The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-05-21 00:00:00

, ..... notion • sv r dship 'tell 13m n ieDa:, .'e the P' t ccessa r) ,:i of ever,;sil the Ø ° s b e esP t_;,l er „heti; at now bl c . eding s ; . ;eu P 3 b o o o f th e y rctiuuteio rlac f do t rid ° e h e "r• abelg tj e AM 4eo oj v • • o = 4 4 7 !ee tO the Crown relative to the exercise I riki i , P r lvilege, for the Crown possessed the preroga a,g an officer from the half -pay list. The Secretary ddlowever, responsible for the advice he might giv t e. had Oh"It asked why the West Riding of the cou_n e y . : 1 A et? eell put under tile Provisions of the Peace Pr t es ~s 4i d Iliat it had been done atthe request of the e t es ( 1 ) 1 the county ; but the communications from th 1, tee of a confidential nature, and could not be • c.., r , Nott said he could state positively, from his % C i u,,g!, that during the last ten years no act had been te" the West Riding of the county of Cork which, .present.," the ~ 011 , would authorize the government in it a ect to that district. He could not conceive ho w 4ty ,;48 to magistrates upon which the inhabitan t s s_ de,e,r,e_deprived'of their civil rights could b to e c w olit ti i i. Itta ati . .' , u- It was trifling with the country g ra n on such grounds. k)rwilriT presented a petition from certain inhabi ko v„raling "1 yomplaining o bribery practised at t ee late the house to institute an inquiry into the .qair., SECRETA RY FOR IRELAND etl ttu asked wh et h er i t w the intention of ALTH:PPoint a secreta i ry fr Irela a n s d t in ri ft s t said it was theintention of goverment to a shortcretary, and the appointment would be scp t , tune. i I st ' 4 Os WATER ue ask ed , TO THE METROPOLIS. tik e whether the survey which had been under tor affice, with th e v i ew of o b taining a supply of 1/1104 metropolis was completed. t iltse q dirdePlie eel'a the surve . y was not completed, .not themselves justified in. advancing S tep4 l lo its accomplishment iern WaS astonish e d th a t i n a ma tt er o f so muc h ;e i cent should h es it a t e t o a d vance money to 41.Yiestponed hi s mo ti on re l a ti ve t o t h e b oroug h fit tile 6th of June. ailed his motion relative to the borough of `Y week (i e, till Friday next). couN LAWS. R E, purs uan t t o no ti ce , rose t o su b m it a corn laws. He had on two former occa lotions to the consideration of the house, • operations for the few last sessions, in wish to give the corn bill of 1828 time to efficiency of its workings; and, secondly, o .tily in a reformed Parliament—that is, a -mg the int eres t s an d w i s h es o f all classes .4e People, and not the exclusive interest s of a th eh eottld hope to be successful in his p . urpose. , ° ese, that though the representative of a " I ntY, he would not attempt to alter the In laws if he was not convinced that all a griculturist, were equally injured by those e qually interested in their being . amended. aoposed to himself was to inquire, on the 'ertible facts, whether the corn bill of 1828 ir b et which its framer anticipated—whether its I oreficbill ial, or otherwise—and whether it was l ed the of 1815, of which it was the off and manifested the germs of its vicious ai d n ed that the principle of bh as radically aot secure the home grow ot er w against flue that the great feature, particularly of the scale of duties on foreign corn imports— ite,‘vli`eel, up prices, did not secure us a foreign ly would be advantageous; and increased i nJure the home produce; and, in fact, by °,n, and he nce gam bling in th e corn t ra d e , . 1-1 e warehoused here than would be under trade. Hon. members would err greatly in Wative steadiness, with a rising tendency of 8 4 ' ad 1819, and betwe 1828 and 1, the ceneeding the two corn en bills, to the 183 working the tact was, the steadiness and the rise tent harvests in those years. Were hon. ; of th e nature and working of the bill of L o reign corn at a duty of 245. Bd. when the .raarket was 625. ; the duty diminished Is. inc rease of price up to 665. and 675., when the Lin n the other hand, the duty increased 7" - "aution of price under 625. When the a consider a ble diminution of duty t oo k 'oat at 68s , 695., and 705., the duty was but 4t Y was 65.. Bd. ; and at 725. and upwards, L °ll the face of it, this sliding or fluctuating endless scheming, and speculation, and -ertainty, and revulsions, which placed the ° a „e• (lune other footing than that wholesome aernand which under an honest and free 41 (1, and alone ought, to regulate the price. tai - Proposed that a duty of 10s. per quarter imorta of foreign wheat, 6s. on 4141 , 3 5. 