The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAYMORNING, MAY 16, 1846.

both landlord., farmers, tenants, and labourers, and they all
agreed with him in belisving the price of food in this c .untry
regulated wages. Well, then, if they admitted wheat into.,
this country, which, comparatively speaking, cost little or
nothing in its production, would it not reduce the income of
the farmer, and the wages of the lahourer?—( Hear, hear.)
Most assuredly it would, or how would the British agricultu-
rist be able to compete with the foreigner, who hart so many
advantages in his favour. In some parts of the country, Cam.
bridge for instance, the labour was paid according to the
price of wheat, and whenever that commodity r :se or fell in
price, the wages of the labourer rose ar.d fell in corresponding
ratio. —( Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Baronet had a-sued
that the reverse was the case, but he could assure the Right
Hon. Baronet that he was mistaken.
Sir R. PEEL explained, that when he said wages rid not
vary in the same ratio as the price of wheat, his statement ap-
plied to particular coueties, of which he gave examples. He
certainly did argue, he admitted, that the wages of the menu-
facto. ing labourer varied in an inverse ratio with the price of
wheat.—( Hear, hear. )
Mr. HUDSON—After -listening most attentively to the
arguments and statements on both sides of this piestion, he
was bound to tell the House and the country, that his views
upon it had undergone no change.—( Hear, hear.) Ile
agreed with the Right Hon. Baronet, that waves did not vary
in the same ratio as the price of wheat. Labour, like every
other article of commerce, was liable to competition, and
whenever there were large importations of wheat from abroad
it caused great depression amongst the agricultural interest,
and a consequent overflow of labour in the market.—( Hear,
hear.) When the agricultural interest flourished, ft e manu-
facture thrived, and the question for them to censider was,
would this improve or injure the condition of the agricul-
turist. In his opinion it certainly would. for how, in the
name of all that was reasonable, could the British farmer cnm -
nete with the foreigner who paid less for his land,
less for his labour. and possessed considerably more
natural advantages. (Hear; hear.) In his opinion
then the only tendency of this measure would be to throw land
out of cultivation, and gradually depreciate its value, and ke
for one could not sanction it with his vote. They were asked
by the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary of State, what were
the opinions of Earl Fitswilliam, the Earl of Derby, and seve-
ral other reblemen of distinction, upon this question. But the
Right Hon. Baronet forgot that these noblemen were possessed
of immense incomes, and could afford to submit to the charge.
Let him ask though what would become of the small land-
holder, and the tenant farmer, who had no incomes but what
tkev derived from their labour and their land ? What were
the.), to do. who had invested their small capital in the cultiva•
tion of land, on the faith of the exist:ng law being continued?
—( Hear, hear.) It was very well for men who heist large and
boundless tracts of land, to acquiesce in the passing of this Bill,
but. there were hundreds of others not quite so well off, who
deserved the consideration and protection of the House.
They were now about to enter into a great specula' ion, with-
out any of those grounds which alnays guided teen of business
in their speculations. It was one of the wildest sntsemes that
could possibly be conceived.—( Hear, hear.) He had not
much time, in conzequence of the press of other business. to
read the details of these measures; but he would use the rea•
son which God had given him upon the subject, in the best
rnaerer that he cou'd., TI e country was in the most flourish-
g s'We, and there never was a time when this country was so
well suppled with all the necessaries of life as it was at the pre-
sent time.—( Hear, hear.) They were told of the paucity o
corn abroad, but he believed that before this measure
received the royal assert, if it ever did—.(Loud cheers) —that
there would he at least two millions and a half of quarters of
corn imported inns this country. They had been blamed for
delaying this measure; he dial not, however, think that that
delay had b >en productive of any evil to the country—at least
not to the farmer—for if one million of quarters had been let
into the country, the prig es to the farmer would have been
considerably reduced. The revenue would be greatly bene-
fited by this delay--it would, probably, receive 600,0001.
more than if the measure had been passed in a hurried and a
hasty manner through Parliament. If th y were to take
away all protection from the farmers they ottelit to be set upon
a footing with the manufacturers and millowners—( Hear,
hear)—and be enabled to compete with foreign
countries. The announcement of the present measure bad canned
considerable stagnaion in the monetary concerns of this
country.—(Hear, hear.) It was not to be surprised that it
should have dens so, for the banker would not advance money
upon farm property when required to do so, because he did not
know the effect which the Government measure would have in
depreciating the valse of such property.—( Hear, hear)
Some demur had been made to a statement which he made
some time since of the price of wheat. Considerable communi-
cation had taken place upon the subject between himself and
the farmers, and the general opinion of that body was that the
House, not being aware of the accuracy of his statements, were
leeislating in the dark upon the subject of the corn-laws.
( The Hon. Member then read a letter from a farmer in the
East Riding of Yorkshire with reference to the prices and qua-
lities of wheat and potatoes in the market, and which went on
to say that instead of there being a famine in May. they would
need other markets to take off their produce.) The writer of
this letter stated that he was surprised that his statement that
the price of wheat had been as low as 255. should have been re-
ceived with so much surprise, for he had himself purchased
great quantities at from 18s. to 20s. The lion. Member then
went on to say that he thought some means should be devised
by which a man who occupied a farm of 3001. a-year should be
relieved from paying 751. a-year in the shape of poor and high-
'way rates. He thought it would be some satisfaction to those
who acted with him, that they were not provisional committee-
men on this Bill—(Cheers and laughter)—and they would not,
therefore, be subject to the liabilities which attached to provi-
sional committee-men.-4 Cheers. )

The Marquis of WORCESTER in opening his speech tank
occasion to allude to the exaggerated accounts of the divress
in Ireland. He held lettere in his hand, which stated that
three or four cargoes of potatoes had been this week shipped
from that country; He also referred to the injury occasioned
to the farmer by the introduction of live stock into the country;
700 beasts and 590 sheep had been imported into this country
last week. The Noble Lord read letters which he received
from several tenant-farmers on the subject of the proposed
alterations. They were unanimous in condemning these ; and
one writer went on to say that if the two flight Hon. Baronets,
who were the authors of the measure, had been present at
Ctreneester the last market day, they wini:ci have
heard their names uttered with curses.—(Laughter. )
The tenant-farmers were completely opposed to the measure,
and many Members of that House would, he was sure, agree
with him that such was the fact.—( Hear, hear.) He thanks d
the House for the kindness with which they had heard him.
and he would conclude by expressing his determination to give
the Bill his moat decided-opposition iri every stage.
Mr. MONTAGUE GORE would, with the permission of
the House, occupy its attention for a short time, while he
t'r'ade a few observations on this important. question. He
differed very much from the Gentlemen who had spoken as 'o
the effects which might be anticipated from.the importation et
foreign corn on the agriculture of this country. He wou d
take the liberty of reading some documents.shish would plat
this matter beyond question. The Hon. Member then read a
letter from a tenant-iarmer of Norfolk. who visited Rus,ia a short
time since wi'h wrong prepossessions in favour of protection,
but who had been there ozily a short time when his opinions
underwent a complete alteration. This change was the cense..
quence of what he saw, and the conviction that the agriculi t
rists of this country had nothing to fear from the absence of
all protection to agriculture. A letter which he had received
from a gentleman in the City, and which he weed
read, proved that no arprehension might be entertained
from the importations from Am rice. The Hon. Gentlemi.n
then read a statement of the number of barrels of fi iur im-
ported, for a period of years, from America, and also a num-
ber of returns, stating the quantity of corn which might be
expected from Demme and ether places, and the price which
it would cost. He then went on to say that, considering all
these circumstances, no prejudicial results w ou!d take place, if
protection 'were abolished. No doubt this was a measure
which, would effectsome very great changes, and, like all great
measures, some individual cases of evil would e • lt f it •
Su from
but
as a great general measure' it would be productive of much
r?_li,ei good ; and, he had no doubt, it would most ma-
hwohslele he
lady benefit the agriculturists.—( Hear, hear.) But
supported this measure he should express. a
that other measures would also be introduced which
'vould also benefit the ageiculturistspf the country; and, above
all, he hoped that this .measure, as one which would confer
great hesefit upon Ireland, would receive the cordial co-
operation of the majority of the House. He did believe that
few measures could be introduced which, coupled with a mea-
eure affecting the tenant right in Ireland, could be more bene-
ficial to the criuntry. He should conclude by saying that this
discussion had, in his opinion, been conducted in a highly
creditable manner to this liou,e and to the country, and if it
had been introduced by the Noble Lord the Member for Lon-
don, he would have supported it just as cordially as he did now.
Mr. LAWSON said, he had listened to the arguments of
the. Hon. Member for Bath, and iliceie of a great many other
lion. Members who had spoken for and against the measure.
Ile had heard some Honourable Members say that it was a
measure so illusory and nugatory that it was of no importance
whether it was passed or not. If he could believe this argu-
ment, he would certainly vote against it; but he could not
credit such a proposition after all he had heard from the Hon.
Member for Barnstable ; and he did not think, that from what
he knew of the district in which he resided, that the measure
would equally benefit the manufacturer and the agriculturist.
He found in that part Of the country with which he was
most familiar a perfect unanimity with respect to the measure
introduced by her Majesty's Ministers. They all agreed in the
principle that protection ought to be afforded to native industry.
