The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-25 00:00:00

which he believed to be right. Now he would only ask
that Honourable Gentleman to allow to those who were
the Ministers of the Crown the benefit of that
principle, and that he would not heap upon them those oppro-
brious epithets which he had made use of, for acting on the
very principle whieh he had laid down for his own guidance.
He told them that the Ministers were the " most unstable of
men," " infirm of purpose," and were " Cabinet jugglers."
He had also made use of an observation, not very kind, to
those with whom he had so long acted, and which did not
display that judicial coolness which became a high judicial
character.—( Hear, hear.) He called them " political
cowards." He (the Chancellor) might be a political coward,
for he had been afraid to maintain party consistency in oppo-
sition to the wishes and interests of the people ; and he bad
been afraid to risk the subsistence of the empire for the sake of
gratifying a party. If that were cowardice, it was that of
which he had been guilty.—( Hear, hear.) He had turned
his back upon his friends, but he had only done so in
order to protect them from their own want of
foresight. —( Hear, hear, and cheers, and counter cheers.)
Seeing the storm a-bead, seeing the frightful effects which
famine would produce in Ireland, he had not been ashamed to
oppose himself to the danger.—( Hear, hear.) He begged to
to 1 those Hon. Gentlemen that he painfully felt the ling of their
good opinion ; he should ever remember with satisfaetion the
period when they had been formally united, and he trusted
that when their judgments had time to cool—( Ironical cheers)
when they shall see the dangers with which the country had
been threatened, notmerely in prospective bat in reality—when
they shall be aware of the necessity which existed to make pro-
vision for those dangers, he trusted he knew enough of them to
believe that—however inconsistent it might appear with their
present opinions—they would admit that they have been wrong,
and that the Government had adopted the best course for the
preservation of the general interests of the country.—(Chedr.)
Mr. W. B. FEItItAND believed that he was perfectly is order in
alluding to the petition that had been presented to the House a few
evenings ago by the Noble Lord the Member for the West Riding of
Yorkshire. The House would remember, that as far back as 1843,
he li id-stated in that House, that the Anti-Corn-law League had
y
purchased signatures to the petitions which they had got up at a
shilling a hundred.—(Laughter.) Now he (Mr. Ferrand) was well
aware that when the Noble Lord presented those petitions he might
no doubt have believed that the signatures ware genuine; but he
(Mr. Ferraud) was prepared to prove, if his statement were denied,
that the working men whose signature-, were affixed to those peti-
tions were obliged by the master manufacturers to attach their
names, and if they refused to do so, that the consequence of their re-
fusal would be the sacrifice of their daily bread._ (Hear, hear, and
cries of "Oh ! oh !") He was indebted to the Hon. Member for
Montrose for the able statement which he gave of the modus operandi
which was resorte Ito in the working of this tyrannical system. That
tion.Member said it was a regulation of the master-manufacturers in
Scotland, that if a workmen left one manufactory in consequence of
a dispute with his employer the owner of another manufactory would
not employ him. The consequence of which was that the most
abject slavery and subservience was created. The Hon. Member
stated that that was a glorious combination. Now he (Mr. Ferrand)
"was prepared to say that that combination existed to as great an
extent in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and he had no hesitation in
saying that there was no man in the employment of any of the
members of the Anti-Corn-law League who dared to refuse his
signature to the petitions which emanated from that body.—(Cries of
" Oh! oh !") He would ask the Hon. Gentlemen who advocated the
doctrines of free-trade; and the Noble Lord, the Member for London,
if they believed that those signatures were genuine ? If they really
considered them to be the bona fade acts of the parties whom they
proposed to represent, they would have laid greater stress upon
them. Now he (Mr. Ferraud) was prepared to prove that
one man attached no less than 14,000 signatures.—(Loud
cheers.) Attached 14,000 signatures to one of those
petitions without ever having left his house, or employed
any one even to write his name.—(Loud cheers.) That was the way
that petitions were got tip by the Anti-Corn-law League, and were
afterwards presented to that House with a flourish of trumpets.—
(Loud cheers.) So much for petitions. Now, if the Hon. Member
for Sheffield would allow him, he would allude to certain points
which he had referred to in a speech he made a few evenings ago,
when he interrupted the Hon. Member in rather a round manner.—
(Laughter.) As, however, he had stated his views in a very inaccu-
rate and dictatorial- manner, he (Mr. Ferrand) deemed it Isis duty to
give the statements of the Hon. Member a peremptory denial. The
Hon. Member said that some Hon. Gentlemen had engaged to sub-
scribe 2,0001. for the recent election in the West Riding. Now, all he
(Mr. Ferrand) would say on that subject was, that if the lion.
