend the salvation of the country—for while Country Gen:. tlemen could indemnify themselves for, low prices, he thought it not likely that they would 'exert themselves for the general interests. He thought the present Corn Bill quite sufficient as a measure of protection to the agriculturist against im portation. The Hon. Member here quoted Paley, who said, were it not for the inequality and uncertainty of seasons and produce, that the farmer would be always in the power of the landholder, as his returns could be always calculated exactly ; and argued that the present Corn Bill might be an inconve nience to dealers in corn in this country, but not to the growers of it. He thought therefore that one year with another, no thing was so certain as that the supply of corn would 'keep its fair average ; and that against scarcity or . superfluity, nothing could so efficaciously operate as a free trade. He understood it was the intention of Hon. Gentlemen to fix the lowest importa tion price at 80s.—(Cries of " No, no and couhing.)—He thought so, because the proposed duty of 24 5. would bring the article up to that price. For 200 years Previous to 1797, wheaa had never attained the price of 80s.—(The Hon. Gentleman entered into a number of calculations which the noise rendered inaudible in the gallery.) Mr. D. BROWNE recoinmended teethe House the adoption of the advice giVen by the . ttight Hon. the Member for Water , ford.—(Crics of "-Question!") Mr. ELLICE disclaimed the intention of refusing to accede to his Right Hon. Friend's recommendation. Ile had felt it his dirty to state his sentiments 'in that stage of the question, and having done so, he should refer to the opinion of the House, and withdraw ,his opposition to the Speaker's leaving the Chair. After a few words from Sir W. W. WYerx and Sir R. WlLsore, the House resolved itself into a Committee. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY rose to move the re solution for making • advances to the holders of Corn, when the average price of wheat shall be under 60s. per quarter.— The Noble Marquis said that this Resolution was perfectly distinct from the general principle of the Corn Laws, and it would be an injustice to the Committee as well as to h:s own opinions, were he not to state that it was clearly understood the proposed measure could not be adopted or even tolerated upon general principles. In every respect the proposed mea sure was a temporary law ; and although public credit was to be employed in aid of the corn market,' still it was only for the exigencies of the particular occasion. That a loss might arise to justify the adoption of such a measure he had the high authority of the opinion of the Honourable Member for Taun ton (Mr. Baring), who unfortunately could 'not at present at tend the House. The Honourable Member he alluded to had admitted the propriety of advancing three millions to assist the Agricultural Interest when produce was in a depressed [ state. This shewed that the opinion of the Member for . Taunton was not decidedly against the creation of artificial [ prices. The proposed plan had indeed been called b an Honourable and Learned Member (Mr. Brougham), a pawrihroking arrangement ; and he (the Marquis of Lon : donderry) himself .wished: to be understood as not being a friend to the system of it., All he contended was, that a case might occur winch would 'render the sanction of such a measure politic as well as necessary, under particular circtim . stnneesa The present lie thought was a pressing case, and such, therefon. as to call ftir an extraordiaaty and.. particular remedy. In order that the °House 'Might 'clearlY• see the prin ciple they were called upon to consider, it would be proper to notice the two chief propositions which had been discussed in the Agricultural Committee. One was for the: purchase of corn by . an Agent of Government, when it should.be at a stated low price ; the other was for encouraging, by bounties, the• purchases of private individuals. After much discussion, the first was laidasitle,though he could not but observe that no re proach could be thrown upon the proposer of the plan, seeing that the lion. Membeafor ,Paunton ,approved of it generally. It was laid aside, however ' after one of the most calm and temperate discussions isc had ever witnessed ; • because it was considered that the purchaer of corn for the Government would not have the exact sort of influence which was desir able. individual interest ytt'as tbatrwhich it was wished to cre ate ; .and the agent who mightle employed by. Government could not be supposed to feel - that. control over his conduct which would be occasioned lay a sense of his own interest.