The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-16 00:00:00

S,U

LONDON,

6,000

5,000

littiklo Acting on- that principle,
he (L-rd Beaumont) thought the Noble Lord
,
at the head of the Government should state to the
country whether ho meant to win with a ss. or 7s. duty
—(Laughter,) The labouring classes throughout the
country were never in a better position than they were
at tho present moment. Looking therefore at the
whole interests of the country, the activity
in the manufActuring districts, and the advan-
tages now enjoyed by the people, whatever were
his op!nions in the abstrict in regard to the burdens
upon land, he was decidedly against all reversal of our
commercial policy, for in such a reversal he saw
great dangers ; he saw violent passions raised up, Class
set against class, and that anithosity revived
long slumbered and died away, He considered that if
the Noble Earl at the head of the Government did not,
give a distinct reply to his inquiries he would inflict
great injury upon the country. Lord Beaumont con-
cluded by presenting the petition of which he had given
notice.
The Earl of DERBY then rose and said—My Lords, it
will be most satisfactory .to myself, anal I know it will be
equally so to your Lordships, if I take the short and sum-,
mary mode recomthended by the 'Noble Baron, who has oc-s
cupied an hour and ten minutes of your time with a discur-
sive question, whioh requires the simple expression of "yes"
or " no" in reply;; but although I hope, not to,occupy so
much of Your Lordship? time as the Noble Baron has oc-
cupied in putting his question, I confess that' I am not pre-
pared to give him so brief and categorical an answer as that.
At the same time, my Lords, I shall be most ready to give
to the Noble Lord and to your Lordships such explanations
as are consistent with my duty, in regard to the course in-
tended to be pursued by her Majesty's Government, as may
have been left in the slightest degree of obscurity in the
course of the observations which I had the honour to submit
toyour Lordships a fortnight ago. In doing this it is not
necessary that I should follow the Noble Lord—and I assure
him that I have no intention to do so—into the various,ar-
guments with regard to the policy of the corn-laws,
the course which was pursued in 1846, the inci-
dents of burdens or of losses which fall upon the
landlord, upon the tenant, or upon the labourer. And
I shall not be led by the Noble Lord, and I trust that
none of my Noble Friends near me will be led, by anything
which takes place hereafter on this subject, into a most
fruitless and unnecessary discussion on the subject of the
corn-laws —(Ministerial cheering.) My Lords, the Noble
Lord has certainly not done great justice to his clients ; be-
cause, although he commenced by stating that he should
proceed to show to the Rouse the various evils under which
these petitioners were suffering, the grievances which were
afflicting them, and the anxieties which deprived them of
their repose both by night and by day, yet to the close of
his speech not one single word was said about the pe-
titioners, and it was not until a question was put by my
Noble Friend near me, that we even elicited from the Noble
Lord who those petitioners were, or what was the founda-
tion of the question of the Noble Lord. Well, now, the
Noble Baron was kind enough to allow me a sight of thii
petition after he had given notice of it. I speak with every
respect of the petitioners. I have no doubt they are men
of the highest respectability, but undoubtedly in point of
numbers they are not exceedingly extensive.—(A laugh.)
These, as the Noble Lord has stated, are petitioners who are
not confined to a single district, or a single township, but
a certain number of them I find are from the township of
Snaith, and one or two others from adjoining districts. Well,
now, what is the numerical force of these petitioners who are
in this state of unparalleled uncertainty? What interests
do they represent? What great bulk of property has come
forward to complain to your Lordships of their unparalleled
state of anxiety, the agitation into which the country is
thrown, and the total confusion of all agricultural affairs
wh ch arises out of this protracted uncertainty? Why, my
Lords, the petitioners are just 13 in number—(Laughter).--
and they thus speak of themselves :—" The humble petition
of the , undersigned owners and occupiers of land in the
county of York " The Noble Earl near me has been kind
enough to sum up the extent of the occupation of these peti-
tioners. One of them, no doubt a highly-respectable
farmer, occupies 500 acres of land ; but the whole 13,
including that gentleman, own and occupy only to the
amount of 1,841 acres. I see that some of them are farmers,
some of them very respectable gentlemen. Mr. Langley is
one of them t but , amongst them I see Mr. J. Wright,
the auctioneer at Snaith, and his occupation is 12
acres • Mr. , Pickering, the surgeon of Snaith, is another,
and he occupies twenty acres of land.—(Laughter.) These,
then, are the petitioners who come before you on the present
occasion. Nov, take the case of the surgeon or the auctioneer
one occupying 20 and the other 12 titres et', land. Take
the auctioneer, who is a highly-respectable man, no doubt;
I dare say he has made some money in his business as an
auctioneer; and no doubt he has a snug little villa, shrub-
bery, and kitchen garden, with three or four cows; and he
lives very comfortably, not on his farm, but on his business
as an auctioneer. What is the amount of wheat, I should

