The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-19 00:00:00

illantillg *lnt

LONDON, TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1844.

Lord DENMAN, in a brief speech, called the atten-
tion of the House of Lords to the sentence of death
• passed upon an American for aiding in the escape of
a slave. He did not introduce the subject for the
purpose of interfering with the laws of foreign coun-
tries, but solely from feelings of humanity, and
trusted that the expression of public opinion in this
country, would not be without its effect in the
United States.
The Earl of RIPON moved the second reading of
Ihe Three-and-a-Half per Cents. Annuities Bills.
Lord BROUGHAM cordially approved of the Bills,
and took an opportunity of contrasting . the conduct
of European-Englishmen with that of their repu-
diating brethren on the other side of the Atlantic.
Lord MONTEAGLE cordially supported the motion,
and the Bills were read a second time.

Earl FrrzwinmAist presented a petition from Glas-
gow, relative to the Established Church in Ireland,
which led to some remarks from the Duke of
WELLINGTON, and the Bishop of EXETER. The
petition was laid on the table, and the House ad
journed at a Quarter to Seven o'Clock.
In the Commons, after the presentation of petitions,
Sir WM. BARRON moved for returns relative to
Charitable Bequests since 1830, which were ordered.

In answer to a question from Sir Wm. CLAY, the
:C.arl of LINCOLN said that most of, the ground in •
feuded for the Victoria Park had been purchased.
The• greater portion was in the hands of the Commis
sionerg, but 83 of the 262 acres remained unpurchased,
and as tile proprietors demanded an extravagant sum
a's compensation, the Government were compelled to
refer the mctter to a jury. Ile trusted, however, that
the whole property would be in the possession of
the CommisSioners of Woods and Forests by the au-
/cum, when the Park would be laid out.

Lf.r. WARBURTON resumed the debate on Lord
AsHLOY's motion for restricting the hours of labour
in facto,-ies, and controverted many of the state-
ments mgdo by the Noble Lord ; and, after speeches
from Mr. DECKETT, Sir. GEORGE GREY, Sir JAMES
GRAHAM, Sir ROBERT PEEL, Lord JOHN RUSSELL,
and other Ho,i. Members, the Committee divided,
when Lord ASHLEY'S amendment was carried, leaving
Ministers in a minority of 9.
The House shortly afterwards resumed, and ad-
journed at a Quarter to Two o'Clock.

One of the greatest fallacies that mankind ever
listen ctd to, and yet one to which the so-called
6, farmt ,rs friends" cling with the greatest desperation,
is, that ti..`e corn-laws benefit the farm-labourer. It
is said that with cheap bread, lower wages would be
found—that , tile corn-laws raise and keep up the price
of labour—ana
Ne corn-laws, •that thus the farm-labourer has a di-
rect interest in ti which not only prevent
,
wages, but sustain in, their pre-
a depreciation in 1. 4
sent position, the .
weekly earnings of the agricul-
turist.

Now, what is the fact ~as to the operation of the
corn-laws upon the faral-hthourer ? Shortly this :
they lower the price of the commodity which
he. hag to dispose of his labour ; and
.ey raise the price of the commodity which
he must buy,—bread. In . truth, they sink the
rate of wages, and raise the rate of provisiens.
Cheap food is the source of every comfort to the
farm labourer, and, above all, cheap bread; for one
half of the whole expenditure of the poor labourer is
in bread. When bread is cheap, he has less to
ex-
pend out of his weekly earnings for bread, and of
ctourse more to lay out in the comforts of life. He
.4esi buy more meat, more tea, more coffee, and enjoy
wort of the pleasures of existence than when bread

is dear,'

