The Sun.
London, England, 1820-05-13 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The SPEAKER took the Chair this day at a fecv•
minutes bettire•toor-o'clocii, when several-Mein-.
hers took the "oaths and their seats.
AGRICULTURAL DISTA.ESS; • • • •

Mr. CHARLES, DUNDAS presettled ti petition rota
Newbury, in the County of Berks, praying fhr a
consideration of thwdistressed state of•tb.e agticul-
rural parts of the community, with a view to the
:Adopt ion of s" me t;neasures of relief.-01 tiered to
lie
.on the table.

Lord TEMPLE presented petitions from certain
occupiers of land ii► the County of Buckingham—
from Newport Paged—from the Southern part of
he County—and from the whole County, prising
Ow a Parliamentary 'it vestigatiim might be. in-
stiNted into the distresses or the ,:igriettlturiste, irk
nraer that some plan might eventually be devised-
or their relief.

On the question that these petitions be
broiNht

Mr. Hama remarked on the numbers of peti-
-t ions of this description -witch were rlrtly clowinK
into the Hintse. He objecron'id offer to
an inquiry taking place, but he h. a ed Gov ilonfie
to consider that it sv,,s not +he a;;4nenlturat class
alone that snffered. The 'coinn:erei.d awl
ckSses suffered equally, an,: were erinally:
!it not inure deserving ot tie altei.tion nt the
House. When the House came :0 the considura.
''rout of the commercial distresse,.4 the c •ntury,
he hoped.they would set the propriety of -11%1114
'off, instead of adding to the re‘ttictioos of woe•
commercial sys ern. The petitioners th,,n be,•tre
'the House wonlct fain persuade them ,o a rontrary
cow ; hut' he hoised it would' not be torgotten,•
that the' Bill which the Agrtctoturists had alfeady'
obtained trout the Legidattire was exclusively
f?;Voor ; and ncrtt 00) VOl)sidel at ion would
infinence then) in the steps it might be thiongbk
pr per to take.
Mr. Ivan, EN said, that if the Hon Genlemart
who had
sj,,st spoken bad tak n the trouble in tools
at the petitions before the House, lie Wonld haves
seen that the prayer of the Agricultioia,s was not
,for immediate relief ; hut, that an inquiry might_
be instituted 400 the state of the couurry. That
this was a reasonable req ,est,ao one could doubt.,
who was at all aware ot the great increase of the
dicress which bad so long prevailed. The great
numnets of the labourin, classes that were daily'
losing' employment 'was iticalculable. The sole'
attection- of the farmer was directed to see-hove
tar he coo:,! from, an addi
to it, Under greatly re.
ti'tl to see the :t its which %vete nyik.i.ng irte
flowle to 3::,:•r=1::*. P_Z!'icultural (rpm Eke
inse;-.Ets. Both these interests int-I,'
usl'y demanded the wiention of Patlimnent,:.:
El,. regretted to hear an Hon. Member (General,
Ga7voigne) sound the air:: a for rner evening'
ago, Ist the encroacht-..- of the agriculi urak
class. He was firmly ;:,:t.3natied that no measure,
could be taken witich benefited the one, without
doing good to the other. It was true,- as Ora
Honourable Member had said, that the. C,ttru
had not answered, It had trot, undoubtedly ; ptic
the agriculturists were not to be blamed for that.
He was anxious that-sorne mode should fietriett,
to lighten the taxes ; and be was afraid that n 0...-
thing effectual could be adopted for that-purposep
without an attempt to lessen ate NatiOnal Debt.l
IVithout that were effected in some shape or sow-
titer, he was sure nothing would avail to bring fly-
back to prosperity. \ rrl'tort adowing some p:aut
of that description, it 1.7.:G5 only potting off the
evil hour, and increizio?; the tlistrestat of the
country.
General GMCniGNE protested against going ihtew
a premature discussion of. this queition. The
Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Curwen) was either not
present, or had misunderstood him, w•,en,he re"
presented him as sounding 'the alarm -st. flee
agriculturists on a former evening..
not have been said than had fallen (rot.,

