The Express.
London, England, 1850-03-13 00:00:00

BRISTOL, Mara 42.

Illeal-liiazaaera Was a laadtata
badmen dose, but prices were the shade weaker. Oma
Quarter Shares elaged at 14, and the New 174 SIPXMS6 611
wormy at 7f, dia. Midlands left off at 38&


IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
HOUSE OF LORDS.—Tossan, Masai 12.
Their terdships assembled at 4 eolock.
ROYAL COXIIIBBION.
The royal resat wee giros by eosasissiou to the Party
roxonkm. (Ireland) Bill. The revel Conahetouers ware
the Earl ef Shaftesbury. the Kul d Mato, sad the Bart of
Their lordships then adjoaraed daring pleasure.
Lord Poiraaa took his seat oa the woolsack at 6
.'.look.

APPELLATE JURISDICTION OF THE HOUSE.
Lord BROUGHAM save nada that, on Friday next, be
&mid move a resolution with reference to the appllate
jarbOceisa of the Woe, and of the jading committee.
AUDIT OF RAILWAY ACCOUNTS.
Lewd STANLEY begged te lay es the table a bM
whist' be refereed to yeereeday, with regard to the audit Id
railway acconuits.
AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS.
Lord REDESHALE, pursuant to notice, presented two
pedtions praying fot egriceitural protection—one from Nor.
iambs/land s*sed by 4,700 persons, and the other from
the enmity of Worcester, nauseously and respectably
Miran. Parliament had sow met about six weeks, sad no
nabs had been taken in that hones of this importaat subject.
He tonsils/id, therefore, haviag those petitions to nesent,
that it was kin duty to de so. The Debts mar-
quis opposite. in the debate ou the address, gave
the house the esratortable assurance that the worst
had 'solved, and he hoped an improvementwould take place
la egrinal'aral prospects; six weeks, howevwer, had elapsed,
sod se far from those expectations being realised, than had
been a enstent tendency downward in the marlin. Under
these cireomstances, it was important that parliament should
take into its early consideration the growth of such en evil.
The petitiowen stated that the nue of the present depres-
sion was the change in the law, and that without • recur-
ring to the former law. it mast continue. Free trade was
repadisted by every other country, even by America, and
was only supported hag by those whose whole political °be-
getter depended ea i's success. He was glad to find that it
bad not been accepted by the country gentlemen
and fanners, who all felt that, at some paled, in
some shape or other, protection must be restored.
Tlie whole subject hal been treated in each a
way as led no one to believe it could Le
permanent. It it was eight, he hoped it would be continued.
Int if wrong it must be done away with. The object of all
legislation was the happiness of the people, an next the
greaten' of the satin. The first must arise from plenty of
emitq meat and high water, and the greatness of a nation
dependd on its wealth. laseue the burden and they
must lower the innate; this was proved by the malt tax.
(Hear, beer.) Let them see how this matter affected the
L eclasses, from whom a large portion of the national
wee derived. (Hear, hear.) Wages had been re-
amed ia all classes of labour, from the most skilful artisan
down to the agricultural labourer ; and taking 10,000,000 of
the population of this country to be employed La labour, he
was cafe in 'keying there had been, oa an avenge, • reduc-
tion in their wages of 2s. per week. (Hear, hear.)
If that was the case, there had been • Wino
off of 52,000,0001. • year in the OWOIIIO oldie people. (Hear.)
The hon. gentleman who bad been selected 'by the govern-
ment to move the address in the other house of parliament
(Me. Viten), made a calculation to show the enormous
gain to the country by the redaction of the price of food.
Ho took the average price of 1847, and December, 1849,
which he ateussed was what the average price would stead at
in 1850, and he was not far out of the way. He camper, d
those two year, and expatiated urn the gain which the
country had derived from the decrease in the price of food.
Why, in selecting 1847 he took a famine year, he took a year
when there was saarcely any duty at all. (Hear, hear.)
