The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-20 00:00:00

Otentuavtn

LONDON, THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1850.

It was quite unnecessary for the honourable
Member for Manchester to offer any apology for
bringing under the notice of the House the impor•
tant subject which he on Tuesday night introduced
with so much ability. It related to a question in
which every British citizen is deeply interested, and
on which the welfare and prosperity of the influential
constituency which the Honourable Gentleman re-
presents in Parliament mainly depends. It is impos-
sible to estimate the extent of the mischiefs that would
result from an inadequate supply of the raw material
of our cotton manufactures. Thousands and tens of
thousands of men, women, and children would be de-
prived of employment, and would suffer the utmost
privations and misery until they took refuge in the
various workhouses. An enormous amount of capital
would remain idle and unproductive, and a
commercial crisis would ensue, exceeding in
magnitude that under which the country
suffered so severely in 1847 ; many firms of high
respectability and undoubted solvency would be re-
duced to a state of bankruptcy ; the national re-
venue would fail, and ruin and almost unparalleled
distress would prevail on every side. We should no
longer have the purchasing power to pay for the pro-
ductions of other nations, and we should be con-
tented to do without many things which, from long
usage, have become articles of almost primary neces-
sity. No less than two millions of our population
are engaged directly in the manufacture of cotton
fabrics ; and, in addition to the vast quantity of these
articles consumed in the home market, the declared
value of the cotton goods exported during the pastyear
amounted to no less than 26,000,0001. sterling, or four
per cent. on the entire exports of the country.
But, notwithstanding these undoubted facts, we
have hitherto evinced a culpable negligence and
apathy with respect to the supply of this most im-
portant article. We are satisfied to place our chief;
if not our entire, dependence on the Southern States
of America, where the crop is altogether the result of
slave labour. If any unfortunate misunderstanding
should interrupt our amicable relations with that
country, or if, what we so anxiously desire, slavery
should be abolished throughout the entire western
hemisphere—if, in fact, any of the numerous con-
tingencies to which the article is peculiarly liable in its
cultivationshould take place, we should too late deplore
the fatal consequences of our own blindness and fatuity.
Should these contingencies not reach to the total
theab-
apeonucneao,fthe raw material, but merely an increase in
the cost 'nice thereof, to the extent of 2d. or 3d. per
consequences, although not altogether in-
surmountable, would still be very serious, and such
as no man of ordinary prudence and foresight would
be willing to encounter.
If no adequate remedy could be provided for this
meet the danger we could
,p,ohaasizbaltde eovfilthewedies,lLQutiod
contented to stand the
not possibly avert. But it is well known that among
the colonies and dependencies of the British empire
there are districts admirably adapted for the growth of
cotton, and that if due encouragement were afforded
removed
to the cultivators, and that the obstacles which at
Bpresentjudiciousirn ped
regulations,
its
w e shouldwere b
by wise
and
rendered in-
dependentise of the American States,
price.ates Why,aodfrom thenany
undue or unreasonable increase of
is the golden opportunity neglecteddop?t
thel Vhnyecedsosawry
precautions against any possible e
omit, while there is yet time,w
to
failureaenwe shall h a
? Thebi t
ttei
rml
ye
may arrive, and that speedily, when
rue our criminal negligence.
cotton,
arelt well adapted atphtaetdthe o climateth e
cultivation
soil
also those of the West India islands. Indeed, a con-
siderable quantity of cotton, about GO,OOO bales, wasof
Austral
Australia
as
of
annually imported from thence in former years, a
quantity which has, however, latterly fallen
ma-
terially, so that we now receive an average of 8,000
annum only, bales per off
y, or about one•eighth of the
former amount. This deficiency has been occasioned
partly because sugar and coffee were found or be-
lieved to be more profitable, but chiefly from the do-