like to know which is grown by Mr. Jonathan Wright, the
auctioneer oeSnaith, which is to be deducted from his house,
his pleasure. grounds, his kitchen-garden, and his lawn—the
whole to be taken, out of twelve acres of land? Yet that
gentleman cannot sleep night nor day. Ile cannot rest for a
single hour, oppressed as he is with his grievances, alarms,
and anxieties?—(Loud laughter.) lle cannot tell how to
estimate the value of his land; he cannot take a lease; he
cannot agree upon the covenants which are necessary' for
conducting his cultivation and his husbandry, because he
does not know whether we are not or are going to put
on a moderate duty on the importation of corn at some
distant and indefinite period. Why, to, talk of the post-
ponement of the final settlement of this question for a:
period of eight, ten, or twelve months, as interfering:
with all the operations of agriculture, and preventing'
arrangements between landlords and tenants, is—without
any wish on my part to deprecate or diminish the mogui-.
tune and importance of an ultimate settlement—to attach an
exaggerated and fictitious importance to that which the
Noble Lord alone demands, that is, an immediate and cate-
gorical explanation of the coarse which her Majesty's Go-
vernment intend to pursue. Why, in the cultivation of a,
farm, do you not know in March, and may you not know in
November, what is to be the course of proceeding ?—what
alteration in agriculture would be made by the postponement
of any declaration as to what is to be the import duty on a
quarter of foreign wheat? I presume that even at Snaith
they do not sow their Wheat in March or April, and that the
cultivation of wheat in that neighbourhood will not be
affected by a declaration now, rather than at the next
harvest, of• what are the intentions of her Majesty's Go-
vernment, or, what is of more importance, the intentions
of Parliament on this great question.—( Hear, hear.)
Does the Noble Lord suppose, either, that the impo-
sition of any such duty as could be carried by any Go-
vernment would produce such an alteration in the rela-
tions between landlord and tenant as materially to interfere
with the arrangements which subsist between them as to
rent and the covenants under which they hold their land ?
I have not supposed any amount of duty as being the duty
that ought to be levied; but the Noble Lord has taken the
sum of 75., or 55., indirectly referring,. I think, to what was
said in a speech by a Right Hon. Friend of mine in the
comity of Buckingham the other day. Now, I am not
going to speak with regard to the amount of the increase of
price which would be produced in the home market by any
possible alteration of the duties on foreign corn. lam not
going to re-open the subject upon which a Noble Earl oppo-
site put a question to me the other day, when he contended
that whatever increase takes place in the price of corn or
other articles in consequence of the imposition of a duty falls
not only upon the price of that which is imported, but upon
the whole amount of the produce of the country. What I
contended for then was, and what I contend for now is, that
whatever the duty may be, it is not the whole amount, but a
small portion of that amount, which must be added to the
price in consequence of the addition of the duty. Takes a
duty of 45., bs., or 75., or whatever you please—let us take,
for instance, that with which we are the most familiar—a
ss. duty on the import of corn—that is an addition of 4s. to
the present existing duty. Now, suppose the utmost pos-
sible extent of the augmentation of price in this country
consequent upon an increased duty of 4s. to be ls. 6d. or 2s.
a quarter, will any man tell me that to doubt whether that
amount would or would not be imposed, and the subsistence
of that doubt for some eight or ten months, could introduce
the smallest amount of uncertainty with regard to the rela-
tions of landlord and tenant, and the permanent arrange-
ments between them ? (Hear hear.) My Lords, I cer-
tainly have seen a statement, and I read it with some stir-
prise, which' was made by a friend of mine the other day,
that he should take care to inform his tenants that if they
obtained a ss. duty upon wheat he should immediately put
on halt-a-crown, I do not know whether per acre or per
