The Express.
London, England, 1848-05-24 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 24, 1848

also the members appeloted to try the merits of the petition
against the Cheltenham return.
RELATIONS WITH SPAIN.
Mr. BANK Etil mid that on the preceding dey, the noble
lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs had stated that some
notes of a confidential suture had pawed between the
ministers of Spain and the minister of England, sin ce
corrtepondenee which he had laid on the table. There
appeared in that morning's paper a very long letter from
the Duke of &Mumps.: he begged to kauw if that was one
of the tontidential commutiimUons of which the noble lord
had spoken ; and if he had any objection to produce his copy
of that num, and of any other correspondence that had
paemel ?
Viseon PALMERSTON mid that the despatches which
he had leen expecting had arrived that morning ; and from
teem he found that Mr Bulwer was on the 17th
shout to leave Madrid, having receivi el his 'imports from
the Spenieh government. He should certainly think
it hie duty to lay forth, r peters connected with this subject
on the table of the house; he hoped to be able to du so on
Thursday. (Hear, hear )
lUN lAN ISLANDS.
Mr. HUIRE said he understood the liberty of the press
bed been suppressed in these islanda. wished to know
what the law now was with regard to the pima, and whether
my alteration had been made as to the mode of election ?
Mr. HAW ES said there was a
law still in force with
ent
re-
gard to the exclusion of books, which gave the governm
considerable power, hut, practically, it had no operation ;for
the free importation of books had been sanctioned in 1814.
heeeerietions on the ress vrereart and parcel of the
The
constitution under which we had taken possession of
I the Ohm& ; hut the liberty of the press was now fully se-
cured ; and the subject of elections and other peeing; were
now under the consideration of the noble lord at the head of
the ei,lonial department.
PUBLIC WORKS
PICTUR OF ARET.MR. VERNON'S
S.—
Mr. V SMITH begged to ask the noble lord at the head
of the guverudeent when it was intended to summon a meet-
ing of the committee appointed on the IDA of February last,
to coesidi r the best mode of pruvulieg additional room fur
works of art, given to the public, or purcemed by Mills of
pal anentary grants. Ile (Mr. Smith) had been appointed
a m, tuber of that committee, but they had never been sum.
atoned to meet. His resents for ;staving the question was
this: A very muoificent gift hail been presented ta the
nation by el r. Vernon—(mar, hear) —consisting of • valuable
collection of pictures ; and he understood that the minters
lot the National Ornery had le en obliged to ask Mr Vermin's
leave to exhibit his own lila in his own house. (Hear, hear.)
Sir It. INGLIS said he had a notice on the paper fur
that day, to move for copies of any communic nicea which
had passed between the government and It ibert Vernon,
Erre, relative to that gentlemau'e offer of a portion of hie
collection of pictures; and probably the noble lord at the
Leal of the governm, nt would now make some statement
which might render that motion unnecessary.
Lord J RUSSELL said it certainly was his intention to
can together the committee at an early period
Viscount MORPETH said he muted° full just ce to Mr.
Vernon's spirit of accommodation, as well as to his mend
licence. When a difficulty was found about providing a
roes which should be suitable in every wsy, as to light and
other requirements, the offer of Mr. Vernon's own house
for the accommodation of the public, had proceeded from
that geoiliimen himself. (Cheers )
Sir It. PEEL said thee us one of the trustees of the
National Gall, ry, he was very glad to bear his testimony,
in the stringent manner, not only to the munificence with
which Mr. Vernon had acted, hut to the xtreme delicacy
of his conduct. (Rear, hear.) Apprehending that several
of his pictures might not be tliougbt worthy of • piece ie
the National Gallery, he had all the trusters to
make their choice from the whole collection, at
the same time submitting his own opinions
as to thoae which he coneidered most desirable to appropriate
to the public. (Cheers.) There being a difficulty as to find
ing a suitable building—fur nut ever! huddiag,bowevrrlrrgr,
bed such a light as was adept.! for the exhibition of paint
inns, Mr. Vernon had said, with the greatest liberalituse
as ity,. You
shall have my house, as well se my pictures ; the ho
stands shall be placed at your service." (Cheers.) It was
rig ht that this grea muneticence and handsome conduct
on the part of Mr.t Venom should be pub icly known.
(Hear, hear )
RELATIONS WITH SPAIN.
Mr. ANSTEY wished to know whether the departure of
Mr. Bulwer from Madrid was to be explained in the manner
it had been explained by some of the Paden journals,—that
he had been removed to a higher post, the ambsesadorehip
to Cunetantinople ; or wheth, r it was to he taken as indica.
um of an entire rupture of friendly Melons with that

court.
