The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-10-08 00:00:00

Al•\

SIB, STAFFORD NORTHCOTE AT HULL.

On Monday night Sir Stafford Northcote delivered
a political address in Hengler's Circus, Hull, to an
audience of about 5,000 persons. The demonstration
was organized by the Central Conservative Associa-
tion, and the building, a permanent structure of wood,
situated in the Anlaliy -road, was densely crowded.
Dr. A. K. nollit, president of the Hull Conservative
Association, took the ehair, and among those present
on the platform were Mr. Christopher Sykes and Mr.
W. H. H. Bradley, the members for the East Biding
of Yorkshire, Acin.iral Duncombe, Lord Hotham, Sir
11. Legard, Mr. Alderman H. J. Atkins, Mr. H. E.
Silvester, and Mr. Lumley Cook, junior.
After some preliminary observations, Sir Stafford
said that the Conservative leaders must feel that they
had serious and heavy responsibilities. The Conserva-
tives had had vicissitudes, and they had learned the
lesson that they should beware of over-confidence and
of despondency. There was no reason to despair of
reversing the balance of the elections, but Conserva-
tives must not be caught napping. In alluding at
some length to the state of Ireland, Sir Stafford said
the Conservatives wished the Irish Land Act to have
a fair trial, but the Land League was determined that
it should not have a fair trial.—ln regard to South
Africa it would be exceedingly difficult to bring
about any solution of the question that would be
reassuring to the people of that colony, and which
would redound to the credit of the people of England.
There were two Conventions on which we were
balancing. Sometimes it was the Boers, and. some-
times it was the French, and in both of these we
were in an exceedingly unsatisfactory position. The
right hon, baronet, then proceeded to discuss the
subject of Free Trade, and in the course of his speech
said:—

At the present moment there is a certain amount
of uneasiness in many quarters with regard to the
position of our commercial interest. Many people
want to know what their position is. From one
quarter we get a difficult answer—indeed, a rather dis-
agreeable one. That is always the way when anybody I
ventures to have a different opinion from that of the
distinguished statesman who is at the head of the
Government, and such a person is looked upon as little
better than a lunatic. (Hear.) But we really must dis-
sent from this manner of dealing with important ques-
tions. It is not one to be used very often. There may be
occasions of great anxiety among those interested in
the trade of the country in consequence of troublesome
and difficult times through which we have been pass-
ing. Well, but what is that the Government tell us?
We have had a certain suggestion made ; we have had
a ray of light cast upon it recently even by that great
authority to whom I have referred, Mr. Bright. I
called it a ray of light, but in point of fact it seems to
have been something of an opposite character, because
what Mr. Bright tells us is that the cause of a great
deal of the depression which he -cannot but see is a
want of sunshine. (Cheers and a laugh.) He and
others are now taking up that as the solution of a very
interesting problem—a solution which, as they think,
is of a very convincing character; but I should
like to make an observation upon that. Li the
first place, what do they mean by the prosperity
of the country being affected by the absence of the
sun? Well, what they mean is this—they mean
that in the last few years ot ungenial weather the
want of sun has caused a considerable deficiency
in the production of the fruits of the earth, and
that consequently the home market is interfered
with and depressed, and they say—truly enough, as I
think—that the depression of the home market neces-
sarily affects the prosperity of other classes in this
kingdom. (Hear, hear.) Well, that is very good
sense, and I am very glad to hear it coming from such
a quarter (laughter) ; because the time has been when
those who belong to the school which Mr. Bright
especially represents were in the habit of speaking very
lightly of the home market, and would never admit
it to be of the importance they now recognize in it.
