The Sun.
London, England, 1826-05-12 00:00:00

CORN LA*.Se

1 The. Earl of MALMESBURY rose for the purpose of moving
the resolution of which he had given notice, and in doing se' he
assured their Lordshipe, that he had undertaken the task with
i `great pain and embarrassnient. It was most painfdl to him
to differ on that occasion from some. Noble Friends with whose
opinions he had generally coineided, and his embirrasament
1 , arose from the necessity of discussing the important sand delicate
I question of the Corn Laws, at a period such as the present, when
I distress pie' ailed in the country. He regretted that the sub-
s ject had not been taken' ttp.by some other Noble, Lord, of greater
.abilities: but what enaotireged him' to Midathe the task was,
1 ' the indulgence which he had experienced on former occasions;
but if be should not smeccefl in the ddly which he had 'undertaken,
•he hoped the failure wddid not bnatirilosted td the cause, which
he thought was that of justice, but to the insufficiency of the
"advocate By some it might he considered that the ertarse which
he was pursuing was an attempt ii, prejudice the question; but
I sin his opinion it wait best for the Home to display its own serai-
-1 -meats on any important measure before it caine to it in the shape
Of a Bill from another place. Two mein/sires were then before
the other House of Parliament, the one to admit bonded corn to I
be released, and the other giving a discretion to Government to
admit the importation of grain at a fixed duty. If their Lord-
ships were to make any Alteration in the Bill, he understood
it must fall to the ground.-44 No, no," from Lard Liver-
pool.)—His Lordship then said 'he would not pursue that
branch of the subject but he would rake a short review of what
had been done respecting the Corn Laws within the last year.
The President of the Board of Trade had, in his speech
iu March, 1825, when he was opening tO Parliament a scheme
of liberal policy, had stated as his opinion, that the existing Corn
Laws should berbvised, bet that he had no intention of proposing
such alteration during that Session. However, in two Months
after that declaration, there were tdo measures introduced into
,Parliament, by one of which 483,006 quarters of bonded corn
t Were admitted into the market for home consumption. The se-
etand was what was called the Canada Corn Bill, by which the
American Colonies would be placed on a footing,with the mdther
country. It was the' pleasure of theit' Lordships to limit the pie.
'lions of the latter measure, and' without further afferation.
That was the dtate of the laws at the terminntinn of the kat Sell.
afons of Parliament. At that time the country was in a state of
Unexampled prosperity. M the cOrinneneement of the present
Sessions it had been announced that all intention of interfering
with the Corn Laws was to be abandoned jbr the present.
Sonions, but it was intimated that some • vintage' would be
proposted in the next. In that course he had agreed, be-
ean* he though the 4git.ittioti of the subject would bring into
competition the two great interests of the country. About
Pets days ago, when the distress* which preVailed in the country
assumed the, character of disturbance, a Noble Martinis (Laws..
down) had soggested the propriety of ad;•Sncing it sum of
money front tin.' public purse fes the purpose of relieving the sof-
ferers, and urged upon his Majetityli Mittisifirs to accede to the
,Ropositiou. The Noble' Earl, at the head of his Majesty's
'treasury, stated, in replfr, that there were two sources front
which the sufferers might
.expect relief. The one was private
subscriptions, which Were in themselves a very . indifferent
source, and the second Was the Poor Laws. And upon them
.be (Lord Malmesbury) thought that the greatest reliance would ..,
.be placed, and in reference to the Poor Laws he did not think -
he stated too much when he said that the eevea-tenths of the
'Peer Rates were paid gy the landed interest. The' Noble Earl,
(Liverpool)'declined aeseding to the advance of Oldie money;
but he had proposed the two measures which were then nfider
consideration. The one was similar to one of the measures of
:the last yssr, for admitting tunnies] corn into, On market
fbr home consumption, and on this' point he would *wish to-as-
certain whether such corn was to be admitted at' once into the
market, or whether a notice was intestled to be given of .itch a
prOemling. His Lordship Made no objection to that measure; but
he thought there would be no - inconvenience of giving a notice
or six weeks, or some such, before a large quantity of grain would
he admitted into the smirker; The second had been originally to
give a discretion to his Majesty's Ministers to admit foreign corn
On the payment of a duty of 128. per quarter; but that was mo-
(IAA nap a measure less'objeetionable, because more limited. It
was Stu his intention to oppose the first of them measures, but to
the latter, modified as it was, that his objections applied. Ile
would now state, front official returns, how much foreign corn had
hive:introduced into this country since the let of last June. The
bonded corn admitted under the Act of the last Session amounted
to 4113,000 quarters ; and that front Canada to 95,000, snaking
528,000 quarters. If to this'were to be added the 300,000 quar-
ters now in bond which were to be released by the present mea-
sure, there would be a total of 828,000 querutaerNiron eleven
Shoal their Lordships grant the power called for by Isis MaiejAY'l
cite
Ministers to introduce 500,000 additional quarters, the w months.
