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

lA:eao-11m glint;

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1851.

The Lords met last night, and receired several pets -
tions against Papal aggrassion, after which their Lord. •
ships adjourned.

In the Commons,

Mr, DISRABLI moved the resolution of which ho had
given notice, calling upon the Government to adopt
immediate measures for the effectual relief of the ex-
isting agricultural distress. Although Ise attributed that I,

distress to the adoption of a free-trade policy, in 1846,,
yet he did not-stropose that they should retrace their`
steps. He would make no attempt to restore the abro-
gated system of protection. What he should propose
was to relieve the agricultural interest from that taxa-
tion, local and general, which pressed on it so unjustly.
Nearly one-half of the Customs' revenue was raised in
fact from the agricultural interest, because the farmer
was prohibited from cultivating tobacco lest his produc-
tion of the article should diminish the revenue
raised on its importation ; of the inland revenue
two thirds were raised by the malt-tax, which pressed
exclusively on the cultivator of the land, while of
12,000,0002 of local contributions 7,000,0001: was paid
exclusively by the farmer. He was, moreover, subjected
to the burden of the tithe, and even Mr. M'CULLAGH
had admitted that on that account he was entitled to a
countervailing duty on foreign corn. The farmer had
been told that he was to employ more labour and more
capital; he was prevented from obtaining the first by the
law of settlement and the second by the currency laws.
Both these laws must be altered in order to do full jus-
tice to the farmer. Having stated the grievances of the
farmer, he did not propose to the House any specific
measure for adoption; it was the duty of the Ministry to
devise such measures, and he called upon the House to
oblige the Minister to do his duty.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that the
distress of which the agriculturists complained could
not be attributed altogether to the adoption of free
trade; for in,France, where the importation of corn was
virtually prohibited, the agriculturists were even more
distressed than they were in this country. The Hon.
Gentleman, while dilating upon the distress of the owners
and occupiers of land, had cautiously avoided all allu-
sion to the condition of the agricultural labourers; their
condition was never more prosperous; they were fully
employed, the purchasing power of their wages was
greatly increased, and pauperism was rapidly diminish-
ing. The malt duty and the tobacco duty were not
burdens exclusively on the agricultural interest,
they were, in reality, paid by the consumer.
The assertion that seven-twelfths ;of the local
taxation was paid by the land was an error, and
in order to make up the sum the Hon. Gentleman had
calculated not only the amount paid by agricultural
land, but the amount paid by land on which houses
and factories were erected. If they gave up the Customs'
duty on tobacco and the met-tax, they would be under
the necessity of re-imposing those duties from which the
industry of the country had been recently relieved, and
the removal of which had been of such great benefit to
the producing classes. Since 1841 the revenue had in-
creased 4,726,0001.; the taxes repealed amounted to
10,763,000 L, from which, if the taxes imposed
(5,655,000/.) were deducted, the balance of relief was
upwards of 5,000,000/, with an augmentation of revenue
nearly to the same amount. Our imports had increased
to an unexampled extent, and a policy which had produced
such results could not be wrong. The introduction of im-
proved methods of cultivation and the judicious outlay
of capital would soon relieve the British agriculturist
from the temporary difficulties under which he was now
suffering. He called upon the House to reject the
motion.

Mr. Hopcsox urged a reduction in taxation, and a
reform of the pension list. In Cumberland all classes
connected with land, including the agricultural labourers,
were suffering.

Mr. G. BERKELEY and. Mr. G. SANDAR3 supported the
motion.

The debate was adjourned to to-morrow on the motion
of the 'Marquis of GRANBY.
Mr. W. WILLIAMS moved for leave to bring in a Bill
to prevent Sunday trading; the motion, which was op-
posed by Mr. BAILIN° WALL, was carried, on a division,
by a majority of 70 to 19, and the House adjourned.