Viscount PALMERSTON :—The departure of Mr.
liolwer from Madrid does not arise (rum his being appointed
to any other pet. (Sensation.)
Viecount PALM EltS tON again row,
and! said—re of
course, i•. does not proceed from any ruptur our la-
tions with Soain. (Hear, hear.)
ADJOURNMENT OF TILE HOUSE.
Lord (I. BENTINCK sled he pre..uni.al that the
motion which he had to submit would meet with a ready
concurrence 110111 tie house,—that the house at its aisiost
should adjourn to Thursday. (Caters.)
Mr. HUME hoped the a
house would not agree to this
m Mon. (Laughter.) A ll of great importnce to
Scotland, the Entail Bill, (Much laughter). was hied fur
Wedneeday ; and it would be highly impreper to hoe • dry.
If any hon. gentlemen wished to go to the 1) rby, let them
do so ; and he hoped they would enjoy themselves.
(Laughter.)
Lord J. RUSSELL said, had he found that the Scotch
members were ansioue to discuss the Eutail Bill next
day, he should have s•iil the house ought to nu et for the
purpose ; hut he found that several of the Scotch members
were of opinion that there would be • very thin house, thet
the clerks at the table would ',pitiably have to sit some time
without making a house, and that thee was a chance i f this
important sia. pet not receiving a due eli•cassion. ( Hear,
hear.) In this care. and there tieing • uisp .sition to make
the day a national ate, he saw no orjsetion to the motion
proposed.
Mr. S. CRAWFORD raid the house ought not delibe-
rately to do anything ca:culated to lower itself in the cell-
motion of the coun•ry. He should therefore oppose this
moron.
Col. SIIITHORP was understood to complain of bills
being (Teem• nily smuggled through on a Wednesday.
Mr. F. MAU LE said he had been unfortunate enough to
fix the Scotch Entail Bill for W,dneeday. It was a very
important measure, and it was highly desirable it should
pass this session. If the house adjourned over the af it dayt
,
he hoped the noble lord at the bead of the governmen
would give Scotland half a day at an early period, fur the
purpose of considering this measure. ( Hear, hear.)
Mr. BRIGHT thought it desirable they should have a
holiday sometimes, and had no objection to to-morrow ; hut
be thought it h. neath the dignity of the house to make the
excuse for that holiday the holding of a race within a few
mils of London. (Hear, hear.) If they hail a holiday for
thee Derby, why not for the Oaks ?If
(Great laughter.)
Alter a few words from Mr. OssCALD,
The house divided—For the rehournment, lO3
Agaiost 9O-13
The announcement of the numbers was received with
boil cheers. We understand that after the gall ry was
e. ared, Sir J. Graham arid Sir R. 11. Inglis epoke i °pp.
nit en to the motion, and Sir R. l'eel and the Judge Advo-
cate in favour.
TIMBER AND SILK DUTIES.
Lord 0. BENTINCK said that ho eas one of those
who believed that the principle adopted by the United
States, of raising their revenue from the w
customs, as the
best, and that it pressed more I•ghtly on the people than it
the reverter was Di' eti by direct t. cation, or front the
excise. ( Hear, hear.) On a former occasion he had
stated that the reduction of the timber duties hail
not only been accompanied by the distress of the
Canadian timber grow err, but that a large pinion of the
taxation remitted went into the pocket of foreigners. On
that occasion he showed that the price of Baltic timber had
risen Ils, a load since 1812, when the duty was reduced;
and on the other hand, that the price of Canadian timte
Wail let reduced that great distress was brought upon their
Canadian subjects. In reply to him, it was said by a right
hon. a entleman, who had beta successively Viee-Preselent
,nil President of the Board of Trade, and Secretary if State
for the Colonic., that he (Lord G. Bentinek) had
been grossly misinformed, for that the Canadians had re-
ceise 1 since 1812, 7s. short price per load more
than they received heftiest. It was not surprising
that the house should have been carried away
by such a statement cooling from the right bon. gentleman.
Ile believed, 'lowest r, that he was justified in the statement 1
be made. It was said, in contradiction to his etntement,
that the price of Cenadian red pine timber, titer the duty had
\been reduced to the amount of 10e. C 1.,• had only fallen from
955. to 90s. the load. On the very day on which that state-
ment was mule, a great sale of timber by auction took place
at the 14 all of Commerce. There were 31,900 feet of white
timber, and 12.000 I, et of red timber sold on that day. 'Eke
price of the red Pim timber w. R Grss. bd., and not 90e.
