The Sun.
London, England, 1840-05-02 00:00:00

EVENTING EDITION.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

price of bread corn was not fairly stated by an
examination of averages as exhibited in the Gazelle.
HOUSE OF LORDS, 11.14 r 1. I The Noble Marquis stated the quartern loaf-no longer -
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on existed —he meant the double 41b. loaf, by Which they
the Woolsack at Five o'Ciock. sold, and which was now selling at Peterborough" for 9id:
Lord LYNDHURST appeared in the House for The Marquis of SALISBURY—I am astoli lss!_4l,l,
the first time since his recent indisposition. The Noble hear that. NY Ref'.
and Learned Lord, who looked rather pale and thin, , Earl FITZ WILLIAM—The Noble Marquis
was congratulated by several Noble Lords. might be astonished, but so the fact was, as he was in-
The Marquis of LOTHIAN presented two petitions funned by a letter received from Peterborough that
from agricultural districts in Scotland against any alte- morning. He would state another circumstance ! four
ration in the present Corn-laws. years ago the Poor-law Amendment Bill came into opera-
The Bishop of DURHAM presented a petition from tion. Four years ago the contract for supplying the poor
Durham in favour of Church Extension. of the Peterborough Union was 4d. for the 41b. loaf, and
The Earl of ABERDEEN presented a great num- now it was 7d. or 7-Id., making a difference of 70 or 80
her of petitions from various places in Scotland, of per cent. in that period.
which we could not catch the names, on account of the The Marquis of SALISBURY said the reason the
exceedingly low tone in which the Noble Lord read them. corn was carried wet to market by the farmers was
Several of them complained of the conduct of the Ge. because Noble Lords, and others like them, kept
neral Assembly in the case of Auchterarder, and others, up agitation on the subject.—( Hear, hear.) Now,
on the contrary, were in favour of Non-Intrusion. with respect to the contract for the Peterborough
The Duke of BUCCLEUCH presented a petition Union—the poor of that Union were fed upon
from Musselburgh, complaining of the conduct of the thirds, and any contractor would new furnish bread
General Assembly in the case of Auchterarder, and of that quality at pretty nearly the same price—
also a petition from the Presbytery of Selkirk against namely, 4d. the 41b. loaf, and that was one step
the intrusion of Ministers, towards the proposition of the Noble Earl near him,
IRISH CORPORATION REFORM. to feed the poor upon oaten bread.
Lord LYNDHURST presented two petitions from Earl RADNOR—I beg leave positively to deny
the County of Sligo, one of which was signed by that.—(Hear and laughter.) I contradicted it at the
the Sheriffs of the County, and several Magis- time, and I beg to contradict it now. I never said any
traces, praying that if their Lordships should pass thing of the kind.—( Hear, hear.)
the Irish Municipal Reform Bill, the borough of Sligo Earl FITZ WILLI AAI explained. What he had
might be excluded from schedule A and inserted in said was that the contract for thirds was now 74d. the
schedule Bof that Bill. The petitioners stated that by 4 lb. loaf.
the Act 53d of George 111. the whole management of The Marquis of SALISBURY said that the Noble
the borough was placed in certain Commissioners, who Earl had said so, as far as he understood him. The
had since managed the public affairs of the ho- Noble Earl certainly said he did not see why the people
rough under the provisions of the Act, to the satis- should not live on oaten bread. At all events, the
faction of the inhabitants. The only duty of Noble Earl need not have said that he (the Marquis of
the burgesses since the appointment of the Commis- Salisbury) did not hear him.
sioners was to elect a Provost, who had no duties to Tne Earl ot RADNOR The Noble Marquis
perform that might not be performed by a Stipendiary could not hear what I never said.—(A laugh.)
Magistrate. The whole property of the town was not After a further conversation, which was not heard
worth more than 100,000/., and the petitioners prayed in the gallery, but caused much laughter in the House,
that they might not be put to the expense of a Cor- The Earl of RADNOR repeated that he never said
poration. The Noble and Learned Lard gave notice anything about wholesomeness of natcu bread, or
that in Committee upon the 13111, he would move that, anything of the sort—(Laughter)—what he said i
in accordance with the prayer of the petitions, the was, that it would not be a bad thing for 1
borough of Sligo be excluded from schedule A and in- the people of England to ge back upon roast
sorted in schedule B. He now wished to ask the Noh'e beef and plum-pudding.—(Laughter.) That was what
Viscount (Melbourne) whether he would object to lay he said, but what he meant to say was roast beef and
on the table the treaty signed by Mr. Al'Gregor, roast mutton.
