The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-24 00:00:00

speech of the Hon. Member for Huntingdon, who alluded to
a dissolution of Parliament in connexion with this measure.
He (Mr. Cholmondely) regretted that the question should be
under tke discussion of the present Parliament. He might be
met by having it :said that it was not necessary to take the
sense of the country on this measure. Now, constitutionally
this was theoretically right ; but the Right Hon. Baronet
had not long since told the House, that when he
first found the measure necessary for the country, se great a
question was it that he felt himself bound to resign.
True, he had also informed the House that he was not con-
stitationally bound to do so ; but looking at the magnitude
of the changes which were necessary to the well-being of the
country, he considered that he was bound to act as he had done.
Surely then it was net at this late period of the debate to take
the opinion of the country upon the measure.—(Hear, hear.)
With regard to the state of Ireland, he thought that
even the misery of that country, to use a homely
phrase, was too weak a peg to hang such a measure on. He
hoped that such an expression would not be thought as sport-
ing with the distressed condition of Ireland, for he did not use
it in such a sense, although words used in that House were
very often laid hold of, and from which it would be ar-
gued that there was a disinclination on the part of Hon.
Membera to consider the state of that country, but he was
sure that no such indifference existed in the minds and wishes
of Hon. Members on his side the House with regard to Ireland,
As far as the distress in Ireland was concerned, it could not be
be denied that throwing open the ports would conduce much
more to the relief of that country than would the present mea-
sure, inasmuch as while the ports were allowed to remain open
it was equivalent to the utter and entire abolition of all duty.
Another thing that struck him as being rather singular was,
that a permanent remedy should be applied to the relief of a
temporary grievance. There had been a great cry
got up, in the House and out of the House,
against the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's
Government, in which he could not join, nor could he partici-
pate in it. It was true he could net approve of or support the
measure then before the House, yet he should give the Right
Hon. Baronet every credit for the sincerity of his motive in
bringing forward so comprehensive a measure in the fair, can-
did, and upright manner in which he had brought it on.
Mr. SCOTT said he stood on the present occasion in a
position of some peculiarity, a position which he knew would
render him obnoxious. In taking the course which he then
twoa
his
icso
omwpoe e d
sentiments,
take, heor was
oaccordance n o t adopting
wth a
his
surse foregone
opi-
nions. He had never been a supporter of the Right Hon. Baronet
before 1836, when he found it absolutely necessary to join
his party ; and since that period, he every day became more
and more convinced of his great sagacity, political wisdom, and
integrity.— (Loud cries of " Hear, hear.) He hoped his agri-
cultural friend would not be alarmed at the idea of the large
amount of corn that was likely to come from America ; for the
distance was such as to render the quantity not at all likely to in-
terfere much with the market of this country. It would soften
the asperity of the population of the west towards this country,
would induce a healthier feeling than that which at present ex-
isted. From what he knew of Canada, also, he did not think
the feeling there was such as had been represented; nor did he
think that colony would be at all injuriously affected. He did
not attach such importance to the change of opinion on this
question as some Hon. Members on that side of the House
did. He thought a man might change his opinions conscien-
tiously on this question and when such was done, as a
matter of expediency; and when the state of the country
required a remedy for the evils that existed, he considered Hon.
Members perfectly justified in giving up protection and support-
ing the present measure. For himself he would say, though
he had supported the sliding-wale, he had never been ena-
moured of it. And it was the three years following 1842
that completed his conversion to free trade. He had changed
conscientiously, and had done so, as he believed, for the benefit
of the country. Under all circumstances, he must support the
measure before the House. _

