The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-25 00:00:00

MORNING SUN

tinteerrnemi
aei n p tookgsi a
iionnto
ocfo cons ied e reaot
ui onnt
rtyh es
ow haosl et
os t adteo
joufs ttihcec itc:ma
ll
classes, Hon. Gentlemen opposite would not be indispo led :to
consider the Corn-laws. The Government, therefore, put ti to
sincerity of that declaration to the proof ; but they had b,ee n
disappointed. But when they had made up their minds th. at
it was their duty to submit the commercial system of the co at
try to the revision of Parliament, they believed that that was a
favourable opportunity to ask the powerful landed inter .est
fairly to be considered while other interests were under(
elusion. They had been told that evening that the mean: res
of the Government had been improperly brought forward 1 ast
session. The Hon. Gentlemen opposite had said that if theev
had been brought forward deliberately, and if Mr. Id uskiset-;
had brought forward his measure, he might give them a fa it
consideration. Now he (Mr. Labouchere) wished the Hose .0
to remember in what manner the measure in question ha d
been bt ought forward. They had first proposed certain Ml] -
sures affecting British possessions abroad, and he though t
that it was a necessary preparation before dealing with articles
of colonial produce, that they should redress any grievare ses
which the Colonies justly complained of. He hoped th ey
would yet take into their consideration the case of the W. set
Indies ; and after they had placed the East and West Ind; ies
upon the same footing as regarded their produce in the mark. ate
of that country, he thought that nothing could be more unf.tir
or unjust than to leave the West India subject to the ex-
cessive and intolerable burdens under which they now la-
boured. He thought that the subject deserved the serious
consideration of Parliament. He found that during the fret
six months of the year 1840, 99,600 cwt. of sugar had been
imported into this country from the West Indies, while the
quantity imported during the corresponding six months of thet
• sent year amounted only to 70,700 cwt., making a decrease
o"
f ncu
.3. 20,000 cwt. The Hon. Gentleman opposite said he
was a we-trader ; but he was no advocate for tile ministerial
measures -that was to say, he was a free-trader with the ex-
ception of d2.'rn, sugar, and timber.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.>
lint the proposal of the Government with regard to the Sugar
Duties, did not gs: so far as the proposal of Mr. Grant and Mr.
Huskisson, and no one could say that it was an extravagant.
measure. He had last year supported an alteration in the
Sugar Duties ; and so far from having since
altered his opinion upon that subject, he con-
fessed that everything that had since occurred
had only tended to confirm it. What did he find was the pre-
sent condition of the sugar trade ? They had been told last
year that there would soon be abundance of sugar for the con-
sumer, and that the revenue would be proportienably benefited..
The predictions had not, however, been verified. He found
that tee quantity of sugar consumed in the first six months of
the rear 1840 amounted to 2,050,000 cwt., while the amount.
eeenumed during the six corresponding months of the present
year
.amounted to no more than 1,861,000 cwt., making a de-
crease o: 130,000 cwt. ; while there had been a falling off its
the revenue during the period, allowing the 5 per cent. addi-
tion, of 278,0,`0/. His Hon. Friend had accused him of hav-
ing oppcsed an ate: ration in the sugar duties in 1840, while he
supported it in 1841 ; but he should observe in his own de-
fence, that upon all comn:ercial and financial grounds he had
always wished for the alteration, and he always treated the
question as one of time. lie should next come to the ques-
tion of corn ; and he should say he had listened with the most
intense anxiety—and the country at large would participate in
the feeling—he had listened with intense anxiety, for the pur-
pose of learning what were the views of Hon. Get tlemen op-
posite upon the subject of the Corn .laws.—( Hear, i ear.) He
considered that the manner in which the question had been
mentioned was very enigmatical. However, he gathered a
hope from what had fallen from Hon. Gentlemen that evening,
because he could not conceive any party could in a solemn
manner address her Majesty in the manner that was proposed,
unless they intended to consider the Corn-laws, with a view
to their alteration. He could conceive no course more daVere
ous, or more improper, than
" Spargere votes per vulgum ambiguas."
—(Hear, and laughter.) He could conceive ne course more-
improper than stating to her Majesty that they were deeply
sensible of the important considerations to which her Majesty
had directed their attention, and to conclude by stating that
Ministers had not the confidence of the country, unless Hon.
