The Sun.
London, England, 1840-06-03 00:00:00

bed made to 'induce the Government to give up tranapor•

r.,

P' s easases were r,... _
lion, to -how Inv in tee jeer 1833 ne less than 100.000
voluntarily went to other ceuntrias. During a period el
13 years, no less than 348 000 persons emigrated to
America—now if proper means had been taken with our
own colonies, nearly all of those persons might have beet,
living under the sway of her Majesty. It was objected
that emigration tended to remove capital from the cowers
—now, the greater part of the wealth of any emigrant
went to the shit ping interest, upon which the country so
much depended, and the wealth in the colon s was trea,,cl
by the labour cf the emigrants. Among other ohj
that he bad beard with respect to emigration was, that the
vacuum it created would he speedily supplied ; stow he
thought that could not be the case when the increase and
decrease of the population was looked at ; and when it w. s
recellected bow few attained 18, compared with the num-
ber bo-n. He trusted that he had now made au
a case fur colonization on a national scale, area it remainte
only that he should examine wire had been done, and
what to do. The Hon. Member then entered into a detail
with respect to the number and condition of persons who
had emigrated, and referred to the reports of Sir R.
Hawkins and Mr. Wak. field upon em the
issAioso
for
sGuopirrt;irrintm„reidnitngimd now
emigration,
a
he hoped for better principles
being laid down, and rigidly adhered to, and that the
question of emigration to New Zealand would be recon-
sidered, for there was a fine field for our over-population.
He only asked that the Government should remove those
thousands of poor people who were starving in this coun-
try. The case was so important that he thought the
country could not do better than advance some millions for
the purpose of facilitating emigration to our colonies ;
and if on the principle which was acted upon at first in
South Australia, it would be a source of profit to the nation
He further called upon the Government to take immediate
steps for settling a colony in New Z eland. In British Ame-
rica there was not less than seven millions of unsold laud
that would form a fund at once to be applied to the pur
poses of emigration. There was nothing asked for so ear-
nestly in our colonies as capital for public works ; those
public works could not be carried on without labourers ;
the two things must go together, and he was fully persu
ded that the proprietors of land in the colonies would
willingly submit to a tax upon land for the purpose, and
that tax would be a sufficient security for this country in
advancing the necessary funds. He bad purposely ab-
stained from proposing any new plan ; all he wasted was
that the Government should carry out plans which had
already been tried wi Is eminent success. The Noble
Secretary for the Colonies had already connected his name
with malty great works f m the benefit of the nation ; let
him then attend to plans for emigration, and in his admi-
nistration he would have to boast that the cry of hunger
was no loneer heard in his own country He concluded
by putting his motion into the Speaker's bands.
Mr. HUTT seconded the motion. He was sorry to
see that the question was so distasteful to the House, and
that it did not command a fuller attandence. Many persons
thought that Chartism was exttect, that because the
U.aders were put in confinement the people were satisfied;
he thought that was a delusion; i: was impossible
that the violent speeches of a few demagogues
could • have rous•'d millions of our fAlow countrymen,
into a rate of rebellion if there were not some Si cret but
awful evil in their own condition. It could not be doubted
that there was much in the present condition of the work-
ing classes in this country which called loudly for redress.
There might be, it was true, no great want of employment
for our labouring population in times of prosperity, but
when periods of calamity arrived thousands of labourers
were left without the means of obtaining bread for them-
selves and their families, or were reduce d to the most
scanty pittance. If any means could be pointed out for
improving such a state of things, it would certainly be the
duty of that House to give the subject its most sterioua
attention.--( Hear, hear.) It ;voile be found, however,
tnst our Colonies affirded very different prospects to the
labouring population from those which this country off red.
In the Colonies there were many inducements to industry
and exertion ; these were sure to be rewarded. A letter
had lately been put into his hands by a tradesman in Lon-
don, written to him by n friend of his in Ade.
laide The letter was signed William Carter, and the
writer of it said that be would strongly recommend the
party to whom it was addressed, as a father of a family,
to emigrate. He stated, that though his circumstances
might not be considered bad in London, when he corn-
oared them with his prospects wh. re he was then he
felt he had been a slave in .very sense of the word. There
was no such thing as a beggar in Adelaide, and every man
was better fed and better clothed there than he could
ever hope to be in either England, Ireland, or Sestland.
The Hon. Member proceeded to say that the truth wits,
that many of our labourers were aware of the adcatttages
of emigration, and would be re ady to emigrate, we re it
not that they had not the mimes of purchasing a passage.
The object of the motion, then, before the Heuse was, to
give them the means of effecting such a passage. He did
not think that such a demand would be refused by the
Noble Lord, the present Secretary of the Colonies. He
had imagined that the accession of the Noble Lord
to his present office would be the commence.
tnent of a new era; but the spirit of the
Colonial apartment would seem to have come over him.
—(Laughter.) What was it that his Hon. Friend asked?
He asked for nothing except that the funds provided by
the colonies themselves, instead of being squandered on
retainers, should be carefully gathered up and prudently
administered as an emigration fund for the benefit of the
poor of ibis country. He wished to instance the case of
the Cape of Good Hope, from which this country derived
30 0001. a year, and which was decaying for want of
labourers. while those 30,0001. were wasted and turned to
no account. He would gladly support the motion of his
Hon. Friend. He believed, that if the principles of that
motion were properly earned out, they would be produc-
tive of the best results, without causing the slightest injury
to any individual in the country,_(Heaar, hear.)
Mr. LUCAS thought that the country was much
indebted to the Him. Gentleman who had brought for-
ward the motion. He could not help expressing his sur.
prise at the state of the House on an occasion of so much
importance, and he was sure that if some party question
were under discussion the Benches around him would pre-
sent a very &ff. rent api earance from that which they then
offered.--(Hear, hear, hear.) The question before
the House was ore which involved the most serious in-
terests. The labouring classes, both in England and
Scotland, were at present in a very precarious condition,
while in Ireland their position was still more deplorable.
The object of the motion of the Hon Gentleman was to
devise a remedy for those evils He believed the re were
various modes by which the main objection—that of ex-
pense—might be reduced, for instance, by making the
expense of passage recoverable by suit at law in the coun-
try to which the emigrant went He did not believe a
mo ion of greater importance could come before the House,
and it had his most cordial concurrence.
Capt. BOLDER() wished the Hon. Gentleman had
also introduced a motion with respect to New Suutb
Wales. The Government had stopped the supply of con-
vict emigration, and refused to supply them with other
labourers out of their own funds New South Wales had
a population of 100 000 souls, and was taxed to the
amount of 250,000/ per annum, tieing 21 103. per head.
All admitted we had a superabundant population, and it
mattered not whether emigration was that of the civilian
or the soldier—there was now a glori‘ us opportunity of a
new systt mof military colonisation from Canada. It
would be like a change of quarters to the seldiar—he had
not the feelings for home which restrained other emigrants
Look at the desertion in Canada—it toek place by tens
and twenties. They lived near the United States, who
were desirous of men, and held out inducements to them to
settle among them, but England held out none to them
to remain Why then should not a system of military
emigration be formed? He did not expect the Noble
Lord to take up the subject, but he wkhed the Noble
Lord would allow some Member of the Heuse to do so.
He (Capt. Bold,ro) should be happy to afford every as-
sistance in his power to carry such a system into effect.
Mr. VILLIERS said the Hon Genticiman had correctly
stated Vae advantages of emigration, but they appeared to
him to entertain a crotchet that this was the sole method
of relieving the distresses of the people of this country. It
he were a landowner it, Ireland, he should be eager for this
project, but he could net understand how anybody oppeai d
to the present Corn-laws could think it wise to raise *a fund
in this country to promote emigration. It must be ad-
mitted the Corn-laws did prevent employment, and there-
fore they were going to send people where they could be
fed, because they refused to feed them at home. He did not
believe in any necessary redundancy in labour; if
we extended our commerce instea I of restraining it, it
would be found there was not a man too much. If ern,-
gration could be shown to be necessary, he would willingly
join in this vote, but otherwise he could not do so. He
did not object to employing the funds raised by the sale of
land in the colony for the purpose of emigraiien, but he
thought to tax the paoele of this country fur that purpose
was imoolitie and unjust.
Sir ROBERT H. INGLIS commenced by exclaiming
Ecce ife,um Crispinus! Notwithstanding a four nights'
debate on the Corn-laws, the Hon. Gent. could not for-
bear making another speech on the subject. However
dry was the bone thrown to the Hon. Gent., he ever con.
trived to make a fond question out of it.—(Laughter.)
A; the Duke of Wellington had said, we could have no
" little war," so could we have no little system of emigra-
tion. Tho Glasgow Protestant Emigration S iciety—and
he attached great value to that word " Protestant "—had,
in a petition to that House, well statue that large multi-
tudes of our fellow -countrymen were daily rising, amidst
ignorance, poverty, crime, and misery—that a well-ar•
ranged system of emigration would remedy this en irmous
evil —and that to this end the poorer classes should have
very encouragement and aid to emierate to our colonies.
There were politico economical, theoretical, abstract ob-
jections, perhaps. to such a course. But while hundred,
of thousands were pining in distress, let not such cold•
hearted theories prevent the Government from doing what
their best motives would prompt them to do. He could
rneoctoslilteeetointege
thewi oig
without adverting
impo
to great importance of
us of
•
l
:he of ourigoisousinstr fellow
and the means ofuPteolng finding
t wonr'shbnil4P rfoe;
subjects who should emigrate to the
colonies—thus benefiting alike the empire and its depend-
-ncies.

