The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-28 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1841.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS. Aug. 27.
The Earl of SHAFTESBURY, in the absence of the Lord
Chancellor, took his seat on the Woolsack at Three
o'Clock.

Prayers having been read; several Peers took the
oaths and their seats. Among them we noticed the Earl of
Harewood, the Earl of• Stamford and Warrington, the
Fad of Ilchester, the Marquis of Donegal, and the
Marquis of Downshire.
Their Lordships, at FQ.ur o'Clock, adjourned during
pleasure.

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat upon the
Woolsack at Five o'Clock. •

Viscount DUNCANNOT laid upon the table, by
command of her Majesty, certain correspondence relating
to the Falkland Islands, which was ordered to be
printed ; and also certain iiorrespondence relating to the
affairs of Canada.
ANSWER TO THE ADDRESS.

The Earl of ERROL-then came to the table and read
her Majesty's most gracious answer to their' Lord-
ships' Address as follows It gives me. great
satisfaction to find that,the House of Lords is deeply
sensible of the importance of those circumstances to
which I drew their attention with reference to,
the commerce and revenue of the country, espe—
cially with regard to the laws relating to the' trade
in corn, and that in deciding on the course which
their Lordships may think it advantageous ,to
pursue, they are actuated by a desire to promote
the interests and welfare of my, people. lam alwa'ys de-
sirous of attending to the advice of my Parliament,' and I
will, therefore, take into my immediate consideration the
other important matters contained in that Address,7

On the motion of the LORD CHANCELLOR her
Majesty's most gracieus answer was ordered to tie en-
tered on the Journals of the House, and to be Opted.
The Marquis of N'ORMANBY presented the .11eport
of the firqvCtors of Prisong.., The Noble Marqiiis
he hart requeSt their. Lordships' indulg•ence .whilst
he mOyed.,the second reading of three Bills, of which
the _ principles - had been discussed in the last
Parliament. They were measures of great importance
to the health and comforts of the people; and the
principle had been agreed to bY their Lord Ships, and
by the other House of Parliament. He would not,
under present circumstances, consider himself justified
in introducing any new measure. But as these Bills had
been already virtually passed, and only retarded by an
irregularity which was now remedied, he thought he
might reproduce them to their Lordships, as it was
a matter of, great importance to the public.
The Noble Marquis then moved the second reading of
the Drainage of Towns Bill ; the Building Regulations
Bill ; and the Borough Improvement Bill.. The Bills
were accordingly'read a second tiMe, went through Com-
mittee, and were ordered to be read a third time on
Monday. . _

Conference by, and at the expense of, their congregations,
praying for the repeal of the Corn-laws. On the motion
of the Hon. Member, the pQtition was read by the Cletk
at the table.