h whole it t 1
pornitinn in the course of one year, would enema to no )(stratum
1,928,000 quarters, Now the regular importation of fefeign
corn at-thinner periods.bad been about 460,000 quarters a yiasr, so
that even if the House only Passed the Bill for allowing the *duds.
sion of foreign corn, there would still have been imported aatauch
in eleven. months as lira year'and an hell in ordinary times,., The

Urn:"

next point ram the possibility, or the probability, of a scarcity; and
in order to show that no such danger was to be apprehended, he
would compare the averages of former years with those of the two
`last, and in order that all sbuutd be perfectly fair, he would ex-
clude years of war from the c:irnparison. The average price of
'cOrn in the month of Nova iffier, 1816, was 665. per, quarter. In
;May, 1616, it was 755.„ being a rise of nearly 20s. In Nov.
1816, it wits 88s., and ikMay, 1817, it reached 106si,,end that
was a year of scarcity. to May, 1811:, the average *as only
60s. or 469. lees th7iti: in Ail 7. On the 14th of Nov. 1626, two
:mouths after the harvdt, it was 655. 4d., and in Pebruaty, P;2t;,.
• five monihtefter the harvest, it was 60s. bd. Now that eight
months had. elapsed since the corn of last year bad Wen reaped,.
arid when the price might he supposed to have inerease4l„ it was
ohly 60s. per quarter,
.or 6s. less than immediately, after the
fuirvest. Rejoin!, learnt, indeed, notwitlistanding ishat bad been
said about thkgetteral emptinilss of wheat granaries, that in the
counties of Isfncdljt, Norfolk, and St4rt, there,, was an abinaLmt
.quantity of corn on hand, and no Symptoms of a deficiency of
'took.' Was there any thing in the'#ievy which be had take,n to
jtiatikany apprebensiOik ofalappriatehing„ scarcity,,., or to, tender
the present unia4ure necesSiry? The theft Objectionaldejeoints in
that measure, bifrever, ivere the Manner and time at'which it
was pile All parts of the country were. joininOn the cry
that the rXisting distress was caused by. the Corn .lan';i-s. 'lf he
thought so he Would unite with any other Noble Lorttin solicit-
ing their reE.,al; but Itefore measures iere adopted. ..tite effect of
which was to admit the charge, he wished for iiteluiry to show
whether it/was founded' He learned from the master manufac-
hirers that the present distress was ocedsioned by Combination
:from the;Workinen that it arose from machinery. Old fashioned
people like himself Thought that it might proceed from the new
commercial policy adopted, and the unprincipled spec:o44ms to
which it had given rise. Others ascribed it to the state Of the
currency. Was it not proper, therefore, when ,here were tiff
many different opinions, to pcertain what was its ieul cause,
stead of fastening at once of the Corn Laws, which he was con-
vinced hail nothing whatever to do with it ? And ought not inquiry
to be conceded when the measures of boa Majesty's Ministers were of a
nature to confirm the unfounded outcry which had prevailed? Ile
would plislge himi6lf that in a week, and with only 6 honest
insaYufacturei 1 for that would be Sufficient, he would prove
that the Corn Laws were not the cindie if the existing distress, .;
tutil that the means adopted for its,
relief would ultimately tend
to its aggravation by injuring the Landed Interi4 •from.wheitt
the miumfacturing one must ieCi:ive its greatest aupport.':
Another reason foi demanding inqtdry was, that in speaking of
that maximum price for the protection of native corn, the
Earl (Liverpool) had called it file' Other night, a •,famine prim.