— Looking at the other proposition, the Committee thought they might adopt it, - and:afar& relief without violating any general principle. The whole policy of :this - proposed arrangement arose out of the - circutastatemnotieed by the Committee re specting the state of. the market. They found that. the quan tity of corn brought to market in the early months of the year, doubled the quantity brought within the same.months in several preceding years. FroM this they inferred, and very naturally, that the market this year displayed a superabundance which ' caused a ruinous competition anion the sellers. The lat ter could .not reduce - the interest they were paying upon Mortgages; althoughtheir prices had thus fallen ; and a mea sure of some description was therefore considered necessary, becausethe market was not in a natural state. Indeed it was ' obvious that if the number of tellers became doubled; while that a buyers remained , stationary, there must be a losini; competition among the former'. It was therefore conceived thatif 'additional pachasers .could be created, it would coun teract the disposition to inundate the market. Ile must here obstrie; that it was by .:no means a fair description of the pre , serg.ineasure to say. that it merely proposed to raise the price of corn. In fact a - conVenient distribution was all that was de ' sired; this would be accomplished by giving an additional 1 degree of facility to foreliasea. He really thought that the idea of a law to raise - prices had been long since exploded in that, House..--The'pre.sent increase would have the effect of protecting the farmer against too early a market, to which at present he was in many cases compelled to resort. Doubts, however, had been thrown - •,.ut as to the practical operation of this measure, and he himself had considered it as laid aside, be cause it could not be operative. It had been thought that the difficulty was not so much in. the absence of capital, as Iliadic want of a confidence, that it might - be employed to advantage. He had last year proposed a monthly . allow ance, because he thought it would be active in its operation. .The preaent, undoubtedly, had other advantages, inasmuch as it would give general relief to the extent of its ope ration. Still - he confessed that he preferred the other plan ; as it might prove an invitation to enterprise.— One Advantage, however, of the proposed measure was, that if it did no kood, it certainly could do no harm, and this, he believed, the Remise would consider as no mean -advan tage when they were trying an experiment.—(A corn should not rise, no one would suffer -from the measure ; and if it should rise,* the agricultural interest would be re lieved from the multiplied distress with which it was at present surrounded. He certainly had not voted for this plan in the Committee ; his own proposal had not been Adopted ; and he had therefore left the Whole subject to the consideration of the t ommittee a and it was- in deference to the judgment of that Committee that he brought the proposal before the House for its. favourable opinion.• After an eulogium on the character and talent of the Members composing the Committee, the Noble Marquis proceeded to observe, that he had learnt from many of those Members, that the measure now proposed was • that which the farmers thought would afford them the most relief. Whether they -were right or wrong in this conjecture he believed the House would be sorry to reject a favourite proposition which, at all events, was harmless ; for the farmers, if it were rejected, would not very unnaturally attribute the continuance of their' -distress to' its rejection. Ile had now briefly stated the grounds upon which lie brought .forward a proposal to which, upon principle, he objected, and which he had not supported in the Committee. Should the House admit the principle there would be little difficulty in deciding upon particulars ; and he might be allowed to express his hope that no other subject would .be mixed up with a discussion of the• preSent. -Before he sat down he would observe, that although the plan might have been brought forward earlier in the year, yet as there •were many months to elapse before the getting in of thelarvest, there would be ample time for.its operation. If the House should adopt this resolution in an early part of the evening; he should - . propose the next, allowing foreign corn to be ground for the purpose of exportation. Tho Noble Mar quia then mauled- the Resolution which has been already before the public, authorizing the.advance of one million upon corn in warehouse, when the average price of wheat shill he under 60s. per quatter.