4d. on oats. He was disposed to rem the adoption of the house; for he thought , a • t of removing a great deal of the evil 1.1 t ‘• e existing system. He was aware that shat the matmaintenance of a high price by fer y 'Pf advantage to the 4griculturist, but .he ,oicifferent opon. on this point. He consi qtttilturist was. injured. rather than benefited iiig of whieh.was a matter of total uncer 'd its own objects; and which tended to en • ling. He felt confident-that if the plan ' t ried into effect, the agriculturist would re nearly as great, if not quite as great, a :r, obtained for his produce. He would cer if less price than he had obtained within the 4 4 (Mr. Whitmore) advocated a fixed duty 'me, but he meant a fixed duty only in e was not disposed to recommend that. the 1 , 0 1 fixed in times of great scarcity, when the -0 to a very high price. (Hear, hear, hear.) to ficludd by moving the following resolu esent system of corn-laws, founded on a 4 scale of duties, while ,it. fails .of confer lefit on the agricultural interest, tends to impair the general prosperity . of this coun -4.,°4 of these laws, substituting in their stead l a rd at all _periods except those of extreme eitinilied the agriculturists for the peculiar s tiPon them,. would,. by restoring the com `ween this kingdom and foreign countries, arcs, a n d ren d er more equal the price of e tiantr ivino - • een put from the Chair, • la - t l O said it was the duty of Parliament to s ' n t in -the country, and not to give a mono tear Il e saw no•reason for givin an g the capital ere greater protection th the capital f t " r ade• The hon. member who had opened ' e n of the peculiar burdens which pressed Il e was ignorant of any. burden. borne with the exception of the highway rate. he poor-rate," " The land-tax.") He " - rate was a tax peculiarly levied on the Property was assessed to it. (Cries of " No, ) What did they call the funds— ' own debt—property ? It would be a if a man were allowed to say to his ere • 2 5 or 3U p er cen t. f rom th e 'debt I owe may be enabled to pay my own way."— would be an extraoidinary . doctrine in °l the funds, however, was uat under con ';• that was matter. for. future debate. He Is m ; c ountry did not grow sufficient corn to ts, and that it was a regular importing [ roved by the fact that, for the last five the yearly average.iniportation of foreign to oue million.of quaiters. He was wil the agrieultuvists. were oppressed by pecu 't to be relieved from them, or be allowed dn. But if the agriculturists suffered no was the duty of Parliament to declare re; r ejorted free all duty, except such as thth-w.le purposes of revenue. It was his (Mr. a t we ought to- throw•open our ports to . the f i e any articles which other countries might , 40 , was satisfied' that no means of relief ,`," 4 we bad freed'. our industry from the ,n it now oppressed. He concluded by "eta." That all the words-after the word ,„ .. ' r e:s motion be struck out, for the purpose f wt ag:-.‘ That it is the opinion of this c , o ro, grain, meal, and flour, which is now ale hl.•, ll lt,ect kingdom, shall be admissible at all e axed day.'" He had not named the cipb„ `Alts mole anxious upon this . occasion to •b e - et' his resolution than to. fix the rate of fai r to all parties.- 45 441 the house to consider whether there was 't the supply of corn .would be cheap, re in c;i.se they were to determine to throw -• ceuutg out of cultivation, and to trust rin)• Before they came to such deter . ch i p , r -""• v ou UP ° „4 ram- tria LI lllt :14(pe • Plie p -Jo/ "°‘' t ° • eteublic, too Ilio n. tr io' e n Y for 'I ;..° a t „,s 4 .. lilo gov erat n_a e s a nt ,t,,, i B litv ey ul . E LL tifi7i t i l e 3C • $ 4111491'Q/I'4°lle IC gP ki? ' a Y Wc, Ice 0' A rkti t , 4o ßE, t it ',kl liar cOi D ILP v 01; 0 0 t.Pepikol the A' 10.4- opp that ,0,4 4 1 , 4 1 , th e s ec .„o .„0) tepr tt it on effii ‘; Go 1 ,, • of etea t i lY po itv a ° ls. Eh ' Pe n e g jot e th, ,Cutt] - hoes v F ° 11 0 I p? kt,P of °4e nuit .I,te ki eon, 11 4 ( 01,, , th e opioioo • 4 ' e agli ko he P; lua 0 5 0 , th e kr ° , °Pu lase '` st poli ) t, ° , b iect e w rti h l oe, e b e t , nefi 11 , . 4 th e 51. , 11 c1/1 ', l l l t 4 t laiht a . and lot , 4ti ot e Y di l r e d t nent,,t4 r\ t L: , and th at th i s ;b: l3 (1041iditi 15r tell we re, „,. • r 't4 e t b • e i' e ett "k Pa lad ' sr e I, l ll i l,te 181 5 rati l a .1 a la i , ' 4 ee disP t t eatt ee d ktNeh th cie 3(1, 1 . w are lit as tl 4 !A tt, 4 44, 1 of P eir Ttoo naa r cre °' the" • 1 1 ( 1 3, d i O u nD the tth kt ,,,,7: 4i1 : 111 all d at 3: ‘l. e 44ty w as P'" r.) 4 c , or W th as ' a t° er x .16111:'oaetteryy a. tnd ltai', ro i s o o d d i , try (4 .. til:tto ' e the nipo pizt, tithe 3s eti t o e th il . to th e Lcrea s a l 1 111 1 - d effect 1 the r - 0 de r th e tio f 3 tro rog ,14 t 14,2 th, 3' t b Jei,37,(?f ;In 3 01 tt, ag r i Ul frer , °' t iatu, 'Clll5l' It (-4fe4tkitt :, t itor at ed j s th)• CV N" e re 1)11 11i the 6t l 6, e :tried bc"t 1 ; 4 Re. ti '•eti v t ver c thel sai" 4 te; b s i (Mi „ 4 . if on e e Was ,' r o s e xed ;. { 7 , lit‘ti,,e to a .epor.itp? eooeht t he ;rlarP,Netit gaia,t~tl t ag se an °p ctt r4 - nnp• the„ • C ,, r t ° ,?*4!Y, fi xed rd, L iig i l t i b led a d w 35 ;1..it qi, ltll Drell ' 1 ; 8 up ° , ct k 4aof etp reer )a ri • , h, acture Ise °l t Vlt l h e ouot t ntr• tbe 1111.01;:tee:Viritig ( .1 est pOP .b ije 4 ,Vl,ass; 1. the ru Id the' , trad Id th e . se • 6.. it a rjeecsttt);%' tl ` t je l "' s tr . , the g e e ll it`i t t k k ' e pr) `` The Treat, ipo' '',kl4 4 44 °t- rate a ou t oc it o 4re Pro pe hen P,l N th . 110 t. tiOn, t )itt i tlEl elr a obJectoi,4l tle c rd, i f 5 ,,,00 • 0 e , ,, th vet 2,5 ta te' y .) al s 1 ,1 t 1 /nay k at I v ', ar t ° , o p r ol° s o l ti the 5 . j. fj i t t th th 18 co l .l] ri cla l w :ht s , a per- ° ,0, 1 4 P ‘ 4 l ,y pr ov lit t t, th e rtafrorP:s7.