He had, himself, the honour of presenting petitions from between
50 to 60 townships in the neighbourhood he represented, and this
was the oaly excuse be put forward for rising at this late
period of the debate, and obtruding himself upon the notice of
the House. He did not think it would he an act of justice to
those he represented if he were contented with giving a silent
vete on this important question. One of the objections
which he hail to the passing or this measure
/at the present time was, that the Hon. Member
whe introduced it had not stated what the price of wheat was
expected to be. He hoped, therefore, to hear that night from
the Hon. Baronet his expected price, because, until they had
smell, they were legislating in the stalk. Now, as to the de-
pendence of this country on foreign nations, it had been almost
ridiculed in this [louse that they should adept the doctrine that
byor ttfihi.
e
s measure they should be dependent on foreign nations
supplies of food. lie owned that in this error, if error
Pt was, he cordially**
elence would be joined, and he thought that this deli:m-
a:teat point to whlT'he*.ensibly felt if a war should occur. The
was with rem rd to those
would direct the attention of the Houk
of
o_inz,ho were now in office, and he thought
that any change
had aderinteT public men, from that line of,
policy which they
throughout their whole lives, was
in itself very detrimental io tohrec interests, and even if he
bad a predilection in favour b los measure, yet, knowing the
a principle
it forward, he should
inconsistency of those who now
hesitate before he acceded to
Contrmeasureary
to all those they had formerly
av:uwilp7l'elbweliihwats::
were dissolved, as he hoped it we If thie Parliament
passed—if it was so dissolved, and the before
were
measure. He
their duty,
determined that the Bill be pae„,d, then it constituency had
to accede to that
43 a minority,
allow that this measure would produce, cheap b e would not
mitted, indeed, that at first it would produce arei ad.
He ad-
food, but that would not continue permanently. nzsly cheap
bad been made of famin.. in Ireland, and the scarcit grfeat cry
toes had been ureed as a reason why they° should
pass the Corn Bill. He could inform the iloniti!de
that potatoes ware selling in York at t wo shillings
per bushel, while in London he himself paid fifteen shillings
per sack. Potatoes were sent me to London at fifty shillings
Per ton, yet no one would buy them, and they were obliged to
be taken back again. One would naturally imagine that no
monopoly would exist in a city like London, but it appeared
that there was an universal agreement to keep up the prices,
in order to compel the passing of this measure.—(Laughter,
and cries of "Oh, oh," from tie Opposition.) Hon. Gentle-
men might cry " Oh, oh," but he considered that if they
granted this Bill they would be giving way to the League, aid
encouraging greater demands. He was exceedingly sorry te
differ from the Right Hon. Baronet, but he was not convinced
in his own mind—( Laughter)—that this measure w9)alti be for
the good of the country, and. therefore, he could not give his
support to the Ministerial Bill.
Mr. VERNON SMITH was happy to see that the acri-
tHlY which usually distinguished either side of the House,
sank into a sort of apathy on this question, but although
they had
ceased to offend against each other it was only to turn,
restei vituperationi upon the Right pen. Baronet and her Ma-
doiyJa's Ministers. The Hon. Ge, tleman, who bad just• sat
downstllelemanded that her Ma!esty's Ministers should bring.
that the price of wheat, after the passing of the meaitife-
-4.._ y should state the exact number of bushels to be in-
`argg ced
and the owl wages they would at any future period

pay to their labourers.—(Lau thter.) He would not, at that
late hour, enter into any statistical details on this question,
and the only reason why he voted on it was because of very
general reasons, which after all were the bes' ore s. He
could not believe that a country like this, to fruitful in itself,
would not he improved in its agriculture, when farmers were
threwn upon their own resources, and when science was
brouelit to bear upon and to a eist in this desired object It
was to be remembered that agriculture, and the science which
was so intimately connected with it, was yet in its infancy.
It might be urged againt this measure, that small farmers might'
arctic , that they had been encoursged in the cultivation of land,
which woultridherwise be uncultivated, by the system of pro-
tection which had been afforded, and that they would stiffer
ruin it such protection were withdrawn. He doubted whether,
under such circumstances, it would not have been preferable to
impose a small duty upon corn, and he was surprised that the
Right Hon. Baronet, whose fame rested principally upon his
financial abilities, should have risked the revenue which he had
that
raised, apparently for no specific object. He considered
this Billettight to have been tried in a time of prosperity, such
as the year before, instead of, as now, forcing the measure
nunottegrivtehne ftehaerftrirenfadms
who sat
aGdvetatntlteamgeanof
theae
now, his success would
appearr g u m e
tnot s
b, e
(n)
wd
r
and if lie failed, as he sincerely trusted he would not, his failure
iirfightO mweaesansaeicel'ilihnge ought not to have used;
would he attributed to dissensions in this House seining f-cm
his own policy, and to the opposition of another portion of the
Legislature.
Mr. DISRAELI said, that the Secretary of Sate, in the
speech which he had made on the first night of the discussion,
had reminded Hon. Gentlemen sitting on three benches, and
professing opinions favourable to native industry, that they had
feune it neceesary to depart from many of the opinions which
toy bad previensly Professed, and to give up many of the
itogmas wltich t hey had formerly maintained. He ackno-ne
leged that he believed it to he a necessary result of all discus- -
sions, that either party took refuge in the pride which pro-
fessed that it never was convinced—( Hear, hear)—that it never
changed its opinion on a single topic in the debate. He did
not claim for himself, and he believed that he need net
claim for ary of the Gentlemen around him, such power of
argument, such force of reasoning, as to convince their oppo-
nerrs ; and, while he listened with great respect to
everything urged on the other side, he never ad-
vanced or maintained any opinion when he found that
that such was no loner tenable. But he thought he could
-how the Secretary of State that this faculty of maintaining
an opinion was not peculiar to their party. Ile rather
imagined that many of tke opinions advocated by Hon. Gen-
tletnen opposite were now abandoned, as no longer tenable. He
could not avoid remembering many of these opinions which
were no longer put forward. He might begin with cheap
bread.—( Cheers.) They had had the Ministers of the Crown
even in this very year, even in this important session, they hail
the. Ministers of the Crown descr-bing the cry of cheap bread
as the clamour of a et) ine faction.—( Hear, hear, and cheers. )
There was another opinion now given up. He did not
believe that it was longer maintained that the present
.orn-laws were productive of any extraordinary fluctua-
tion in prices, yet that cry occasioned great agitation
It was averted that this same corn-law-was the bane of agri-
culture, and yet it had never been shown that it had occasioned
serious tluctuatiens in the price of wine. Then with respect
to tithes. 'They had the evidence of the very best valuers of
tithes in the Tithe Commission—they had the evidence of
land agents in all parts of the country, that every acre generally
in England produe-sd 28 bushels of wheat upon an average ;
and they hid reports to shew that each acre in Russia produced
16 bushels, and France proclucelsonly 15. But he had also the
report of a gentleman well acquainted with agriculture, who
had travelled over the United States, and from the returns fur-
nished of 69 counties, he f :end that only 14 bushels were cal-
culated to each acre. It did appear therefore to him, that
pro'etition was nut injurious to agriculture, since
in England th-y found that the average quantity
reaped from each acre exceeded in a considerable
degree the other country, sof Europe. It had also been an-
nounced that the pepu'ation of the country increased in a
greater ratio than its products; that every day added 1(100
souls to the population, or 365 000 in each year. But they
should have told them also that the price of wheat decreased in
the same proportion. Be there was another opinion which
struck him as being repeatedly advanced in that House, he
meant the opinion that a protective duty provoked the enacting
of hostile tariffs. But tUey were independent o 1 these hostile
influences, at least the new philosophy was altogether inde-
pendent of these considerations.—( Cheers.) Another argu-
ment now abandoned was this, that freight itself would be a
sufficient protection to the home grower. The Honourable
Gentleman the Member for Stockport, whose speeches he (Mr.
Dirseli) always read with great pleasure, and it was but fair that
he should refer to these out-door speeches when the) created
such a change in doors.—(Hear, hear.) What did the Hen.
Member for Stockport say the protecting freight would be?
10s. 6il. He believed that if that statement had been made a
year ago, it would have been universally believed—it would
have met with the hearty cheers of Hon. Members. Was it
believed now ? He ( Mr. Disraeli) doubted if there was any
freight of Io3.—he doubted if the freight from Odessa was
t es. They knew well that it vvis as expensive to freight grain
from one port of Britain to another as from a foreign pert.—
(Cheers. ) But it was necessary that he should touch upon an-
other topic, one now exploded, namely, that the present corn-
'aws produced a fluctuation in the priee of grain. They were,
by thus noticing those matters, clearing the course, and he
could, without hesitation, affirm that there was less fluctuation
in the price of grain in England than in any country in the
world.—( Cheers.) Mr. Secretary Gladstone had moved for a
return most important in character, and more important from
he persons introducing it to the House. That was a return ex-
tending from 1834 to 1840 inclusive, of the weekly prices
if wheat in al; the principal capitals of the United States.
Now he would take one of. these capitals, which would be
worst for the case espoused by that party against a majority
of that House. He would take Philadelphia, the capital of
Pennsylvania. Iv was a great mercantile market, and had the
great advantage of rejoicing in the economy of free trade.—
( Hsar, hear.) Now he found that, as regarded fluctuation,
the total difference between the highest and the lowest
prices was as forty-seven per cent. in, the United States.
and 33 per cent, in Engl ind.—(Clieers.) And the total dif-
ference in the septennial period was 270 per cent. in America,
while it was only 227 in England. An objection might be
urged against this return of Mr. Gladstone's, that it gave the
weekly returns, and that local circumstances might con-
siderably affect them. But he held also in his hand a return
from the years 183) to 1838, and he found that the
difference in this period, from the highest to
the lowest price, was as 150 to C 9 per cent.—( Cheers.)
