The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-17 00:00:00

SUGAR DUTIES BILL.

On the motion of Lord WHARNCLIFFE this Bill
was read a second time, and ordered to be committed
to-morrow.

DISTRESS OF THE COUNTRY.

The Earl of RADNOR, in rising to make the motion
of which he had given notice, said he thought it was lie•
cessary that her Majesty's Ministers should do something
hr the present distresses of the country, or at least give
some reason why they did not do so. The motion
he had to.present was for an account of the quantities of
corn admitted for home consumption (if any) under the
provisions of the 7th George IV., c. 70 and 71. He be-
lieved that a considerable amount of corn was admitted
under that Act, though the distress then was not
so great as it was at present. He thought that
the distress at present existing could not be
denied ; in proof of it, however, he might instance
Manchester, where there was a soup establish-
ment for the distribution of soup to the poor ;
the doors were opened at eight o'clock iu the morn-
ing, and continued open all day, yet were the
doors besieged as early as three o'clock in
the morning, and the miserable applicants re-
I mained there till the doors opened. The number of
inmates of the Sheffield poorhouse was, in the year 1837,
261 ; in 1838, 401 ; in 1839, 386 ; in 1840, 443 ; in
1841, 480 ; at the present time 600. There were also
at the. present time 1,000 able-bodied people receiving
out-door relief ; the weekly payments to the casual
poor had increased from 7151., in 1837, to upwards of
15,000/. at the present time, and the county-rate
paid in 1837, which was 1,7121., had increased last year
to 2,453/, He had selected this fact, in order to found a
case for the application which he was about to make, and
he should make it on the precedent of the year 1826,
when Lord Liverpool was the first Lord of the
Treasury. In that year a measure was brought forward
in the House of Commons, for an amendment of the Corn-
laws, when the Government said that a revision of these
laws was necessary, but that was not the time for it.
Two measures were passed to remedy that state of
things ; one was to allow persons having corn in bond
to take it out at a lower rate. By the former law, up to
1822, corn was prohibited until the price rose at home
to 80s. the quarter. In that year it was allowed to intro-
duce wheat, when the price was 705., at a duty of 12s.
a quarter. In 1826 an act was passed to allow the ad-
mission of foreign wheat, not exceeding 500,000 quarters,
at a duty not exceeding 12s. a quarter. He called the
attention of the present Government, several members of
which were parties to that enactment, to their own pro-
ceeding on that occasion. The circumstances were
very similar. Even now the new Corn-law had
not effected a reduction of prices.. On the contrary
the price of corn was still rising. A duty of lls. proved
to be prohibitory as much as 225. had been, and it was
clear that by lowering the duty they had not benefited
the people. -They (the Ministers) had, first of all, said
that they would not interfere with the Corn-law. But
they had interfered with it. They had broken faith with
the landed interest, and they had net done any good to
the people. The Noble Lord went into the details of
numerous returns, which showed that wages did not rise
with the price of bread, but that on the contrary, in the
years in which bread was dear, wages were low, and in
the years 1834 and 1835, when bread was cheap, wages
were high. The increase of crime was concomitant with
the increase of the price of food ; crime had been
increasing from 1836 to 1841. Some persons attributed
the increase of crime to the increase of population,
bat all the returns showed that the increase was
more in proportion to the diminished quantity of food.
lie was quit~ safe in saying that .the increase and de-
crease of crime had kept pace with the increase and de-
crease in the price of wheat.—(hear. hear.) The Noble
Lord concluded by moving for the returns of which he
had given notice.
The Duke of WELLINGTON said he had no objec-
tion to the motion of the Noble Lord, and all he could
say was, that he had no knowledge of any in-
tention on the part of her Majesty's Govern-
ment to introduce any measure of this descrip-
tion for the approbation of Parliament. There was
no question but the distress in the country was very
great, but a variety of measures bad been introduced
with a view to the alleviation of that distress,
and to relieve commerce and manufactures from
the present embarrassments under which they
suffered. The provisions to which the Noble Lord re-
ferred were passed only for a temporary purpose, and
the revision of the Corn-laws was postponed, but in point
of fact it did not take place in 1827. He did not know
that the measure which the Noble Lord proposed would
be of the slightest advantage to the country ; but
if the Noble Lord saw any advantage in it, there could
be no objection to the introduction of such a measure ;
or if the Noble Lord pleased, he could, at the close of
I the session, bring in a Bill to repeal an Act which
they had passed at the commencement of it.—(Hear.)
Lord KINNAIIID very much regretted to hear the
Noble Duke say that it was not the intention of her
Majesty's Government to introduce a measure on
the subject of the motion of his Noble Friend.
This was the second time the Noble Duke had told
them that they must wait, whilst the people were dying
by thousands for want of relief. lie could fully bear out
the statements of his Noble Friend (Lord Radnor), which
he knew to be strictly correct. He had tbat morning
received a letter from a most respectable man, who
formerly employed 700 men, but now only 200, the rest
had gone on the parish, and lie said he could not keep
those long ; at the same time that person had letters
from American merchants stating that they were willing
at once to send over large quantities of meal, in exchange
for Sheffield goods.
The motion was then agreed to.
INCOME-TAX.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE gave notice that on
the third reading of the Income-tax to-morrow, he
should move the resolution which it was his intention to
have moved on the second reading, and which had already
been laid upon the table by a Noble Friend of his.
Lord KINNAIRD moved for a copy of any report or
instruction given to the Commission sent to Burnley ;
also for copies of the instructions given or sent to Mr.
Commissary Twisselton, and to Mr. Commissary-Gene-
rat Ramsay ; and to state if they were communicated to
the Magistrates of Paisley, to Sir Wm. Napier, Bart., to
Mr. Sheriff Robertson, or Mr. Sheriff Substitute Camp-
hell, or to the Magistrates of Rentrewshire,; as also
copies of any replies or remonstrances against the in-
structions sent to, or the orders issued by, the aforesaid
Commissioner and Commissary, or by any of the autho-
rities before-named, respecting the food or treatment of
the unemployed and destitute ; also, copies of any Re-
ports which may have been made .by one or more medical
men attached to the military force quartered in Glasgow,
or other professional gentlemen from a distance, to Mr.
Commissioner Twisselton, or any of the above-named
authorities, and specifying to which, if to any, respecting
the health of the destitute and unemployed in Paisley ;
and, also, the amount of funds placed at the disposal of
Mr. Commissioner Twisselton, or the source from whence
theAc have been derived.
The Duke of WELLINGTON said that the funds col-
lected were private funds. It was true that they were
distributed under the direction of the gentleman who held
the office of Secretary of State ; but the funds were pri-
vate. The collection was private and confidential, and
no official returns could be given by the Government.
Lord KINNAIRD said that perhaps the best form of
application for information upon this subject would be
by petition. There were great complaints about the mode
of distribution.

