The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-07 00:00:00

DEBATE.

The House then went into Committee on the Customs and
Corn Importation Acts.
Mr. W. 0. STANLEY rose to propose the following
amendment to the propositions of the Government :—" That
in lieu of the duties (sow payable on the importation of corn,
grain, meal, or flour, the product of foreign countries, there
shall be paid a fixed duty of ss. per quarter upon wheat, 23. 6d.
on barley, and 2s. on oats ; meal and flour in proportion."
He said, although he represented a purely agricultural county
(Anglesey) he had not yet t sought proper to trespass on the
attention of the House; and in now stating the grounds on
which he had thought proper to propose this amendment, he
should not occupy much time. Before he did so he had paid
the utmost attention to the observations which had fallen tram
Hon. Members on both sides of the House, but their ob-
servations had • not in the least shaken the opinions
which he had always maintained. In his estimation the
propo‘itions of the Government were just, and would con-
fer great benefit on the country. He would say, in the words
with which the Noble Lord the Member for the city of Lon-
don conc:u led his last address to the House—" 1 think the
interests of the country dc, involved in the immediate, com-
plete, and tranquil settlement of this question." He cordially
agreed in these sentimehts. It was most important to the best
interests of the country, that the question of the corn-
laws should be set at rest, and that it should be
effected immediately, completely, and in a tranquil manner.
No person could say that the proposition of the Right Hon.
Baronet if passed into a law would he a tranquil settlement of
the questien ; and with reference to an immediate settlement
of the question the recorded votes of that House had declared
that it should not be immediate. Neither is it a complete set-
tlernerat, and as a proof that it is not a tranquil settlement he
would refer the House to what had been stated by several
lion. Members in the course of the debate. Tne lion.
Member for Durham (Mr. Bright) and the Hon. Alembee.
for Wolverhampton (Mr. Villiers) said they would agitate the
question, year after year, so long as the duty remained on
foreign corn. He would rectal to the recollection of the House
the speeches of Hon. Members on the Opposition benches.
The Noble Lord the Member for Lynn (Lord G. Bentinck)
said that he would vote for the proposition of the Right Hon.
Baronet, because in the course of three years there must be a
general election, and that period would give them an
opportunity of re-organising their forces, and of raising
such a cry in the country as would compel the
Government to 'wind those measures if they should
be passed. No one, then, could think the present
a tranquil settlement; he therefore proposed an alteration in
the proposition of Government, which he thought would be a
complete settlement of the question. He felt aisured that the
country would be satisfied with a moderate fixed duty ; a duty
of that kind would improve the revenue and would not injure
the interests of the consumer. Ile had the authority of the
Noble Lord, the Member for the city of London, who had
stated that a fixed duty of five shillings would not raise the
price of foreign corn to the consumer more than one shilling.
The Right Honourable Baronet at the head of the Govern-
ment hadr stated in his first proposition to the House, that the
principle which he recommended he was not about to confine
to any particular class or interest. Now, upon many other
important articles of manufacture, such as cotton, linen,
leather, and cheese, the Right Honourable Gentleman de-
clared it was his intention to reduce the duty ten
per cent. On that principle he (Mr. Stanley)
proposed that a moderate duty of ss. on wheat, 2s. 6d. on barley,
and 2s. on oats, per quarter, should be laid on these ar-
ticles. Another reason he had for proposing the duty was,
that, while it would not hurt the consumer, it would be of
great advantage to the agriculturist. He appealed to the Right
Hon. Gentleman, and begged to ask him why, in the face of all
he had stated, and with the power he possessed of judging of the
state of the country, as First Minister, he felt justified in pro-
posing in the present instance a 4s. duty to be levied on home
consumption,
.while after the lapse of three years foreign corn
would be admitted free. It would be but justice to the agri-
culturists that when the duty on manufactured articles should
cease the duty on agriculture should cease also. That was the
reason he felt it his duty, though he calculated on very little
support, to introduce the present measure to the House, and call
upon• Hon. Members to deal with it as it might be deemed wor-
thy. The Hon. Members on the other side of the House deceived
themselves, and they should pause before they ventured en
such a step as to throw the country into a state of tumult and
agitation by a general election. They would have to array
their forces against the League, and such an operation would
be attended with some difficulty, for if their proposition
were carried out it would disarm their friends. He had no
wish to go into the comparative merits of a fixed duty on the
sliding-scale, it would be quite sufficient for him to submit his
present proposition to the House. If he did so, he must ne-
cessarily go over ground that had often been traversed before,
and he certainly (lid think that it was for the interest of the
country that there should be a complete and final settlement of
this question.

The SPEAKER having put the question,
Colonel WOOD said that he, like the Hon. Gentleman op-
posite, had not as yet taken any part in this debate, and he
would therefore now trespass on the attention of the House for
a very short time.—(Hear, hear.) He would venture to say
that the delay in the settlement of this question had caused
most serious results to the poorer claeses and the country at
large. He was acquainted with a certain extensive miller
who now, in consequence :of the delay of the settlement
of the Right Honourable Baronet's measure, did not
purchase one farthing-worth corn more than what would just
keep his mill going. All parties connected with the agricul-
tural interest were also suffering moseseriously from this delay.
The small tenant-farmers, about wh.orn lion. Members pro-
fessed to take so much interest, suffered the most seriously ;
the disposal of the little
Y
wheatwhieh
inyet
sayingr ni
that they were now losing
three to four shillings upon every quarter of wheat, by reason
ained to them ; and he had
no hesitation
of the present suspension of trade, and his firm belief was,
that upon the settlement of this question the price of
corn would either rise or fail to an awful ex-
tent. 'The present suspe.nse in the corn trade was
productive of the most serious results to the small tenant-
farmers. And now for the large tenant-farmers. He believed
that in consequence of the present ministerial proposal the
duty on the iinpuriation of foreign corn had risen, and was up
to the present day 18s.
per quarter.
ship loads of corn were arriving at every sea-port, and their
contents were immediately warehoused, and the consequence
would be that after this measure was disposed of, there would be
a larger accumulation of foreign corn in the warehouses. But
there was another class of society, who did not seem to have
been regarded in this debate by any Hon. Member except the
Hon. Member f,r Finsbury. Th 4 House would be aware that
the measure had been brought forward lately to abolish the pre-
sent ciuel law of removal to their natives parishes, and he
hoped that whilst this House mani'ested its anxiety to pass the
present measure, they svould also have regard to the interest of
the lower classes, by assisting to their utmost in carrying out
the measure to which he had alluded. Let both measures go
hand in hand together, and whilst they toook care of themselves,
let then take care of their poorer neighbours into the bargain,
by relieving them from the operation of the cruel law under
which they were now suffering. For his part he was totally
opposed to the motion of the Hon. Gentleman who had just sat
down, for in his opinion the time was arrived when a total
repeal of the corn-laws ought to take place. He had no hi st-
tation in saying that he had voted for every Act that had for
its object the regulation, and the reduction of the import duties
on corn. He remembered when the Secretary of War stated in
the year 1815, that it was absolutely necessary then to vote
for that Act, but he (Col. Wood) had no hesitation in saying
that the present Act of Parliament might have the effect of
causing a calamity, over which, at present, they could have no
control. The Act passed in 1815, and in the year 1816 the
most calamitous harvest which he had ever remembered the
people of England had to contend with—when a little kiln-
dried corn would be most useful, but the then regulation of the
averages prevented its introduction. The ports opened on the
16th of November, and they remained open until the 18th of
August, during which period the prices remained muds the