The Sun.
London, England, 1822-05-08 00:00:00

' which had been in warehouses for a certain time. Now, with
respect to the scale of duty, the Hon. Member for Somerset-
shire proposed 405., which he afterwards offered to reduce to
355. ; but he might as -.well have said that we should not have
any importation of foreign corn at all, unless the price could be
Unnaturally forced up, _for a duty of 355., with the addition of
10s., the.expense of importation, would amount to an actual
prohibition. It would be quite impossible that' the foreign
grower could ever supply us upon such terms. If the Honour-
able Baronet supposed that an expenie of 455. could be
chargettonsan article that already cost Bffs. in the market, he
supposed a 'measure that, if carried, could not last for a
week. He would ask if the House would not repeal the
Bill in one sitting ? He could not conceive any delusion
greater than to sanction such a principle. As to the pro-
position of the Honourable Member for Wiltshire, it par-
took so much of the nature of the other that he could by
no means agree to it. The Honourable Member proposed
a duty of '24a., which, with the 10s. added, made 345.
a charge infinitely too high to remain as fixed, when the
price rose to 80a. This, likewise, amounted to nothing
short of a direct prohibition, and could not be admitted as
a general principle. Looking to the proposition of the lion.
Member for Portarliagton, he found that it was for having
a fixed duty always in operation, and that it should he eegu-
lated on a moderate scale. This proposition differed from
that of his Right Honourable Friend, inasmuch as his Right
Honourable Friend would make his duty of 15s. not fixed in
all cases, but liable to alteration according to circumstances.
It appeared that the lion. Member for Portarlington so far
agreed with the Hon. Member for Somersetshire and the Hon-
ourable Member for Wiltaliire as to propose that a flied
duty should be continued under any circumstances of the
market. But he (the Marquis of Londonderry) would con-
tend that it was impossible to have a fixed duty after • the
prices rose to a certain height ; and he would not hesitate
to say that, from his own views of the question, he should
prefer a fixed duty, without any import price at all. It
was quite clear that, in the present unnatural state of sup-
ply, no fixed duty could be adopted,, for it must he regue
lated with reference to the price in the market, which now
was not to be taken as a standard fur ordinary years.—
He could wish that the :House were to get rid of ihe.com-
plexity of the law with respect to the averages ;"'but this,
was not the time for making„ the experiment: Public opi-
nion was against it. HOW could, he persuade those to try
it who were against lowering the prices of corn from 80s.
to 70s. the quarter ? If •he could for a moment bring him-
self to believe that it would be wise ,or prudent to adopt the
proposition 'of the Hon. Member for Somersetshire, 'or that
of the Hon. Member for Wiltshire, he should readily give
either . his support; but he found that both were at variance
with every principle of, sound policy. He came now to con-
sider the more moderate duty proposed by the Committee,
that of 12s. ; and he might be allowed to inquire what must
be its effects, if there were no change in the duty till the Price
rose to 80s., the market price being 90s ? The duty of 155., as
proposed by his Right Hon. Friend, 'with the 10s. addition,
would make 3 charge of 255. ; and supposing the price to be
90s. in the market, 255. taken from it would leave 655. to the
foreign importer. It was then to be considered what quan-
tity of corn would be thrown into the market by such a regu-
lation. The value of corn on the Continent was entirely
below the standard of former years; arid here he wished to
correct an error into which some pee-sons had been led re-
specting a statement of his on this subject. He had never
denied that corn might be brought into this country at 30s.
the quarter, for corn was now in a state of unnatural de-
pression all over the world, and, he knew that it might be
got out of our own warehouses at 358. ; but it was to 'be
observed that this was not a remunerating price ; and 'legis-
lating, prospectively not for an unnatural but a natural
state of things,.the House would not take it as a standard.—
He had said,that, according to the proposition of his Right
Hon. Friend, the. foreign importer would have a clear price
of 655. Now let them see what quantity of corn this would
' bring into the market. It would certainly bring in, all the
corn in the warehouses, which at present was an immense
quantity. This he thought was a risk that ought not to be
run in an unnatural state of the market. A fixed duty
would certainly be vary desirable ; but it was not to
be reconciled to the price in this country, which must
always be influenced by that on the Continent. An influx
of foreign corn must invariably keep the market down,
and he knew of no remedy against the effect of importa-
tion but to take, in aid of duty, an . import price. He was
willing to allow that it might be advantageous if the principle
of an import price could be got rid of altogether, but at pre-
sent that was quite impossible. The Noble Marquis, after
recapitulating some of his former arguments upon this point,
then sproceeded to read two extracts from the Report of the
Agricultural Committee of last year, with the view of show-
ing that, though the Committee thought a fixed duty advisable,
yet:it conk! not be adopted in the circumstances of i:•.e country,
nor could ary thing more be effected than a modification of the
existing law,• suited to the necessity of the occasion. The Corn-
mittee
said that we had no; arrived at that state of things in
which a sound and permanent principle could, be adopted with
respect to the Corn Laws. His own opinion certainly was, that
no such alterationliad taken place since last year, as woulil ad-
mit of the experiment being now made. Ile had no doubt what:::
ever that if we were in a natural state of things; the proposition
of his Right lion. Friend might be adopted with great advan-
tage ; but as the circumstances of the country now stoodeit did
not appear to afford -sufficient security. He knew thdt there
were many who wished, if possible, to get rid of the Corn
Laws by sonic measure which should be conclusive. Such
a measure was certainly. xery desirable, but he was persuaded
that this was not the time for carrying it into effect. All par-
ties were anxious to cometo some decision, and the Hon.