Lord WHARNCLIFFE said that there had been great
mismanagement as to the first collection, and the Com-
missioners having discovered that, took care that *the
second contribution should be more economically and
properly applied. No public money whatever had been
expended ; but 5001. had been advanced from the Civil
List to meet the emergency, and that had been in two
or three days replaced. He thought that the fund was
private, and that their Lordships could not ask the Crown
to grant the return moved for.
Lord KINNAIRD withdrew his motion.
AFFAIRS OF SYRIA,

Lord HOWDEN wished to know whether the official
accounts which had been received from the Consular
Agents in Syria corresponded with the communications
which he had received from private sources through the
last mails from the Alediterranean. It was his decided
opinion that the interest of the East could be upheld
without those outward manifestations of pity from one
power, and Protestant jealousy from another. He bad
been in all parts of that country, amidst a mixed and
heterogeneous population, and he was convinced that
since the strong hand which governed the country had
been withdrawn, it would be impossible to prevent dis-
quiet in that small, but important, corner of the Medi-
terranean.

The Earl of ABERDEEN answered that the official
information received reported an unsettled state of the
country, but much less so than it had been when the Bri-
tish Government, in concurrence with the other Powers,
assisted to restore Syria to the sovereignty of the
Turkish Government, and it did not follow that it was to
interfere with the internal government of the country.
The agents of Great Britain had made promises unfor-
tunately ; but to a certain extent those promises had
been fulfilled. It had not been in the power of the Go-
vernment to do all that was desired in favour of the
Christian population ; but they had been as much as
possible protected ; and certainly in rEspect to taxation
the Turkish Government had fulfilled its promises, and
the people were relieved as tar as it was possible. The
Noble Lord might rely that the English Government
would not sleep upon the subject, and would not neglect
anything that the honour of this country or the interests
of humanity and justice required.
IRISH POOR-LAWS.
Lord CLARE presented a petitioa from Limerick on
the subject of the Irish Poor-law.
The Duke of WELLINGTON said that the subject

of the petition required attention, but,he wished the con-
sideration to be postponed to a later period of the session.
NATIONAL EDUCATION (IRELAND.)

Lord MOUNTCASHEL presented a petition against
the system of National Education.
COUNTY COURTS' 13ILL.
On the motion of the LORD CHANCELLOR, the
Bill for regulating the practice of county courts was read
a first time.
The other Bills on the table were forwarald a stage,
and their Lordships then adjourned. \ ,

HOUSE OF COMMONS, June 16.
The SPEAKER took the Chair shortly before Four
Welock.

Mr. 'hums was introduced by Mr. SCHOLEFIELD and
Mr. BROTHERTON, and took the oaths and his seat for
Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Mr. LUMLEY brought up returns from the Poor-law
Commissioners. • ,

Mr. THORNELY presented a petition from Orms-
kirk, praying for an equalization of the Sugar Duties.
Mr. BERKELEY presented a petition from Bristol
against Church-rates.

Sir J. HANMER presented two petitions from York-
shire, one of them signed by 8,000 persons, of various po-
litical opinions, against the New Poor law.
Mr. LYALL presented a petition, praying that the
metropolitan bridges might be opened to the public.
Captain PECHELL presented a petition • from a
labourer in Sussex, complaining of the treatment he re-
ceived in the Eastbourne Union.

Mr. BROTHERTON presented a petition from the
friends of the Society for the Promotion of Universal
Peace, against war in general, and particularly against
the wars in the East, as being opposed to the Christian

religion.
Mr. DUNCOMBE presented a petition from the
Working-men's Church praying that an humble address
be presented to her Majesty to prevent wars in the East;
also a petition from North Shields, in Northumberland,
against the system of landlord and tenant in Ireland,
and praying that juries may be composed of
half Catholics and half Protestants ; and that
the prosecution against the Vindicator newspaper
may be given up by the Irish Government ; also a peti-
tion from Finsbury, praying that the metropolitan
bridges may be opened to the public.
Mr. METCALFE presented a petition, praying for an
alteration of the law regulating the payment of seamen's
wages.
Mr. PAKINGTON presented a petition from a
Poor-law Union in Worcestershire; praying that parties
who reside out of their respective Unions may be taxed
to certain rates.