The Sun.
London, England, 1847-07-17 00:00:00

1846. The experieudeOf other countries th•
blight had apeated, tended to show that it was not
limited to a single season, and as an early proof that
apprehensions on that head were not without founda-
tion, I will quote from a letter receive d from Professor
Lindley on the 18th February, 1846, the following ex-
tract:—
feel it my duty to apprise yeu
tngbf in regard
aaets,
taodniseased s
sible moment, of the following alarm; the earliest pea-
set been ascer-
ttaointhede pboeytaotnodcraolpl
doofurbirt.retbsaes
s
duce a diseased crop. Evidence in
conformation
11
fpr?.
was produced yesterday before the Horticultural this
so-
ciety, in the presence of Sir Charles Lemon, Sir Philip
Egerton, Lord Grey, and others ; and for your own in-
formation I enclose you some proofs of it in the shape of
the haulm of the new potato plants grown at Bicton,
in Devonshire. They were perfectly healthy in aPpear-
ance in January, and now they are advanced beyond the
first stage of decay.
" I would have communicated this information to you
yesterday, if I had not wished for leisure to re-examine
and re-consider the evidence in my possession, so that
all possibility of error or misconception might be
guarded against. I have now spent some hours in re.
examining the evidence, and not a doubt remains in my
mind that next year's crop is in jeopardy."
Such was the opinion of Professor Lindley, tending
to confirm the apprehension, that from the same cause,
a second suspension of the corn-laws might becomi
necessary.
It appeared to me that, considering the nature of that
lave—considering that it was passed with a view of in.
Suring, through its own unassisted operation, an ade-
swioonul(cishboeualdpitoet:oeorufiri)l,
quate supply of foreign corn in case of necessity—a
single suspension of it on the first occasion of severe trial
awrgouulmdeandtdaggarienasttlyittos
the
ermwsentgenhtt
outthtehraatuadeguau:steen
continuance, and that the necessity for renewed suspen-
sion
of this consideration,there
important reasons which influenced my
But,
. were
decision.
confidence in the validity of the reasons on which
I had myself heretofore relied, for the maintenance of
restrictions on the import of corn, had beenmaterially
weakened. It had been weakened by the conflict of
ar-
gument on the principle of a restrictive policy—by many
concurring proofs that the wages of labour do not vary
with the price of corn—by the contrast presented in two
successive periods of dearth and abundance, in the health,
morals; tranquillity, and general prosperity of the whole
community—by serious doubts whether, in the present
condition of this country, cheapness and plenty are not
insured for the future in a higher degree by the free
intercourse in corn, than by restriction on its importe-
r Lion-for the purpose of giving protection to domestic
agriculture.
It had been weakened also by the following considera-
tions, which were in a great degree new elements in
forming a judgment upon this vital matter:--
The general repeal of prohibitory duties, and the re-
cent application of the principles of free trade to almost
all articles of import from abroad, made the corn-laws
the object of more searching scrutiny and more invidious
comment, and narrowed the ground on which their de-
fence could be maintained.
Among the articles of foreign,import prohibited up to
the year 1842, and then admitted at low rates of duty,
were some important articles of agricultural produce,
salted and fresh meat, oxen, sheep, cows, &c. You pro-
bably recollect the panic which this admission caused—
the forced sale of stock, the prophecies that it would be
impossible to compete with the foreign grazier, and that
meat would be reduced to 3d per pound. Five years
have passed since this great change in the law took place,
and your own experience will enable you to judge who-
ther the panic was well founded, and whether the pro-
phecies have been fulfilled.
The complete failure of those prophecies had naturally
had its effect on public opinion, with regard to the pro-
bable consequences of a freer intercourse in other articles
of agricultural produce.
There vvas another circumstance still more calculated
to diminish apprehensions as to the risk of opening the
corn market of this country to foreign competition.
There has appeared of late years a tendency to increase
in the consumption of articles of subsistence much
more rapid than the increase in the population. Lis
difficult, if not impossible, on account of the absence o f
statistical information, to measure accurately that in-
crease in the case of articles of the first necessity, such as
corn and meat. But it may be inferred from the rela-
tive consumption, at different periods, of articles in re-
spect to which the comparison can be instituted.
The following is an account of some of the principal
articles entered for home consumption in the years 1841
and 1846 respectively:—
Cocoa, lbs
Coffee, lbs
Currants, cwts
Rice, cwts
Pepper, lbs
Sugar, cwts
Molasses, cwts
Tea, lbs 36,681,877 ... 46,728,208
Tobacco and snuff; lbs 22,308,383 ... 27,001,908
Brandy, gallons 1,165,137 ... 1,515,954
Geneva, ditto
British spirits, ditto 20,642,333 ... 23,122,581
Malt charged with duty,
bushels
Surely it is impossible to refer to this comparative
table without being forcibly struck by the rapid increase
in the consumption of the articles which it embraces.
Can there be a doubt that if the consumption of articles
of secondary necessity has been thus advancing, the
consumption of articles of first necessity, of meat and
of bread for instance, has been making at least an equally
rapid progress ?
During the greater part of the period included in the
return, from the middle of 1842 to the end of 1846, the
free-trade measures have been in operation. They have
been in operation therefore, concurrently at least, with
these evidences of the increasing ease and comfort of the
people. Other causes have no doubt contributed to that
ease and comfort; but even if the whole effect be assigned
to those other causes—to railway enterprise, or anything
else—it does not affect my present argument. If there
be from any cause a tendency to the consumption of
articles of the first necessity much more rapid than the
increase of population, the responsibility of undertaking
to regulate the supply of food by legislative restraints,
and the difficulty of maintaining those restraints in the
event of any sudden check to prosperity, or increased
price of subsistence, will be greatly augmented, while,
on the other hand, the danger to be apprehended from
foreign competition is materially lessened.
It was from the combined influence of these various
considerations—from diminished confidence in the neces-
sity or advantage of protection—from the increasing
difficulty of resisting the application to articles of food
to so many other articles—from the result of the experi-
of those principles which had been gradually applied
ment made with regard to cattle and meat in 1842
from the evidences of rapidly increasing consumption—
from the aggravation of every other difficulty, in the
maintenance of the corn-lams, by the fact of their sus-
pension on the first real pressure— it was from the com-
bimd influence of such considerations, that I came to
the conclusion that the attempt to maintain those laws
inviolate after their suspension would be impolitic, that
the struggle fur their maintenance would assume a now
character, and that no advantage to be gained by success
could eouqterbalance the consequences of failure, or even
the evils attending protracted conflict.