And 05 to the rate of wages: when was it ever
known, tilt .1v wages rose with the price of corn, and
that the fal ..,n labourer received an advance of remu-
neration for I.tZs work, in proportion to the price of
the corn grown ,on the land he tilled? Never was
such a connection'. ever yet formed between the price
.of corn and then ;ate of wages; the price .of corn
wever yet had any , laue:ice upon the wages of the i
labourer, which al :ways illve been, and always
will be, regulated i '3,1- .cireum.c!,ances of s totally
different nature. I Ile :amount of wages n'epends
Non the supply anti the demand. If the
supply of agricui,` 'mil labour be plentiful,
and greater than the & \letaaand,. no matter what the
price of bread may be, ±l.''e sate of labour will fall in
the market. If, on the (4, 'law:band, the demand be
_greater than the supply, let qxread be ever so cheap,

the wages of the labourer will rise. We see grain
cheap in America, and the rate of wages high. We
see it dear in Ireland, and the rate of wages low.
How is this ? merely because the supply in the one
country is less than the demand; in the other the
demand is not equal to the supply. There is only
one reason for connection between the price of food
and the rate of wages—namely, that wages must bear
some relative proportion to the amount required to
enable a labourer to exist—to live as a Christian is
out of the question, but to exist is necessary. Expe-
rience proves, and always has proved, that cheap
food and plentiful harvests raise wages in price
and money; whilst they increase them manifold, by

the additional comforts, and means of obtaining com-
forts, which they give to the labourer.
It is easy of proof that the wages of the farm-
labourQr are actually lowered by the corn-laws, and
that the protection afforded to the grower of corn,
operates to depreciate the price of labour, and to
lessen the sum paid, to the man'whose time is occu-
pied, in working to raise that very corn. The corn-
laws restrict the demand for manufacturing industry
—they prevent the call for additional labour in
manufactures—they stop the employment which
would be given to a large proportion of our
rural population, in the pursuits of commerce—
they throw back the farm-labourer's family upon
the soil, and compel them either to starve in
indolence, or to compete in the market with their
fellow-labourers on the land. Thus the wages of the
labourer are depressed, the supply of farm-labour
kept up beyond the demand, the possibility of chang-
ing the nature of employment by the poor man pre.
vented, and the farm-labourer compelled to starve
upon the very ground whose fertility gives no return
to him, save that of witnessing the prolific produce of
fields, which he alone is neither to benefit by, nor to
enjoy.

What a Quixotic age, is the one in which we
live—how full of philanthropy, and desire to remedy
evils that afflict our fellow-beings—and yet how
curiously does this Quixotic spirit, this philanthropic
longing, show itself; each man appears to take care
of that with which he has no natural concern, and to
Meddle with that which ought, of right, to be looked
to by ()fifers. Lord ASHLEY legislates for factories,
Mr. COBDEN exhibits the condition of the farm-
labourers ; and the House of Commons, during the
past week, has witnessed the Member for an agri-
cultural county decrying the unjust labour which the
manufacturing poor have to undergo, whilst the Mem-
ber for a commercial town has been seen exposing the
misery, the wretchedness, and the deplorable condi-
tion of the agricultural population. The Honourable
Member for Dorsetshire quotes Stockport as his
authority, whilst the Member for Stockport esta-
blishes his assertions by reference to Dorsetshire.
This is, after all, not a natural state of things. It
would be a far more rational and just pursuit for my
Lord AsnLEv to improve, or labour to improve, the
condition of the farm-labourer on his own estates and
in his own neighbourhood, than to ramble abroad to
exercise that benevolence of disposition which cannot
rest, which must in any case be attempting to do
good, but which might be so beneficially exercised
on his own neighbours, and in his own locality. He
reverses the old adage " that charity begins at home,"
and his charity goes far a field, before it can find
objects upon which to exercise its benign in-
fluence. Now, in point of comfort, of intelligence,
of social condition in every possible way, the manu-
facturing population of this country stands immea-
surably beyond the agricultural population. Go into
their houses, compare their habitations, and you will
at once admit, that the manufacturing labourer is
better housed. Look at their clothes, their house
_ _ _

hold furniture, and the appurtenances to their houses.
Test their ability to read and write, their moral and
intellectual capacities, and then you will indeed
wonder that Lord ASHLEY did not at once devote
himself to the worst fed, the worst provided for, and
the least enlightened class of society, rather than to
one which stands pre-eminently forward in com-
parison with the farm-labourers.
Why is Mr. COBDEN compelled to detail to the
country, by means of the House of Commons, and
through the Press, the condition of the poor farm la-
bourer, which is to be found in the reports of the
very Government Commissioners, and which he proves
by reference to books published by the House of
Commons, and whose authority is indisputable ?
Why is he, not in self-vindication, for he has all
along challenged inquiry, and has avoided all conceal-
ment, but in order to rend the film asunder, which
those who support the corn-laws have thrown around
the agriculturist population, compelled to expose a far