(irev. I l) 11 t I kt t th ° iVe tii."lo/if t,p°ftight officepOoi Niglit)°"ectior %fly , th r `,o "S„ 1 1 1 ; , it w , to be o i ii 4 ed irap, to o,t,ttet:o, kretc.Al°l4rtthle, 5 .01 - tit' ttiftitB,e old be e o rt hi 4 wLl.ttal till deas ur tl e " ''lch' ' l l . be, ,00 jh a _dca ei ale'v e f 1 4 s tl y l 'e t e ° ll l, lre' :as e oc e ‘tti 4 ° l l °lv il Le 0 t hi „ :h e V,' co tbaittt :loicriitt retarY o d, it Mk i rttl e 3 ,. he IA crsto c ot, ' is srle c , 4.0 'e ofi i c ef, t , t k 4814. e tar fair :" ll4 that d ui ' .00 r er , b* l 44 4 1 Inaa e . 01 jut; THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. mutation it. should be established, beyond contradiction, that there would be a. cheap and regular supply, and cheap and regular enough it ought to be, before such a measure as throw ing the poor lands out of cultivation was adopted. He doubted whether the supply could ever be made sufficiently abundant. Russia, Prussia, the North of Europe, and the United States of America, were the countries on which we must be dependent; and if we had now difficulty in coping with those countries, how would those difficulties be increased when those countries knew that we were dependent upon them for our supply of food? It was a great fallacy to suppose that the export of our manufactures would be increased by the import of foreign corn; all our custom-house returns proved the contrary. Here the noble lord entered into some statistical returns to prove this as sertion, but the noise in the house prevented us from under standing their details, and, indeed, from hearing any part of the termination of the noble lord's harangue. Lord ALTHORP said that every man must admit the great im portance of this question, and that it was one on which the feelings of the country would be excited whenever it should be brought under consideration with the view to its final settle ment; but he would put it to the house to consider what would be the situation of the country if either of those resolutions should be adopted. If they loOked to the many great and im portant questions which yet remained to be brought under the consideration of Parliament, they would, he thought, admit that if there was a time less suited than another for the discussion of this question, it was the present. (Hear.) Looking at the mere question of the time which remained for the public business yet to be done, he thought it would be found short enough without the addition of this question, which under any circumstances would make so large a demand on the attention of Parliament. Under these circumstances he would ask, ought such a period to be chosen for re-opening a subject of such magnitude, and which must greatly excite the country from one end to the other? Besides, the price of corn was not now pressing. It was low, and the manufacturers were on the whole in a state of employ ment. When he objected to making any change in our system at this time, he must add, speaking his own private opinion, that he did not see any such great advantage which those laws pro duced to the lauded interest. He hoped that at any time he should not allow considerations of individual interest to sway in giving his opinion, even as a private person, on a subject of such magnitude, and still less should he do so in his character as a minister of the crown, whose duty it was to take those mea sures which might best promote the interest of all classes; but he might remark, that he did not see the corn laws had been of such advantage to the landed interest that he, as a landed pro prietor, would be greatly benefited by keeping them as they were. His great objection to any change now was the unfitness of the time, and the pressure of so many other and more ur,,, ,, ent subjects on the attention of Parliament. On these grounds it was his intention to have moved the previous question" to the resolution of the hon. member for Wolverhampton; but he was now precluded by the forms of the house from doing so, as au amendment was already moved. He would therefore oppose the amendment, with the view of meeting the original question afterwards with a negative. With these feelings of the unfit ness of the time for the consideration of this great question, the house would see the propriety of his not following either of the hon. members into the details into which they had gone. He might remark, however, with respect to fluctuations of prices, to which the hon. member had referred, that it was impossible to prevent such fluctuations where the price of corn In this country was raised by factitious means above that of the Conti nent.. He would alsoobserve on what appeared to him to be a very erroneous opinion on the subject of prices as affected by the corn laws. It. was believed by many that the loss to the consumer in this country was equal to the whole amount of difference be tween the price which corn bore here and that at which it was sold in the foreign market. Now this was not the case, for it was always remarked that the opening of our ports to the ad mission of foreign corn was immediately followed by a rise of prices in