and the Neapolitan Minister, at the close of After a few words from Lord Fl'f Z WILLIAM,
last year, and which was to have been ratified on the The LORD CHANCELLOR drew their Lord-
first of January this year ? The provisions of that ship's attention to the circumstance of there being no
treaty were well known to Wall parties connected with question }wore the House.
the commerce of Sicily and Naples, and they were Earl FITZ WI is LI AM said, the petition which he
most desirous that it should be ratified, and were had now to present, in consequence of the illness of a
hear.) Nobie Friend, was worthy of the serious attention
fully contented with its provisions.—( Hear,
As connected with this subject, he wished to correct a of their Lordships. It was to the mercantile
misunderstanding as to what had taken place, and what interest the country owed its power and importance
fell from him in March last upon this subject. Tne in Europe, and to it their Lordships owed their
facts which he then stated were admitted by the Noble wealth and station. This petition was from a
Viscount to be correctly stated.. He agreed with him meeting of inhabitants, convened by the Mayor of Liver-
that there had been an infraction of the commercial pool, by public advertisement. It was the petition of the
treaty that existed between the Government of this bankers, merchants, and other inhabitants of that town,
country and that of Naples. The Noble Viscount had They stated that the experience of every succeeding
stated that complaints had been made to the Neapolitan year more clearly demonstrated the pernicious effects of
Government. An attempt had been made to obtain re- restriction on the importation of food. It was painful
dress, but it had not been accomplished. The Noble alike to the manufacturing and commercial importance
Viscount also threw out that the Neapolitan Govern- of the country, and dangerous to its political power and
ment were desirous only that the monopoly should last social security. The next petition which he had
for six months. He (Lord Lyndhurst) at that time to present was to the same effect, from the Mayor,
complained of the delay that had taken place, and he Aldermen and Burgesses of Kingston-upon-Hull. The
stated, that if ships of war were sent out, the matter next from the Mayor, Aldermen, and Council of Derby.
would soon be brought to a successful issue.— The next from the Mayor, Aldermen, and Council of
(Hear.) In stating this, however, he never intended Wigan. These petitions were important, and in a
to sanction such proceedings as had taken place high degree entitled to the consideration of the House,
on the part of her Majesty's Government, as to which not only from the numbers of the petitioners, but also
he would now give no opinion. from the importance of their station. He had yet 81
Viscount MELBOURNE said it was the intention petitions more, which were signed in all by 360,000
of the Government to lay on the table of both Houses persons. One of these was remarkable in consequence
of Parliament all the documents with respect to the of the place from which it came, namely, Boston, in
subject. The Noble Lord had stated with great core Lincolnshire, which depended altogether on agriculture.
rectness what had fallen from him en a former occasion, [While the Noble Earl was addressing their Lordships,
but whether the inference he had drawn from it was all the Peers on the Opposition side, of whom there
quite so correct, he would not say. were a considerable number in the early part of the
After few words from Lord LYNDHURST, the evening, quitted the House, and for some minutes be-
subject
dropped. fore he concluded there was not a single Peer on the
IRISH MUNICIPAL BILL. Opposition benches.]
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said he had seve- The Marquis of SALISBURY (after looking at
ral petitions to present with respect to the Irish Mu- the petition) said the petition, which purported to be
nicipal Bill, and as those petitions were of an extremely from the Corporation of Liverpool, was certainly signed
important nature, it would be necessary for him shortly by the Mayor, but it had not the Corporation Seal.
to explain them, which he thought he could better do Earl FITZ W ILLIAM had not presented the peti-
that evening than if he delayed it till Monday. Lion as that of the Corporation—it was one of a much
The petitions were from proprietors in Ireland, higher value, inasmuch as it was from the bankers, suer-
residing in liberties and counties of cities. chants, and traders of Liverpool, in public meeting as
He believed the opinion entertained by all sembled. It comprised all the wealth, intelligence,
those proprietors in common, was that it was de- and virtue of the town, and was not confined to the
sirable to join those liberties with the cities. Those Corpor ition. He saw the Noble Marquis chuckled
provisions had been introduced into the Bill of last year, I at this, but he had really thought the Noble Marquis
und had met with the concurrence of both Houses of was too leach exalted in mind, as well as in station, to
Parliament ; but that Bill having been thrown act iii such a manner. He was too well acquainted
out, the measure of course fell to the ground. with the town to say that, although wealth, virtue, and
The Bill introduced into the other House, would i intelligence, might be found extraneous to the corpora-
have the effect of removing the objections to the pre- tion, it did nut follow that they were not to be found
sent measure. In the discussions which took place on ,in it.