(Mar, hear.) Ile hod also received a letter from Memos.
Gilmour and Co., of Glasgow, the largest importers of Ca-
nadian timber in the kingdom, in which the greatest sur-
priest was expressed at the statement which bad been made
in contradiction to him. They sent him an account of six sales
which had taken place from the Ist Jan. up to that day, and
they 'authorised him to offer the right lion. gentleman
a large quantity of red pine Canadian timber, now lying at
Hull, for 75e. if the right hon. gentleman liked to speculate.
(Hear, hear ; The right hon. gentleman, if he believed his
own stater:lc nt,would doubtlers look onthat offer u a perfect
windfall. Bet the right hon. gentleman would probably say
—" What matters it ? If the duty has fallen into the pockets
of Baltic merchants the trade is still carried on by Britieh
subjects." But looking back to his returns he (Lord G.
Bentinck) found that the trade was far from being so en-
t i•el y in our own bands as it used to be.
1ti,1839 the trade was carried on in 667 British ships manned
by 6,438 British seamen, while in foreign ships the trade was
carried on in 663 vessels manned by 6,863 foreign seamen.
But, in 184.5, whilst the British trade was carried
re on
were in only
662 ships, manned by 5,937 British seamen, the no
less than 1,803 foreign chilli manned by 17,400 foreign sea-
men. (Hear, hear.) Then apain, with respect to our
1 colonial trade, he found that there was what was called
" wintering " in Canada last year twenty and a halt million
ket of timber ; there was only . sixteen and three-quarter
million feet wintering there in 1847, and six and a
quarter million feet wintering there, oa an ave-
rage of several antecedent years. Then look at freights.
Last year the freight was 465. between Quebec
and London, whilst the price of yellow pine was not above
4,5,. He left it to the house to judge the sort of trade the
colonists had, under such prices as these. (Hear, hear.) He
came nest to the silk trade. On ft former occasion he spoke
of the distress prevailing in Spitaltields, which he had attri-
buted in a great measure to the competition of foreign goods.
Gete.t beck, on dint iiv mean. :.:.! the mrr." of centrist, n,
awl 1046, he was told that he hid committed a great

chronological error for it, was said, In those years the laws
had not been attend, and therefore the distress could not be
attributable to that cause. Of course the house cheemd the
answer, which cams from the father of the measure itself; or
if not from the father himself, at lewd the lather by adop-
tion. That statement, so cheer. dby the home, went to the
country stamped with truth and certainty. Now he asked
that they might have in thaw returns some statement of
the alterations made in 1842. lie thought it would he found
that at that time the silk trade had been dabbled with.
put i answer, it *as said, that it wm not to the c om-
n etition of foreigners, but to that of Manchester, that this
di-tress was to be ascribed. He did not find, how •e. r,
that since 1842 there bad been any such great increase in
the number of silk mills at work at Manchester. Thera
were eigktor nine mills in that town in 1842,whilst at the pre-
sent time there were only about seven mills at w. in that
town and its vicinity. Hehelieved there were mit Mime 61 000
person. altogether engaged in the silk trade in Eaglend,
whilst abroad a very different state of thing% prevailed.
He ask. d to night for a return of the quay el
silk imported into the port of London alone, and he
believesi it would be shown that, reckoning 31. sh Ming as
the value of emit pound of silk manufactured m iods, the total
value of the imports for the last tour month • into London
aloes was 605,7771., making a total importation of the value
of a million and a half tor the year. (Cheers.) And if they
took the value of the labour engaged in the manufacture of
those goodie, he believed they you'd find that adequate
wettest tor 61,000 persons would be provided is the manu-
facture of these articles. (Hear, hear.) Why, then,
if he showed, that during the last four mouths alone, there
had been imported into Imndon alone silk spent* quivalent
to the wages of 64,0)0 persons, did he not substantiate the
cam that it VOW foreign competition, and not the competition
of sight mills at Manchester, that was destrojitig thnal-
gnett ? (Cheers) And when an argument was at-
tempted to he urged against him on the ground that attain
im, ortatione were made M a special year, he BUloll,ed
ewewithd
these figures, and he repeated his allegation. (Ren
cheers) But then he was told that teem was to be set
against all this 630,0001hs of raw oat.iial worked up en w-
ally in this country. lie ask. d to-night, however, tor • toe
turn of the quantity that had been nut worked up, but con.
