The Sun.
London, England, 1821-03-03 00:00:00

IRISH- QUARRIES.

The Earl of BLESINTON had a question to
put to the Noble Viscount at the head of the
Admiralty. In consequence of the part which
he (the Earl of B.) had lately taken on Irish
affairs, a proposition had been made to him, to
aSk for the applicants the power of working the
quarries of Granite in Ireland, in a very effica-
cious manner, and at a cheaper rate than those
in this country. As he understood that in a-
few days the Noble Viscount would have to con-
tract for Granite for the works at Sheerness, he
wished to know whether his Majesty's Govern-
ment were inclined to avail themselves of the offer
made to work the quarries in Ireland.
Viscount MELVILLE begged to assure the No-
ble Earl, that Granite could Abe got in this coun-
try as cheap, or cheaper, and of a-better quality,
than that in Ireland.
AGRICULTURAL DISTRESSES.

Lord held a Petition from the'
Owners and Holders of Land in the County of
Suffolk, stating the state of distress to which they
were reduced, and praying that the House woulth
institute an inquiry into the causes of that dis-
tress. Though he confessed that he did not think
Agricultural distress could be attributed to only
one cause, the state of the corn laws, yet he
thought that the operation of those laws had been
mischievous. The subject was worthy of the
deep consideration of Parliament, when it was
found that those very persons for whom those laws
had been exclusively passed, disavowed and dis-
claimed having received any benefit from them.
The immense introduction of foreign corn into this
country in 1817, 1818, and 1819, must have been
attended with serious injury to British farmers,
who were obliged, by the burthens imposed
upon them, to raise their corn at an expense ex-
ceeding by two-thirds that of foreign cultiva-
tors. If the position of his Noble Friend at the
head of the Treasury were just, and that excess
df production was the cause of the distress, it
might easily be conceived how deeply that dis-
tress must have been aggravated by such au ad-
dition of foreign grain. But that evil was small
when compared with those produced by the ware-
housing system. His Noble Friend had said,
that if abuses existed in that system they might
be made the subject of inquiry, but was it not
fair to call upon those who advocated the excel-
lence of that system to prove that it was harm-
less, and that the many temptations which it held
ont to introduce Foreign Corn into the country
were always resisted. If the Warehouse Clause
was eluded, it must be obvious that the protec-
tion intended to be given to English farmers was
entirely illusive. This part of our system well
deserved the serious consideration of Parliament,
and he trusted would obtain it in the Committee
which he understood had been appointed in the

other House. It ought to command the deepest
attention, when an universal spirit of murmur and
discontent, and almost of disaffection to the ex-
isting state of things, was found to prevail amongst
those who had hitherto been considered as re-
presenting the sound and moral part of the com-
munity.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL did not rise to pro-
mote a discussion on this important subject. He
would only protest against the principles laid
down by his Noble Friend, that the onus of prov-
ing that abuses did not exist in the Warehousing
system, lay upon those who advocated its utility.
He admitted the importance of the consideration
whether the warehousing system ought or ought
not to be preserved. If abuses existed in it, he
also admitted that they ought to be investigated
and removed. But he thought himself authorised
to say, that a Committee had been appointed by
the other House upon that subject, and that the
very members who had gone into it with a firm
belief in the existence of those abuses, had come
out entirely convinced that no such abuses did
exist. In fact, corn was an article of so bulky

a nature, that if there was but common diligence
and common honesty in the officers attached to
the warehouses, its secret introduction was im-
possible. But his Noble Friend wished to get
rid of the warehousing system altogether. And
what would be the necessary consequences of

such a riddance ? The sudden impoverishment
of the Revenue of this country. Warehonses

would be established at, Dunkirk, Calais; and
Ostend, with nearly equip facilities for the intro-
duction of grain into England, and the advantages
of the system, and of the trade, would be trans-
ferred to those ports ar I to a foreign country. He
hoped therefore that his Noble Friend would
be less attached to that idea.
The Earl of LIMERICK contended that the sys-
tem, as carried on, had produced infinite mis-
chief. The quantity of grain introduced in three

months, had not been leis- than 7 or 800,000 quar-
ters, and the result had been great injury to the
Irish farmers. The trade in oats had in particu-

lar suffered so deeply, that it had not yet re-
covered. If the Warehousing System were to

continue, it ought to be carried on in a fairer

Manner.

The Earl of LIVERPOOL observed, that the
Abjection of the Noble Earl did not apply to the
Warehousing System, but to the mode of taking
the averages. If there was some fraud in that
operation, it ought certainly to be corrected, and
that was the object of a proposition' lately sub-
mitted to the other House.
The Earl' 'of DA.aNLEir entered his protest
against indulging the country with hopes that
any relief could be derixed from an alteration in
the Corn Laws. As to the \Warehousing System,
he agreed with the Noble Earl opposite,that if it
were carried on fairly, it would be most impro-
per to deprive the country of its advantages. With
respect to the injury sulfered by the growers of
oats, that had been occasioned' not by the Ware-
housing System, but by a trick of the great Ca-
pitalists, who had raised the prices in such a man-
ner as to make the averages appear greater than
they really were. Let no hopes be holden 'out to
the people of the country that distress could be
removed by any measure of the kind alluded to.
The only effectual mode was to go to the root of
the evil, and to diminish the existing load of taxa-
tion. Ile • firmly believed that if both Houses
would set themselves actively and sincerely at
the work, great retrenchments might be made in
the public expenditure, and consequently in the
taxes ; and that under a system of economy
the country would recover gradually from her
distresses.
Lord ERSKINE agreed with the Noble Lord
who had just sat down, that much depended on
the amount of the taxes ; but he must protest
against the opinion that it was indulging the peo-
ple of the Country to take into consideration the
numerous petitions with which their Lordships'
table had been loaded. It was insulting the
people to tell them that no remedy could be
found, when at the same time inquiry was de-
nied. If a Committee were granted to take
those things into consideration, he was convinced
that the people would be satisfied. If the phy-
sician said, " I can do nothing for you," the pa-
tient might surely claim that he should at least
feel his pulse. But his Noble Friend would not
even allow the form and ceremony of inquiry ! He
thought himself of proposing the appointment
of a Committee, and if it were true that all the
causes of distress resolved themselves into the
load of taxation, where could that fact be more
satisfactorily ascertained than in a Committee.
The Earl of DARNLEY had never meant to
say, that it was indulging the people to take
their petitions into consideration) for he had
always regarded those petitions as entitled to the
most serious attention on the part of Parliament