The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-28 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE c)l7 LORDS. Jvly 27.
ROYAL ASSENT.
at The Royal Assent was given to day, by Commission,
four 'clock, to no less than eighty-three Bills. The
ofc,,leissoners were the Lord Chancellor, the Marquis
nricards, and the Earl of Minto.
LiThe fullowing are the titles of the Bills :
(i)zunt Hardinge's Annuity Bill.
Corr Gnugh% Annuity Bill.
Vire;."Pending Society Bill.
c,,.,,Leri?. Australia Bill.
''''4'wh'PPers' Bill.
Ijit.alfiels' New Street Bill.
3;otiroaers' (Ireland) Bill.
Calee,and Perth Railway Amendment Bill.
bride Railway (Glasgow, Garnkirk, and Coa'a
841 ge Branches) 13111.
Ashtoi L-- and Manchester Railway
NOrtb i-under er- no,
aa-3,'brido.e and Hayfield Branches) Bill.
tooki Railway Bill.
iiirrn.agharashire Railway (Tring to Banbury) Bill.
laoad,,th,gham, Lichfi,hl, and Manchester Railway Bill.
liewe-" and Croydon 'Railway Bili (Thames Junction).
astle
ham rind Darlington Junction Railway ()ur-
Pareilah' °n!".(1-,rland Railway, and Wearmouth Dock
kireat nr.id Branches) Bill.
4Yrshir e't'erta and Wyc.;mbe Railway Bill.
alai e,
,e, of Weir and Port Glasg
_ ow Junction
RAahbur
South t"rii Newton, and South Devon Railway Bill.
Glotln ',gales Railway Bill.
Anil -eater and Dean Forest Railway Bill.
Or an,,,d Selby
„r Railway Purchase Bill.
Ifird`r. aorth of England Railway Purchase Bill.
tp an!rehm d Railway (Leicester and Swannington Railwaye
rlna).
don and Birmingham Railway and Birmingham
oerp, ,arrangement Bill.
Fie,„;Y, Warrcupoint and Rostrevor Railway Bill.
""ed PWest Riding .Junction Railway
restaa, and
d
r 'Ne•rth *Midland Railway (Widening and En.
Loatig"n er,t) Bill.
te:sio and Birmingham Railway (Leamington Ex-
(wed, fk) Bill.
Nor Railway (Carlisle Deviation) Bill.
:it:tali:larks Minerat Railway (Deviation and Branches)
•
Oswestry, and Chester. Junction and North
%Idles Mineral Amalgamation Bill.
(Itior"rdi Chichester, and Portsmouth Railway Bill
Mudd 2,•
ersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal (Hud-
tlerSfield Diversion and Cooper-bridge Branch)
-4orricshire and Glasgow Union Railway Bill.
tarndriJunction Railway (lluyton and Aston, and other
~. aches) Bill-
? D
and, trwsburs Bly,aind Manchester Railway (Deviation
Airdrie,Cil4nches '
and Monklands Junction Railway
-we'astle and Darlington Junction Railway (Durham
arid Sunderland Railway and Wearmouth Dock Pur-
Bl
chase) Bill.
Clitheroe, and North Western Junction
~Railway Bill.
tcrilrgcasmtoanti'li.naiw ay Bill.
lac kburn
Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne, anti Manchester Railway
(Peak Forest and Macalasfi el Canal Purchase) Bill.
Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne, and Manchester Railway
and Amalgamation Bill.
Ely and Huntingdon Railway (Radford Extension) Bill.
Midland Railway (Purchase of Oikhana Canal) Bill.
Tenby, Saundersfoat, and South Wales Railway Bill.
taneaster anti Carlisle Railway Extension, and Lan-
caster and Preston Railway Amalgamation Bill.
Eastern Counties Railway (Stations Enlargement) Bill.
Manchester, Bolton, and Bury Canal Navigation and
Railway Bill.
eds and Bradford Railway (Alteration of Levels) Bill.
4.oadon and Blackwall Railway (Widening) Bill.
Shrewsbury, Os, estrY, and Chester Junction (Crick-
heath and NV, m line) Bill.
,East Lancashire Railway (Deviations and Branches) Bill.