Gentleman would find the individuals who were to subscribe this
money, he would give him 201. per cent. for his trouble.—(Laughter.)
The Hon. Gentleman also said that he (Mr. Ferrand) had published
an able letter on that occasion. He believed that that statement
was perfectly correct, ler no member of the League had
ever yet been able to answer it.—(Laughter.) The Honour-
able Gentleman went on to say, that he (Mr. Ferrand)
had succeeded in-his peculiar mission of creating a bad feeling between ,
manufacturers and those in their employment. If the Hon. Gentle-
man had read his (Mr. Ferrand's) speeches correctly, he would have
discovered that his object was not to create bad feeling, but to expose
and bring before the public gaze those cruelties and oppressions to
which the, working men were subjected by the master manufacturers
—(Hear, hear.) - The Iron. Member stated also that his (Mr. Fer-
rel-I.l's) friends had repudiated his efforts. Now that he strongly
denied. The Tory party, not the Conservative party (for, thank
God, that party had ceased to exist )—(Laughter.) The Tory party
had told hint that it was of no use to contest the West Riding of
Yorkshire, for that the Anti-Corn-law League had, by their corrupt
and unconstitutional proceedings, so swamped the constituency, that
it was utterly useless to attempt a struggle. Ho told them in reple-
that they had truth and honesty on their side, and so far from retir-
ing from the contest, he advised them to persevere.—(Hear,
hear.) 'He had no hesitation in saying that if Mr. Ed-
word Laseelles had boldly confronted the enemy, that
a different termination would have followed ; or if Mr. Lane
Fox had persevered in his efforts—if the battle had been fought out,
he believed that Lord Morpeth would never have sat in that House as
Member for the West Riding.—(Hear, hear, and ironical cheers.)
Hon. Gentlemen opposite might say " Hear, hear," but he believed
that any man who would weigh the circumstances of the case, could
come to no other conclusion. The Hon. Gentleman(the Member for
Sheffield) had said that the working men had repudiated his (Mr.
Ferrand's) doctrines. Surely, if that were the case, the statement as
to his having created bad blood betwen masters and the employed
could not be correct. He would now tell the House what had ac-
tually occurred on the day of election. A friend of the Noble
Lord's (Lord Morpeth) who sat on the hustings, cried out to the
8,000 people who were assembled on that occasion, to give three
groans for him (Mr. Ferrand). Now, how was that met? Not one
individual in that assembly responded to the call. Now, if it were •
true that the working men had repudiated his doctrines, they
would surely have made a response when they were called upon to
give three groans for him. Honourable Members were
aware that when he was in Yorkshire he had
challenged the members of the Anti-Corn-law League to meet him
to discuss the question of protection. He had given out that chal-
lenge in Leeds, Bradford, and Huddersfield, but no one had ever yet
accepted that challenge. He would now repeat that challenge in
that House, and he dared any of them to accept it. If they doubted
his intention he would give it to them in writing. How then could
they say, under such circumstances, that the working men had risen
en masse fur free trade?—([Lear, hear, and cheers.) He would refer
to tile disgraceful position in which don. Members on that side of
the House appeared before the country. He remembered when the
present Government first entered upon office, that the Noble Lord
the Member for London asked the Right Hon. Baronet the First
Lord of the Treasury, who at that time came in by a majority of
ninety-one," how he intended to conduct the affairsof the country
The Right Hon. Baronet replied—" I am asked by the Noble Lord
how I propose to carry on my Government"--and turning round to
the -men who placed him in office, he said .. I will walk
in the direct path and in the light of the British Con-
stitution." He (Mr. Ferrand) believed that It - was in the
spirit of the Constitution that candidates, when aspiring to re-
present electors in Parliament, should explain to- their constitu-
encies what were the political principles by which they proposed to
guide their conduct ; and not only that, but that they should be sub-
jected to a searching examination, so that their electors might be
able to decide clearly what political principles their representatives
adopted. When Parliament was last dissolved, the Sovereign had
said that her intention in dissolving it was to ascertain the opinions
entertained by the public on those points which were then agitating
the country.—(ilear, hear.) There can be no doubt but such was
the intention. Shortly afterwards, when he stood before the peop.e
of Leeds, he heard the Noble Lord (Morpeth), on the 23d of June,
1841, giving expression to the following sentiments. -He said—
" The struggle which I am now about to commence is
one against monopoly, and it is not in the town-hall
of Leeds that I am going to despair of a triumph."
