The Express.
London, England, 1849-07-03 00:00:00

he said:: So unwise have been your proceedings, so
is adt-
cioue your whole system of legislation, that I, toe head of a
great party, come forward—and the boa. gentleman would
permit him to congratulate him that this was his first appear-
ance as acknowledged chief of the par y—l come forward as the
head of a great party with proposals which he (Ilr.R4ebuck)
eupposed he would tell, if the Speaker should happen to
get cut of the chair; for, hitherto, with all the hon. gentle•
man's ingenuity, he bad nut been able to
state what he meant on the present occasion. The
great principle which they endeavoured to establioh was
the principle which he would put into three words—the
principle of free trade. The first to admit the value of that

proposition
p was, he said, the most enlightened mate among
them—the right hon. gentleman the member for Tam-
worth. He was not speaking at all of his side, he
was speaking of the opposite side; he was saying
how the great principle they had fought for for
many years round its way into the opposite side of the house,
compelled the adhesion of the most enlightened of the party,
and he being minister at the time, made him adept the great
principles which had been the leading doctrines they had
adopted for many years of their lives. (A laugh.) if hon.
gentlemen would only answer his history and arguments, he
should be obliged to them. He said that the right hon.
gentleman being at the head of the most powerful party this
country ever saw united, brought into power under most ex-
traordinary circumstances, with no view before him but a
life of power, with no interests swaying him but the inte-
rests of the country, yielded to truth—(hear, hear)—and to
truth only ; for he must have felt when he did so that he
broke through ties that had been for years the ties that made
his life a happy life; that, for the interests of the country,
he departed from the interests of himself, his friends, his
own private relations, and ho submitted himself for the inte-
rests of the country. Such, he said, was the power of truth
upon the mind of the right hon. gentleman ; being at the
head of this party, he adopted the principles which
he (Mr. Roebuck) called the principles of free trade; and,
upon his so doing: there rm. that star which bad been fog
Settle time a brilliant luminero„ bacaum it had been sup
ported by the opposition ; and the hon. gentleman in oppo-
sition to the principle in the person of the right hon.
gentleman, did win his own way; he acknowledged his great
abilities—he won himself a way to renown in this house.
If he could believe that a government amid be submitted to
a rhetorician ; if he could believe that With could be made
subservient to mere words, then he should say that the hon.
gentleman would be in a position te govern this country
but such was not the case. The hon. gentleman had, on the
mount occasion, stated nothing which should induce the
house to depart from the principle which had governed them
up to the present moment. This principle should be the ride
and guide of their future conduct. The hon. gentleman had
appealed to the situation of various cla.ses of the community
on the present occasion ; he had said that the agricultural
labJurrn in the community on the present occasion
were those who guttered and were the mere vic-
tims of the law which the right hon. gen-
tleman introduced. That he denied. He said that
at the present moment the agricultural labourer was better
off than he had been in his recollection. (Oh, oh.) He
said that the wages of agricultural labourers had not been
diminished in any part of the country. (Oh oh.) He chal-
lenged the hon. members who cried " Oh, oh," and he was
quite sure that the agricultural labourer had not suffered
harm in the money wages he had received. He would assert
of his own knowledge that the agricultural labourer in
ao part of the county with which he was acquainted
had suffered the slightest diminution of wages. There
was nothing either 311 the hon. gentleman himself, or
in the party to which he belonged, to induce them to depart
from the present system, or to give him or his party their
confidence. (" Hear, hear," and interruption.) He could
well undtrstand that private pique or miserable passion
might induce certain parties to be rude, that it might induce
them to perpetrate in that house conduct—(renewed inter-
ruption and laughter)—all he wished was to express his
opinion tranquilly, and with perfect simplicity and humility
be —(oh!)—but he did hope that he might not subjected to
interruptions which he could not help fancying were of a
pi irons! nature. (Question.) Well, he would go to the
question. (Hear, hear) lie wanted to know why they
should go into committee on the present occasion, and inter-
rupt the ordinary business of the torsion, to take into consi-
deration the state of the nation? What was the
present state of the nation? lie believed it was one
of great hope and confidence. lie believed that the
artificers and manufacturers were in a gradually improving
state, and that trade and commerce were rapidly increasing.
(Hear, hear.) sides, the things complained of by the her'
member for Buckinghamshire, were beside And beyond legi!.
lation altogether. Great mischief had arisen from the del.
mut harvest last year, and also from the famit.e in Ireland.
Let him ask the bon. member for Buckinghamshire and his
party what would have been the condition of this country if
the great principles of free trade had notbeen adopted—prin-
ciples which had carried us through a most dangerous cries
in peace and happiness to all. If the right hon. gentleman
the member for Tamworth had opposed free trade, it he had
set himself against the wishes of the people, if he had refaced
that at stem of legislation of which the hon. member fur the
West Riding was the exponent, ho asked, would they have
possessed tho peace which they then erjoyed (Hear.)
lie believed that the hon. member r Buckinghamshire in
explaining his statistics had forgotten the great moral ques-
tion involved. If the right bon, bafbnet had copra ted lihn-
telt to the wishes of toe counter, he believed that this
country would have been, like France, riotous and un-
settled, and we should have had distress similar to that so
general abroad. lint the right honourable gentleman
might take to himself this evidence of his wisdom,
that for the last two years, while the whole
world was in confusion, while thrones were toppling
and constitutions were swept away, England had, thanks to
his policy, ridden safely through the storm, and had exhi-
bited a tranquillity and hapointss unequalled in any other
country in the world. What was the proposition of the
hon. member for Buckinghamshire ? It was to depart from
• policy which had carried them safely through so dangerous
a pencil. For his part, he should much rather fol.ow
the example of the right hon. baronet than the sta-
tistics or the proposition of the hon. member for Bucking-
hamshire. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. PLUMPTRE, who spoke in a low tone of voice, was
understood to say that the agriculturists in his district were
in ain st distressed condition. He thought that to proceed
with the Manchester policy, in the face of pinching want,
would savour very much of cruelty, folly, and injustice.
Mr. SLANEY, amid cries of " divide," and " go on,"
moved the adjournment of the debate unit today.
Lord J. RUSSELL hoped that hon. members would poet-
pone the motions of which they had given notice for to-
morrow (this day), in order that the debate might then be
resumed.

