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

,/

trade in corn ; thatthe system of the duty rising as the flic
'ell, and falling as the price rose, was a monster in fiscal legit,'
ation, reserved for the corn trade ; that such a measure
would have been supposed to have been intended for the put
Jose of excluding from the trade all men of capital and
fence, and draw gamblers into commerce. That tea!
judgment of practical men, given with respect to the Bill o'4
on their Lordships' table, because it was .given in general.
►
`wins applicable to any such Bill. He had thought it neces:
sary to speak thus much on a question which involved the Vl'
commercial and financial interest of the country: The prosperitY
of the land of England depended on commercial and =aurae-
turing improvement, aid whether they had done right or wrong in
fostering up a great manufacturing population, and thereby.,;
getting the means of becoming a great and powerful people, or,
they still continued .
" Mild Arcadians ever blooming,
.1
Nightly nodding o'er their crops,"
he did not mean to say. But they had ruled the destinies °I
Europe... They had sent out the Noble Duke opposite to pre
serve the peace of Europe, and it was necessary that theft
should
.draw upon the resources, industry, and moral powers °'
the countrk, in order to achieve that mighty destinl
for which England seemed to have been called into existence.
His Noble Friend had stated that a change had taken place
his opinions.— A change had also taken place in his (Lo..
Alonteagle's opinions. They would never have_ quiet on
subject till the tilde in corn was free as air. He would not de" .0
tarn their Lordships_ further than to thank Them for the manner
in which they had attended to his observat.lens.
The LORD CHANCELLOR, having Nit the question, , -15
Lord BROUGHAM stated his approval of his Noble Friends
resolution, and meant to vote in favour of it. , He looked 1313°°
the proposed sliding idle as an improvement on the existing
law, and he looked upen,tbe Noble Lord's motion as a consider-
able improvement on the plan before the House. It was not ea's!
for him to say whether hb' Preferred an unknown fixed duty to
an unknown sliding scale:'- If the fixed duty rose to 505-4
60s. per quarter, and the siding scale sunk down among
pence and farthings, even retaining his views of '",free trade,
off
should prefer such a sliding scale to a fixed duty u;
so high an amount ; but if his Noble Friend mean
ff.'4lYa ,resolution a moderate fixed, duty, and a sliding
scale mearit,-,the present sliding,seale, he,should most undour
ejly prefer TtliatO 'hell duty -to such a 5°6., 1„.
He considered the advantages, of his Noble Friend's proPrte p
to be suet:, although not cunsideraLk, that they woul4Jl,,
him in voting for his Noble Friend, ceen Could not sne ,ief
carrying the betts.7 proposition which.'he had submitted. t
'he sliding scale, it Was impossible for the foreign meirc.,7l.
and grower to calculate what the price._ would be of his
when it came to this country. He had ye means of asnofria.
in g what price he would receive her\ lon ii4rrying
frig
over. The sliding scale apportioned the duty to the price, f!„&
the foreigner had no mean of ascertaining wharlthe price we
....
ct
be, on which alone he had to speculate. .Suppose th
fixed duty were to be imposed, he would' exactiYiwa,
the carrying his corn here would cost 'Min. lie ilau
price of the article, the cost of shipment and tram, ,port, 14
the fixed duty ; but he had, even under a fixed duty,.
means means of knowing what the price would be .here.. I.fe '•;1
know the price now as well under the sliding scale' as nt7gt.
the fixed duty. He (Lord B.) had already soUften exp)air-
.
to their Lordships the reasons on'which he mitt bpposed to sj.
duty whatever upon the importation of corn/ and its wows.,
confine himself to stating the reason why he sheeld vote f°l,„,
fixed duty instead of a sliding scale. lie would vote for .7
former as the lesser evil. In any way it was a pAllstax.Salcd
was equally contributed to by him to whom it was. nothing' ore I
by him whose daily food was diminished by it. It was there
a poll-tax of the worst kind. As a tax for revenue it wee !..,1
'worst that could be levied. It would depend upon the) Ilia
and the seasons. If there was an article which struat
be exempt from direct taxation, it was that
bread. One must be fatigued with arguing againsrthe'ab,'..°o,
dity and injustice of such taxation, and apologising for se
detaining their Lordships, he concluded by rep ,
eating,
of the two evils, he preferred that of the fixed duty. , ' o
The !Nike of WELLINGTON said, that there 61111° 10.
doubt, as an abstract proposition, that no duty ought aortic
on. he food of the people.—( Opposition cheers.) As an albst
at
proposition, proposition, there could be no doubt of the truth of th let ; die)*
the Noble Viscount opposite looked upon this question is 10,4
the ( Ministry) did. The Noble Viscount said, he did set ; .