that occasion ; end had he acted up to
extent of his duty, he should have been °Vim
say much more. lie had, hoWever, objected
entering into a discussion of that description, wl‘f.:
so much irritation existed throughout the count:Y.
respecting it., They were told; in these petition',
that the'principal cause of the distress was o'l
importation of corn. The object of the Pet
tioners, therefore, must be—tel.riiise-thelprice
corn, and increase the vahre of land; and wide'
these circuMstances,.he would not be, doing big
duty, unless he stated, as his opinion, thtit it t;'
sense of the whole country were taken, it wont"
be found that not one in twenty was orthat
'niOn. He had that day received a letter from 04
'veral respectable Manufacturers in the -countP,
consulting hitn on the propriety of calling.,a meet d(
ing to counteract the (Alcoa of the agriculturio
combination. He had replied, that these o!jecil
must be more folly detailed, before liesoulrti
vise any interference. This, at least,, served to,
shew that all classes were not agreed in .0
question.
Sir JoHN w „r-he NEWPORT said, in' the
ords thc
late Spe-aker, that the doors of the House otts‘,
to be thrown wide open to petitions.; and Yvll.o
those complaining of agricultural distresses 1:40
so numerous, wOnld or ought the tt,itsi to re to
to'inquire ?—(flear.)=—He
„had no objectie"
to
receive Petitions from all quarters, relatit44.e,
trade and manufactures; but as soon as ttoY „,
lacing to agriculture were podncred, certain,irr
Gentlemen thought it right to interfere, 91".
pose them. When agrienlturits were
fished, nianofacturers Foist the best ma et
their commodities.
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1114 upon the table were merely in honor of in-1
1411.1's without pointing ont any mode of relief.
G,ener,tl GascoYNE and Mr. Cu rtwatsl explained.
litc.4noo observed, that though he was of
`otlrse a friend to petitioning, he tliought some
'P,lir(i ought • to be paid to tae time when pe-
Nitoc”3 were introduced. If it were impos-
t 4):• to relieve the distresses generally, as
Af .believed it to be, it would be some-
tat to grant an inquiry into the
!tut' of agriculture. If raising the price of corn
titnald aid the agrienthuists, -a remedy might easily
"devised. That WAS not, in truth, the grievance,
4r.not the whole of it ; for not otie class only,
bf':l. all classes, were in a state of suffering. lie
e!I :that there could not be a rnore important
IPestion than that relating 11, the importation or
Full-importation of grain, and nothiug eutsid• be
luote adeantageons to the nation at large than that.
1,"11, should be cheap by permitting it to come
1410 the kingdom, freely. lie was in, favour of
4"iving petitions from • all descriptions of per-
k"nR, but he was decidedly against granting the
(44yer of those just laid upon the table.
CALCHAFT was happy to see Petitions pre-
%Ned to a tribunal from which, it no: relief, at'
;"st enquiy. might be expected ; Hod he thought
I. would het both most unwise and unjust to shut
the complaints now brought before the
Ouse. Surely no injury could be done by grant-
-14 an investigation. At present the land was
t:'"st unfairly burdened with the maintenance of
d'e poor ; and whether some relief could not be
in this particular was worth examinatiition
"ore a Committee. --

Lotti NUGRNT bore testimony to the respecta-
ilitY of the petitioners from Buckinghamshire
p
'le diff,..reti trout them, not so much in their con-
v'i"ltotis as in their let:suiting, and especi:illy where
"'ey expresßed an opii,inn that an extension of the
'stent of the Corn B 1 1 would give relief to the
Ittrrilers. This cis of nelsons of late hart been
' upon their cttpital, uotr heady Exh„os,ed.
tile Cause of all these distresses was an inunehse
'lt.bc and a fictitious paper entrency.

114.1-lusalF:soN deprecated a premature discus-
of this eieat vestion : sonic time might be
cially ~ppointed to take it into consideration,
• at present it most inconveniently interfered
h the litifineQs of lite day.

Air. S. WORTLEY recommended that public ma'-
. s diould not be introduced until the private
4"sinesl had been, as usual, dismiv,ed.
„ Vein ions were then brought up and laid on
1‘•
LYTTLETON gale notice, that he would move on
If next frr leave to tiring in a Bill for the estahii;hm ent
' 4 more eff.setual standard for regulating the wages of la-
uthrers la Potteries.
teir E. WI \ NINGTON presented an Agricultural Petition
un the County of IV,acvster.
BYNG presented a Petition from certain Occupiers of
Iditt the County of Middlesex, complaining of the Agri-
tlral Distresses.°
it the motion of Lord J. RUSSELL, a New Writ was or-
-I,reti to be issned for the Borough of Tavistock, for a new
Cuiller to serve in the room of N. Fazacherky, Esq. who
:4,""litt'd the Chiltern Hontlreds.
LORD REGISTRAR presented a Petition from the
tx!nels ot FfeeholdS in the County of Dthabarton, praying
~4t the islalt Duty might he tatten off.