Gentlemen opposite were themselves determined on taking the
subject into their consideration. He should remind the
House that the question was not whether they should
have foreign corn, but what were the laws by which that
importation was to be regulated. :He found that the
average quantity of wheat introduced during the ten first
years of the present century from 1801 to 1810 amounted to
555,000 quarters from the colonies and from foreign countries,
and 70,000 quarters from Ireland. He found that in the next
10 years, from 1811 to 1820, the average amount of foreign
and Irish corn annually imported to this country amounted
to 606,000 quarters ; from 18'20 to 1830 it amounted to
993,000 quarters ; and from 1830 to 1840, taking the whole
period, lie found the average importations of each year
was no less than 1,500,000 quarters of foreign co:TO
The question therefore was not whether we should have a
foreign trade in corn, but upon what. principle that trade'
should be conducted.—(Hear, hear.) We were not indepen-
dent of foreign corn, and we could not be—and he would go
further and say " God forbid we should be."—(Cheers. )
There was another consideration connected with the subject,
to which he would advert, as he had not heard it before in
that House. It related to the quantity of corn imported
from Ireland and the Colonies. It was a remarkable fact
that the quantity of corn imported from Ireland had been
increasing up to the year 1833, but from that year there
hod been a great and progressive diminution.—( Hear, he,
In 1833 the quantity of corn imported from Ireland was 844,1,`00
quarters. In 1834 and 1835 there was a considerable decrease;
in 1836 the import was 664,000 qrs. In 1837, 534,000 gee. ;
in 1839, only 258,000 quarters,. and in 1840 the quantity im-
ported from that part of the United Kingdom was no more
than 174,000 qrs.—( Hear.) That decrease was not owing to,
any falling off in the prosperity of Ireland, but it would be
traced directly to the fact that the people consume more corm
themselves, and have the less to export. He believed
there was this cause also, that in consequent a of the increase
of steam-boats, a very large quantity of butter, poultry, live
stock, and other articles of agricultural production were im-
puted, and the Irish farmers were induced by the profit of
that trade to turn their attention in some degree from tne rais-
ing of wheat.—( Hear.) If the gentlemen who had hitherto
opposed any alteration whatever in the existing Corn-
laws were not convinced by the experience of the lest two.
years, he should despair that any thing short of actual famine
would convince them.—( Hear, hear.) He should wish to,

bring the attention of gentlemen connected with the landed.
interest to the manner in which the system of taking the ave-•
rages had worked in the la.t two years. He had found it to be
a system of fraud and gambling, alike injurious to the traie
and to the class for whose supposed benefit it was established..
—ln consequence of the information which he received from.
gentlemen connected with the corn trade, who complained from.
time to time of the frauds which were practised, he made in-
quiries, and ascertained that certain London merchants had
combined to effect fictitious sales, for the purpose of altering-
the averages, so as to let in at the lowest duties the foreign corn
which was in bond. These sales commenced in the early part
of July, and were continued till the 28th of August, and upeu
comparing the quantities sold in each week of that period in
London, with what had been sold in that city in corresponding
periods in ordinary times, he fOund that it was exactly four times
as much. On the 28th of August, when the fictitious sees
terminated, the average by which the duty was regulated,
so high as 795. 6d. the quarter, whereas the average of the
whole kingdom, (excluding London,) was 725. 6d.—( Hear,.
hear.) The six weeks average of the whole kindom (exclud-
ing London,) was only 70s. 10d. ; but by these operations the
average was fictitiously raised, se as to cause a reduction of
the duty from fis. Sd. to 2s. in the week ending the 4th of
September. —( Hear, hear. ) In that week 1,217,000 quarters
of foreign wheat were let out of bond at that merely nominal
duty.—( Hear, hear, hear.) What protection would gentle-
tleman suppose the agricultural interest derived from such a
system of fraud and gambling?—( Hear, hear.) The course of
the corn trade was this, that when there was a prospect of
scarcity, a great quantity of corn was accumulated in the
bonding warehouses, but none came out until, for several
weeks, the country had suffered great privation.—( Hear, hear. ).
