The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-16 00:00:00

MORNING EDITION.

the property by private contract instead of by public com
petition. No injury could arise from the postponement
of the Bill until the next Parliament, which would meet
in about a couple of months, and he trusted, therefOre;
the House would not object to a motion for its recommittal.
He should therefore move that the Bill be recommitted.
Sir GRAHAM defended the Bill, and said the pur-
chase had been narrowly scrutinized, and was approved
and sanctioned by the Court of Chancery.
_ _

Mr. BRISCOE supported the motion.
Sir E. SUGDEN said nothing was more absurd than
to*talk of the tenant having an interest in this property.
It appeared that he had nothing but a verbal promise of
renewal of the lease, which was of no legal effect what-

ever.

•
Sir DE LACY EVANS said an appeal was made to
the House to confirm or annul any decisions. They were
simply asked to allow a re-consideration of the question,
in which he trusted they would consent.
The House then divided—
For the motion
Against it
Majority against the Motion... —57
The South Metropolitan Gas Bill was read a third
time and passed.
On the motion of Lord MORPETH the Railway
(Ireland) Bill was read a first time.
On the motion of Wyk R. PEEL the Elections' Peti-
tions Trial Bill was read a third time and passed.
On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the EX-
CHEQUER the Appropriation Bill was read a third
time and passed.
Colonel SALWEY wished to call the attention of the
Under-Secretary of State to a matter which, though it
had affected him personally, was also of some importance
to the public. From time immemorial there had been
a highway through Windsor Park leading from
Staines to Reading ; but on Wednesday night last
as he (Colonel Salwey) was passing through
the Park in his carriage after ten o'clock,
he kund the gate on the road closed, and on ordering it
to'be opened, he was assailed with the most unmeasured
abuse, and told that though he would be allowed to pass
on that occasion, he had
.no right to travel on the road
after ten o'clock. Now, he wished to ask the Under
Secretary of State whether such conduct had been in
any way authorised ?
Mr. L. J. STANLEY said that the keeper had no
authority to act as the Hon. Member had represented,
and his conduct must have originated in some mistake,
which he would take care to see rectified.
The Militia Pay Bill was read a third time and passed.
Messengers from the Lords brought down various
Bills.