the foreign market, so as often to come very near to our own price. He would add that he did not see that any prac tical inconvenience had been shown to result to any party from the operation of this system. Mr. A. BARING said, that if anything was calculated more than another to excite alarm and Inconvenience in the country on this question, it was the speech of the noble lord who had just sat down, who, admitting the badness of the present sys tem, would leave it in its unsettled state, without any attempt to fix it one way or the other. He (Mr. Baring) had been accused of sometimes speaking one way, and voting another (hear, hear), but there was nothing - in that so inconsistent as was the conduct of the noble lord on this occasion. The noble lord had stated that the present system was as bad as it pos sibly could be.—(" No, no.") Lord ALTHORP did not wish to be made answerable for more than he had said. What he did say was, that he had great doubts of the benefits of the present system of corn laws to the landed interest. He did not see that the advantages of the present system were such to the landed proprietors as to make the removal of it a matter desirable for their interest. His ob jection was to the time. _ _ . . . Mr. A. BARING said, that he had no wish to misrepresent what the noble lord had said. He had understood him to say that the system was not a good one, and yet he was not pre pared with any measure for its change for a better. If the present corn laws were so bad, no time would be misapplied which was devoted to the reconsideration of that question with a view to their amendment. It was an injury done to all classes of the community that such important questions as this should be hung up in a state of uncertainty. The noble lord argued that if we opened our ports, the price of corn on the continent would rise, and therefore that the agriculturists need not be alarmed at the prospect of a depression of the price in this country to the extent .of the price in the foreign market when the ports were closed. Now this might be the case in times of scarcity, but if we admitted foreign corn habitually, its price would not rise so materially above the foreign averages as to prevent an inevitable reduction of the price in the English market to an extent ruinous to' agriculturists. In conclusion he expressed a confident expectation that without hearing better arguments for a change than had been adduced to-night, the house would not consent to either of the motions that had been brought forward. Lord PALMERSTON complained of the lion. member's mis representations of what had fallen from his noble friend. The hon. member had before now observed, in reference to himself, that his (Mr. Baring's) speeches and votes occasionally dis agreed in tenour (a laugh), and probably on the present oc casion the hon. member was too much engaged in keeping hold of his own ideas, with a view to reconcile them to his vote, to attend sufficiently to the sentiinents expressed by the noble Chancellor of the Exchequer.—(Laughter.) His noble friend did not say (as the hon. member appeared to suppose) that it was the intention of ministers in a future session to make a complete alteration in the corn laws; on the contrary, his noble friend carefully guarded against stating the intentions of go vernment one way or the other.—(hear.) Neither did his noble friend say that the corn laws were injurious to any in terest in the country; but that, in his opinion, they had not been attended with as much advantage to the agriculturists as they had been led to expect. In this respect his own opinion entirely concurred with that of his noble friend. But there was no drawing an inference from this statement as to what minis ters might be prepared to do in reference to the subject in fu ture. He could not see the force of the hon. member's argu ment that it was politically dangerous for a country to depend on other states for a portion of its supply of food. Every ma• nufacturing country which exported its manufactures must be dependent on other countries for food, because if the manufac turers could not sell their commodities in the foreign market, they could not buy the means of subsistence either at home or abroad.—(Hear.) He entirely concurred with his noble friend, that in the present time and circumstances it was inexpedient to agitate this important question ; but surely his noble friend's objecting to entertain the subject could not be fairly said to throw the agricultural interest into doubt and uncertainty— (Hear). He regretted that the subject had been brought for ward, but having entered upon its consideration, he thought that the house had better dispose of it in the manner recom mended by his noble friend, by negativing the amendment, in order to afford his noble friend' au opportunity of meeting the original resolution by the previous question. Mr. C. FEuGussox observed, that if the lion. members for Wolverhampton and Middlesex were friends of free trade, and desirous of relieving the poor, plans more worthless than those embodied in both resolutions had never been proposed, inasmuch as neither the one hon. member nor the other pretended that his scheme, if adopted, would reduce corn a single shilling in the quarter. Mr. ROBINSON said it was a fallacy to suppose the present system of corn'laws could exist without a full discussion in this liouse as at present constituted. He admitted that the present time was not judiciously chosen to discuss it. In the present session it was perhaps impossible, amidst so many difficult and important questions, but in another session there must be a full discussion of the corn laws, the working of which had not an swered the purpose for which they had been introduced.