The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-12 00:00:00

that Mr. Bright got a seat for the county of Durham. He
thought it was a most unwarrantable personal attack upon his
personal character.

CORN-LAWS.

The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from For-
far in Scotland, against the proposed measure of the Govern-
ment.

The Marquis of LONDONDERRY—The Noble Lord
said I belonged to the protection society, but how long ago is
that I.—( Laughter.) It is more than two years ago. Great
laughter.) The question has undergone considerable change
since that period.
The Earl of WINCHELSEA said, if a constitutional course
was proceeded with, and if there was an appeal to the people
made, their would find that the great body of the people had
not changed their opinions upon the subject.
LtINDON AND YORK.

The Earl of LOVELACE moved the discharge of the
Committee of the London and York Bill.—Agreed to.
The Duke of RICHMOND then moved, that 'he Bil:s not
considered by that Committee should be re-committed.
LUNATIC ASYLUMS.
The Duke of RICHMOND presented several petitions
from Gloucester and Hereford against the Lunatic Asylums
Bill. The Noble Duke also presented a petition from the
board of guardians of the Chichester union against the pro-
posed law of settlement.

The Duke of WELLINGTON requested the Noble Duke
to put off the question of which be had given notice.
After a few words from the Earl of Winchilsea, the Earl of
Radnor, Lord Abinoer, the Earl of Wicklow, and Lord Redes-
dale, the subject dropped.
CORN-LAWS.
Earl GREY presented a petition numerously signed by
persons residing in the cout.ty of Staffordshire in favour of the
corn-laws.

THE SMOKE NUISANCE.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE wished to ask the Noble
Viscount, the Commissioner of the Woods and Forests, what
was the reason that the report of the Coramicsion, appointed
to inquire into this subject, had not before that period been
laid upon their Lordships' table ?
Viscount CANNING stated that the report would be rea(y
to-morrow. It was quite an accident that the report which
had, two months since, been sent to the House of Commons
had not been laid before their Lordships.
CORN IMPORTATION BILL.