He had taken Philadelphia as the nearest point for themselves,
and the other capitals of America were, therefore, more favour-
able to the at-vim-lent he was advancing. The Hon. Member
then referred to rye as sold at Warstw and Dantzie, showing
that in the former city, where the free-trade system prevailed,
the difference between the highest and lowest price was in five
years 149 per cent., while in the latter city, where a p.otection
duty was maintained, the fluctuation in price in the
same period was only sixty-nine per cent. He thought
they might consider the argument of fluctuation, as used
against a protective system, no lorigem tenable in that House.
Trey ought to have a " limbo " for the reception of disused
p tli ical arguments, and he should pri pose that those he had
enumerated he placed there among the first. He would defy
their opponents to show that they on the protection benches
had changed their opinions so frequently as Honourable
Members on the Om osition side of the House, who
suppo ted this measure of the Governrtlent.—(llear, hear. )
A v-ry celebrated authority, who was once a Member of that
House, had declared that rsising corn to an artificial price im-
posed a tax upon the people of this country amounting to
ee,000,000/. Another and ano less celebrated, though a
more successful, authority, and who, he believed, was eon •
sidered the authority of the Anti-Corn-law League, -had fallen
foul of this calculation, because the calculation had omitted
the number of quarters of wheat consumed by the agricultural
body, all of which it was contended ought not to have been
employed in ascertaining the amount of the corn-law tax.
This latter authority estimated the tax at from 9,000,000/. to
10,000,0001., and urged the principle that it was better
for England not to raise a quarter of grain than incur, the
liability of paying this tax. He admitted that this was the -
extreme case, but in adopting it he was only testing
the principle of the free-trade party. Now, suppose England,
by importing k 30.000,030 of quarters of grain from abroad saved
ftt
Erhonemg
sl
halnao,pd eobooyO,f
d wOOo
gno Zeg.
s. too l
.2,40 ht,
eoc
00:00,,
ui
reli
dee
r/aa.
also
s oyi tl
moreocould
et
hn
pan
ntr
they
t s eoe
fn savedi
tei
idet
ch
aian-
pital invested in the production of that amount of corn, as well '
corn
a t the
hadrent
b e
eawie
hnth,
eiHgecprxhorotni trnoeacnumdi
Honourable
extreme
ebapßlweoecuii
nrttAhutileoteodumraf t
vbfi
igareeodhrwtont
pf;b(tiebrhnsuegatsi lidtaat
Stockport,
wchdkeaa
extreme
otphi
rrmoin:
npwowea: hsspoii
urgingo:e ilhenevttf
ueho:eif,
himythieewc.taos
- test the
being a practical man, would probably deny the necessity
for considering the case in this
au
tell
i,dxoa tnrnrt.eyomt
didTeb eh
enperooneittnisrtivue
ployopufol
td:vrtiteehwwanat,
lrhaeendcdua
reduction
joeztl the Non.
bpelreitecis.7Member
out
tutht
e andfl
acultivation,
this,
vo
othuetreofwocuull:tivstaitlilobne. a Nell,utthioenn,oftai upon this ground,
frankwage giving th
s'
in Tglein Hun.s-ml a reduction of
Memberthe House
fho Se
st ot
.cmk
ate
to rte of blideaet e nt
heexpt rrei
emee efi
corn would be after the passing of this Act, and he thought if
he could show that this price, high as it was as compared with
what would be the price of foreign corn, would not yield a profit
to the British producer, he would be demonstrating the inutility
as well as the ruinous tendency of this measure. He would
meet the argurn, nts of Hon. Gentlemen opposite with facts,
but he protested against being answered with assertions. He
would not weary the House by mentioning those large pro-
ducing countries, ttith which Hon. Members must have been
made too familiar in the course of the present session, but he
would call the attention of the House to markets thatriever were
mentioned, which would have a great influence in regulating
the prices of this country. T here was, in the first place,
Hungary, which he need not remind the House, consisted of
30,000 stfeare miles—it contained the richest soil in the
world, in fact its soil was that of a gartoric
n—t.h
from mile to mile without meeting a single
then they had in this country at least 24e,000 square miles of
the most fsrtile soil in the world, under the influence of achmate
most admirably adapted for the growth of corn. Now he had
lately received returns from a party well informed on the sub-
ject of the corn trade, which gave ltim the prices of corn in
Hungary. The average price of Hungarian corn, which he
mu-t remind the Anse was the finest in the world, was 18s.
per bushel. They might send it overland to the port of Trieste
Yw might hhte go
re
for 4d per English bushel, and thence to this country foe
Is. Bd., so that Hungarian wheat could be sold in this country
for 20s per bushel. The gentleman Who gave him
this information was a practical man trading at Trieste,
who told him that if he could only secure a regular
trade with England, and send in the first year bOO,OOO Tsar-
tees, while another how would undertake to bring into any
English port 2 0 003 quarters at 23i. the bathe'. t and an-
other house in Galicia were ready, If this measure passed, to
deliver 1,00:V00 quarters free on board at 18s. He would
not Mention the markets of Spain, of Egypt, and of.
which would have a great effect upon the prices in this Coed-
try. But it was argued that the demand for core would in-
crease its price in the producing, eminteiett lie v7oifld apply
this principle to other aftielei of large Consumption in this
country, abd tee whether it was sound or not. On a former
pound.tatem
n.oteccaessseaertyhfeorailhutilmed
to to the question of tea, hut said then his
statements
test) nheaodu teabeen
es ,
icsjtunitri.fa2yddicted, and it would be therefere
t,ll
In 1832, it was es• 114'1 • • while Inn 114151. 'ittialae-asproinelyooria.
was Is. ;in 1833 ic
~ in 1833, it was h. 1 ;• 183 e, it
in 1837, the Ohina Warw"4d.in Ifetiti, it Was Is. 23.
again ro.e to os. ; having commenced, the price
to 2s. •; in
1839
itindcontinued during 1831 to rise
to Is. 4d. and 18, 3d. 1840 the price went down
price was only 9a , and yet th;e and now, in 184.61 the
increased millions epon 114 a"
the
defila"
haul
take was that of cotton. Inns.lB3 The next instance he should
1837 it was 81d. ; in 1839 it waiis fLthe pt ice was 10d. ; in
in [B4O and 1841 it was 6d. ;
in 1833 it was 64:1. ;
and in 1844 and 1845 it was 4d and 41-dand;718,43 it was sd.
mind the [I Luse that dutiog the years in whichwt'tel;ita
ihim re-
traced
this progressive decline in prices, the importation of' hate England had risen from 333,000,0001bs cotton
597,030,0001b5. ; while the manufactures of the cOur ttyo
had increased their consumption from 982,00e,0001b5.q)
439,000,0001b5. Now this sufficiently illustrated the princi-
ple of prices when there was no artificial protection. There
was no denying it ; the prices of all products, in the ab-
sence of protection, had a downward tendency. lie would
now take the case, of sugar, which perhaps was not so-applicable'
to the principle he was combatting as the articles he had
already enumerated. The price of Bengal sugar from 1839
to 1816 had fallen from 475. to a7s. per bag, while in the arts

wy ehaerr
etahse
in
ne
the w r o l
ae t
tenlr y 2
there
. 4,0 Owoer
et
6o 72: iOO mp o
tons. o r te d
Coffee int o
exhibited
the same, results. The price of Ceylon coffee in 1840 was
from 90s. to 915., while in 1846 it was only 475. per
beg. The quantity imported in the first year was
55,000 bags, and in the last year 100,920 bags.
During. the last year, 43,533 lbs. had been imported. Well,
ihcandhensohozelsdirelikteo to direct
theth e then,
ttehnetriennweorfe t ohteh euroaurstei le
but
much further upon the attention of the House. Let them look
st°l7el!
at the case of indigo, of salt, of iron, and of coals, in all
,of
which they would observe an universal development. Now ho
wished to know on what grosnds corn was to be made an ex-
ception to the general rule ?—( Clear, hear.) He wanted an
answer to that. He thought that it was as fair a question to ask
as could b 3 conceived.---( Hear, hear.) Why was corn made an
exception to the rule ? Was -it because corn was produced in
every country, and in every climate.—( Hear, hear.) Now,
for example, he wanted to know where they could not produce
corn. They had recently received large quantities of that
article even from Persia ; there was no part in Persia in which
corn could not be produced at Sc. per quarter. It was a mere
question of the cost of transportines, and he begged the country
to bear in mind that the progress of steam power in this country
was reducing the price of all articless that were capable of being
removed to the common level. Now, before he ventured to
estimate the consequences of this change, he might
state that he well knew that the case of foreign
cattle had been urged. There W2S as slight a con-
nexion between corn and cattle as could possibly be con
criyed.—(l-lear hr ar.) Why, in the first place, the continent
of Europe had been a corn growing country long before
England was a corn growing country. Whad never been a
cattle growing country, and the very fact of the Roman
Catholic religien, which had prevented the consumption of
meat, which prevailed in Protestant countries, led, in a great
measure, to that result. No one could contend that there were
in any part of the continent of Europe, such pastures as were
ba seen in England? Then, again, let them lock to the
danger and cost which attended the transmission of such an un-
markable article as a live beast. He was, therefore, obliged
to come to the conclusion that, to promote the manufactures
of this country, they were prepared to destroy all the agricul-
tursl labour which had before existed in it. Now what would
be the cen-equences of such a step? The Right Hon. Baronet
rose in his place and said, "'That England was not an agiicule
tural country--( Hear hear. )—and that it was a manufac-
turing country."—( Hear, hear.) That was a perfectly novel
argument. lie believed on investigating the subject, that
England was not, as regarded her commerce as great
a commercial country at this moment as she had been
at previous periods of her history.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.")
