The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-02 00:00:00

sot
h't feel p, • •ashamed of themselves .or ha- leg e;l,oe-i -he
‘,.ninese so far to have out-stepped them in enlightened win-
;tides of commerce. By the Chinese tariff, every article of
0°(1 was admitted free of duty. Let the Right Hon. Baronet
mid his Coll e
tar, eaeues follow that example. We had been called
te. oarians by the Chinese, and ha thought the
rut was not misapplied when the principles (I
stir tariff were considered. He would take that opportunity of
referring to one subject, which he thought was highly credits-
tdeto the character of this country and lionoureite to the in-
dividual in whom it had originated. He alluded to the
V_Plemental treaty which had been concluded by her
-119esty's Plenipotentiary. By this treaty every nation wa
tsdhrnitted to It
with our recent possessions in China. He
,ought this most praiseworthy, and an honour to the country.
Ile (Mr. Hume) had propo-ed an amendment to one of the
tar,„agraphs of the address, which- was to this effect—
% "at whilst we acquiesce with your Majesty in
lue commendations bestowed on the officers and men employed
hold °or late military operation •in Sinde, we with-
any expression of opinion respecting the
la dice negotiations pending with, and the dethrone-
tirt and imprisonment of, the Ameers of Sinde."
found that before he came into the House, a notice had
if::given, by which the subject would be brought before the
ae on an early day. For his own part he protested
trinst the whole proceedings that had been taken against
t unfortunate country.—( Hear, hear.) He thought Eng-
:s had disgraced itself in the eyes of the world by the pro-
el:ll°lrs they had adopted in Sinde. The Hon. Gentle-
who had seconded the address had talked of the
fr;enecittl progress of commerc ; he hoped in doing so he did not
til,lude India, where by armies conquests had been effected in
al violation of every engagement this country had made.
wee, Right Honourable Baronet ought to have tome forward
.L''s further information on this subject at the close of the last
to.,s,i°ll; and if he had done so, he would have removed a great
`' of the strife and bloodshed that had taken place in that
Huntry,_(Hear, hear.) Now it might be curious for the
sstuse to know the statements that had been made in King's
il„." @teen's speeches for the last twenty-five years; for that
"i both in war and peace, the same statement was made
ltith
respect to the estimates. They were always told
Olt they had been framed with strict economy, regard
e H
rielbg had to the public service. Nostatementw he thofroughtm
House ought not to take such a
Alinister of the Crown, unless they had a control over
Hthe estimates, which they had not. It was impossible for the
I,",°se, or any other person, to believe that they would have
ri',,"ahle estimates laid before them while these things con-
ued, and, for the purpose of obviating such a state of things,
,e shouhl move an amendment.—(Laughter.) lie had no
Ibt the adoption of such a course would not be very
Pleasurable to many, for they thought, as long as they,
pt money, or money's worth, it was all right.
' once the money left the Exchequer it flowed through so
mloy rivulets that there was no knowing how many persons
"Med a share of the public money. It was the most im-
portant duty of Parliament—it was the only duty that Parlia••
rent was capable of executing efficiently—( A laugh)—to
ee,CP I guard upon the public expenditure. With regard tothe
!_turittes they ought to adept the plan which was adopted
ts. France and Belgium. There every estimate was sub-
Muted to a Committee. The Committee had the head
oitf the department before them, and called upon him for
I:4_eplanations they might require . These explanations
vro„isetrid before the Chambers before the estimates were ap-
ado ti of or rejected. In this country we had erred in not
bexpr „n,g a similar course. He was pleased to observe from the
the brigraph that there was an improvement in several of
aes inianches of the revenue. He admitted that there had been
thar-Psement in some articles of commerce, but he feared
p od,lat improvement was only partial. He believed it de-
ar, upon the opening of the ports of China,
°rl the improvement in the trade of America,
Rat he could net see any prospect of its continuance. But,
rs "ever might be the improvement, it was impossible to deny
,S's existenee of great distress and destitution. One of the
:uses to which he attributed the evils of the country,. was the
her
of the means for the people to exchange the products of
e'r industry for the means of support. In short, he attri-
Ptsd those evils to our restrictive commercial policy. The
all lion. Baronet had very acutely left out of the speech
If allusion to the corn-laws. Now when the Right Hon.
aronet, in bringing forward the tariff, had so ably and clearly
'ensPounded the doctrines on which the commercial policy of this
lieutty ought to be conducted, he was either right or wrong.