"Indderafield and Sheffield and Manchester and Leeds
Railways Amalaamation Bill.
Ipultirkrd, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway Bill.
tress
Railway Extension Bill.
rswieh and Bury St. Edmund's Railway (Norwich Ex-
tension) Bill.
"ne and Brighton Railway (Wandsworth Branch) Bill.
4'erpool and Bury and Manchester and Leeds al
latlny Amalgamation Bill.
kimi and Brighton and London and Croydon Railway
iik‘ensolidation Bill.
Metbffield General Cemetery Bill.
Mop
vned Waterworks Bill.
ern., Amalgamation Bill.
Al 4 improvement Bill.
Niinf Inchaffray Drainage Bill.
grey Canal and Birmingham Canal Companies' Amal-
cron7tton Bill.
OttarOrd Canal Bill.
Wu:" Waterworks Bill.
Flait“ord Harbour Bill.
siihsast Improvement Bill.
IllaLarneck Waterworks Bill.
401,k Sluice Drainage and Navigation Bill.
WaTsay Municipal and Police Bill.
46a7uPon-Dearne Improvement Bill.
qta-rte and Coatbridge Waterworks Bill.
4.f;gt'qv Municipal, Police, and Statute Labour Bill.
arl Estate Bill.
Povvs' Estate (Ludlow Charity) Bill.
114:eh's Charity Estate Bill, and
fi
!ny's Estate Bill.
aa„Ce Earl of SHAFTESBURY took his seat on the Wool-
--"A at Five o'clock.
LUNATICS ASYLUM BILL.
tate4.ra r;:•
,EDESD ALE presented a petition from certain
Asylai A• 'Ziii,ra the county of Wilts against the Lunatics
th(111..11ONS INCLOSLiRcI
`Jo% n- 'notion of the Earl o ABRILELN.DON, the
Printnlel. 3' nelendments on this Bill were ordered to be

Lord is RAILWAY BILLS.
repor b. -,ertrnan and other Noble Lords brought up
fereeC "11 to Sea et C several railway Bills, which had been re-
ommittees.
tPETROPOLITAN BUILDINGS ACT.
veoeoriri" PORTMAN gave notice that, to-morrow, he
ask her Majesty's Ministers a question in
ee to this Bill.
The refer-
POOR-LAW (IRELAND).
the
4arl of CLANCARTY, in presenting the report
othepe,Conainittee appointed to consider the Poor-law and
c00,:j44,a,v8 relating to the poor in Ireland, hoped that the
tio,f i'L°ll of the Irish poor would occupy at an early pe-
tion the attention of Government; and whether concilia-
r coercion was adopted, he hoped that impar-
ttialtjustice would be done to that people. He believed
heefernial to the welfare of the Irish people to have
oor-law carried out properly, and to have medical
l
tereti connexion with these laws properly admindis.-
eat lie also thought that the question of men i-
t, e?' should receive early consideration. The Noble
'1 concluded by moving that the report now laid
do the table be printed and circulated. Before he sat
vales he wished to remove an impression generally pre-
iint, that he intended to introduce a Medical Charities
I.l'l this session, believing, as he did, that it was
at4;er the province of the Government to do so.
"uhe D
the considE
euke of L
ration of the
he Ho thought
use. the report was well
c'ttilY
SLAVE TRADE.
which BROUGHAM said, in pursuance of the notice
dLinch he had given the House, he had now the honour
present the petition of one of the most venerable in-
iduals at present left on the earth. The petition was
trete the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, but,
according to the rules of their Lordships' House, it
could not be received as such; consequently, it must be
received as the petition of an individual, but that indi-
vidual a man, as he knew, and as all their Lordships
knew, pre eminent above all others for his great per-
formances in the cause of justice, humanity, and sound
Policy. When he recollected the history of that
distinguished individual, when he reviewed that history
for a period of three score years ; that that individual,
who had attained the extreme verge of human life, re-
maining steady to his principles, without looking back on
the past, except to profit from experience, or diverging to
either side, except to collect materials for his gallant force
looked forward still to the promoting the happiness of
his race. He said, when he considered this, he felt
that in presenting the petition he was entitled to their
Lordships' respectful sentence. That petition prayed
that if a measure should be presented to their Lordships'
House —a measure for introducing sugar from foreign and
British colonies, not only where there was free labour, but
Where the produce was manufactured by manacled handy--
their Lordships would give it their decided opposition.