23
80

The Lords' Amendments to the Gourdon Harbour Bill
were ageed to.
The Lords amendments to the Stoke-upon-Trent
Small Debts Bill, were agreed to.
DISTRESS OF TB E COUNTRY. CORN-LAWS.
On Mr. SCHOLEFIELD rising to bring forward the
motion of which he had given notice on the subject of
the distress so generally existing throughout the country,
Mr. GODSON rose, and claimed precedence for the
motion of which he had given notice relating to the peti-
tion of Edward Ki!bean Cox, as his motion related to a
matter of privilege.
The SPEAKER did not consider that the petition of
Cox could be considered as relating to a question of pri-
vilege, and therefore the Hon. Member for Kiddermin-
ster could not bring on his motion out of its regular order.
He therefore called upon Mr. Scholefield to proceed.
Mr. SCHOLEFIELI) then rose to move the following
resolution :—" That the extreme suffering of the indus-
trions classes, from want of employment, low wages,
and high price of provisions, renders it the imperative
duty of Parliament to devise means for the alleviation
of the great misery which now pervades all the manu-
facturing districts of the country." The Hon. Member
commenced his address in a very low tone of voice. We
understood him to say that the House of Commons ap-
peared to him to be hardly aware that such a thing
as distress existed in , the manufacturing districts.
and those who were aware of the distress seemed
to be totally ignorant of the cause. The pressure of
taxa ion upon the industry of the country was the cause
of t.iese sutferings. At the present time the manufitctur-
ins interest was in a most depressed state ; nearly all the
markets in the world were, in a great measure, closed
against them. The manufactures of many other coun-
tries were excelling those of England ; those of Ger-
many, for instance, excelled those of Sheffield. One pe-
culiar feature in the suffering which existed was that the
condition of the middle classes was scarcely superior to
that of the working classes—(Hear, hear, hear)—so low
iaere the profits afforded by the varioua branches of ma-
nufacture. He begged to call the attention of. the House
to the state of Birmingham at the present time. .The
following documents bearing upon this subject were
then read by the Hon. Member :
" The condition of the inhabitants of Birmingham is
more deplorable than ever. Cruel mortgagers are dis-
posing of property on which they have advanced money,
for less than one-;.bird of its value, or rather, I should say,
they are purchasing buildings at that rate. In consequence
of trade being so bad, and levies, and taxes so high,
mortgagers have not been able to be punctual in the pay-
ment of interest ; their property has been advertised
to be sold, and no sale being practicable, a legal
process has been gone through, and the property
been transferred from the legitimate owner to
the mortgagee, and this has been the case, lately, in a
great many instances."
" Trade is daily getting worse. Whilst the number
of bankrupts is less, the number of insolvents is greater
in all the manufacturing districts, and the poor
debtors are crying Make room, the prison is too
small for us.' • This was, actually the case. itL.Bir-
mingham only a few weeks ago, when the Commis-
sioners held a Court for the relief of insolvent debtors,
and -those miserable mein have been sent forth into the
world, pennyless, and nothing but•an alteration in trade
can prevent
.their conning to the workhouse. Although
it was so recently emptied' of its inmates, there is a fresh
• succession of unfortunate debtors, many of whom have
lived respectably, and contributed largely by the pay-
ment of taxes and poor-rates to the benefit of tile commu-
nity, but whoare now about to perish in obscurity. . .
" Tradesmen, with very few exceptions, are in
jeopardy every hour. They apply to the pawn-
brokers in vain, for they have granted loans
till they have no money to lend ; and the con-
sequence is, all the heads of families are in ill health,
and medicine is of no avail. Dope deferred
maketh the heart sick,' and one need not be skilled in
physiognomy to be able to discover, by a man's counte-
nance, that he considers himself standing on a quicksand,
and unless he is unexpectedly supported, that he must
shortly sink."•
Another class of extreme sufferers were those who were
obliged to go to the pawnbrokers, and he had most
painful evidence of that. The Hon. Member here read
the following documents, in order to prove the distressed
state of various parts of the country :
"A list'of one week's pledges at one shop, containing
65 pledges, out of which only two lots exceeded 3s. each.
Upwards of 30 pledges are gowns, shifts, women's petti-
coats, and children's froc!is ; the rest•areshawls, men's
waistcoats, and jackets, a bed cover, a pillow, a wed-
ding ring, and other small articles, the whole averaging
only ls. 9d. each in value.
"'Birmingham contains 94 pawnbrokers, and if each lies
65 pledges per week, the weekly number of the town, of
small pledges, not exceeding 3s. each, exceeds 6,000."
A former statement sent him shews that the master ma-
nufacturers had so many goods in pawn, already, that
the pawnbrokers are unable to find further money to ad-
vance upon them.
As an instance of the great distress in Birming-
ham, he would refer to a letter that .had been written to
a Clergyman of that town ;
" A week has passed, and you have vouchsafed us no
reply. Nine weeks have gone since the Committee con-
cluded its labours, reporting, that they had found above
40,000 individuals so miserable as to be grateful,—yes,
humbly grateful—for a donation of less tnan tfd. per
head per week. Nine weeks have passed since that re-
port ; trade during that period has actually grown worse,
and nothing has been done ! no attempt has been made
to relieve !
"We pray you to consider how ill such poverty
brooks delay ; how many miseries and anxieties,
crowding in each successive hour, have made
each week an age. . Some victims of our neglect
have, in that period, found refuge in the grave. No
ministration of earthly comfort soothed their last mortal
agony : the aid, for which affection yearned, a necessi-
tous poverty denied—they rest—but, to the living is left
the undying regret—that the thousand appliances which
might have restored health, or softened pain, were all
denied.
" The productions of every climate, tributary to our
industry, and plastic to our skill, fill every store with
the means of enjoyment, and yet, English poverty is as
unequalled as English wealth.
Workmen, with large families, are receivinm
six to eleven shillings per week, and would be able, if
they could work full time, to earn from 15s. to 30s. per
week. How these families live and pay rent can only be
answered by the poor creatures themselves. I know
fortlihhe they
hogseane
tdifferent
obligedlitter tto crowds
knowot
fog e
pt inplaces, called
e a
allnedddwellingsocfhaanot
ll he
ages,rfit
s
bothhlae
are compelled to pass the night at the same time. Is
not this enough to make Chartists ? Is not this enough
to demoralize the people ?
"At the Board of Guardians, yesterday, a young
woman applied for relief, whose husband had been three
weeks in prison for a debt due for provisions ; he has
nine weeks longer to remain ; himself and his wife are
steady people ; they have two small children. The
Guardians thought the woman appeared almost lost
for want ; they allowed her three shillings, and two
loaves, per week, • for nine weeks—not sufficient,
after paying for lodgings, to keep body and soul
together ! more could not be allowed to her, as levies
are so high, and many persons who pay them stand in
need of parochial relief.
" Last week a young wife died in child-birth : her
time was come, liut, for want of strength, she was not
ab!e to bring forth—a physician was called in but his
assistance was unavailing—he said, he had no doubt her
death was occasioned by deficiency of nourishment."
Now he had been told by an Honourable Baronet in that
House that his rents were well paid—that he had never
received them better. He (Mr. Scholefield) said
that he thought he was a fortunate man, but
at the same time he said that he thought
if his tenants were tradesmen, they would have not
been paid, because it was only by profits that
their rents could be paid, and they were not mak-
ing any. A new state of things had now
arisen, the people out of doors were taking a course
of their own, they were adopting a plan which they
thought best calculated for their own interest.
He was at a town meeting some time ago, the ob-
ject of which was to petition the House of Com-
mons for a repeal of the Corn-laws, and the
conclusion to which that meeting came was not to peti-i
tion, because they felt convinced that the repeal of the
Corn-laws would do them no good. A week after he
was at a meeting at Sheffield, and there the same results
followed ; there they r;:fused to petition for the repeal of

