The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-14 00:00:00

Observe, the lion. Gentleman says, " in this Parliament"—
(Hear, hear.) "It would be most disastrous for the
community that you should accord those claims which, in
the spirit of severe justice, the agricultural interest has a
right to prefer." Observe, this p..inte to compromise; what
is that compromise? It has been proposed by Mr.
111Tulloch that the deficiency in the revenue might be sup-
plied by a fixed duty on corn. I say that we cannot admit
that a fixed duty, or a countervailing duty, is an arrange-
ment in favour of the agricultural interest. It is an arraege-
ment which, as Members or as Ministers, we may think
would, on a balance of circumstances, make what was called
the best bargain for the community. lam not called on to
say what might be the effect of imposing a 55., or an Bs, or
a 10s. duty. They are propositions which may be considered,
and they may be in the nature of a compromise, in which,
like all persons receiving compensation, the land would not
be likely to receive more than half its due."—(Hear, hear.)
Reference then is made to the financial exercitation of the
Right lion. Member for Stamford, with which we were
treated in 1848, wherein he laboured to prove that a mode-
rate fixed duty fell on the foreign grower, and would not en-
hanc,3 the price to the consumer. Now, here is the difficulty.
I am bound to put the best interpretation I can upon the
mystical expressions used last year and this year, and,
reading them by the aid of the glossary of the Duke
of Richmond, I put an interpretation upon them
last year, and to that I now adhere. Remembering that
it is said that the Ministers would have a riglr, to impose a
duty upon foreign corn, and that it is also said it would not
be right to attempt to impose that duty in the present Par-
liament, I come to the conclusion that the object of the Hon.
Gentleman and his party is to turn out the present Admi-
nistration—(Cheers)—to dismiss the Parliament, to return
to Protection in the next Parliament,. and to re-impose a duty
upon corn-- (Cheers.) That is the interpretation I put upon
the Hon. Gentleman's speech last year, and that is the in-
terpretation which, upon the whole, I am disposed to put
upon it now. Frankly avowed, there can be no more legi-
timate policy for a party. I know not what the result of
that attempt might be. I think it would be a dangerous
attempt, inconsistent with the preservation cf the peace of
the country and with the safety of property. aid an attempt
which I could not agree to see made.—(Cheers.) On the
other hand, I see very plainly that we are co the eve of a
great and a serious struggle.—(Hear, hear.) I see a party
of gentlemen in this and the other House 'f Parliament,
powerful in numbers, powerful in Ile respect in
which they are held for their personal and hereditary vir-
tues, having great influence in the country and great posses-
sions. They are an interest which up to the tresent moment
has commanded great influence with the Government, and
with the main body of the community at their back, they
exercise a power upon any question that is irresistible. This
powerful party have in this House no insignificant leader.
The Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Disraeli) is the accredited leader
of that party. I may say that very early I appreciated the
great talents of that Gentleman—c. Loud cheers) —and the
time has now arrived when it is impossible to underrate or
undervalue his great and commanding ability as a debater
in this House.—(Cheers.) The leader of this party in the
other House ( Lord Manley) is a Noble Lord, ever foremostlin
the battle, of dauntless courage, of eminent ability, and of
spotless character.— (Hear, hear.) I have sat beside him in
the fray, and I know how formidable his vigorous attack
is upon his enemies. I know also the breadth of his shield,
ever stretched out to protect his friends-
--" expert() credite, quantus
In clypeum assurgat, quo turbine torqueat hastam."
We must gird up our loins. I know not that even now the
words of " Up Guards and at them," have not been given. We
must prepare for a serious conflict. We must stand on our
arms and close our ranks, and prepare ourselves for a firm,
manly, uncompromising resistance.—(Cheers.) There is a
point on which I would wish to touch before I sit down, but
my heart is so deeply grieved that my tongue refuses to utter
what I feel. The author, the champion of that policy which
I think it is the tendency of this motion to reverse, has been
withdrawn from us. He has ceased from his labour—he is
at rest, and takes no longer a share in these angry strifes
and contentions.—(Hear, hear.) But although he is dead,
he still speaks, and from his tomb, as it were, I hear the echo
of his voice in this House. Well do I remember the me-
morable words—and do not you forget them—when he
closed the peroration of that magnificent speech which he
delivered upon the occasion of the discussion to which I
have before referred. His words were these—" I still adhere
to my opinion and belief, and earnestly I hope that I may
may never live to see the day when the House of Commons
will retrace its steps." He, indeed, is gone—but may the
omen be averted that the House of Commons is about to re.