PARLIAMENTARY REFNIM.
Sir NI XV. RIDLEY. in laying upon the table a
troutthe merchants, haoktrs, inhabi-
itikrits, proprietors, and oci•upiers of property in
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in favour of Pit liamen-
'!'-ry Reform, wished to be indulged with a few
*um, upon the subject. It weis signed by 3,016-
Person,, to'his personal knowiedge, of the greatest
tpeetability, and it was nnanintondy agreed to
41 a meeting very numerously attended : it also
steserved remark, as being- the first meeting at
which the re4trietive powers lately given to Ma-
Of rates had been carried into effect. He did not
In"'n now to enter, into the propriety of the opi-
i-ns contained in the Petition ; it would be fil-
me.icnt to say, that though many gentlemen might
still think they went too far, they prayed neither
I,‘" Annual Parliaments nor Universal Suffrage.
Lle-thoced that the Petition do lie upon the table.
t,.N11• LAMBTON thought it right to observe, that
"1 Petition Originated entirely with a class of
;hen who, • nnfortntiately, had not hitherto taken
t.'at share in the interests of the country which
t
':e.y ought to have done .! he meant the middling
ttato,
es• regretted that the Mayor should
.-
rOtised to give his sanction in a question
'ved the greatest considerations. The
tneetecuttt,t•
•:,14 not the less respectable on that Re-
is Hon. Friend (Sir M. Ridley) having
P'esenc al it : he hoped the example thus
fit '00(1 '.te 'followed. it the middling clas3es
It 3kiy..hverest in the country, they must now
turward ; he should not enter at that time
f t"
the question; he had a motion to bring be-
e !te consideralion of the House on the sub-
ttir
vvh.ti he should be prrTared to state what
'lll;snents were,—Ordered to lie on the table,
be printed.

CIVIL LIST.
:1 4 SErroN presented a Petition from certain
'tants of Liverpool, praying, that its the ar-
411ent which was about to take place of the
1
Li3l4.the great distresses of the country,
'ng from, enormous taxation, might not be
'.4el,l"ked.. The Petitioners, above all, !legged
14714 the attention of the House might be directed
e enormous amount of the Pension Li4t,
Inett had such a bad effect on the minds of the
1914. They humbly hoped and prayed that this
it It Might be limited to its amount ; and also that
mi
t. heeomeia law, that no part of the pen-
-41111 atone Way to be granted by the Crown to
gent
Member of that house, or, that it it was so
nt"l9 that Member shoutd be thereby ihcapa-
li-etHttied. from sitting in that House.—Ordered to
;rlt the table, and to be printed.
pr, ReNNRTT gave notice that he intended to
4 ' ,Pose a clause in the Civil List Bill, that no
kbT receiving a pension from the Crown should be
re to take a seat in that House.
Nitt..ToN presented a petition from the in-
..rvoluims of Wakefield, in the county of Ywk,
Pxvl7Ying that the duty on woollen manufactures,
xrelli they considered as causing distress, in a
,u_(".t mass of the people, miyht be alieviated.—
O!eyed to lie on the table, and to be printed.
tl.lr. PRlcit presented Petition from certain
.I"l,lets in the county of Hereford, playing for
tlrlv.inAittiry into the causes of !be tig!.icultural dis-
e3--r-Ordtred to lie on the Ltble.
41,; , AFFRAY AT OLV,II.INi.
L.-08./awaits. his tut the iturpose of resent.

ing R Petition from a great baby or reqcta.
hie inhabitants of Oldham, in Laneastetsliire.
He trusted he £hould he excused for shortly stat-
ing the objects. of the petitioners. It appeared
that a series of tn;litarr outrages, as they were
called, had been committed upon the people in
the immediate neighbourhood ot Oldham. Before
he presented this petition Lie had thought it his
duty to make inquiry with respect to the correct-
ness of the allegations in it ; and from the result
of his inquiries he was able to say, that from all
he could make out it 'appeared that there Was no
exaggeration of any of the facts therein stated.
At the 4,,tite tiine be could assure the House that
there was nothing disrespectful in the A'f-
dress of the petitioners. It appeared froM their
statement, that the soldiers, who had been front
time to time quartered among. them, bad beets
guilty of excesses against the inhabitants, in con-
sequence of which a cohtiutt4l chauge of troops
.was kept up. Unfortunately the 'per)* in that
part were so fully impressed with the ioutility.of,
applying to the Civil Magistrates for jubtier, that
they even preferred carrying their complaints to
the Commanding Officers of the Coils from whom
Ihey had si.ffered. notibeing able to obtain
redress, they were induced to apply to that
liaise
for it. • The petition was signed by 3.0 M) indivi-
duals, who prayed the subject might be taken, into
consiJerai ion. .