"-it prayed that their Lordships would express their
dissent from that measure, however it might be intro-
'lilted into that House commended on expediency,
and
r9IIA, human policy. virttmllv r.drai•t
'- irt9,-
ipzun ;Tito ill?, country that -rhich ion?' ago up-
o `led I,orrid as to lc* arit condemnation 01l the world,
he-tr, mar. was an advocate, as wei,a thc:e. whom
betepresented, for the repeal of the differential duties
letti een foreign and British colonial produce, and for
eva rlg all in on precisely the same terms, provided al-
ulaYs that that produce of foreign colonies was not the
si.nufasture of the victims of that nefarious system of
to liverY which sixty-one years limo he began to abolish.
e present measure gave rise to a sad sentiment, but
a sentiment also of another kind ; there was a senti-
;rit or wonder and astonishment, which in his
1,""d found no bounds, that their Lordships should
thatecg the subject at all in the year 1846 ;
it should now he matter of doubt whether their
Lordships were to give the slave trade their countenance
nd tncourvre t that it should b the slave trade
whe men. ,
wrn they were discussing was enough to fill his bosom.
than'en he considered one thing, it staggered him more
h all, and that was the date, the time of the year that
ene, was reluctantly called on for the hundredth time to
pn-'" "Pon this discussion. The discussion was itn-
ti:!tamt, it Was important in a commercial view ; in a
revenue
view it was of no mean importance that a
venue of some millions should cease to be levied by one
vote of both !louses ; and constitutionally, therefore, it
a discussion of no small importance. The petition
referred to a measure which was to introduce into the
l'iae ".k !As of Europe the produce of slave colonies—of our
w__11:10s, perhaps, as the chance might be, if the peace
1, jars broken ; and the question before their Lordships
trade, whether they would encourage the slave
withe whose strength they had already
th , red, or if entirely abolished, whether
questsY would revive that accursed traffic.
as
thaon as vast even in its constitutional relation
too t whip we have been lately discussing ; this,
on the 27th of July, being later than any other
v,..."'tlivtiaus termination of the Parliamentary year—(Hear)
too, also at a period when Parliament was jaded
134,..t!_nge,attendance and the transaction of an amount
tilts= unparalleled in the annals of Parliamentary
.v`l4l3gt, Itud exhausted by duties the most exciting

they had ever heard of (Hear, hear.) It was under
these circumstances they were called upon to enter
upon this fruitful sui jeet. This subject was not new.
It had been bro :gh, for; 'era occasionally in 1841,
1844, and 1545 ; hut it e never really brought
forward as a subjec ee. ne re party running.
counter to another party, are "- sugar duties were now
brought forward for the h sst t..rue on its merits.—(Hear,
hear.) It was whispered that it was better to have it
now than at any other session. "It was sure now to
succeed in the state of parties at present. When there
was a scramble this (the present Government) had a
chance" It was, next to the sewerage question,
that upon which parties were united. Next
to the drainage question, it was the great question of
the day.—(A laugh.) Therefore the Government was
content to show that they were agreed on some question.
They had a better chance now, because they
had been promoting free-trade with respect to the
home producers, and they were now going to
take away the protection from the foreign grower.
Why not then take the matter as it now stands rather
than delay far a future consideration, and when the
second reading would be pressing on their atten-
tion. Far easier to discuss this qte stion—a stormy
and a difficult question, as he must acl;noe ledg,
noW, when it was but a matter of theory than
when a permanent decision of the matter was
to be decided upon. Surely it was better to take time
by the forelock and discuss this question, rather than
when there was only an empty House, to hear what was
to be alleged on the subject. Oh, that ho had the same
House to discuss this question that he had to discuss the
question of the corn-laws. He could not but say that he
looked upon this matter with great alarm, with an alarm
for the consequences which it was impassible to describe.