— . Mr. CURWEN!thOught the Noble Marquis would' have opened the whole of his . plan, which would then have enabled the House to judge of its practicability, of which he (Mr. C.) very much doubted. :If the proposal immediately under con sideration should inducepurchasers a it assuredly would prove a i benefit ; but in order to ts doing so, he thought it ought to be permanent. Bounties, he thought, should always be-insepa rable from-protecting duties. The proposal would even as a temporary measure be productive of no harm. The:argument of his Honourable Friend (Mr. Ellice) proceeded upon the assumption' that all these measures • were for the protec tion of one class, at the expence of another. This was an erroneous idea ; for the. object of Corn Bills was • prin cipally to entourage cultivation at home. Tlse price of foreign, corn would always be regUlated, not by the cost of its, production, but .by .the , wants of this country ; and, un less we encouraged our own agriculture, we, should be at the mercy of foreign countries; who would regulate their prices exactly by our wants. if what was called a free trade were to be allowed, What e 'he asked, was to become of the agricultural classes of England ? It . had been said, that they would find other employment. This he positively denied.— From the improvements which had taken place in machinery, he knew that manufacturers: were amply stocked with hands; and that half a million at least of Tale persons connected with agriculture would in such a case be actually On • a future occasion :he should fully - explain his reasons for disapproving generally of the plan of the Noble . Mar quis (Londonderry y. At". present he would Merely observe, that he would only extend protection against the over, whelming quantity of foreign: produce which was likely to come in upon the opening of the ports. He protested against the assertion that this plan was intended only . for the protection of landlords. • He only asked for fair prices, in order, that the country might be kept in a state of cultivation. He perfectly agreed in opinion% with the Noble. Marquis that the. present plan might do good, and at all events could do no harm. Ile wished he could say as much of the other propositions of the.Nbble Marquis. ' Mr. LEYCESTER OppOsed the Resolution. Ile thought it most unjustifiable to apply -the public money to raise the price of bread. If the present prices were forced and unna tural, they - would, he had:ner doubt, soon find their proper scale. Ile by no means agreed with the Noble Marquis as to. the harmlessness of the present measure: He thought it would work considerable mischief. Mr. HUSKISSON said, that in expressing his objection to the Resolution, he should be as brief . as possible, and would confine himself to the'immediate question. He now understood that this was to . be merely a: temporary measure. Before, he had inferred it was to he permanent ; and that advances to the amount of a million were always to he made whenever the price should. be under 60s. ;Heobjectedalso to the time at which it was proposed to apply this.relief. If the description of his Noble Friend as to the' excess in the market at the early part of the year was correct, the persons intended to be benefitted by this measure were nolongex in existence as sellers. They were now purchasers. If, therefore, the measure would at all raise the price, it would aggravate the distress of the smaller farmers. It would, indeed, add to the present difficulty.— He admitted that we were at present in an artificial state ; and on that account he did not so much object to the mea sure. His objection was founded on the persuasion that the plan now proposed would afford no substantial' relief. If there was any one case in which the Government should avoid all interference, he thought it the present. What would have been the effect had this measure passed last Session ? The distress at that time was then very pressing ; and if a million had been then advanced on the terms now contemplated, the effect he was convinced would have been to raise the price to 80s. and thus open the ports . : He had examined the prices for the fall of last year. On the Bth of September they were as low as 5155., and on the 29th, only twenty-one days afterwards, they were as high as 705., being . an advance of 30 per cent. Had large purchases been made in the interim, would not the certain effect have been to raise the price to 80s. ? In his opinion the million now .proposed would he applied 'for on the prospect of a rise. There would be a competition between those who paidthree and those who paid five per cent: He was decidedly ofsopinion that the: market should be left to its ordi nary operation. And he could not assent to the propriety of purchasing damaged corn, especially if there should, as lie