The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-26 00:00:00

agitation put down by concession exterted? The writer goes on to
say that they must have something more than free trade when the
corn discussion has taken place. An enlightened nation would ask,
what was the benefit of a continued system of taxation levied on the
. _

trade o the country? They wctild soon ask if it would not be better
to abolish the custom•hon3e system, and to have no excise. To

have boards placed at certain places, where customs were formerly
ievte.l, declaring that all nations might land their produce there.
That the operation of the principle of free trade would be extended
to everything. He says, that the friends of free trade must remember
. .

that they had yet got a House of Lords —the stronghold of iliearisl

toentcy—who were struggling for something more:Hence the main-
tenance of the present commercial policy. after the settlement of the
free-trade question. The people would have more time to act for

the great principles of universal suffrage. If it was good 7b7Con-
merce to be free, it was good for rran to be free.—(A laugh.) I beg
the attention of the Right Rev. Bench to what Mows. The writer
. .

le2ted that if it was good to inculcate free-trade in commerce, why
TsFould they not have free-trade in religion ?—(Laughter.) Why
should they continue under such a system of ecclesiastical despotism
as the one then prevalent in. the country? He believed that the
time was not far distant when the Catholics would ask why should
the church of Christ be attributed only to one sect ? Freedom of re-
ligion would be one of the laws of the country. Such are the opinions
of many of the advocates of free trade. I cannot conceive any
more unfit sentiment for a good man than the unworthy fear of
being suspected of a dishonourable motive. De rot, therefore, be
carried away by the 'eonsideration that your efforts may be attri-
buted to wrong motives. Do not be thrown back on this question
by the consideration or the fear that your endeavours may be
ascribed to a personal interest. You are trustees of far more than
the commercial utility of this question. You are the trustees for
this
interests of the people—you are trustees for the constitutioni of
h
country. My Lords, you are each and all of you concertedinla-
bouring for the good of the people. The people have taken their opin-
ions from you —your neighbours have taken the colours
cot'.
your You have
opin-
ion, and have looked up to you with respect and deference.
encouraged them in the opinion that the present commercial system
neigh-
% for the benefit of the country. Can you go amongst your
bours after voting for the destruction of all protection, and show such
a result to those who have respected you, hose opinions you have
influenced, and hear them justly charge you 7 with that fault with
which you charge the Government.lfyou consent to this measure
deep regret will remain with you. Be
prepared to be looked upon as
abrogating the constitution of the country. You will have given in
to intimidation, and be preparedto be considered a subordinate part
of the constitution--as the registers of the decrees of the House of
Commons.—(Hear, hear.) What is the object of the formation of
that House as a part of the constitution ? It is to impose a wholesome
and salutary check and obstacle against rash and inconsistent legis-
lation. It was to protect the people against the consequences of their
own imprudence. It was not to resist the continued expression of
deliberate public opinion, for your Lordships have always attended
to the expression of such a feeling of enlightend public opinion. It is
yours to protect the people against their own caprice and the
treachery of those whom they have chosen as leaders.—(Hear, bear.)
If you deliberate on an impartial principle—though you may not be
successful, yet you will not be quite put down. Ton may fail in i
saving the people from the threatened evil, but you will have the
approbation of your friends, and the respect of your opponents.
you will glees lime for the intelligence of the nation to act, and should
you happily be successful in bringing the people back to the wiser
counsels ofdeliberate wisdom, you will have the satisfaction of having
discharged the duties imposed on you. You will have performed
your duties, unalarmed by power, and unintimidated by clamour.
You will have saved the country from a serious and hazardous
experiment, and your reward will be the consciousness of having
done your duty ; and you will have another reward arising from the
grateful admiration of a people; who will exclaim with thankfulness,
" Thank God we hays got a louse of Lords.—(Load cheering.)
Lord BROUGHAM said, that ho was quite aware it was an un-
usually late hour of the night. (Cries of " Adjourn, adjourn.") He
should certainly take the sense of the House upon the question of