LONDON,

ficient supply of labour in these islands. The latter
cause would also prevent any great supply being ob-
tained, for many years at least, from Australis. Some
stimulus may be applied to the cultivation—the pro-
duce may be quadrupled, or even more, but still we
cannot look for a sufficient quantity from these
colonies to compensate for any deficiency in the
American supply.
But it is otherwise in our Anglo-Indian territories.
Everything essential to the cultivation is there—the
climate and soil are admirably adapted for the crop,
and labour can be had to any extent that might be
required at a very moderate rate of remuneration.
But certain fiscal regulations have interfered with
the production, and led to the very marked decline
that has taken place cf late years in this most im-
portant branch of our Indian commerce. From
the heavy charges to which the ryots were
exposed, the enormous expenses of the land-
carriage in bringing it to market, the loss
of time in the transit of the cotton, and the de-
terioration it undergoes in quality from exposure to
the weather, the dust of the roads, sweating of the
animals, and other drawbacks incidental to the sys-
tem of conveyance, the fair profit of the producer and
of the merchant was so far reduced as to withhold
the ordinary inducement for its cultivation.
These causes may, however, be removed, and the
object of Mr. BRIGHT'S motion was to obtain such an
inquiry as would lead to an improvement in the
system. For that purpose he proposed that "an
address should be presented to her MAJESTY, pray-
ing her MAJESTY to appoint a commission
to proceed to India to inquire into the ob-
stacles which prevent an increased growth
of cotton in that country, and to report upon any cir-
cumstances which may injuriously affect the econo-
mical and industrial condition of the native population,
being cultivators of the soil within the presidencies of
Bombay and Madras." This was, unfortunately, not
granted, but the very discussion must be highly bene-
ficial, and will necessarily lead at no distant period to
the ameliorations which the Honourable Gentleman
so earnestly desires, and which are so essential to the
welfare and prosperity of the United Kingdom.

The prospects of fiscal reform continue to brighten.
The oppressive, unequal, and—notwithstanding the
decision of the Court of Exchequer, to which we
alluded last week, we venture to add—illegal assess-
ment of the land-tax, which has recently been brought
to light, has excited a feeling throughout the country
which cannot subside until full justice be rendered
to the parties so deeply aggrieved under the exist-
ing system. Inquiries have been instituted into the
origin of the impost, the nature of the property on
which it was levied, and the purposes for which it
was to provide. We have thus discovered the
mode in which indirect has been substituted
for direct taxation, by which the owners
of accumulated and realised property have
contrived to shift the burden from their own
shoulders and to cast it on those whose only inhe-
ritance is their labour, and who earn their daily
bread by the sweat of their brows. We are thus en-
tering on the right path. The true questions are
being raised for the consideration of the people. The
good seed is sown, and will bring forth its fruits in
due seaseei. When the next general election is about
to take place a greater importance will be attached
to the opinions of candidates on this deeply interest-
ing subject than was the case on any former occasion.
On the hustings the matter will no longer be passed
over sub silentio ; nor will the people be satisfied with
vague and empty declamation, or unmeaning assu-
rances that the claimants for their suffrages are dis-
posed to bestow full and attentive consideration on
the disputed points. Men who aspire to represent
important constituencies, and to make laws for the
governance of their fellow-citizens, should not remain
undecided on a question of primary importance, affect-
ing the prosperity and happiness of the great body of
the people more deeply than any other that could be
promulgated. They must be prepared to express
their views clearly and distinctly, without qualification
or evasion, to state whether it is their purpose that
" the many" should still be plundered for the benefit
of the privileged few, or whether they are prepared to
advocate honestly and sincerely those fiscal changes
which are alike demanded by justice and expediency.
Four years since, on the dissolution of the last
Parliament, we earnestly called upon the various
constituencies to demand an exposition of their
opinions on this topic from the several candidates, to
make it, in fact, the touchstone for testing the poli-
tical faith of the aspirants to Parliamentary distinc-
tion. Unfortunately, however, they remained in-
different and apathetic. Their recent triumph over
protection and monopoly—the abolition of the
iniquitous bread-tax, had cheered the hearts of the
industrious classes. Free trade, or rather what was
termed " free trade," had been obtained. The great
principle had been affirmed that taxation
should thenceforward be imposed for purposes
of revenue only, and not of protection. The efforts
of the people were directed to consolidate their acqui-
sitions and to strengthen their position, rather than
to achieve new victories—to defeat any convulsive
efforts of the reactionaries, than to make further pro-
gress. Our warnings were therefore unheeded, and
no step was taken to reform the " National Exchequer,"
and to enforce a more equitable distribution of the
public charges, so, that every man should contribute
his proportion of the State expenditure, secundung
statum et facultates—according to his position in so-
ciety, and the stake he possessed in the country.
Since that period, however, a commercial
crisis of no ordinary magnitude has occurred.
Mercantile houses of undoubted solvency and
unblemished reputation were reduced to the
verge of bankruptcy and ruin. Many, too
many, yielded to the pressure, while those who were
enabled "to weather the storm" will long have
cause to remember the enormous sacrifices to which
they were compelled to submit in order to maintain
their position. The working classes sustained their
full share of the general suffering. Production, if
not altogether suspended, was exceedingly limited ;
employment was difficult to be obtained even at re-
duced wages. The causes of these untoward results
were closely investigated, and were ascertained to be
chiefly owing to our iniquitous "monetary" and
" fiscal" codes—the first depriving the people of a
measure and representative of value adequate
to the wants and exigencies of the country,
keeping back the " very life blood of industry,"
the latter operating to the prejudice of our commerce
and manufactures, and thus restricting employment
and reducing its remuneration, so that a " fair day's
wages could not be obtained for a fair day's work ;"
and also casting upon the scanty earnings of indus-
try a more than due proportion of the public expen-
diture—the over-toiled operative who gained by un-
ceasing labour a pound per week, having to pay about
40 per cent. of his income in taxation, while the
wealthy fundholder need not, if he does not please to
do so, pay more than 2/. 18s. 4d. per cent., and, even
under the most favourable circumstances, give more
than 10 or 12 per cent. on his easily acquired
income. The admirable publications of the Liver- '
pool Financial Reform Associations, and the ex-
ertions of the different bodies that sprung up
throughout the country in alliance with that patriotic '
society, have further stimulated the people, and a
spirit has sprung up which will lead to the most
important results. The light at last is beginning to
appear in the horizon. Ample materials for the
proper settlement of these vexake questioner are
accumulating, and the fiscal code must speedily be
adapted to the advanced spirit of the age and the
real wants of the community.

