The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-25 00:00:00

.BRIGHT ON COMMERCE.

A large number of members of Parliament were enter'
tained on Wednesday night by the Chamber of Commerca
chief amongst whom was Mr. Bright. Sir Stafford North'
cote and the Attorney-General were amongst the speakers,
but Mr. Bright made the speech of the evening, his sub:
ject being commerce and the position the chambers shoal°
take in discussing commercial questions. Sir Stafford
Northcote expressed himself in favour of incorporating
the Associated Chambers, but told the members that they
must shew themselves worthy of incorporation, and that
they they must so constitute themselves as to represent the
:ommercial interest fully.
Taking up the same subject the PnEsionrr of the 800
)f TRADE thought good would accrue to the commercial par
liaments—as the chambers of agriculture had been called"'
if they would give themselves what has been given another
Parliament—a more extended suffrage and a wider represen.
ration, so as to make the chambers more really represen'
tatives of commerce, and their voice, therefore, mere
potent in the offices of Ministers and the Chambers of the
Legislature. He should like to make one suggestion te
this end. Their discussions did not appear to attract the
attention they deserved. If the Associated Ch3l°l
hers met in some large commercial town. Ole"
than London—if they met sometimes at Leeds, 31°.,
:heater, or Birmingham—and at some other period e'
the year, when the newspapers are not so full of
mentary debates, they would exercise through the press
greater influence upon public opinion than they were able
to do meeting at this place, and at this season of the year'
Mr. Bright went on to speak of ocean postage. "It W..„55
not originally intended," said he, "and it is only a 10';
tice that has grown up with our vast extravagance, OW
Parliament should look to the Post Office for a isrgf
revenue. There is no doubt whatever that as between
here and the United States, and between here and the
Australian Colonies, and probably between this and aloes;
every other country, it would be possible for the ros.
Office to negotiate a system by which letters should al
the ocean for a penny. I speak disinterestedly ; Ido 11:
know who suffers more from the penny postage than I u°'
I think I never did an act of such entire disinterestalnee°
in my life as when I sent a subscription to Birminglll4aa
towards the erection of a monument to Sir Rowlan
Hill ; for the Post Office makes my life a burden t°
me. I think that the demand upon the Goya!'
mont for the establishment of an ocean penny postage,
particularly between this country and the United Statet
is one of those things every member of a chainl3e,',
ought to consider, one of the first things he ought to al'
for and obtain. Now I believe it is objected by 00113.
persons that great questions are for the Legislature'
and not for Chambers of Commerce. I should
'43 ask Sir Stafford Northcote what would rilt.
!lament be if it wero not for that public opini
which not only instructs it, but impels it forward? l'efrA
the two greatest questions settled in our time. In I°7,
or 1840 the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, after thre"
days' solemn debate, passed resolutions condevanies
the law which prohibited the importation of corn'
The Manchester Chamber of Commerce might Puy°
gone on discussing some question like the reg7:f
tration of partnerships, and the great question
the repeal of the corn laws, and all the vast re
sill'e'a
that have followed it might have been postpoll
for years or for generations. And on this very last grefeif
question of two years ago, what would have been (10m
it had not been for public opinion? When I went into ""ot
House of Commons, twenty-five years ago, there were Peg-
a hundred men in it who could have been induced to h°o-
voted for the repeal of the corn laws. Within a 811°i0
period you could not have had but a very small vote f
the House of Commons in favour of such an extension
the franchise as we now have. Therefore, unless there.
an outside influence that can fill the sails, why, vt,
ment is no better than a ship without a stern and .111:ier
out canvas, waterlogged, and floating helpless—no he"
than a wreck on what I may call the ocean of tlet
Then (Mr. Bright continued) let these chambers consio
questions of national interest. The one of Custom-11°4o
duties for example. We have got free trade so far 01%
abolition of the laws which, under the pretence of filly,
the exchequer, filled the pockets of monopolists. We /1:10
got rid of that description of Custom-house duty, 1)11' se
some things our Custom-house duties are just as headbrae of
ver, and they raise just as much money at this tan,
they did when we began our labours thirty years 0,5ti0
What the Chambers of Commerce ought t° iet
is this—they ought to follow the example
55d
thirty years ago by the Manchester Chamber, 0
solemnly consider the question whether it he ,11,50
oossible, not to abolish protective duties, because t'ept
are gone, but to reduce or to abolish to a great Oto
remaining Custom-house duties, which if you do ahefoa
you will find in the future just as grand results as 31311 oat
now." Mr. Bright went on to speakof pauperism, arising
of the subjectof local taxation, on which subject 11.1 r. Brigo
complained that he was not able to say what ought to a
been said because of his position. Mr. Bright now arD
of
that the local rating must be decreased by the decrease
pauperism. "If you cannot diminish pauperisni
cannot diminish the poor rate, and those who bear it 110,
must bear it still, or some one else must bear it for the,d
that will probably only extend the discontent svii,ity
now exists. Well, then the question comes, and it is l',`eoo
important question for all of us, why is it there 13 c!
much pauperism in this country? Why does it inor°s6l
If the country gentlemen on both sides of the ilouse,
1
her Majesty's Ministers, and everybody else, tried to 51°03,1,
that question, it will be about the most important ere Par
meat men can put their minds to, and the result wit' t of
haps bring out something that may change the aslseeekc
the country. Is it not surprising that in a population:o,
this of 30 millions of people, crowding upon these eaye
paratively small islands—with all the laws whichl33 , ~o'
land a monopoly—with near £70,000,000 sterling of
Lion, without including local taxation, being Ou; eo
raised from these 30 millions, one-half of whom 11°c, the
property—the great mass of the working classess eb'
are,
country have been left, in addition to bearing their °oil,
or more than their share, of these enormous burden°, id
out the means by which they could be instructed ace
civilised ? Why should members of Chambers of Commo
in manufacturing and commercial towns shut their eroe
questions like this? Why should they, who are the
a del
employers of labour, and who come constantly oh°
and hourly into contact with the labouring classes, O not
know the evils which I have but faintly described'torS
discuss them in their local legislatures, their local orers of
of opinion, and ultimately the creators and direeteo.
Parliament? Why should they not expand thellisotae,
to the greatness of these great questions, and he e... 44
autJ.Y
as they may become, truly the saviours of their Co vat,
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, who followed Mr. Pr Well
toolcup the subject of bankruptcy. They would deo,
to make the lives of the law officers a burden to the% the
they had a good Act of Bankruptcy. Ilitbertviei°
Government had been most anxious to ascertain tue seh°
of commercial men upon the subject, because laWYers;pore
had most to do with the settling of such bills, were thief
or less prejudiced in favour of keeping things as aecl
were., With a view to correct this, he roe'
the Lord Chancellor had recently received nut of
sous deputations from commercial men on the snhieto, of
bankruptcy. It would be scarcely respectful to the o°liti of
Commons if he described at length the principal P°l„greea
the Bill, but he might be allowed to say that he
that
rtitviroy
with a gentleman who had recently spoken
necessary the bankruptcy broom should be 1111 eto not
°la
new broom, and give a clean sweep. The law st Ds
be reformed by any alteration of details ; it 111 1353
reformed altogether. Our neighbours in Scotlaneoder
substantially succeeded. It had been the aux-lei-Ist or.
your of the Lord Chancellor and himself to adal) sc
aoeateli
than bad hitherto been the case our system to the the
system. They proposed as far as possible to le ditoro
administration of bankruptcy in the bands of the ere
and to separate it from the judicial function

