The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-28 00:00:00

cently. They made an appeal to the Sovereign, and what was
the result of that appeal ?—they obtained a majority of 90.
Now the great leader of the principle of protectioa
has changed his opinions, and his colleagues have
changed theirs also. When persons of well-known
it.t .gri,y and character came to that House and said
that they had changed their opinions, it followed as a necessary
consequence that they must carry a great weight with them.
Such a circumstance might change the opinion of that House,
but before they changed the line of conduct they had main-
tained so long they should be certain whether it was confined
to the Minister and his friends, or whether the great body of the
nation sympathised in the a'teration.—(" Hear, hear" from the
Ministerial side.) If they were so convinced, they would be
guiltless as to the result. They say the people were to be
represented in that House. The people should have been con-
sulted as to whether they approved of the change ia their con-
duct, or whether they had also changed, and were willing to
sell that for which they had struggled so intensely, and had
maintained so long and so happily. It was not his
intention to enter at great length into that dis-
cu•sion. Many reasons prevented him, especially as the
house had expressed its intention to divide that night. As
long as he had held the situation which he had fulfilled in that
House, he had never gone against its sense, and he was aware
that other Members wished to address the House, therefore he
would not detain them any longer than was necessary to ex-
press the reasons which induced him to give his vote in favour
of the amendment proposed by his lion. Friend the Member
for Bristol, to whom he would address himself for a few mi-
nutes. His Hon. Friend had made a statement bordering
closely on an accusation. He charged them with having fol-
lowers who refused to enter into the question with them, and
who were desirous of stifling the inquiry, He also said that
the Chancellor of the Exchequer had followed in the same
train. He did not accuse him of having broken
his pledges, but said that he flinched from inquiry.
—(Hear.) He wondered that his Hon. Friend should have
m tie such a charge, for he would say, that when a Committee
was proposed for the express purpose of enabling the proposi-
tion to be brought before the House, they had no objection to
sach a enurse. His Right Hon. Friend had changed his
•pinion, and called upon them to follow him. He was not
♦ery often in the habit of troubling the House —(Hear, hear)
—but when he did take that liberty he endeavoured to express
his opinion thoroughly. Had the Right Hon. Baronet pro-
posed going into a Committee on the corn-laws with a view to
their modification, he (Mr. Spooner) would have given his un-
qualified assert to that proposition. He never did approve of
the present system of corn-laws. He thought the sliding scale
was some improvement, but a fixed duty was the only principle,
and the only rational proposition. He defined protection to
be the principle which induced them to take care, while
native industry was burdened by the taxation necessary for the
preservation of the State, that no foreign produce should be
admitted to compete with our own taxed produce,
without incurring an equal share of expense—( Cheers from the
Ministerial side)—that was the principle of protection, and that
principle should be applied to every class of industry, and net
more to agriculture than to any other. Whatever tax was imposed
upon the country was an additional reason why the labourer
should be protected from foreign untaxed produce.—(Cries of
" Oh! oh !" from the Opposition side.) He could assure
them that he had not willingly entered on this subject ; but,
representing, as he did, a large constituency, he felt it neces-
sary to enter upon their defence in an effectual manner. The
Hon. Member for Shropshire had said that he was very happy
that some of them had read Adam Smith, and he wished that
a great many more had done so, as political economy was now
assuming an important aspect. He would read something
from the works of the Noble Lord, as he considered him a
high authority—and he said that sincerely, for he was
high both as a statesman and as an author. He would
now proceed to call the attention of the House to a passage.
—(" Oh, oh" ! from the Opposition.) He would read
(Laughter.) The Noble Lord said " That nearly all writers
on political economy fell into the same mistake ; nations were
subject to fluctuations in their seasons of prosperity, and they
naturally looked to those persons who had studied the wealth
of nations for a remedy. Those writers had occupied them-
selves with original truths withoutentering upon particular cases."