trace its steps. His gigantic strength is wanting to us; my
voice is feeble—my power insignificant—but my part is
taken. I hold it to be my sacred duty and sacred trust to
defend that policy to the best of my ability. As a proof of
my sincerity, as an earnest of my zeal, I will give an
hesitating vote against this proposition.—(Loud and con-
tinued cheering.) The Right Hon. Baronet seemed deeply
moved when he alluded to the late Sir R. Peel.

Mr. BOOKER (Herefordshire) said, that as he was the
representative of a great agricultural county, and that his
personal interests were connected with the manufacture of
the land, he felt it to be his duty to take a part in the pre-
sent discussion. The Speech from the Throne had been read
from the table, and to one portion of it only did the Hon.
Gentleman (Mr. Disraeli) allude in a speech of the most
transcendent ability. He would now beg the permission of
the House while he particularly referred to the last para-
graph of that Speech. The Sovereign is made to say that—
" Notwithstanding the large reduction of taxation which
has been effected in late years, the receipts of the revenue
have been satisfactory." Thus he considered that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer was satisfied with a retro-
grade movement, if not with a falling off of the revenue.
He held the accounts up to the sth of January, 1851, and
he could not deduce from that document that the in-
come was more than the expenditure, the amount being
2,579,600'. 3s. 3d., as stated by the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer. The Hon. Gentleman then entered into several
statistics, arguing that, even though the details to which the
Right Hon. Gentleman had adverted were founded on fact,
vet the increase of the population was not taken into account.
lie would now allude to the next paragraph in the Royal
Speech, which states that "the state of the commerce and
manufactures of the United Kingdom has been such as to
afford general employment to the labouring classes." He
admitted that the employment alluded to was partially true,
but he denied that there was a sufficient opportunity for the
safe outlay of capital, a matter which was equally worthy
the consideration of the Government and of the Legislature;
for in looking to the shipping interest it would be found
that there was a decrease in outward tonnage in comparison
to the inward tonnage of no less than 233,000 tons in 1851,
and a proportionate decrease also in the number of vessels. He
would neat allude en passant to the three staple trades of
this country, and show the House that the woollen, the
cotton, and the iron trade were very much deteriorated by
the withdrawal of a just protection. He could not avoid ex-
pressing his astonishment that the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer should assert that the woollen and the cotton trade '
were of late years prospering and increasing, while in reality
the contrary was the case, for he could prove that there was
a decrease of 0,526,7 001 b., and also that there was a decrease
of over 5,000,0001 b. in the cotton trade. The iron trade waS
one that he was well acquainted with, and he had no hesi-
tation in stating that it was falling off very much, even to
the amount of 2,000,0001, both as to the employment of
labour and capital, for there was a diminution of price, and
consequently labour was suspended, and the outlay of capital
was not risked owing to a diminution of 45 per cent. in the
price of iron within the last year. All the landed interest
wanted was fair play and justice at the hands of the Legisla-
ture, and all the lion. Member for Buckinghamshire re-
quired for them was a relief from their present difficulties.
Ho then thanked the House for their kind attention to his
first essay in that House, and pledged himself that he would
never be found to advocate any cause but that of justice and
fair play.