What was the-declaration of his Hon. Friend the Member far York-
shire, who was going to speak against the measure, and to vote
against it also, and who had been deceived into seconding the ad-
dress ?—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) Noble Lords and Hon. Gentle.
men had once been charged with "thimble-rigging," but he thought
they might with justice on the present occasion turn round and
charge their accusers of apostacy, who threw out the bait of cheap
corn and cheap bread, and humbugged the people with notions of
free trade.--(Hear, hear, and laughter.) What, said the Hon. Gen-
tleman the Member for the borough of Leeds? He said, "Gentle-
men, stick fast by English agriculture in the first instance, and then
try foreign agriculture."—(Hear, hear.) Now his (Mr. Ferrand's)
advice to Hon. Members was, to stick by English agriculture.—
(Hear, hear.) He had heard words used that evening not credit-
able, in his opinion, to the lion. Gentleman who uttered them —he
alluded to the. Hon. Member for Montrose, who called the landlords
" monopolists." Now, in reference to a former speech of that Hon.
Member, he found that he had made use of the following
language :—" Stick to English agriculture, because it is
your interest to do 'so." Now if the Honourable
Member were present, he would not ask him how he intended to vote,
but he would say to him, if he was an Englishman, he should stick
to English agriculture ; if he was an honest man, he would redeem
the pledge lie had made to his constituents; and if he was an honour-
able men he would resign the scat he then held in that House, for he
should not forget-that he once stood beneath the banner, on which
was inscribed " Protection to native industry."—(Hear, hear.) He
should then tell him, that if he betrayed his trust and deceived the
people, it would add epithet to his appellation—namely, that of Ms-
honesty:—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) Ile should next turn to the
benches immediately behind the Treasury benches ; and he had no
' doubt but several Hon. Gentlemen were beginning to tremble in that
quarter, and ask themselves, "Is It I that am alluded to ?"
( Laughter.) He alluded at the outset to the Hon. Member for Win-
chester—(Hear an I laughter)—and he begged to ask him how he
had obtained his seat ?—(Hear, hear, and renewed laughter.) Had
he forgotten the visit he paid to the Buckinghamshire farmers, the
whie-drinking amongst them, the putting them on their
backs, and the . " Hip, hip, hurraying," he created amongst
them in favour of protection? (Hear, and shouts of laughter.)
Did the Hon. Gentleman recollect all that, and how he subsequently
marched in for li inchester with the free-traders e—oalfae., h,eioa!;,?
Was that a fair way of deciding an election
e?-jr-(Carnileifflte '''iias:i beer),
He (Mr. Ferrand) loved honesty e
guilty of such conduct as that to in
ce
"leaned attention, he would
'masc.—Wear, hear, and cheers.)
scorn to tread the floor of that
The Hon. Member came before them,
toedreking from the hustings,
ready to stand or eels I:yprotection riculture.—(Cheers and
laughter.) He recollecte I that on the 22d of February, 1842, the
Ge man made a splendid speech in that House. He stood
111inerne directlyntle in ftont of the
of fugal benches, and quoted Latin
passages es by the page, in defence of protection --(Great laughter.)
lie, next day, published the speech, corrected from the short-hand
writers' notes, at Mr. Liddell's, Fall-mall, and presented liim (Mr.