How came four short years to produce this differti7ee ?,Th 1822,
'eighty shillings per quarter was a proper price, and n 64 it was a
famine one! if what was a moderate price in one year, was to
become a &toque prim in another, then there conbl be no fixed
system whether en the subject of corn or, any other articles, and
the same objection would apply to it ibiti'of, 128., which must be
increased or reduced annually as eirckiatinees might require. It

was, therefore, important to inquire, whether there had hem"
'en alteration iu the value of money, and whether it was not poa.
i amble at once to establish a fixed system of Corn Laws. Corn.
'beside, was not the ally article tvhith bore a familie price, if
" the %dile Earl's view' of things wde ' adopted; elotliug wits as
necessary as corn, and coats, Ames, fuel, tea, education, and der-
, : vent'? wages, all had now reached famine prices. He was par!ial
to the education of the lower classes. The more they Were reni
dered able to understand, the Maori easily did they triuriipli over
prejudices. EduCation to a great degree they lout acquited, cod
he was certain that if an huoiry" took place, anti its retnilts were
scattered Abroad—they u'ould remove that unlimited opinion
that the distresses of the Manufacturing distrills lime out of tle.
Corn Lai& , It would show the people that the landed interest
was taxed beyond all Others, whilst it never is.luld expect the
same profits which Wiii gained by manufacares or trade.—
_ All (Ails might be proved in a Committee, and would remove
the prejudices which supported the prevailing outcry. With,
respect to the danger of a scarcity, we possissed a greet resource
against it in the prodigious progreeei Which Ireland bade made in
toibeetplitilillirte;li.loete:alumi;
tint
eat arnittittoliti,tifr:extirtit:ltifirsi
wttl,h)orartro(s):3ll,l,h'o,l.gaaorstocoigsratnifte:,trotseirensai;r:dit:lniiiii:llllpOishitlitrith
country. He found in' Mr. Tooke'd book that .ttitliiu the first
it had tirmuuted to 484,60 quarters; dr nearly as'snaelt as the
„yearly. Impartation of foreign corn had formerly been. There
wee &leo another document' before the Housti whicli would show
still more clearly the great progreift which'. Ireland haul made.
The quantitY' which elia• hied exported in 1816, 'wai 1,000,000
barrels, of wheat, limit, &t. In 1825, it was three mil-
lions Sever!' hundred too ileiel ; a most extraordinary inerease
in the 'shun space: of tell years, It was evident; tlutefore, that
we might now place on, lieleridi as a Source ofinpply, the same
codfidence W"hich we should 'have in the strength of' a youth
grown into A men. He Might he esked Whether ile would not
entrust the Noble. Earl with the discretionary power; of admitting
500,000 quarters of foreign corn. He waa convinced that
no man had more the interest of lie eountry at heart than the
Noble Earl, but on A question in Which lie 'differed entirely
from WM; he could not help aelingthe want of intOy. ' What
might not' be the cow:eel:leaves of . ouch a child es t} weighing
over
,the Corn Market, where all. deAntled on ofinidence le,
tWeen buyers ai*l sellers. He was ennyttleed that' if the Bill
were passed no man cottlif Nell his corn the day aftdat a fair price;
'for the purchaser would naturally say, I cannot give you what
;you ask ; 500,000 quaders of wheat' may be thrown to-nor-
row Men the market, and then my corn will lurid no value. Let.
400,00 pair of shmi4 he imported from France and placed at' the
disposal of the Noble Earl to be given out as he (ileac, The
next day the the shoemakers of Leettlmi would he in a state 4 in-
SurrectiOn ; they might he told that the quentity was not enough
tient consumption, but they would say that'it was not its effect
'on consumption but its effect on the market which' would insure
them. Eight huttdi'ed and trlsity-eight thousand patters of
corn Vould have been thrown upon the canary since the first of
June last, even it the present measure Were not p'..satsi. Let
;them go into the proposed inquiry and they might perhaps aim.
lain how Ins objections might be obViated. lie hoped that
they would accede to inquiry from a conviction diet the lam'ed
interest had
,nothing,to be ashamed of: that MLR wanted was an
open iweestigatiou, and that it woidd come oat of ietr:Umpliantly.
