The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-18 00:00:00

.;°l2(

V EVENING E.l)llii (!N

England had now been brought to a point at which sh•.
must take the lead of all co.nmereial enterprises in the
world ; and such a position was not to be occupied with-
out
great deeds and. acreat exertions. England had had
to do so ; she had had to put - down civil war in
Canada, and she: had hardly done that when she
had to take -up arms in the Indira, and, 'since
then, she had. been called upon, in China, to resent
injuries and outrages which, if permitted, would :ender
it impossi'alr for her to maintain her commerce. Even
so recently- as the last autumn she had had to uphold
the Tull cish empire, which was, at that time almost tot-
tering to its fall. The Chancellor of the Exchequer
found se deficit of two millions in the revenue, and pro-
Posed a remedy with respect to Which gentlemen on
the 'apposite side of .the House complained of being
taunt by surprise.—(Hear, hear.) He (Sir Charles
Gr ey) could not see the reasonableness of such
a (complaint. There were no grounds whatever for the
re igned surmise of those Gentlemen opposite, with re-
pect to this subject. He wished also to observe that
7,t was a fallacy to suppose that the consumer paid the
whole of .the import duty. He believed that it would
he found that the duties imposed upon the importation
of any article were. deducted eventually from the rent.
At first it might be paid by the consumer, but eventu-
ally the consumer lessened his consumption of the taxed
article, and substituted some untaxed article in its place,
end then the producer would go to his landlord, and say,
a vhile this impost continues it is impossible that I can
it 'ay the rat I nave been in the habit of doing, and I
oust have, a reduction in my rent accordingly. He was
"birinee'l That the principle was a sound one, and it
rotdd liecome a matter of most important consideration
hen 'shay came to the question of the Corn-laws.
ere ssere_three quarters of the world ready to give them
'!h es in abundance, and they wsre asked to give a cold
w-91ial. lie was surprised that many interests he could
sention had not requested Members of that House to ad- ,
'locate the cause with respect to the fund-holder. What he
Would propose was to make the whole world pay the in-
terest of that debt which he looked upon as little less
than a mortgage of the land-holder of the country. Par-
ties might pledge their property, and their land, but they
could not pledge the property which was procured by the
sweat of the labourer's brow. Ile was sorry to observe
the manner in which the measure proposed by her Ma-
jesty's
Ministers had been met in that House, as he could
not but look with fear on the situation in which the
country would be plaeed if that measure was not
adopted. They had been told that there would be a dis-
solution if the Propositioa was not carried ; butdisso-
lution could netsuke place at the present moment in
consequence of the measures that must yet be carried:
With respect to the opposition to the proposition he
confessed that he had no conception upon what grounds
it was based, because the other side could not come into
powev, supposing they succeeded in defeating her Ma.-
. sesty's Ministers. But supposing the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman opposite should succeed to power to-morrow, it
would go forth to the world that no ground whatever
had been 'shown for the proposition of the Noble Lord
the Member for Liverpool.
Mr. SMYTHE supported the motion of the Noble
Lord, the Member for Liverpool. He admitted that the
measure that had been proposed by her Majesty's Go-
vernment evould be a benefit to the consumer and to the
foreign mer chant.—(Hear, hear.) He thought, however,
that if the .-roroposition was carried, the detriment which it
Wouldwodul catrie to the national honour and to the colonies
m(sie than counterbalance any benefit that might
t-
deme- A by the consumer.
Mr. A INSWORTH said that as allusion had been
Made to the distress of the borough which he repre-
sented, 'r e trusted the House would allow him to state
the red .sons why he should support the proposition of
her Mt .jesty's Government. The Noble Lord had rather
• under than over-rated the distress that existed in Bolton.
:is own part, he had never witnessed such scenes of
enlise,:y as had taken place there. The cause of that dis-
tress; was to be attributed to the manner in which the fo-
-I"eiftn trade of the country was crippled. He would not
ilaur go into the question of slavery, because he thought
• that question had been answered by the Noble Lord the
Member for Northumberland and the Right Hon. Baro-
net the Member for Devonport, but he must refer to the
trade with Brazil, as he thought the trade with that
country had been carried on in a most unfair manner.
lie was sorry that his Hon. Friend, the Member for New-
ark, who was not now in the House, had asked such a
question as this : of what use would it be to the poor
weavers of Bolton, that sugar should be is. 6d. per cwt.
cheaper answer was, that it would be of great use to
them to • have new markets opened for their labour.
(Hear, haar.) It would give the employment, for want
of which so much distress was suffered at this moment in
• every mu nufacturing borough in the kingdom.—(Hear.)
It was the duty of every representative of those boroughs
to still) art her Majesty's Government in the wise and
liberal I ourse which alone was calculated to relieve that
distress, and to extend our relations with foreign coun-
tries.-- —(Hear, hear.)
Mr. _HODGE'S was sorry that the three questions of
suestys, corn, and coffee, had been brought forward toge-
ther, as it was not necessary that gentlemen who sup-
por tel one should approve of all three. The sugar ques-
tioi a had been-already so ably argued, that he would not
no w allude to it. He was prepared to support the mea-
terse respecting the timber duties, but he thought that a
low duty on corn would be the same in effect as no duty
at all, and would ruin the agricultural interest of this
country. • It would have the effect of transferring to the
shores of the Baltic the capital at present engaged in the
