The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-18 00:00:00

EVENING SU N

was at the head of a united Government, he (Lord Pal-

. _
merston) would venture to predict that he would re-
quire not the five months during which Parliament
would be prorogued, but, five years.—(Hear, hear.)
But he (leerd Palnedston) did not think that the
him Considering
toi t n
o thew
Ivant of leisure steed pwenented the Right Hon. Baronet
Prot;:
now—this w bileeseeekg
.i.s Noble Friend did not
urge
or 2ext week—but his
Noble Friend'ohjected justly that this
einestion, having
been broached since the spring of the year, top heads of .
the new Government had ample time to form an nyinion
on the subject, and Parliament should not now be croe
rogued till the beginning of February next, leaving the
whole country in aeeate of uncertainty, not as to whit
Government intended to propose, but whether they would
propose any.change at all. As to himself (Lord P.) and
those lately in power, they had been performing most
disagreeable offices, and nothing could be more
pleasing than a prolongation of relaxation from business
at the present time, but when a question was to be con-
sidered which involved the interests of a great portion of
the community, the Right Hon. Baronet was not justified
in the course he intended to adopt. But the Eight Hen.
Baronet said they expected him to state his views, and
asked, would even they themselves now sta=nd by the mea-
sures which they proposed? He (Lord Palmerston) re-
plied, undoubtedly they would. The Right Hon. Baronet
said if by bad weather the price ,of corn had risen to
80s. or 905., would they dare to propose their fixed duty
of Bs. ? The Right lion. Baronet talked of the price
rising high in this country ; if he assumed that the
price had risen very high in the countries from
which the corn was to come, then, indeed, he might say
that the increased price and expense of importing it
would be too great to admit of bringing it into the coun-
try. But it was here that the price rose. The constant flow-
ing of a supply of corn under a fixed duty would prevent
those fluctuations which were now the cause of great
suffering to the people, and an injury to the interests of
the country. He did say that they would stand by their
budget, and they had a right to know the measures
which Hon. Gentlemen opposite would stand by. What-
ever might be the weight of the assertions of the Right
Hon. Baronet as to his having little leisure for those con-
siderations during the few days in which he was engaged
in forming a Government, when he (Lord P.) saw
that Government, he could well understand the trouble
of forming it. He was not in the least disposed to un-
derrate it, but he maintained that Parliament ought not
to be sent to the right about till February next, leaving
the country in total ignorance whether they were to leave
the Corn-law as it was, or whether they meant to modify
the sliding scale, or whether they were for a system of
fixed duty, and intended to propose that to Parliament.
That was the opinion which they maintained, and they
would not oblige Hon. Gentlemen by giving. them .an
opportunity of counting cn that question theill great
majority. Still he thought the country would be of
opinion that both the agricultural and the manufacturing
interests should be informed as to the intentions of Go-
vernment ; and all parties should feel that now the
country should not let the Parliament separate for so
long a period without coining to any decision.—(Hear.)
Well, then, the Right Hon. Baronet said that proposal
was made to show how little • they had considered the
question ; that in the budget, for instance, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer was wrong even on his own
showing. And, first, with regard to timber. The Right
Hon. Baronet stated that even according to the calcula-
tion of the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, the change
in the timber duty would not produce the amount calcu-
lated. And why ? What proof did lie propose ? Any-
thing stated by his (Lord P's.,) Right Hon. Friend ? No-
thing. Anything stated by the budget ? Nothing ;
but an opinion of the Governor-General of
Canada and a Report of the House of Commons.—
(Hear, hear.) Why, the simple answer to that
was, that whatever weight was justly due to that opinion
or recommendation that was not the measure the late.
Government had proposed to Parliament, and therefore
that elaborate argument fell entirely to the ground,
because it rested not upon the late Government 'a pro-
posal, but on an opinion of Lord Sydenham, and a re-
commendation of a Committee of the House of Corn-
mons.—(Cheers.) The same with regard to sugar,
The Right. Hon. Baronet said that they (the late .Go-
vernment) had reckoned that so much foreign sugar
would be imported to pay the higher duty, but he said
the quantity of British sugar so greatly exceeded the
calculation, that the price had fallen considerably, and
therefore foreign sugar at a higher duty would not
meet with the demand necessary to produce the anionnt
of duty expected. This, again, was a fallacy. The
late Chancellor of the Exchequer had made his calcula-
tions either way. He had said, "If the supply of Bri-
tish sugar continued small, and the price therefore high,
then I get the duty I want by the duty on the
foreign sugar that comes in; if, on the contrary, there is
an unexpected increase in the supply of English sugar,
then that increased supply ivill give an increased pro-
duction of duty at the rate of 245., and in that way I get
the supply I want. If the consumption in 1841 equals the
consumption in 1831, then I get the amount I want at
the 245. duty, and anything made on foreign sugar
brought in ;hill be so much gained in addition to thatl
wan t."—(liear, hear.) Then the Right Hon. Baronet
stated that not Only therefore was our budget deficient
with regard to the amount the late Government reckoned
on getting—with regard to which he (Lord Palmerston)
had shown that his argument was fallacious—but he .
stated that he found, on looking through the depilate
ments. of the Government, that the expenses of the
country greatly exceeded what had been stated—that
now demands were daily coming in, and he (Sir Robert:
Peel) said, " Can anything be more unreasonable
than to expect me to state any financial
views before I know what these additional expenses
are?" His Noble Friend (Lord John Russell) had not
asked the Right Hon. Baronet to in ske a financial-state-
ment then.—(ll-ear. hear.) He had stated so distinctly-
He said certainly that the Right Hon. Baronet should
state his opinion as to the measures the late Government
had proposed, since they were measures not merely of
finance, but affecting the general interests of the country.
But the representations tne Right Hon. Baronet made of
those unexpected demands was not altogether so great as
was required for the justification lie was making. They
were told, with regard to China, that the expenses much
exceeded the 400,00 e/ stated in the estimate ; but the
Right Hon. Baronet also stated that the excess would not
be called for till the year 1842, and therefore would not
be added to the deficiency of the present year.—(Hear,.
hear.) The Right Honourable Baronet said that no
accounts had been received on which a detailed estimate .
could be framed. He must know the reason was, that.
the expense of the expedition was defrayed by the East
India Company, and that it was only when the Com-
pany's accounts were made out, that he could state what
their claim was, and therefore the operation was not so
simple as if the bills were drawn on the Treasury in the
first instance. " But then," said the Right Hon. Baronet,
" I have authority which enables me to form an opinion,
and that is a letter from the Captain of a man-of-war to,
a Mr. Noble, who was taken prisoner by the Chinese.'
And that letter, written in the style in which all corre-
spondence between friends on such occasions was written,
was offered to the House of Commons by the Right
Honourable Baronet as a ground on which finan-
cial calculations were to be made.—(Hear, and cheers.)
Then they were told that they came to something tan-
gible, for Captain Senhouse said that they were going
on at such a rate, and • spending his money so extrava-
gantly, that they actually proposed to make a main road
the whole extent of the Island of Hong-Kong.--(Laugh-
ter.) He (Lord Palmerston) did not know the extent of
that island; whether it was five miles or seven miles, he
was not prepared to say ; but if the Government had no
other unexpected deficiency to provide for, he thought
they would not find much difficulty in getting out of the
embarrassment—(Hear.) He then came to Australia,
respecting which the Right Hon. Baronet stated that
enormous expenditure had been contemplated by the
Governor-General. But what did his Noble -Feiend
(Lord John Russell) ? The moment he heard of it, he
stopped it.—(" No," from Sir Robert Peel.) He could
not stop it all, but he stopped all that he could.
Then, said the Right Hon. Baronet, 500,0001. must still
be provided for by the country. He (Lord Palmerston)
was satisfied that if not all, at least 300,000/. would be
provided for by the colony ; but if 200,000/. should be
chargeable on the country that would be the outside,
but he had reason to hope that no such claim would be
made. The Right Hon. Baronet then stated that the
bills drawn in New Zealand were expected to amount to
100,0001., whereas the late Government had estimated
them only at 6,000/. Why, the Right Hon. Baronet
knew full well that an excess of expenditure
the estimated amount, was liable to happen within
certain limits at all times, in all years ; and if the
Right Honourable Baronet postponed the stat.ee-
ment of his financial views until be got al
ale
colonies in such a state of order that CO Goverrun' .
of the most remote island could draw more bills thanwaist
was authorised to draw, he (Lord Palmereton
beyond
even a longer period than to February next.s would have
afraid the House of Commons might be prortubeederfsb.r)
He thought, therefore, all those reasons
been their
riend had
been insufficient, if the charge of his Noble'
been that the Government had not tohtentbep
objection of
financial measures ; but that was
had thought it
derations. He (Lord John Russell) which turned
was incumbent on the Governmenttquestions--(Cheers)-__
his Noble Friend. It had referencen to greater consi-
him out on those grennew
they had a majority
now they were in power— principles
whether or not they in-
into practice—to say
system
—(Hear,
0
stand
to pursue the samecourse
the while in power
which would enable
ttelinie_m
d out of power, to refuse all relaxation
they had pursue .
of our commercial ses
riction an monopoly.—(Chers.
on the principles Baron
et - 'd sai that that was met gelling
The Right Hon.
at which those matters could be properly settled
.by the
Government. He (Lord Palmerston) admitted that tiSea'
had not had leisure for many things, but he did not ad-
mit that, with regard to the Corn-question, any new light
could be thrown upon it by ransacking the archives of the
Board of Trade, or the Foreign-office—(Heei)—because
all the information that was desirable had long been be-
fore the people ; and if any man could not make up his
mind on that infhrmation, he thought he might read
himself blind, or spend his life at it, yet not arrive one
moment sooner at a satisfactory conclusion.—(Loud
cheering.) But the Right Honourable Baronet stated
there were great public reasons which rendered it
impossible to state the views of the Government on those
questions—that, many commercial negotiations were
Rending with foreign nations—that there were negotia-
tions with France about a tariff—that a commercial
treaty was pending between England and Portugal—that
a commercial treaty had been proposed with Texas, and
that it was possible commercial negotiations might be
opened with the United States of America and with the
Brazils. All these things were true, but that made for
his (Lord Palmerston's) argument and not for the argu-
ment of the Right Hon. Baronet.—(Hear, hear.) The
more countries with whom we had unsettled negotie
tions relating to commercial intercourse the more exp t
client was it to proceed without loss of time to renew)
the fettere that incumbered the industry of tS
country.—(Cries of "Hear, hear.") Indeed, the-
matters were not fit subjects for negotiation. Shou