quarter, upon their rents.- Now I .do not think this is a very
generous course of proceeding. That gentleman is himself
a farmer, and an extensive sheep-owner; and he is at this
moment canvassing the city of Westminster upon the
ground of ii s extreme liberal principles!—(Loud laughter.) ,
Now, I confess that it appears to me the sheep are not the '
only portion of his proporty which this gentleman seems
disposed to fleece.—(Renewed laughter.) But I believe
the example he has set, .or has announced his readiness to
set—for Ido not believe he would do it—is an example
which would not be followed by country gentlemen gene.
rally.—(Hear, hear ) I grant, however, that this question
should remain in abeyance no longer than is absolutely ne-
cessary.—(Cheers.) I admit that most frankly. But with
regard to the uncertainty—my Lords, there is a very large
party in this country, as is well known, who have declared
is the most emphatic terms that it is not until the next elec.
tion that that uncertainty should be removed—that at the
next election the question must be settled, and settled defi-
nitively, .and to' that election they refer on their own part,
confident in the strenghth of their case, but ready to submit
to the judgment of the country should it be pronounced
against them.—( Hear, hear.) So that whether the change
of Government had or had not taken place, that uncertainty
as to the final decision of the country, and of Parliament
following the country, must have equally remained, but with
this difference, that in consequence of that change of Govern-
ment the period of the duration of the uncertainty will be
diminished, and the dissolution of Parliament, which might
have been postponed for a period of two years, in the ordinary
course of things—l trust I need not offer any apology for al-
luding to it—must take place within a period of six or eight
• is concerned with regard to the final
so far as uncertainty
the eriod of that uncertainty is
months from this time.— (Cheers.) Therefore, my Lords,
Cth Th h f
Government, remember,
not a en )place upon any
decision o f the country,mewm ibther
ihheassPu b
not extended but diminished.—( eers.e c anise o
question connected
at
the ect of the land. And Igo
that the appeal
possible, and p elritood
bardenghtd
et o
tboe; assort
nonntrasy
as a reg for the great interest
(Hear.) But I say further, that
of the country will permit.—
taunt, no challenge, no diffi-
so far as it depends on me,
fouurgt hh
te rt,o
and
be madesay a is
early
shall induce me to recommend to
which I May be exposed, _ however
culty to which I may
my Sovereign that that dissolution of Parliament,
•shall take place one hour
anxious I may be for the decision,
be snuobjected, and no mortification to
to look
renders necessary.—(Loud cheers.) Let me venture
which her
back for a moment to the circumstances under _ _
sooner than regard to these great and paramount interests
Majesty's present Government have assumed—the Noble Lord,
was good enough to say have taken upon them—power. I
Least of all, did they
would correct the expression, and say, have assumed the
late
Government anfedllthbye dnuotaiedsvoefrsoeffi9icoet.—ion(
ofa _(Hear,
.s hear.).— . T.
(Cheers.)he
question ifnallthbey:hanpy.e
the
question of protection to the landed interest.—(Reiterated
pressing that
cheering.) Patiently and steadily we have abstained from
adverse v
de
rs
eec motion o t
protectionlon in vo
upon
the attention of Parliament.— (Hear, hear.)
will not, I think, venture to say that' from The Noble Lord
sit
posits to him in this House, or from those those who op-
who sit opposite
to his party in the'other, the late Government
encountered by a factious opposition or byasir had been
t
them from oilice. By what did they fall? Theydesire
e to eject
them by
their own internal weakness.—(Cheers.) They fell by their
d confessed an notorious inability to conduct the businessof
the country.—(Loud cheers.) They fell by the n f
their friends.—(Hear, hear.) They fell by havinsgeceo
quar-
relled with their colleagues.—(Cheers.) They fell by their
inability to muster Commons
130 gentlemen in the House of
to give them 'support upon a question which they declared
to be fatal to their existence.—(Great cheering.) My Lords,
it was under these circumstances that we were called upon
tic! ant 1.149, ifiC9 j and I for one, and I thank my Noble