The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-13 00:00:00

PARISH CONSTABLES.

Sir E. KNATCHBULL moved the second reading of
the Parish Constables' Bill.

Mr. F. MAULE said that the Right Hon. Baronet was
aware that he objected entirely to the principle of the Bill,
and could not allow it to be read a second time. He was
placed in this difficulty, that an Hon. Member, sitting on
the same side of the House with himself, had introduced
a similar Bill, and he had induced the House to throw
it out.

After a few words from Sir E. KNATCHBULL, the
Bill was withdrawn.

The intervening Order of the Day was then disposed
of, and the House resumed the
ADJOURNED DEBATE.

Mr. CHOLMONDELY said he shoald not go into the
great commercial dettils connected with the measure
that were under the consideration of the House. It was
admitted by the Hon. Gentleman on the other side
of the House that those measures would have a ten-
dency to encourage the slave trade, and would injure our
West Indian interests. But they said, "Do not waste
your sympathympon the West Indians. We have already
done a great deal for them ; leave them for
the present, and turn your sympaties to the suffering
artisans of your own country ; above all, support
this measure, which, besides increasing the reve-
nue of the country, will confer the benefit of cheap
sugar upon the labouring classes."—(Hear, hear, from the
Liberal benches.) The Noble. Lord the Secretary for
the Colonies, in his speech on Friday night,
had drawn an affecting picture of the poor
man being obliged to turn away from a shop
because his scanty means were not sufficient to purchase
one of the necessary articles of life. God forbid that he
(Mr. Chohnondely) should view with any degree of levity
any statement of the sufferings of the lower
classes, or any measure brought forward to relieve
those sufferings.—(Hear, hear, hear.) But in this case
what was the amount of relief which would be adminis-
tered ? Why he believed that according to the Noble
Lord's own calculation the reduction in th price of sugar
would not exceed ls. 6d. per cwt. Could the consumer
be benefited by such a reduction ?—(Hear.) The only
class that would benefit by it was the intermediate link
between the great merchant and the great importer—
the retail dealer. As in the case of the reduc-
tion of the duty on leather, the poor man com-
plained that the retail dealer gained, and that he
did not get his shoes cheaper. Let the House
' strike a balance between the good and the evil
which would be derived from these measures. Even
the increase in the revenue was a mere matter of asser-
tion. It was simply stated that in some way or other,
there would be an increase of 700,0001, a-year from
that. Even assuming that to be true, they were called
upon to render almost nugatory the enormous payment
of nearly fifty millions of money expended in putting
down the slave trade ; and after all the exertions which
they had made, they now called upon them to hold them-
selves up to the mingled astonishment and derision of the
world by retracing their own steps, and passing a measure
which even its promoters confessed would have
a tendency to re-establish that accursed traffic.
There was one more point to which he wished to allude.
The Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) had characterised
the amendment introduced by his Noble Friend (Lord
Sandon) as the most factious step that could be resorted
to, and as a merely party movement brought forward
to serve a party purpose.—(Hear, hear.) He (Mr.
(Cholmoudely) thought a more unfounded accusation was
never made, nor one more easy to be retorted upon those
who made it. When the heat and animosity of
these debates had passed away, and these event-
ful days had become matter of history with
what feelings would an unprejudiced observer review
these transactions—te what party would he be most
likely to apply the term " faction ?" On whom would he
cast the accusation of having acted from party pur-
poses ? On the one side he would see a Go-
vernment involved in difficulties, with a deficient
revenue with adverse majorities in both Houses of Par-
liament, and with the feelings of the country, if he
might judge of the result of recent elections—(Cheers)
—but little in their favour, come down to the
House and bring forward hastily and without notice
three great measures striking at and involving three of
the largest interests of the empire, while on the other
side he would see a body of men condemning such
sweeping measures as productive, not of good, but
of evil to the country, and standing up to prevent
the State being, shaken to its centre by the rash
hand of innovation. He thought under such cir-
cumstances there could be little doubt as to his decision.
Upon these grounds, and objecting as he did to the mea-
sure brought forward by the Noble Lord opposite, first,
its provisions would damage the West Indian proprietors ;
secondly, because it would be an additional stimulus
to the slave trade ; lastly, because it would damage the
national prosperity—he should give his strenuous oppo-
sition to the Noble Lord, and support the Noble Lord
the Member for Liverpool.
Lord HOWICK hoped he should be pardoned,
considering the interest that he had always
taken upon the question involved in the dis-
cussion now before the House, if he was un-
willing to give a silent vote. It had been as-