Of course he did not mean to say that England, at this mo-
ment, had not increased commercial transactions to what she
had several year; bask ; but what be meant to contend was,
that when we took into account her increased population, tie re
• had not been a corresponding increase in the amount and ex-
tent of her manufactures.—( Cries of " Hear, hear," and " Oh,
oh." The Hon. Member might groan, but that was not the
way to answer his assertions.--(Hear, hear.) He believed
that, if they looked at the present manufactures of England.
they would find that she was lower in point of her commercial
importance than she heel ever been. He said this unhesi-
raringly. Looking at the number of people employed in the
inat,ufacfures of this, country, England was lower in a com-
mercial poin' than she was an hundred years ago.—( Hear,
hear.) For instance, he would ask where were the manufac-
tures of the West of England, that flourished so much centu-
ries ago? The woollen manufacture of England was tar more
flourishing many years ago than it was at the present
moment ; and yet it was for this fluctuating and drooping com-
merce, that the agriculturists of Engle: d were to be deprived
of their rights, merely for the purpose of satisfying the desires
of the manufacturers of a single county. He contended that
agriculture had done far more to improve the mind of man and
the state of the country than ever manufacture had done. In-
deed that had been admitted by most eminent manufacturers.
'the poverty of the soil was such that it could only be made
productive by the Use of artificial soil and manure. What
would have been the state of the fens of Lincoln if protection
hart not existed ? They would hare been mere waste fens and
plash), marshes.—(Loud cheers.) There were two or three
points which he did not intend to treat of at that hour of the
night, but which he would call to the memory of the House
before they came to vote upon the subject now before it. He
would merely glance at them, he would not presume to touch
upon them, having taken up so much of the time of the House
already. It was very well to talk of the Canadas in the
manner in which it had been treated by some Hon. Members--
to talk of it as a matter of indifference to this
country whether it was annexed to Canada or not. He never
had been one of those who thought that Canada would never
be annexed to the United States. Canada had too much of the
elements of a great country within itself for that.—(Cheers.)
He thought it was not the destiny of Canada to be annexed to
the United States.—( Hear, hear.) An Hon. Member, in
noticing the speech of his Noble Friend the Member for Lynn,
had stated that the commerce of Canada was nothing but a
mere smuggling trade, by way of Canada, to the United
States. That was his argument for keeping Canada. What
would be the condition of England in a commercial point of
view, if the whole of the transatlantic continent belonged to
one power ?—( Cheers.) He would not then dwell upon or
touch the case of Ireland. It was too terrible a subject, when a
Noble Lord, whose conversion was a subject of congratulation
to her Majesty's Government, hod stated that this measure
weuld be fatal to the interests of the small farmers.—(Cheers.)
It was too terrible a thing, he expected, for him to contemplate,
when he knew that that nation was peculiarly a nation of small
farmers.—(Cheers.) But there was one observation with
reference to Ireland which he could not refilin from making
The Honourable Member for Stockport (Mr. Cobden)
had stated in that House, and in other places, and
very recently, too, in that House, with considerable effect,
" that Ireland was an argument in favour of the corn-laws."
Of all the countries in the world he should never have ex-
pected that Ireland would be brought forward as an argument
in his favous, Did the Hon. Member mean to say that the
statti of Ireland was an argument against protection ? There
was a population driven to the last source of human sub-
sistence. But how did they get these sources of sabsistenee
how did they get their potatoes? By cultivating the earth, and
by producing oats and wheat, which they sent to England.—
("Hear, hear, and cheers.) Glad would he he if the whoa' and
oats remained in Ireland for the consumption of the people.
And if the state of Ireland be so as he described it,
such mtnt be the c ffeets upon the markets of England.
If be was wrong in his calculations, they
might have a thous yid answers and a thousand assump-
-lions, founded on the vagaries of political economy. If he was
right in its effects upon the labour of the United Kingdom, he
wanted to know what would be the state of Ireland if they
ruined these manufacturers of the soil. It might be said that
these agricultural labourers would turn manufacturers. But
how long a time was to elapse before this would take place?
How long would it he before these manufactures would be
established in Ireland? Before these manufactures were es-
tablished they might perhaps see the drooping energies of the
Dorchester labourers paid with the same high wages as those
paid by the Honourable Member for Durham.—
( Cheers.) He did not believe that this measure could
change the character of that cautery as an agricultural one.
Believing as he did that these measures had a tendency to stop
the elements and springs of manutacturing industry and manu-
facturing properity—believing that it would have injurious ef-
fects on the distribution of the metal's, on which he would not
now touch, and believing that it was calculated to bringabou t
a domestic and social convulsion—he was obliged to ask him-
self whether the measure would not be perilous to the in-
terests of the country to pass this Bill.—( Cheers.) He needed
not to ask what so many gentlemen had already asked in the
House, and which so many persons had inquired out of it, what
was there in the state and the circumstances of this country to
authorise this change.—( Cheers-) If they really were only a
commercial and manufacturing country, did not their com-
merce flourish, and were not their manufactures prosperous?
And what, he wished to ask, did it signify that agri-
culture was doomed to pine and suffer in a country
which was no longer an agricultural one ?—( Hear, hear. )
A number of men had arisen, distinguished by their elo-
quence and their energy but more distinguished far their
eloquence and their energy than for their knowledge of
human nature or political science.—(Hear, hear.) He was
not one of those who either here or elsewhere, in public or in
private, had spoken with disrespect of that great commercial
confederation that sought to rule the country, although he dis-
approved of their doctrines, though he believed that they
would he as pernicions in the end to the manufacturing interest
as to all others, still he admired men of abilities convinced of
a great truth, proud of their strength, and in their energy
binding themselves together to obtain its triumph. The
country could only exist by free discas,ion. If once it was
suppressed, if once it was put down, why then liberty had
vanished —(Cheers.) If they thought the opinions of the
Anti-Corn-law League deleterious, if they considered that
their system was founded on error, it was open in free countries
like England to oppose them with the same earnestness
to resist them with the same energy, and by all active
organisation also to devote themselves to the course
which they thought right. But a body of Gentlemen, able to
direct the affairs of the country, came forward to oppose these
doctrines, they place themselves at the head of a party, and
they climb and clamber into power— ( Hear, hear)—by braving
generally accepted distrust. It followed that the body who
cught to have been represented were asleep at their posts.
It was not for them to have come forward, it was not in human
nature to have done so. No, they had trusted to others.—
( Tremendous cheering ) They trusted to others, who, by
accepting the trust, or rather by challenging the doctrines,
had obtained the groatest Vexes in the country.—( Hear, bear.)
The Right Hon. Gentleman, the first Minister of the Crown,
had told his friends that he had given them very significant
hints of his change; he said that even last year Lord Grey
had found him out—( Tremendous cheering)—and he was sur-
prised they could have been so long mistaken. Of course no
observation of the Right lion. Gentleman applied to him (Mr.
Disraeli), but he remembered when some years back he said pro-
tection appeared to him to be about in the same state as Pro-
testentism in 1828.—(Cheers.) And he remembered his
friends being very indignant with him for the expression how-
ever, they had since been so good as to say that instead of a ca-
lumny it was a prophecy--( Loud and continued cheering)—but
the Hon. Gentleman might congratulate himself on his com-
plete success in having deceived his party. And even the Noble
Lord, the Member for Lynn, himself, in a moment of frank
conversatir n, the other night, told him that, to the last moment,
he had not the slightest doubt of his fidelity.—( Hear, hear. )
The Noble Lord thought that the Right Hon. Baronet was
making—what was then a favourite word—the best bargain for
his party..-.-(Cheers.) When :he Government of the Whigs
was rejected,the Right Hon. Baronet proposed some changes
because he could make the best bargain for his party. Well, who
which some thought suspicious,
had he but all suspicion was hushed
, would like to know, the best part of the bargain now ?
And when the confidence of gentlemen was complete —at
least no announcement had been made to them—gentlemen
had not been called together as was usual on such occasions—
aj' l which was always careful never to insert important
ournal
highest authority.—(Tremendous
the fact was announced to the country through the columns of
i
inforthation except on the
Fie Vida then absent from
foreign princes and foreign courts..
to it. He knew of a great
England, and he could bear witness
cheers.) Let tlithn ettetiive the effect of the announcement on
ant demanding
prince
ad, atCatiOrit tinSWertng that
anti, he was aware of the a
an explana-
tion,.in the announceillent.—
there was not the slightest truth
sefidiiitt
time—he had mem-
.,eiltire arab assailers,
Great and continued cheering.) All that
were going
'f Golernmertt thqn in his view who G
c
then deioted id hat Majesty's Govern-
ml to the journals
declare that the announcement
mtnt, arid encouraging them
.to,) H
*at an in farriouS fibrihattep7est 4(L ud peers. oingenuous
' inistetof the Mtnieeer
was the conduct of her M
j j the Cabinet.—(Lctid laugh-
who formed a glorious minority in
ter.) The Right Hon. Gentleman
then met the House and
his party,. and acted as if they had deserted him and not he
theth. Who &Mid fordet those toes—who could forget those
looks and that indignant mien? The lion. Otntlemani hav-
ing quoted a Latin passage, continued
mean, " I am a protection Minister, and mean
to govern Which
England by the means of an Anti-Corn-law league."
