The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY

Sir C. Wood and Mr. Stansfeld at Halifax.

HALIFAX, TUESDAY EVENING.

Sir C. Wood addressed a crowded meeting of his
constituents at the Odd Fellows' Hall in this town.
The Mayor of Halifax (Mr. Crossley) occupied the
chair, and opened the proceedings by calling upon
the senior member to address the meeting.
Sir C. WOOD commenced by observing that it was
now 30 years since he first represented Halifax—a
longer period than most members had sat for any
borough, and certainly longer than any minister
had represented one particular constituency. Since
the end of last session many questions had arisen on
which there had sprung up differences of opinion,
and he was only happy to take this opportunity of
explaining some part of his conduct, which had been
censured, as far as regarded his own department, and
to which recent circumstances had given an unusual
interest. It was only last June that he had in his
place in Parliament fully explained his views with
respect to the Government of India, and nothing had
occurred since to entertain any doubt that the policy
he had adopted was doubtful or injurious. Blame had
been imputed to him in no measured terms with re-
spect to Indian affairs, and he complained that state-
ments should have been made in the public papers,
which he had had no opportunity of answering, but
were not worthy of credit. Before he entered on the
question of India he wished to say a word upon the
general conduct of the Government. He admitted
that this Government had not carried a Reform
Bill, but the fact had been that the country had
been so occupied with other subjects, and particu-
larly with foreign affairs, that the warmest advo-
cates for Reform must admit that the general in-
difference manifested in the country evinced that
the present was not the time when it was advisable
to bring that question forward. He pointed, how-
ever, to the fact that measures of great importance
to the interests of the country had been passed by
Parliament, which had rendered great service in
improving the Tariff. The whole nation, but par-
ticularly the West Riding, had been largely bene-
fited by the opening of new markets, in conse-
quence of the Commercial Treaty with France,
which had compensated in a degree for the closing
of the cotton market, which had produced so much
misery in Lancashire, but which misery would have
been greatly augmented if there had been no such
compensation. It was most satisfactory to find that
although the excise revenue had fallen off in conse-
quence of the diminished consumption arising from
diminished wages, yet that the produce of the
Customs, stamps, post-office, and other departments
connected with the general trade of the country,
had been as progressive as in past years, which he
attributed to the enlightened policy in commer-
cial matters which had distinguished every suc-
ceeding Government within the last twenty
years. With respect to the increased expendi-
ture upon our national defences he was convinced
that it was forced upon the country by-the succes-
sive improvements in shipbuilding, which had ren-
dered it necessary to adopt the armour-plated ves-
sels, the cost of the smallest of which was greater
than the largest of our old men-of-war. The foreign
policy of the Government had met with the almost
unanimous approbation of the country, and it might
be described as a policy of non-intervention and the
preservation of the peace. They had sympathised
with all nations that were struggling for indepen-
dence and self-government. Their sympathies had
been given to the Italians, struggling for a united
Italy free from foreign bayonets and oppressive Go-
vernments, but the Government had not thought it
their duty to draw the sword in their behalf; they
had done their best to induce other Governments to
withdraw the obstacles they interposed to the unity
of Italy, but they had not, and in that they had the
unanimous concurrence of the country, thought fit to
go further than to give them advice, thus affording
a moral support to those who were struggling to
maintain freedom and constitutional liberty.
(Cheers.) In the case of Greece, it was not an un-
expected event that the late King should have been
forced to abandon his throne, or, rather, should
have been quietly dismissed in the most peaceful
and tranquil manner that ever befel a Sovereign in
the world. They had said the Greeks should be
suffered to take their own course, without any other
restrictions than that which provided that no mem-
ber of the royal family of the three great Powers
should be Sovereign of Greece. With that restric-
tion they might choose whom they pleased to rule
over them; and with respect to the lonian Islands,
of which we were cmstituted a protectorate for the
benefit of Europe, the British Government had ex-
pressed its entire willingness to cede them to Greece
as soon as any sound and firm Government was
established. There was one subject which deeply
affected our domestic interest, and that was the
state of America. 'Two sections of a great and
hitherto happy country, akin to us in language,
liberty, love, and feeling, are engaged in a most
unnatural internecine war, and exhibit a spectacle
which they must all, for the sake of humanity alone,
deeply lament, quite independent of the conse-
quences which it had entailed upon this country.
With respect to that war, the Government had
deemed it its duty to observe the most perfect neu-
trality and* impartiality. We had been, as might
have been expected, blamed on both sides—namely,
by the North for what had been called a too early re-
cognition of the belligerent rights of the South, and
by the South for not recognising them altogether.
He believed the British Government were right in
both cases. In the first place it was not done as a fa-
vour to the South, but because it was indispensable for
them to define the position in which vessels of the
South stood towards us. Either they were bellige-
rents, or they were pirates, and hardly any man in
England would say that a vessel holding a com-
mission from 7,000,000 or 8,000,000 of people, who
formed a de facto state, could be treated as a pirate.
(Hear.) On the other hand, when the French
Government invited the British Government to
interfere between the North and South they felt it
to be their duty to decline, not because they did not
sympathise with the amount of human struggling
in the country, or shrunk from anything that would
hold out a seasonable prespect of success in putting
an end to the contest now raging, but that they
believed that any offer of mediation which they
made at the present time would be sure to be refused,
and prevent taking such a course in future when
they might think that they had a chance of suc-
cess. That a better feeling might arise he could
not but hope, in which the Government would hold
itself perfectly free at any time to take a step which
it might think would be acceptable to both parties
for the sake of terminating this dreadful struggle.
He wished that he saw any symptoms of the abate-
ment of bitterness on either side, or any prospect of
speedy termination of the war. Neither party seem
to make much progress; after a struggle which had
lasted a year and a half both parties stood very
much as they were at the commencement. The
attacking party was always repelled, and even, as
on the last occasion, the utmost gallantry being
displayed of on the part of the assailants, one could
not but shudder at the spirit in which the war was
being carried on, and would to G:d that public ex-
pression of opinion would mitigate the horrors of
artegli
a sanguinary struggle between members of the same
race
and
one d thep samey is family
straggling and of
forth
the sumo
a e,
name,
far a ame,
in
which s
one could judge, seems to be hopeless, viz , the re-
constitution and re establishment of the Union.
Would that he could say the sufferings arising out of
this horrible war were confined to them, but the con-
sequence of their hostility has entailed an amount of
suffering here fearful to contemplate. He must say
that that distress had been borne with such fortitude,
such freedom from compl int, as had rendered the
people of Lancashire the admiration not only of the
country, but of the world,
for there never had been
an instance in which such an amount of suffering
had been endured with such patience find such
resignation. He must say, that whatever other
causes had been at work, he believed the education
which the working people now received and the
means which had been given them of becoming ac
quainted with all that passed, and so enabled them
to appreciate the difficulties of those who were
placed in a higher station in life that they knew
that no one in this country was to blame for what
had occurred, and they conse uentl bore their suf-
ferings with a fort' d q
itu e which was moat honour-
able to them ;nor could
they refuse to acknowledge

