The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-12 00:00:00

12, 1851.

landlord-30s. and 2'. per acre, when I firmly believe, that at pre: nt prices? He referred to the average prices between
if it would feed a sarlw, that is the only two-footed or four- 1835 and 1850. The average price in 1835 was 395., and last
footed animal it would feed. I have seen lands which, six year 405.; but all the other articles of produce were higher
years ago, were in an apparently as hopeless a state, and which in 1835 than they were at present but the low price in
at this moment exhibit an aspect of fertility contrasting, ie a 1835 was the consequence of good harvests, and last year
manner as remarkable as it was gratifying their former the low price w,s t tpn result of the large imports of foreign
condition ; and though I will not say this ieereaed fertility eroduco. The Hon. Member wes next understood to sa that.
has been obtained without a considerable expenditure—al- the exchange at the present time was against them-; and
though I will not say that for the first two or three years having referred to the admis,iou of agricultural distress, lie
the outlay of the tenants, men undoubtedly of science, and , said that it was the duty of her Majesty's Ministers, with a
ability, and capital, has been repaid—yet sure I aut that out- large surplus, to apply relief to those classes where it was de-
lay is in course of permanent, and certain, and nut very gra- Oared to be most needed.
dual or slow return." What he (the Chancellor of the Mr. BROWNE explained a former statement made by
Exchequer) would say to the agriculturists would be the him, and to which reference had been made by the Hon.
language of the _Noble Lord, simply altering it so as to apply Member for Buckingham. What he had alluded to was not
to the whole body of the agriculturists of Eegland, that the freight alone of corn from the United States he refer-
which he had addressed to the farmers of that district. red to other expenses of transmitting corn - its loss of
With those prospects before us, this spirit which I see weight, the interest on capital, insurance, stowage, metage,
among you, with the spirit which I see among the leading cartage, and he was sure that his statement was correct
proprietors, and among those who are using their high situa- I that he had underrated the cost. He hoped when the Hon.
tion for the purpose of showing the way to improvement, I Gentleman again quoted him, he would do so correctly. He
cannot despair, but, on the contrary, I look with confidence on congratulated Hon. Gentlemen opposite on the success of that
the successful issue of this system, and I pray you not to re- policy which had killed Chartism—that it enabled country
lax in your efforts—let them continue, let landlords pull to- gentlemen to enjoy their comforts with peace and dignity,
getter in one joint endeavour for our common welfare, and we and to sleep easy on their beds. He congratulated them on
shall never despair of the permanent prosperity of the agri- the state in which they were.—(Laughter.)
culture of England." Such, he believed, was not the language The Marquis on GRAN BY moved the adjournment of the
of despair, but of encouragement to those whom be then debate.
addressed, and which it was proper to address to the Mr. DISRAELI appealed to Hon. Gentlemen who had
whole agricultural body of England. As all other motions on the paper for Thursday to postpone them for the
bodies from whom proteotion had been removed had suf- purpose of permitting this debate to be proceeded with. It
fered, so were that body suffering; but they would would be very convenient it this were done, as there was a
revive, and their future prosperity would be more sure and probability of bringing the dedate to a termination on that
permanent than any which they had before experienced. night.—(Hear.) He appealed to the Hon. Member for Essex
With regard to the House at large and the motion now be- whose motion stood first on the list.—(Hear.)
fore it, he could but repeat what he had sail before, that he Sir E. BUXTON said he was very unwilling to give way
could but view the motion in one view, and that was, that unless some other day could be fixed for bringing forward his
there was but one mode of carrying out the proposal motion. He trusted that the Noble Lord would, in order to
which it contained, namely, by re-imposing some of have this debate continued, fix a day when his motion might
those taxes which had recently been removed. Ile called be brought forward, and in that case he would postpone his
upon the House to negative that motion. He had quoted motion.
last session the speech of Mr. Huskisson upon which that Lord J. RUSSELL thought that the Hon. Gentleman op-
policy had been founded, which had been followed from posite had made a reasonable request that the House should
that time, and which had received a fuller development as be enabled to go on with this debate on Thursday, as it would
a consequence of the measure passed by Sir Robert Peel. be very inconvenient to have it interposed by another very
That Policy he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had sup- important question. He could not think, however, it was
ported when out of office, and her Majesty's present Govern- very reasonable to ask him to make a day for the lion. Baro-
ment had endeavoured to carry it out ever since their acces- net, as the Government was required to bring forward the
sion to power. Gratefully had they to acknowledge the estimates on Mondays and Fridays. He thought, it would
support which that great statesman had always afforded to be better for the Hon. Baronet to bring forward the question
them in the carrying out of that policy. It was upon such to which he referred on a motion day.
an occasion as the present that they felt more deeply the loss Colonel SIBTHORP thought the Government was shrink-
of the support which the Right Hon. Gentleman had always jag, but the time was coming when the Noble Lord and the
given to those views. It was with unequal powers and with Free-traders would be ejected.--( Hear, and laughter.)
less right that he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) now The motion that the debate be adjourned to Thursday neat
urged the House to reject a motion like the present. He was then agreed to.
called upon those who had concurred with the Right Hon. SUNDAY TRADING.
Gentleman in proposing those measures, and he called upon Mr. W. WILLIAMS moved for leave to bring in a Bill to
the majority of the House, whether on one side or the other, prevent unnecessary trading on Sunday within the metro-
who had always supported their measures, to stand by them politan police district and the city of London and the liber-
now, for he firmly believed that after trial and experience ties thereof.
they would be found to be as beneficial to the agricultural Mr. B. WALL opposed the motion. He objected to such
interest as they had been to every other clast of the commu- a Bill being brought in at so late an hour in the evening.
nity, from one end of the land to the other.—(Cheers.) Lord D. STUART supported the motion.
Mr. HODGSON hoped that as Cumberland, in which he Mr. W. WILLIAMS replied.
resided, had been referred to, the House would allow him to The question having been put, a division was called for.
make one or two remarks, and extend to him the kindness it The numbers were—