(Hear, hear.) But, let me ask, what is the solution
which is to be derived from such an argument as
this? The agricultural interest is depressed and the
other interests of the country suffer. Is it because of
the absence•of the sun? There are two things that
may occur. In the first place, one would like to know
how that bears upon the observation which was made
some little time ago by, I think, the Prime Minister
himself when he was endeavouring to cheer up the
agriculturists of this country. He was telling them
that of course they could not expect that they would
he able to compete with foreign countries in the culti-
vation of some of the staple products of agricultural
industry, and that they must make up for that by
devoting their attention to the cultivation of other
products, and he mentioned specially fruit and
flowers. (Laughter.) Well, I want to know, if you
have not sun enough to grow and ripen your wheat,
how are you to have sun enough to grow flowers and
to grow and ripen your fi uit ? (Hear, hear.) Pos-
sibly von may be able to do something in that way in
SoutliDevon and in parts of Cornwall, but in other
parts of the country the absence of sun would be as
much against the production of fruit and flowers as
against the cultivation of the staple products of
agriculture. (Hear, hear.) But let that pass.
It is a minor matter. What I should r.tther ask
Mr. Bright is thi. :—He a ys 3-our industry is de-
pressed beemise of the absence of sun, hut how are you
to get over that want? Will it not again and again
recur? it may be—l trust in the goodness of Provi-
dence that it may—that in the coming years we may
have better harvests, of greater prosperity. But you
cannot be sure of that. If you could be sure of it for
the next few years you would be pretty sure to have
cycles of bad seasons again, so it is no answer to w,y•
that the absence of sun is the cause of your diffi-
culties ; but you ought to consider how you are to
carry on your business and best promote the pros-
perity of the country under the condition that you
will, perhaps, have to complain for years together of
that absence of sun, and that is a matter which Mr.
Bright does not touch, and which many people can-
not help feeling in themselves ought to be touched,
and considered. Now, I wish to say a few words on
the subject of this fair trade which you hear FO much
talking about. (Cheers.) I must not deceive you, and
very possibly you may find that I do not agree with
you on all points, but I do wish we should look at
the matter with something like calmness and with
something like reason. Now, what is the general con-
dition of England. What is the position which Eng-
land naturally takes among the nations of the world?
I suppose we may say generally that England imports
large quantities of raw produce from other countries,
and manufactures that raw produce into manu-
factured goods, and sells them at a profit to Wier
countries or to the home market. If that is the
ease, what does England require? She requires
two things. She requires that she should have
every advantage for producing that which she pro-
duces at the cheapest and best rate, and she re-
quires secondly, that she should have the advantage
of the best markets to dispose of her produce.
(Cheers.) Now, do not let yourselves lose sight of
one of those conditions because you are interested
in the other. It might not be difficult to find a remedy
for one difficulty which will only make your difficulty
in the other direction greater, and you have to con-
sider how you are to bring the products on which you
exercise your industry as cheaply, as plentifully, as
regularly from the other nations of the world as you
possibly can. (Hear, hear.) But when you have
worked them up you have also to consider how you
can dispose of them most profitably, and for that pur-
pose you want both the home market and the foreign
market. Do not let your consideration of the foreign
market draw your attention away from the home
market, but do not, en the other hand, let the considera-
tion of the home market draw it away from the foreign
market. You have all these things to consider, and
you must look at them in this way. Some time ago, when
Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bight and others were first
introducing the system of free-trade, they compara-
tively neglected the home market ; they turned their
attention entirely to the abolition of the protection of
the home growers, with a view to stimulate the foreign
'
market. They would not have told you, and cer-
tainly t
no
other. On the contrary, they
3 now, that they regarded
said it was important, but they said we cannot tolerate
lawrkilelt
a system by which artificial protection is given to the
thetain
homel y
market
produce of the home producers. You may turn the
same thing in an °pp site way in regard to the foreign
market now. (Hear, hear.) you may y say we do not
see why foreign producers should be artificially stimu-
lated to produce that which others can produce
naturally on better terms any more than we see
why the British' corn grower should be artificially
stimulated to produce that which he produced in the
home market. Well, what was the course that was
pursued when that difficulty presented itself to our
commercial and fiscal reformers forty years ago? Why
they urged in every possible way the abolition of the
protective duties in England. We want in a similar
way to bring about the reduction of the protective
duties in other countries. (Cheers.) That which they
asserted was bad for England and bad for the world we
say is bad for the foreigner and bad for the world also.