with approval the exertions made by the employers,
and, indeed, by the whole people of England, to
mitigate the distress. He could not doubt that the
effect would be to knit together in firmer bonds all
classes in the country, because in this instance it
has been shown that the sympathy of the rich was
gratefully extended to the sufferings of those who,
in consequence of circumstances entirely beyond
their control, had been deprived of their ordinary
means of support. The cause of that distress has
been, as they knew, the withholding of the Ameri-
can crops of cotton, the consequence of which had
been that great interest had been shown in respect
of cotton supply from India, Of late years six-
sevenths, or nine-tenths, of the cotton used in this
country had come from America, but it was only
of late years that this supply from America had
superseded that from all other countries. Many
causes had been assigned why the supply from
America had superseded that from other countries,
but he believed that its main reason was that its
price had been very far below the price of cotton
of equal quality produced elsewhere, and there had,
consequently, not been in India sufficient induce-
ment to grow in sufficient quantities to supply the
wants of this country. It was about 10 years since
he first commenced with the administration of
India, and he had hardly been installed in the office
of President of the Board of Control when the ques-
tion of cotton supply was brought before him. On
that occasion he consulted Lord Hardinge, who at
once saw that it was a simple question of price, and
that it it was rendered worth while to the root to
grow it_in India he could do so to almost any extent.
Everything that he had since heard or seen con-
firmed that opinion. When the danger of relying
on America solely for raw cotton first attracted the
attention of the people of this country, Govern-
ment made several experiments with respect to the
capability of the soil of India to the cultivation of
the cotton plant, and they:demonstrated both that
the land would grow it and that: the ryots would
cultivate tho plant if remunerative; but it was also
demonstrated that the manufacturer would not pay
the price for it which was necessary to render it re-
munerative, and the Government gave up producing
it, in the first place because it was not the duty of
the Government to grow cotton at a loss; and,
secondly, because, although Government work was
often very good, it was remarkable for never being
very cheap. Subsequent experiments have shown
j that cottcn could easily enough be grown in India
if there was sufficient inducement to do so, and last
June, at the very time that the Lancashire distress
was exciting the attention of the House of Com-
mons, the price of cotton was falling at Bombay.
As soon, however, as it became a certainty that the
prices in this country would rise and be maintained,
every available hundredweight of cotton that could
be obtained in India was sent to this country, and
India was so drained that native manufacturers bit-
terly complained that they could not get raw mate-
rials for their industry. About a month ago he
had heard from
a gentleman of high authority in
India that he had been through various districts
of the country, and had found the ryots plough-
ing up green crops a foot high in order to sow
cotton, and he (Sir C. Wood) saw by the papers that
the
though, a
cottonscultivationthey
he
h a dofnesystem
Indiawould be increased
by at least one-third in the course of the year,
of collecting agri-
cultural statistics there more than here, it was diffi-
cult to imagine how the result had been arrived at.
The laws of producing were regulated by demand.
Thus, indigo was produced as long as it paid, but
when the price of other commodities rose they
raised the
price for the cultivation of opium, and
they had no difficulty whatever in procuring a sup-
ply. The same might be said with respect to the
production of jute, linseed, and other agricultural
produce. Therefore, it was plain that if it were
made worth the while of the ryot to grow cotton
it would be grown. It had been suggested to the
Government to place a premium on the exportation
of the cotton from India ; to do so on the ground
of policy; and it was justified because, as he had
said, every pound of cotton that was possible to
send had been sent from India. He had also been
asked to apply for a vote of public money for the
relief of distress in Lancashire, but he felt that as
the money would have to come from the English.
and not from the Indian Exchequer, the proper
Minister to be applied to in such a case was the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. What he had to con-
sider in the government of India, was not the welfare
of the people of Lancashire, or even of the 50,000
Europeans in India, but the 180,000,000 natives—
(cheers)—and in this respect he held the doctrine of
the greatest benefit for the greatest number. That
was the true policy, and if he was to govern India
on just principles it was his duty to look to the happi-
ness of the great majority of the people whom he had
to govern. A proposal had been made to exempt land
in India devoted to the cultivation of cotton from the
land revenue, but that would be simply to divert a
portion of the revenue of India, because half the re-
venue of India was derived from the land, and he
could never be a party to such a proceeding. With
regard to the public works in India, they were pro-
gressing at a most astonishing rate, and there was
every reasontocobt
cotton
theasevwethraetadbyyththereetiwmoeuldb
enextat
year's crop of
least two main roads completed and available for its
transport out. Of the small Indian revenue, no less
a sum than between £11,000,000 and £12,000,000
would be this year expended in public works ; and
such had been the liberality of the Government in
renderine, assistance of that description that when
it had been found that there was, in consequence of
some miscalculation, an excess of three millions in
the Indian Loan, and he had sent out directions that
it could be applied to public works, the reply that
he received from the authorities in India was that
every available labourer was employed who could
be properly superintended, and that, notwithstand-
ing the ravages of fe-, er in many districts, there
were no less than 7,000 persons employed daily on
public works; so that it was perfectly plain that
the Government had done all that could be done to
foster and encourage them. With regard to the
charge that had been made with respect to the
changes in the resolutions of Lord Canning respec-
ting the sale of land, ho explained that the changes
were merely changes of detail, the principle being
that land should be surveyed before it was con-
veyed, and that instead of the price of waste land
being uniform, it should be put up to auction. The
Land Transfer Bill in India, by giving an indefeasi-
ble title, had encouraged the investing of British
capital to a surprising extent, and ho thought that
no one could doubt that the many reforms intro-
duced into India within the last few years would
do much to produce a happy and prosperous and
contented people, while India would become a
source of wealth as well as a glory to the English
nation. The right hon. baronet resumed his seat
amidst loud cheers, having spoken nearly two
hours.