sumed (hear) ; and if the right hon. gentleman would look
to that, he would find that in 1846-7, the consumption, as
compared with 1844-5, had diminishes( by no Wks than
246,0001 b. The noble Lord here alluded to he distressed
state of the 13i thnalgreen weavers, and • oldie ued
Such was the result of the almost fres comp• toion
et the loreigner, which had, in four months, brought
into the port of London alone about half a million worth of
foreign silk manufactures, a quantity sufficient to have jomn
work to 64,000 of our operatives. (Hear.) It was a great
consolation that he coati turn from this miserable picture to
• somewhat brighter prospect glimmering in upon s.
u
Thing. had just recently taken a little spirt in Spitediehis
mid Lietht.al-greett. This, in some measure. arose from the
expectation that the disturbances on the Continent of Europe
—the revolutionary and democratic changes which had
shaken confidence in every foreign country—would
give such • decided check to foreign manufac-
tures, as—if the people of this coon ry preserved
thst order which amid all their sufferings they hart hitherto
so nobly maintained,—(hear, hear ) Ming grist
to their mill, restore to tit. in the trade which was he.
lore slipping from them, and enable them once more
to rise. But there was another cause of the revival of in'
dustry in Spitallielda, a cause not merely propoutided by wild
pretend ~,, ism, but stated in a weekly newspaper 01 the
widest remit of littera:id:it. In that journal, a journal of
large circulation, he found " the healthy ezcitemen.," as
it was termed, springing up in Spitalfi• ids atoributed hi a
came which mu-t he gratii)ine to every loyal mind—to the
rder, namely, of her Mak sty in favor of British menu-
factored made (cheem), an order given, be
polle red,
on the advice,• not of her Slejesty's mauler ical vain+. I
lon, hut on the ails ice of the Leer I Chamberlain, not Lord
Willoughby liEreetty, but Lord Simmer, in con•ravelit on,
in point of tact, of the counsels of the cabinet solviseis Here,
by toe writer's admisition, wi re the rain and lb.• remedy in
prominent contrast—the ruin, the result of tree trade, the
remedy that ord. r of our Que.n
lan Natuiv's impute', ill meheeled by am,
And treitom stir elects spring within it,,, beam—
which at (Mee neutralised much of the es it done by
honourable gentlemen on the opposite benches (
o ar,
hear.) Proceeding to colt in goods, he found that takenss ohm the same four months, been tuqedied
into the part of London, eof all du'y, good* to the same
of not Its. than 137,9741., which, at the rate of wages he heel
before estimated, 9.. a week, would, for the dime pe-
riod, have given employment to totwe. ti 11,000 and 12,000
°premise s—to 12.000 of the 14,000 operatives who, accord-
anti to Captain Willis's report in that morning's newspapers,
were wholly out of employ mesas's. workine short time at Man
chewer, the actual number • ntirely out of emph yment tie. re
being 6,000. (Hear, hear.) It was mid, indeed, that this
sort o. mien, if it teld directly against one set of men, was
vastly (avowable to another ; that if the Spitalfields wen-
errs were thrown out of week by the importation of foreign
good., the people at Bradford w. re benefit. il, since the)
sent eut woollen pante:omit to pay for the silk petticeete
but he slid not think that the Bradford people had it all
quite so much their own way as the hon. and gal c ilon.l
over tae way imagined, for he found on looking into the
retu, that of woollen goods, there had been, in the same
t. orrns months, export. d into the port of London,
free of duty altogether to the value of 98,8311., and at 10 pie
cent. duty, 29,9201., amounting togeths rto a sum which, at ,
the prey oti ly underrated scele of wages, would have em-
ployed 11,000 men during the time—(hear, hear) —that was
to .4,11,000 of the 15,000 who wire wow receiving
ilklief in
that town from the parish. (Hear ) Nor wee it ss, or
cottons, Sr boots or shoes alone, that foreign competition had
so ruinously been let loose upon our industry. 01 fare
hie
the
e
there had been imported into the port of London, wit
same four months, to the value of 30,7931., in weillit—say
90.000 Itss., and equal to the eroplo)ment fur the semi period
of 7,000 of the lace work. re of Nottinghem. ( Hear, hear.)
Now, what war the condition of the population sal that town ?