— (" Question.") Mr. CAYLEY, owing to the impatience of the house, was quite inaudible. Mr. 13 ENETT spoke amidst cries of "Question." He con sidered that the present law had benefited all classes of the country. So long as the weight of taxation pressed upon the farmer, so long must there be a protection to the agricultural interest. He hoped tiot:the e,ue6tion would be considered as settled. Mr. O'CONNELL said that the question was about protection; the English of which was, increasing the price of food. But it was a question whether the price of food ought to-ba increased. He thought there was no magic in a reformed parliament, if it did not give the people cheap food. (" Oh.") No; they would not give the people cheap food; they wished to give them dear food, and put the difference in their own pockets. (" No, no.") They talked of the weight of taxation. Would they join with him and abolish tithes ? No. They hallo right then to high prices. His only objection to the motion was, that it did not sweep away all protections and taxes on food. They were, making laws to increase their own income. (" No, no," and " Hear.") Mr. DUNDAS (from the member's gallery), spoke to order. Cheers had come from the strangers' gallery; he therefore moved that the gallery be cleared. The SPEAKER directed the Serj eant-at-Arms to clear the gallery, which was done. [The cheer, we understand, came from a member (Mr. Lalor) who was seated in the strangers' gallery, and who probably conceived there was no impropriety in exercising the privilege -of cheering there. Mr. Dundas was evidently not aware of this eircumstance, and took the proper course to check an irregu lhrity. In the absence of strangers the matter was explained, and the gallery was then re-opened.] Mr- O'CONNELL resumed. He repeated his argument, that the corn laws were nothing but protection s and that protection was nothing else than raising the price of food; the difference being so much money put into the pockets of the landlords. It was an advantage given to the makers of the laws to the disad vantage of those for whom the laws were made. Ile protested against every species of corn law, and every law which raised the price of provisions; by such laws the house placed in unen viable, and he might almost, say dangerous, contrast their inte rest and the interest of the people. He should supportthe mo tion, and only regretted that it did not go far enough. Colonel CoNoLLY protested against the remarks of the hon. and learned member. The interests of the empire were identi fied in the sustentation of the agricultural body. He advocated the interests of landlords, but he was not debased by the un worthy motives imputed to that class by the hon. and learned Member. If it was the intention of the house to maintain faith with the public creditor, they must maintain faith with the agri cultural interest. (" Question.") IT it was their intention to dismember the British empire, they would agree to the propo sition of the hon. *member for Wolverhampton. Mr. CRAVEN BERKELEY also protested against the hon. and learned member's observations. He (Mr. Berkeley) was as much concerned in obtaining cheap food for the lower orders as the hon. and learned member, but he did not see how he pro posed to make food cheaper. e would mention to the house a fact which proved that the tradesmen engaged in the mineral interests in Monmouthshire were not so much opposed to the corn laws as the enemies of those laws believed them to be. • A gentleman who employed 3,000 men in the iron-works stated his opinion, that if the corn laws were removed, the farmers would be great sufferers. He should oppose the motion.— (" Question.") • Lord G. SOMERSET said that his constituents were desirous that the landed interests should be protected. Sir F. BURDETT thought that the question should be referred to a committee up stairs. It was one which could not be satis factorily discussed in that house. lie was for a free trade in corn and all other commodities, which he believed would be ad vantageous to the community. (Hear.) Ile would have voted for the original motion had no other proposition been brought before the house ; but as the hon. member for Middlesex's amendment went further, he would vote for that. (" Question.") Mr. HUME said that he would not trouble the house to divide titice, and therefore he would vote for the amendment. Lord ArmionP said, that the amendment having been with drawn, he would move as an amendment, as he originally wished to do, the previous question. The house then divided, and the numbers were— For the previous question 305 Against it Majority Mr. Whitmore's motion was consequently lost. Lord ALTHORP brought in the bill for the commutation of tithes in England and 1;4 - ales. The bill was read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time this day fortnight. