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

sgh)set, ' omitted to state that RI 11444 the quantity I
• raw silk retained fur home on swell 4444 amounted
te 4021.00011 w ;
bong
1815, to 4 058.000 he
1846 to 4,090.000, being greater thins etie peer... year. He I
admitted that it decrees, d in 181 l
tu 3,60
1110 be , but then
there bad been a gradual incit.. in tile •• or our lk
manufactures to compensate tor that, la la4l 0u764,000r exportl,
in the Bilk trade mounted to 736,11001 , Imo 1.,
is 1818 to 887,000 r.. slid in 1147 to 978,0001. Ihe noble
lord had talked of the iiijuri us introduei .ii of rotten and
weolin goods; but what effect he would ask iii r. turn could
300,0001 of wooden goods have upon the woollen
manumetures of thie country, the spots of which
amounted to about 7,000,0(011. ; or elm frect could
200,0001. of cotton g 0..., w nich he b. .i veil was
the MO *mama imaorti el, have up in •ur cotton
export', am tinting as they del to 17.000,0001. or
18.000 0001 Ile conic*. tt that lie war. unatee t•.aether from
the noble lord's statement, the drift of tie argument with
reference to colonial t.in tr, tor, so tr 'num any
reduction having taken place in the price of colonial
umbel, it was heilier in J u 1817, than it oast been at
any period since the per 11442 ; a•.tl tow a. tar from the
colonies having suffereo any lose whatever tram the diminution
in the differential duties, they had up to the month ot
June last year hem receivitig a higher price for their
timber then the. tad received in 1812 It wa, true that, iu
the spring of the present yt ar, the sane d prcitsion which
had affected ever) other trade, hail at last rt ached 'he umber
trade ; it was. however, the last which was err.. eel, and the
cause was the suspeneiou of the railway works owing to the
menet try pres•ure. (Hi ar, hear.) lie (Sir Clerk) was
net aware there was any other branch ot trade or commerce
to which the noble lord had referred; and he was titre that,
if the noble lord would upp:y his mind an:l attention to the
general trade of the country, and not to that of London
alone, he would fled that lie could not justify many of the
statements which he had matte. The returns Irmo the Board
of Trade showed that the disturbances in France had not
thrown into this country so gr. at a qu lathy of silk
goods as was opposed, while they showed hat there had
been an Merest.. in the export.. of Briii-h maiitilactured
silk greeds. 1 • 181 d they amounted to 57,800,000:1w., and
in 1817 to 58,900.0101Jc Aad in the firs. two mouths of the
resew year there hid been an increase in the declared
value of the exports or e•impored with the corresponding two
months of the year 1816. Therefore, as he hail already said,
so far lions the foreign distuibances and want to confidence
in the stabinty of the French government twinit of auy bene•
fit to this country, it ought to be the earnest wish of every
MO in this country who desired to improve the social condi-
tion of the people, that peace and traliqtellity should be
restored throughout the whole E .o. 1 ar, hear.)
With teis and an ebund int harvett,of ilea pe on-equel itely, cheap
toed, there would le., instead of wont of employineut ariaing
from (onion com)etitioe, an abundance, and tee trade and
manufactures of this country be rai ed to a state of ones
ampled prosperity. (If tar.)
Mr. LABO UCH ERE said the noble lord the member for
King's Lynn had, in the coerce of his speech, arraigned the
entire commented p bey of the gnomon. lit of which the
right tun. baronet th•• member for Tsonerorth wee at the
bead. awl nail endeavoured to connect the m attires and
changes which that government has carried and effected with
the distress whch lied Melt prevailed in this c 'entry, and
whith the, all most di reit) deplored. The defence of those
measures had very naturally Men under liken by the mem.
ben of that government to-night. H. (Mr. Laltouchere),
as en indiyolutti menden of the house, had given his humble
support at that time to the policy in this respect of the right
hon. baronet (Sir R. Pet)), aid nothing had since
°Centred to Cause i t rri t tht he had
done so. On the cohntrm ary,o heeg wail peiatectly smile
tied that during the trying leriod which this country
had lately hail to go through, the alteretions in the e minter-
cial po.i..y made by the right hon bonito t, and especially I
the altered -lit in the corn laws, had produced most bent ficiol I
effect., bolt politically, morally, and axially, and had
mainly cootributed to enable thus country to ride tl.rough
the difficulties, and to surmount them, and to exhibit to the
world that while either nations wit re torn with interest dia.
cud, and or_rwhelmed by commercial di.trese, this country
Mato struggle through eve. y difficulty. and come out with
renewed mud inereased energy. (Hear, hear.) lie (Mr.
Labouehere) could sympathise in the defence made of those
measures by the right hon gentleman the zip mber for the
University of (Word (Mr. Gladstone., and by the tight hon.
baronet the member cur Dover (Sir O. Clerk), end was
so well sari fled with their vindication of the principles of
those measures, that he should not have thought it
justifiable in him to addrees the house at all, were it not ne.
mud, to allude to the particular motion of the noble lord
opposite (Lord G. Bentinck). He (Mr. Labauebere) agreed
with the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Gladstone) that there
was one opinion teemed to inherent in the noble lord, a.
to make it difficult to meet on any common ground of argue
Meet. Tne not.le lord colic, vied that any foreign import
into this country was of itself an innovation, and that all
fon iga gods imported into this country threw out a certain
number of Englishmen who would otherwise have employ-
ment. In this he ( sir. L tboucht re) coed no: agree, Unitas
the noble lord could satisfy him that foreign net ons made a
present of their .goods to this country. Unless they did
so, twee goods must be paid for by the produce of
the industry of the English population ; and thus
commerce became nut merely a boon to one coun-
try, but to all natiot.s engaged in it. (Hear, hear.)
