The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-01 00:00:00

would find themselves entirely dependent on the services
cf those gentlemen, whose experience and ability reit-
neat i them thorough judges of the matmer in which o."-
tiei,ll business was conducted, and whose zeal and
ty were at the disposal of the Government in
ofee a whatever its opinions, the Whig servant
of e department as faithfully and energetically serving
it. tory 'Minister of the day as the Tury servant the
; Minister.—(Hear, hear.) With such convictions,
he amid not consent to any resolution that should in-
jure the interests and the prospects of so valuable a
body of men—(Hear, hear)—that should propose to give
them a less reward for their great labour than their
labours intrinsically merited, merely because the price
of provisions might be low at a particular time.—(Hear,
hear.) It was to be borne in mind that the great public
bodies, the East India House, the Bank of Eugland, the
great commercial firms, thoroughly appreciated the ser-
vices of such men, and gave them their fitting reward.
Let the house of Commons once resolve that the same
fitting reward should not be given to the servants of the
State, and an irreparable injury would be at once inflicted
upon the public service; the economy would soon manifest
itself to be a deeply mischievous waste, that should drive
such men as the public service now possessed into pri-
vate service, that extended to them the due reward cf their
enercy, teeir ability, teeir experience, and their labour.
He felt, therefore, on this ground that the motion ought
not to be adopted. But there was another part of the
motion which was perfectly understood by the Hon.
Member for the West Riding, even before it was ex-
plained by the Hon. Member fir Buckinghamshire. It
prop.); e 1 not merely a revision cf ealan es in all the
public departments, but a revision of witees in every
depertment of the public service, with a view to a just
and adequate reduction thereof. It would be impossible
for the Government to accept such a motion—at the Hon.
and Learned Member fur Sheffield (Mr. Roebuck) seemed
to suppose they might have done—without exciting an
expectation throughout the country that they were about
to make a reduction of wages in every department of the
public service. And on what ground was such a reduction
to be made? It had been clearly explained by the Hon.
Member for Buckinghamshire. That ground was
not that the wages of persons employed by
private individuals in the metropolis or elsewhere had
generally fallen, but it was this—that, there was so much
distress in the country arising from the repeal of the
duties on corn and other import duties, that the only re-
source by which they could satisfy the distressed part of
the community was by reducing the wages of every
man in the public department. He (Lord J. Russell's)
answer was that this statement was not true—(Hear,
hear, and cheers)—for, from every account he bad heard
with respect to wages, except in some few of the agri-
cultural counties—(Cries of " Oh, oh!" and laughter
from the Protectionist benches)—there had been no re-
ductions of wages, and the labouring classes of the
country were not now obliged to receive a less remune-
ration for their work than they obtained before the Act
of 1846 was passed.—(Cries cf " Oh, oh!" from the Pro-
tectionists, met by cheers from the Ministerial side.) He
(Lord J. Russell) would not, therefore, give any coun-
tenaece to that delusion. He would not aid the Hon.
Gentleman iu inducing the House to express an opinion
that the country was in such a state of distress, owing
to the adoption of what had been called the policy of
free trade, that it was absolutely necessary for the Go-
vernment to reduce the wages of every labourer in their
employment. His (Lord J. Russell's) belief was, that the
reverse was the fact. He believed that, generally spe eking
—and he hod received a good deal of information on the
:inject from various quarters—the labouring classes
of this country were now iu a better condition than they
had been in before the adoption of that policy—
(Shouts of " Oh, oh!" from the Protectionists,
and cheers from the Ministerial benches)—which some
Hon. Gentlemen opposite so strongly reprobated.—(A
ery of " No, no.") The lion. Gentleman who doubted
this assertion was quite welcome to entertain his own
opinion, but he could not expect him (Lord J. Russell),
entertaining, as he said, an opposite conviction, to assent
to a measure which would disseminate throughout the
country the belief that the House of Commons con-
sidered the' the nation bad been reduced to so distressed
a state in consequtnee of the adoption of free-trade that
it ens absolutely necessary to reduce wages. He (Lord
J. Ressell) had asked the Hon. Member for Bucking-
harnehire, the other night, instead of proposing motions of
thi 4 kind, and voting for the reduction of various taxes,
t ) I:ting forward some direct motion for protection, that
they might have the question fairly tried between
these who thought that system ought to be restored
and those who were opposed to its restoration. The
Hen. Gentlemaa then said that he and his friends had
only voted for these reductions of taxation to save their
sun- aria.; constituents. It appeared, then, that the Hon.
Gentleman, in order to promote the interests of his con-
stiteents iu Buckinghamshire, had felt himself obliged to
Tote fur a reduction of the duty on paper, and of the
du'y upon marine insurances.—(A laugh.) That cer-
tainly seemed an odd mode of relieving the distress of
Buckinghamshire. But the Hon. Gentleman had also
said that this was a kind of campaign, and he told them
he was too skilful a general to take his plan of campaign
from his opponents. He (Lord John Russell) thought
his Honourable Friend the Member for Montrose (Mr.