be lieved there would, be a food harvest this year. If in such' a case damaged corn should be purchased, there was much danger that it could not be brought into use, except in a year of great scarcity. The • project, altogether, of purchasing damaged earn, reminded him of the situation of unhappy bbr. rowers, who were , cmpelled -to take' damaged "goods for cash. He repeated that the market had better be left in present situation. Prices - and rents were beginning - .to adjust them ' selves ; and every measure interfering with that natural ad justment he considered impolitic. Such measurra would do I either nothing at all, or too much. If the harvest should be good, no one would apply for the benefit of the mea - ure ; if bad, there would be a general scramble for the money. The whole measure would be inconvenient as a precedent, and would lead us into embarrassment,. and he should therefore give his decided opposition to the motion. Sir JOHN SEBRIGIIT said, he had spoken with many farmers on the proposed measure, and not one of them thought it would be of-any service to them.. He entirely concurred in the sentiments of the Right Hon. Gentleman who spoke last. Sir JOHN SHELLEY agreed in opinion with the Right Hon. Gentleman, that the proposed measure would be produc tive of harm. Mr. WHITMORE said that no information had been laid before the Committee which could justify them in having re course to such a measure as this. He had himself been obliged to thresh out his corn immediately, and carry it to market to prevent it from mouldering on his hands ; and this had been the case with most of the farmers in his neighbourhood. The. corn of the last year would be perfectly unsaleable after the next harvest, and the measure would consequently be wholly inoperative. Lord CRANBOURNE spoke in favour pf the projected measure. He could never think it would. be productive of harm, but on the contrary he ,atiticipated'rauch good from it. It would prevent those speculations in corn which were so much dreaded and deprecated by thoSe whose interests wc.r.:l bound up in the agriculturists. It would ethble them* to keep that commodity from suffering the depreciation to which it was hastening. Mr. 1). GILBERT . thought the proposition of the Noble Lord was not calculgted to atford any relief to the agricultural interest. Mr. CRIPPS was disposed to give the Noble Lord every possible credit forleis motives in bringing forward the present measure; but he believed no agriculturist had .ever supposed that it v as calculated to afford the Slightest relief. He thought the best tbing that could be done was to iinpOse a perrnanent duty upon grain imported. Sir E. KNATCHBULL begged leeve to say a few words in contraversion of what had been stated by a Right Honourable . Gentleman (Mr., Ilti4kissori.) . He could not sit still and allow the remedy, perhaps the only. remedy, which the Committee had been able to devise, to be'thus treated. Amid the difficulties with which the Committee had had to struggle, he felt that the House, the Agriculturists, and the country, had been indebted to the Noble Marquis, and that they should thank him.— (Hear !)—He had not only assisted them in the Committee, but had come down from the 'Committee to assist them in the .House.. He felt himself perfectly at liberty to appeal to the Agriculturiste—to ask them what was their situation, and then to ask the House whether it could pause in adopting any scheme which held out a Promise of relief ? Mr. WODEHOUSE hoped his reasons for intruding him self upon the notice of the House would appear a sufficient justification. Ile did not wish to leave the Noble Lord in the lurch. He had supported in the Committee the proposal for advancing - half it million. The proposition, however, came a little too late., .11e was astonished that any one should suppose that the greater part Of the evil fell upon the little farmers, as it was really the farmers of this description who always paid their rents with the greatest ease. Mr. BANKES did not object to this measure on account of its deviation from strict principle. Every Government, be thought, ought to have that tower of force within itself ag'to be able to. accommodate principle to the public good. No interest in this or any other country could have a greater claim to the aid of a Government than that which was suffering. The ware housing of corn would prevent an excess of price. lie did not, however; mean to say that the proposition had his entire ap probation. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY rose to explain. He was desirous of not being misunderstood, and he chose that par ticular moment in the discussion after he had heard the senti ments of his valuable Colleagues. With regard to what had fallen from the Noble Lord behind him (Lord Cranbourne), he begged to remind him that if he did not vote for his own mea sure, he would not leave him (the Marquis of Londonderry) in the lurch, but hiMself.