Now, with regard to the •i.k trade, taking it for a series ut
years, it could be 'Armed with truth that th imports of
silk goods here had increased, and the exports of silk goods
manulecimed here tad increased also. And both these re.
salts were perfectly Cnsist. lit. The importations of foreign
silks dot not interiere with the manufactures of teie country ;
both could go on well together ; but nrehing could be more
fallacious than the note>, that this omen.y tad been de-
luged with sick good' from the contin, lit of Europe, and ea
pecially from France. There was, he knew, a common fl el-
mg abroad (+ince the late events in Fretice) that silk goods
had been brought in to the infinite injury of our manufac-
turers; that the shops were full of them, and that our mann-
lecturers had thereby been deprived of their bread. The
facts, however, did not bear out ar.y such assertion.
Here was a return of the amount in value of the silk goods
imported from the continent in the three months ending the
sth April, 1847—it amounted to 144,0001., and a return for
the three months ending .in April, 1848, showed an amount
of 141,42 a, being a diminution of between 3,000!. and
4,0001. This at once proved that it was neither true nor
just to assert that this country had b. en deluged with silk
goods tram the COntintnt of Europe, and that whatever di.-
tress this cour.try had to regret, the existence of it in Spital-
fields and elsewhere was nut to be attributed to this cause.
(Hear, hear.) As he Pad already gated, he felt really un-
willing to go over grounds which hail b •en so well argued
by the two members of the late government who had
spoken. But the noble lord opposite Lord G. Ben-
Bock had refereed to the 'vaunts pe(ricaleelly laid
on the table of the house by the Board of Trade,
and had looked at those returns with great els-
picion. He (Mr. Labouchere) had no hope that anything
he could sett would shake the opinion of those returns
formed by the noble purl who held the metien, that they
were concocted, and had an air of mystification about them.
Now if there was any fault to be found with them this
respect, it was a fault of very old standing, for the returns
were now made out in the very same form and manner as
had been adopted in the year 1832, when they were in-
tended only for the use of the government, so that if there
was any mystification, it could only have been to deceive the
members of the government themselves. Since 1832 it had
been thought right the, the returns se prepared should nut
be limited to the gov, rument, but should be contmuni•
toted to parliament, and no change had been made in draw-
icier them up, except by the addition of snicks which, be-
coming important, were appended to the lid. If, how-
ever, ar.y hon. in, miser wished a more detailed
account of the various trtichaeof import and capon, he would
have no diffizulty in ob.. lining information from the finance
=mints. which every year were furnished with a table
comprising the quantities of every article imported or ex-
ported paying more than 1001. in duties. From these finance
accounts, which comprised more than 100 different heads,
any delusions that the Board of Trade might be supposed to
practise might be exposed and laid hare. (Hear, hear.)
With regard to the returns moved for by the noble lord, he
(Mr. Lthouchere)should not offer any opposition, though to
some of them he could point out considerable objections.
The noble lord asked for a return of the prices at which
various article had been sold in the City of London. The
noble lord must know that none of the government depart-
ments had the means of getting accurate information upon
such a sutject ; and though the duty hint, in some
instances, been undertaken by public departments, he thought
the practice Objectionable, and ught not generally to be
raquircd. In this instance he would endeavour to obtain the
information in the best way he could, but it must be with
the distinct understanding that it was imeos:ible that any
government department could be answerable for its correct-
ness. With that understanding he should offer no objection
to the returns moved for by the noble turd. (Hear.)
Mr. M. GIBSON said it perhaps might nut be becoming
in any member to comment upon the course which the
house chose to pursue in the conduct of public business, but
if he might be permitted to offer an opinion, he must say
Ili it the course taken to-night was rather peculiar. The first
part of the evening had been devoted to the question as to
whether to-morrow (Wednesday) should be thrown away,
end atter that three or four hours had been occupied in mak-
ing and heaciug speeches upon emotion for unopposed re-
turns. t Hear.) This practice it was quite competent for
the house to pursue, but it was a practice not exactly in
accordance with its usual proceedings. (Hear, bear.) The
effect of this occupation of time had been to defer the impor-
tant motion of his hon. friend the member for Montrose
(Mr. Hume) to a very distant day—(cries of " No, no")
—well, then, to delay it for some time ; and be must
say, that if upon one question more than another it
was desirable there should be an early decision, it was just
that sort of motion which his hon. friend had put upon the
aotice-book. (Hear, hear.) He (Mr. N. Gibson) really
thought many honourable members had a right to complain
that the noble lord opposite (Lord G. Bentinck) had deprived
them of two days in a session when business was so press•
tog, that repeated complaints had been made that it was
impoteible to pursue bills of a most important character. He
must be excused remarking, that to say by a vote, that, be.
cause the race for Derby was to take place, the house
would not to morrow proceed with business, was not a course
of proceeding very becoming the House of Commons, and it
was unjust to those Scotch members who took an interest in
the Entails (Scotland) Bill, which, owing to the adjourn-
ment till Thursday, would be thrown back three weeks, if it
was not lust altogether. (Hear, hear.) With respect to the
question raised by the potent motion, it had been so fully
discussed that it was wholly unnecessary for him to go
through the statistics which had been brought forward, but
he must make one et mark, viz., that if the noble lord who ,
lad brought forward the motion really had a doubt as to the
opinion of the house on the commercial policy adopted by
the late government, he would act a fairer part if be brought
the question forward as a distinct motion. As the noble
I.nl bad moved for elaborate retort,. Will, It would cause
great expanse and Winslow, and proihiloiy not be of AM% Wie,