Mr. STANSFELD was greeted with loud and en-
thusiastic applause. He said, the four years since
that town elected him, very much on trust—(cheers)
—had been years heavily laden with events of ab-
sorbing and sometimes painful interest—years tell-
ing greatly upon his mind, and during which it so
happened that he had not been once called upon to
address his constituents on subjects which now lay
nearest to his own thoughts; hence not merely
readiness, but eagerness, on his part to have the
opportunity of doing so, (Cheers.) Going back
to the commencement of this Parliament, the first
in which he had sat, they were returned, if he re-
membered aright, to pass a Reform Bill. (Cheers.)
He feared it was not in his power to say to-night
that they had exactly fulfilled their mission. (Much
laughter.) He did not know that he felt able to
congratulate his audience upon the progress which
had been made. He could say, however, what he
conceived to be the causes of failure, and what he
thought of the future of that great question, for
which a solution must yet before long be found.
The Government had not redeemed its pledges, and
the Liberal party in
the House did not hold it to
those pledges.
When this Parliament assembled
several parties had been bidding against each other
on this question. Still it seemed we had only to
decide what we would not accept. (Hear, hear.).
We exercised that right of choice upon the bill of
Lord Derby, but in doing so we forgot the element
of motive power. The Conservative party had no
sufficient interest
longer any in being reformers