The Earl of RIPOS moved that the order of the day, for
going into Committee on this Bill be read.
The Earl of STANHOHE rose for the purpose of opposing
the motion of the Noble Earl, and moving as an amendment
that the Bill be committed upon that day six months. He
had not either the vanity or the presumption to think that
any observations he could make to their Lordships
could affect the course which their Lordships intended
to adopt.—(Hear, hear.) He was aware that after the
many able and eloquent speeches which had recently been
delivered by several Noble Lords in that House, and more
especially after that admirable and unanswerable speech of
the Noble Lord, whom he then saw in his place (Lord Stanley),
a speech, whether from the arguments which it contained, or
the eloquence with which it was adorned, er the valuable in
formation which it contained, appeared to him superior to any
thing which he had ever heard upon the subject. He was,
' however, unwilling to give a silent vote upon the question.
He :would consider it in some degree a dereliction of the duty
which he owed to his country, if he did not make some obser-
vations upon this question. They were then arrived at a crisis
far more important than any to which their Lordships had
hitherto arrived, and which must be so regarded when their
Lordships considered the amount of interest involved. and
above all the social as well as political results which would
follow this measure. Such a measure as the present had never
before been before a Committee of their Lordships, had never
been introduced by any party, and there never was
a proposition, in whatever quarter it might originate,
which was so feebly and so miserably defended
by so many false assumptions and false arguments. It was in
the first place assumed that there was imminent danger of
famine in Ireland, because there was in some districts, not in
all, a deficiency, not a failure, in the crop of potatoes. But it
was at that time satisfactorily proved, in a manner which ad-
mitted of no possibility of doubt, that there was even then, and
still was, an abundance of sustenance for the people of that
country, and especially of that sort which formed the principal
articles of snstenance to the poorer classes. The crop of pota-
toes had been more than usually abundant. He did not deny—on
the contrary, he deeply deplored, the distress of the people of
• Ireland. That distress arose, not from the scarcity of food.
but unfortunately in this year, as in many others, there had
been a lamentable state of destitution to which all the labourers
of the country had been reduced in consequence of the want of
employment. He believed that the reports to the
treat autocrat of the Cabinet,in November last, upon
the failure of the potato crop, had been both er-
roneous and exaggerated. He thought that if
there had been a scarcity of food, the then existing corn-laws
had the power of adjusting themselves to that state of the
country. The Government had acted very unwisely in giving
publicity to these reports. They had had the effect of raising
the price of corn in the foreign market, and had induced those
parties who had a stock by them to hoard it instead of selling
it. Sir Robert Peel, for reasons best known to himself, had
encouraged and fostered this panic. If the order in council
was necessary, it should have been made only for a short pe-
riod, and there was no necessity for the present measure ; but
the Prime Minister said he was not prepared to make such an
order unless he brought forward some settlement of the corn
question ; and such was the origin of the question they were
now discussing. The old fable of the mountain in labour
which brought forth a mouse was reversed, for it was a mouse
Which had conceived and brought forth a mountain—
(Laughter)—for they had a Prime Minister who was raised to
eminence by the hopes and expectations which his party enter-
tained that be would be true to his colours, and that he would
sot desert the principles which he had uniformly professed.
And how had he kept his promise ? By bringing in a
tntsere which would throw the country into confusion.
'mull brought discredit on the nation, and ruined the confi•
delies of the people in the faith and worthiness of all public
men• Could the Minister be misled by any party, who had so
deceived his own ? Could they repose confidence in any man
who could act in such a manner? And what confidence could
they repose in Sir Robert Peel? In his opinion, as soon as he
discovered the good effects of free trade, he should have refused
his post, for which, by his own confession, he was wholly in-
competent.—( Hear, hear.) But they were told that there was
no inconsistency in Sir Robert Peel's conduct by another Noble
Lord, and that ever since 1842 his principles were wrapped in
obscurity. He himself was appealed to, and asked, had not he
expressed his doubts on the sincerity of the Minister? He
had, with his usual frankness, done so, when measures were
brought forward which he considered would be dangerous to
the country. But that was an assertion which he
could never admit to have truth in it.--( Hear, hear. )
They had been told that this conversion in the Minister was the
result of his experience ; now he would say that there might
be some truth in that assertion, and that a great change had
taken place when he saw the exertions of the Anti Corn-law
League, and the sluggishness of his own supporters, and that
he considered that the active party was the stronger; but he
(Lord Stanhope) wished that he would discover his mistake.
But he would ask, why change a system which had been at- '
tended with such beneficial results ? They were now called,
upon the mere ipse dint of the most rash and presumptuous
Minister, to change that line of conduct which had raised them
to eminence. He trusted that they would not do so, and that
they would reverence those institutions which had conferred
such beneficial effects upon the country. If the principles of
free trade were those of common sense, they had a right to
have them applied in the fullest extent, but they were not,