cultivation of .the: land in this country. He would op-
pose the proposition of her Majesty's Government.
Mr. TROTTER, who was for the most part inaudible
Was understood to support the motion of Lord Sandon. ,
Mr. ROCHE ..complained of the uncertainty and
speculation which the present system of -Corn-lawa gave
rise to, the result of which was, that when there was a
scarcity of corn in that country, it was almost impossible
to procure it from abroad. He thought a fixed duty
would prevent the ruinous fluctuations which were so
frequently. taking place in the price of that commodity.
Under the present system, no interest was safe for a
single moment. It appeared to him that the proposed
reduction. of the duty on foreign sugar would, instead of
encouraging, tend materially to put an end to the abomi-
nations of slavery and the slave trade. He had the
greatest abhorrence of slavery, and that was one of
the strongest motives with him for supporting the
resent . proposition. He took it for granted, that
hrons the
e long opposition her Majesty's Government
would be the operation 'of the present measure. He
„ought very little of the consistency and. humanity of
mfose Hoe.
Gentlemen who objected to the introduction
con reign sugar while they gave the most liberal en-
aa,,enient to slave-grown tobacco and cotton. It was
138.0asitiltieIT her Majesty's Government had staked their
existence upon the present measures. In that
121_ had acted wisely, for in his opinion they were cal-
Tated to prove highly conducive to the development
the resources of the country, to the development of
alier_coinmerce, and to the comforts of the people.—(Loud
Ast.
TUFNELL said the Noble Lord opposite
o>l a`!. only count upon the support of the agriculturists
6,1'18 (Mr. Tuffnell's) side. 'of the House, on the prin-
e that in resisting the attack upon one monopoly,
aY were supporting that in which they were peculi-
her 'Y interested. He should support the proposition of
a
aiseajesty's Government.
su-r t-
G CAVENDISH said the question before the •
intense.
se was whether they were to deprive the agricultural
eaaerests of the protection they had for so long a period
leer-Jo7ed• In voting against the amendment of the Noble
the Member for Liverpool, and for going into
sl aremittoe upon the propositions brought forward by the
co onsble Lord at the head of the Government, he did not
nsiders himself as at all pledged to vote fur this or that
led fixity. That was not the time to enter into details,
i..esste s a question with him whether the proposed re-
., . donin the corn duties should not be spread over a
r"r Ain number of years. No one was more averse to
e at and sudden changes than himself, but he could not
!es k at the great deficiency in the revenue, without giv-
. inf ; his support to measures which he thought were cal-
cad W Sited to meet that deficiency without the imposition of
eutional taxes, and thereby giving a freer and wider
sc ape to the industry and resources of the people.
Captain MATHEW said tl at he was a member of
s in th a West Indian body, and however prejudicial to the
terests of that body the abo7ition of the slave system
Is as, lie had notwithstanding oted for that measure, be-
.s: c Luse cf its consonance with the cause of humanity. A
• g rent revolution in the affairs of the West Indian planters
it n lust necessarily be the result cf that measure, to which
N sea. to he added the effect of two bad seasons, and it was
a t such a period the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) chose
ta.ining forward a measure the upshot of which must be
ruinous to the planters. He knew not whether the
U ouse, but he was, sure that the country, was satisfied
with the resolution of the Noble Lord (Sandon). He
Loe
ha 's
.'s convinced that the natural rivalry between the East
the West Indies would be sufficient to furnish an
!quote supply of sugar to this country without any im-
fo.! tation from foreign States. From seeing Ministers
)I'sig. forward a measure such as the present, which was
(a teulated to rivet the chains of slavery, he was inclined
to think that the abolition of that system had been
t
Isen lip for merely partizan purposes.. Mr. Boyle
•: 'caels, a celebrated Irish Member, who was probably
heard of by many Hon. Gentlemen, used to say, that
t 3 Theonly way to avoid danger was to meet it plump.
.h
Noble Lord (Lord John Russell) seemed to adopt
Treethat maxim, and charged Hon. Gentlemen on that (the
Conservative) side of the House, with factious and party
Purposes in the course they thought fit to adopt on the
present occasion. The Noble Lord's arguments—that
e
,eesiPec ing cheap sugar, and that 'referring to the de-
a ,
s "
theplausible. revenue, we leave it with a deficit—we dare you to
a • succeed us. What he . would ask, had produced that
~el
it:ea ?, When Government introduced the Post-office
scheme, they were warned of its uselessness, and of the
ntmenittes to which it would bring then, yet they per-
sisted, and the resent deficit was the result.' At a late
genl. meeting_s,, of the Colonial Society, of which he
(Cap,,e ein aiatnew) was a member, and to which the
, • Master of the Ordnance had the other night referred,
there was but one opinion among the gentlemen present,
• Who were of all political parties, as to the course now
a •
_adopted by Government and that opinion was, that the
. British colonies were now selected as a sacrifice' to
taste up the deficit in the revenue, because they were
, unrepresented in that House—becauseah had no votes
Btil'irgsve at the hustings. He felt confident that the mea-
e would be discarded by a large majority,a and to the
measure
failed
nt
• .1,,e; - disgrace of having brought forward sucii. Government would add the disgrace of hay'
es,-e • • Sir BENJAMIN HALL felt that it sring
ite enpos-
he
anetlitoincoef
• , at that advanced stage of the debaates,qtul
the:',l37enew argument calculated to arrest the atote
1-I(mse. He was not one of those who thought that
.tq is. Gentlemen opposite were not at liberty
statin"l"e the plan of Government without
hThe),
course they meant to, pursue
hadanswered the question put to.
e ens as to what that course might' be, and he was con-
'bleed the reason
-as because the only alternative for