14, 1863

after that rejection, and the dead weight of their '
passive resistance was a new obstacle, which neither
in the Liberal party in the House of Commons nor '
even in the country itself could there be discovered
motive power enough to overcome. Reform
collapsed, and, collapsing, left a stain upon
the Liberal escocheon which there was no future
for them until they wiped away. (Cheers.) In
these days two things were necessary for re-
form : first, popular will, whereas now the popular
attention was diverted to events abroad ; and,
secondly, the sincere and earnest application to the
solution of the question of the cultivated and the
influential thought and intelligence of the country.
The noble conduct of the working classes of Lanca-
shire was a lesson which would have its effect when
the time of action returned, for which be longed
with unabated though tempered zeal. (Cheers.)
He strongly approved the foreign policy of the pre-
sent Government, for which Italy was grateful.
(Cheers.) He regretted to see the new light that
had been thrown upon the Emperor's policy in that
country by the disaster of Garibaldi. Instead of
taking that opportunity to retire with dignity, as
it was sometimes called, from Rome, the Emperor
had declared he would hold Rome in the interests
of the Pope at all cost against the Italian nation.
(Shame.) Another ground of confidence in our
Government was the cession of the lonian Islands.
The Turks were an anomaly in Europe, and gradu-
ally relaxing their hold. He was not blind to the
danger of a precipitate dissolution of their empire,
and could understand what had been our past policy
in the East. It had beer. to defend Turkey rather
than the Turks. (Cheers.) But the peaceful revo-
lution in Greece, which gave signs of a fitness to
become the Piedmont of the East, gave hope of a
new and safer development of our policy. His
reasons might not be those of our Government for
ceding the islands, but they were the reasons of
the Conservative opposition to it. (Hear, hear.)
The most momentous event since this Parliament
began was the American war. Ho would not
attempt to grapple with that subject to-night.
He entered not into the merits or demerits of the
various parties in America, but he should leave the
platform with a sense of duty unfulfilled were he
not to say that he regretted with a profound
grief the current of public opinion, as inter-
preted by society and the press for the Southern
cause. The successes of the South would be a
triumph for our day and generation of a system of
society founded on slavery. (Cheers.) The state of
sympathy that had been shown was not creditable to
this country. (Cheers.) Whatever might be its
explanation, it was assureuly not the child of
charity, nor the offspring of any principle, nor of
any faith. (Cheers.) Sir Charles Wood bad not
felt at liberty to touch on the subject of national
expenditure. He (Mr. Stansfeld) had long regarded
the question of retrenchment as one which, in the
logic of events, must become prominent, when other
recent measures, such as the French commercial
treaty, had been accomplished. The crop of amend-
ments produced by his motion last session abundantly
justified that opinion. (Laughter.) Both the Pre-
mier's and the Conservative amendments pledged
them to economy. (Cheers.) He adhered now to
the course he then took, and upon the path he then
entered he should unhesitatingly proceed. (Loud
cheers.) Report said that some retrenchment was
now in prospect. He did not claim all the credit,
but as there were " ennobling statutes," so his mo-
tion had been an " ennobling motion"—(cheers)—
rendering economy more easy of attainment. He
disagreed with objectors who would have had him
look to economy solely, and be indifferent to all other
questions. He had not refused the support of the
Conservatives for his motion, except by denouncing
the terms on which it was offered. He could con-
ceive of no system of party tactics more shortsighted
or more fatal than a system which would allow the
question to be put as the leader of the Opposition
had wit enough to desire—namely, as an alternative
between a liberal foreign policy, necessarily accom-
panied by extravagant expenditure and a large
economy, at the price of retrogression abroad. Mr.
Stansfeld sat 'down amid great cheering, having
I spoken for an hour.

Several questions having been put to the members
and answered apparently to the satisfaction of the
meeting, a vote of thanks to the hon. gentleman was
passed unanimously, and the meeting broke up at a
quarter-past 11.

Mr. Kinglake, M.P., and his Constituents.

-

On Monday evening Mr. A. W. Kinglake, one of th 3
members for Bridgewater, addressed
,a crowded meeting of
his constituents at the Town-hall. Mr. J. L. Sealy pre-
sided, and, in a brief address, introduced the hon. gentle
man.