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the house adjourned at one o'clock. FACTORY BILL COMMISSION. On Monday evening, John Elliott Drinkwater; Esq., I3arister aV•Law, Alfred Power, Esq., and John Charles London, M.D., arrived in this town (last from Leicester and Nottingham) for the purpose of pursuing their inquiries as one of the branches of Mr. Wilson Patten's commission. They took up their resi dence at Scarborough's Hotel, where they still remain- On Tuesday they commenced their labours by calling upon the. Mayor of Leeds, Mr. Sadler, Mr. Robert Hall, and Mr. Win. Osborn, whose names appear on the face of the proceedings be fore the select committee upon the Ten Hour Bill. They next addressed a note to each of several of the principal manufactur ing firms of the town, requesting the attendance of a gentleman at Scarborough's; a similar invitation was also sent to Mr. Sadler, Mr. R. Hall, and Mr. William Osborn. Instead of one member fromeach of the firms alluded to, all the partners of each house waited upon the commissioners, so that the opponents of the Ten Hour Bill greatly outnumbered the friends of that measure. Nothing.could have been more urbane than the de meanour of the commissioners. Mr. Drinkwater stated the object of their visit, and their desire to enter upon their duties of inquiry in the most agreeable way to all the parties from whom they desired information, and he called the gentlemen then present' together, he said, for the purpose - of mutually ar ranging someplan of investigation calculated to elicit the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. A long discussion took place. Mr. Drinkwater, speaking for his colleagues, said he wished to hear both sides, and should be particularly glad to examine intelligent operatives. He proposed that the proceed ings of the court should be assimilated to those of courts-mar tial; that Mr. Sadler, Mr: Hall, Mr. Osburn, Mr. Oastler, or any other gentleman, should attend on behalf of the Ten Hour Bill, and that an equal number of millowners should be present. That if the inquiry were prosecuted in more than one room at a time, still an equal number one or more, should be in each room, to watch the proceedings, to he allowed to put any questions they thought proper through the chairman, and to be at liberty to address the commissioners on any part of the evidence; that the notes of the commissioners should be open to the inspection of the gentlemen attending ; that their notes should also be ap pealed to, if necessary, by the commissioners for the purposes of explanation; but that no publication should be permitted while the commissioners remained in the town or immediate neighbourhood. So far all was plain sailing - . Mr. Sadler re quested to have a public court; that is to say, a court that should be open to those of the public who might wish to be present ' while there was room. He also thought that a short-hand writer should be introduced to take full and accurate notes of the proceedings. The commissioners objected to both these propositions. They said that they did not deem a public court, in a broad sense, necessary, nevertheless they should be glad to examine any proper witness who might come forward volun .tarily, or be brought forward on either side. As to a short hand-writer, they considered the presence of such a person ob jectionable on the ground that it would be setting up an autho rity in some respects superior to the authority of the commis sioners; they also deemed his presence unnecessary, because no immediate publication of evidence could take place. Some of the millowners present also strongly objected to a short-hand writer's presence, and more than insinuated that Mr. Sadler's object was publication, which intimation that gentleman met by au utiequivocal and indignant denial. After a great deal of de bate, the parties split upon the points of the public court and the short-hand-writer, and no arrangement was entered into so far as the supporters of the Ten Hour Bill were concerned. On Tuesday evening a meeting of Operatives took place, at which it was determined not only not to recognise the Commis sion, but to protest against it. On Wednesday evening • another meeting was held ; the result of the discussion before the Coro mi§sioners was discussed, and it was unanimously determined that the Operatives would not communicate with the Commis sion in any way, on the e-round that it constituted a tribunal adverse to the ten-hour bill in origin, adverse in spirit, adverse in object, adverse, probably, in instruction ; adverse; also, in their refusal to hold a public court and to admit a short-hand writer, according to the request of the friends of the Bill. On Wednesday a deputation of Operatives waited upon the Com missioners, and presented a protest against its inquiries on the ground of non-necessity, the propriety of legislative interfe rence having been proved before four Committees and by the passing of two bills, namely, Sir Robert Peel's and