worse state of society, than any which the manufac-
turing districts can show ? Solely and simply, because
the landowners wish to gain credit for a humanity they
do not possess, to obtain favour with the manufacturers

by making :some of them believe that by Time Bills,
they will gain the same wages for ten hours' labour,
that they now get for twelve; and thus they seek to
divert the attention of the working man from the
fact, that the high price he is compelled to pay for
his daily bread, is the real secret of the long-conti-
nued labour which they affect to deplore. If bread
was cheaper, less length of labour would be required
to earn the money to buy it, and thus a repeal of the
corn-laws would be the simplest and mast effectual
Short Time Bill. This the monopolists full well know,
but the knowledge is inconvenient, and the applica-
tion awkward; they wish to keep up the price of
bread ; and so, without regard to the condition of the
agricultural labourers, their serfs of the soil, they
try to get the manufacturers' wages • kept
up by artificial means, whilst they leave
the natural means, a reduction in the price of food,
untried. Wages have no relation to the price of

bread; that fallacy has long since been exploded;
but if the labourer has to earn a loaf of bread by
time work, the dearer the price of bread the longer
he must work. Thus corn-laws are to the labourer

Long Time Bills, and legislation to abridge the hours

of labour, unaccompanied by legislation to lower the
price of bread, is all a farce.
Since Mr. COBDEN entered the House of Commons
facts have not been allowed to be kept hack, and fic.
tions put forth as truths in the way they formerly used
to be. The principles of free trade are beginning to be
felt and understood, and the condition of the farm la-

bourer is now in vain attempted to be identified either

with the corn-laws or with the interests of their sup-
porters, for if cheap bread be of importance to the
manufacturing labourer, it is still more so to the
ploughman, the peasant, and the farm labourer.

The milliners and dress-makers of London, are al-
most the very last class of society for whom, and on
whose account, legislative interference would appear to
be necessary; and yet we doubt very much whether
any portion of our fellow-creatures demands such in-
terference equally with them. Labour, almost with-
out cessation, is the rule, not the exception—time is
unnoticed—work to be performed governs the hours
of labour. Little do ladies of fashion think of the
lives that are sacrificed in preparing the trappings
with which they are ornamented, and little does
Royalty know of the misery which each drawing-
room causes to be inflicted. The necessity for some
enactment to regulate the hours of labour seems now
admitted on all hands; and in no instance is it more
loudly called for, than on behalf of the milliners and
dress-makers of London.

1 Madrid journals of the 10th have been received,
which contradict the capture of BONET, but confirm
1
the accounts published on Saturday of the surrender
of Alicant. General RoNcam, who seems to regret
exceedingly that the insurgent Chief has eluded his
grasp, thus writes on the 6th of March to the Minister
of War :—" In spite of the measures of vigilance
which I had adopted, BONET succeeded in traversing
our lines, with six or eight of his most decided ad-
herents, early in the morning of this day, suffering
nevertheless, the fire of my nearest posts, and the
consequences of my previously adopted precaution
SO that being closely pursued by detachments of
cavalry which I sent off for that purpose, Colonel
CONTEBRAS, of the Lusitanian Regiment, being at
the head of one of them, the greater part of the
officers who accompanied him have already been
taken, and I flatter myself that BONET himself will
come to suffer with these persons the punishment
that the laws have appointed for traitors."

This dispatch is dated a day before that on which
BONET was said to be shot, and we therefore fear that
the first account will prove too true.
Accounts from Carthagena of the same date men-
tion that the insurgents had made a sortie on the

previous day, with a force estimated by the Govern-
ment commander, General PARDERO, at 600 men,
of the two battalions of Girona, which attacked the
extreme left of the line of blockade at Escombreras,
the insurgents protecting the operation by the gre of
four coast-guard vessels which cannonaded the Go-
vernment position. The affair seems to have been a
severe one The besiegers lost several men, and had
two officers killed.
But little business was transacted on the Madrid
Bourse on the 9th. The Three per Cents. closed at
30k for cash, and 30k at 60 days; and the Five per
Cents. at 224 at'6o days.