the Bill, it was admitted to be a great hardship that the 1 The Marquis of SALISBURY really did
propretors of land in agricultural districts should i not think it worth while t r reply to the attack
be subject to the imposition of rates about made upon him by the Noble Earl. He had a
to \be established by the Bill ; and it was . right to look how the petition was signed. In its
thought fit last year to coneect with the heading the
petition purported to be the petition of
Municipal Bill a provision for separating these die- ' the merchants, bankers, end other inhabitants of
tricts and annexing them to the municipal towns, ' Liverpool, in public 'fleeing assembled ; but
which met with the approbation of the House. Al- ; when he looked at tie signatores he found it was only
though these petitioners had naturally taken sonic alarm signed by J. Wahnesley, Mayor. low, according to the
at the omission of these clauses, they would see that ' strict enters ot the House he mighi: :neve that the
they were subsequently introduced into a Bill petition be rejected as professing to coeue from a body
then before the other House. But these con- 'of wen, whirs there ryes no evidence befiwe their Lord-
siderations arose out of the details of the ships that any one of them was present at the meet-
measure, though he had felt it his duty ! ing. He should, however, move that it be received as
to the petitioners to state to the house their views on i ii
1 the petition oi', the person signing it.
the subject. One of the petitions was then laid upon i Earl FITZWILLIAM said that the Noble Mar-
the table, and the Noble Lord also presented similar quis had male no new discovery.
petitions from Cork. The petition was then laid on the table.
The Earl of CL ARE thought the safest course The Earl of MOUNTCASHEL, in presenting pe-
would be to restore to the present Bill the clauses of
titions from several places in Ireland in favour of the
the omission of which the petitioners complained.
i third existing Cm
1 n-laws, said that Ireland, containing one-
The Earl of REDESDALE supported the prayer
lof the population of Great Britain, depended en-
of the petition, and concurred in the opinion of the
tirely upon agriculture for their subsistence ; that if they
Noble Lord (Clare). It was somowhat singular were done away with the labouring classes would be re-
that the Bill now before the House of Commons duced to starvation, the farmers to bankruptcy, and the
had not been introduced until the matter had been landholders to the greatest distress ; that Ireland, not
stirred up by these petitioners, and that that Bill being a manufacturing country, and consumine a great
should contain clauses similar to those which had been quantity of the manufactures of England, ought to be
thrown out by the House of Commons, because they allowed to retain the only means she possessed of draw-
had been introduced in the House of Lords. The ing back some of the money expended by her in the
petitioners had no right to complain of the manner in purchase of English manufactures : of this she would
which the Bill was framed in every respect. Every be deprived if the existing Corn-laws should be repealed.
point that had been mutually agreed upon in a mea- He believed that even England would sustain a loss by
sure should be inserted ; but in the present Bill no one the effect which the Corn-laws would produce in Ire-
knew what been assented to, and what had not. land. He would suppose Ireland exported a million of
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said the Noble quarters of corn to this country, and that she received
Baron (Redesdale) was mistaken if he thought that for it the sum of two millions sterling. 11, however, the
Ministers intended to abandon the principle of the Corn-laws were repealed, she ought receive but one
Municipal Reform Bill. If he consulted the ordinary
million, and the call for the manufactures of England
channels of information, be would find that when the
would be diminished in proportion. The Noble Lord
Noble Lord the Secretary for Ireland introduced into
then presented petitions in favour of the Corn-laws from
the House of Commons this Session the Bill now on the city of Cork and its vicinity, from Charleville, and
the table of the House, the Bill introduced last year
other places in the county of Cork.
was opened, and his (Lord Lansdowne's) Noble Friend Earl FITZ WILLIAM said that he believed the
stated that it was his intention that the one should fol- Noble Lord was entirely mistaken as to the results
low the other. The separation of the agricultural dis- which he apprehended hem a repeal of the
tricts from the town portions of the boroughs in respect
Corn-laws, both as regarded this country and
to taxation, was in accordance with the enactments of
Ireland. As regarded Ireland he was of opinion
the;English Municipal Reform Bill.
that it was of more importance to the poorer classes
Lord REDESDALE had complained that the Mu- there that corn should be cheap than it was to the
nicipal Bill had been brought up to their Lordships on same classes in England, inasmuch as such a repeal
the 10th of March, and that the other Bill had not
would enable them to obtain better food than that which
heen introduced in the other House until the I lth of they now consumed. The Corn-laws, in keeping up
April—whereas the two Bills were (he was told) to be
high prices of corn, could not be beneficial to the
treated as a joint measure. Their Lordships might
have gone into Committee upon the
, people of Ireland, though they might be to those who
municipal Bill, arm had an interest in keeping up high prices.
even passed it, before they could have any knowledge of
Earl MOUNTCASHEL 'presented various other
the other. petitions from Ireland against the repeal of the Corn-
Earl BEAUCHAMP presented 66 petitions from laws.
places in Worcestershire, against any alteration in the
Lord DUNCAN N ON presented Lord Seaton's
Corn-laws. Annuity Bill, which was 'Taxi a first time.