Sir John llobhouse's ; the question of ten-hours, the protesters con tended, being irrefragably established by medical testimony of ' the highest character, and the opinion of every disinterested man or woman of humanity who would take the trouble to think. On Wednesday evening a placard was issued to this effect : " TEN-HOUR BILL—The Commissioners have arrived in Leeds, and the Operative Short Time Committee have presented their protest. against- the Commission. The children from all, the mills and factories of Leeds will ►resent their protest against' that unnecessary measure, at eight o'clock on lhursday eveu ing, May 16th. They, will assemble ii the Preemarket at half past seven, and proceed from thence to Scarborough's Hotel,. where the Commissioners will be assembled. N.B. The chil dren are requested to meet in their working dresses." Accordingly, soon after seven o'clock, a crowd began to as semble in the market place, which before the appointed time amounted to several thousand persons. A procession was then formed, which proceeded up Kirkgate, down Briggate, and along Boar-Lane, headed by a white flag, inscribed " Ihe Ten Hour Bill," and the remains of the banner representing " A Scene in Water-Lane at five o'clock in the morning," which was so gallantly rescued from the Yellows by Mr. Sadler's friends at " the battle of the, standard," which7took place in the Cloth-Hall yard on the nomination-day. Frorathis banner was suspended an old " patten," and just above it the word " No," in allusion to the mover of the Commission. Almost all the children were habited in their work-clothes, and at the head of the procession were two very young lads, we should think not more than seven years old, with greasy blue faces and slips, carried on the shoulders of some of their older com panions. On arriving at Scarborough's Hotel; about half a dozen children, boys and girls, were introduced to the Commis sionvs for the purpose of presenting the protest against the Commission as unnecessary. The crowd, which was composed principally of children, and amounted to at least ten thousand persons, waited for some time in front of the Hotel, expecting to hear the result of the interview, and about half-past eight o'clock, Mr. Foster announced from one of the windows that the protest had been presented, and recommended the specta tors to repair to their respective homes. The crowilthen began to disperse, and in a little time the area was quite clear- ' Mr. Oastler afterwards waited upon the Cominissiotiers; and protested against the Commission as needless. He stated se veral reasons which led him to adopt that course ; the princi pal were that the Commissioners had been sent down to solve the question whether it is proper that infant children should be worked in factories longer than ten hours a day, a question which would be answered in the negative by every reasoning being. He considered that if he, as a supporter of the Factory Bill should take any, part in the proceedings of the Colt missioners, it would be like appealing to the decision of an ad verse Jury, though he did not wish to be understood as imputing partiality to the Commissioners. Again, granting that he might deem it expedient to recognize the Commission; he could not get over the difficulty occasioned by witnesses who were exa mined before the special Committee, having been discharged by their employers on their return from London. It would be scarcely possible to get operatives to tell all they knew, when they were aware that. the almost inevitable consequence of their doin' so would be a discharge from their employ. Mr. Drinkwater admitted the force of the latter ground of objection, and said he did not know how it could be obviated. The Commissioners' plan of proceeding is this. They spend the present week in visiting the principal factories, anu ae--. quainting themselves with technicalities and the general rou, tine of business, so as to be prepared for a perfect understanding of the evidence. On Monday they will begin. to examine wit. nesses. NEGRO WEALTH. A Magistrate of St. James's, Mr. M-, a short time since, while on a visit to a friend in Trelawny, was invited to visit the negro houses with the proprietor of the estate, and to ob serve the contented state of his dependants. The offer was ac cepted, and in the course of the gentlemen's ride, Mr. having been struck with the neat appearance of a young -Wo man, apparently not more than six and thirty, enquircaa who she was. The followinK conversation was the result : Proprietor—She is the wife of that poor fellow who was misled, and lost his life in the rebellion. Mr. to the woman—You appear comfortable and happy 7; your master must be very kind to you. Woman—No sir, while my husband was alive I , was comfort able, but now I am very badly off, no body to take care of me and-my- four children: Proprietor—l never was more astonished.