The Hon. Gentleman the Member for Bucking-
hamshire last night brought forward his important
and anxiously-looked-for motion on the subject of
agricultural distress. It is almost unnecessary to say
that every real grievance under which the British
farmer is suffering was clearly and ably put forward,
and that many imaginary injuries were added to the
catalogue. Mr. DISRAELI does not perform
his work in a slovenly or inefficient manner. He
is well qualified to make " the worse appear
the better reason" —to excite sympathy
and compassion wherever his clients are really
aggrieved, and even to work up fictitious narratives
to a harrowing pitch. The agriculturists are indeed
fortunate to possess so accomplished an advocate, one
so competent to bring the contest respecting every
reasonable demand to a triumphant issue. But, un-
fortunately, their demands are not reasonable ; they
misunderstand the causes of the disease under which
they are suffering, and they are even in greater error
as to the nature of the remedies that may possibly
prove efficacious. Their distress and difficulty
are, unfortunately, but too wel! known. They
have, we regret to say, been too palpable
to admit the possibility of denial. The Ministers
themselves arejheir witnesses. Even the testimony
of our Most Gracious SOVEREIGN is not wanting.
The paragraph from the Royal Speech—which was
appropriately called for before bringing on the mo-
tion—was conclusive on that point. It showed that
while other classes were prospering the agriculturists
were encountering the most serious difficulties. It is,
as the Hon. Gentleman justly remarked, "a conjunc-
ture that should make a Minister reflect." One
point is clear—there is unquestionably the
" depression" which should not exist in a
well-regulated state of society and a well-governed
community. But how is this untoward state of affairs
to be ameliorated, without injury or injustice to
others ? How can the agricultural interests be ele-
vated, without causing other classes to sink in an in-
verse ratio in the social scale ?

These are the important questions to be answered,
.he problems to be solved. Must a new CEDreus
arise to unriddle these abstruse enigmas ? We think
not. With the aid of our esteemed friend the Rev. JOHN
TWELLS, we would undertake to unravel the mystery,
to find a clue to the labyrinth, that now puzzles the
embarrassed yeoman. He, with a serious deprecia-
tion in the value of his produce, finds no reduction in
the enormous burdens to which he is subjected—his
ranee, tithes, local and general taxation, interest on
mortgages, and family charges are all placed on the
same foundation that they were when there was a
free and unrestricted currency—a free trade
in money. He is bound to satisfy in gold
at 20s. for the pound sterling the debts contracted
in paper worth 14s. the pound sterling. His out-
goings have been maintained at the same rate that
they were in the olden time, while his incomings
have been reduced at least one-half. He is now
liquidating liabilities contracted when corn produced
an average of 87s. 10d. per quarter, with the same
commodity at 425. or 435. ; or, in other words, he is
obliged to give one hundred quarters to satisfy
the claim that was formerly contented for
fifty quarters. Notwithstanding increased skill,
additional toil, from which follow improved cultiva-
tion and enlarged produce, he is unable to make both
ends meet. He then makes every practicable reduc-
tion in his expenditure, discharges labourers, stints
his land of the necessary manure, and, too late, dis-
covers that the " penny wise and pound foolish po-
licy"—the desperate expedients to which he is driven
by the exigencies of his position, are all worse than
useless—that, in fact, they only aggravate his distress.
He then looks back with regret to the " good old"
times when a licensed black mail, in the shape of a
6' corn-law," was tolerated, and when the working
classes generally paid tribute to the farmer —a tribute,
by the way, which passed out of his hands almost as
rapidly as it came into them in the shape of tithes,
rents, rates, and taxes, and he believes that if that
atrocious impost were re-established all would be
well. " 0, cceca mens mortaltum." Alas ! the short-
sightedness of mankind. Has he forgotten the agri-
cultural distress that has from time to time prevailed
—the wail of agony that has resounded throughout
the length and breadth of the land since the introduc-
tion of the corn-laws and the restoration of cash pay-
ments The latter iniquitous measure, whichdoub!e-
eiveted the chains of the debtor, which required the
over 'toiled operative thenceforward to " make his
bricks without straw," far more than counter-balanced
the supposed gains arising from the former. Supposed
gains, we say, for they went into the hands of the
parson, the landlord, the rate and eras collector, and
the tax-gatherer. The owners and occupiers of land still
" strain at the impossibility created by themselves,"
the attempt to keep up the price of agricultural pro-
duce with a restricted currency. Nothing but the
restitution of the ancient standard can accomplish
that desideratum, and it is for the restitution of that
standard—for the establishment of a full measure ofj us-
tice between debtor and creditor, that they should la-
, hour. Mr. DISRAELI looks for relief from fiscal changes.
to brings prominently forward the injury inflicted on