Earl FITZ WILLI AM, in moving for a copy of
Their Lordships then adjourned.
the tsar prices of corn in Scotland daring the last
-.2....- ..
and several years past, stated, that his object in doing
so was to show diet high prices in cern did not
arise from pints, but a very different cause,
At the present moment the average in the price of corn
was brought down in consequence of unpropitious cir-
cumstances, and the last harvest. In consequence of
the present existing law, at the very moment thet
foreign corn was wanted, an obstacle was thrown in the
way of its introduction. He believed that. a noire
powerful illustration of foreign corn being excluded be-
cause the wheat ot this country was bad, could not. he
found than in the papers he was about to move
for. He believed that the time had come when the at-
tention of their Lordships must be given to the subject
of the Corn-laws—for such was the state of the country
at present that, while the price of corn was low, the
working classes were obliged to pay 9d. for the 41h, loot,
which was more than their wages would enable them to
purchase in a sufficient quantity. ,
The Marquis of SALISBURY wished to know on
what ground the Noble Lord had stated that while
corn was low the working classes were called upon to
pay 9d. for the 41b. loaf.
Earl FITZ W I LLIAM, in answer to the question
of the Noble Marquis, said the last crop in Scotland
was very bad, and brought a low price in the market.
In the county of Stirling the average price was 38s. a
quarter. If the Noble Marquis knew anything of the
trade of a miller, which he (Earl Fitzwilliam) hoped
he did—because it was the duty of every man
who acted as a Legislator to be well acquainted with a
great number of details which were very unaristocratic,
but without being acquainted with which they, never-
theless, could not legislate wisely.—he must he aware
that the corn which the miller bought at Stirling at an
average of 385., and in Westmorland at 575., was not a
composition for human subsistence. It must be
kept a
long time, and must (unless the miller meant to make bad
bread) be put through extensive processes, and require
a large outlay of capital, for which he must
_be remune-
rated by the higher price at which be sold. These
were the grounds on which he ventured to say the

1101: SE OF COMMONS, 111.4 r 1. •

The SIg.:AKER took the Chair .it the usual 12.nur,
Mr. C. BALDWIN, the new Member fur 'F-tues,
took the oaths and his si'at. The Hon. Member was
introduced hy Sir J. Yardc Buller and Mr. Alderman
Copeland.
Mr. CRESSWELL presented a petition fivm
pool agiiiin4 the Herculaneum Dock Bill.
Oil the motion of Mr. PRY ME the Thriplow
Eitelo-
su, Bill was read a third time and passed- I
'rue aini.lulm W ents in the orkiug
Bill were agreed to. ton Improvement
Leavy was given to bring in a Bill to amend the
Elinburg,h and Glasgow Railway
Mr. CRESSW ELL presented a petition against the
Liverpool Dock 8.11
Mr. WILSHIRE presented a petition from
Malin, praying for a legislative enactment to prevent
the sweeping of chimneys by children.
• Capt. WEMYSS presented petitions for an Exten-
sion of the Suffrage.
Mr. J. A. SMITH presented a petition from
Chichester against Church Extension.
Mr. SCHOLEFIELD presented petitions from
Birmingham against a further grant of public money
to increase the wealth of the Established Church, and
against the employment of climbing boys in sweeping
chimneys.

Lord EASTNO It presented a petition from a place
in NVarwickshire, in favour of Church Extension, and
petitions from Newcastle.upon.Tyne and from Sand-
gate (Cheshire), against the app'ication of the Canadian
Clergy Reserves Fund to any purposes but to those of
the Established Church of England and Ireland.
Mr. FRESHFIELD presented petitions in favour
of Church Extension, from the parishes of St. Olive
and St. Martin, in the city of London.
Mr. KEMBLE presented petitions from Clapham.
in favour of Church Extension, and against the em-
ployment of climbing boys in sweeping chimneys.
Mr. STRUTT presented -petitions from Der°7_