,
printed among : st been
PARLIAMEN
tThAeRYBILLS —Two bills have ju_ b
tedious formulae which used to occupy able for their parliamentary papers which are ttclicoe;
extreme brevity. In place a to 'cipo.
iptiii::Frllt4
two or 010
we have now
It is
measures stated brieflY .. . „ a
special recommendation half a page
mendisateiovnidfeonrt
tthheatleatdheisrsneowf
warfare, since the fewer the clauses the fewer the P
00,
of battle,, and the less tedious the progress throngb : the
mittee. One of these bills proposes the rot:ls-;
seep
celebrated Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, the other
01 , the
to remove the electoral disabilities of the officers 00
cti
Inland Revenue department. It seems that the f ° .00
bill with this object retained some exceptional reetri
which it is thought desirable should be removed,
en
accordingly it is now proposed that the enactraleed.
contained in the schedule to that Act should be rep 3
01.0
THIEVES OF NEW YORK.—The extremely seipua
thieves
sentences which Recorder Hackett has been Passing
and burglars will have an effect if kept 14,,d0re
enough. He was interrupted yesterday in his proc' 1/0
by the adjournment of the court on account of gr.l3o`oo.
fdoeiath ; but on the previous day he had a busy And slicop
time. He gave Pat Martin ten years for htlriloore
and for being a professional burglar; he gave pat INvi gli
20 years at hard labour for robbery, and for he" 13000
"eery bad reputation ;" he gave My; 're and J°lllleio
mho
gave schoro
five years each for grand larceny, and
and Crawford each four years ansiax months for theciet/t
hoe was
In passing one of the sentences he rerosrice er, t
was determined to endeavour, as far as ill hilq°,vpt Oa
put
daresdtop to crime in this city. If we odd b. 10" 10
durin
..",-theyear....by
or a thousand of the worst of these ;1.004
l_ock_ed. up, the crimes of the city would be "`"niA
. - _ ---- • ,
fiveor ten thousand. —4O. .15-k - - -
w mu Ave_ •