the adjournment. They had heard a -speech of singular ability de-
livered that evening. (Cries of " Order, order," and "Adjourn.")
He could not go on with this conflision, for it was absolutely neces-
sary that in order to make others hear him he should hear himself.
Amongst many great advantages which his Noble Friend enjoyed
over him advantages whit& he would not stop to enumerate, he
bad an advantage which outweighed nil the others together, he had
obtained an influence over a large portion of their Lordships in a
lone speech he b„ed delivered- It was a long speech, and yet he
(Lord' BroughauT) did not feel it to be long, but the clock had shown
it to be long. What compelled him to arise and to address
their Lordships at that late hour of the night was the great
advantage that his friend enjoyed over him. He should not address
himself to those whe agreed with him in opinion, but rather to those
who differed from him, and therefore he entreated their indulgence.
He would go to the origin of the present law.—(Some manifestations
of noise being made by several parties at the bar of the House, the
Noble Lord turned round and addressing them), said, if any of the
Noble Lords who had so patiently listened to the Noble Lord
who had just sat down, were not disposed to hear him,
they might go elsewhere and taste those enjoyments
which he had no doubt they had left when they
came there ; he was persuaded that the House would go on per-
fectly well without them. For the observations he was about to
address, to the House, he begged the attention of the Noble Lot d.
He (Lord Brougham) would proceed at once to the origin of the
present measure. It was said to have arisen from the :pressur
famine in certain districts in Ireland. He doubted the fact of any
genet al famine in Ireland, though he had heard it so stated, but that
there was a great scarcity in some districts could not be denied.
But, says the Noble Lord, this was no reason why they should do
ae-ay with protection or open up the ports. But he denied the fact
that such grounds should weigh in the present matter, and lie was
ready to abide by the facts in reference to the origin of the present
Measure TI e Noble Lord said, it was the deseased petatees that led
to the introduction of the measure, but he (Lord Brougham)
said, it was perfectly immaterial what was its origin.
lie might say, that in bringing in the Yell Sir Robert I'eel performed a
rash, imprudent, and inexpedient act; that he ought net to have
brought it in in the present year ; and yet, however rash, imprudent,
and inexpedient the introduction of the measure may have been, he
(Lord Brougham) said, if the measure was a sound one, if its merits
were good, it ought to have their support.—(Hear, hear.) He spoke
thus to guard himself from the supposition that he supported the
measure on any extraneous or accidental ground, or that he thought
there was any real or substantial ones for supporting the measures.
Ea tin respect of the rash, extraneous, and imprudent character of
tht measure, what was the real cause? A vast number of
persons were reduced to great distress on account of the failure of
the potato crops ; not only were potatoes bad, but the
people had no other means of paying for food. Were their Lordships
aware of what has happened since the introduction of the measure,
but which the Noble Lord had omitted to mention? The Noble Lord,
however, was surely aware that one part of the Government measure
respecting corn had been inserted in the customs' tariff, and by that
arrangement maize had been imported as it the Corn Bill was passed.
This did not meet the evil of the diseased potato crop. The poor
peasants who had lost their usual supply of food had thus been
supported by the importation. The Noble Lord admitted that he
would have been perfectly ready to open the ports to let in oats duty
free ; but had that been done, would not the objection, as had been
stated to-night, that the price would be reduced, thus affecting the
employment of the peasant, of which he complained so much. But
tie most successful part of the Noble Lord's speech was that in which
he said that if they carried the present Bill, it would, while professing
to supply oats at a cheap rate to the peasantry, by competition, so
reduce the value of their owa produce, that they would not have the
means of purchasing these cheapened foreign productions, and thus
the object of the measure would be defeated. But has the

Noble Lord forgot his own Canada Bill which he proposed two years
ago, and which he (Lord Brougham) supported at the time. That
was a free-trade Bill—a corn-law-repealing Bill—which reduced the
duty to 3s. per quarter, and allowed the whole of the United States
of America to take their grain into Canada, through which it was
brought into England, where protection still existed, and which was
represented to be so necessary to the welf're of the landed interest.