Ri k(ttle. linme) believed that he was right, but he asked the
augutßaronet why had he stopped short ? The con-
)et which the Right Hon. Baronet was pursuing in doing
,s_wss sure to give general dissatisfaction. He was to glad to
oPpesite several gentlemen who had taken part in a meet-
togtv,"t up to oppose the Anti-Corn-law League. They could
Ts us ignorant of the operations and influence of the League.
C'teY now admitted that the League was a great fact, end they
ad .°P meetings to oppose it. The Right Hon. Baronet had
Ltheurnesiotritzedsit.that the time might come when the principles of the
iu ague might be carried out ; he had never said that free trade
ould never be granted. He had acted unwisely in
t reaviug the subject in doubt and difficulty. Those inte-
le„sseed support of the law got up meetings to oppose the
ealiesue• One of them had been held at Steyning ;it had been
eg a meeting of tenant-farmers. Among the names of
I%,?se Present he read those of the Earl of Egmont, the Earl of
elehlisee, the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Gage, Sir C.
iffoord Sir C. Burrell, Colonel Wyndham ; there was
Page filled with the names of Noble Lords ad Hon.
crobers, and these were all tenant-farmers. _(A laugh.) Whyad ,
▪ there ever before been exhibited such a faree?—( A laugh.)
accused them, at these tenant-farmer meetings, of abuse the
;oft foul, and of language the most discreditable. Now, he
eauld venture to say, that in all the Anti-Corn-law meetings
out had been held in England and Scotland—and how
.....teerons they had been was known to all—( Hear, hear)
e° language to be compared for its vulgarity and
biscreditableaess to that employed at the tenant-farmers' assem-
2sges had ever been uttered. Bat what he had to maintain
Zs that the Right Hon. Bart. at the head of the Government
rs,_s doing great injustice to these tenant-farmers in leaving
se7re in the state of uncertainty which he did, and
rt telling them of his determination to propose
total repeal.—(Laughter.) Why he hoped he would do that,
tor, from a proposal or an advocacy of a fixed duty he had
entirely precluded himself, as well by his votes as his speeches.
!:te thought all classes, but more especially the tenant-farmers,
4,4 a right to complain of the Right Honourable Baronet
for Just - subject of the corn-laws in the
mentioning the T
e question was, did the Right
;Lena? jreonituletmheanTinh
reoannet.o 110 something this session in refer-
ence to the corn-law, or did he not?—( Hear, and a laugh.)
He
(Mr. Hume) believed that he did not intend
to do anything, this session, for in the yeer 1841 he
had brought to book the Noble Lord near him (Lord
John Russell) because he had not introduced into the
speech from the throne the subject of the corn-laws, and
yet, at a subsequent period of that session, he had brought it
under their consideration. He said, why not put that into the
*Peed' from the throne as the advice tendered by Ministers,
and then broach the subject afterwards? and from this he (Sir
Robert Peel) had volunteered the expression of his convic-
tion that the subject of the corn-laws was an after-thought
of, the then Ministers, and resolved suddenly upon by them.
'hough, then, the Right Hon. Baronet might have no intention
cf interfering with the corn-law, still the country had a right
to ex
.Pect him to say something in reference to them and to the
„inisterial intentions. What said the Duke of Richmond ?
;te said that they were entitled to know distinctly the inten-
-1,1:It:A the Government—that it was their duty to ask,
locu‘nuttkhe language of threat, or even of reproach, what was
tcertitiellietutt4 them, and that they were entitled to tell the Minis-
whether :fer"in that suspense was the worst of all evils, the
all punishments, and that they required to know
n t the protection they now enjoyed was to be continued
arrsin°l4"e(liear, hear.) Now his (Mr. Hume's) complaint
notice the speech from the throne was, that in it no
rest'. whatever was taken of that important inte-
Gow This course of conduct on the part of the
shatter:Mein was mere to the detriment of the landed interest
B *f any other. If the landed interest thought itself the
g interest which it did—and that it was a great interest he
ground
enough to concede—then it had a very just
reser of complaint indeed. He would refer to other
Tengs of tenant-farmers—the one at Northampton.