'lle had heard that particular Motives had been iinputed to him Mr
havitik brought on this Whtion. He had no other motive !tart the
good of the class to which he belonged,. which was that of the
community et large. The Noble Earl then moved a Resolution
to the following 'effect :----"i. That this Himse, although sincerely
anxious to contribute, to the fullest extent of its'power, to the
:relief of the suffering classes, was nevertheless of opiniod, that ,
'it was not expedient to., pass aril measure. for the alteration a
suspension of the existing system of Corn • Laws, without a pre-
vious inquiry intik the alleged necessity' of such on alteration
or suspension, and of the effects which they might produce on
,the rblatiVe interest' of' the Growere and Consumers of British

Earl IIkIIIHRST did nOI pee how:. e motion tallied
with the generahtdmission that the pre 'sat was not the proper
time fur entering iota the datisaion Attie Corn Lew*. The
Noble.!Earl pledged himself, if he obleined an inquiry, to
prove his ease in such a mannbr, that whatever
have prevailed on the,subject of the Corn Laws, would be re •
!'moved, and to'd so, without examining inure then six wit-
filmes. But the opinion of six manufatturers would not be
bultcieht.' and if an investigation were olive opened, mouths
and Months wenld'uot bring it to a dose. His Noble Frithul
wished the House to come to a declaration of its stintieweilH
on the question ; but the declaration which he proposed was
no declaration at all, for it Was so ambiguous that the ptlliel
wbuld not understand what their Lerdehipa.. Higage to
do, if they were to agree to the Noble Earl's propos,a, The
state of the Corn Laws in 1815 was tlik: Until the priee'of
coin arrived at 80s. there was a complete prohibition of foreitm
turn. But when the price reached 80s., foreign corn mei,
free of all duty. The inconveniences of this system having ken
perceived,
an alteration took 'plice in 184. • The protecting
pride was then made 70s. when foreign cotn might be admitted
for home consumption; subject to a' duty of 17s. per quarter
for the first three mouths, and of lals. after, till the home price
readied 80a., when the duty would he reduced acco rt tug to
grathiated scale. It was enacted, however, that this law would
roe-come into operation till after,British corn'. should have once
arrived at the price of eighty shillings. The effect of this clause
hatPbem to 'suspend. the operations-of the law altogether,

corn should reach. $0 shillings I% Ow, if that were not the ;et/ Foreign corn s;hitild be Admitted nn payment 14 a cermet duty,-
i•-when the home );rice is E.''fif shillings. %Valhi his Noble Frien'.
Jails any objection to repeal that part
quired British wheat to reach 80 ehillingof
a ottliTe,tl,;7ol,Rl-4*ohee;'..
corn ehotild be, admitted ?.....-or did he not think that such a pro.:
patiop might he reade Without previous inquiry? His Noble.
Friclid,wom willing to Allow an infraction of the lew for permit-.
tingthe admission of bonded turn, and yet he would .not agree'
to what was not a greater , infraction, the discretiouary introduce'
tion of 600,000 quarters of wheat under Roy Mind of regulations:
.What might he. the state of the country the Aleut ,uf,,a great
'rise in the of cern ? His Noble Friend said, that ,though
the publie.graitaria were not full, the farm-yards were. How
and where, lied he gained his informatien Ile (Earl Bathurst)
underetood that the crops were in a remarkably backward state.
tett—," from iariotts quarters. ).4-Well, it -.ill', possible that •
the Harvest should be got in with difficulty; and then in what
a state might hot the. country be placed ? It might become
neetasiery to Kane .4 'Parliament, and under such circumstances
would that he the moat propitious =matt for altering into the.