the agriculturist under the present system _of reple-
Li.hing the national Exchequer. The external im-
ports, the inland revenue, and the local contributions
alike crush to the dust and paralyse the exertions of
the cultivator of the soil. In this, however, the
farmer suffers in common with his fellow-subjects of
all classes, and it is not by shifting-the burden from
one shoulder to another that relief should be sought or
can be obtained. Let the farmer, then, demand, and
his zealous and efficient advocate, Mr. DISRAELI,
support, a large and comprehensive measure of
monetary reform, which will afford " protection to
British industry" generally, but not to one descrip-
tion thereof—which will alike prove beneficial to all
who " earn their daily bread by the sweat of their
brows." Let him plant his standard on this broad
basis, and he will find many recruits willing to array
themselves under his banner, by whose assistance he
may achieve triumphs greater than any to which he
has as yet ventured to look forward.

Her MAJJWIT'S responsible Ministers in both
Houses of the Legislature have announced the inten-
tion of Government to introduce a measure during
the present session of Parliament, for the abolition
of the Irish Viceroyalty, an announcement which will
be as gratifying to a vast majority of the inhabitants
of both islands without the walls of the House of
Commons, as it appeared to be to a large majority of
the representatives of the varied interests and feel-
ings within, when the announcement was made by
the First Minister of the Crown.
This Bill would have been now the law of the
land, and would have prevented a little exhibition of
fretful agitation on the part of some Dublin shop-
keepers and their sympathisers, had it been proposed
at an earlier period of the last session. But, from
the reply of the Marquis of LANSDOWNB in the
House of Lords, we are induced to hope that there
will be no failure on the same grounds in the present
session, as his Lordship is reported to have said that
this Bill will be one of the first brought under the
notice of the Legislature after taking the estimates.
The early introduction of this measure we look upon
as most judicious and salutary, and particularly so in
reference to Ireland. We can very easily fancy how
readily, just at this moment, the people of Dublin
could get up a show of agitation through
the country. The most shadowy grievance
would be quite sufficient to excite the Roman
Catholic population, and we think it would be wise
in the Government and useful to Ireland to cut off
as speedily as possible this paltry source of fancied
injustice.
Ireland is in a state of transition—she is just
emerging from a state of social and physical disorga-
nization—she has been the prey of famine, disease,
and rebellion—she is but beginning to show some
signs of returning health. In the natural world, the
bursting of the thunder-cloud will purify the over-
laden atmosphere, let us hope that the desolating in-
fluences which have so long and so fearfully disturbed
the social and physical elements of that island will be
followed by the like purifying effects. Indeed we
can clearly see strong symptoms of convalescence.
Crime has sensibly diminished ; the mone-
tary returns indicate an immense increase
of the circulating medium ; food is cheap
and abundant, and the whole country is comparatively
tranquil. Such a time is auspicious for the introduc-
tion of this important measure—important, not so
much for the transfer of an official from Dublin to
Downing street, as for the moral lesson which it is
calculated to inculcate, by instilling into the public
mind of Ireland feelings of self-reliance and hope-
fulness.