That was a scene which could not beparalleled, unless by the
conversion of the Saxons by Charlemagne—(Loud cheers)—
who followed him as a Cleiar when he went over to them, as
they were assembled on the banks of the Rhine, and were con-
verted by battalions, and baptised by platoons.—(Great
laughter.) When he saw the 112 fall into rank and file—
( Cheers and laughter)—he was irresistibly reminded of the
memorable incident on the banks of the Rhine. And now he
must say, in justice to the Right Hon. Gentleman—
( Laughter)—that he believed great misconception prevailed
with regard to him.—(Continued • laughter.) He had been
accused of altering his opinions, and of long meditating the de-
ceptions which he had now avowed. He (i'lr. Disraeli) en-
tirely acquitted hilu 9f that intention, and he did it for this

reason. When he examined the career of that Minister, which
had extended over so long a period, and filled so great a space
in the political history of his country—when he looked back
upon his career ((nea period of 30 or 40 years since the days of
Mr. Homer' down to the Hon. Member for Stockport, the
Right Hon. Gentleman the first Minister of tife Crown had
traded upen the ideas and the intelligence of others.—
( Tremendous cheering.) His life bad been a great appro-
priation clause..—.(Tremendous cheers.) He was a burglar of
other men's intellects.—(Continued cheering.) From the
days of William the Conqueror, down to the present period, no
statesmen had committed political petty larceny to so great an
extent.—(Continued cheering.) He (Mr. Disraeli) believed
however, that when he undertook the advocacy cf either cause
to which he attached himself, he was sincere in his support of
it, for having none of the sympathy which attaches men to the
advocacy of great principles, his support of them crumbled
away when opposing circumstances appeared to his conventional
mind to make a departure from them expedient. The Right
Hon Gentleman imbibed his present opinions as be did every
doctrine that presented a life-like, popular, and progressive ap-
pearance, an he did those from Horner, and from every other
political leader—every doctrine, except that of Reform, which
the Whigs had allowed to attain to too great a maturity to fall
into the mouth of the Right Hoa. Baroret.—( Tremendous
cheers..) Every one, however, was not effected in the same
way by striking alterations in the opinions which they formerly
entertained. Feeling of this kind depended very much on tern-
' perament or idiosyncracy of the mind, and on the nature of the
animal .ho had made the change.—(Great laughter.) The
Right Hon. Gentleman might not feel humiliated in following
the eeerse he now proposed to adopt, but his country ought to
feel humiliated. Was it so pleasing to the self-complacency of
so great a nation as this—was it so pleasing to a country like
England, that it should be said of one of its statesmen, as
Dean swift said of another gentleman, " tha- he was one who
had the perpetual misfortune of being mistaken ?"—( Great
laughe r and cheers.) Now, in the last scene of the drama,
was he going to pass as his own what it was a matter of noto-
riety was not of his own invention. The project had been
4n-red to another Government before he took office, and by that
Government was r, jetted.—(Cheers.)A gentleman of con-
siderable weight in that House had asked him (Mr. Disraeli),
when these changes were firs talked about, what his opinion
was of the contemplated alterations?—in reply to whom he
said, " Oh. I suppose it is some great and comprehensive plan
of the Right Hon. Baronet;"--(Great laughter)—to which
he replied " Oh, it is not his plan at all; it is Hopkin's plan."
—(Cheers and laughter.) And was England, he would ask,
to be governed and c eavulsed by Hopkin's
plan ?—( Great
laughter.) Would the Right Hon. Baronet go to the country?
—( Cheers ) Would be appeal to the people? Would Eng-
land—that was governed by a Bolinbroke and a Walpole, a
Chatham and a Canning,—submir to such a measure? He did not
believe it. Those political pedlars who bought them up in the
cheapest market, end sold them in the dearest.—(Loud cheers.)
Notwithstanding the unfavourable opinion which he had formed
of the damaging effects on the English character, from beings
familia,ised lately with political tergiversation—notwithstanding
that the people had become vitiated by the political gambling
of the present day—though he knew that all confidence in pub-
lic men was lest—still he had faith in the primitive and en-
during qualities of the English character—(Loud cheers)—and
lie believed they would regard the project wi,h very different
feelings from those which the promoter of it anticipated.—
( Loud cheers.) It may be idle now to tell them in the spring
time of economic policy, that it would have the effect of in-
volving them in trouble, difficulties, and digester ; but the time
would yet arrive, when chastened by misfortune, rind sobered
into reason, they would remember not with unkindness the
predictions of those who were now endeavouring to avert their
calamities, and who did their utmost to prevent those measures
which were the pregnant cause of their evils from being carried
into effect.--(The Hon. Member sat down amidst loud
cheers.)
_ _

Lord J. RUSSELL said, that in rising to address the
House, after the Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down, he
should certainly feel considerable hesitation, If he thought the
Hon Gentleman had been equally successful in his agricultural
views, as he was in his invective against the Minister; but he
could not fail to see that the Hon. Gentleman's talent consisted
in always dressing up and using invective against the Minister
instead of addressing himself to the Bill before the House. It
was their business that night to debate whether or not the
measure should be read, a third time instead of hearing an
abuse cf the Right Hon. Baronet. The Hon. Member was
there more as a spectator than a party conversant with the
subject. The Hon. Gentleman began by questioning the
abandoned 'arguments, as he called them, of the Right Hon.
Baronet. Now he did not think that the Right Hon. Gentle-
man's former arguments had failed, or that he had been lost in
alarm during them. Indeed a Noble Lord had read a letter to
the house, which had been written by one of his ancestors in
the year 1610 in support of protection to agriculture.
This was a question which was before both Houses of Par-
liament in 1840. It was introduced into the House of Lc rds
by Earl Fitzwilliam, and, upon two occasions, eleven Members
voted for the consideration of the question
a
tiion;t
thatand time,inthe House
of of Commons they voted for a Committee for the same pur-
pose ; and he (Lord J. Russell) thought
that object should be effected, and the New Poor-law carried,
a ;refit difference might be made in the state of the country;
and that that change could then with safety be made ;
and several members of the Cabinet were of the same
opinion ; but Lord Melbourne and several other
members of the Cabinet voted against any change. (The Noble
Lord then read an extract from the opinion expressed upon the
subject by Lord Melbourne; and which was to the effect that
his (Lord Alelbourne's) opinion was that it was not expe-
dient to make any change, and that he would maintain exist-
ing duties.) Well, then, with such a state of things it was
not to be wondered at, that in 1841 the whole Cabinet should
propose a change in the corn-laws. Now, he (Lord J. Rus-
sell) felt justified in entering into those details, because of
what had been said of the part he had taken in them, by
others in this House, during this debate..—(Hear, hear.) He
thought then, and he did still think, that a moderate fixed
duty would then have been the best change that could be
made in the laws of 1828. He was of that opinion when
protection was ingrafted in their law-books as wall as in
the habits and opinions of the people, and that therefore a
change should be made gradually; and he also thought tha
the Anti-Corn-law League would have been glad to accept a
fixed duty of Bs.—(Cries of " Hear, hear," and "No, no.")
He had good authority for saying so, and he would state it.—
( Hear, hear.) Up to the commencement of last year, he
vas still of the same opinion, and, after a fixed duty had been
agreed to and in force for a number of years, it could be
changed into free trade by a gradation which would be almost
imperceptible. But when the changes which had been pro-
po-ed had been resisted for a number of years, and
when the Anti-Corn-law League had debated the question of
tree trade, and had made an impression upon the public mind
as to its neer,sity, and when the proposition, as to a moderate
fixed duty had been se frequently rejected,' then he did
think it would not be wise to adhere to a wish to persevere in
that project ; and there was no precedent for doing so under
such circumstances, in the conduct of any Minister down to
the time when Huskiszon acted the part he did in reference to
the Catholic question. Therefore up to last year, he (Lord J.
Russell) asked himself if there was
any course to ha adopted,
but that of a total repeal, which was likely to give satisfaction
to the country.--( Hear, hear.) Had he been able to carry
the measure for a fixed duty, with the consent of the
Cabinet, and the acquiescence of the people, he would
have been proud 'of it ; but he was not anxious to
occupy the position of a Minister, who would afterwards be
continually
was, in this
however, between the keeping up of
compelled to have the prudence and wisdom of the measure
House.-(Hear, hear.) The
question now
protection in the few years proposed by the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman. He (Lord J. Russell) had not said that this was the
the present system of protection, or the total abolition of all
way in which he would wish to effect the change, because he
was for doing away with protection by means that
would not have any suddenness of character about it ;
but now. believing that the repeal of the corn-laws was
a right measure, he saw no other course left than to re-
peal them, or keep up the present system of protection.
The Hon. Gentleman had made an assertion. He had made
the assertion that the corn-laws did not enhance the price of
corn, and he also and at the same time asserted that the power
of the community to purchase was increased. That which
the Hon. Gentleman had admitted was capable of proof, and
this admission strengthened the proof. He had, however,
given no proof of the preposition that the power of the people
to purchase was increased by the existence of the law. The
Hon. Gentleman had stated, indeed, that the prices of corn
would be ruinous to the small farmers.—(Hear, hear.)
And in giving these details of the apprehension which he felt
on a former occasion, he spoke of foreign markets from which
were to be derived immense supplies of corn. Let him (Lord
J. Russell) observe that in the first instance the Hon. Gentle-
man's argument entirely destroyed that to which he and many
others had all along limited themselves, and had relied their
main strength on it, viz., that protection upon corn ought to
be continued in order to make us independent of the produce
of foreign nations. He could understand that agreement
very Well if all the cern came from one or two coun-
tries, for it would quite warrant the apprehension that in
time of war we might run the danger of scarcity from the sup-
plies being impeded. He bad gone over in his mind this ques-
tion with regard to Russia and America, and other important
corn-trading countries, and had found that in the course of the
last century there were every few years indeed—except,perhaps,
with regard to America, in 1783—when we were at war with
any one or them. He was comforted by this discovery, and
would, therefore, depend in f.reign countries without any ap-
prehension. The Hon. Gentleman, however, went fat ther ;
he said that there, were other countries from which we received
' our supplie.,—Hungary, Spain, and Egypt—and yet he asked
the nation if it could calculate on supplies from them all?