•
On the petition being read.
Mr. H. CLIVR said, be felt himsdf called on to
make a few observations relative to this Petition,
which, would put the House in possession., of hi-
fortnatiOn; ou which they might be able to form.
a correct judgment of its nature. The Petition
itself. he believed,' was drawn up by a person of
some notoriety in that part of the world frOm
which it proceeded, the conductor of the Nun-
chester Obseruer; awl the fact was, the affray with
the military tvas much exaggerated. He would
state the facts of the case, which he had re•
ceiv2d from. the Most authentic quarter. On
Monday the 24th ult., being the day on which
his Majesty's birth-day was celehtated, some
soldiers of the Regiment, then kt (porters in the
town, had tepaired to a poblic,house,
.for the
purpose of rejoicing on so proper an occasion.
Whilst they were conducting themselves in a
mos: orderly manner, one of the townspeople,
who Was also present in the room, proposed
a most improper toast, which called forth thccen-
sure of one of tine patty of soldiers. From insult
the towuspeopie proceeded to otcrage, and the
soldiers were finally d7iv.r) out of the house.. 1--li
w-okl state the toast, and then leave it for the
House to judge whether any loyal man who bad
sworn allegiance to his king could submit to, it
without making a retort. Tie toast was—" May
the skin of every Loyal man be torn off his back
to m.=kea drum tor the Refot.mets." There, were
but five or six soldiers at the beginning of the
fray : one loan got out of the window, and brought
down a number of the .soldiers to rescue their
comrades, who were strongly barricaded in
by the town's people. There were, r, bout fii-.
teen soldiers got into the house altogether.
They were assailed with blows, and they returned
as good as they received. The affair did not rest
bete on either side. The Commanding Officer
put the soldiers concerned in the affray into coo-
iinement, till he had instituted a full inquiry into
their conduct, and the Magistrates instituted an
inquiry also. The House, therefore, he presumed.,
would hardly think it necessary to go into any
further inquiry on the subject.
• The question seas then pat, that the petition be
laid on the table, when the Noes appearing to pre.
dominate,

Sit F. BURDETT rode, and said, that all that
had been said by the Honourable Gentlem-an
who had just Sat down, so little referred to the
propriety of granting the prayer of the petition
that he should not have th,,t,ght it necessary also
to trouble the Hoose, had it not been for the ef-
tect which that Hon. Gentleman's tecornmenda-
tion had produced. It appeared to him of no
great importance, who had been employed todraw-
up the petition ; and it appeared to him a little
extraordinary that the statement of the Hon, Gen-
tleman, which there could be little doubt he had
obtained from an interested person, should be
taken against the statement made by almost the
whole of the inhabitants of the place. He thought,
in the present circumstances of the country, -the
Honse would scarcely venture to reject a petition
on such grounds.

The CHANCRLLOR of the EXCHEQURR said, that
though he had no doubt the facts of the case would
turn out upon investigation to be as they had been
represented by the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Clive),
yet such being the subject of the petition, and its
being couched in respectful language, he should
recommend that the petitio❑ be received.
Mr. BOOTLE{ WILBRAHAM thought that the
House ought to receive the petition. He thought.-
that the allegations contained in it ought certainly.
to be known, for the more they were known and
canvassed, the more futile would they appear
to be.

Mr.. flossy CLIVE explained, that he did not
contemplate the subject's receiving any future con-
sideration; and he had. therefore, thought it his
duty to enter his objection 'at that early stage.
Lord AIILTON was of opinion that it mattered
tint whether the statements of the Hon. Member
(Mr. Hobhouse) who presented the Petition were
correct, or whether those of the Under Secretary
of State were correct. *lt was sufficient that the
charges were of a grave and scrions nature, 96(1
therefore demanded the consideration of the
House. He hoped the case would be pursued
in order to give the country a clear understand-
ing of it.
The Petition was then read and ordered to lie
on the table.

Mr. BoOTLR WILBRAHAM said, he hoped it
would not be thought inconsistent for him to say
that the matter of the Petition was not what it
was right for tuat House to enter into an enquiry
upon.
Lord MILTON contended, that if there was any
grievance th it any part of the nation had to corn-
.plain of, that House was the proper place to
carry their grievances to.
Mr. Honnoo,e thought it necessary to say
hKt tie staterments be made were not to be .re-
ceived as coming from himself. He could only
remark, One he had wade enquiry into the facts

of tLe Pethion ; and from Ode ftecon,it! he had
received it would. appear hat they were rather
orider-rated thati exaggerated.—The P i ition was
then ordered to he printed, •