Mr. KINGLIKE, on rising, was greeted with loud applause.
He said,— Gentlemen, this excellent habit of ours of occa-
sionally meeting between the sessions of Parliament is one
of the features of the British Constitution which has never,
I think, been understood by foreigners. Not long after I
had an opportunity of addressing you last year I witnessed
an instance of this deficiency on the part of foreign nations
that are most desirous of imitating our institutions. After
my last address to you it came to my knowledge that the
observations I had then the honour to make had been,
through the wonderful agency of the press, conveyed to
people who were labouring to complete their representative
institutions at a great distance from this country. 1 allude
to a place called Pole, on the other side of the Adriatic. In
ono part of my speech I had spoken of a conversation I had
had here with some of my friends on the Cernhil:. Well,
this struck these foreigners as the most extraordinary thing
in the world. They said,—" Now we see where Mr. King-
lake gets his opinions from. It seems, after all, that he does
not get his opinions from books, like our German profes-
sors; he does not even get them from his own blue-books,
but he gets them from his constituents, from the borough
of Bridgewater," and they said, what they want is a few
places like the borough of Bridgewater. (Hear, hear.) Well,
gentlemen, the last Session of Parliament has not been what
is called a " showy" Session. There have' been a number of
useful measures passed, but I think I should weary you if I
were to attempt to give you a catalogue of the bills passed,
and I believe I shall best perform what is expected of me if
I touch on one or two of the most prominent. (Hear.) Of
all the subjects which engrossed the attention of Parliament
there was none, I think, which, upon the whole, was more
exciting than the old question of church rates. (Hear.)
There was, gentlemen, as you know, upon the discussion of
the subject, a very full House of Parliament assembled,
there was a very close division, and in the result we ware
beaten, I am sorry to say, by a majority of one. You must
recollect that we were ranged under the banner of a pri-
vate member. A more excellent leader than Sir John Tre-
lawny could not have been selected in the House of Com-
mons ; but we were not a party such as could have been
ranged under the Ministry in power, or uncles the leader of
the Opposition. It is very well known that we did not in
the slightest degree whatever desire to destroy the Estab-
lished Church of England, but to get rid of an impost which
we believe to be a wrong one. (Applause.) Well, but
gentlemen, we were not met by antagonists who fought us
at all upon that principle, but by antagonists who came
ranged against us with the whole strength of the Conserva-
tive Party—nay, more, with the cry of " The Church in
danger," and you may well conceive, when that old appeal
is resorted to, it must give a great advantage to those who
rely upon it. (Hear.) We all know in the great game of
politics certain implements are required to play with. As
in the game of cricket, bats, balls, and stumps are neces-
sary, so in the great game of Conservative politics you re-
quire "The Church in danger," and it was brought out;
but if you reflect for a moment you will, I think, come to
theconclusion that for an anxious and timid Churchman it
was not so very pleasant as he might at first think it to be
to find that that great institution was, according to his way
of putting it, saved from destruction by a majority of one.
It was my fate during the last session of Parliament to be
almost a constant supporter of her Majesty's Government.
You well know, for I have proved it by tho steps I have
taken since I have been in Parliament, the support I give
to her Majesty's Government is not a servile support, nor
has it been given merely because they aro the Government
in power. It was my fate on one occasion to take the
very first step which expelled the present Prime Minister
from office, and therefore it may well be supposed that I am
not a person who would unworthily and unjustly be a sup-
perterof the Government of which the noble lord is the head.
I have been a supporter of her Majesty's Government on
principle. (Hear, hear, and applause.) During the last
session of Parliament there was only one occasion upon
which I bad the misfortune to differ from her Majesty's
Government. Those who have done me the favour to ob-
serve my humble career in the House of Commons will have
noticed that if there has been any one thing more sure to
rouse my attention than any other it is that which occurs
when a British subject suffers Wrongs at the hands of a
foreigner. (Hear, and applause.) You will have observed
that from the days of the Cagliari down to the present time
I have never asked to what party a British subject so in-
jured might belong. It is enough for sue that he is a fellow
subject of mine. (Hear, hear.) I have never put forward
any claims which I believed unjust or exaggerated, but when
I have found a British subject suffering any wrong I have
done my best to obtain for him justice. (Hear, hear.) In
the last session of Parliament we
were compelled to know
that an English
gentleman had been deprived of a great