What became of our independence of foreigners according, to
that statement? There woe no fear of this nation becoming
involved while it continued its maritime supremacy—if the
country maintained its antriinle sapremacy it would always
have a supply. The Hon. Gentleman told them that there
would be very low price., and that corn would he _furnished at
18s. per quarter, or perhaps 20s. per quarter. The average
bread was a
whether the prospect of cheap
Ile had prospect to
heardalarm
e
the people of this
country.
... for Somersetshire state his appre-
hensioner _
prices had been from 40e. to 50s.,and lie very much questioned
Honourable Member
and now the Hon. Memter for Shrewsbury was in
nothing,
some alarm in respect of the baker's bill, and showed that
that their butchers' stalls would fade to
bread would be very cheap indeed. If they admitted large
quantities of corn they would have the people consuming more,
and they would have much better food. He did not feel,
therefore, any of the apprehension which the Hon. Gentleman
entertained, for he thought that some years hence great quan-
tities of corn would ba brought into this country in expecta-
tion of the prices which could be realised, but there would not
be any depression to affect the agriculture of this country.
The Hon. Gentleman had spoken of slight fluctuations in this
market. He (Lord J. Russell) would not compare the
fluctuations which had occurred in the European and Ameri-
can markets. With regard to the fluctuations in this market
they had been very great and the prices very high. In
January, 1838, the price of wheat was 545. 4d. per quarter,
and in December in the same year it was 78s. In 1839 it
was 81s. 6d., i January, and in October it was 65e. In this
fluctuation of two years was there not sufficient reason for the
Government to consider that the admission of foreign corn
would benefit the people ? Let them look at the prices which
existed during the last century after the admission of
per quarter. If
foreign corn. In 1763, when this country ceased
to be an exporting country, and began to import, he found that
Mr. Burke, In a pamphlet, said that the people had no great
reason to complain of the price of bread, because for some
yea years
past
ast4icshose. r n
perl' 34
quarter yearsvaried
ad
from
;f rtohlma7ts3o waso l
2ts. tno' 07t8404,5. the price of wheat
theyaveraged
took
complained of, and in
1791• it was propoed to raise the prices. His belief was that
the high prices of the war, and the depreciation which had
taken place in the currency had altered their notions, and
made them support the high price for grain—a higher pt ice
to the consumer than he was able to afford. Look
also to the question as it regarded manufactures and corn.
Why the price of manufactured fabrics had fallen two-thirds
in price ; corn had risen 20 per cent.—(Hear, hear.) This
was a reason why they should not exclude foreign corn ; a
this law, to keep up
by a restrictive law the price of important necessary of
life.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentlemen, the Member fur
spoken of an important principle
Shrewsbury, had
reason why they should no longer keep up a
knew not what
it corn-laws, he
(Lord John Russell)meant. Then he went
d red that the
to the colonies. He eonsi e colonies would not
ing that the principle wag the maintaining of the corn-1
suffer from this measure, while they had already enjeeed
~e arrangement of the differ astral
He thought the coloe.'es would
duties.—(Hear, hear.)
not be sorry to see this restrictive system abrogated.—
(Cries of " Hear, hear.") great advantage from
And as fog Canattas the accounts

which had been just received did not furnish any symptom of
followers.
Hon.du
ewegrheß,irtnas
a.ranollnd whichretititei
heao
nthhtdiml
meuahgoieshoßdtoci
dissatisfaction. They did not appear to show that any inm-
perable objection existed to the alteration.—( Hear, hear.) The
Hon. Gentleman ended his speech by giving an account of the
pow
ifdthihntnee
belongha
Rightni
oohu raHht
oelne
exclusively.
hBaB ad
ar
ro
onrnecettine
deta
came
te
towards
Rw
aiii
Right
into
wwep(
noLea
ewsroeiodrani
dnjedeclaring
reason
to
ltahma that
lament
thee
his party. On this subject he (Lord John Russell)
olleagues in office, but that some part
of it should be shared by those who were for many years his
pßosussesseslilo)ncoonfsgdreeraetd
awdlvtaatnttahgaetsp7artthyewirams ianchliB4nelry, notfoyr
disruptionsTstcm f
whichprotection
had
taken
awkaesn unjust
place.
defect in the great Conservative party of 1841. The
having determined the same but four years ago. Whets ha
—(Hear.) He frankly confessed that he thought that there
elections was well arrangsd—theyad candidates ready for every
election—they had every means su
ce
stituencies of the country, and in orders
tos ufoyr to contest the n-
ward their interests
they had resort to fables to advance their views.—( Hear, hear. )
There was the fable of the Lichfield House comfort, and
others of a similar character. Their fancy was n
str • d to
invent these fables, and they were very successfulmone the
hustings in diminishing the -• •
majority of the Whig party; at
the same time they pointed to their great leaders in both
Houses of Parliament—to the glary of the Duke of Wellington
as well as to the high eharact r of the Right
Hon. Baronet on
to these as well to the useful labours of the great runner of
their party. The one defect to which he had alluded, notwith-
standing all these advantages, was the want of some definite
object for which to contend.—( Hear, hear.) Party means
union of men for some great object of public welfare, such a
union did not exist.—(Year, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman
who had spoken, said that the opinions of the party were very
openly, honestly, and decidedly expressed that protection to
native industry was bound up with the best interest
of the country. They expressed great fear of
the Roman Catholics—( Cries of " Oh! oh!")—and that
Protestant ascendancy or Protestant supremacy, as Lord
Stanley expressed it, should be maintained above all other in-
terests.—( fleas, hear.) But among the leaders, while such
opinions prevailed, it was known that the Right Hon. Baronet
had sat under Mr. Huskisson, end was known to be in favour
of the system of free trade, and against the system of protee-
ti nt. Those opinions with regard to free trade and protection
han led the Rght Hon. Gentleman to the measure of 1842,
which hail led him in time to the measure of 1846. But then,
what was this great Conservative party ? What was it but a
union of men to turn out a party whom they disliked? He
did not wonder, therefore, that they had been disappointed in
what had taken place. He thought, too, that the Right Hon.
Gentleman was to blame. He_ thought he ought not to have
cautiously reserved his opinion, but that he ought to have
stated fully those principles on which he acted—principles
with which he (Lord John Russell) had little fault to find. It
was a fatal defect in the Conservative party to go on from
week to week, and from year to year, in a course of opposition
for the purpose of overthrowing a Government—risking
thereby the peace of Ireland and the tranquillity of the empire.
He could admire the cavaliers of 1645, who defended the
throne against Cromwell ; and he could admire the Jacobines of
1745, who came forth in behalf of the Stuarts, against that
which he thought was the right cause, the house of Hanover.
He c: uld admire tho chivalrous spirit and determined loyalty—
the adherence to settle opinions in those men who were engaged
in those two unfortunate causes. But when he came to that
cause which existed in 1845, he found such an absence of all
chivalrous feeling that he could not be surprised at the party
supporting that cause having been misled. Those Hon. Gen-
tlemen who opposed this Bill believed that it would he injurious
to the country, and they bad supported their views with much
talent. He, however, considered that it would be otherwise
that it would tend to foster peace with other nations. Looking
to one of the greatest nations of the globe, he was happy to find,
it was already influenced by feelings of amity and good-willto-
u eras this country, and when he read the speeches of Mr. . Web-
ster and Mr. Calhoun, he forgot all those declarations which
had lately been wafted from the other side of the Atlantic. He
trusted that her Majesty's Government would be enabled to fix
finally a limit to divide the domin • ions of her Majesty and those
of the United States, and he trusted that this measure would
make the two countries one vr't domain of wealth, es it were—
each to vie with the other, if they would—each endeavouring to
make their productions more perfect, so that we might clothe
the inhabitants of the United States while they fed
us,
and
then there would be no cause to fear that British and American

bayonets should ever be crossed upon any battle-field what-
ever. With these views, hoping that this Bill would go to the
House of Lords with a large majority from that House, he
should give the measure his hearty support.—( Loud cheers.)
Sir ROBERT PEEL said—Sir, I believe it is now nearly
three months since I first proposed, as the organ of her Ma-
jesty's Government, that measure which I trust is about to re-
ceive this night the final sanction of the House of Commons;
and considering, Sir, the lapse of time, and considering the
frequent discussions, and considering the anxiety of the people
of this country that the debate should be brought to a close, I
feel I should he only offering an insult to this House —that 1
should be offering an insult to this country, if I condescended
to bandy personalities on the present occasion.—(Cheers.) Sir,
I saw that the cause which I have taken, from a sense of public
duty, would expose me to serious sacrifices—sacrifices which
were inevitable, and almost impassible to avert. I foresaw that
I must forfeit personal friendships, which I had long cherished—
that I might break up political relations which long existed,
and which I highly valued and esteemed, but the smallest penalty
I anticipated was the continued venomous attack of the Hon.
Member for Shrewsbury.—(Renewed cheers.) I will oniy say,
that if the Hon. Gentleman, after reviewing the whole
of my conduct during a life of thirty years previous to my
accession to office, in 1841, then entertained the opinion
of me which he now professes—if he thought I was guilty of
those petty larcenies from Mr. Horner and some others, it is
surprising that, in 1841, after the long experience he had had
of my public career, that he should be prepared to give me his
confidence—that he should be willing and ready to unite his
fortunes with me in office—( Loud cheers)—which is, I think,
the strongess proof a public man can have of the confidence
reposed in his honour and integrity.—( Hear, hear.) I have,
at other times, explained, more than is usual, what were the
circumstances which rendered it necessary for me to propose
this measure—that 1 felt that there was apprehension of a
scarcity and a famine in Ireland.—(Cries of "No, no" from
the protectionist benches.) I am stating what were my ap-
prehensions at the time, and what were the motives which
created those apprehensions—which, if they are denied now, at
laast theyy, were shared by Honourable Gentlemen who sit
upon both sides of the House.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.")