Most of the Paris papers advert in terms of com-
mendation to the public dinner given to Mr. °TON-.
NELL at Covent-garden. The National forms an
exception, and seems utterly at a loss to comprehend
the political principles of a leader who wants to ex-
tend the rights of almost universal suffrage to the
Irish, while he is constantly attacking the Chartists
for advocating nearly the same measure. In allusion
to this speech, that journal says, " We shall not
analyse this harangue, of which the groundwork and
the form present nothing new or striking. But why
are the Chartists so incessantly the object of O'CON..
NELL'S anger ? Has he forgotten that he himself was
busied in drawing up the Charter which serves as
their watchword ? Is it because the Chartists
aim at serious reforms, which would strike at
the very heart of this abominable British Con-
stitution, of which wealth, bigotry, and birth constitute
so large a part, that there remains nothing else to the
rest but toil and misery ? Could it be also that, in
the ardour :of their faith, they have consulted their
convictions rather than their strength—that they have
boldly proclaimed war in the name of the people ?
Could it be that their propagandism has penetrated
into Ireland, and that, in the midst of this population,
decimatedby pauperism, where O'CONNELL always
preaches up resignation and peace, they have appealed
to less Christianlike and more manly sentiments ? If
this be the cause of O'CONNELL'S angry tirades
against the Chartists, we pity him for exhibiting
them. But it is neither in his power, nor that of any
other man to crush the bud that is growing, or to
prevent the future which is everywhere in preparation."
On the same topic the Constitutionnel has the same

just remarks :
" At the Covent-garden banquet he asked for nothing but
what was within the bounds of sense and reason, nothing but
what is practicable. He kept aside the question of repeal,
which has no possible solution, but enlarged upon the mise-
ries of Ireland, on the partiality of the Government imposed
upon her, and the enormities committed there in the name of
justice; appealing to a jury of Englishmen against the jury of
his own countrymen, by which he has been condemned. He
treated, in short, questions which, without wounding the na-
tional self-love of his hearers, excited a lively interest in the;
breasts of all loyal Englishmen. Consequently, his success
was great, and if he perseveres in this course, if he does not
suffer himself to be led astray into his former aberrations, if
he does not resums his old theme of Repeal, he will obtain a
position against the Tory Ministry much stronger than that"
which his agitation in Ireland gave him, and he will be much
nearer than ever to the attainment for his country of those
just reparations which he claims with such ardent solicitude."
Even the Courrier Francais looks upon the dis-
play with joy, and praises the English nation for its
generosity in forgetting and forgiving Mr. O'CoN-
NELL'S tirades against the Saxons. "Undoubtedly,"
it says, " the nation has shown itself to be more wise
than the Government. Whilst the Ministry only
testified for Ireland a cold pity, well calculated to
prolong enmity, and whilst it seemed to punish a suf-
fering race in the orator who represented them—
whilst it perpetuated discord and antipathy in en-
deavouring to immolate O'CoNNELL to the' union of
the two people, what has England d one ? She has
taken the victim in her arms, and changed the sacri-
fice into triumph, and thereby a sincere reconcilia-
tion of the two nations is prepared. Yes, England
has conspired with the conspirator, agitates with the
agitator; and, on his side, the advocate of the repeal of
the union constitutes himself the preacher up of the
fraternal union of Ireland and Great Britain. Behold

him forming an alliance with the Saxons, and turning
against the aristocracy his eloquent and sarcastic
anger ! Nothing is finer, in our opinion, than this
intervention of England between her Government and
Ireland."