Hume) should pay duo attention to those words.—
(Leughter.) Whether the plan of campaign adopted
by the Honourable Member for Buckinghamshire was
good or bad, he clearly showed what his object was
—that, whether he marched to the tight or to the left
for the purpose of a feint, his real object was to
is sail the intrenchments of the Free-traders, and to put
as end to that system. The Hon. Gentleman plainly
showed that he and his friends were convinced that they
would be in a minority if they were to bring forward a
motion for the reestablishment of protection, but they
considered that under the guise, or rather disguise, of
motions fur a reduction of taxation, they might secure
the assistance of some allies, who would otherwise shrink
from joining them; and that they might thus at length
attain what they declared plainly to be their object--the
restoration of protective duties. With that object
plainly declared he (Lord J. Russell) thought there
could be little doubt that the Hon. Member for the
ette.t Riding had perceived with sagacity their inten-
ti )n—( Hear, hear)—and had determined not to be witted
by their plan of campaign.
Mutemus clypeos, Danaumque insignia nobis
Aptemus."
" We have no chance of escape," said the Eon. Gentle-
man and his friends, "in our own armour as Tories; but
if we appear as great economists, as great friends of re-
duction, as men who wish to diminish taxation, then we
may cat ry some motion which will be, at all events, ex-
ceedingly hostile to the Government, and thus by certain
roundabout and circuitous modes, we may at length at-
tain our real object—the restoration of a protective duty
upon grain. lie (Lord J. 111158C11) thought this was quite
enough to induce those lion. Members who did nut seek
the attainment of the saute end, not to vote for a resolu-
tien which would effect no real economy—(Oh, oh!)
—which, so far from saving 1,000,000/., would not save
• a single pound of the public expenditure. He doubted
whether, with regard to true economy, they could make
reductions more speedily or more safely than in the
mode proposed by the Government. He believed the
State might find, as the railroad companies to which his
Right Honourable Friend referred had found, that
ii they made sudden reductions in the public
departments they would unsettle their whole es-
tablishments, they would induce many of their
best public servants to look for other em-
pleyments, and they would probably be obliged to buy
good service with larger rewards than they now thought
it necessary to give. He believed the only true mode of
economy was that adopted by the Government,—to make
a gradual revision of the public departments, to treat no
individual with injustice, but in the case of any vacan-
cies not to fill up places which were unnecessary—
(Hear, hear)—and if any other departments besides
those which had been mentioned should hereafter seem
fit subjects for inquiry, to let such inquiry be made.
.In
that manner they would carry into effect, gradually, in-
deed, but with justice to individuals and with benefit to
the state, a large and permanent system of economy.
If, on the contrary, the House were to adopt this resolu-
tion, they would apparently be giving a vote for economy,
-htt, in fact, they would do little for economy, while they
-end tend to promote a further object against which
1 ebelieved a majority of that House—if the question
aas presented to then* plainly arid directly—wore pre-
pared to decide.—(Hear and ceeere)
Sir C BURRELL observed, that as the Noble Lord
haft seated that the wages of agricultural labourers had
see been reduced, he begged to inform him that in the
seuee of England they bad falln t
wasimpossible
that the price of corn could halve. fellet
one-third, as
compared with what it was before the repeal of the corn-
laws, without an fleet being produced on the wages
or labour.
Mr. HENLEY, in reply, said he thought the Noble
Lord (Lord J. Russell) had shown hs t usual ingeuuity in
endeavouring to gather back into his fold a proportion
of the Honourable Gentlemen on the other side,
ou some late occasions, had not shown themselves who,
diti
/toted to act as a very disciplined body,—(A /a g
hs
great offenCe bectaueseHuo-eueC-
The Noble Lord had taken
House
Members ou that (the Opposition) side of the
had voted, on a late occasion, against certain taxes. But
the Noble Lord seemed to have forgotten what happened
tgo
sessions ago, when he proposed to put on an addi-
tional property• tax. There was a sort of growl all
retsina the House—(A laugh)—he could not call it any-
thing else—which warned the Noble Lord that it would
not do to go orocith his plan. And what was the result?
'That the Government were obliged to come down to the
House with amended estimates. The Noble Lord had
opposed this motion as unjust both to the .Ministry and
to the subjects of the proposal.id, "I agree with the mover
The Chancellor of the
Exchequer, however, had sa
his principle, but I will not consent to the motion,
it( cauee it will be a vote of censure upon the Govern-
ment "—(A laugh)—and then, because themotion
was
a vote of censure, the Right honourable
Gentleman did
not face it with a direct negative, but he moved the
previous question. It was urged that the Treasury had
been reformed; but it was forgotten that it had been
reported upon by the Committee on the mitcellane-
ous expenditure two yeats ago. But he (Mr. Hen-
ley) did not bring the Treasury oe the Home-office
especially under the consideration cf the House ; thine
we re in the estimates every year.—(Hear, hear.) No
ono who had opposed the motion had said a word about
any one great revenue department.—([fear, hear.) The
Noble Lord talked about the savings in 1833, but he bad
overstated the amount by nearly 100 0001. The fact was,
that the establishments often paid off with one hand and
took on with another. The Hon. Member for Oxford
had nliuded to a matter which would have been as well
trot brought before the House, a private matter of a
county society, which he said had dissolved itself because
the. members gave up protection. The fact was that it
was a defensive society, and there was nothing left to
defend; there was a difference of opinion as to what
should be done in future, and as to having new rules,and
the society, therefore, came to an end of its own accord.
As to the Noble Lord's taunt, if their (the Protectionists')
views of the recent policy were right, the time would
come when the subjeot would force itself on the
House.—(Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Henley) had not brought