deal of property through the insurrection in Italy. There
was for several hours an animated debate upon the subje▪
ct,
and the Government for some time firmly resisted the
clam which I and the gentlemen acting with me put 1-7-
ward on behalf of this injured British subject, but I rej▪
oice
to know that notwithstanding the resistance which was
made by seVetal members of the Government, Lord Palmer-
ston, who is seldom wrong upon a question of this kind, at
length said that justice should be done. (Hear, hear, and
applause.) Therefore, gentlemen, any difference with the
Government did not last longer than the period of the
debate. (Hear, hear.) Of all the events which have oc -
curred since we last met there is none that has so great an
importance as the terrible dislocation of industry which
has been brought about in the north of England, partly, it
would seem by the failure of the supply of cotton, partly
by a loss of the accustomed markets, and partly, as I be-
lieve, by the excessive overtrading which had preceded the
existing crisis. But, gentlemen, how grandly the crisis has
been met. (Hear.) Look at the patience with which those
severe sufferings have been endured. I don't speak merely
of the bountiful supply which has been pouring in to re-
medy the disaster from every corner of the land ; but I would
speak rather of the wonderful energy, skill, and firmness
with which the country has looked this evil in the face, has
probed it, and found out its full extent, without for a mo-
ment exaggerating it. See how the press has dealt with
this subject. The organs of the press have sent their com-
missioners into the suffering districts; and these gentle-
men have ascertained exactly the amount of distress there
is in those places, and have thus saved you from the great
calamity which results from a disaster being exaggerated.
(Hear.) Gentlemen, there is one subject which must
i neces-
sarily be deeply interesting to all of us, and that s the
present amount of the public expenditure. (Hear.) It
appears to have been the result of those changes whi▪
ch
took place many years ago that a good deal of expenditure
is habitually incurred by the State for what I may call
civil purposes as distinct from military and naval pur-
poses. It has been an increase which has taken place with
the full assent, nay, more, at the earnest instance of the,
people of England themselves. There are other portions of
our expenditure of a more questionable kind. I say that
until the matter has been looked into there are few matters
on which the people of England would less like to spend
their money than upon fortifications. (Hear.) But when we
come to consider that which I call the home of the navy,
then it is a very different question. You all know that
our very existence depends upon our navy. We cannot be-
come a second rate Power. (Hear, and applause.) We
must be what wo are, or perish out of the face of the world.
(Renewed applause.) Well, you know that ships of war
don't spring out of the ocean, but come from places called
ports and arsenals; and therefore it is necessary that these
places should be rendered perfectly secure. (Hear, hear,
and applause.) It is a mere spot you have to defend—a
few hundred acres out of all England ; but these few acres
it is absolutely necessary should be rendered perfectly se-
cure. The mass of mankind agree that that must be; and
then comes the question how they must be fortified. One
man says, " There's nothing like leather," and you have
a multiplicity of suggestions how this is to be done,
When I have heard these questions discussed in the
House of Commons I have ventured to say what
I now repeat, that where a variety of sugges-
tions come, some from artillery, some from naval, and same
from military, some from clergymen, some from all por-
tions of the community, I must have somebody to decide,
I cannot decide ; no member of Parliament can decide. I
say I must submit to the judgment of a proper man, and I
do not know any person to whose judgment I would more
confidently submit than the noble lord who happens to be
at the present moment the Prime Minister of England.
(Hear, hear, and applause.) I must admit to you that in
the expenditure for naval purposes there has been a consi-
derable misdirection of the public money— (hear, hear)—
and I hope that I shall not be regarded as saying any-
thing paradoxical if I proceed to tell you what my opinion
is—namely, that no blame is attributable to our
public men on that account. A great transition has
taken place in naval architecture. There are, again, some
matters in which a quiet, despotic ruler can steal a march
of two or three months, and possibly of years, on a free
State, as, for instance, in the matter of invention. Compare
the situation of the Duke of Somerset, who is at present
First Lord of the Admiralty, with that of the Emperor of
the French, We will suppose that both of them see at the
same time the advantage of iron cased vessels. Do you
imagine that they can both carry out the idea at the same
moment. The Emperor of the French has ample means, he
has an unbounded command of the public purse, he is able
to command secrecy, and he can at any time, and at once,
cause to be tried all the costly experithents of seeing
whether his invention will hold good or not. He keeps on
hand an engineer whose duty it is to be always studying how
to steal a march upon the English navy. (Hear, hear.)
Suppose the Duke of Somerset tries to do the like.
Suppose he comes down to Parliament with a new idea
that he proposes to carry out. He is met by men, each of
whom, perhaps, is practically equal to him as regards know-
ledge of the matter, and they tell him that his proposal is
merely a crotchet. The consequence is that a year or two
elapses before it is seen whether it is a valid contrivance or not.
(Hear.) Therefore, you must not be too ready to complain of
your public men for not bringing forward these contrivances
for the destruction of the human race, which have been more
rapidly brought to perfection in a neighbouring State-
(llLar, hear, and applause.) We are not upon an equality,
and it is best to confess it. We have not the secrecy which
they have on the other side of the water. (Hear, hear.) We
have not the pecuniary resources for testing the value of
any new contrivances. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, when
I last addressed you I had occasion to congratulate you
upon the thoroughly noble attitude in which you stood at
the time when the outrage of the Trent was suffered. (Hear,
hear, and applause.) I am now able to congratulate you
upon the result. (Applause.) Unfortunately, the state of
affairs in America has not improved since then. Our Go-
vernment has been abstaining from action in this strife. The
Government has done nothing in it, and Parliament has
been helping Government—(hear, hear, and a laugh)—as
you may say; but I think you will, upon consideration, be
induced to say that our Legislature has not been wrong in
the course which it has taken. (Hear, hear, and applause.)
If you look at what is passing in the United States of Ame-
rica, you will, I am sure, be inclined to agree with me that
the Government has not erred. (Hear.) Many, I know,
are anxious that the States of the South should be recog-
nized. (Hear.) Well, gentlemen, I am ono of those who
would not refuse England's recognition of the Southern
States merely on the ground that recognition might be dis-
pleasing to the States of the North. (Hear, hear.) The
States of the South claim the whole of the State of Louis-
iana, including New Orleans, which is in the possession
of the Government of the North, and there is conse-
quently a great cavity, so to speak, in the entirety of the
Southern States. the principle to govern a recognition
of the Southern States is to suppose them to be in pos-
session of the whole of the Southern States.
Then there is the question of mediation. (Hear.) That is
a question which arises to all who love peace and desire to
stop the terrible extermination of a race which is going on
on the other side of the Atlantic, but for it to be a success-
ful mediation you must have the goodwill of both the bel-
ligerent States. (Hear.) That is unfortunately what we
don't possess, but I think that is no fault of ours. (Hear.)
We have the goodwill of the Southern States, but we have
failed to gain the goodwill of the people of the Northern
States. They have been indulging in language which, had
it been used by a State in Europe, would undoubtedly have
brought about long before this an interruption of diplomatic
relation between the two Powers. (Hear, hear.) But, after
all, there is a sort of cousinship between us, which pre-
vents us from taking these things in too serious a way,
I am inclined to think that, much as we have heard of the
declaration of independence of 1777, that independence
is not complete. , (Hear, hear.) I find them looking per-
petually to England. An American gentleman is conti-
nually searching through the peerage in the hope of find-
ing himself connecte i with some English nobleman. (A
laugh.) Other American gentlemen there are who go to
our Herald-office and trace a pedigree for themselves, and
you know that they are as partial as we are to our Royal
family. (Hear, hear.) But, on the ether hand, nothing can
be more abusive than the language which they now fre•
quently employ as regards this country. But we know they
are out of humour with us, and that is the reason why we
treat them as we do. We have had in the course to this
year a great and fortunate escape. I allude to the expedition
to Mexico. There were certain money demands which this
country, Spain, and France had against Mexico, and these
three States agreed to go there together and enforce them-
Well, gentlemen, the three States sent out together an ex-
pedition, but no sooner did that expedition arrive on the
coast of Mexico than it appeared that France had enor-
mously exaggerated her claims, and that instead of seek-
ing just money demands from the Government of Mexico,
she was intent upon establishing there a monarchy,
and setting up there a monarch of her own choice. (Hear.)
It appeared that a gentleman not high in the diplomatic
service, but, as it fortunately happened, a man of high cou-
rage and great honour, immediately detected thitteshieca:eanwewr:ihsebaekitanchesikddeet
:at
nhlaaooei
had its
imi‘eiltdoetsroi
Mexican
ccettaahwhnraear
ncyr
climate,
jo,mkuuebsat,
seems
intentions.ee fraudreseumjlost ocwtnehaatts
oth
thattesha(eyH terrible parttFe ha that
FcuersTnatwahinctaacuesety
leweaoaf
stSfs
had not been known before, is now well known to the Em-
peror of the French. I think you will agree with me that
it is a good subject for congratulation that we are now free
from everything connected with that affair. (Hear, and
applause.) There is now, I think, Only one other subject
upon which I need trouble you with any observations, and
that is the proposed cession of the lonian Islands. I must
own to something like surprise when I awoke one morni▪
ng
and found that her Majesty's Government had taken steps
for ceding a part of what I will venture to call her Majes-
ty's dominions. These islanders had, at least, since 1815,
enjoyed our protection, and we had constituted for them a
sort of House of Commons. They did not like the drudgery
which we have to perform in our House of Commons, so
they each year obtained a sort of notoriety by saying they
would like to be annexed to the neighbouring state of Greece.
I don't know whether what Government has done is to be
regarded as a kind of practical joke upon these people, but
it appears that they are to have their prayer granted ; and
now that it is so I think I see on their part signs of a desire
to retract the petitions which they have year by year pro-
sented to the English Crown. In the document sent to