arunune Anti-Cone-law League," said Sir C. Knightley, " rank
The them the whole refuse of mankind."—( Laughter. )
such °use might suppose that that included everything, but
ler, less not the case. " This League, called the Anti-Corn-
:cisctieetUtiagton I think, the most pestiferous society
the Jacobin Club, in the days of the French
(Great laughter.) " The object of one
Vert: tlf those gentlemen is to overthrow the present Go-
to th:nat" He denied it.—(Laughter.) He did not belong
With 7 Anti-Corn-law League, but he repelled that charge
ohject'"dignation. "Of another section, the Radicals, the
direct 's to overthrow the Constitution." He gave the lie
to that.—(Laughter.) He was a Radical, he had been
eeel• Radical,•
e and he still avowed himself one ; and he
d that any man who stated what he had just read
tiered! ellurnniatiation of himself, and of all with whom he
thew (Hear, hear.) He went on to say, " I conceive
the 0,11: about as much affection between the one party and
er, as there was between Jonathan Wild and Jack Shep-
hetwee-e(Great laughter.) What was the affection that existed
*hero nethe Right Hon. Baronet and many of those from
sir he received support he would not then inquire.
issu• Charles then went on to accuse the League of
stiell,blas.phemous publications and indecent publications,
seeltering them all round the country. Now the Anti-
resit
Rho League contained, he believed, many of that class
oleos • ere more careful of public morals than almost any other
etterol° the country.—( Cries of " Oh, oh.") He thought this
and was highly discreditable to Sir Charles Knightley,
toeeti ose with whom he was connected. There were other
of iuttn,iftt at which the language used, and the mode of speaking
thoughtuc individuals, were equally unjustifiable. He
such things were in a great measure attributable to the
Piked" in which the Right Honourable Baronet had
i himself
t-ons, te", by not carrying out his own inten-
ctilties "e was not ignorant, indeed, of the diffi-
tie r of the Right Honourable Baronet's position.
leon.eVlessted a speech made in that House by the Right
lowtbs'sronet opposite, in which he told the Noble Lord be-
.serdzst, if he knew any measures which he believed to be
noucdst to the prosperity and welfare of the country, he was
Proroc'Las a Minister of the Crown, having taken. an oath to
%eh "' the interests of the country , to bring forward
for Measures • and if he abstained from doing se
h fear
'ate • of not carrying them, he ought not to
tiose his situation a moment. Let the Right Hon. Baronet
hon 4. `,:s what he asked the Noble Lord to do. If the Right
Propers'aronet believes that the principles of free trade are the
sThy r,Prineiples for a free country—and who can doubt it—
the, ;°t propose them?—( Hear, hear.) But he left
sesue°setry in a state of excitement—league against
It we While the country was torn in pieces. He said
eltsd tet,liwe duty of the Right Hon. Baronet to speak out
ce in' Duke of Richmond and Sir H. Verney know what
the ,inroad to do. Commercial restrictions were the cause o
leieve th !of the country, and every person eves bound. to re-
-orie it distress by contributing toremove them. Nothing was
creased t session, it was a mere blank. Pauperism in-
Niel.. throughout the county, which was left without
toidd A recoil took place, because it was impossible things
better! °on as they had been going. Things were now getting
%ewe The Hoe. Seconder of the address alluded to
ck %stances of this improvement. One was a case in
Pe, rso"uns reduction had. been made in the number. of
lAD%receiving relief in one union, from .2,000 to
to rue_ But was it not the duty of a Government
care and provide -the means of working for 4,000?
leweete se g
of opinion that the corn-laws, and all other prohibitory
the °oght to be considered and amended, he regretted that
trusted
contained no notice on the subject ; but
RightEnure,
,e 073 they would have a declaration from the
doz. Honourable Baronet, which would do away with
i°l4ious to all He was confident that the corn-laws were
classes in the community, even to the landed
tn4o°P:ients.irs themselves ; and that they would become more and
Irqs tst Janous, and it was upon that account he said that it
inititsztolomon object of all to remove them. There were
htsdn4
irs.sfiosr relieving the distress of the metropolis,
:ett srmYtr3a,,ltops and Ministers of the rown ; there were
eiens in LT 1 institutions for-this purpose; there were besides
coathoneist,o.4,..tu_ted.o.ll,e_v_Weoryollpenar,ish ; notwithstanding which the distress
An increase of treble had taken place in
and hardware trades, but notwithstanding
.tieedisutt.. all their charitable institutions, the distress conti-
to);eQuarnaFetthtu had daily reports of persons dying of hunger
erefore, to call on her Majesty's Ministers to
Poriarinus
_es,.ith them in removing all restrictions on the im-
Nsloyme!'wtocel and every article of industry. Nothing but
osea
one _ euld afford substantial relief to the country. They
ate
nv,zei
juterld that the repeal of the corn-laws would lower wages.
ed that impossible, because wages were lower in