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

and to the laws whichregulated the trade in corn." Upon
that subject the House were unanimous. The
House of commons, however, thought it their

duty to state to her Majesty that ihe Ministers
did.nbt possess their confidence, and they addressed her
Majesty for the purpose of effecting a change of Govern..
ment. The advice of this House was promptly acceded

to by her Majesty, and the Right Hon. Geil&man op-
posite constructed the Administration which is now
formed, havingsuch an unalterable attachment to the Con-
stitution in Church and State, and to the sliding
scale—(Laughter)--but this Address having been com-
plied with by the Crown, it certainly would seem that
the time was come when these important laws eught to

be taken into consideration.—(Hear, hear.) Far—be it
from me, and I hope from any one in this House, is say
that you should attend exclusively to mea-
sures, and not to men. I think you ought
to attend to both ; but, at the same time,
I think men should not be substituted for all measures,

but, having the men in authority, you ought also to have
before you the measures which they approve—(Hear.)
What, then, is the state of the case ? the Right Hon.

Gentleman states, and I am not disposed to qua.rrel with
that statement, that much time has been lately
occupied in the formation of a new Adminis-
tration, and that he could not consider these

important points ; but although that may he a good rea-
son to plead for the last fortnight, it does not seem to
be any reason for postponing for five months the consider-
ation of these subjects. Let .us consider the previous
deliberations which the Right Hon. Gentleman, and those
who act with him have held on these points. It was
upon the lash day of April that the measures relatir.6-
to the Budget were announced, and that I gave nefiee
of moving for a Committee of the whole IT-_,,ase on the
laws relating to the trade in corn. gave notice
that I would introduce the subject 'ert a *month from that
'of surprise were uttered. It
time very strong expressions
was said that although
the laws relating to C. eve had a right to consider
.en, and although it was right that
the Government`'..could propose such measures, yet that
the delay of month was an intolerable evil, for which
the Go vs:.
ntnent of that day was justly censurable.—
(Hear, hear, hear.) It was thought proper shortly after
to • bring forward a motion declaring that the then
Ministers ought not to retain office, and the
decision upon that motion prevented my proceeding with
the question relating to corn. But from that time the
Right Hon. Gentleman has had four months to consider
what course he will pursue, and he proposes now
to add to those four months five additional months
before he will communicate to the House of Commons
the measures which the Government think necessary
on this subject. He does not say, as he might, "We
stand upon the present Corn-law; we think no altera-
tion necessary ;" on the contrary, he said he would not
accept office, on the condition of being bound not to make
any alteration in the Corn-law. It cannot be
inferred from such expressions that he thinks an
alteration necessary. and yet the Right Hon. Gentle-
man, who has certainly gone far with others in that
expression of indignation at delay, and who said, I ought,
to be obliged in some manner to bring forward the ques-
tion in less than a month, adds eight months to
that period, and conceives that he is justified
in asking for this long delay.—(Hear, hear.)
Sir, there are symptoms in the construction of the Go-
vernment itself which induce me to entertain very great
doubts whether any important alteration in the Corn-
law will be effected. I am not alluding to the construc-
tion of the Administration with a view to any personal re-
marks, but I cannot help noticing the appointment of the
Duke of Buckingham.—(Hear, hear.) Sir, this to me
is a symptom that no considerable alteration in the
Corn-laws will be effected by the present Government.
r I do not doubt the conscientious opinion of the Duke of
Buckingham. I do not doubt that he thinks a protec-
tion such as the present law gives, or one, at least,
equivalent to it, if not a greater pr,stection, necessary to
the agriculture of the country, I do not doubt that he
has hld that opinion with, a view to the general interests
of the country, and I
continue to 1101' :to not doubt likewise that he will
that opinion. I have been told that
when a sort of threat was tittered thtit the late Ministry
should no longer hold office, because they had proposed
an Bs. fixed duty On corn, and that any other Ministry
which took a, similar course would meet with a similar
fate—l
'nave been told that there were none who more
der.eanstrated their approbation and acquiescence in that
,sentiment than the Noble Duke to whom I have referred.