The reasoning of those opposed to the measure,
with few exceptions, may be traced to the selfishness
of a few who conceive their interests at stake. The
tailors and milliners of Dublin appear to labour under
the notion that the moment Lord CLARENDON leaves
the Castle the Irish ladies and gentlemen will have
no further use for coats, gowns, or bonnets;
the lawyers are in a state of trepidation lest his
Excellency should bring the Four Courts in his
pocket, though the strongest assurances have been
given that no such felonious intent is in contemplation.
Amongst the lawyers we are glad to see one noble
exception, the father of the Irish Bar, the venerable
and respected ROBERT lior.saus, reused to join in
this foolish outcry. He said he looked upon this
measure as a natural consequence of the Act of Union.
He is quite right, that union can never be complete
till Ireland shall be really and substantially made an
integral portion of the empire, till she shall be fully
and perfectly imperialized, till she shall be governed
in the same spirit and from the same IMMEDIATE
source as the counties of York and Lancaster.

The Marquis of LONDONDBRRY would appear to
have engaged in a recruiting expedition to raise
opponents to the measure. The reasoning, perhaps
we should rather say the feelings, which dictate
his Lordship's opposition seem to us to savour
not a little of the fantastical, and the consequences he
anticipates we think he considerably exaggerates. In
a letter to Colonel Durum, be says, " I will show to
posterity that he whose name I bear,-never imagined
when he carried the union that Ireland was to be de-

prived, especially after 50 years' duration of that Act,
of her capital, her courts of law, her institutions, and
by one general swamp to reduce the first city of our
Emerald Isle to the level of Cork," &c.
To attribute such fearful and almost miraculous
effects to the mere fact of changing the Lord-Lieute-
nant of Ireland into a Minister for the administration
of Irish affairs, with an office in London instead of
Dublin, we can but look on us a powerful stretch of
fancy ; and we have little doubt had the late Lord
CASTLEREAGH lived to this period the measure would
have no warmer advocate. It is but natural
to suppose that he who was the chief instrument in

effecting the Act of Union should advocate a measure
tending to cement that union, and to add to the

strength and consolidation of the empire. A great
revolution has taken place since the days of Lord

CASTLEREAGH. Half a century has brought abou.

great changes in the relations of the two islands. Our

means of locomotion, by which it may be said,
almost without hyperbole, that time and apace are

annihilated, have brought Ireland sufficiently close
for all Governmental purposes as many portions of
England or Scotland. The electric telegraph has
brought the capitals of the two countries into almost

immediate communication, entirely superseding the
necessity for separate executives. The hero of

Waterloo has put forward an objection on military
grounds which we think quite as untenable as those

of the Gallant Marquis.
'We object to the Irish Viceroyalty on the grounds
of the extraordinary and unconstitutional powers

vested in the Lord-Lieutenant. At this moment he

could suspend the Habeas Corpus Act; he has the
power to imprison her MAJESTY'S Irish subjects on
suspicion, and could proclaim the whole island or

any portion of it. These are powers dangerous to
public liburty, and unsafe to be entrusted to any in-
dividual. No doubt they are at present in safe and

able hands, but how soon may they not fall into other
and different ones ? We have every faith in the

present Chief Governor and in the purity of his able
and indefatigable colleague, Sir WILLIAM SOMLR..
VILLE ; but still we should wish to see such

powers under the immediate check and con-
trol of the Cabinet. Above and beyond all, we

object to the continuance of the Irish Court as a

hotbed for the fomentation and encouragement of
. .

Intrigue. No matter how able or how amiable the

Viceroy may be, he is still the representative of cer-
tain principles opposed by a considerable party, who
will neither attend bis Court nor take counsel for the

general good with those who do, thus perpetuating
strife and faction, to the ruin of their common
country. I❑ discussing this subject we have fre-
quently called the attention of the Irish people to the
case of Scotland. The people of that country have
no Viceroy, yet, in the beautiful language of one of
Ireland's greatest orators, are they seen " winging
their eagle flight against the blaze of every science,
with an eye that never blinks and a wing that never
tires." Let us hope we shall hear no more of the
unmanly whine about the destruction of trade and
commerce, but that the Irish people will turn their
attention to develop the industrial resources of their
fertile and beautiful island, and imitate the noble
example of their hardy, independent, and self.relying
brethren of Scotland.

EXHIBITION OF 1851.—We understand that the
season tickets are in course of preparation, and as soon as
they can be prepared the Executive Committee will give
notice where they eau be obtained.