of losing the means of resorting successfully to intimida-
tion,-(lronical cheers from, the Opposition benches.)
He was glad to hear those cheers, for he had never been
Cheered by the Hon. Gentlemen opposite but when he
had said something that was just and true. He would
repeat, that all that was necessary for the triumph
of the popular party was the extension of popular rights.
He had been Chairman of three political unions, and he
declared most sincerely he believed he was then discharg-
ing his duty to his country ; and he would say that he
would do all in his power to persuade the people in his part
of the country to agitate for the purpose of
getting an extension of •the franchise, of obtaining the
Vote by Ballot, and of inducing her Majesty's Ministers
to review their conduct, and render the Reform Bill
what it was intended it should be.—(Cheers.) It was
perfectly well known that a great and deeply lamented
statesman, the late Lord Durham, had said that a certain
individual, whose name he did . not mention,
but who was believed to have been one of
the Ministers who seceded, and was now a leading
Member on the Opposition benches. the Member for.
Dorchester, was one of the principal opponents of its
being more largely extended. Then let theni look at the
distress of the country; a distress, he solemnly be-
lieved arising out of the National Debt, and greatly
aggravated by the Currency Bill of 1819, which
was brought forward by the Right Hon. Baronet the
Member for Tamworth, and which lie could not desig-
nate otherwise than as one of the most reckless, and at
the same time one of the most gross pieces of political
ignorance—(Hear, hear)--ever inflicted on the country.
The landed interest ought to pay a greater portion of the
national debt than . any other class of the com-
munity, because they had incurred it to protect theni-
selves. That debt had not been incurred to
grant protection to the thews. and sinews of the
labouring men ; still less did Peel's Bill give
them protection, .and the Corn-laws had been inflicted
oil the country as a matter of traffi-s between the
landed interest and the Government of the day, to save
the landed interest as much as possible from the efreets
of Peel's Bill—(Hoer, hear.) He held in his hand'a
pamphlet which bed been written fourteen years ago by
the Right Hon: Baronet the Member for Dorchester.
That paniphlet had been presented's to him calr. W.) bY
the Right Honourable Gentlemaii himself, at the
time he was carrying on a correspondence with
that Right Honourable Gentleman relating to poli-
tical matters as well as to the currency. Ile had
read that pamphlet again within the course of the last
few days, and agreed cordially with every sentiment it con-
tained. He had seen no reason to change hi.s opinions on
the subject, because he considered that pamphlet contain-
ed more truth, more information, and was more generally
useful, than any book that had been • published on the
subject. Why the Right Honourable Gentleman should
have changed his opinions he would not then stop to
inquire. He verily believed that the greater part of the
distress of the country was to be attributed to the
Corn-laws. He had always been decidedly in favour of
the immediate abolition of those laws, and as long as he
had a seat in that House he would demand
total abolition of them.—(Loud cheers.) But
in public matters he would be content to take a
part. when he could not get all, and not follow the example
of some Hon. Gentlemen who refused roast beef because
they could not get bread and cheese as well. He, how-
ever, considered a duty of Bs. was far too much,
and more than the working class could afford.—(Hear.)
With respect then to the Corn-laws, he solemnly.
believed that the great proportion of the distress exist-
ing. in this country was attributable to that
(Hear, hear.) He believed that the want of employ-,
ment for operatives, of a return for capital, and the
check to commercial enterprise by the distress of the Bank
of England, the evils of the currency, and the consequent
innumerable bankruptcies which had gone on increasing
from year to year, and were now increasing more rapidly
than ever, were attributable to that cause. Since the year
1837 it might be said there had been one continued course
of bankruptcy throughout the country, and it was en-
tirely owing to the Corn-laws.. The Bank of England
had not sufficient. capital with which to perform its
proper functions, and also to send abroad gold to buy
corn. That Bank was in fact neither more or
less than a joint-stock bank, and ought to be called
by that name. He had reason to believe that twice
since 1837 the Bank had been on the point of
suspending its payments in cash, and it was
difficult to say what might yet occur. He
hoped they would have fine weather for the harvest,
and that crops would be abundant. But if it should
be otherwise—if it should happen they had to send
out gold to buy 3,000,000 of foreign corn in the present
distressed state of the commercial and manufactur-
ing interests—he believed the consequences would be
that the Bank must suspend its payments in specie ; and
he must add, he was by no means sure that a suspen-
sion of payments by the Bank of England would not be
for the good of the country. There was one other
point which he wished to mention. He wished to de-
clare himself, in the language of the Hon. Member for
Stockport, an out-and-out free-trader. His own interests
were vested chiefly in land and West Indian property ; but
the constituency which he represented were too liberal and
too well-informed to suppose that they sent him there to
secure his own interest, and neglect theits.—(Cries
of " Hear," and laughter from the Opposition benches.)