Now be (Lord Hideaki.) would take the avenge prim of
corn when Sir Robert Peel introduced his measure in 1942,
as eompered with the present time, and it would appear that
there had been • saving of 16,000,0001 in wheat,
4,000,0001. in barley. and 500,0001. in oats, which
with the saving in butter, cheese, and otha
articles of fried, made • total amount of 40,000,0001.,
'sly se a set off against the 52,000,0001. lOU in the income of
the people. (Hear, hear) The doctrine of buying in the
cheapest and eel iog in the demist market, the labourites
man could not avail himself of. (Hear, hear.) The labouring
man had aothiag but his labour to sell, and he must sell it
before ha could hay anything. Now, the object of the pre-
sent system was to make wages low; there could be no
doubt of that ; and the only people who were not able to go
into any other market were the agricultural labourers, and
yet the tree traders found fault with the reduction of their
wages. (Hear, hear.) The greatest evil which could befall
the anicaltus el manufacturer was • glut in the
market, and this wag foreseen by the late Lard
Ashburton. Supplies of acre, under toe present system,
from every country would be constantly poured into the
Br.tish market, because it was the on.y market that
would be open to receive it. (Hear, huh.) It was ILO MOON
and not only were the prices low, but no bastions was
doing. The agricultural manufacturer did not know when
he put Mewed into the ground what his return would be,
and this placed him on a totally different footing from any
other manufacturer. (Hear, hear.) It was the interest of
every counuy to stimulate the production of corn, and not to
throw any land out of cultivation. (Hear.) He wished to ark
what opinion the noble lords epposite entertained as to the cause
of the existing agricultural distress ; next, their views as to
its continuance, end whether they could hold out any hope,
from informatics which they m ght have received, of the
prospect of some immediate and considerable alteration. The
next twain he would put was. suppeeiag no change to
pate place—ruppoeing there should be no decided advance
in the orice of grain—whether they thought the land of this
country could be cultivated to the same extent as it was
now ? He WM confident it mould not, and he was also sure
that high fantail would never be • remedy. The other
querns he had to ark was, whether they w- n able to calcu-
late what the future average price of corn would be likely
to be oa the new system ? (Cheers.)
TLe Msrquis of LANSDOWNE was not surprised at the
preentation of each petitions, knowing Oat a great deal of
abatis existed in ',me parts of the country. He was not
one cf those who ever thouet that a change in the core
law coon be I Bated without considerable difficulty and
()national pressure. He thought the change which had been
made in the law was founded on • sound principle of policy
—dictated as it was by coontity—and he was of opinion
when the measure was proposed, that sooner or later it would
be impossible to maintain in this country higher prices than
prevailed over the rust of the world. lie therefore thought
it right, whatever doubts he allele have had as to the time
when that change should take place, or the policy of miti-
gating it by the imposition of • fixed duty, be bad come to
the conclusioa, and he thought it • right one, that a great
change was inevitable, and it was their duty caly to consider
the time sad mode in which it could be effected. -Under these
circumstances, although he expected there would be con-
siderable pressure, the result would be great benefit
to the country in the estensicn of her wealth and commerce.
The noble lord had drawn a great distinction between
income and cspitaL Now, he believed it was impossible for
the capital of the country to go on steadily increasing for
any considerable period without lidding to the biome and
resources of the whole country. (Hear, hen.) The noble
lord seemed to estimate the income in pounds, shillings, and
pence ; bat he (the Marquis of Lansdowne) contended that
the true repreentstion of income was the amount of luxury
and necessaries which the income could commend ; and with
• money diminution of income, if he saw a great Increase of
consumption, he would say that for all solid purposes the
ingots. of the country had essentially increased. (Hear,
hear.) The noble lid had called upon him to answer
questions which related to the per, the present, and the
future, sad he would endeavour to give him as
math satisfaction as he could with regard to the two first
question, but he hoped he would excuse him if he
was caution upon the other. The noble lord
had adverted to what had fallen beat him (the
noble marquis) at the commencement of the session,
whoa he stated kis belist that the importations dreaded so
such as being likely to diminish Osman this country would
fall off. What had been the tact ? That belief had been
expressed very early in the session, and in a month after-
wards • very great dirniaatioa in the imports of foreign con
was observable. (Hear, hear.) What had been the impor-
tation in the month of February following his humble de.
clustion ? Why the difference between the importations in
the month of 'February this year and in the corresponding
ninth of last year amounted to no fewer than 200,000 qrs.