the Corn-laws, because they considered it a delusion to
tell them that that repeal would relieve their suffefinks.
And at a late meeting at Liverpool of the Working
Classes, the chairman said--- That the next speaker,
Robert Jones, though a man ivell able to express his
views on this great question, was unable to read, and he,
the chairman, would therefore move the resolution for
him—
" That these laws, which wring from the wants of the
poor, in order to support -a monopoly to the wealthy, are
cruel, unchristian, mid unjust ; alike opposed to the
word of God and the
,happiness of man."
Robert Jones, in moving the adoption of this reso-
lution, said that, " like some hundreds, if, not thousands,
of those present, all the property that he had in the
world he had with him—all the estate that God and his
father had left him on the earth, and that English land-
lords would allow him, he held up to them (holding up
his hands). These were all his property -; and he found
that in consequence of the Corn-laws, and other wicked
laws, he was robbed of so much of the produce of his es-
tate that he and his children had to rise many a time
from the table with half-filled 'bellies.—(Hear, hear.)
This was not the cause of party or faction. It was the
cause of the whole human family—it _was the cause of
justice and truth—of, God, and of humanity ! A
tax upon bread !—a tax upon life itself—a tax ola
the very existence-of the working man—a tax on eternal
justice, and on the providence of God !—(Hear, hear.)
God sent untaxed rain to water the- earth ; God brought
untaxed corn out of the earth ; God had spread a boun-
tiful table for the whole family of man on the face of
the earth—but man put his avaricious hand on the
bread, and snatched it from the hungry lips of the people
of England."
The question on the minds of all those who were friends
of humanity and justice was what under such circum-
stances was to be done. It was well known to the
working, and to every other class of society, that there
was abundance of wealth and property-in the country;-
and the poorer classes were of opinion that they ought
to be relieved es.st of the superfluities of the rich by the
imposition of a property tax. It might be asked rwhat
motives induced him to bring forward his motion at the
present period, when he knew it could not lead to any
practical result ; but he could-assure the House that he
felt himself compelled to call attention to the extreme
misery and suffering of the working' classes. He con-
cluded by putting his motion in the hands of the Chair.
Mr. WILLIAMS had not intended to take any part
in the debate, but he was unfortunately too well acquainted
with the misery and starvingcondition of the industrious
classes of this country to allow him to-hesitate to second
the motion. He was well aware, condemned as the
House was to cease its existence at an early period, that
no practical result could be arrived at, but still he thought
it right that public attention should be fixed upon the sub-
ject. The cause of the distress of the millions of the pro-
ductive classes of this country was to be found in the ex- •
cessive taxation imposed on them. ' More than half the
wages of the working men were taken from them in
taxes paid to the State, and they were taxed to nearly
an equal amount by the landed aristocracy in the shape
of Corn-laws and other taxes imposed on the necessaries
of life. He believed that if an end -was not put to that
state of things it would be impossible for them much
longer to compete with foreign countries. Manufactures.
were progressing in the United Stsites, in Switzerland,
and in Germany, where the price of provisions scarcely
exceeded one-half what they cost labourers of this
country. He must say, however, that when he saw the
propositio:is put forth by her Majesty's Government to
relieve the people of the country front one of the most
oppressive taxes to which they were subject—namely, the
Corn-laws.—when he saw the manner in which the
measure was rejected, it led him to believe that there was
no feeling in the House to attbrd relief to the working
classes. His lion. Friend came from a district that Was
suffering in common- with every other portion of the
country, and that suffering he (Mr. Williams) believed
had been increasing during the last two years, and at
the present moment there was no hope or expectation,
that that suffering would cease. He was sorry to say
that House by decisions, had produced a deep impres-
sion on the working-classes of the country. that they
could hope for no relief from legislation. The conse-
quence, was that discontent and disaffection prevailed
among the working-classes. He was sorry to believe
that that discontent would ge on and increase to a frightful
extent. They could not expect to see men unsurpassed
by any nation in the world inskill of industry, yet unable
to support their families in a state of contentment. Unless
something was done to improve their condition, he
looked forward with great apprehension to the safety of
property, and every thing else in the country. They *had
heard a great many causes assigned tbr the unfor-
tunate state of things that existed in France,
during the Revolution. Most historians assigned
it to the pressure of taxation, which the people
were minable to bear, and which taxation was imposed by
the aristocracy, who were themselves free from taxation.
It was the same in this country. With the exception of
a very small amount, the whole 52,000,0001. now levied
on the people was levied on the middle and industrious
classes of this country, because it was levied on articles
necessary for their consumption. It was true the higher
classes paid taxes on those articles, but they paid much
less in degree, in many instances less by 100 per cent.,
inasnittah as the taxes were laid on the value and not on
the quality of the article. The aristocracy, who had the
power of making laws, had managed to free themselves
from the burdens which they imposed on the community
at large. The tax paid by the people through the Corn-
laws alone exceeded in amount all the taxes paid by the
landed interest put together. • He would not, however,
trespass further on the attention of the House, as he, was
well aware-that-nwpractical effect would follow Irons- the
motion which he undertook to second.