Ferrand) with a copy of it, which, with the permission of the House,
he would then, for the first time, make use of.—(Hear, hear, and in-
creased laughter.) In that speech, the lion. Member declared, that
if ever there was a scheme fraught with danger, and concocted by
bad men for the destruction of their own interests or the interests of
their country, they could not have hit on a better expedient than the
cry of cheap food; and that the man would be mad, or something
worse, who sided with such a cause.—(Great laughter.) Now he
(Mr. Ferrand) was not going to say what the phrase, or komething
worse, meant.—(Hear, hear, and Increased laughter.) The iion.
i Member, in another part of his speech, said, the question of the
corn-laws was one that did not alone affect the constitution
of that House, but also the constitution of the country.
Now, he could tell him that the present question was
one that affected his honour, and he was bound to give up his
seat and appeal to his constituents anew.—(Hear, hear.) There
was one more extract in ' the speech of the Hen. Gentleman, to
which he begged to refer—it occurred iu the peroration.—(Laughter.)
It was this-` I am resolved, far the good of the country and the
preservation of its liberties, to stand by the landed interest., which is
only another name for English interest, and I will uphold it by the
best means in my power, and by voting for the measure of her Ma-
jesty's Ministers."—(Hear.) Let them mark that vote in favour of
her Majesty's Ministers, but not against them, as he
was bound to do on the present occasion.—(Hear, hear.)
That then, was the speech of the lion. Member for Winchester, who
now sat behind the First Lord of the Treasury as one of his sup-
porters.—(Laughter and cheers.) There was an old proverb, but a
very tree one, and in very familiar use in his (Mr. Ferrand's) part of
the country, and which, perhaps applied in the present case. It
was this," That birds of a feather flock together."—(Great laughter.)
He did not know whether the Hon. Member for Cirencester was in
his place at present, but if he were he hope.] he would tell the
House the place he did really represent.—(Laughter.) That Hon.
Member was now what he would call the last Lord of the Treasury
that had been elected. Upon the 14th of August, 1845, that Hon.
Member went down to his constituents, and made a speech, from
which he (Mr. Ferrand) would here read an extract. The lion.
Member then read the extract, which was to the effect that the
speaker said be could not, without dishonour and loss of character,
vote for the abolition of the corn-laws.—(Hear.) He would next call
attention to the speech of the lion. Member the Vice-President of the
Board of Trade. That speech was certainly one of great ability, and
very business-like, but he feared it failed in carrying the House with
it.—(Laughter.) But at the very time he delivered it, he (Me.
Ferrand) knew that the Right lion. Gentleman had at that very mo-
ment in his red box an address from his constituents, calling upon
him to resign his seat.—(Great laughter and cheering.) Ile (Mr. F.)
would not say why the Right Hon. Gentleman had been called upon
to do so, but he knew the reason why his constituents had made this
demand.—(Cheers.) The next Hon. Member to whom he would call
attention was the Member for Wiltshire, the Secretary for War, and
he would say to that Hon. Member that he thought his honour toe
was at stake.—(Hear, hear.) About a e ear ago that Hon. Member
went down to his constituents, and In asking for a renewal of
first
theirsupeort, lie reminded them that it was twelve years mince he
appeared before them in the position of a candidate for their
suffrages —that it was true that all men were liable to
hemmake
eenkliesd
-
takes, but that in reference to the corm-laws
theagriculture
upon prohibition as giving great stability to
of this country.—(Laughter and cheers.)
rW
Well he heeense
deal with the Right Hon. Baronet theSeceteei,
to
Home Department, who had also recently b
his constituents, and he (Mr.
Fe
his personal honour at stake
Baronet that Ito was be
constituents, and the moment
tawtecafenire
thet°
obliged ko before
Ferrand)
would ask the Right Hon.
Baronet did he not stand pledged to nhis constituents, and was not
egedHen begged to tell the Right lion.
bound to o. redeem the pledge he had made to his
nn
be had changed his opinions upon this
d in honour to resign his seat, in order that his
constituents might
ftuesti'a. he wesiUnbe fairly and honestly represented.—(Cheers.)
He (Mr.-I-errand)
had read the Right lion. Baronet'sspeech, and
he steal Isay it ought to have been printed and circulated for the