He would conclude by stating that he would give, with
the greatest satisfaction, his support to 'the Address. Ile
would add, that if any Hon. Members in that House,
or parties without the House, would join him in an Ad-
dress to the Crown, he would endeavour to frame
such an Address, and put his name to it, to
the effect that her Majesty should refuse to sanction
any new Ministry whatever. nntil she could guarantee to
the country that they would explicitly state the means
by which they could do better than their predecessors.
—(Cheers and laughter, from the Opposition benches.)
Mr. HINDLEY had listened with attention to
the speech of the Noble Lord, the Member for
Liverpool, and he (Mr. Hindley) was certain that the
late elections had not been decisive of this country being
in favour of monopoly. Sure he was that the consti-
tuency of Liverpool would never have sent the Noble
Lord to that House to advocate the doctrine of monopoly.
He had lately had an opportunity of witnessing the
great distress which prevailed, and which he could
'not help attributing the greater part to the operation of
the Corn-laws. Hon. Gentlemen opposite attributed it
to the over-production. What ! Was he to be told that
there were too many hats, too many coats, and too
many of the other comforts of life ? He had received a
letter froin an intelligent and industrious weaver, who
said that, through the operation of the Corn-laws, he
had been in such poverty that for eleven years he had
not been able to buy a new coat.—(Hear.) He (Mr.
Hindley) showed that letter to another operative, asking
if it could be true. The man, who was also a weaver,
said that he had not been able to enjoy such a luxury
for fifteen years.—(Hear, hear.) Was it right to say
the operatives of this country should be left with their
stomachs half filled And their backs half clothed. As
long as he had the honour of a seat in that House he
would never hesitate to stand up for justice to the op-
pressed operatives. He felt that on the present occa-
sion it would not be right for him to enter into
any argument on! the Corn-laws.—(Hear, hear.) The
amendment pledged the House to nothing. Did the
Hon: aleinbers opposite mean that the House should
have an opportunity of discussing this question, or did
they mean to shirk it ? He thought before they
entered on the question of the Poor-laws, which would
expire shortly, they ought to have a proper understand-
ing with reference to the question of food. He would
not enter upon the question of the trade at the present
moment. Principles were involved in that on which a
Ministry ought not to rest, but at the present moment
the question of free trade was used only as crutches on
which a falling Ministry sought ao cling. As to the amend-
ment, all he had t6say was, that they had never heard of a
vote of want of confidence till the Government had stated
that they meant to deal with the question of the Corn -laws
when he saw the declaration of the Noble Duke in
another place, that if any Administration which assumed
the reins of power would attempt to tamper with the
Corn-laws, they would be at once turned out of office by
the landed gentry of the country. These men had as-
sumed a monopoly of power, and now sought to maintain
a monopoly, of food. If the working classes did not get
justice from that 'House, he would be ready, although
extremely unwilling, to agitate the public mind to join
the great masses of his fellow-countrymen in demanding
an extension of the suffrage.—(Cheers.)
Mr. WIGNEY said the whole questions before the
House were those which appeared so prominently in the
Speech so graciously sent down from the Throne ; and
he thought it did not become the honour and dignity
of the House merely to say that they. would come
to a vote of want of confidence in Ministers,
before they would direct their attentions to the many
propositions in the Speech.—(Hear.) He thought the
great questions referred to in the speech required mature
consideration, and however he might approve of those
sentiments, he was not prepared at once to come to
a decision upon them. In his opinion proper time should
been
eeeer Given
so ll touchd ims
edeureiss
sceudusssetfba these measures,
eemeueoapfsieutdrheest,bHaaennudiste
had d
unlessbeenhave
ithbeyy
that debate ? The iuestion was, how soon the Right
lion. Gentlemen opposite would sit on his (Mr.Wigney's)
side' of the House. There was no disguising that ques-
vme
tion, and much as he might wish to avoid_ it, it was in-
evitable; and therefore the sooner it came to a close the
better for the House and the country. He thought when
that change took place, much as Gentlemen opposite had
opposed many good measures, they would find they
must adopt similar ones, and if they did so he would
give them his support.—(Hear.)
Mr. HAWES rose, and said that he could not concur
in the sentiments which had just been expressed by the
Hon. Member for Brighton.—(Hear, hear.) He had not
expected to hear any Hon. Member on that (the Minis-
terial) side of the House airline that it was not the duty
of that House to discuss the great questions referred to
in the Speech from the Throne. If he wished to justify
a discussion, he had only to point to the amendment
moved by the Hon. Member for Yorkshire, which vir-
tually promised that the House would take into its con-
sideration the question of the Corn-laws. For his part,
he was at a loss to imagine what was the strange consti-
tuency which the Hon. Member for Brighton repre
sented, when lie stated his conviction of the impropriety
of the House deciding upon the great questions which
then agitated the country.—(Hear, hear.) If the sub-
ject under consideration were merely which ofeewo Par-
ties should rule:.the countryi both being dispesed to take