serted that this measure would have a di-
rect tendency to injure the national prosperity,
but upon this subject he must first observe that he
was not aware that any Gentleman had ventured to as-
sert that the introduction of the produce of slave labour
was to be objected to. That argument had not been
put forth. Those Gentlemen who had argued it
had not taken the high ground that if a great
fundamental principle was involved in the ques-
tion, they should be bound to admit slave labour.
They had not pushed their argument further than
this that the abolition of slavery and the slave trade
was the object of the policy of this country, and that
it ought not to be interfered with by a measure
like that proposed by the Noble Lord. But it was
said that the consequence of the course to be adopted
would be encouragement to the slave trade.
Now, on that point he was entirely at variance with his
Right Honourable and Learned Friend, who said that
if sugar produced by slave labour were allowed to
be consumed in this the richest country in
the world, the necessary effect of that would be to raise
the price of such sugar, and therefore to offer an
encouragement to slavery and the slave trade.—(Hear.)
That assertion appeared to him (Lord Ilowick) to rest
on a most unsound foundation, and the policy which his
Right Hop. and Learned Friend recommended seemed
to him erroneous, because that policy, and the
arguments which had been addressed to the
House in support of it, went entirely on the
supposition that it would be vain to hope that
free-labour sugar could successfully compete with that
produced in Cuba and the Brazils ; and that they
ought consequently to give up the market of Europe,
and of the world, to slave sugar, and remain passively
content with excluding such produce from their own
markets. That was the assumption on which the
argument of his Right Hon. and Learned Friend rested.
But if that assumption were correct—and . if it
were really hopeless to think that free labour could
compete with slave lab Our sugar, lie should say
that that was a most mortifying conclusion,
and one which he should only admit upon the clearest
evidence, and with the greatest reluctance. But he to-
tally denied that that assumption was supported either
by reason or experience. lie remembered well the
debates on the measure for the abolition of sla-
very, and he had often listened with approbation
to his Right Honourable and Learned Friend, and
another Hon. Friendanow no longer. a Member of that.
House, who took so distinguished a part in the agitation
of the question ; he meant, of course, Sir T. F. Buxton.
He had frequently listened with approbation to those gentle-
men, while, by the most elaborate reasoning'and enume-
rations of facts, they had endeavoured to trove that slavery
was not only a crime, but an error and a nitstalce ;'arid that
slavery was not only iniquitous, but that in
the end it was the dearest and the , most expen-
sive labour that could be employed. For his part he
still believed that if free labour was duly encou-
raged it could carry on a successful competition
with the labour of slaves ; and however other Hon. Gen-
tlemen might be disposed to think that they were formerly
in error, and that they had now reason to change their views
upon this subject, ho not only believed that such compe-
tition could be waged, but that if duo means were taken
to encourage the production of sugar in our own pos-
sessions in the East and the West Indies, the free
labourer would be found more ,than a ineteli
for the others. Ile did -11(4' on the
contrary, think that they could hope for
any success while they leant upon the. broken reed. of
protection and monopolv.—(Cries of " Hear, heal.")
He believed with his .Noble Friend (Lord John Rus-
sell)llat rvandoe had
vspokneunrsesCi eloquently
eti°onn Friday idayrenstirlici-t
t restric-
tions
reasonsnevercoulltyleare thttainerae
forhe daltehsypaairning and vigorous othr(enissugrcettohf.
What
our own possessions in the race of competition ? , Hon.
Gentleman opposite talked of the climate of Brazil
and Cuba, but he would ask where better soil was
to be found, than in Demerara and in Trinidad ?
fiCevheeders
great want
but that it was worn out by the
lle
lolf.oaulpdroapskermsiestthemer
more even
intelli-
ttatnaytie isnvasounrotoldexhcaoulsotielides, naturally,
but
itthnderere
among the planters of Brazil or
genCe, or mare energy
said that the great cause of
under the
,omldorsye•setnepmitaolf, slavery._
col onies.—(Cheers..) , It ,was
f -om the deficiency
the shortcomings of our colonies arose
but labour was
Cuba, than there was
.aMong „the planters of our own
of labour. There was no doubt
far from plenty, but that he thought had been caused by
the Mistaken measures taken, pin fact it had been
ar-. 'n that House, but
greatly' by the local authorities ;the
cattfed by, a reluctance to conform to
much as pos-
sible new system,
rev riled before. 1833.
a strong desire to retain
of the system which p
.
proprietors residing'
b • by mean:,
of their usiness mean.,
in, that country, and
wouldcarrying on be
able to do se. It,
He believed it.wa.s impossible
paid agents in Jamaica,
ild be con'siderably reduced.
was elear that the profit would
wild Ir. the effect of at-
-1.4.4 the House consider what
that cduntry.- The ma-
tciiiptixig -a sun • ilat system in
n was not often a profitable
nagement of farms bygentieme
that