or they would have a measure of that kind before them, for to
him such a measure would be igs objectionable than the pre-
sent. But had any person on the other side of the
House the hardihood, the temerity, to offer such for their adop-
lion. He dared them to do so. They could not do sn, as they
would ruin the commerce of the country, and effectually restore
ill all its - force :the protective system of . their ancestors.
--(Hear, hear.) He conjured their Lordships not to.
Pau the Bill, as. it would ruin .the interests of thousands of
`eheirlellow countrymen, who earned their bread by the sweat
of their brow, and who were not properly repreiented in the
other House of Parliament. If prices were to remain the
same after the passing of this measure, he defied its most
anxious and ingenious supporter to show its utility.—(Hear,
hear.) If the prices were to remain the same as had been re-
presented, what became of the cry of cheapness? Where
would the large loaf come from ?—( Hear, hear.) He feared
very much that the large loaf would dwindle into something
like a penny roll. It was perfectly apparent, that it was only
by a considerable reduction in the wages of their worki' g
people that the manufacturers of this country could ccorn-
pet. with foreign countries. The first Minister of the Crown
introducing this measure, had said that its main object was not
to produce cheapnessof food. It was plan, therefore, that he
was a mere instrument in the hands of the Anti-Corn-law
Leaguers to aggrandise themselves at the cost of their fellow-
countrymen. No free discussion of the subject of the corn-
laws had been permitted at Coven'-garden, or any other places
where the members of that League head
he held their meetings—
if any one attempted to op
ejected.—(Hear, near. This th m would be speedily
was not merely a landlord's
)
Question, as had boon. represented ; the tenant-farmers of
England were vitally interested in it,. and
_he felt, that if it
passed into a law, they would be ultimatelyruind lt had
been said that this country could not produce sufficient corn
for the people it contained, but he felt satisfied, that if it were
properly cultivated, it could feed many millions more than the
present population. He challenged any man to produce any
country in :which the prices and profits of labour were uni-
formly low, and at the same time it was found practicable
for any the most despotic or oppressive monarch to rai-e a
large, amount of taxation. It had been said that the farmers
of this country had proved themselves to be deficient in skill
and industry ; but he repelled the charge as a gross calumny.
Hear, hear ) If this Bill passed into a law, what was to
, •
become of the occupiers of small plots of land ?—( Hear.,
hear.) They formed a most valuable, important, and men-
torioas class of the community. They occupied an inter-
mediate position between the labourers and large farmers, anti
they had declared that this measure would commi
them to leave their homes, and give themselves up to desti-
tution and despair.—( Hear, hear.) Were their Lordships
prepared to ace thus harshly towards millions of their fellow-
citizens and subjects?—( Hear, hear.) And not only would
that portion of the community, but even those who so c ia-
nnourously cried out for this measure at the meetings of the
Anti.Corn_law League would be ruined by it, for when the
small tenant-farmers were ruined the manufacturers would lose
all the advantages of the British home-market.—( Hear, heart.).
Even if no hand were thrown out of cultivation by this me
sure, the farmers es.
of their pro luce ats country would be compelled to dis-
posetheir toil, in consequence price which would not remunerate
duce. In the year 1842 ti'le'the great influx of foreign pro-
effects of reducing the wages": Lordships saw the calamitous
and that distress might be constindethe manufacturing districts,
red as A. very faint putline of
the effects of the present measure.smevaisluereeaha come inevitable it had become sefrltf o the the
er
those who supported a course whnicehicit their consciencadeduethtb ee(iy-f
condemned. A Noble. Eat
with
isure the county of
ilea the ease
a
York, seemed to anticipate with great
comfort which would be the
measure. Was the Noble Earl so cuprejudicedee of this
e as
believe that the working classes of the country would submit
b to
to be plundered without offering the most determined resist
i-
once—not the resistance of force, but that passive opposition
which would necessarily tell on a measure against their inte-
rests? At the time of the Reform 811 a question was asked
by the Noble Duke sitting near him which seemed to surprise
the Opposition, viz., how is the Government to he conducted?
The Noble Duke might ask that question now, and the answer
could be best given by those who had brought on this measure.
Did Sir R. Peel know the position he stood in, and was he not
aware that the present Bill had been forwarded by many who
had meanly crouched to others ? It was wise and politic on
the part of the great Irish agitate)* to give his most cordial and
unqualified support to this measure, for he was well aware that
it was one of the best means which (meld be adopted to for-
ward the objects he had in view. If he had not already too
long occupied the -attention of their Lordships he could pro-
ceed to show that such would be the effect of this measure,
and could adduce the latest intelligence from Ireland, which
would fully bear out the assertion lie had made. If their Lord-
ships were to sanction such a measure, a measure which had such
An evil tendency, that House would at once be considered an
ausconstitutional incumbrance. If they were to give the coun-
itemusee of their authority and names, once illustrious, to the
measure, the general cry throughout the country would he for
the abolition of the House of Lords, which had forwarded a
measure of such pernicious tendency. When measures not
unlike the present one were brought before that House in
only five peers were found to vote for it ; and now with-
Q.% flay ne"F 011=a—without spy essential difference in 04-
_