discre.sion of the Corn Laws, for then there must be no delay.—
Ile did not think thet a period could he.selected more injurious
to the landed interest than such a.. Moinent. . But that it would
be said, why hot exercise the poWer of the Crown, allow foreign
exirtito be admitted, and then summou Putliameet and ask for an
indeitinity. It formed no part of the prerogative uf the Crown
to dispense with the laws. knew that that had been done.
with apnrehationunder Lords Clailiton sad Camden, but thew
the only footsore adopted west() finleid the eiportaticin of British'.
sods, whilst now his Majesty's Government would not.only hart
to prohibit the exportation of native grain Init to. admit foreign
corn, either free of duty; since uone would he imposed by Act of
Parliament, or taxed, wawa consent or Parliament, though the
A.:4 necessary of life, pfd at a time too, it was most wanted.
They might afterwiirds call for an indemnity, but Would they not
be reproached With having dime this When .t.ficy must have fore-..
seen its probability s pie ParliamOt Was sitting, end when a con
stitutional !Arse, that which they were now pursuing, might
have been adopted ? The Noble Earl then described the nature
of the present measure, which feted a limitation as to quantity
without any reference as to priee,and called upon their Lordships
"to allow the fill to come betere titan that they might deal fairly
with the Subject, i ;tweet of adopting a EtB4llll tit/U.-which might
do great injury to.the country. He then concludel by moving—
" That the House dd now adjeturri."
The Marquis of SALISBURY defended the 114olution. The.
first proposition made by his ,Majestyli, Ministeia was calculated
to give no, that it wee intended to get rid of .the Corn Law*
altogether. • Modified as it had been, lie ghoul;} bale reputed
the same confidence,in• it 48 he did in di the triiiatires of the
Noble Earl (LivetPoof), had it Poi beat for.the Insulter and;
the time of its !iing brought in. His chief objection was, that
it would moos tritge the unfounded calumniartNiinSt the landed
interest, that the Corn Laws were kept up fin- rut athantage.-.....
'He wished to sitcw the. country at large that the present
tresses did not arise from the Corn Laws, hut rather Crum free •
trade, and the sperdations Which it enedaraged. The quantity.
of corn in pond e , tgt was stifficiadto pt?er:ent the apprehension of
a scarcity. As to the Corn Liesis themselves, this was not the
proper moment for disenseing their merits or denivri, from
;the time when they had been establiShed, they had al7. least' bad'
the positive ntrit of !:eettring a lew,price, of corn to the Odic,
and yet a remonerating'one to the grower:
The Earl of LIMERICK was astonished tti'•
the law of argu:
inent adopted by the Noble Earl (Bathurst). lib objected n.) go.
ing into an inquiry on account of the lute period of the ~2essiond.:
Whose Ault Was, it that those measure's hail' been brought forward
only now ? Aifti even drift it was not the middle of May, and
there was imply time to carry on en inquiry. Necessity was the
only ground on which those Jneosura amid he juitifialtand what
necessity was there for thenii. or what danger of a famine price,
when the average price of corn at ttiis moment was only 565. 6d.
and the market was continually falling ? The Noble Eat! then
laded to...the Report of Mr, .401), -o.4s4.ltottgli'he pretended te',
hwe visited an tWeorti conntrio of,Euroke in six months, had
not gone to South Russia, to: the .Ukraine, ors fe SiCilyf, which'.
were its graneries! He should support the Raul :Won. The ques-
tion was of vita importance tO Iteland, 016' existed .only hymn--
culture, and must if agriculture wark,destroyed.
The Earl of 1-MtWOOD said; (bat if this measure hat'
tgona on as at first intended, with en unliinited poo;er of
titian, he thought there Would have been comic/01We ground',
of. appreheusion for the cern-growers of this eneotry. But
mod Med it' now Was he saw no reason foi"tdarea, and enter-
tained no objection towlttla it. Having said this; leiWever, he.
must regret that' the 4uestion had been' moved 'at all in this'
advanced period of the Session. But the House 'was news in the.
