The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-03 00:00:00

.SAE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING. NOVEMBER 3 1845.

41111
triening

LONDON, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1845.

In the evening edition of the Sun on Saturday it was an-
nounced that a second Cabinet Council was held on the after-
noon of that day at the residence of Sir ROBERT PEEL,
which was attended by all the Ministers in town. Eleven
members at least were present, comprising nearly the whole
of the Cabinet, and all those whose opinions on the important
question which now agitates the public mind may be re-
garded as of any weight. The necessity for summoning a
second meeting looks ill, for it shows that opinions are di-
vided, and leads the anxious expectants to fear that some
compromise may be submitted to, and that the out-and-out
supporters of the corn laws will not yield till defeated by
the voice of the nation. We can therefore expect no
Gazette Extraordinary for throwing open the ports, or for
any other resolution of the Privy Council during some days.
Perhaps Ministers may not have adopted any definite plan
on Saturday, and even if they have, a Privy Council must
be summoned, due time be given for its assembling,
and several formalities take their regular course,
before the country knows its fate. In the mean-
time, while WELLINGTON and STANLEY are haggling
with PEEL—while the monopolists and the free traders
are disputing about a few shillings of duty, and the
interests, falsely so-called, of the landowners, are allowed to
balance the scales against the virtual interests of the com-
munity, much valuable time is lost, foreign corn is held back,
and gambling to an enormous extent is carried on in every
principal port and city of the United Kingdom. Speculators
in foreigh grain will not open the doors of their granaries—
they have too much at stake, and too happy a prospect, to
dispose of an article which to a certainty will become mere
valuable either from the rise of prices abroad, or the abolition
of the duty here. Out of charity, we should imagine that
the delay is not caused by the advocates for high prices;
these are, in fact, sufficient to satisfy every landowner, and
the prospect of any material reduction for six months is
beyond the most sanguine hopes of the best friends
of the poor. The last average for wheat struck
on the 25th of October was 595. sd. the quarter, snaking
the duty 135., but even this price, high as it is, cannot
be taken as any fair criterion of the price of wheat fit for
human food. Good wheat cannot be had for less than 70s,
and a large proportion of this must be used in snaking bread,
fur the greater part of this year's crop will not be fit for the
purpcse till Christmas. The public are, therefore, paying at
present to the landed interest fully 10s. the quarter above
what they said would satisfy them when the last abortion of
a corn-law was under discussion. They must be kept to their
word ; but unless PEEL and the other free traders in the
Cabinet are firmly and enthusiastically supported by the
towns, trading communities, and press cf the country, we fear
either their defeat or some shameful compromise. Not one
solid argument can be urged against the only remedy for the
impending danger. All well-informed personsknow that the
effect of throwing open the ports, under present circumstances,
would be of the most trifling description. The price of grain
is rising in every European State. At Dantzic, according to
the last accounts, wheat had reached 575. the
quarter, or one shilling below the price that
was to satisfy the monopolists;, at Stettin, Rostock, and
llamburgh, wheat was high in proportion, and would
speedily rise much more should the Cabinet Council come to
a right decision. Odessa will soon be frozen np. The St.
Lawrence is closed' by this time, and all direct supply from
Canada. therefore, suspended for six months. We can reckon
upon no supply from Continental States but at a high price,
and a high price may give rise to some royal or imperial or-
donnance establishing strict prohibition of every article of
food fit fur man and beast. We have only the United States
of America to look to, and even that extensive country affords
but a gloeniv prospect. According to late intelligence, the
crops in the Carolinas had been much below the average.
The population of the country now exceeds twenty millions,
who must be provided for first ; and, what with freight, port
dues, land carriage, &c., and the rise of prices in the whole
of Europe, it becomes an undeniable fact that in one month
we could not have good American wheat, even free of duty,
brought to this country at less than the landlords'
favourite price, 58s. the quarter. And while the
chiefs are quarrelling the people are suffering;
,nay, more,
a system of gambling is carried on, which, in a ten-fold de-
gree, surpasses all the ills of gambling put down by the vir-
tuous and paternal Legislature. And gambling in what? In
the food necessary for human subsistence. The wants, the
very mistries of the poorer classes, are elements in the game.