Had he had such a House to discuss this question as he had
to discuss the question of the corn-laws, for if so then
might he tell his Venerable Friend, Thomas Clarkson,
to be quiet, and that he might sink to his repose in the
grave with a certainty that the victory which had been
achieved over slavery and the slave trade would remaie
undisturbed. What necessity was there to t, ke this
measure up now ? Why should there be a proposition
to take up this Bill no w, when the year was already
so far advanced, when the system of slavery and of
its abolition was as yet untried ; when the knowledge
of what sugar might be obtained from Singapore, from
Manilla, and from our own possessions in the West In-
dies, was as yet unknown ; when the effect of the late
measures for the suppression of slavery and the
slave trade were yet incomplete ? Surely it
would be better to act according to common
sense and consistency, and take the Bill for a year than
legislate thus in a hurry, and endeavour to pass a per-
manent measure, when there was neither oppor-
tunity for consideration, or time for its direction.
He begged to call the attention of their Lordships to
the peculiar moment chosen for giving up the home
markets of this country to the slave-grown sugars of
Brazil and Cuba. When he looked and law the in-
fermation which the Government possessed on that
subject, and saw their haste and breathless imps-
armee to get through with this measure, upon
the eve of the passing of the corn laws, and btf ire
men could come to reflect upon the colonial interests,
because the British interests are now just settled, without
having had time to examine the case, and studying their
own documents ,• they would probably not take it in
bad part if he told them one or two things,
for the purpose of showing the preposterous
mode cf proceeding, and the particular time
chosen for giving up their markets. He would first
take the case of Messrs. Drake, Brothers, and Co.
They state that there was a reduction of 7s. 6d. per cwt.,
or an equivalent to id. a pound two or three years ago,
and representations were made by the suffering planters
and merchants, their associates, to the government of that
country to take some immediate steps fur putting down
the African slave trade—and why? because, said Messrs.
Drake and Co., who are stated by the consu'ar agent to
be a highly respectable house at the Havannah ; be-
cause, say they, in their memorial to put down
" the retrograde trade"—for that is the noted term
applied to the African slave trade—in order to get
rid of the glut of sugars, and to open for
the Cuba sugar a market in England, that was the bribe
held out to them to induce their Government to put
down the slave trade, because if they did that, and
unless they did it, they would not have access
to the English markets, and by this means
get rid of the enormous glut of Cuba sugar.
So in Brazil. " I have taken considerable pains," says
the Consular Agent at Cuba," to inform myself of the
feelings of the Government upon this subject. I find
that all persons connected with the country are antici-
pating the circumstance that her Majesty's
Government (that is the Government of this
country) are waiting negotiations for the renewal of
the trade between Brazil," and quid pro quo. He begged
to call the attention of his Noble Friends opposite to this.
The quid pro quo for the admission of the Brazilian
sugar is specified as being " at some period the emanci-
pation of the Brazilian slaves." The proprietors not only
seem prepared fur this, but satisfiel with such admissions.
He had mentioned these facts for the information of their
Lordships, with the view of showing their Lordships
what are the popular impressions on this subject. So
the Cuba men and the Brazil men laboured under the
delusion that when they emancipated their slaves, and put
down the slave trade, the glut of their sugar would never
be released by its access into an English market—(Hear,
hear)—the British market, they imagine, will demand
the abolition of slavery and the slave trade as a condition
of letting in the Brazilian and Cuba sugars.—(Hear.)
Oh, how little did these planters of Brazil, and Messrs.
Drake, Brothers, and Co., of Havannah, and Mr. Cooper,
the English Consul, and the Havannah House of Assem-

bly—how little did they expect at the time that they
were thus expected to concede emancipation as the price
of access for their sugars to the English markets. They
were about to have that given to them for nothing.—
(Elear, hear.) They wore about to be told that that ad-
mission was to be given on condition that they would
not put a stop to the stealir'* of one of the unhappy
wretches from the coast of Africa. Now, he felt
persuaded that it was not necessary to urge
further argument on this question. He had said
enough. Nevertheless so rife was delusion on this subject,
so constant was misrepresentation, so audacious was the
falsification of the fact, and so incredible the as-
surance with which these falsifications were urged, so
groundless the reasons put forward by the partisans
of what was miscalled free trade by political en-
thusiasts, that he felt it necessary to add some-
thing more to these remarks of his on this question.