But the difficulty lies in this,—How are yoli to do it?
(Cheers.) When they werea.gitating they hadan easy task
comparatively. They had to convince the Parliament
and the Government of England that it was desirable
to put down the protection which then existed, and the
thing was done. But how are you going to operate
upon the minds of foreign countries and get them to
do the same thing?
That is the problem. (Cheers.)
And let us just look back for a moment at the history
of the manner hi which our free traders have dealt
with that question. When first they got the protective
duties taken off and the productions in England thrown
open they believed that all other nations would abandon
all their protective duties, and that their hostile tariffs
would fall down as the walls of Jericho fell down an
the sound of the trumpet. (Cheers and laughter.) Tne
prevailing belief that was in the minds of those met
at that time was this—that England was the great
obstacle to the free trade to the whole world, and
that the landlords of England were the obstacles to
that difficulty being removed in England. It was
their principle always, if possible, to find their own
country in the wrong, that if there was any country
wrong their own countg was in the wrong, espe-
cially was the land intfirest in the wrong. (Cheers.)
That was the view they took, but somehow or other
the walls of Jericho did not fall down (laughter), and
for some years, although we had very great prosperity
owing to the great reduction of our tariff—our own
tariff—we did not find the foreign markets were
opened in the way that was expected, mid I am
reminded by the place in which we stand of a sport
which you will sometimes see. I am not referring to
anything which actually takes place in this circus,
but which you sometimes see at fairs and markets
—a sport which is called a merry-go-round. (Laughter.)
There is the great wheel, and upon the wheel
figures of horses, and there are men sitting upon
the horses. The horses appear to be in motion,
and you think they are all going on, but they will
do nothing unless somebody gives the machine a push.
(Great laughter.) Well, it seems to me, lookirg back
to that time, that all other nations of Europe sat very
much like the figures on these horses, mid were doing
nothing whatever in the removal of their own tariffs,
until it occurred to Mr. Cobden and the late Emperor
of the French that if they could give the machine one
good push by a commercial treaty between England
and France it would get such a spin that it would go
on of itself. (Great laughter.) Well, I believe that
they seriously thought that the effect of a treaty be-
tween England and France such as that which wee
made in the year 1880 would be that France being once
launched in the way of free trade would go on further

in the desirable path, and that the other nations would
be by force of circumstances compelled to follow in the
train of the two great Powers, France and England.
(Cheers.) Well, but then has that turned out the case?
We are told that the, effects of the French treatrhave
been admirable. I do not deny that the treaty has had a
considerable effect, but not by any means an exclusive
effect, and it is by no means certain that the etn ct of
the treaty has not been as detrimental in some ways
as it has been advantageous in others. (Cheers.) Now
bear this in mind when you go and make treaties for
this purpose and ask for bargains and equivalents :
They rue disposed to think there rau-,t be something
which you are trying to get out of them for which
you are to give them an equivalent, and if you have
no equivalent to give them they will not give any-
thing at all. If I might take an illustration it would be
this. If David had gone out to fight and def eat Goliath net
with a sling and stone but a little helmet and a little
spear it would be like our going to fight these great
nations upon their own terms, and if we are to meet
the matter in this way, since they are large and have
many restrictions, they c)n remove while we have
very few. This is one of the difficulties which leads
us into this awkward position that we are obliged to
go cap in hand to France—(hear, hear)—which is not
agreeable to the feelings of the people of this
country, to ask her as a favour that which we are
always preaching that she should do Let
me earnestly impress upon you the importance of
taking up such a question as this in a large and corn-
prehensive spirit ; don't consider what is good for the
farmer alone, what is good for the manufacturer
alone, what is good for the shipowner alone, but con-
sider what is the arrangement that can best be made
to meet the interest of all classes. You know I said
to you a little while ago it was the great object for us
to extend our markets as much as possible, both our
home and foreign markets. We have means of know-
ing pretty well what are our imports and exports; on
the extent of our foreign markets, how they grow or
diminish, we have not quite the same information,
but considering the large and growing class of
our home customers, we should, I think, have
more information upon this subject. If we
find we are not deriving all the benefit from our
home markets we might derive, then it is our
duty to consider in what way and by what manner of
legislation or other proceedings we can remove diffi-
culties of advance the prosperity of the home market.