upon this as a measure for introducing corn into the c gnat
but. whether or not it was expedient to withdraw at on, ,e eat,
agriculture that protection which, up to the present me?fez,it
it did enjoy. The Noble Viscount said, that he considlery,6
right to continue the protection to agriculture, but that, 0
thought the best mode of protecting agriculture eras the
which had been proposed by the Noble Lord and his c011ea.,,,
during the last Session of Parliament. The Noble Viscer;j',
stated that he preferred that plan to the Bill which.had
introduced into the other House of Parliament by the Rigel'
Hon. Gentleman at the head of the Government, an. fhad b
submitted to their Lordships by his Noble Friend (f he Bail ol
Ripon). The Noble Viscount looked at it very peeped.," or
corn measure, and a measure for regulating and proteetinghi4-
agriculture of the country. Another Noble Lord tae'" ,old
had considered it as a convenient measure. And the '„,ed
Lord who was sitting at the table had, in his speech, 'Tee!,
the question on all grounds; financial as well as others. „red;
had been in some degree replied to by his Noble and Lel,"„bs
Friend who had spoken lately ; but all the Noble Lords
spoken in the early part of the debate, had conside Ten ;-at
what would be the best mode of giving to agricultur
scription of protection which he (the Duke of W.) eel 't ".11 felt -
it was the general wish of the House and the country, 01.1,00, 1 •
exceptions,theNoble and Learned Lord being one of tliei 'star.
be accorded to it. The Noble Lord at the table (Ea 0 cite;
hope) considered that corn .ought to receive the saint , pr(1,0(.
dun which had always been accorded to it ; and I ever'
Stanhope) lamented the bringing forward of the press 13t f dos
sure as likely to tend in its consequences to the los: ; °
protection. The question they had to consider wa 04%
would be the best mode of giving protection to agricult a re'oir
he (the Duke of Wellington) would confess hehad Rhea) " 'w tise',
dered the graduated scale as the best mode oft giving °
to the agriculture of the country. A sliding duty levies 40$i
the importation of foreign corn, varying in amount awn
to the price of corn in the country at certain periods :0 tor ,
prices to be ascertained by averages, was, lie thought, tl
,saritt,
mode of giving that protection to the agriculture oft he e..elbel
4
to which it was entitled. It was perfectly true that '1 kosi'
Act, which he now hoped was about to expire, great ;lei!
had been practised in the taking of the averages, and pi eir
a scale of duties lead given occasional facilities for th e;
°1
mission of those frauds. There could be no doubt 1 0;00
frauds had existed, and complaints had been made of nisi ,
those frauds. Other complaints had alsobeen made agai cob'.
Jaw, and far that rea,s ihe (the Duke of Wellington) h sl the
ar
sensed to the adoption of the proposition for a new lev, sl
subject. He hoped that as the law had been In Alum
obviate those objections which had been made- to the I'loll,
()flaking the averages, that they would be now honestlY
ale to
and as in framing the graduated scale of duties that- sc
been improved to as to avoid giving that facility for th ;iee,
mission of frauds, while at the same time it contained ' "to7l,
tecticin which had been hitherto given to agriculture, he 4 Ce,
and expected that the effect of it would be to keep the
grain in this country at the average price in which it Was
to have been for the last 13 or 14 years since the passing of t''
which was now about to expire. He meant that average 01!
cording to which the tithe agreements had been made lor' ei •
tracted throughout the country, and considering that those' sys.'
ments had been entered into under the sanction of Parliament
the Government, he thought it but just for the two sets of Pr°4
-
tors who had entered into those agreements, that no great
;e
Lion Should take place so as to change the foundation upo°
those agreements had been made. He was of opinion Os"
Act of the 9th Geo. IV., had acted beneficially in *Mini" 144
objects that its proposers had had in view. The princiFt.,,,,vf ri‘
sliding scale had received the sanction of Ptrn s;"(
some years previous to the adoption of the
of the 9th of George the Fourth. During the Administra°"
Lord Liverpool that principle had been adopted ; it hsd Wet;
the sanction of the Administration of Mr. Canning, and Iteort
been finally carried into effect by the law of the 9th of " to
the Fourth. That measure had acted beneficially, accordi,"; of ,
the views of those who proposed it, for preserving the Pr3c„to
corn at a steady rate from the period of its enactment nearly' ut[ocd
the present moment ; for, notwithstanding what had been (the
by the Noble Lord who sat at the table (Lord Monteagle), be Del •
Duke of Wellington) contended that the price of ear' ant
continued as steady in this country as it had been 3"l,sen
other part of the world. Of course there must have ong
variations in the price of an article of which the quantity ,oto:
vary according to the state of the seasons, and of which the tea'
depended nearly upon the quantity. Of course the privij
vary every year, but he (the Duke of Wellington) .10,.Liat
that the variation in the price of Corn had been, during t"-wor'
•
riod, as small in this country as in any other country in 010 Filos,
The Noble Viscount had stated that he should bt able rd
that the variation in other parts of the world had been (iccr.,eoec`i
by the variations here. But begging 21-.0 t
03 th
not
pardon, -be (the Duke of Wellington) was
Noble Viscount had stated that which he pond t`
exactly prove. There were several parts of fife ' Of:
from which accounts of variation of prices regs'
given, which had no relation whatever to this c*usitrY ° eiatio
to the trade in corn; for instance, France. The,.e wn qd ie„er -
between this country and France with respect to Corn' a fact
was very little between this country and Holland. l the Fri
there was no relation whatever between the variatio other 14rt, •
of corn in this country, and the p 010
rice of corn In Ma
of the world, therefore he said that the prices in wt,rre tile,
were as steady in corn as in other parts of the world. G
would—;o to the United States, the south of Russia an, iYrrices c}•
where they would they would find a variation in the ;tie :071,
ceeding those existing in this country. But when
s, a, Ina..