—To the slave— Did I not value your husband's cattle, and pay you• £lB9 for them ?. Woman—Yes, sir. Proprietor—Did I not count out between £5OO and £6OO in money, which was found in your husband's house, and hand it over to you? and have you not now got your grounds and house, and everything that your husband left. Slave—Massa gave them all to me. Mr. M— —Are you called upon by your master to do any work. Slave—Since my husband died, I have only been required to take care of my tour children; master gives them and rne allowance: Proprietnr—And vet Mr. M--, you 900 Sho would the English peasant complain if so circumstanced.-- Jamaica Courant. FATE OF A PETITION.—Some of our readers will remember that, at the last Yorkshire assizes, two young men, named Wi thernwick, whose relatives are residents in this neighbourhood, were tried and convicted of robbing the premises of John Yorke, Esq. of Bewerley, and sentenced to transportation. A gentleman of this town, whose name it is unnecessary to men tion, upon application being made to him by the almost broker hearted father, conceiving there were some circumstances.of favourable nature in the case, humanely undertook to draw out and forward a memorial to the Secretary of State, pointing out such circumstances, and praying that the,-case of the hapless - young men might be taken into consideration, with a view, if • thought consistent with the ends of justice, to a mitigation of the sentence pronounced against them. This memorial, or pe tition, was transmitted by post to Mr. Hill, the member for this town, by the gentleman to whom we have already alluded, en closed-in a letter from himself to the worthy M.P., in which he strongly recommended the case of the unfortunate convicts to' his notice, and begged him, if he could do so consistently with. his duty, to enforce the prayer of the petition upon the atten tion of Lord Melbourne; the writer of the letter expressing his own conviction that they having, as it appeared to him, been originally seduced into crime by practised evil doers, were ht objects the exercise of the Royal clemency. This letter was dated 22nd of April at which time, with the petition, it was fo: warded to Mr. Hill, through the medium. of the General Pos.:- office. Satisfied that- he had. done a duty which humanity re quired of him, and that he had put the application in the meet favourable train, to be of service to the unfortunate subject:, of it, nothing remained but to await its result. Judge, then, of the surprise of this gentleman, on receiving a letter signed I,y Sir Francis l: reeling, from what is called the Dead Lettei ,' office, enclosing his communication to Mr. Hill, and the me morial to the Secretary of State, "for the reason assigned thereon,"—which reason was couched in the single word R FUSHD."—It appears that the letter and petition, being above the weight allowed for member of Parliament's franks,• was charged a postage of 3s. Bd.; and this amount Mr. Hill declined 'to pay for a letter bearing the Hull post-mark, and evidently containing some document, which Mr. Hill's experience ought to have taught him might be of most vital consequence (as in ,fact it was) to the parties by whom it was transmitted. The young men were, we believe, about to be sent to their destina tion, and a day—an hour's delay—might cause the application for mercy to their Sovereign's ear to be too late We are unwilling to make any harsh reflections in connection with the conduct of Mr. Hill in this business. If Mr. Hill po sesses the feelings of a man, we may safely leave him to .. the suggestions of his own heart. But we may ask, is this all the - courtesy to which the people of Hull are entitled from their member ? The overweight was an error against which it had been attempted to guard, by substitutia , - a.v..afer for wax; but still the package exceeded the prescribed limit. The postmark was that of Hull,.and Mr. Hill must have kimwn it was likely to come from one of his constituents, as sic believe it did, for we think that the father of the young man is a burgess. Is it possible that Mr. Hill has been so liarrassed by postages for overweighted envelopes from parliamentary asso ciations, pelitical unions, and liberal clubs, that he has deter=- mined upon putting a stop to the outlay by refusing allletters upon which there is a charge ? Had this been known to the hu mane gentleman by whom the petition was forwarded to bite, we make no doubt, in the attempted service of his fellow-crea tures, he would have cheerfully paid the 3s. Bd., as in fact he was obliged to pay it on receiving the returned letter from Sir F. Freeling's office. We will, - however, quit the ung,rateful subject. • For the information of our readers whose curiosity. has doubtless been excited on the subject of the petition, we may add, that immediately on its being returned, it was tmos mitted to Mr. Bethel!, who, by return of post, in a note dated 11th May, acknowledges its receipt t and states his intention to forward it, without loss of time, to the Secretary of State; but remarks that he can hold out small hopes of any remission of the sentence, as lie has reason to believe one of the culprits had been servant to the gentleman who was robbed.—huii.• Packet. The following dialoge took place betitZTri the Richard Brinsley Sheridan and' his son. orn,---a - Why are Ni e not entitled to prefix the big Irish 0 to our name ?"o!ti Sherry,—' Why, Tom, there is no occasion for it, as ixe etve every body already."—he Milo-, page 1411.-