The Bishop of London has licensed the Rev. A. F.
Pettigrew, M.A. to the incumbency of Brompton .Chapel ;
the Rev. Henry Fyffe, M.A., to the curacy of St. Paul and
St. Barnabas, Pimlico; and the Rev. S. Wood, 8.A., to the
curacy of St. Thomas, Charterhouse.
THE OLYMPIC THEATRE. •- We understand a
fashionable house is expected at this theatre to-morrow, to
witness an amateur performance in aid of the funds for the
Exhibition of 1851. The amateurs will be assisted by the
professional talent of Miss Fanny Vining and Miss Florence
Grey. The pieces are Love's Sacrifice and PlanchCs Charles
the Twelfth.

WEST CORNWALL RAILWAT.—The Committtee on
this company's Bill for a branch at Hayle, modifications of
agreement with the Hayle shareholders, and for alteration of
gauge, have declared the preamble proved.
COMMERCIAL GAS AND POPLAR GASLIGHT COM-
PANIES.--The Committee report that the standing orders in
these cases have been complied with.
OSTEND, JUNE 7.—The lion. Mr. Walpole, Lady
Neville, H. R. Neville' Esq., and Captain R. Carnac,
arrived on Saturday, by the General Steam Navigation Com-
pany's steam-ship Sir Edward Banks, from London.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
If any additional evidence were needed to prove
that the vote of the House of Lords on Monday was
dictated by foreign Powers, to serve foreign as con-
tradistinguished from English objects, and to force on
a reluctant SOVEREIGN and a reluctant country a now
Ministry, nominated by the Absolutist Powers of
Europe, and bound to betray English to Absolutist
interests on all occasions, it would be found
in the official announcement of that division
by the French re•actionary Ministry in their
official journals. The Petrie has the following :
" THE BRIIISII MINISTRY IN A MINORITY.
" The Government has received the following tele-
graphic dispatch, dated London, this day, 18th JuEe,
four o'clock in the morning:—
" ' THE CHARGE D'AFFAIRES OF FRANCE T 3 THE MINISTER

OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. Y.
" The motion of Lord Ste.nley, relative to the affairs
of Greece, has just been adopted, after a sitting of
eleven hours' duration, by a majority of 37.
" The result surpasses the expectations of the men
the most disposed to believe that the Ministry would
find itself in a minority.'"