In February, 1849, there were imported into this simian
390,000 qrs. ; in February, 1850, there were imported only
180,000 qrs. ; and at this moment the presto's of the
Importation was rapidly diminishing. (Hear, hear.)
The great and formidable bugbear, therefore, in the &citation
of the noble lord and his /needs was no longer in enstenn.
If importance was the cause, and the sole cause, of the
diminution which had taken plane is price, we should have
had very different ottasequer cgs from what we now wit.
nem& If importaren was the sword suspended over our
heeds, that sword had • very bleat edge, more blunt than
say sword ever used before for purposes of destruction.
Tae effect of importation had been to bring all prices to •
pen. development, and now we bad reached a state of
in which it was not worth the while of any country
in Europe to send corn into England. (Hear, beer.) Why
was it that noble lords did not inquire how reple-
tion had produced universal clamour and offering in
trance? When it was said that England was the
only country which had adopted • system of perfect freedom,
regardless of the wi.dom and prudence which had induced
other countries to adhere to the steer system of protecti..u,
lot hiss (the noble marquis) ask by way of reply from
etheace was it that our unpaged importations had
cone? Why, from France, which had adhered to the
prohibitive system—(load ministerial cheere)—from France,
which felt Web strong is that system. (11. otewed cheers.)
Doubtless the political events whisk had occurred throughout
the world since the clangs made in the corn law had had
their eft; ct, is acting upon every sort of production, affecting
consumption in one country, and causing • degree of uncer-
tainty in another, but tide eff.ct was not referable to the
corn law, although we were feeling the consequences.
(Hear.) The stock, as he bad said before, in this country
was exceedingly low. So far as could be collected from the
warehouses in London, the present amount of stock was only
242,048 quarters. Now, what was that amount of stock as
compared with the amount on the Ist of February, 1849
At that time the stock in the warehouses of England was
1,824,000 quarters, and that enormous amount of stock on
the Ist of February, 1849, was followed by an importation
in the month of February of 380,000 quarters, which was
200,000 quarters more than were imported in February,
1850, and it wee again fotiowed in the month of
Hsieh, 1849, by 823,000 cleaners, while in the present
mouth of March the isaportation were daily disathlshiag.
(Cheers.) lie held in his hand a blur from Belgium, in
which it WY stated that, so eakaasted was that country, and
each the state of prim, If any pone. wen to en

doe for the purchase of 4,000 quarters of con hoped the
quantity in the market, It odd oily be proud by en
enormous end sudden ries of pea. In the Mediterressan
then had been me inerosed demand for NM, and is the
berth of Boer tbe Medals had not seamen% of it trot
their owe sessampla. He Olt that he had new maid
esough to useless their lordship that, if they dreaded low
prises, they lad very little to apprehend from present ins.
pertains sari ebeke (Hest.) He believed that much
of Meat led esesivei and was now taking place
hod seben heel the defidiai9l the hornet to blew, which
bed MO eieddiedie esti in production, and to the
very frowiehle WOO is 1 , "bleb was followed by
May IhniBoB3 .maineipta poem ea the part of the
!:=UMW, beMatipswarlethessetlese which had
him, MM dela& la dams sad somas
the coosamplee et Meer thaw dissinished, yet that,
taking the pee= dimes as a whole in this reentry, there
had rot hems the pars a doe at whisk their esermaptioa
was higher, eel y beanie, high", they it wee at this
moment ("gees," sad sheen.) Their eseennaption
kW, in dodder, in luxuries, which differed from
the looks of the rich, made an aggregate which
had been increasing, which was increasing, and which,
he ventured to hope, woad increase, thereby contributing
to the prosperity of the country, and securing remunerative
pride fee the outlay of espltal. He had no doubt parlia-
ment would ever promote the internee of the British fanner
In every way in which it wee practicable to do so, although
it might not assent to go the lengths to which the noble
load who had presented the present petition would desire.
(Cheers.)