The present price: of corn was a great calamity to the country,
—(Hear,)—and he was sure that every gentleman 'opposite
regretted that bread should be so dear as it had been for weeks
past.—( Hear.) But in the mean time there were 800,000 quar-
ters of corn in hand, none of which came out, as no one would
pay the extravagant duty, knowing that the corn will
soon be admitted at the nominal duty of Is. per quarter.—
(Hear.) All that corn might have been gradually brought
out to meet the wants of the people, without injury to the far-
mers. But now, what would be the case ? Just at the mo-
ment when our own farmers (if it pleased God to give us an
abundant harvest) would be ready to supply the market, one
million and a half of foreign corn would be thrown into com-
petition with them.—(Hear, hear.) That would be when
the needy farmers were obliged to sell their corn for what-
ever price they could
get. —( Hear, hear.) Under these cir-
cumstances, was he to be told that those laws were for the just
protection of the farmers, and that a modification of them was
proposed only to serve party purposes ? He would urge the
House to take the'whole question into consideration, and delibe-
y there should be a
vete on a remedy. At the same time, Ministers had
never hesitated to express their own opdifferent law for corn,
inions. He for one
had always asked wh
from any other importation ? He did not see why there should
be a sliding scale for that alone. He believed that a fixed duty
was the best form of protection. The merchant would then
know what he had to depend on, and not be uncertain whe-
ther, when his corn came here, he should have to pay a duty
of 20s. or of ls. —( Hear, hear.) The present laws were so
absurd, that almost any alteration would be an amelioration ;
but the nearer the approximation to .
The more was left, a fixed duty the better.
injuries to commerce, to the
which it was wished to benefit--( Hear,
country, and the class
the
hear.) The measures which. Government had proposed
to improve the finance, bus to relieve
were not intended alone
When he looked at the state of commerce and
commerce. the greater the
tax to meet the exigencies of the State.
finance, be could not see how they could venture to
impose a new
opposite expressed surprise at the propositions of
Government,but the surprise was confined to them.—( Hear,
hear.) Ministers had been told by gentlemen who usually
supported them, ‘• In the present stem of the finances, we
not conceive what you will do ; we shall not press you with
questions of free trads, but wait until we see your Budget,
Ge t e Gentlemen
and if you do not make some satisfactory alteration, we will
bring forward our own measures." He felt that the time was
come when it behoved the House to take a calm and deliberate
view of the import duties, with a view to relieve commerce,
and, at the same time, assist the revenue. He would not go
at large into all the parts of that question, but he would touch
upon some parts, premising that if Parliament last Session had
not terminated so abruptly, he would have produced aNew Cus-
toms Duties Bill, and would not have recommended, in the
present state of finance, any doubtful experiment, but would
have proposed such alterations as experience had proved to be
adequate for the increase of the revenue, and the relief of
trade, to a great extent. One of the commodities which
he had in view was that of provisions, such as
live stock, upon which the duties amounted to a
prohibition. He thought that was a disgrace to the land,
and he hoped it would be reyised.—( Hear, hear.) Another
important branch of duty which required revision for the sake
of our manufactures was that upon raw material. For in-
stance, the duty on foreign stopper, which was prohibited ex-
cept for the purpose of smelting. The effect of this was that
our skill and the abundance of fuel which we possessed
were made available only to the foreign manufacturer, for our
own manufacturers were not allowed to use the smelted metal,
which was all re-exported. Were those things of no conse-
quence, struggling as they were with foreign i ivals ? Foreign
ships now went abroad, where they were coppered more
cheaply than they were here. Of course no revenue of
any amount was derived from copper, but he adduced it
as a proof that it was with sa!ety to the revenue they
would, by making alterations and relaxations in the import du-
ties, very materially diminish the pressure which, unfortunately,
exists in the mercantile and manufacturing communities of this
country. Of the existence of that pressure there could be no
doubt. Unfortunately, that pressure was notorious. His be-
lief was that the present state of things in th's country was
connected in a very considerable degree with that want of em-
ployment which was Now prevailing in the manufacturing dis-
tricts, and which was caused by the want of demand in the fo-
reign markets, which we were losing in consequence of our not
taking those articles alone which they could give for our manufac-
tures. He would particularly call the attention of lion. Members
to two important branches of our manufactures—hardware and
cutlery. The Right Hon. Gentleman here read some returns
relative to the exports in those branches of manufacture in the
years 1640 and 1841, which showed a great falling• off in the
latter year ; and then proceeded to say that such a state of
things was well deserving the attention of the House. Whose
were not questions which they could postpone, for markets
ease lost were net to be regained—industry once paralysed was