Thus for the payment of a small duty, without the operation of a
sliding scale, were they allowed to import corn from the
Canadas. lie did not charge inconsistency to the Noble
Lord, as they were all apt to profit by experience, but
he brought forward this to show that the arguments for
the Canada Bill was applicable to the present measure. On the
proposal of that Bill, they were told of the rapid increase of the
population of every day, adding from 300,000 to 400,000 to the body
of consumers, and that if the measure was not passed, they could not
hope to supply with food this increasing population. The same argu-
ments applied to the corn-laws at all times, and therefore at all
times he and those with whom he acted had advocated this repeal.
Ile wished he could take the same view of the question as the Noble
Lord had done, as to the redaction that would take place. The
Noble Duke on the cross benches had asked his Noble Friend who
introduced this measne, what the effect of the corn laws would be.
_ _ _

Looking to the produce of the country, he should have thought it the
most difficult question to answer that could have been propounded.
Why, how could his Noble Friend tell what the demand would be
for an article at the expiration of three years? It would furnish n•
conclusion to arrive at to say that wheat was now seling
in Dantzic at 335. a quarter, that 3s. would probably
be charged for freight, and 2s. for insurance, and that
therefore it could afford to be sold in the London markets at 40s. the
quarter. That was not the question, the question was what effect
the repeal of this law would have upon the Dentzie market? But,
said his Noble Friend opposite, a great deal of English land would
be thrown out of cultivation, while a proportionate quantity would
be cultivated in Hungary and other countries, and all this was to be
done in order that they might import into this country half a million
more than was already brought from the mouth of the Danube.
Now let them consider the value of this observation. A quantity of
forest land would require to be gleaned, they would require to scrub
up the trees, to chard the roots, then to cut them to pieces. They
would require also to fence and Inclose the ground, and after all this
preparation it was expected that at the end of three years they
Would be enabled to pour into this country at least 5,000,000 quarters
of grain. He did not ask as to the- population of Hungary, but he
did not suppose that they increased at the rate of 1,000 a day. And
where was the capital to come from ? In this country a considerable
sum was estimated for the cultivation of each acre, but then a
greatly increased sum would be required. Re did not know who the
:Noble Lord Liverpool's authority might be (perhaps Mr. Saunders),
but at all events he must have been a very sanguine gentleman to
foresee an increase of 5,000,000 quarters on the immediate passing of
this Bill.
Lord SICANLEY explained that he had stated that this quantity
would be brought into the country not immediately, but t the expi-
ration of the three years.
Lord BROUGHA3I said that was the very thing he had said, but
he supposed his Noble Friend was exhausted in consequence of the
brilliant speech he had lately made in the House ; and he would,
therefore, excuse him, but when an opinion of this kind was given he
(Lord Brougham) expected that the person giving the epiuion should
be not only a respectable man hut a man of some common sense
also —(Laughter.) It was an incredvele assertion that in three years,
and he (Lord Brougham) would give the days also, that in three
years and three days 5,0001100 of acres was to be added to the cul
tivation of that country for the purpose of deluging their markets
and destipying the cultivation of England. And one word with
regard to tenant-farmers. Much had been said of the injury
which had been inflicted on tenant-farmers. They were a class for
whom the landowners expressed a very great consideration, and he
believed they were sincere in their desire to advance the position of
the tenant-farmer, and to ameliorate the condition of the agricultu-
ral labotirer, but if their Lordships would take the trouble to examine
the opinions of those different parties in the agricultural counties of
titan% they would find that no apprehensions were entertained of
the result that would accrue from this measure. How did tenant
fanners show their alarm of this measure ? why, it was by taking
Imre farms than they had at present; but perhaps it was at reduced
rentg_,.. • ll° slith thin but rather at increased rents. In all parts of
• th_eotnultry. 11,14wh_adehtig: efdnothing, but of farms being taken at in-