„dilemma, and he thought their best course was to proceed. The
Noble Lord then Aited, that in his view the distresses of the
eo.intry had been improperly, connected with this qutition. It
appeared to hint to he uniting two things.entirely dissimilar in ,
,themselves. If Matto* be given to the chases doily unhap-
pily sugaring under such severe privations, without injury to
agricultere, he ehihthl be glad to see it done. And although he
thought this meast4e'rOt likely to give any coti.iiferaLle relief, yet
he thought the alarm Which It excited had been greatly' oxagge-
.rated. „I finder theme eircumetanceithe stimuld vote for the Amend-
Aherit'of die Noble Earl.

The Earl of ROSEBEBRY disclitined any prithidiee or attach
-
meet in favour of the Ctirik Laws, •as they at 'Sweet stood ; on
the contrary, he retaintA the opinion which la had formerly
expressed-that a modification
,ought to Go effected. But he
fully coneutred in what he thought had been the general feel-
ing of the House, that the preerk Session Wes, on every ae-
&lent, unfit for the investigation. When the first proposition of
the Government welt made to their Lortbthips, he heard it with
something.
.altprnuching to diamay. To the admission of the
()owlet! corn he had no objection; because, although he did not
,believe that it could relief, it would show the munufae-
terers that their Lordships sympatidied with theieklistreits, With"
regard to the other measure, limited as it now was, he apPre-
Iteudtsl no deriger from the exercise of • the power sought by the
Government in this particular case. Bettie saw nothing in the'
•eircumstances of the preaint year which' distinguished it from
the carnival course of eveeta, or required any d parture from
ti e ordinary system estnblished by the laws. The manufite-
tering' classes were not suffering front the seareity or dear.:
+less of corn, but front the Want of employment, to eueble'them to
purehaie it any Oital. Ile had no ohjertiou t 6 the first measure,
hut vielitiug the second as useless and suisehievous be should vote
ihr the Motion of his Noble Friend. The Nettle, Earl then de-
, Ipreeuted the efforts which had lettly been +rade to inflame the
impels of the people against the owners of the 4.:C4.4.' They had al-
ways been looked to as—if not the most .iropoittent—ono of the
•Indet impeetata classes in the conutTy. They had experience that'
'the prosperity of the country depended upon the
~prosperityo
agriculture, and be regretted that the minds of the sinfering manu-
facturers shim'a be to abithed as that they should suppose the wet-
fare of aericalture inimical to'their owt4 comforts, or productive of
their dieteess. Re abstained tram going into any detailaof the
views he entertained in respect to the• Corn lams, but stated his
decided opinion tlkat a revision Was iuevitable,
The Earl of ABERDEEN said that he' held the agricultural
interest to he the'most important in the State, and that if he
thought the prop died measures at all inierfered with the quistion
of the Corn Laws, he sheikh! be onpoied to therm Ito it ap-
peared to him that ther4 Was no'cOnneetion'bctween them, and
that'the charges 'against his Noble Friend for lir*.iging those pro-
positions forward, after refuting to entertain 'the 4entr4 que*tion,
wer4erfeetly groundleis. Ile saw more 4.101)6,10400y in the
conduct of fi* who agreed to the first ,el,atkre, and refused their
assent to the seem). It' there was any interference with the
Cotn Laws, that of releasing the bonded cern was dirCct, whereas'
the seem.,l measure wag only conditionakand might t/ev"T'b° car-
ried into effect. Ile thought the Government would net do theit
duty if, noder the es.h.‘,a'a eiremnitanees of the coinittYs duty'
'peglected to provide for ilpoSsible aileesSian of piblie distrelo•
A..-These I-twain:ars woulsi have p heodeial usemel etifeet
beyond atey ectuel• .-which they to
ll
to. comer et ems trig 04ffring maeufsehol,": 134
known that their' Lerdship* wire ni!t iptertNr
tbrir
love of 'tile Peophi and in a jive rare and
welfare, to the'body Who 'Were Tofire .o.ll4"irs
tale be *liken MeV he
PCted
with them. Perhaps the netili.,-+!, the
les .rt, to the
eue,stree...
ld
their se.tts w"I'l thil"!"fut ..:11:;111!:: therefore thought
tion of bevine yielded to piffil ,
thar Lordships
ought
not Ni renew km which were earnk•-
k 4 to
all interests, and might produce aunts good to thew srimitss