—(Hear, hear ! and a laugh.)—With all deference to his good judgment lie could not propose in the House what he would not vote for in the Committee. At all events let the saddle be placed on the right horse.—(.t 'laugh.)—The proposition had been supported 'in a very tame manner, and if he did not bear some more .actual support—if none of the parental feelings of a father for his offspring were shewn from the Hon. Member for Bramber (Mr. Irving) who originated it—he certainly should not press it upon the House, -having done his duty in making the proposition. The ques tion had nothing to do with good or bad harvests, which had been mixed up with it. It was about the markets, and was not affected by the nature of the, supply. Good or bad the corn would be consumed according to the - principles of nature, and not of any abstract ncitions. - All the purchases were to be made after the price was 605., and it was evident it would tend to mitigate .the rapidly rising prices. He did not consider the measure would be inoperative in present state 'of the mar kets, but he avowed that he did not think that much benefit was to be anticipated from it. Oncel more he begged to say, that if the remaining. Members of the Committee did not raise their voices to convince the House of the wisdom of their plan, he gave notice that he would not divide the House upon it.— .(Hear, hear.) Mr. IRVINE said he was the father of the proposition in the Committee, and he now begged. leave to state, if it were not for the delicacy he always felt in addressing the House, that he would have long before offered himself to their notice: Although his proposition was called absurd, he still was not ashamed of it, and he could sefely state; that he did not propose it without much consideration. He was sedulous in his attendance on the Committee,—not so the Hon. and Learned Gentleman (Mr. Brougham), who never went near it. The measure, such as it was,was not his alone, it was that of the Committee who adopt ed it. When he proposed the advance of a million, it was to give an increase to our circulation, which he long felt to be too contracted for the operations of the country. • Besides it tended to relieve the market from ehe pressure of a glut, and gave a certain power of keeping the supply equal to the demand, with out any excessive rise in the price. Notwithstanding ell he had heard, he considered the measure useful, without the danger of disadvantage, and as such he still adhered to.it. He was called upon rehictantintly. He now answered reluctantly, nor could he be satisfied the measure was so alaeurel as it had been desig nated.--(CoUghing, and cries of Question !) Mr. T. WILSON thought, that by advancing money to as sist in raising the price of Corn, would- have the effect of en couraging the culture - of Corn, and thus be highly serviceable in - giving employment to the lower class of the Agriculturists. It appeated to him thht the sacrifice was so small, the advan tage so gteat, that lie thought in the midst of the calls made upon them by the Agriculturists, they ought not to hesitate to adopt it. The consequence of not taking some such. steps Would be to throw lands out of cultivation. Mr. BROUGHA.NI • regretted extremely that he should by his conduct with reference to this Committee have laid himself open to the pathetic animadveisions of the Hon. Member for Bramber (Mr. Irving.) He cettainly ought from the solemn calls of friendship, to have been present at the bringing forth of the Hon. Member's project, and possibly he might had he not been four degrees of North Latitude distant, at the time that he and the Committee were brooding over it. He was against sending such subjects as this to a Committee up stairs, even if they *ere to examine the question with that vigour and unity which was so completely the reverse of their prac tice.' But, in his view, it was to Government they ought to look for relief in the circumstances of the country ; and the Government that knew not how to afford relief was unfit for its duty.. He :was most ready to give apt- Cultural relief, but he could not think that the proposed experiment would succeed. A precedent, it was true, was afforded in the case of the manufacturer, but no deposit was then asked. It could only have the effect of raising or keeping up the price, but that would be of no service to those Who were in distress, as they had no produce to go to market with. The only advantage of the measure would be to advance money to the farmer