The noble lord he re read comets from an authoritative
pamphlet, ouhlished by Mr. Wri,ht, a Metier, at Not
tingham, the re'ult of m st extr..s.se inquiries into
the
the
distress promiliegl there, and continued thus
then, was the condition of the lace trade under the
highly favoured competition of foreign countries. I Hear,
hear.) lie now mime to another class of industry —te the
poor needle-work women. lie slid not me in hie !dace
noble friend the m tuber for 11 dh, who took so deep e
enohlen
Sorest in Otter suffering people ; hut he could tell th
lord that if these poor people wirethtfering, as they grievously
wire, it was not a thing to be surprised at. Within the four
months already referred to of needlework—nine-tenths of
which, let it be remember. d, consisted of labour, as distin-
guished from material—in these four months th. re hod Iv en
imported into the port of London to the value
week of 30,0001.,0.
which at the rate—a high average—of se. a , rept
/lotted the employment of between 6,000 and 7,000
of these poor pe•ple. (Hear, hear.) The sums he had thus
stated ammotsd altoeether to 395,0001 for the four months,
yet not a figure of them sppdded in Mr. Porter's Trade and
Navigation Returns for the period. Why was this ? I Hear,
hear.) Those returns gave a esreful statement of the parti-
culars of a few hundred weight of eels, and of some score of
turtle, but entries representing the progress of emendations
competing with our own manufecturers so injuriously, and
amounting in the year to 1,186,0001., did not appear. Do
not let it be said that there was any difficulty in ascertain-
ing the value of these articles. The Board of
eates Tradt
me, ifem. i
it
cheer, could get at every particular with the gr
He had always thought that the value of the trade and nati. ,
gation returns compiled by the eflicers of the Board of Trade i
consisted in their containing facts thst were to he r. lied on.
But according to his notion of them, a person anr ass to
learn something of the state of esminerce might examine
those returns end yet be more ignorant than ever of the sub-
ject, for the returns were medic teed to suit the eiewa of the
government. It bad now gone through the 'serious articles ;
of manufacture that were brought into England from
abroad into the Port of L rode i; and he was aware
that lie mieht have greatly extended his statement by
entering into a detailed account of the cambrics and other
manutactures imported to the value, he believed, of 190,0001
But there were three articles which deserved particular
mention—namely, cotton and woollen, as well as linen
neiolleworks, of which there were ro less Quantitiesim-
ported into the port of London than would have gi
ployment to 100,000 hands for three months, if their labour
had not been thus superseded by foreign productions In
corroboration of the arguments which he maintained, he
would refer to the number of bankruptcies which had
token place in the three first months of 18the48, and
it would be found neormery to look hack to year
1826, before any parallel could be discovered to balance
the number. The number of haekrupteies in the
first nineteen weeks of 1818 was 848 And yet, if the
right hon. baronet (the chancellor of the Exchequer)
were present, he would le obably say that it was quite out
of fashion to become bankrupt. The returns of the num-
ber of bankruptcies which oecurred in the last nineteen weeks
of 1826 c quelled the distress which was exhihited sliming the
t resent per. There had simmered in the
finpredeeno nt yeti!. 292 l
!sequestrations in Scotlatid Ile c odd paralle
for this except in the year 1842, when the tow..
of Paisley and Glasgow were suffering under suck
' deep distress. The number of sequestrations in that year
was 222. The manufacturers of Glasgow alone had lately
turned off 1,000 heeds. In Paisley, out of 61 mills, there
were 18 entirely stopped, and 7 which only worked short
time. So that, on the whole, Scotland was little better off
than England, and the mill-owners were no better off than
the merchants, planters, and brokers. Another test
ent
of
the present state of the country was statem
which he held in his hand of the number 01
advertisements which were contained in the Times
for servants' places. He took the first twelve days of the
month of May of the present year, and compared them with
the same period of former yeare. Ile also took the same pe-
riods to compare with the number of advertisements from
mutters seeking servants. These facts would prove that the
distress existed throughout all classes of persons who lived by
being employed. Of the first class of advertisements, namely,
those of servants seeking places, the following were
the statistics la 1845 the number of advertisements
was 1,445 in the first 12 days of May. In 1846
the number was 1,828. In 1847, 2,096; and, in the first 12
days of My, 1848, the numb of servants advertising for
places was 2,430, (Hear, hear.er ) So that, in proportion as
the better classes were ruined and depressed by the general
state of trade, commerce. end manufactures, so also the eery-
ing classes were ruined and deprived of work by the compe-
tition of foreigners in the products of the kingdom. The same
disproportion was observable in the number of advertise-
ments by masters foe servants. Diving the same period
in the year 1845 the number of advettisements by m
nuamber '
sters I
was 99; is 18311, 143; in 1847, 117 ; but in 1818 the
was less by one-half than that of 1846. lie now thought
that he had sufficiently made out his case. lie did not ean '
to ascribe all these results exclusively to the system pursued
by the government, hut he thought he hail shown sufficient
grounds for the house to come to the conclusion that much of
the exiieifie &ems. was to be ii.rib ett to the recent rim'
mercial policy 01 the country+ sod also to Wont a very jun