Member for Portarlington evinced as great a disposition to ac-
commodate as could be expected foam an individual tenacious of
a particular principle. However, that Hon. Member proposed
two points of duty, which appeared incompatible with each
other. But now he thought that the House could not do
better than to take a measure of adequate precaution,
suited to the character of the present times. The proposi-
tion which he had himself submitted to the Committee, he
thought calculated to open a more ample field to commerce
than that which they finally agreed to ; but as the latter was
preferred, lie thought it proper to acquiesce. The Committee
proposed a duty of 12s. with an augmentation of ss. for
warehousing. Having offered these observations as to his own
views of the subject, he should now submit the proposition of
the Committee to the House, and he hoped that a difference of
two or three shillings in the scheme of duty proposed en a mo-
derate scale would not have the effect of embarrassing the
House while deciding on so important a question. There was
nothing. which was more to be deprecated than aggravated pro-
tection, and any impression of that nature was calculated to
agitate and disturb the public mind. The Noble Marquis con-
cluded some further observations to the same effect, by moving
the third Resolution, upon which, lie said, the debate might
take place.
Sir T. LETHBRIDGE defended the arguments he had
hitherto advanced on the question. He admitted that it was '
the duty of the House to legislate for the whole people, and
not for any particular class ; and he was greatly misunder-
stood if he was supposed to advocate the contrary principle.
If there ever was a time when the state of the country called
for a different system from that which now prevailed, it was
the present. He thought that a duty of 355. could not be
thought too high, when the state of the market was consider-
ed. An experienced merchant in the City informed' him
that he could supply him with wheat at 265. the quarter.—
It was said that the present law gave the landholder a mono-
poly, but this he altogether denied. In February, • 1819,
not less than 2,500,000 quarters of corn were imported, and
of that glut 800,000 quarters yet remained in warehouses.—
It was no wonder that English buttee could not fetch 6d. a
pound, when Dutchmen sold theirs for 3d. a pound, and got
a good profit by it, after paying the freight and duty. The
English cheese experienced a similar fate. Therefore it
was in vain to look at this question simply with a reference
to corn ; and if protection was not carried much farther, the
agriculture of the country could not support itself. This
was the time then to protect agriculture and it was abso-
lutely necessary to do so. As to the public creditors, it was
:unjust that they should receive the whole of their interest
solong as the country was in its -present dreadful state.—
(Hear, hear !)e--and it was high time also to cut off the tail
of the Right Honourable Secretary's Bill, which passed three
years ago. It was with these views lie should now bring
forward the Resolutions lie had to propose. It had been
said that we could grow our own consumption ; and if that
was :the . case, what necessity could there be for importa-
tion ? It was treating the landholders with the greatest levity
.to legislate on the principle of the Resolutions that came from
the other side of the House ; and he believed the day was not
•far distant when the landed interest would be annihilated, un-
less they stood firm by each other in defence of their rights,
and in opposition to the miserable systems of economy origmat-
ing with Ministers. The Hon. Baronet concluded with mov-
ing as au amendment, a Resolution, declaring that it was ex-
pedient for the protection of agriculture against foreign compe-
tition, that certain rates of duties should be laid on importation,
higher than those already proposed. It stated the duty on wheat •
at 355. per quarter, and proportionate duties on all other articles
of foreign produce, being of the same kind as those produced
by. English farmers.
The Resolution and Amendment having been put from the
Chair,
Sir F. BURDETT rose.—lie was disposed to agree to what
had been said by the Hon. Bart. rather than to what had fallen
from the Noble Lord. The Hon. Member had, however, made
a complaint that there was no disposition to hear him on behalf
of the landed interest. He could say on his own part that he
certainly had paid the great:eat. attention. 'He considered all the