them it was also distinctly stated tb at when they were an.
ne.;;.cef to Greece they were not to er ebark in any aggressive
policy. I see, however, the othi a. day they had a sort o
Te Deunt, a sort of jubilate celebration of the event; but at
the celebration they specially men tioned that they were to
have a crusaul.e against all the ene. lilies of wh at they call the
Hellenic race, ~'ery clearly showing, to my Laind, that tney
did not mean to accept the terms of the Gove, mment of this
country. My no tion is that this is really a a ailitary and a
naval question. ',lle lonian. lalat ids were inti rusted to us,
not merely as a ftlather in the -English crow 'n, but as a
means of enabling Er tgland to maintain that naval dominion
which, give me leave to Itay, is not necessary to the life and
honour of England, but to the honour and safety Europe.
(Bear, hear.) It was intrusted to England for that put:•
pose, and must not be lightly parted with. (H.ear, hear.)
i repeal,in my opinion this cession is to be jr ratified only
p
gound that th is State is not necessary as a naval
sOtion. I trust her Majesty's. Government
uont he
omraa arymshiloitwtyhat it so, andif it be, I shall gladly support
them, because the cession. will save something from the
public expenditure. (" Ih 'Ar, hear, and applause.) Well,
gentlemen, these are the views—(A voice—•" The Game
Laws.") lam glad that a crentleman. has reminded me of
the Night Poaching Act. (-1. tear, hear.) 3ly impression
is that that change in the law v, 'as one of the: most arbitrary
kind, for it interfered unduly with what I may call the
liberty of the subject. (" Hear, hear," ant I applause.) It
gave any policeman, and, indeed, I believ e anybody else,
the power to search a person on the mere su. spicion that he
had game upon him ; and besides being so, obvious an in-
vasion of the liborty of the subject, this act was so clumsily
and so prepostormoly worded that I came to the conclusion
that it ought not to pass into law. (" H Bar, hear," and
applause.) I think I may without much hesitation assure
you that that bill will v,sry soon have to g b before Parlia-
ment for amendment, aud when it does it will be dealt
with in a very different spirit from that in which it was
dealt with at the fag end of the past Session. ("Hear, hear,''
and loud cheers.)
A vote of thanks and confidence was passed to the hon.
gentleman, and the meding sepaiated.