The last phrase clearly establishes a solidarite between
the Tory peers and the foreign Cabinets. It would
likewise go far to show that some of the foreign
diplomatic body in this country have established in-
timate relations with the Opposition in Parliament.
It will be remembered that the same Tory party
wasted a vast deal of virtuous indignation, some two
years since, on Sir HENRY BULWER and the Pro-
gresistas of Spain, when it was supposed that some
such relations as those now subsisting between the
Tory Opposition and the Embassies of France and
Russia had been established between the English
Manliss,h Opposition at Madrid.
the Debuts and Ordre, exult
commencementin of justice and re-
paration for France," that is to say, as the inaugura-
tion of a system of policy which shall bind England
to aid the Absolutist Sovereigns of the Continent in
a crusade for the restoration of monarchy in France,
as the recommencement of the coalition of 1793, of
which England will pay
all cost, while the Bourbon
family reap all the advantage.
The Constitutionnel, the organ of the Elysie, is
much more rational than the Bourbonist journals.
It observes merely that Lord PALMERSTON must get
a vote of approbation from the House of Commons, or
retire. The French Ministers take to themselves the
entire credit of the success of Lord STANLEY'S motion.
The Patric has the following on the subject of the
Dotation Bill :—.

6‘ The report of M. Flandin will probably be read to
the committee to-morrow (this day). If any modifica-
tions in it should be considered necessary, the report,
instead of being deposited on Thursday, will only be
deposited on Friday, and, in that case, the discussion
will commence on Monday. In the not very probable
event of the report of M. Flandin being adopted to-
morrow by the committee, the discussion will commence
on Friday. '

The same journal says—
" The five members forming the minority of the com-
mittee have resolved to cause to be inserted in the report
a statement of the opinions they expressed in the course
of the deliberations. One of them, M. Lefebvre Durufli,
will state in the tribune the motives which have induced
them to support to the end the Government Bill, and
will support the amendment against the resolution of the
majority of nine."

M. EMILE DH GIRARDIN has announced that, in
consequence of his election as representative for the
Bas Ithia, he has resigned the directorship of La
Presse.

The Assembly on Tuesday rejected the first clause
of the proposition of M. NADAUD, the Socialist repre-
sentative, on the subject of the Association of Work-
men, by a majority of 296 to 208.
The Ordre states that, in the question of the Presi-
dential dotation, M. DR KERDREL and M. DE DAL-
MATIE, both members of the Committee, intend to
propose that the whole sum demanded shall be voted,
either for the payment of the expenses of installation,
or for the two years 1849 and 1850: and it adds that
it is very probable that one or other of these propo.
sitions will be voted by the Assembly by way of
compromise.

PARIi BOURSE, JUNE ls.—Five per Cents., 94f.
10c. ; Three per Cents., 56f. 50c.; Bank of France,
2,240 f.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE. JUNE 19.
The only sale to-day was—Sambre and Meuse, 2X.

SPAIN.

Madrid journals of the 14th have arrived.
Large bodies of troops are concentrated round the
capital, to be ready in case of any emergency that
may arise during the QUEEN'S confinement.
The central committee of the creditors of Spain,
formed to negotiate with the directing junta of the
public debt upon the subject of their claims, have
issued a circular to their brother creditors, urging
them to unite in their several localities to consult
upon the best measures to be adopted in the present
positio❑ of their affairs, and to communicate the re-
sult of their deliberations to them (the central com-
mittee), who will be glad to receive their advice in
carrying the object of their institution into effect.
MADRD, BOLSA, JUNE 14.—Three per Cents., 34f
346 ; Five per Cents., 13121. Exchange on London,
50 30 money.