The lad of MALMESBUEY mid be had listened with
deep attention tot's' speech of the noble marquis, and that it
seemed perfectly unintelligible to him how the two sides of
the house could take such different views as they did of ab.
whitely ageoseplithed facts. He was in a ratio to prove,
by documentary evidence, that the rose-colour address ot the
noble marquis was mach misplaced at the present time; that
immense existed In the provinces and rural dia-
tries ; and that the noble marquis was deceived himself is
the views he took of the country, and was, in cosequener,
deceiving their lordships. (Hear, hear.) The noble atm
gals had-taunted some of their kidskin with having de.
mended 80e. as &protective duty. He (the E srl of Mama
burs ), bad not the honour of a oat in the housed the
period referred to, and was imperfectly acquainted with
die ate of thecae, but this he knew that at the time the
1 interest declared 80s. to be a necessary pato
eakarathecarrency of this country bad not been altered, and
Mb. then was not equal to mere than de. the quarter now.
(Hear, hear.) The noble marquis seemed to be of opiates
that the deluge of importations from foreign countries bad
ceased, bat a letter just received from Liverpool stated that
the arrivals of ft mat that port for the week ending the 4th
of March were 18,000 sacks of European, and 16,000 barrels
of American, and that prices had declined at the rata of U.
per quarter. Then the noble marquis, by comparing the
antes of February this you with the month of February
last year, had endeavoured to make out that stocks of wheat
were getting low in this country ; bat last year, it should be
recollected, a great many 'patron read to take out
on until the duty had been first taken off. But, if stocks
were low in the warehouses, they were not low in the term
yards, sad there was not the slightest app stenos of the
farmer obtaining an increased price for what be held ; on the
contrary, there bad been a seduction last week of 25. 63. per
goiter. (Hear.) Again, the noble marquis bad attempted
to trace the reductions in price to the noontime on the
ontinont ; but he (the Earl of Mulmesbuty) thought that if
one thing more than another would have tended to raise
prices, it would have been the revolutions which bad dem-
isted the continent. (" Iles:" and cheers.) He believed
that teas of thousands, on trading the parrs to
morrow, would learn with sorrow that the time
bad not yet come for the government to do anything to-
wards the relief of agricultural distress, and that that de-
claration would infuse discontent and despair Into
many of the moat loyal of her Majesty's subjects.
(Hear.) They had it down as a settled thing that the
landlords must be sactitlted—and escrificed to what? To
the prosperity of Manchester. And those who would sit a
whole day to prevefeat:l4:lle individual being injured by a
railway bill which pro to cut. up his garden, sat quietly
by when 200,000 ies were consigned to ruin. (Hear,
hear.) What had been the language which bed been need
by a man who might be called the champion of the Man-
chester school, and with whom the farmers would not b. have
that the government were not intimately connected ? The
Language he had held when addrusio the farmers and the
labouren wee that they were being eaten up by
the landlords—and that the object of the repeal ot
the corn laws was to lower rents, aid thereby to
rescue the land from the hands of a grasping
aristocracy. (Hear, hear.) He did not know who Mr.
Cobden included in that term aristocracy—but he (Lord
hislmesbury) could tell him that of the 41 millions which
the rental of England produced not more than 3 milliess
went into the pockets of what was generally understood by
the aristocracy, takes in the common acceptation of the
term, by which he of cone meant the members of their
lordships' hope. (Hsar,beer.) Before sitting down he was
desirous of asking a question of the government. When the
noble marquis informed them (the agriculturists) that
noiLiog was to be done for them at present, was it intended
to deprive them of all hope—not of a return to rroteeticn,
for he did not ask that of ministers—but that they should be
relieved from some of their burdens, and placed, if not on the
same footing with the foreigner, at lust on an equality with
respect to taxation with other Englishmen who lived by
their industry.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE replied that her Majesty's
government had ever been anxious to afford every assistance
in their power, sad were still prepared to assist
as far as practicable the efforts of the agricultural interest to
obtain relief. (Hsu, hear.)