at 3 per cent. instead of 4, and thus save him 1 per cent.' He therefore, with all inclination to give the farmers even the semblance of relief, must say, that he thought this measure inconvenient and inefficacious, and must disagree with many of his friends on the subject, with whom he was in the habit of concurring. Mr. IRVING made a few observations in explantion. i%lr. HUSKISSON explained. The Hon. Members for Norfolk and Kent had been so kind as to read him a lecture, to which, with all deference, he was not disposed to attend, and he would tell them why. In consequence of some obser vations whiCh had been made. relative to the motives of his (Mr. H.'s) attendance on the Committee, had induced him out of consideration to his character to abitain from attending it. — The Qornmittee in his absence th=l brought forward a measure which was inconsistent with his known sentiments on the sub iect, and called upon him to support that measure. He begged leave to say that he.would do no. such thing. If he held his si tuation or his seat in that House upon any such tenure as that of following their recommendations; the sooner he gave them up the better. • _ _ _ _ Mr. Alderman BRITT-ES made a few observations, which were not audible in the. Gallery. The :Marquis of LONDONDERRY said, that having brought the Resolution under discussion, he was at liberty to withdraw it, which he therefore proposed to do, in consequence of the way in which it had been treated. The Resolution wa.4 then permitted to be withdrawn. Mr. BROUGHAM hoped. the NoblelVlarquis would allow the Second Resolution to follow the first.—(A laugh.) On the motion of the , Marquis of LONDONDERRY, the Chairman :e?ortecl progress, dna obtained leave to sit again to morrow. The Servants' Felonies Bill was read a fist time, and ordered to be read a second time on Thursday se'nnight. The Scotch Criminal Bill was read a third timz, and passed. Th;.. other Orders of the Day having been disposed of, the House adjourned at Eleven o'Clock. PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. RESOLUTIONS intended to be Proposed on the bringing UP the REPORT of the COMMITTEE of the WHOLE HOUSE, on AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS.—May 6, 1822. (COLONEL DAVIES.) RESOLVED, 1. That any Tax which, by being unequally distributed, acts as a Bounty to one part of the Kingdom and. to the PrejUdice of another, is in id nature unjust, and ought to be. discontinued. 2. That the gross produce of the Excise Duties on Salt, Hides, Soap, and Candles, in Great Britain, amounted, in the' year ending sth January 1822, to the sum of 3,357,2321. ; and net product! to 3,478,7781. 3. That there are no Excise Duties levied in Ireland, on Soap, Salt, or Candles ; and that the gross amount of the Duty on Leather, in the year ending sth January 1822, was 31,594 1 . '4. That the whole of the Excise 'Duty on Salt, and three fourths of the Duties on Soap, Candles, and Rides, in Great Britain, be forthwith Repealed. 5. That the Taxes on Windows and Leather, in Ireland, lr forthwith Repealed. ROMAN CATHOLIC PEERS BILL. BILL to relieve ROMAN CATHOLIC PEERS from the Disabilities imposed upon then by the Act of the 30ih of Charles the Second, with regard to the right of sitting ard voting in the House of Peers. Whereas the ancient and unquestioned right of Peers to sit and vote in Parliament, was used and exercised by them, with out any disqualification on account of religious opinions, until after the passing of a certain Act of tl: thirtieth year of the reign of his Majesty King Charles the Second, intituled, " An Actifor the more effectually preserving the Kiw's person and Government, by disabling Papists from sitting in either House of Parliament ;" And whereas by the said Act it was (among other things) enacted, that no Peer should vote or -inake hif proxy in the House of Peers, or sit there during any debate in the said House, without first taking the Oath of SuprernacY7 and making, subscribing, and laudibly repratleg tF.e de:lara tion, in the said Act prescribed, against transubstantia.tiol;.th e invocation of the Virgin Mary, or any other Saint, and the sacrifice of the Mass ; which said Oath of Supremacy has, by subsequent Acts of Parliament, been repealed, and another substituted in its stead. And whereas by a certain Act made and passed in the fift h year of the reign of her Majesty Queen Anne, intituled, " An Act for an Union of the two Kingdoms of - England and Scot land;" and by a certain other Act made and passed in th e thirty-ninth and fortieth year of the reign of his Majesty King F . George the Third, intituled, " An Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland," the Peers elected on behalf of the King dom of