Captain BERKELEY said he had come into the House to
support, the agricultural interest, bet nevertheless he had al-
ways voted for inquiry, and supported the Hon. Member for
Wolverhampton in his motion on the corn-laws. He desired in-
quiry, and that was the reason he had always voted for
any motion that went to that effect. Such had been his pre-
vious course, But now that he saw the Noble Lord he had
hitherto followed (Lord John Russell) join with the Right
[lon Baronet (Sir Hobert keel) on the other side, to carry out
the measure of total repeal ; and when he heard the strong
common sense of the Hon. 11ember for Stockport on the ques-
tion, he must support them in the course they had taken. That
' he believed was now the only safe, prudent, and expedient line
of policy to pursue. —( Hear.)
Sir R. H. INGLIS said, notwithstanding the elaborate
speech of the Hon. and Learned Member (Mr. Vernon), he
must adhere to the views on agricultural protection he had pre-
viously maintained. He ( Sir R. H. Inglis) had listened at-
tentively to that speech, and must say, notwithstanding all its
professions, that the public virtue ef the Hon. and Learned
Member must date itself from June 11th, 1845 ; for, on re-
ferring to what took place on the 10th of June, he found
that the Honourable and Learned Gentleman was one
of a majority ef 254 who, considering that an abolition
of the corn-laws would prove injurious to the country, voted
against the proposition of the Hon. Member for Wolverhamp-
ten.—( Loud cries of " Hear, hear," and laughter.) He (Mr.
Vernon) was not the person to lecture Hoc. Members who
voted with him (Sir R. 11. Inglis) as to the course they ought
to pursue, seeing that the Lion. and Learned Member thought
as they did, no longer back than the 10th of June last.—( Hear,
hear.) The Hon. Member for Perthshire (Mr. F. Mamie)
had referred to larger rents having been obtained lately in cer-
tain parts of Ireland, though the Government measure was before
the public. The reason of that could easily be explained.
These parties were not yearly tenants, but took their farms from
parties who had held them under 19 years' leases, and who had
taken them at a period of great depression. It was, there-
fore, no wonder that an increase of rent had been obtained.
His chief objection to this measure was that it was
obtained for one class at the expense of another. The cost of
this experiment was enormotv. The revenue to be lost in the
corn-duties was not less than 333,000/. The revenue that was
risked was 2,333,060/. This was a most grave and serious
consideration. There would be a loss of above 450,0001. to
the country. This would be ahmlutely and irrevocably lost to
the country in 1849. That was independent of the loss to be
sustained upon articles upon which the duty was only partially
reduced. There must be a great loss in the article of spirits,
unless there should be a large increase in the importation of
spirits, which would be a great evil upon the country.
The change which took place some years ago was forced upon
the tithe-holder, and therefore that Parliament should take
care that the bargain then made should not be violated. The
tithe-owner had to receive an unvarying quantity at varying
prices. He could not participate in the improvements in
agriculture. They did not benefit him, and therefore Parlia-
ment should be very careful of his rights. How
could they reconcile this measure with justice
to the tithe-owner ? It was impossible to du so.
It had been said that the agriculturists are to be compensated
by contemporaneous measures. The measures, however, were
not contemporaneous. He thought the best mode of giving
compensation to the landed interest would be to take off some
great burden on land at once.—( Hear, hear.) He gave the
Right Hon Baronet at the head of the Government every cre-
dit for purity of motive ; but while he did so, he could not but
regret the change which had taken place. He could not see
how the proposed measure could be a remedy for the temporary
evil which was deplored. He considered that this was an incon-
sistent measure. He believed that it was essential to the pro-
sperity of the country that the agricultural community should
be protected; and, with this opinion, he should cordially sup-
port the amendment of his Hon. Friend.
Mr. CHILDERS was ready to support the Government
proposition, for he believed that a repeal of the corn-laws
would not reduce the average price of corn in this country.
It might appear rather an extraordinary, but it was no less a
true statement, that the price of bread in London was as cheap
as in any part of the globe. At Odessa, it appeared that
bread was 24d. per pound, which was decidedly higher than
the price of bread in 'England, and he therefore be-
lievsd that the passing of the present measure would not be
followed by any reduction in the price of bread.
In the month of October, 1843, whilst the price of corn in
London was 495. 10d., at Marseilles it was from 51s. to 595.
per quarter; in the month of November it was 475. at Lon-
don, whilst at Ostend it averaged from 50e. to 60s. ; and in
the month of December the price of corn was, at Marseilles,
from 535. to Ws., whilst at London it was only 455. 9d. From
these and innumerable other statistics, therefore, it would
appear that the principles of free trade would not
affect the price of corn,' where the demand for
it was great. He could also shoot that the same results
followed with regard to wool, meat, and other articles. As an
agriculturist, he felt no difficulty in voting for the second read-
ing of the Bill—( Hear, hear)—and although he divided the
ether night against a total abolition, yet he should prefer the
total and immediate repeal, did he not consider that the reasons
which had been laid down by the Right Hon. Baronet, at the
head of the Goverment, for a temporary delay should be
conceded.

On the motion of Lord POLLINGTON, the debate was
adjourned until this evening.
The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the
House adjourned at a Quarter to One o'clock.