(Hear, hear.) I am not going to attempt to dogma-
tize upon this matter. I only wish to lay down one
or two principles which appear to me to lie at the root
of this matter. In the first place you must remember
that England has certain advantages, some na ural
and some acquired, to balance against her many natural
disadvantages. Take care you don't compromise, or
lose, or sac,ifice those natural advantages. (Applause.)
What are they? One of them, I venture to say one
of the greatest, is the large amount of capital and of
credit which England enjoys. Take care you do nothing
to shake the great foundation of your prosperity. Do
nothing that shall destroy the confidence of capital
for capital is very easily movable, and it may easily
leave these shores and go elsewhere, if not treated
with proper respect and proper care. (Applause.)
But let me say another thing. If you find there is
one great interest in the country which is suffering, or
in greater difficulty, or is weaker than another, take
care you do not lay undue burdens upon interest ; take
care your burdens are as light as they possibly can be
made throughout the empire, and that such as you
are obliged to pay are laid upon those classes and upon
those interests, and in that manner only which will be
less hurtful and less injurious to your national pros-
perity. (Applause.) Depend upon it you have in this
country still a great future before you. Do not throw it
away. Thereare those whosay, and I think the Prime
Minister himself has said, that the commercial primacy
Will pass away from England and pass to America. I
myself do not believe it (applause) ; at least, I do not be
lieve it will in our time if we make use of the means
we have to support our commercial interests. (Ap-
plause.) But it is a very easy thing to destroy and
not an easy thing to build up (hear, hear) ; and depend
upon it, if we have recourse to false remedies, we may
do mischiefs which will become irreparable. Ido not
believe in some of the suggestions that I see are put
forward by friends on my own side (applause) ;
neither do I, on the other hand, believe in the sug-
gestions and remedies that are put forward on the
other. (Applause.) After some further observations, Sir
Stafford concluded by saying—that at the present time
the mission of the Conservative party is to resist by
all the strength it can put forth and by all legitimate
means in its power to oust the disintegration of our
social and political constitution.

Sir Stafford Northcote, speaking at the banquet of
the East Riding Conservative Association, at Beverley
on Tuesday night, un.red upon Conservatives in the
constituencies, especially in the counties, the necessity
of organisation. In considering the questions affect-
ing the agricultural interest he said that the burdens
upon land had in late years been increasing, and the at-
tention of Parliament ought to be called to the subject.
A leading remedy for the depressed state of agriculture
was, he considered, a readjustment of local taxation,
in order to relieve the land of many present burdens
which, in the altered conditions of affairs, it could no
longer bear. As to legislative measures in connection
with the land, the Conservative Party would heartily
support any proposal to give tenants security
for the improvements effected in their holdings.
To refute the idea that Liberal Governments
were economical he quoted statistics showing that
there had been an increase of expenditure on all
branches of the Military, Naval, and Civil Services
since the present Government came into office. As
to the relief obtained by agriculturists in the respect
of the malt tax, he likened it to the case of a man
having a burden transferred from one hand to another.
After touching on the question of obstruction in Par-
liament, Sir Stafford concluded by some remarks on
the hopeful character to Conservatives of what was
going on in many parts of the country, and especially
in that part of Yorkshire.