usually afforded to a Member who had grievances or dis- Ayes
... 70
tresses of his constituents to state.—(Hear, hear.) In the Noes
... 19
city which he represented (Carlisle) the cotton manufacture Majority in favour of the motion for
had been carried on to a considerable extent, partly for ex- leave to bring in the Bill ... —5l
portation and partly for home consumption ; but the de- The Bill was accordingly brought in and read a first time.
mend had wholly ceased, and the operatives were out of Mr. WILLIAMS moved that it be read a second time this
employ.—(Hear, hear.) There were hundreds who wanted day fortnight.
the bare means of subsistence, and hundreds more who earned Mr. ANSTEY asked, on behalf of those who were most
a very scanty maintenance by occasional work.—(Hear, interested in the measure, to have it postponed for a longer
hear.) So great was the distress, that the mayor called period.
a meeting of the inhabitants last week to see what could It was finally settled that the second reading should be
be done, and a public subscription had been entered into taken on Wednesday, the 4th March.
to support those operatives by charity.— (Hear, hear.) The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the
lie (Mr. Hodgson) was afraid ho could not give a House adjourned at Half-past Twelve o'clock.
much better account of the state of the agricultural
interest. He knew of many farms in Cumberland being
relet this Candlemas; but every one had been let at a
very considerable reduction of rent. A friend of his, who
had a farm let at 600/. a year, was glad to get a tenant at
3.lol.—(Hear, hear.) The Chancellor of the Exchequer had
stated the rate of wages of agricultural labourers in Cumber-
land as averaging about 12s. Now, though there might be
some isolated spots where es much as that might be paid, the
average rate he knew was not more more than Bs. or 9s.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was under-
stood to intimate that he spoke of the northern districts of
the country generally.
Mr. HODGSON—WeII, things did not appear much more
prosperous in the neighbouring county. He had with him a
recent number of the Newcastle Courant, in which he found
forty-one advertisements of farms to be let.—(Hear, hear.) If
that was the ease in a county quoted by the Right Ron.
Gentleman as as au instance of agricultural prosperity, it
was difficult to give him credit for his statements in respect
to other parts of the country.—( Hear, hear.) Time lion.
Member for Birmingham attributed the existing dist' ess to
the currency laws; others, ascribed it to the excited state
of the continent, and said that when the people there' be-
came tranquil prices would rise here. Ile (Mr. Hodgson)
believed that the great remedy for our distress was a reduc-
tion of taxation.—( Hear, hear.) But he could not see much
chance of that, if the Noble Lord at the head of the Go-
vernment would maintain such extravagant fancies as the
African slave squadron—(Hear, hear)—and fill up places
which Committees recommended to be abolished.--(Hear,
hear.) Let him take in hand to reduce the penson list.--
( Hear, hear.) A list of persons receiving pensions from the
State had just been issued; and although he (Mr. Hodgson)
was considered to hold rather Conservative opinions, it al-
most tempted him to beeome a Radical.—(Hear, hear.) lie
felt that it was monstrous to think there should be persons
eating the bread of idleness, while there was starvation
among his constituents.—(Hear, hear.) He should feel it his
duty to vote for every reduction of taxation that might be
proposed, provided it did not appear to be injurious to the
public service, or to endanger the public honour.—(Hear.)
Mr. G. BERKELEY thought it was rather bold to charge
the llon. Member (Mr. Disraeli) with not asking anything
by his motion. Even at the time of the famine in Ireland,
Ministers called Parliament together without having a pro-
position to make to them ; and in other instances they had
come down to ask the opinion of the House, without having
one of their own to suggest.--(Hear.) The Government re-
luctantly admitted agricultural distress, and required that
interest to look for its amelioration to the better situation of
the manufacturing classes; but why were the agriculturists
to be told to wait upon the prosperity of the manufacturing
classes? Would the Government have proposed the con-
verse to the Member for the West Riding, or for Manchester?
(Hear, hear.) True, provisions were cheap, but they were
not purchased from the home producer, and the reliance of
the two interests on each other had been destroyed. The
Honourable Member for Birmingham (Mr. Muntz) truly
stated that the manufacturers were eating up the farmers,
and the same idea applied to the agricultural labourers ;
they were purchasing cheap provisions, but at the sacrifice
of their masters.—(Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Berkeley) did
not believe the account of the flourishing state of the glove
trade.—(llear, hear.) Why was no answer given to the
inquiry about the riot in Suffolk? Since the question had
been put, he had had information that the riot did take place,
and that the fact was well known in London. Fifty police-
men were unable to quell the disturbance; the military were
called out; the house was gutted. The union inmates rose
upon the officers and drove them away; the union-house was
too full for any restraint to be put upon them. It was with
the greatest difficulty the riot was quelled. Would any one
say the Government were ignorant of that ? Might it not be
fairly inferred that it was kept back that the debate might
go off smoothly? In other places, in England and in Ire-
land, there were union-houses so full, that riots were
threatened in a hundred different parts. It was said .that
pauperism had decreased, and the testimony of the Hon.
Member for Dorset had been given as to the labourers there;
but in that county it had been thought necessary to propose to
increase the salary of the gaoler. In Gloucestershire the num-
ber of paupers and of commitments had decreased, but that was
because free trade and the reduction of wages had driven the
able-bodied men to emigrate. The dietaries of the prisons were
bettor than those of th workhouses, and tempted paupers to
commit workhouse offences. In Gloucestershire there bad
been no general benefit arising from cheaper food.—(Hear.)
How much longer were the agriculturists to suffer under the
experiment" that had already been tried for five years?
The Royal Speech disposed of, the charge that the out-
cry was for the sake of rents. He held that the greatest
boon that could be conferred on the country would be a dis-
solution of Parliament. He was quite convinced that if that
were to occur there were not many of its present Members
who would be again returned. Look at the country in
which point of view they would. they found nothing but a
feeling of distrust and Ydissatisfaction prevailing. If the
present state of things was to continue, how would the agri-
cultural labourers be able to earn those wages wherewith to
purchase those cheap provisions of which the Chancellor of
the Exchequer was so ready to boast? Unless the present
motion was supported, or unless Ministers were forced into
some •great measure of redress, the country would be
speedily plunged into a state of disunion, discontent, and
confusion.