The Hon. Gentleman went on to read from the pamphlet in
question, amidst every manifestation of impatience by the
House ; the extract, as far as could be collected from the
noise that prevailed, being to the effect that there were certain
circumstances connected with the industry of the country which
rendered, in many instances, the application of the strict rule
of political economy inexpedient and impracticable. This was
the doctrine laid down by the Noble Lord, which he (Mr.
Spooner) coincided in, and to this he would call the attention
of the Hon. Member for Stockport. The Hon. Member for
Wolverhampton (.11r. Villiers) last night gave a statement of
figures which went to show that we might have
a considerable importation of corn, and at the same
time have an increase of gold, and he referred to several years
in support of the view which he advanced.—(The Hon.
Member here proceeded to read some figures in relation to
this topic; but from the noise and confusion that prevailed, it
was impossible to understand their real purport. As far,
however, as their application could be ascertained, they were
to the effect that the increase of bullion towards the latter end
of a period of four years—that is, from 1833, during which
there was a considerable importation of grain—arose
from peculiar circumstances in our relations with America.
He could well understand this expression of the feelings of the
House—(Cheers)--- and he knew too well the utter uselessness
of any individual attempting to address the House—(Reiter-
ated cheering)—unless the House were willing to hear him.—
( Hear, hear.) He respected the good opinion of the House
too well—(Cheers)—to force himself upon its notice.—( Great
cheering.) If it was therefore the pleasure of Hon. Mem-
bers that he should defer his remarks —( Cheers)—to some
future time—(Cheers)—he would do so.—(Tremendous
cheering.) He would do so in all sincerity—( Cheering)—but
he would do so, at the same time, in the hope that at some
future time he would be listened to with greater indulgence.—
( The Honourable Gentleman sat down amidst much con-
fusion, which was very considerably increased. )_ _ _

Mr. P. BORTH WICK rose—The Honourable Gentleman
proceeded to address the House for at least a quarter of an
hour, amidst much confusion and noise, so loud and continuous,
that it was impossible to catch the purport of his observations.
He was understood, however, to contend, in defiance of
boisterous cries from both sides of the House of " Divide,
divide," " Question, question," " Bar, bar," and " Order,
order)"—that the Right Hon. Baronet at the hoed of
the Government was mistaken if he thought the present mea-
sure would secure his reputation with posterity, for the page
of history would exhibit him as struggling for a long
series of years to form a great party, and at the very
moment when he had succeeded in this apparently paramount
and all-absorbing topic of his life, as coming forward, and in
violation of all public faith and principle, and, with one daring
and reckless blow, breaking up and shivering to atoms that
great confederation, which himself had fostered and
created, and which would be known in future
years as the powerful Conservative party of England.
He might say to the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of the
Government, "Et to Brute."—(Laughter, and cries of
"Oh, oh.") If Cesar must fall—(Continued laughter)—
better that he fall not by his hands. It had been
better for the myriads yet to be born and go-
verned—better for the few who like him were by nature
and by God destined to govern—it had been better for the
peace which bound the masses of mankind together, and for
the confidence of private men—better for the human race—
( Cries of " Oh, oh," and laughter)—that this measure had
been proposed by some other. hand than the one
which was nerved by its own strength, and
which was called into existence by its own will.
—(Loud laughter.) If the principles of free trade were
the principles of common sense, and if the circumstances of
this great country admitted the application of those principles
to our commercial policy, then he would say that the measure
of the Right Hon. Gentleman was the grossest insult to com-
mon sense and to the principles of free-trade that could
be possibly brought before the country. The principle which
he advocated said that protection was the bane of agriculture,
and yet the Right Hon. Gentleman was prepared to admi-
nister to the country a draught of that very poison for the next
three years.—(Cries of " Oh, oh," and great laughter.)