Scotland and of the Kingdom of Ireland, respectivell to sit and vote in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom' are required to take the said oath, and make and suf./scribe the da said declaration, until the Parliament , of the United ging m -- shall otherwise provide. And whereas the said oath and declaration so first icaPa ged upon the Peers by the said A c t o f t h e 30 t h of King , Cliz tlel • the Second, were imposed for causes, and under circumstnn e vw which no longer exist ; May it therefore please your Majesty, that it may b e _ enacted, and be it enacted by the King's Mott Excelle nl, Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lord s Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in thii present Far' liament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that f:.0 1 ; and after it shall and may be lawhil for a" Peers of the United Kingdom, who shall be otherwise doli, qualified to take their seats in the House of Lord. to -7 cluri make their proxies in the said House, and to sit there said debates therein, without first nicking or subscribL i ng tt e the declaration, or taking the oath of supremacy require ‘ .4 a ny said Acts, or any of them ; any thing in the said Actsd,.„.. other contained, to the contrary in anywise notwithstan al " .s _, vote 1!.ti4,1 PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS• IIOCSE OF COMMONS. LIME, 6° die Maii, 1522. GAS LrpHT—L2ith, and Warwick—Bills rea& a third er and passed. Glasgow—Another Bill ordered. • (Bucks) INcLostntss—South Dalton( York), and Towersey read a third time and passed. Clifton Reynes (1311 c.") Lords amendments agreed to. ImprtovEmENT'BlLL—Camden Town—Farther time gr4r)t ed for making the Report till Wednesday May 15. in fa. SMALL DEBTS—Petition from Prestwich cum Ohlham, your—to lie on the table. ROMAN CATHOLIC PEERS BlLL—Petition of Hector Moderator of the Provincial Synod of Ross-shire, .4.01 1215 " r to lie on the table. NAVIGATION BlLL—Petitions of Ship-owners and other s 'o Newcastle and South Shields, Sunderland, Aberdeen, 4 4 Kingston-upon-Hull, AGAINsT, to be printed. Bill re s second time, and committed for to-morrow (this day)., ANCIENT COMMERCIAL STATUTES RE. Read a - 2‘ , ot. PEAL BILL and canon oi IMPORTATION Or GOODS REPEAL BILL for tO'lll °ll W , WAREHOUSING BILL (this to AonrcuvruitAL DISTRESS—Petition from Holswar")--, lie on the table, and to be printed, amble. - CORN Laws—Three Petitions of Owners of Land in against lowering the importation prices—to lie on the Sn d and to be printed. Three Petitionsfrom Warwickshire' Ile one from Somerset and Gloucestershire, against ditto--e ° on the table. .0 DISTILLATION (SCOTLAND)—Petitions complaining ri c ' restrictions on the exportation of Scottish. Spirits, fr° r° shire, and Forfarshire—referred to the Committee 03 1 1, - 01l cultural Distress. Petition from Kincardineshire --t o ;;E thc the table. Petition of Archibald Spiers, Cluiiimso . Commissioners of Supply of Renfrewshire—to lie on th e and to be printed. rfp , of any DISTILLERY LAWS (ScoTLA),-Copy ordered, : Ars of Report which has been made to the Lords Commissi ° t; in the Treasury by the Chairman of the Board of 8%-d oc- Scotland, upon the printed Address to the Proprietors cupiers of Land in Great Britain respecting the existing tillery Laws." be in' Roans—Glasgow and Inchbelly Bridge—reported, to o dam grossed. Shaftesbury and Sherborne i and Bishop's, ' read a third time, and passed. BHIDEWELL—Lanark and Glasgow—Further time ranted for making the Report till Monday. - ; SALFORD HUNDRED COURT EXTENSION BILL --rev to be read a third time on Monday. be il l ' NEWCASTLE-11PON-TYNEGAOL BILL , Beporte., to -To Lr.s BILL J gross ed ' SCOTCH CREDITORS BILL 04 . MALT BILL. Read a third time, and P LINEN BOUNTIES BILL ) w b e SILK LACE DUTIES BlLL—considered in Commi ttee; reported to-morrow (this day). PAClNElGfeei';e l r e to a n ve — to rep si o t rt o e n d pri a d n a d y, arnelotorarmepitortetdontomuflayei: NOTICES OF MOTIONS for THIS DA the 1. 111 r. Hume,—Copies of the Table of Fees charee','" for several British Consuls-General and Vice-Cons,us' t ot clearance of Ships, and other Duties ; also, fonte alli°,ll, 2. Mr. Alartin (of Galway), 13 . 11 collected in the Brazils under the authority Geo. chap. 106. tread' to prevent the in-trea— of Cattle. ' ORDERS OF THE DAY for THIS DA Y " •a e rs, 1. Superannuation Act Amendment Bill—Further cons' tion of Report. 2. Navigation Bill—Committee'. 3. Ancient Commercial Statutes Repeal BillComnfittet 4. Importation of Goods Repeal Bill—Committee. 5. Warehousing Bill.—Committee. 6. Agricultural Distress. Report—Committee thereupop., 7. Colonial Securities Bill—Report. 8. Silk Lace Duties Bill—Report. c'