Mr. LABOUCHERE said that he was aware that the
House must be gratified with the speech of the Honourable
Gentleman (Mr. Brooker) who had just sat down. The
policy of reversing the present commercial system had been
so combatted by the arguments of the Right Honourable
Baronet the Member for Ripon (Sir J. Graham), and also
by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that he would totally
leave the motion of the Hon. Member for Buckinghamshire
to their irrefragable proofs. There never was a period when
the great hvanelies of industry were so well, so contented,
arid so well employed as at present. It was generally
known that the woollen and cotton trade were never so
prosperous, and the falling off in the iron trade was not to
be attributed to anything but the excessive speculation of
persons at the head of such factories, for their outlay
in the construction of furnaces for railway uses, which to-
tally disappointed their expectations. He contended that
it was not from a failure in the export trade that the iron
trade was deteriorated, for the exports in 1845 were
352,000 tons; in 1849, 70!,000 tuns; and in 1850,
772,600 tons, showing an increase in the exports in those
several years, but that the whole disappointrneut and de-
terioration was owing to an excessive speculation. So
much for the iron trade. But there was another important
branch which had been affected which had been alluded
to by the Honourable Gentleman who had just sat down,
and which it would be inexpedient to altogether overlook,
a revision of the effect produced by
on the trade of the country. He
alludedw theirie n
ctohn
iteoymt:e'reecrieeafflteapektosil
wegyh
ich
had
d resulted from the change
which had recently taken place in the navigation-laws on
the shipping interests of the country; and he did not hesi-
tate to assert, that so far from the predictions of those who
affirmed that the alterations of those laws would prove the
ruin of the shipping and ship-building interests, any one
who examined properly into the matter would find that the
change had produced results altogether in the opposite di-
rection, and that instead of ruining the ship-building, and
shipping interests, it had conduced to the prosperity of both.
In the year 184 e the amount of tonnage, foreign and Bri-
tish vessels, entered inwards and cleared outwards as re-
garded the ports of the United Kingdom, was 10,600,000
tons;
tons,
inD'A9itthuswas 11,501,000 tons, and in 1850, it was
12,100,000 showing a considerable increase on
last year.—(Hear, hear.) He admitted that if they came
to analyse the list, it would be found that there was a
small falling off in the number of British ships entered
all nations, it was not to be supposed
inwards, and a considerable increase of foreign, ships so en-
tered ; but that as a matter of course must be so, for when,
by the repeal of the navigation-laws, they had opened the
of the act. He was,
however, prepared to prove that, so far from the result of
51 d
a take
whole, advantage
being
productive
considered their most formidable
opposite effect,
bp
theon rt
tshteos
change,enationse s takenll ps'of all
ctucttoiveitsofintthe
fortshhoi shipping,
hadien g,u,
ngi ttrrhei
eaastdl The shipping of
erevt:te.rydiminish British
rivals, bad increased but in a very trifling
extent, and the
only increase which had taken place was from other nations
from whom they had least reason to expect any formidable
rivalry. The Right Hon. Gentleman seemed, however, to
greatly conduced
beenonn
u,
think that the American tonnage entered inward and cleared
outward in this country had much increased; but lie found
that in 1848 the American tonnage entered inward was
598,000 tors, and cleared outward 549,000 tons. In 1849 the
tonnage entered inward was 587,000 tons, and cleared out-
ward 6e0,000 tons; and in 1850 the tonnage entered inward
was 585,000 tons, and cleared outward 77
• • 0,000 tons. So that
the opinion of the Right Hon. Gentleman was not borne, out
by facts to the extent he would infer. But, he would ask,
had there been no new sources provided to strengthen the
shipping interest in consequence of the additional channels of
trade which the repeal of the navigation-laws had opened
up. In that respect he must say that the result had been
most satisfactory, in fact, beyond the most sanguine expec-
tations of the advocates of the repeal of those laws. He
was not in a position to state, as he had not yet the correct
returns. the number of voyages British shipping had made to
foreign ports, from which they were, previous to the repeal
of the navigation-laws, prohibited ; but from one most
important port he had a statement whirls would
give a specimen of the advantages which had
resulted in this respect. He held in his hand a
return which had been received from the British Consul at
New York of the number of the voyages made by British
shipping entering that port with full cargoes during the
past year from ports which they were previously prohibited
from entering. According to this return there had entered
New York from Cuba and Hayti, 50 ships, B,gB'. tons;
from other ports, 60 ships-16,800 tons; from Brazils, 9
ships.-7.000 tons; from other ports in South America, 6
ships-1,946 tons; from china, 4 ships-1,e30 tons; from
other ports, 11 ships-1,5`2 tons; making in all 14,1
British ships, with a tonnage of 30,29, tons, .which had
entered the port ;of New York, with full 'cargoes, from
pogo which they could not have trolled with boforet—.!