The Hon. Member went on to say, that Hon. Members opposite
had succeeded in obtaining the head of the Right Hon. Baronet,
but that they (the protectionists) still kept possession of his
heart. ( The Hon. Member then sat down amid great uproar
and confusion. )
Lord G. BENT[NCK then rose and requested the attention
of the House for a short time while he endeavoured to answer
some of the arguments which had been used by Hon. Mem-
bers on the opposite sides of the House. There was no man
who felt more deeply than he did his unworthiness to ask that
indulgence. He had never, since he had a seat in
that House, ventured to trespass upon their atention upon
so important a subject as the present. 'They opposed
the Speaker leaving the chair, net only because they objected
to the great changes proposed with reference to the agricultural
interest, but also upon the whole measure.—( Hear, hear.)
They opposed the measure which proposed an alteration in
1,100 articles, because so great a commercial resolution as that
proposed, they did not consider was required by the exigencies
of the country. It was not only that they objected to the removal
of protection from the agricultural interest, but also a removal
of protection from the silk, shipping trade, and many other
interests concerned in the tariff. —( Hear, hear.) It had been
stated in the course of this debate that Hon. Members who
opposed this Bill would lose their character, station, and '
influence with the country. He would willingly concede that
gentlemen who sat on the opposite side had not this fear before
their eyes. They had always been the consistent advocates of
free trade; they came to that House pledged to maintain those
principles for which they asked the suffrages of the people.
When he was told this was not a protection Parliament, he
would be glad to know on what principles it was
created. Why, was not the subject of free trade in
corn discussed over and over again when the dissolution
took place in the year 1841 ? Was it not then a
question whether we were not to have a protection of Bs.
a quarter or a higher rate of protection? Her Majesty ap-
pea'ed to the people in 1841 ; and on that question of the corn-
laws—on that question he thought there could be no mistake.
The Right Hon. Gentleman now at the head of her Majesty's
Government was then the leader of the Opposition, and chal-
lenged his opponent to dissolve the Parliament. The
Secretary of State for the Home Department said it was mad-
ness to dissolve the Parliament, and he thought it was the
madness of the devil himself. He charged them with some-
thing more than the acts of the devil himself for
such a course of proceeding. His Right Honour
able Friend raised the cry, " The Church was in
danger ;" but was it not far more exciting to hear
the cry of cheap bread, and that cry raised from the
Treasury benches? He should like to know whether the cry
of cheap bread which they had heard had anything to do with the
landlord question. They said that was not a protection Parlia-
ment, but what was it if it was not crested on protection prin-
fidence, when there appeared a majority against him of 311
lion,ciplprin-
ciples? 1841,Nfooubnlde L
against 307, and her Majesty immediately prorogued
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Hon. Baronet could net in honour be carried by the majority
of that House, returned on that dissolution.—( Hear, hear. )
They were told that a great change was to take place upon
the experience of the Right lion. Baronet fur the last
three years ; that the Right Hon. Gentleman
had been so satisfied with the result of
the reduction of duties for the last three years. He was
satisfied that the country would not be of the same opinion—
they would not be satisfied with any great change in the laws
upon a mere three years' experience. The Right Hon. Baronet
said that there would be no material, in fact, no reduction at
all in the price of corn by the introduction of the
present measure. He grounded that opinion upon
what had taken place with regard to silk. He would
accept the challenge of the Right Honourable Gentleman
—he would meet him on the question of silk, and he would
al'o meet the Member for Sheffield on that of wool.
He would take care not to forget what had been said respect-
ing the timber duties.—( Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord then
proceeded to detail the price of wool per pound between the
years 1820 and 1824, hut in so low a tone of voice that not
a single word reached the gallery. He found from the price
of flour, as contracted for, not for one year, but for three years,
that the average price per stone in 1841, 1842, and 1843 was
3s. 7d. In 1846 3s. 2d. was the price, a price, in fact, lower
than what the average price had been on the average of three
years before.—( Loud cries of " Divide, divide," and
manifestations of impatience.) This was a strong
point to show that under a protective system the
irregularity of price was not such as had been