The Sun.
London, England, 1845-05-29 00:00:00

from that moment the principle of protection had re-
ceived a blow from which it had never recovered. There
was one way of defending it, and if protection was
not to be defended on the ground of giving a more
regular supply of corn, but on the contrary, of pro-
ducing an artificial scarcity to put money into the
pockets of the landholders, then might he say with truth
that the cause of protection was gone. That was a
more staggering blow than it had ever yet received.
He felt it his duty to state, and he believed the majority
of the country came to the same conclusion, that from
the time the Honourable Member for Kent, the Mem-
ber for Sutherland, and the Duke of Richmond (in
another place), had made the statements to which he
alluded, the cause of protection had suffered, for it
was impossible that the people could be convinced by
such arguments. It might, perhaps, be prejudicial to
him—and it might be disagreeable to many of' his
friends, to whom he owed great political and public sup-
port, to have spoken as he had done that evening; but no
consideration of that kind, no favours of such a nature,
highly as he valued them, should induce him to suppress
his views of what he considered right on this great ques-
tion, or to sacrifice his integrity. There were one or two
other points, and one to which he would particularly al-
lude before he sat down. Much had been said of the
greatness of the public distress that prevailed in the
country. He concurred in a great deal of what had
been stated in reference to that, and he would b 3 glad
to ask some of those Gentlemen who had left the
House, and who had very eloquently alluded to it, what
was the cause of the farmer's distress. He had lately been
in the country, and he could assure the House that
the want of keep was the great cause of this distress.
And how could any other state of things be expected
after the winter and spring which had just passed over.
When his Hight Hon. Friend (Sir J, Graham) whom he
was glad to sae in his place, had stated a few evenings
ago the lowest price of meat, he confessed he did feel sur-
prise. The Right Hon. Gentleman, however, was under a
mistake. It was higher, he contended, than it had
been for many years, and the reason was the scarcity of
keep in the country. He would state, however, a fact,
which had just come under his notice.—(Hear.) In the
contract which had been lately entered into with
the Government for the supply of Woolwich, meat was
lid. per lb., and in the contract last year it was only
6d. per lb. Now, he would state that he never knew
anything equal to the distress which prevailed in the
country.—(Hear, hear.) It was time for them to con-
sider whether any measures could be adopted to mitigate
this distress. He thought that the duties on the impor-
tation of many articles connected with agriculture ought
to be greatly modified. The farmers wanted more seeds.
It was not long ago that he had a conversation with a
gentleman who was an ultra-protectionist, but who had
the good sense not to connect himself with any of the
protection societies, and who had paid 40L last year
for seed. Now that gentleman declared to him, that if
he could have purchased this quantity for 20/., he would
have sowed double the quantity of land. He had no
hesitation, therefore, in saying that these restrictions
were one great cause of the farmers' distress. They were
fully convinced that the time was come when such re-
strictions ought to cease.—(Hear, hear.) Before he sat
down he hoped he would be allowed to say that the
course which the Government pursued was, in his opi-
nion, the best course which they could have pursued,
under the circumstances, and he would not do his duty
to his constituents if he voted for the Noble Lord's reso-
lutions. He thought, however, that as to any finality on
this measure or on that, the idea was absur4l.--(Hear.)
Yet it was impossible that any Parliament or any
Government of this country could stand by any set of
measures when they were opposed to the welfare of the
people. These views were, to a considerable extent,
entertained by all the most sensible men in the country.
—(Hear, hear.) When the Noble Lord the Member for
the City of London said that the condition of the working
man must be improved, and that he was placed in a dis-
advantageous position at the present moment, he was guilty
of exaggeration, as the mass of the population were now
better employed and at higher wages than for the last
fourteen or fifteen years. As to their knowledge, he
believed that the increasing light which was extending
throughout the land, and which was teaching senators
wisdom, would, by and bye, reach the home of the poor
man—that it would teach them sob.iety, the best means
of conducting their domestic concerns, and the first and
best lesson, that of making them contented with their lot.
Sir J. GRAHAM said he had to offer a few words in
explanation of a return of the prices of butcher's meat,
which had been referred to on a former evening. The
return was prepared by the Board of Trade, at his re-
quest, and did not refer to the price of dried meat in the
hands of retail butchers. It was made up for six years
—from April, 1839, to April in the present year. The
return showed a decrease of the price of meat sold to
the labouring classes in this year over 1840.
Captain PECHELL said he had never heard a more
valuable or more excellent speech, than that delivered by
the Hon. Member for Winchester. Whatever might be
their difference of opinion with respect to the resolutions of
the Noble Lord, they must all agree that he had afforded
them much useful information. With respect to the
state of education in Sussex, he had been informed that
400 out of 870 persons, confined in Lewes gaol, were
ignorant of the existence of the Saviour. With respect
to the want of education in other counties, he could cor-
roborate the statements of the Noble Lord. He stated