`z-

My opinions in respect may have been erroneous,
but they were not formed without mature and painful
deliberation, and I am wholly unconscious of any single
motive of self-interest, personal or political, which was
not calculated to bias my judgment in favour of an
opposite conclusion. If, from the confidence which the
agricultural interest had reposed in the Government, and
the support they had freely given to it, that interest had
a special claim upon me, I should have ill-satisfied that
claim by giving advice at a very critical period, which
might certainly have been more acceptable—which might
have protected myself from the imputation of being in-
consistent and unfaithful—but which in my heart and
conscience I believed to be, as applicable to that time
and those circumstances, unsound and dangerous.
no
Between the maintenance of the corn-laws
and a measure involving their ultimate repesa
to any. in-
middle course satisfactory or advantageeoru
advantage in
terest; I saw still less of satisfaction
Icould not admit the
indecision and irrational delay,
Parliament to deal with
;
incompetency of the present
question
Ii
saw no
of public concern.
this as with every other
deliberate conviction, I felt
There appeared to me, thewhole,
whole, much less of
other that could be then.
of the corn laws than in any
my
adopted, and that beingincur the painful sacrifices which the
muste inevitably
f
public evil in the resolution finally to adjust the question
it to be my duty to
entail,
u e : , t i o n
that has since occurred (I speak of
There is no event
which does not confirm me in the belief that,
events e
even with special reference to the agricultural interest,
acting übpaornintghadticroecntvlyictiuopnomn
the course taken was preferable to any other.
So much, Gentlemen, with regard to the past. In at issue.)
re-
spect to the future, it is my intention, if re elected, to
conform on all matters connected with our financial and
commercial concerns to the general principles on which I
have acted while in power.
Acting with the caution and circumspection which
tend to make reformation permanent, by making it safe,
and which are indispensably requisite in all cases
wherein the public credit, or wherein extensive and com-
plicated interests are concerned, I shall feel disposed to
support such measures as are calculated to remove any
4eetnaining restrictions on commerce—to abate duties
that are levied tor the purpose of protection, or that, 1,?
their amount, defeat the purposes of revenue—htottee
appor-
tion equitably the burden of taxation—
andto better
condition of those who labour for their subsistence.with,
Such measures are not only compatibleperfectlyat
bjects of con-
but are mainly conducive to, thoe great
? the commence-
ment policy which it has been,
11 be to its close, nay
ment of my public life, as it w
unvarying purpose to uphold
that the course sanctioned by
It is my firm
withpersuasionn
reference to our financial
the present Parliament,
has tended to fortify the esta-
blished commercial policy,
flais country, to inspire confidence
blished institutions o
benevolence of the Legislature, to
in the equity and
authority of an hereditary •'•
nobility,
maintain the just . _
discourage the desire for democratic change in the
and to
constitution of the House of Commons.
It has aided the Government in conducting the admi-
nistration of internal affairs, and in maintaining the
public tranquillity, even during 'a period of sunering
from depression in trade and a high price (f food, much
more through the mild influence of general contentment,
than through the appliance of force, or the harsh coer-
cion of the civil power. And if the sad times of a yet
severer trial should return, that trial will not be borae
with the less fortitude and patience, when the privations
that accompany it can be ascribed solely to causes over
which the Legislature has no control.
I have;thus, Gentlemen, explained to you the cou.t.
which .I have Pursued, and that tQ Wilic42l if re-elected, I
intend tQ coratorra.