'Use Hon. Member who hes recently taken his seat in this
House, and who spoke with great ability the other night, the
Member for Dorsetshire (Mr. Seymer)—(Hear, hear)—dis-
tinetly declared that he thought I should have abandoned my
duty, if I had not advised that, considering the circumstances
of Ireland, the restrictions upon the importation of foreign
corn into this country should be removed.—( Hear, hear.) I
may have been wrong, but my first impression was, that duty
towards a country threatened by famine required that that
which had been the ordinary remedy, under all similar circum-
stances, should be resorted to—namely, that there should be a
free access to the foci of man, from whatever quarter it might
come.—( Hear, hear.) I gave that proof which public men
are generally requ'red to give of the sincerity of their opinions,
by tendering my resignation of office.—(Hear' hear; cries of
'° Oh, oh," from the protectionists ; followed by cheers from
the Opposition.) It devolved upon me, as the first duty, to
propose this measure.—( Hear, hear.) And, Sr, I felt that
if these laws were once suspended, and that there was an un-
limited access to the foe .1 produced in other countries, I, and
those with whom I acted, felt the strongest conviction that it
was not for the public interest, and that it was not for the in-
terest of the agricultural party, that an attempt should be mrde
to re-assume the restrictions upon the importation of foreign
corn.—( Hear, hear.) I could not propo.a the re-establish-
ment of the existing law with any guarantee for its perma-
nence. As the Noble Lord says, I united with Mr. Huskisson is
the years 1824, 1825, and 1826, in revising these laws. In
1842, after my accession to office, I propo-ed a revision of the
corn-laws. Had nothing taken place from the election in 1841
which precluded that revision? Was there public assurance
to the people of this coentry at the election ot.' 1841 that the
existing amount et protection to agriculture should remain ?
—( Cries of " Yes, yes," from an Hon. Member on the protec-
tionist benches.) There was, was there ? (Laughter.)
11 Then, if there was, you were as guilty as I was.—( Loud
cheers.) It was agreed that the amount of protection to
agricul' ure, that existed in 1840, and 1841, should
be retained, and a revision should have been made in
the existing gaws. Why 'was the removal of the prohibition
on the importation on foreign cattle consented to '?—( Hear,
hear.) That removal must have been utterly at variance with
any assurance that the protection to agriculture that existed in
1840, and 1841, should be retained.—(Hear, hear.) After
the Bill of 1842, was I not repeatedly asked this question?
" Now that you have passed this Bill of 1842, establishing
a new corn-law, will you give a public assurance that
that law shall at all times remain unaltered ?"—( Hear, hear. )
And did not 1 uniformly decline to give such an assurance?—
(" No, no," and cheers.) Did I not say that I had no inten-
tion of proposing any alteration of that law—(Cheers)—and
when the question was put to me, I distinctly declare that I
would not fetter my discretion ?—(" Oh, oh," and cheers. )
Then it was impossible for me to propose, consistently with my
own convictions, aster the opening of the ports, the re-este-
blishment of the existing law. The question then naturally
arose, whether we should propose some diminished protection
to agriculture, or whether we should propose some slid=
mate settlement of the question. Ater all the debate
which I have heard upon this question, I am
firmly convinced that it is better for t',e agricultural interest to
contemplate a final settlement of the question rather than to
propose a law giving a diminished protection. Illy belief is
that a diminished protection would not conciliate the agricul-
tural feelings. It would be of no avail unless the amount
were very greatly diminished, and such a proposition would
have met with as severe an opposition as a final settlement ;
and this I must say, that nothing could be so disadvantageous
as to give an ineffectual protection, and yet incur all the odium
attaching to such a law.—(Cheers.) I have li,tened, with
scarcely an exception, to every speech which has been made
upon this subject, and I confess, admitting the talent displayed,
they have in no respect altered the condition on the subject.
( Some interruption here arose on the part of the proctectionists.)
(The Right Hon. Baronet made some remark, which was
inaudible, but which we understood, complrined of this inter-
ruption.' The Right Hon. Baronet then went on to say, I
will assign a reason why the arguments I have heard have not
shaken my opinions. I have been told that it wry possible to
continue this duty after this temporary suspension, but I am
now assuming this temporary suspension had taken place, for
it would have been shown after three years. Daring the con-
tinuance of abundant, or at least average harvests, that then
it had failed to effect its object; and that would, in addition to
the state of public feeling with reference to the restriction
upon imports generally, it would have lately added to the final
settlement, if it could be shown, that with reference to the case
t
nn
iltntreeenn.
noda
wne,
nad
would
not
hasuhl ed
merelywub oanrt kws i g ofatoeho:lreland. But it will
Nn
that
fie
satisfactory,
hhc autl
latt why e,
arising
rsao far
eheo ff asrwdo
oum utlyad Greatsuh suspension
eerni
sthia
oai n
nd
oti
nos
aacocceount of the case of contend,
hbieghsowohnn,
ac-
countn ess o
fof p
rt
iheee aapri
sairnegn t f
rloot rti ehses
di
enfitchi
eeopt pr cow-
coealoi
tf
y ior n ,t
hteh
cart Ipo .
( Cheers) It will havebeen shown conclusively that there *are
greater disparities in the leading articles of the principal markets
in the country, in point of price of corn of the highest qualities
and lowest qualities, than existed at any former period. It
would have been proved that there never was a greater thai'
there has been during the present year of wheat of the h;gh
qualities, for the purpose of mixing with wheat of an inierior
quality. It would have been shown that had there bee. wheat
of a higher quality, the whole population of this cei,..try would
for the last four months have been consuming be-ad of a bet-
ter quality than that which they had h". When you
proposed an arrangement of the existing 1-lr, you would have
eajority in favour of the
hhaadve,tol
think
kteynodu wmightgith
hraevaetehraddiaffieexies than you now
continuance of these laws notwith-sanding
the enormous diffi-
culty, for some short time lonv.". I believe that the interval
of this maintenance would
nave been short. There would,
during that time, have srUng up a desperate conflict between
different classes of so
period, when she sycle of unfavourable harvests came round;
dt yn. o
Ta
Iht
oe
raoragt
vme ebnot
bat tow two oruel
pde ba
le
autuahneeedaerldy,
come You would then have had no alternative, I say, but to
eeecede the alteration of these laws under circumstances infi
aanndd wyohno might
ivhea'any assurance that that time would not have
the
hich I for one . do not defend,
their own weapons-weaponsw
reprobate—namely, the making of
but which I sincerely repro
nicely lees favourable to yourselves The Hon.
League Member
w with
Dorsetshire said that they could have fought
for the manufacture of these vo es
faggot votes, and the landed interest wt oould hmraveeligr, etahteenr,facwihlitayt

' a sad alternative was that. Let me tell you
• that although for a time you might rely on
• those faggot votes, the interval would not he long beforethe
weapon would break short in your hands, and you would find
) that these additional votes, formed for the purpose of combat-
-3 ing the League—though brought up at the first election—it
) would be the institution of a permanent evil for a temporary
t benefit. It was the consideration of all these circumstances
t which strongly induced me to believe that it was for the bene-
fit of all classes, and the benefit of the agricultural classes, to
) make a permanent and equitable system.—(Cheers.) I know
t the penalty to which I must be subjected, but even after the
continuance of these debates, I am more impressed with the
t necessity which there exists for this measure. The Hon.
Gentleman the Member for Sunderland said there was no ex-
citement about the Corn Bill, and he undertook to give it his
r opinion that the Bill was received by all classes with less of
• excitement than any public measure generally excited, and
with a greater disposition to confide in the wisdom of Par-
liament.—(Loud cries of "No, no.")
(Mr. Hudson rose, hut, being below the bar, he was
called to order, and the Hen. Gentleman made his way to the
middle of the House amidst the greatest laughter. )
Mr. HUDSON—No, no; what I stated was, that there
was no excitement in favour of the Bill, but there was a deep
feeling on the part of the agricultural community against the
Bill.—( Hear, hear. )
Sir R. PEEL—I consider that the explanation fully justifies
my observations.—(Cries of "No, no.") If there is no ex•
eitement in favour of the Bill, it only proves how favourable
the opportunity is for discussing it, rather than wait until
unfavourable harvests and depressed manufactures might bring
about a state of things which would render it to you not very
easy to exercese due deliberation in your opinions. Ido not
rest it upon that ground alone. The scarcity,however, has
made it imperative onhivoreuretroenconsider what is the course of
policy you must pursue
that it is for the general interest," tothis
question. I repeat
apart from any temporary
consideration, that some permanent arrangement should be
made for the removal of those restrictive laws.il(7) measure; I wil l f.kle
willth e
facts from you who are the opponents of take the speech of the Hon. Member for Oxfordshire. We
will have no disputes about the facts, I take those from
you ; but it is with the inferences drawn fromtl emid with
which we shad have to do. That Hon. Gentleman looking at the last 30. years, our trade had been on thesaine, that
and our commodities had become cheapened, but no improve ment had taken place in the social condition of the
people. What was it that was calculated to ele-
vate them from the degradation into which they
were sunk? What was calculated to raise the condition
and elevate the moral character of the millions that subsist by
labour ?—(Cheers.) If the Hon. Gentleman's statements he
correct, they suggest matter for grave consideration. He said
that trade had increased, and that commodities had been cheap-
ened, but that there had been no corresponding increase in the
social condition of those who were the basis of society. Let
us go back to the last thirty years since—to 1815, and let us
examine the matter attentively. It was then that the system
of protection to agriculture first began.—( Cheers.) What
wee the preceding period, excluding of course the time of war,
with which you compare the then condition of the people ? Let
us compare the state of the people from any period from 1700
to 1791 with the period referred to by the Hon. Gentlemen.