Why, Sir, there are others who have not given any very
decided pledge on the subject. The Right Hon. Gentle-
man himself has not been very explicit.—(Hear, hear.)
There is a sliding scale, but a sliding scale may
amount to a prohibition, and may give less
protection than a fixed duty.—(Hear, hear.) The
Right Hon. Gentleman, therefore, and others, leave
their opinions unknown, and have not given any indica-
tion of the nature of the measures they mean to propose.
But, Sir, while I observe the Noble Duke to whom I
have alluded is a Member of the Cabinet, there are
others to whom the Right Hon. Gentleman has not given
office, and who have expressed more liberal views with
regard to free trade. Ido not perceive Sir George
Murray, who had been Secretary of State for the Co-
lonies in the Duke of Wellington's Cabinet, and was
also a Member of the Right Hon. Gentleman's last Ad-
ministration, holding any place in the present Cabinet;
and I believe he expressed himself in favour of a fixed
duty of Bs., and even less than Ss.—(Hear, hear, hear.)
There had been a selection of those who gave a decided
expression of opinion in favour of the Corn-laws—there
was a selection of those in favour of prohibition—(Hear,
hear)—and there had been a neglect or exclusion of
those who pronounced any opinion for free trade.—
(Loud- cries of " Hear, hear.") Was it possible, that in
the present state of the country—expecting something to
be done on the subject of the Corn-laws—was it
possible, Sir, that those expectations of large and im-
proved measures should be put off for a period of five
months ?—(Cheers.) If such be the case- —if such be
your intentions, then I say the arguments you used
against the delay of a month, which was proposed by
the late Government, fall with ten-fold force against
yourselves.—(Cheers.) It were better,
,for the sake of
trade itself, that it may not be at a loss what to do—it
were better, for the sake of agriculture, that it may not be
depressed by unfounded fears, hat you should
declare your adherence, if you do intend, to the present
law, and will make no alteration.—(Hear, hear.) You
may attempt some correction of the fraud in the ave-
rages, by which you may make the law more stringent.
—(Cheers.) You may lower the pivot scale to 4s. or
ss.—that may be your intention ; but if it is, why
should it not be proposed in the mouth of October ?
Why should the expectations of the country be
set at nought, and this long delay of five
months be interposed. If it be your intention to
make no alteration—if you intend to snake a different
number of shillings the pivot scale, or a scale more
graduated than the present, then I say this length of
time should not elapse, but you should make up your
minds at once.—(Cheers.) This, I think affects the
character of the present Administration, and I think the
promises of the Right Honourable Gentleman
should not be deferred for five months.
But then I cannot agree to those imputations which have
been made against some Gentlemen, that ies the course
they adopt upon any subject they are actuated.by some
selfish object—(Hear)—but when I say that I must add,
that having interests in those subjects often gives a bias
to the question in dispute.—(Hear, hear.) For instance,
when they talked of free trade in silk, it was said that
the interests of the country required that that commodity
should have protection,- so with respect to the
ship owners, they thought that the interests of the
country required that their particular branch of com-
merce should be protected ; in short, there can be no
doubt that all parties were snore or less biased by their
own interests. But, fur the sake of the House of
Commons, it is important that this should be kept in

mind, because, though it iaclear that the delay you pro-
pose is for the convenience of the Administration,
it is equally clear that it is for the advan-
tage of those who think that rents will be effected
by a change in the Corn-laws.—(Hear, hear.) While
such things continue, therefore, it cannot fail to be im-
puted to you, that such views as these have some in-
fluence upon your decisiOn, and that you do not act
solely for the public good.—(Hear.) I think, therefore,
that it will require that some better case should be made
than the one brought forward by the • Right Honourable
Baronet, to postpone the important questions to which
I have alluded fur so long a period. What is the
state of the manufacturing interest ? —(Hear, hear.)
I do not wish to say anything which might be construed
into a declaration of my belief, that any laws you can
establish will prevent great distress from existing
among the manufacturing districts.—(Hear.) I do not
think- any laws you can pass will prevent those fluc-
tuations which may arise either from the state of our
foreign relations, or from a long course of over trad-
ing, or from accidents that may occur from time to time;
but what I think the duty of Parliament is this—to be
able to say that we at least have no part in causing the
continuance of distress ; and for this purpose I think
it necessary you should be able to show that
your duties and - your restrictions are for some
necessary object in the State—(Hear, hear)—that
they are necessary fur the purposes of revenue, or for
the purpose of placing a certain part of the community,
which is over-taxed, upon a condition of equality in that
respect with other classes ; or that they are necessary
in order to make the transition more gradual, and not
to bring a sudden state of embarrassment on any inte-
rest or class of subjects who have been unduly pro-
tected. But do your own Corn-laws come under
the head of measures which can be thus defended ?
hear)—and that if th(
Are they necessary for the sake, of revenue ? On the
it is quite clear that y our present law defeats
of Bs. per
contrary,alpurposesl
—(hille-laoru'r to announce, and which'
f laying
qu,(ra-hewr'oeullc‘lobueldnobew,
was never discussed, o
measurel iocrh revenue—(
vheandu e
the
o on a fixed duty
some 400,0001. or 500,0001. the richer._
quarter, had been adopted, Exchequer
in all probability, one million
Is your present law
more admitted into this country.
or twelve thousand quarters
necessary for protecting the
far better in that
think certainly that a fixed duty is
agricultural interest ? I
hear.) I
a
for a re-
spect, and that you have no cause to snake out
prohibition on that ground. (Hear,
never heard a cause . made out certainly
transi-
tion, because it has been adopted as a permanent s 3 stem.
pro-
hibitory duty on that grqund. Lastly, y
say that this duty is necessary, in order to makeo cat
who are
If that is the state of the laws, I say that those
distressed have a right to come to you, and ask you to
consider their case—ask you to change anyi
as
which affects them—to change any law which
paralyzes trade and embarrasses industry, and
as fas as legislation can do it, to place them in a better
condition. You should not be able to say—above all,
you should not promise—that by such a law you would
place theta in a state of entire prosperity, and that you
would avert from them all fiuctuationsof distress; but you
would be able to say, whatever those distresses are, wefeel
the deepest compassion for them, and for the
restrictions which aggravate those distresses
we are not responsible—Parliament has no share ;~ 7 ,
clueing them. Now that is why* T

Y~t~~. .