Mr. WARD remnrked
,noti,euasssoii,d,a,britn,fe inAtien.at
he
excituhet ethver,ltizt:inf;irmoncinttocotuhlde
vim,
)nhse..e:
colonies the
nt
ii e however,
eau
tr s 0
fwsuuuel
such
e dao.
time,
and a laugh.) Theh Government, lo
f(niri.
--'( Bear, hear,
•Noll to shun
for entailing on any ZfhYour
e.s)inhiLisehtmany
the
en t
e;ilat
e v p
elusive Frotes'antism.—( Hear,
Govern-
ment stef.r clear of any religious
—it was the rock on which the peace of
assuredly be wreck-cl.—( Hear, hear.) Tahheayelleoolfontnewoduisid.
had sneered
~.iii
et i
rri i
nob
neceeot:l cold
on
theartedethd e
a gfa i
~s't political 9
a. -
a r
eo cn:t
tnroemssy —ll
ey is,
tt) had the
powerfully
no.
wive!, would cheapen corn to femishinc thonsandsnrnn.
measure
••mployed artiatns ,--( H-ar, hear.) How" ter, with h 9
Corn-laws this qu-stion had no home !late connection.
Nor could he (Mr Ward) admit that th,, r...pe•l of the
Corn laws must be sought after in utter clisregird to and
neglect of this important question. For of this he was
plesuaded.—that there was distress grid athery enough in