Viscount thought proper to denounce the sliding scaleia,, tit be
dity, as it was only known to the corn trade--it r`i
it re had
absurdity—the Noble Viscount might have very' grd°`:, n, it 5551
for saying so—but begging the Noble Visc.eunt's Pa .reeretiot
been always known in the corn trade in this c'enntTig,i. `flint jut/
been a Corn.law in this country in the year 17:15 °r, s 03" bite
,
a Corn-law also depending on a graduated scale df du
at w2s Die o'E-
t
depending on the prices ranging in the country. 0
..„,4 the *!,, grs'
with respect to articles, the quantity, the quality, sty, 03' .0;0.
wheat depended on the state of the seasons. He ,honk dt 011.
duated duty, according to the prices existing in the Itly Opt oppo.
aae
wit
thee rtee gin
:tehdet°tl
was absolutely necessary, in order to be enabled re /04 it
to give protection to the country. Now the Noble s. 017,,,,,5i1iar
site, and the Noble Lords who supported him, insistedr c•f ,s # Of"'
duty would answer the same purpose. He (the de t: I„,;ltie "P,"
ton) objected to a fixed duty on principle. A "7,- isiud --„ose h...,e1
cient protection, perhaps, but what he had al se. -„t s :"regerisi"
jNwechobtenlweatshLo,attlrida. t a fixed duty could not be mint: low" -teal $
prices becamgeuteshhatirigoehn.— (Hear.) He uneddersl9°ldenol;:.
adhmadittabde,enshadtiscuwshsedan p..
certain rate, it would be absolutely nece"—"-nod orat qs"'":
duty by degrees, He (the Duke of eos. 121°'-'
duty—when the corn came to the maximum Pric'eue had It that be-_;
a fixed duty was very much like a Orohibiarie "Confe'sed
experience in the affairs of this country, an, future' .
should be very sorry to see similar circumstatrscrocrjsiona, aued
which he had seen heretofore. On seve abot od be sc°l
standing that the law required that the forts int,. he h"de
closed until the prices came to a certain ning r
the Government be under the necessitY c't "de 11 i
houses, and allowing tbecorn therein stored whoa, !mini!
and key, to be sold in the market (a, "1 under he n, wyouti.
Government under a fixed duty would be
the store , 0 oven:"
e out or
doing), and of allowing the corn to Borne put to 7(
that whirl the payment of duty. When the price
rnent would be under the necessity of °
opening the store* t tlfe,
seen the Government do heretofore, of oli
for the r e! pursal
to set free the corn which then remained
us be
the cow,
duty. This would be the case—this m
0_
when the law should be under a systemf
thut
symstlae;
of gdi rt
lasat7erc.:
prices rose to 70s. Now the advantage o
itself. The Pr' the 12
scale was, that the law executed 1 an d
t .be inter-"
need not interfere a .
to nothing. The Government ne
nothing by Cl teci)!T,
tahscaerertbayi neexdecbuytedthietsealvfe; raagsetshapupbliicseh:d;onsteli ethuesezz. 'cm re3;;.010.1
Lord said that the consumer would gam
h elute
exactly t e •
Id.
bo the proprietors of corn. That was
proprietor of corn won
trs""
sumer would gain nothing, but the P respect tot •74 ,
Durl ,
was afraid that that fact was suspecte
ference of the Government—that the persons who would go up,'" e colW
having taken ;,lace.
wee°
the period of the existence
as
of
and that the Government ,ere
that large fortunes were made,
action to which he had referred
they ought t 0 eot
such suspicions ; but he elDin
• • obliged to have recourse to such n
sie„.tc.
in the situation of being
ties to this. Certainly theresaidwas no foundat ion
care not to adopt such a
and becoming liable to such
nugatory, and those i. ner.
said that a fixed duty became ,
edwsouuslpdicpiloancse. the
n:Ots
maintain, •
, sYsteuranfotuhnadt
f to
relations of this country
in the prufe^tion ,of agricausltutg
ey
pot arm themselves to disappointluent b 7 adopting a ,-41
tsltoold with re ,flect
;,,r
landlord and tenant, he said that those who desired till