Further they must consider that the object of this mea-
sure was to admit an additional quantity of sugar—say
30,000 or 40,000 hhds. into the English markets, which
at present excluded the markets of Cuba and Brazil; for
it was ridiculous to say that Lousiana, that could
not add to the finances of America, could send
to this cisentry, and after paying a duty in America
pay a further 10s. in England. To meet the
demand for these sugars the earth would
require to be drained to the utmost, and
wretches would be dragged from their homes in
Africa, and exposed to the horrors of the middle pas-
sage to reap the grounds of Cuba and Brazil.
The object of the 1111—andelt would be so entitled when
it came down there—was to enc mrage the planters of
Cuba and Brazil to bring over yearly from Africa 40,000
human beings, who were at present free, and to make them
slaves. It may be said enough had been done to put down
the slave-trade—that by the force of the treaty with
France, and by exertions of the combined squadron,
a great deal had been done for its suppression;
and it was alleged that the increased price
of the slaves was an additional proof of their suc-
cess. Their own commississioner from Havannah
reported that there were 10,000 slaves imported last
year, and he expressed regret that the hurricane and
the glut during the preceding year had caused
no diminution in the exertions of those who
were engaged in the s'ave trade. He had the
greatest admiration of General Valdes, a former Gover-
nor of Cuba, and his conduct contrasted singularly with
that of General O'Donnell, who had done every-
thing in his power to promote the slave trade.
The argument advanced in favour of the
contemplated change was that they no longer had
enough for the consumption of this country.
When the question was of pounds, shillings
and pence, of pr ifit and cheapness, such an
argument might be of some weight ; but when it
was a question of good faith, of honesty, of hu-
manity, and religion, be despised such an
argument, and denied that such a consideration should
occupy their attention one moment. But he denied the
fact. He denied that they had an insufficient
quantity at present for their own consumption.
On the question of the corn-laws he never de-
pended on the famine part of the question, and
he appealed to his Noble Friend beside him (Lord
Stanley), if he ever employed such an argument. But
even if it were a matter of famine with respect to the
sugar question, he would not depend on such arguments.
He said that famine V/t3 a constant excuse to Go-
vernment.. for betraying their trmt, and to indivi-
t;t al iniur:ng ploperly, clnd for UproPriltiog to
themFelve: s, hat belonged to their ncighbonic. It
had infringed upon the manly minds and cou-
rage of the stateamea of the country till
they deserted their principles. Accordingly the
potato disease was talked of. He heard nothing
of that disease now. (" Oh, oh" I from Lord Beau-
mont.) Oh I was the patient suffering still ? He was
sorry to hear it. But there was no disease in the sugar
cane. Now, he had seen estimates given in two ac-
mints; by the one the consumption was 220,000 tons;
The import from the colonies in the West Indies
was 125,000 tons, from all the East India
possessions 80,000 tons, from Manilla and Java
say 20,000, and from the Mauritius 60,000 ;
making about 250,000 tons. But another account was
given ; it came from parties to whom he allowed
little credit in the matter—from the sugar refiners—
who hoped by the present measure to get in sugar at a
low rate, so as to bear a large profit for their own process;
that account made it under the 250,000 tons. But
he took that report with which the late Go-
vernor-General of India concurred, and that re-
port made it nearer 300,000 than 250,000. He said
it was impossible to over -estimate the capacity for
growing sugar of the possessions in the Eastlndies and the
Mauritius. If time were given for further inquiry, this
subject would be proved beyond all possibility of doubt.
But they were already proved by a reference to the
amount of imports for the last three or four years. He
now come to another point in which they were all inte-
rested. It might be said by the planters " You are con-
tent to take coffee, but you will not take sugar. You
will allow the poor man to have his little coffee, but you
will not give him the sugar to sweeten it."—(Hear,
hear.) He was for the poor man having his sugar as
well as his coffee, but he must have it by lawful means,
though it had been said that stolen sweets were the
sweetest.—(A laugh.) He must not, however, have that
sugar from slave-grown produce, when they could be
supplied from Jamaica, Guiana, Trinidad, and Mauritius,
and above all from the West Indies, who were ready to
meet any demand. He had no right to take advantage