were to rtztsuunheileffectoTttatthapriteeathewsealtated mteereeirtaian thedpengrebliee
fpaurinhtse
had no doubt, but that w
cheaper, but it would 'neat be take P1ag4".241.11 wheat would be
the, British fartner, whilea''heew Wu"
ialuzitelettods
measure increasing our foreign trad in ka
erited r"pearellodteof thee. There never were, even in the ye very
icarahMicity; more-
-2,2,50,000 quarters of wheat hem° In the years cart sad ism than
there were only 1,100,000 'quaztersehnd if 250,000 qs of
were added, the amount of importation would lee at onceri .11 lIInIIIn
n
the year 1810, the greatest year of Scarcity, there were 70500,000
quarters imported into this country. It was said,_ however, that it
they were made dependent on foreign countries for their supply,
this wou'd be giving to those countries the power of starving
them. To that assertion ho would point to the year
1810, and he would conjointly ask, did the argument
after the consideration of the circumstances of that
year stand for a moment ? Did they not then see the centinent under
the influence of a power which yielded a moat despotic sway over
it, who was Influenced by a feeling of ruthless hostility towards
England. Talk to him of the petty sovereigns ofEurope—to tsaulpkpltyo
bins of Egypt, Belgium, Antwerp, and the Hague,refusing
the necessities of this country in the day of need. Why,
Napoleon was not then the ruler of France merely,
but of every country in Europe: from the centre at Paris,
to the extreenitlee of Europe; he could by his single edict, as he
thought, close the ports of Europe—yet notwithstanding this was so
dear to his heart, completely in accordance with that policy which
he always pursued towards this country—even he was unable to
carry out his intentions and to deprive them of those supplies which
they required. What was the result ? Why, 1,514,000 quarters of
wheat were imported during the year 1810, and this supply did not
come from the outports nor from distant quarters, such as
Odessa, or Naples, or Sicily, the old granary of Rome—
but 110,080 of the quarters cams from France itself.
That at once extinguished—for ever extinguished the argument about
dependence on foreigners.—(Cheers.) His Noble Friend had said that
the protection system was supported by universal consent, and he
had quoted statistics that had been made in the most ancient times;
but really if he were to quote old statistics—(Laughter)—he (Lord
Brougham) could flirnish his Noble Friend many such statistics, were
they not too ridiculous to quote. He could quote hint some of the
most absurd provisions of the wisdom, or the ignorant and unex-
perienced wisdom, rather of their ancestors, to which his Noble
Friend had so eloquently referred. There was the statute against fore-
etallery, which was one of the ancient statutes, and with the :;0_
surtitty of which their Lordships were no doubt acquaineAnd
yet that law must have ben deemed by the leeisia by whom the
tv-
statute was enacted, to be the height of
vvisd—
were now abolished, and condetml,d e But such things
system of protection was suspend,' ey Universal consent. The
Bgype during the autumn of .-- In Belgium, in Holland, and in
the operation of the ...in ; every one of those places suspendel
thought that thatre :
was r;it 0:
protection to native industry; and he
attempts to I-
_eterfe with thnnunentarY on the useless and absurd
supply of the food of the people. If
the prof-
..:Lve laws were of :up use at all they must of course be
seov•-, useful ttip times of scarcity than at an other moment.—
,tfear, hear.) His Noble Friend then arguedis thatmeasure,
the trade of
the country would be seriously affected by
be must defend his Noble Friend against himself._(edearre,
hear, and here
laughter.) He must undertake his defense against himself, and
nothing more harsh, more cruel, and, he would say, more nri:heaftwje able_he had almost said more unchristian—than his treatment of
himself could not have been uttered. He (Lord Brougham)
titled him when he was delivering himself of arguments about the
tariff.; Ile could not have believed that any person had so little
'bowels of compassion.—(Laughter.) The tariff in his (Lord
Brougham's) opinion, did not deserve the vituperation which it re-
eelved at the hand of his Nobie Friend. It never was pretended by
any man that he aver heard argue—any rational man at least —no
such maul ever could have argued that by increased competition
sewestgthe producers of any article the price of that article would
2ioalie
thought It was perfectly evident that increased co'npeti-
..__2o:4o.Ecat., the consumers of an article raised the prise of an ar-
rbZeicheap `sue of the tariff was- to- enable us CO -
from ad 0944 aitfautageously ab thereby send our
rol6loll•4(itter.