COUNTRY MARIZEI 'S.

.--Nb.,

LIVERPOOL—TuLsDA.I
At our market to-day there was a fair a ftendance of the
town and country trade, but lew buyers• f, rom a distance.
Only a retail demand lGr wheat, but hole ler. s insisted upon
full prices. A dull business in flour, at 14 e rates. Oats
and oatmeal sold at former. rates, with a r. tolerate demand.
Barley, beans, and peas in retail. Indian War firm, with a
good consumptive business.

MARKET HARBOROTTGII—Tt tESDAY.
White wheat, 48s to 54e ; red, 46s to 5, le per 36 stone.
Barley at 36s to 40s per qr., grinding 30s to .32s per 30 st.
Oats, 28s to 325; new, 20s to 24s per 24 et. ;, beans, 38s to
45s per qr.

SHEFFIELD—TUESDAY.
The supply of wheat and other grain was an average, and
the attendance was moderately good. The bast qualities of
both old and new wheat realised av advance oIF 6d per load.
Good malting barley advanced lo to 2s per qr, but grinding
sorts were dull. Good oats at late rates, inforior almost
unsaleable. Flour ld per 141 b higher.
Red wheat, per load of 3 imperial bushels...2oB Od to 21s 03
White 7 Od to 24s 6cl
New red ...1G,3 Od to ilis Od
New white „
Beans -
Peas, per qr • ))
Grinding barley, per qr
Maltingditto, „ .....
52123
65084 is
ot
Odoo tttt
00000
64231
09021
00066
ada:
..... .
Oats 22s Od to 30s Od
Flour, is 9d to 2s 2d pt:r stone.

LEEDS—TUESDAY.
To-day at our market there was a fair inquir.y for wheat.
at fully late prices. Fine barleys also as dear. Oats and
other articles unaltered.

MELTON MOWBRAY—TUESDAY.
The following were the currencies : .—New white wheat!
508 Od to 56s Od; new red, 456 Od to 52s per 36 stone►
beans, 45s for old; new sorts, 34s to 38s per 38 st;,',
barley, 35s to 39s for malting, and 28s to 30s per qr.
grinding; oats, 23s to 34s Od per 24 stone.

DUBLIN-'

'ITESDA.Y.

a. d. a. d.
Wheat, white 26 0 to 28 6
Do., red 23 0 to 26 0
Do. new
Barley
Oats
Do., black lO 0 to 12 0

Beans.. 284d0 to 20742.
Bere l2 0 to 13 v
o
Rapeseed -
Oatmeal l3 6 to 15 °
Bakers' flour
Indian corn

Foreign Mail Packet List.