The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-22 00:00:00

thrtning

LONDON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1847.

The unanimity which was manifested in Parlia-
ment on Tuesday evening, in deliberating upon the
character of the Address to be transmitted to the
SOVEREIGN in answer to her MAJESTY'S Speech from
the Throne, has been happily continued upon the in-
troduction of the Ministerial propositions for the tem-
porary suspension of both the corn-laws and the navi-
gation laws. In the presence of the terrible afflictions
of Ireland, and of the destitution suffered by the un-
murmuring population of Scotland, the factious ani-
mosities of last session are forgotten, and the splenetic
vituperations which latterly disgraced the pages of
" Hansard" are suppressed. This is well. Every lover
of humanity will regard the commencement of the
Parliamentary discussions f0r1847 as most honest and
most commendable. No time is frittered away as
heretofore, in the indulgence of individual malice.
The representatives of the people see that the corn-
munity is suffering sorely from a visitation such as
scarcely possesses any parallel, and all private con-
siderations merge into the one national consideration, as
to how the calamities consequent upon that visitation
can be'diminished or prevented. Animated with this
ennobling sentiment, the difficulties of the Legislature
are being wonderfully decreased and their embarrassing
duties are being rapidly simplified. On the motion
of the Prime Minister the Lower House resolves
itself into a Committee, for the purpose of considering
whether the 4s. duty now levied upon the importa-
tion of corn shall be remitted until the Ist of Septem-
ber next, and whether, for the further facilitation of
the introduction of foreign grain, the laws relating to
navigation shall in like manner be temporarily sus-
pended. As some indication of the entire concur-
rence of the House in the policy of this proposal, it
is well to observe that the Minister is imme-
mediately seconded by Mr. BANKES, one of the
leaders of the Protectionist Opposition. But it is
still better to find that, in the animated discussion
which ensued, no substantial objections whatever
were raised to thes2 Ministerial measures.

On laying the matter be fore the Committee, Lord
JOHN RUSSELL briefly but clearly explained the ne-
cessity for some such movement on the part of the
Legislature. It would assuredly have been almost
sufficient to bring conviction to the most sceptical
mind to discover that the enormous amount
of 4,800,000 quarters of corn from the foreign
markets, and from the British dominions, has been
imported into this country during the past year,
without any sensible diminution of the scarcity of
bread-stuffs, and with a fearful and continual rise in
the price of grain. Those 4,800,000 quarters of
corn were subsequently stated by the Chancellor of
the Exchequer to be amply sufficient for the support
of 8,000,000 of persons during an interval of four
months and a half—and yet the dearth was undi-
minished, and the prices were increased ! According
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, there was an expor-
tation of corn from Ireland to England during 1846,
less by 1,300,000 quarters than during 1845; be-
sides which, 500,000 quarters of foreign corn, irre-
spective of the corn forwarded dither from the
English ports, had been introduced into the Irish
markets—and yet Sir H. W. BaMtorr can declare to
Parliament, without any fear of contradiction, that in
many parts of Ireland the price of wheat has
reached the enormously high price of 823. per quarter !
The effect, moreover, of the deficiences of the last har-
vest and of the destruction of the potato crop—
a calamity which the Premier estimates as a loss in
money value of upwards of twelve millions sterling
—has been proportionably disastrous in England.
When it is found that wheat in the English markets
has risen from 475., in August, to 495., in September ;
that on the first week of January it was 645. 4d. ; in
the second, 665. 10d. ; and in the third, actually
70s. 3d., it becomes the very extremity of idiotism
or of stupidity to deny that any other
course than that of immediately suspending
the operation of the corn-laws is open to the
Legislature. It may be true, and it is doubtless
true, that there is little probability of any diminu-
tion in the market prices upon the temporary aboli-
tion of the 4s. duty, but it must never be forgotten
that that 4s. duty does "materially alter the destination
of many cargoes ;" that if-a similar suspension of the
corn-laws was deemed advisable in 1756, in 1766,
in 1790, in 1791, and in 1800, it is absolutely re-
quisite in 1847 ; that supposing, as Lord Jourt ob-
served, the remission of the 4s. duty in-
creased the stock of food for consumption in any
manner whatever to the extent of a single quarter, or
even of a single loaf, "it is worth the while of Parlia-
ment to legislate for it;" and (we would even say
with Mr. BASKES) that Parliament would literally
be most culpable in withholding that supply for a
single moment. Beyond this, it is a satisfaction to
know that ample supplies of corn are awaiting our
purchase in the granaries of Odessa ; that the
American harvest of Indian corn for 1846 "is
perhaps the largest ever known ;" that it is asserted
by the Chancellor of the Exchequer that none of the
Indian corn of the crop of 1846 has been
yet introduced into this country; that, more-
over, the navigation of Odessa opens in March,
and the navigation of America opens in March.
From these latter considerations it becomes possible
—and that is something I—that the. pockets. of the
corn-factors may not svvwallew the entire difference of
IffioildentnoErsi
those four shillings I
the Oriental fable of Lord can be amused at
:acuAl:a,
baiaboutnand
NADIR SCHAH and his 10,000
at Mr. ROEBUCK'S illustration from thce
Nights " about the damsel with the three marble
brothers. The rational and honourable unanimity of