PARLIAMENTARY DIVISIONS.

(From the V tes and Proceedings of the House of Commons )
TUESDAY, FEB.
SUNDAY TRADING PREVENTION.
Motion made, and Question put, " That leave be given to
bring in a Bill to prevent unnecessary Trading on Sunday,
within the Metropolitan Police District and City of London
and Liberties thereof." The House divided:

MAJORITY—AYES, 70.
Adderley, C. B. elrenfell, Charles W. Pigott, Francis
Baines, M. T. Grey, Sir G. Pinney, W. .
Beresford, William Hall, Sir B. Plumptre, J. P.
Llandford, Marquis Ilatchell, John Scott, F.
Brotherton, J. Hawes, B. . Sumer, IL K.
Bruce, C. L. C. Heald, James Sibthorp, Colonel
Banbury, E. 11. Hildyard, R. C. Sidney, Alderman
Buxton, Sir E. llindleyCharles Somerville, Sir W.
Clive, H. B. Hodgson, W. N. Spooner, It.
CobLohl, J. C. Holland, Robert Stanton, W. S.
Cockburn, Sir A. Howard, E. G. Stuart, Lord Dudley
Cowper, W. F. Lennox, Lon: A. Thompson, Colonel
Craig, Sir W. G. Lewis, G. C. Tollemache, John
Cubitt, William Matheson, Colonel Watley, T.
Deedes, W. Wattle, Fox Walpole, S. IL
Dod, J. W. Miles, William Westhead, J. B.
Duncan, George Mulgrave, Earl of Williams, John
Duneult, John Mulling's, J. It. Wilson, James
Dundas, Sir David Naas, Lord Wilson, Matthew
Dunne, Colonel Napier, Joseph WyIJ, James
Elliot, J. E. Noel, Gerald J.
Fairer, James Paget, Lord C.
Floyer, John Patten, J. W.
Freestun, Colonel Pelham, A. D.
Frewen, C. U. Peto, Samuel

TELLERS.
Williams, W.

Kershaw; James

MINORITY—NOES, 19.
Bass, M. T. Mackenzie, W. F. Taylor, Thomas E.
Blacksll, S. W. Maxwell, Hon. J. P. Thornely, Thomas
Brooke, Sir Arthur Mostyn, E. M. L. Wawn, J. T.
Fagan, James O'Connell, M. J.
Forster, Matthew Romilly, Colonel
Greene, John Russell.F. C. IL
Hamilton, J. H. Scho'acid, W.
Ilayter, W. G. Sullivan, Michael

TELLEP.B.

Wall, C. B.
Anstey, T. C.

PARLIAMEN TARP BUSINESS.

(From the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Commons..)
NOTICES GIVEN AT THE PRIVATE BILL OFFICE.
The undernamed Bills are appointed to be read a second
time on Monday, Feb. 17 :
Chorley Waterworks.
Manchester Parish Highways.
Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway.
Commercial Docks Improvement.
Great North of Scotland Railway.