Mr. lIINDLEY said that it. was IJecause he had felt
that the motion of his Hon. Friend the Member for Bir-
mingham could not be attended with any practical effect
that he had given notice of the motion which he had
placed upon the papers of the House. But at the same
time, though the motion could not lead to any immediate
result, he was convinced that in the country at least it
would be attended with important consequences. The
Bight Hon. Baronet opposite (Sir B. Peel) had on a for-
mer occasion brought forw.xdasmotion which would lead
to a speedy dissolution. He saw two parties striving for
power. He was anxious before the struggle came on to
assert on behalf of the working people the principle that
taxation ought to be laid on in such a way as should he
satisfactory. and just to the industrious classes of the
community. The present moment more particularly
called for an investigation into the circumstances of that
class. Thev had heard the statement of his Honour-
aLl the Member for Birmingham. He would
not now allude to the subject further than to
stzt' as a proof of the great- distress existing
at'Manchester and elsewhere, that the property to which
his Hon. Friend the Member for Salford had the other
evening alluded, as "having cost 120,0001., had since he
.had given notice of this motion been sold for 26,0001.,
be7ng one-fifth of what it cost.—(Hear, hear.) It would
I • useless attempting to eTcite the sympathy of the
House, if the House had not in its power the means of
relieving these distresses ; but it was in the power of the
House to relieve them ; nay, the House had itself been a

