The Sun.
London, England, 1842-04-20 00:00:00

the farmer an the clayey soil, on the chalk, or on the
flint ? To the farmer with large capital, with small capital, or with
no capital at all—for all these different contingencies were natural
to their system of agriculture—and he defied them to lay down any
thing like a remunerating price secured by Act of Parliament. If
there were any meaning in the term remunerating price, that could
only be secured to the grower of wheat in this country by
the capacity of the people to purchase it. It was
by promoting that capacity, by supporting their manufactures, and
securing them a fair vent to their produce, that they would secure
to the agricultural capital of the country, that return which was
the foundation of its prosperity. Let the people, by successful
trade and ccmmerce, be enabled to purchase, and all the remune.
rating price they provided for by act of Parliament would be un-
necessary. Let them not be enabled to purchase, and with that
decline would fall away all the inefficient and ineffectual clauses of
the Bill, all its rests and averages, by the contrivance of which
they mainly hoped to create and to maintain a price which the
ordinary course of commerce would not allow them to maintain.
This country never coull subsist on its own resources ; their de-
pendence on foreign countries had never failed them in other
articles, even in time of war. At the present time, it was in the
power of the United States, if they chose to sacrifice their own
interest, by stopping the supply of cotton for one year, to create
more disturbance, tumult, and confusion in this country, than
would be caused by the withholding all the supply of corn from the
continentcf Europe for ten years. It Was on principles of another
nature on which they must rely; by adopting the principles of his
Noble Friend, they would adopt the principles most reconcileable
to sound trade. If they adopted the present Bill, though he ad-
mitted it to be an improvement, yet they would adopt principles so
far unsound that they were at variance with the ordinary prin-
ciples of commerce, and as such could not ultimately prove
satisfactory.

The Duke of WELLINGTON explained what he had stated in
the debate of last year, as to what he thought the duty of the
Government, to interfere so as to prevent frauds in the averages.
Lord FITZGERALD said that at so late an hour he would
not occupy their Lordships at any length. The Noble Lord then
went into statements to show that a fixed duty would at some
time keep out corn necessary for the sustenance of the people,
and bring the country back to the state in which it was when
there was a necessity for a bounty upon the importation of corn.
With respect to the complaint made by the Americans of their
inability to meet their engagements with the merchants of this
country, on account of the Corn-laws, such a complaint came with
a bad grace from those who had a Corn-law of their own, for the
purpose of excluding Canadian wheat—wheat grown in an English
province. As to Russia, seeing that we took a much larger propor-
tion of the produce of that country than we sent of manufactures in
return, he doubted very much whether any increase in the impor-
tation into this Gauntry of Russian wheat, would
create an increase in our exports to that country.
There was another remark which he wished to snake relative to
Russia. He had reason to believe, that if the corn trade of this
country were wholly unrestricted we could not calculate on re.
craving, at least for the present, any large amount of corn from
Russia. He found that the Briiish Consul at Riga stated, that he
was inclined to think, upon the whole, that a reduction in the duty
upon the importation of wheat into this country would produce
some, but, for years at least, no very material increase in the quasi.
tity of wheat grown in Russia, and available for importation into
England. The Noble Marquis (Lansdowne) had said that his
Noble Friend (the Duke of Wellington) had stated, without
sufficient authority, that the variations in the price of wheat in
this country, had been less than in other countries, in which there
had been no Corn.law. Now, it appeared from a paper laid by
order upon the table of the House of Commons, that from the
year 1829 to the year 1839, the prices et wheat had varied in
England less than in Dantzic, and the variations in Rotterdam were
almost as great as in England.

The Marquis of CLANRICARDE—Was that a difference per
cent ?

Lord FITZGERALD said that he found it was not.—(Hear.)
He found that the return was a fallacy; but as it had been laid be.
fore the House of Commons by the late Government, be hoped he
would be pardoned for the respect he had paid to it.
The Marquis of cLANRIcArtDE asked whether the return
had not been presented on a friction by Sir C. Lemon, and whether
it was not a fact that the Government had not founded any motion
upon it ?

Lord FITZGERALD admitted that that might be so; but he
thought he had some reason to complain of the interruptions
of his Noble Friend, to whom he was not then replying.
He would keep his promise of not protracting the debate, but he
could not avoid alluding to the observations made by the Noble
Marquis, respecting the application of the sliding scale to the tariff.
One reason was that cattle and other articles of the tariff were not
subject to the variations of the season, and he (Lord Fitzgerald)
should like to see how the Noble Marquis would propose
to apply a tariff.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Marquis had
commented on the absurdity of defining what should be
a remunerating price, but th...t argument bore quite as hardly
against the advocates of a fixed duty as against the advocates for a
sliding scale. It was an argument against any protection whatever,
and he did not believe that the Noble Marquis would wish to carry
it to that extent.

Lord MONTEAGLE explained,
After a few words from the Marquis of CLANRICARDE and the
Earl of HARDWICK;
Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and the House di.
Tided, when there appeared—
For Lord Melbourne's Motion
Against it
Majority against the Motion — 130
. _

During our absence from the gallery, the House again divided
on Lord Brougham's amendment, when there appeared—

For the Amendment
9
Against it
Majority against the Amendment ...... ..• -- 97

On re-entering the gallery, we found
Lord BROUGHAM upon his legs, who was moving a resolu-
tion declaratory of the impolicy of placing any restriction whatever
upon the importation of foreign corn. He said that he would
rather have their votes than their eloquence, and concluded by
moving the amendment, of which he had given notice.
The question was then put from the Woolsack, and straegers
were ordered to withdraw, and the House divided, when there
appeared— _
__

For the resolution
For the amendment
Majority in favour of the resolution
The Bill then went through Committee, and the House ad-
journed at a Quarter past Two o'clock till Thursday.