The Sun.
London, England, 1830-12-10 00:00:00

NEGRO SLAVERY.

Anti-Slavery petitions were presented by the Earl of
ROSEHERRY and the Marquis of BUTE.
Lord. TEYNHAM presented a petition from Mayo,
praying for the better application of the Parliamentary
grants for the education of the labouring poor.
The Nonx Loan also presented a petition from the
merchants and tradesmen in the counties of Middlesex and
Surrey, praying for a vote from Parliament for the cul-
tivation of waste lands.

The Earl of WINCHILSEA presented .a petition from
a place in Kent, praying for Parliamentary Reform, and
relief from Agricultural Distress. The petition attributed
the great distress under which the country at present
boured to the alteration of the currency, and the great
burthen of taxation.
0 STATE OF THE NATION.

Lord WYNFOItD rase for the purpose of making his
promised motion on this subject. In doing so, he confessed
he entertained fear, notfor the success of his motion, for he
felt confident of presenting such a case's would make it im
possible for the House to refuse 'his application. He was
afraid, however, lest in attempting to do a great deal of
good he might do some evil. He was afraid, lest ho should
add to the excitement which already prevailed in the country
to an enormous extent. With this, however, he felt satis-
fied, that nothing by possibility could fall from him which
was calculated to continue that excitement in the country,
and he hoped when the people of the country knew, as
he trusted they would do to-night, that Parliament and
Government were determined to do every thing to relieve
that distress, he trusted that the good sense of the people
of this country would, in justice to Parliament, do
every thing they could to put a stop to that die.
tress. He was persuaded that a great deal of the
disorder that prevailed arose from the existing distresses of
the country in all classes of society, but he did not consider
the fires which had of late taken place in different counties
were to be attributed to that cause. He was well aware
that when the English people were distressed they ex-
pressed themselves strongly and firmly upon that subject,
but they never resorted to such wicked means as
that of destroying their neighbour's property. He (Lord
Wynford) had no doubt that the patty who had done
this had been led on by parties whose only object was dis-
turbance,
and who had no interest in what he had done. If
any man doubted, however, of the distress that prevailed
in the county, he would ask him to take a journey for
fifty miles round London, and see the distress which pre-
vailed in every quarter. He would then see the number
of vigorous labourers out of employ, and the troops that
were employed upon useless and expensive labour. If this
did not satisfy him, let him attend a parish vestry—see
the difficulty of providing means for the support of the
poor, and mark the sudden transition from the tax payer
to the tax receiver. Let him look, too, at the immense
and rapid increase of crime—the necessary consequence of
distress. The Judges of the land were often called upon
to punish for offences which the wisdom of Parliament
ought to have prevented ; and no man could behold the
frightful increase of the calendars in different parts of the
kingdom during the lest two or three years, without being
convinced of the deplorable distress of the people at large.
Upon this point he begged to refer to a return chewing the
increase of offenders transported to New South Wale,. In
1825, the number was only 293; in 1826, it had in-
creased to the surprising extent of 1,815 convicts ; in
1827, it had risen to 2,587, while in 1828, there was
only a trifling reduction to 2,449 persons transported to
Botany Bay. It was impossible to present a more com-
plete picture or a more irrefragable proof of distress and
guilt. if be stopped here, he might be told by the Noble
Earl opposite (Grey), for wham he had the highest re-
spect, that what he had advanced could be inquired into
by the Committee at present sitting upon the Poor Laws.
This was true, for that Committee would not only inquire
into the state of the Poor Laws, but Into the actual con-
dition of those to whom the laws applied ; but to stop
there would be to do nothing—the Conimittee was
not empowered to go far enough. What were wanted
were funds for the relief of the poor, and with-
out these funds the inquiry would be little better. Allan use-
less. The other day the Committee had been very pro-
perly stopped, when it was proposed to extend its inqui-
ries ; but it was in vain to talk of the administration of
the funds for the relief of the poor, when there were no
funds to lie administered. Therefore he proposed to go
on to show what was the cause of the diminution of these
funds; and be could not refer to a higher authority upon
the subject than that of the late Secretary for the Home
Department, Sir It. Peel, who, in the debate to which be
alluded, had been followed by Mr. Huskisson, who, in
fact, had only said nearly the same thing in different
words. Sir R. Peel had said, that there was no want of
capital in the country—which had previously been urged
by a Noble Duke (Wellington)—but that capital was in
an unhealthy state; that it was in too few hands—that it
was kept in strong boxes. Another Hon. Gentleman, in
the same debate, also a considerable authority—Mr. Al-
derman Thompson—stated that the amount of capital was
not equal to the wants of society, in consequence of which
the tradesman was obliged to pay hie labourer in goods.
What must be the condition of any country where the ca-
pitalist locked his money in a strong box, instead of ad-
vancing it at interest fur the benefit of agriculture, com •
%tierce, and manufactures ? The state of things was
precisely this: speculations in trade and in land, how-
ever wisely projected or prudently executed, bad so
lamentably failed, that the capitalists rather preferred
to keep their money by them without profit, than
to lend it with so great a probability of loss.--
He did not want confidence en the present Ministers. It
was not the fault of this or of the preceding Government;
the country had been brought into this unhappy condition
by various circumstances, some of them beyond the con-
troul of any Cabinet ; but this fact rather increased the
obligation to investigate with a view to relieve. As had
been said on a previous occasion, the capital of the farmer
was exhausted ; lie had no means of employing the poor;
and this was a fact he was prepared, if necessary, to prove
at the Bar of the House. A great variety of causes for the
evil had been assigned by those who had spoken and
written upon the subject, to some of which he would
advert, in order to show that there was sufficient ground
f. r inquiry. It had been said, there had been a recent im-
provement in the manufacturing districts ; God grant that
that improvement might be permanent, but he much
feared that it would not be of long continuance ; these
dawning& of success would soon be overcast. Supposing
that the present state of the Continent bad given a sud-
den stimulus to our manufactures, when the Continent
became tranquil its own industry would revive and
the impulse in this country would be lost ; but lie feared
that the present activity was owing to the excess of
speculation, fur it was generally found in this country
that speculation outran the demand. The failure of
that speculation must be followed by corresponding
adversity. The late Earl of Liverpool had talked of
the evil arising from excessive production, but that
could not now be the cause of agricultur.il distress, as
no man could deny that the produce of the land within
the last few years had diminished to a frightful ex-
tent. If there were an extraordinary glut of manufactures,
it might perhaps be accounted for by the use of machinery.
Here lie begged to be understood, that he was no more an
enemy to the use of machinery than to any other means
of production, properly regulited ; but if the effect of it
were to overstock the market, it injured the manufac•
Curer, arid drone the workmen upon the poor rates.
The diminution of the quantity of the precious metals was
another alleged cause of distress, and upon this point also
inquiry seemed necessary, in order to ascertain whether
there should not be some alteration in the state of the cur-
rency. The Noble Lord, in noticing this point, dwelt
upon the loss produced by the difference of signiorege, and
by the moderu regulation of coining a pound of silver into
665. instead of 625. as formerly; end from thence be
proceeded to the question of the issue of small notes by
the Batik of England and country bankers, lie denied
that a re-issue of small notes would make an alteration in
the standard of value, or in the nature of contracts be-
tween individuals. The advantage of the issue would be
that accoinniodation could be given to those who needed
it. The Noble Duke (Wellington) in the last Session bud
asked—'! What ! will you give country bankers sn tudi•
united power of coining;" His reply was, that he could