After a word or two from Lead REDZIDALn,
Earl OBEY contended that taking the experiment of free
trade in con as far as it had gone, it was in tho highest
degree satiOutory. (Hear, hear.) And any one who con.
eared the condition et the country now with what might
have been its condition but for the repeal of the corn laws,
and still denied that it bad been successful, must be proof
against conviction. (Hear, hear.) Let them consider for a
moment what the country had passed through during the
last four years. The staple food of a whole populath n de-
stroyed—the ruinous speculations in radon, the shares of
which were probably worthless now by at least 100,000,0004
than the amount invested in them—the commerce ot the
world disturbed hy the extraordinary events which had
taken place throughout nearly the whole of continental
Europe in the year 1948—teething at all these things,
and seeing how little of general suffering we bad
now to contend with, and even the noble Iced
who had just spoken admitted that the manufacturing dis-
tricts were in a state of prosperity, and had entered into
arguments to show that that prosperity had not resulted '
from the low prices of corn—he, for one, must maintain
that the experiment had been eminently successful. Nn
doubt distress did exist amongst the owners and occupiers of
land—distress which he deplored as much as any noble lord
opposite ; but he could not forget that throughout the whole
cons of the man: in either house of parliament no
attempt had been made to take a distinct opinion as to whether
that detests had arisen from the recent changes in our oat-
, nodal legislatioe, and that it might be remedied by n-
itrating our steps. (Hear, hear.) If noble lords amok'
I entertained so strong an opinion that that was the remedy,
it was to be regretted they did not come forward with eithe
dirioct proposal, informing the house at on what they
really demised, whether to return to the cans law el
1842, the corn law of 1828, or that of 1816.
Let them my which of these it was they
locked ape as the panacea for agricultural distress—
(ehem)—or whether, on the contrary, that which during
the whole time that he took an active part in the contro-
versy on the subject in the other house, we. denounced by
the whole agricultural party—a fixed duty on corn—wac
what they now uked—(hear, hear) ; a measure which they
might have had, had they not as and all declared it would
be masts to them. (Cheers.) It was most desirable they
should have the question discussed and the opinion of par-
liament taken as to whether any and which ot these several
measures would be advantageous to the landed interest.
(Hear.) Hs could not help ceserving that he utterly denied
that there was the &lightest particle of evidence that the die-
true which now unhappily afflicted the agricultural industry
of the country was in any degree traceable tothechange whisk
had been effected in our commercial legislation. If it were so,
those who maintained that view would be in a position
show that similar periods of distress had not prevailed in
former years. It wee admitted by all parties that the har-
vest of lapel was the lart. (" No," from the oppod-
do beaches). Well, the harvest in the south of England
of 1849 was the largest that we had had for many previous
yeses. (" No.") It certainly was so in the south, and, if
he odd a whereto the fact, he would call the noble sod
who spite lest, who had told their lordships, in war to
as observation Ohio noble friend (the lanais of Leo
dowse) that the stocks of corn in the farm yards were net
low now. Up to the time of the late revolution the
average price of corn in Franco was 61s. 2d.; it woe new
only 335. And these exemplary low prices prevailed le
ether continental countries besides France. It wee se in
Belgium, when up to the year 1848 the price bad averaged
60a. 2d. ; now it was 335. 3d. There was throughout
Europe the clearest evidence that the price of the present
day was not that which would be the rating and average
pesos of tattoo pus. (Hear, hear )
After a few words from Lord REDZISDAL3 in reply, the
*tido was ordered to lie oa the table.
The house then adjourned, at half past seven o'clock.

ROUSE OF COMMONS.—TuEsDaY, MARcu 12.
The Stamm/ took the chair at ten minutes to four
Wino*.

ROYAL ASSENT.
The Deputy Usher if the Black Rod summoned the
Speaker sad the house to the House of Peen, to hear the
royal meant given, by commission, to a bill.
The firaozza then, accompanied by mistral members,
left the beam, and on his return etattd that the royal anent
had bean given to the Party Proessbicats (Inlaid) BiII.PRIVATE BUSINESS.
RIPORT CONSID1111).-4Suffolk and General Country

etvi&l;letlaWratee OMee SiII.
The Greenwich Hospital Improvement Bill wee road a
maid time, and referred to a select committee, otißtal, sang
of the Wotan/ members: Admiral Dundee, Mr.
Mr. Cowper, Sir Charles Douglas, Sir Edmund Films; Mr.
Thomas Low 'lodges, Mr. Coax, Mr. Tittles Egerton, Mr.
liesterman, and Mr. Thom Orem*, and An easnlmos to
be added by the Committee of Safeties.