Several of the papers have articles on the conver-
sion of the Three-and-a-half per Cent. Stocks, and
express not a little astonishment at the apathy with
which such a vast financial change is viewed even by
the parties who will suffer by it. These French
writers are beginning to understand the character of
Englishmen, and will at last do them justice. We
have, therefore, great pleasure in giving the following
tribute to their honour, from the Siecle :
" It is assuredly a fine sight, an operation so colossal as
this ; done, as it is, without more trouble or embarrassment

in the finances of the country, than it would cost a banking-
house to effect a simple operation in the funds. This proves
not only the solidity of public credit, when it has for its
basis the wealth of individuals and the good faith of States,
but, still more, it proves the progress that must have been
made in the science of finance, when a measure, which in
the preceding age would have been sufficient to have put a
Government in peril, should now lie a simple matter, which
causes no derangement in the machinery of the Adminis-
tration. Whilst England is entering, with prudent courage
and perfect loyalty, upon the reduction of its debt, certain
Continental States, such as Belgium and the Neapolitan
Government, think to follow its example by simply violating
the engagements which they have contracted with their
creditors. There is the same difference between the proceed-
ings in the two cases that there is between a merchant who
pays his debts and a bankrupt who gives so much per cent. to
his creditors."

The reduction of the interest on the French Five
per Cents. forms also a topic of discussion in the
journals.- A great majority of the Chambers, it is
said, is in favour of the plan, but the Government is
opposed to it. This belief has had a favourable effect
on the Funds. On Saturday the Five per Cents
closed at 121 f. 75c., and the Threes at 83f. 15c.
THE BOURSE—SATURDAY, MARCEL 16.
First Highest Lowest Last
ce.
French Five per Cents. ex di v 121 45 .. 121 Price 75 .. 121r1ce ce
45 .. 121 60
Three per Cents.... • 83 . • 83 15 .. 82 95 .. 83 10
Bank of France..... 3'245 ..3245 ..3240 ..3240
Laffitte Bank, 5,000 f. Sharesso9o ..5090 • .5090 —5090
Belgian Fives lO5l .. 1051 105/ .. 105 f
1840 .... •• • • 1081 • . 1081 • . 1081 • . 1081
1842 •• • • 1091 • • 109; • . 109! • . 109;
Spanish Active •• • • .... 34 • • 34 .. 33/ • . 33/ .
Threes
Portuguese Five per Cents •
Neapolitan. 102 15 .. 102 35 .. 102 15 .. 102 30
Roman ......... ••••.• • • • • • 1061 • • 1061 18.. 106 • • 106
RAILWAY SHARES
Versailles, R•n• • • •• • • • • •• • • 383 75 • • 385
L.B. ....... • 175 .. 175
••• . • •

.. 383 75 .. 385
.. 175 .. 175
.. 890

Rouen ..

_ • • 895
.touen to Havre. • • • • .
685 .. 635 .. 682 50 . • 682 50
Orleans...
Strasburg to Bale • • .... •• • • 245 . • 246 25 . • 245 . • 246 25
RAILWAY SHARES, FOR THE ACCOUNT.
St. Germain •• • • •••• • • • 837 50 • • 837 50 . • 837 50 • • 837 50
Versailles, R.B. .. ••• • • • 385 . • 385 • • 385 .. 385
L.B 176 25 .. 176 25 .. 173 75 .. 173 73
Rouen ....•.
Rouen to; Havre • • ..... • • ... 687 50 • • 687 50 .. 681 25 .. 681 85
Orleans . • .. .. • • • • • • • • • • • • 887 50 • • 891 25 • • 887 50 .. 888 75
Strasburg to Bale.- • • • • 246 25 • • 246 25 • • 24G 25 .. 246 25
Avignon to Marseilles.... • • 768 75 • • 770 • • 763 75 .. 770

O'CONNELL BANQUET AT COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE.
—We have just seen an engraving illustrative of this
memorable public banquet, which, it may be remem-
bered was under the sole superintendence of Mr. Rouse,
of the White Conduit Tavern, who gave great satisfac-
tion by the completeness and liberality of his arrange►
ments. The engraving is very cleverly executed, and
gives a very vivid idea of the splendour and imposing
character of the grand banquet in question. The theatre,
as was actually the case, is represented as crowded to
the ceiling; pit, box, and gallery, all overflowing with
occupants. On the stage, and across the boarded pit,
are placed long ranges of tables, at which the numerous
guests are seated ; and the moment selected by the
artist for representation, is that when the guest of the
evening, Mr. O'Connell, has just risen to return thanks
for the enthusiastic reception he has met with. The
plate is a highly creditable one, and will, no doubt, find
a ready sale among all who were present at the grand
banquet which it commemorates.