that not more than a third of the prisoners confined in
Stafford gaol could read. In Devonshire, Denbigh.
shire, Essex, and other counties, great ignorance pre-
vailed. Out of 131 confined in Hereford gaol, only one
could read tolerably well. The Gallant Member referred
to the criminal returns of other gaols, to show the great
want of education am, mg the lower classes. But when
the Noble Lord wished to show that ignorance existed
among the lower classes in Suffolk and in other counties,
he might have said that it also prevailed among the
higher classes in that and in other counties in England.
Much gross ignorance existed among a class of far
higher station than the labouring class—he meant the
" farmers' friends."—(Hear, hear.) At a dinner at
Brighton, on the 24th of January last, a Noble Lord, in
reply to the toast of " The Navy," said he was happy
to say " that the only individual connected with his pro-
fession, who was opposed to the cause that was
protection—was the Member for the borough in
which they were assembled. He was sure they must
succeed against the Anti-Corn-law League, and he had
hoisted the flag of protection, and was ready to do battle
with that body." He (Capt. `Pechell) believed that
the people of this country were not so hostile to the
Anti-Corn-law League as they had been. These words,
or others of a similar nature, had been uttered in other
places, but it was rather a remarkable circumstance that
they had not heard them in that House. They had had
divisions, and all kinds of schemes, but when they came to
the point they were never able to bring them to a fair
stand-up fight, and they never proposed any measures
for the benefit of those whose friends they professed to
be. They did not support the assertions they made
at their; agricultural associations.—(Opposition cheers.)
He agreed with the Hon. Member for Manchester (Mr.
M. Gibson), that assertions like those to which he had
referred were frittering away, He (Captain Pechell)
was in favour of the resolutions of the Noble Lord, and
of the amendment of the Hon. Gentleman the Member
for Rochdale (Mr. Sharman Crawford.) With respect
to the question of the extension of the suffrage, the
Hon. Member for Manchester must know that petitions
were now lying on the table of the House, which had not
been entertained, but which must be entertained, either
by Hon. Gentlemen opposite, or by the Noble Lot d the
Member for the city of London. The speech of the
Hon Member for Carlisle, who was very delicate on
this subject, and who had shown more sensitiveness on
that debate than on others, had disappointed him. He
regretted that on the division on the questions before the
House, they should not have the support of the Hon.
Member for Winchester. _

Sir JOHN WALSH believed that the speech of the
Hon. Member for Winchester (Mr. Escott) deserved all
the compliments which had been paid to it, and that it
would, no doubt, meet with approbation from the Mem
bars of the Anti-Corn-law League. The Noble Lord
said, that however various the topics involved in his reso-
lutions wore—however different they might be, and
distinct from each other, yet there was one common bond
of union between them, and that they had a direct ten-
dency to promote the welfare of all classes of society.
In that he was disposed to agree with the Noble Lord,
but at the same time he thought that it would have
been better if his resolutions—wide and comprehensive
as they were—had contained only subjects which had a
reference to the welfare of the labouring classes. If his
intention, in bringing them forward, had been for the
purpose of stating his own views on this question, he
certainly should have felt, and every Member on that
side of the House would have felt, however much they
might differ from him in their political opinions, most
willing to attend to everything that fell from his au-
thority with respect to it. He must say, however, that
it appeared to him, that the introduction of so many
different topics into one discussion, could not fail to
distract the attention of the House, and render the
discussion desultory and inconclusive. The attention of
Hon. Members was apt to turn to some particular topic
which related to party, to the exclusion of others which
the Noble Lord had united with them, He agreed with
one of the resolutions propounded by the Noble Lord,
and in the opinions with which he introduced it to the
House. He alluded to the question of colonization. He
was glad to hear the opinions which the Noble Lord ex-
pressed on that subject, more particularly when he con-
sidered the great influence which he possessed in
that House ; but at the same time he regretted that
the Noble Lord had not earlier given his attention
to it. When he held the office of Secretary to
the Colonies, he might have given a great im-
petus to an enlarged system of colonization.
He (Sir J. Walsh) thought that it was in the power of
her Majesty's Government to devise a practical measure
which might have a tendency to effect the object of the
resolution—of relieving the redundant labour in the
agricultural districts by a well-conducted scheme of
emigration. It was particularly with reference to this
subject that he wished to call the attention of her Ma-
jesty's Government. One of the principal objects which
prevented the carrying out of such a scheme in a full and
effective manner was, the great difficulty of providing
for emigrants on their first landing in a colony, of find-
ing them employment, and of placing them in a position
in which their labour might be rendered available, and
under circumstances in which the protection of the Go-

vernment might be afforded to them. Much in this
respect he thought might be done to render emigration
to the colonies advantageous to the people of this country.
The only question, in fact, was that of the corn-laws.
But, with respect to this, what was the state of the case?
Why, that the improvements which had been made in
England in the practice of agriculture were greater
than that which had been made in any other country in
the world. The whole of these improvements had been
made during the last half century. During that period
more successful attempts had been made to overcome
the difficulties of climate and soil than in any other

country. If, as an illustration of this position, he were
to take France, he believed it would be allowed that the

soil and climate of France were far more favourable

for the production of corn than England, and yet