For the first 06 years of the last century this was an importing
country. Why, let me ask, were not Croatia and Hungary
sending us corn then;? The law in 1773 admitted it at 6d. a
qr. and far 6 years after this was an importing country. There
were sixteen hundred and sixty inclesure bills passed in that
year, and the state of the people was better in point of em-
ployment, in psint of prosperity, and in point of happiness
than since Iqls. Well, in that year, a law was passed, which
St id that corn should not come in unless it was above
80s. in the home market. In 1828, they made
the price 70e., at which corn should he admitted, and at that
price a duty of 16s. Bd., and it was only by the alteration made
in 1840 that the beneficial change was made. It was in 1815
that we made this prohibition of foreign articles of consump-
tion. We increased the duly on butter to 2s. 'fid., and on
cheese from is. 6d. to 2s. 6d., and therefore we did that which
almost amounted to a restriction. Such, then, was the result
'of thirteen years. I now come to the facts of the Hon. Gen-
tleman the Member for the North Riding of Yorkshire, and I
regret that indisposition prevented that Hon. Member ad-
dressing the House in his usual audible manner.—(Hear,
hear.) I followed the Hon. Gentleman very eloeely,
and I took down his account of the state of agricul-
ture. lie said that in 1815 we had great distress, and in that
year you will remember we had the protection duty. "We
had great distress in the agricultural districts," said the Hon.
Member. This was the historical fact of the Hon. Gentle-
man. Well, in 1819, we had a speech from the throne on the
great distress which prevailed, and it was so great and alarm-
ing in our agricultural and manufacturing districts, that we
passed the " Six Acts," and a Commmittee was appointed, and
actually employed in devising a remedy. There was in 1822,
the greatest difficulty in getting employment, and the labouring
classes felt that distress most severely, but still we had protec-
tion. We advanced to 1832 and 1833, and it was found neces-
sary in that year to appoint a;Committee to supply a remedy.
In that year, in the north of England, there were 300,000
persons almost unemployed. The Preston weavers presented
a petition to that House, praying that something might be done
to relieve them from their wretched condition. In 1835, it
was also as bad. In 1836 and 1837, we had a change; these
were years of comparative prosperity, but, in 1839 and down
to 1849, there was a great depression. Well, that
was the state of trade under protection.—(Hear, hear.)
Well then did that lowering of prices arise from competition
in foreign corn? No, the lowering of prices was caused by
the suspension of the national dealings in corn, occasioned by
productive harvests, their being no outlets for this abundance ;
and this it was which occasioned the prostration in the corn
trade. But the Hon. Gentleman having detailed this suffering
on the part of the agriculturist, I was surprised to hear the
Hon. Gentleman conclude wilh a quotation, the effect of which
was to preserve the tree which had shaded them to long.—
(Hear, hear.) Had he not better have said—

" 11le et nefas to passint dis,"
and he might follow that up by
" Agro qui passuit meo
Te domina caput memor."
—( Hear, hear.) Is there no exception to be made
from this period of three years ? Is the latter
part of the thirty years exempt from the stigma which the
Hon. Gentleman cast upon the preceding years ? There had
been three years, 1843, 1844, and 1845, during which you bad
from some cause or other, many benefits. The average price
of wheat had little exceeded 515., and let us see whether
during the last three years there has been no increase of com-
fort, :so improvement in the moral condition of the people, no
abatement of fictitious dealings in corn. I care not what may
have been the cause of the abundance which has preva:;ed
during the last three years. You do not attrihu'e the cause to
the tariff, but to good harvests. It is enough to know that
there have been good harvests, and the people have had to
apply less of their earnings to the purchase of food.—( Hear.)
Do you believe that if the price of wheat had been 70s. in-
stead of 50s. there would have been the same amount of
capital expended. But granted that the tariff of 1842 had
nothing to do with the abatement of prices in 1844 and
1845. I concede that to you. It has been the favour of
Providence, it has been good harvests. There has been
abundance; and what has been the result of that abundance?
(Hear, hear.) I take the test of the Hon. Gentleman. He
says, " the facts and figures show there has been no increase
in the consumption." Well, I will show you that during the
last three years, that trade has flourished and that capital has
accumulated. But during, it is said, the last three years
there has been a greater deterioration in the social condition
cf the people than during the preceding 27 years. —( Flear,
hear.) Well, now, first take the consumption of articles that
are used largely, which I take from the statement of the
undermentioned articles in the United Kingdom, and which
gives the average consumption of those articles in the
three years ending 1839, 1841, 1843, and 1846. Well, in
the first three years, when the prices of provisions are high,
and the average consumption of sugar for the three years
ending 1841 was 3,826,000; this average, for the last three
years ending the Ist January, 1846, rose from 38,826,000 to
43,460,000.—( Hear, hear.) The average consumption of tea
in the first three years was 34,360,0E0, and the average con-
sumption of tea in the last three years was 42,000,000 instead
of 34,000,000.—( Hear, hear.) In coffee, the average con-
sumption, in three years of high prises, was 27,941,000, and
the average for the last three years was 81,833,000. In cocoa,
the average consumption the first three years was 1,859,000,
and the average during the last three years was 2,595,000.
( Hear, hear.) Taking other articles of smaller amount, but
which entered very largely into the consumption of the poor,
and added very much to their comfort—during the first three
years the consumption was 175,000 cwt., and in the last two
years 185,000 cwt. So far I take, then, the test of the Right
Hon. Member for Oxfordshire of these great articles of con-
sumption, and I show him that comparative plenty
has produced this change, and enabled the working
classes to purchase those smaller luxuries of life.—(Hear,
hear.) Well, I came to a more important point —the statement
of crime. You have got an official record presented within the
last few days, which gives the statement of crime within the
last three years. In the third year I have mentioned there was
an increase ; but in the year 1843 there was a change isnixa
most important feature in the state of the country.
sears I have mentioned of plenty, there followed a progyreirate.
decrease of crime and commitments. In the three rg
ely aco.
high prices the number of commitments weretz
cording to the returns I hold in my hand, 27 ,11427;00, and
31,000 • while in the last threeyears.they were' 29 ,COO, '16,000,
and 24,(;00. /Vowel ask, can we resist the conviction that from-
the existence of plenty followed the diminution of crime.
the gentleman who drew up this return adds, that during those
same three years of plenty there was a total absence of se-
ditious riots; and I ask, can you have a stronger proof of the
fact than this, that the progressive diminution of commitments
for seditious riots has been owing to the cheap and plentiful
supply of food ? —(Hear, haar.) I say then that in the three
years of the reduced prices of the provisions of life, as corn-
pared with the twenty-seven years previous, the inference it
that the increased command over those articles which consti-
tute the principal food of the poor has been the cause of this
diminution of crime. But then, you ask if all those happy re-
sults followed from those corn-laws of '42, why now come
forward to disturb them ? I say, in answer to that, if you can
show use that such has been the cause of it, then I
will say they ought not to be disturbed ; and, no doubt, if we
could calculated that this, law of 1842 did confer such
benefits it would be desirable not to disturb them. But then,
aga'n, it has been urged that this happy state of things has
been owing to a favourable harvest; if so, then I say that
there is no reason at all for not introducing this law.—( Hear,
hear.) But suppose you have a cycle of years of unfavourable
harvests, what guarantee have you that there will not also
be a depression in the manufacturing districts, and what then
will be the state of the country?—( Hear, hear.) Let me
ask, how short a time has elapsed since the dis-
tressed state of the people of Paisley, and of Sheffield,
and -of Stockport, was brought before us ?—(Hear.) If
that state of things should return, do you think it would be Os-
sible to maintain a law which imposes a duty of 16s. upon a
principle article of food ?—(Hear, hear.) My firm belief is,
and I say this without yielding to the dictation of any party.—
( Cries of " Oh, oh.") Yes, I say, I believe it to be perfectly
consistent with prudence and good policy, and the real interests
of the territorial aristocracy.—(Oh, oh.) I say I do
entertain the firm conviction that it is consistent with
prudence and good policy to pass this measure.—( Hear, hear.)
I have attempted to defend the existence of the corn-laws. I
have attempted it up to the present period. I have refused to
acquiesce in their abolition, but when I am told that I am
acting inconsistently with the principles I laid down, by being
an advocate for the principle of free-trade, I give it little atten-
tion. During the last three years I have subjected myself to
many taunts. It has been said that Lord Grey found. nut
something of me. Did I not say that the true policy to which
you should conform, was not to disturb the country entrusted
to you by any rash legislation, on principles to which you do
not conform? It was the principle of political economy
which suggested my interference en a subject of
such importance. Did I not say that I thought
nothing in the world was so well calculated to be ex-
posed to this principle as agriculture, which was so often are
plied in other cases. I have beard you taunt me with
a change of opinion 111
respect to corn, but when you
say that when I adopt the principle of free trade I act in con-
travention of what I have avowed during all my preceding life,
the charge is destitute of foundation. I will not enter, at this
late hour, on any discussion of an, other question. I foresaw
the consequence which would result from the measures I pro..
posed. I was charged with the heavy responsibility of taking
security against a great calamity.—(Hear.) I did not act
lightly—l did not form an opinion on merely local
information, or on local :authority likely to be influenced. I
and those who agreed with me in my opinions came to the con-
clusieu to adopt everything to prevent a local feeling from in-