main cause of them, bythe practical injustice it had com-
mitted in continuing the present system of taxation,
which pressed unequally and unjustly on the middle and
lower orders of society. Now, could the Government of
a country be considered in a state of safety when
it was known that the taxation of the country was re-
gulated, not according to the principles of justice, but ac-
cording ascertain class interest preponderated more or less
in that House? The Hand-loom Weavers Commission had
stated in their Report that the Government of this country
was in the hands of a small minority of landowners, who
possessed the whole. of one House and the greater
part of the other, and that the Government of
a minority could only be safe while it was
popular, and could only be popular while it avoided the
appearance of selfish legislation. They must all remem-
ber that in 1833 Mr. Cobbett had called the attention of
the House to the inequality of the stump duties. The
Chancellor of the 'Exchequer of that day had promised
that the abuse should be rectified. Had that been done ?
What was the present state of those duties ? On con-
veyances of the value of 101. the stamp duty was 10 per
cent., on those of 501. value, 3 per cent., and on those of
2,0001. value 1 per cent. On mortgages of 10/. value the
duty was 10 per cent., and on those of 2,0001. the duty
was only 6s. per cent. Whenc. the gross inequality in
,the duty of conveyances and mortgages of 2,0001. ? Why,
becauselanded proprietors seldom wanted to dispose of
their estates, but often wanted to raise mortgages on
them. Again the stamp duty on bills of 10/. was 10
per cent., on bills of 1001. 4s. per cent., and on those of
10,0001. 3M. per cent. On receipts the duty on 101., 55.
per cent., on 201., Is. per cent., and on 10,0001. lid. per
cent. Now as the three-fourths of the stamp duties

were collectedon bills below 100L,could anything
more clearly show the monstrous injustice Which was
committed on the middle and lower classes of society?
Let them recollect that of five millions able-bodied men,
four millions were unrepresented in that House, and it
was, therefore, doubly the duty of the House to protect
their interests. But if they took advantage of the power
to extract more than the fair sham, of the taxation from
the persons who were unrepresented, it was addin
in-
justice to insult. If he were to ask any Member of the
House if the shilling of the poor man ought not to go as
far as the shilling of the rich one, h. e should at once re.
ceive for an answer, undoubtedly it should. But what
was the fact. He had applied to a grocer to furnish him
value of
g
with a list of the articles furnished by him to a poor
person and to a rich one, and the result of it was, that
while out of a weekly expenditure. of Is. VA. a poor
isoaosdhse,rwtohte llianrpiealild 8-td.
. duty,
upon haavinn.geekonly expenditurely
of 16s. 2d., paid only 3s. 80.. so that while the poor
If
at
did couldno t be continuedjustieeto theih
person only got 6:ld. value for his shilling, the rich
man got qd. value for his shilling.—(l ear,
m
hear.)
safetyM to
tliattiaiestastateteo things
they h
industrious poor it would be in vain for them to expect
happiness or peace in the community. Of all the injus-
tices inflicted on the labouring classes that involved
in the present Corn-laws was, he thought, the greatest.
He expected that the discussion on the Corn-laws would

have tam place. He thought that after the debate on
the Right Hon. Baronet's (Sir IL Peel's) motion it
would be in the power of Government to bring forward
the discussion, but on mature consideration he saw

from the difficulties in which the Government were placed
—he saw from what the Right Hon. Baronet had said,
that no new business ought to be entered upon by the
Government—that after the vote which had been come

to they ought to finish the business of the session as
soon as possible, and to appeal to the country as to the
measures they proposed. He regretted that the discus-
sion had not taken place, and it was for this reason that

lie regretted it, that it would be in his opinion better
for all classes interested in the question that the discussion
should take place in the House rather than out of doors.
Every possible means, placards, pamphlets, &c., were
resorted to to raise an outcry against any attempt to
alter the Corn-laws. The Hon. Member here read an
extract from a pamphlet bearing out his statement, and
then went on to say that a greater fallacy was never at-
tempted to be palmed on any buciety than that of the