Lord D. STUART would be very glad to convenience the
noble lord, but the motion of which he had given notice for
to morrow, relative to the metropolitan police, was one of
greet importance to his constituents, inasmuch as it directly
affected their pockets ; and he should only postpone it on
a promise being given that a committee of inquiry would be
granted, or that he would be permitted to bring it on on the
• next government day.
Lord J. RUSSELL could not promise that the next go-
vernment day would be granted (or the purpose.
Mr. OSBORNE thought the request of the noble lord the
member for Marylebone was not an unreasonable one. If
the noble lord at the head of the government granted a day
to the hon. member for Buckinghamshire, who wee an op-
ponent, and wanted to turn the ministry out, surely he
ought to grant a day to one of his supporters. The people
of Mar) lebone looked to the motion of tne noble lord
(D. Stuart) with far more interest than they did to the flash-
in-the-pan motion for turning out the government of the
hon. member for Buckinghamshire. (" Hear, hear," and
laughter.) He thought the house might divide at once
upon the latter motion, which wee, to say the least, a
ridiculous one.
Sir G. GREY advised the hon. member for Marylebone
to accept of some information heretofore offered to him, re-
lative to the cost of maintenance of the metropolitan police.
Lord D. STUART respectfully declined the advice, be-
lieving that he should obtain much fuller information if the
committee were appointed.
Mr. DISRAELI thought the hon. member for Middle-
sex (Mr. Osborne) had been unjustly severe upon the noble
lord at the head of the government. The noble lord, with
a spirit which might be expected from him, had accepted the
glove thrown down from the protectionist side of the house,
and therefore it was unfair for an hon. gentleman who was
not always in the habit of supporting the government--
(hear, hear)—to find fault with the discussion. If his (Mr.
Disraeli) committee were appointed, he should have no
objection to grant the committee sought for by the
hon. member for Marylebone. (A laugh.) He had
never known such a motion as the one now before the
house which had not been called " a flash in the pan."
People always considered, whenever the existing policy of
the government was challenged, that there was nothing
practical in the proposition, but there was nothing more
practical, and it was in the power of the house to make it
exceedingly practicable by voting for it. (Laughter.) Ho
had seen majorities which had apparently been organised to
oppose certain motions melt away before the force of truth, and
therefore he had no fear of tb e majority against him. Ili' motion
was earnest and serious. Its object was to turn out the
government. (" Hear, hear," and laughter.) Re might
not succeed, but he and his party should succeed some day.
(" Hear, hear," and renewed laughter.)
The debate was then adjourned until to-day.
CONSOLIDATED FUND BILL.
- -

The house went into committee on the Consolidated Fund
(3,000,0001) bill.
Sir H. WILLOUGHBY wished to be furnished with
separate items of the interest and management of the na-
tional debt and the terminable annuities.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that
he had already, in the usual way, given the totals.
The bill having passed through committee, the house
resumed.

RAILWAYS AND DISTRESSED UNIONS
(IRELAND) BILL.
This bill paned through committee, the money clauses
having been postponed.
TURNPIKE ROADS.

Mr. C. LEWIS obtained leave to bring in a bill to con-
tinue certain Turnpike Acts in Great Britain, for limited
periods, and to make certain provisions respecting turnpike
mid@ in England ; and also a bill to continue for a limited
period an act for authorising the application of highway
rates to turnpike roads.
OFFICES OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
Mr. HAYTER obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend
the acts relating to the offices of the House of Commons.
POOR IN CITIES AND BOROUGHS.

Mr. BAINES obtained ►eave to bring in a bill to remove
doubts as to the authority of justices of the peace to act in
certssia matters relating to the poor in cities and boroughs.
The house then adjourned at a quarter before one o'clock.