The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-01 00:00:00

sive changes in the commerce -of the country. The Hone,
Member complained of not having got an answer respecting-
the intentions of the Government on this subject. If the -
Hon. Member knew bow many questions were sent privately
to him (Sir R. Peel) on this point and on that. point, lie woutd
feel how great was the difficuley of replying to all diese ingot-
ries. He (Sir R. Peel) had no hesitation in stating now,
that the Government had no intention of altering the law ,13
regards the importation of foreign malt. With respect to -
barley he thought he was justified in stating that, generally,
the soil of England was better fitted for the production of that • •
grain than that of other countries —( Hear, hear.) M
regarded the barley brotueht from France, or any
other country, inferences were to be drawn from the
ievestigatiori Of facts generally, and not from any special ie-
stances. His Hon. Fricid had mentioned that barley was used
for food. In many parts of the country barley was used for , •
food; and in Yorkshire and Lancashire, puts with which he,:'
(Sir It. Peel) was well acquainted, oatmeal constituted Fart of, '",
the food of the labouring clauses.—( Hear.) This questie ten,
had been very fully discussed in 1627 and 1928; and he wee se
umoviiliteg now, considering the extent to wlfeh oatmeal was 1
used for food, unducly to increase the protection on oats ; hot '''
they were, not now discussing the question of oats, but of,
barley. If they diminished the price of wheat, be thought
they ought also to diminish the price of barley. Billeting his
Hon. Friend's amendment to have been brought forward on ..-
the ground that his (Sir R. Peel's) plan did not afford suffi-
.
cient protection to the barley g: ower, he must say that
he was hardly prepared for such an amendment from his Hon.
Friend ; because in every case where barley was consumed,
there was scarcely any difference between the scale of his Hata
Friend and his own. By his (sir R. Peel's) scale, when
barley was above 30s, and under als. the duty would ae as.,
and by his Hon. Friend's scale the duty would be precisely the
same : the only difference between them was, that ta'' his
(Sir R. Peel's) scale, when the price was under 265. in the
home market, the duty would be I Is., whilst by his lion,
Friend's scale the duty would be Ms. Now he (Sir li. Peel):
thought that the reduction of protection which he proposed on
barley was founded on the same prim iple as that which
had Induced him to diminish the protection on vi brat ;
be thought there would be no disturbance of the
eresent relations existing between barley and wheat ; but he
considered, that when the time had arrived for the reduction et •
the protection on wheat, the time had also arrived to reduce
the protection on barley, and that was the principle on which
he had proceeded. tie . trusted that the impression of the
House would be, that the scale which he proposed bore a fair
relation to his scale for wheat; and he believed that there was
no fa ar of any danger arising to the bat ley groan from hit
scale, or that it would much interfere with the barley interest.
Mr..WODEHOUSE said he bad had a communication with
the Speaker, upon the subject of his intention to move this
resoliiiion—( Hear, hear)—and it was from the Speaker's lijit
he had heard, that the proper course was that which he (Mr.
Wodehouse) hail adopted.
Mr. GREENE having said something, which was inaudible
in the gallery,
Air. WODETIOUSE said it was upon that point he had
risen. Before Mr. Greene had taken the chair :he Speake; o.'
had seen the resolution—he (Mr. Wodehouse) asked him, ea'
there any impediment in the forms of the H,,
House to move that
the considaration of the duties hereafter to be imeosed upon ai,
barley might be deCored. The Speaker's answer was that's
that could not be done whilst the llonse was in Committee,.
and that the roundtbout course "of moving that the Chair- •
man do leave the chair," should be adopted. That was the .
cause why he ( Mr. Wodehouse) had taken the course he was .
so yecularly uefort wrote to pursue.
Air. GREENE—What is your motion, now?
Mr. WODEHOUSE—That you repeat the resolution to ,
the House.
. .
After a few words from Mr. DARTIY, . .
Major CUMIIIING BRUCE said he concurred that the a
object of his Hon. Friend was, by deferring the subject, to give
her Majesty's Government time to reconsider it in all its bear-
ings.
Ile thought the scale proposed by her:Mjesty's Govern: ,
ment, did not afford adequate protection to the cultivatiou of
grain. It was the opinion of intelligent men, farmers, corn ,
dealers, and others conversant with this subject, that the pre" r
posed scale of duties would involve consequences extremely In:
jurious to agriculture. The alteration in the law as respected
the duties to be levied upon wheat would cause a considerable .;
portion of land now employed in the cultivation of wheat to be
employed in the cultivation of oats and bailey ; and it there-
fore became more important to the agriculturists of the United
..
Kingdom that those grains should be adequately protected- . •
It appeareerthat the protection proposed for barley and oats was
lower than that proposed for wheat. The reduction per cent. ,
of the I rotection was higher against barley and oats than it was , fe.
against wheat. The reduction in the protection to wheat was
,14a
45 per cent., while the reduction in the protection to barley m
was 54i per cent., and that in the protection to oats 59a per •os
cent. Now it had r.ever been said that barley and oats would lto
not bear a higher protection than wheat; .in fact, no etomP'aint''' 'eel
had even been made on the subject of the protection, to those
.fyie
grains. With respect to the Scotch corn grower, he would olas eat
serve, that the freights from the north of. Scotland to Lundell '')-eil
were nearly as high as those from the Baltic, and that the port 'rear
charges in London were the same on Scotch grain as on foreign t
grain, so that the Scotch corn grower was excluded fromln°
protection which those charges afforded to the English corn
grower, arid which had been dwelt upon with so much empha-
sis by the Right Hon. the Vice-President of the Board of Trade. ,
Oats imported at 235. would bear a duty of Bs. This showed
that the Scotch agriculturists required a higher figure to pro'
tect them. An English farmer could send his corn to market I
for 2s. a .quarter : but an extensive Scotch farmer lately told -
ill
him that he (the farmer), in sending 200 quarters of eats to
t 'l
market at 188., he had -to pay 3s. 6d. a quarter to get it COn- ~. ~,a
:' lee
veyed to the shore, and then ss. freight. In short, the new'
Jae'
law would take away all encouragement from the grower of oats •
ildi
in Scotland ; and if it were passed, as it stood at present, the a
cr
existing distress of Scotland must be greatly increased, in wan:.
sequence of the number of persons thrown out of employment' , „ •
He believed, with regard to prices, that when the demand was! ,
great, prices would be high; but when prices fell, the corn sell
to this country would be a complete bugbear, and would be 501
at any price that could be obtained fur it ; and by that
means drag down the price of wheat in the country.
Such had been the improVement in the cultivation of foreign ~,
barley that it was now frequently imported at a weight of fromt,
521bs. to 56,b5, per bushel. Such barley was perfectly fit -
for
malting, if it had not been long in store before it was brought
into this country. Under these circumstances lie hady`:•
.ur of the clause... doubt that there would be a great coMpetitiOn in the
leafquidike ~
fee 6reied. 'of Beale)? used for snaking. lie had also some remarks to
of .
Onathe duty on beans; they formed an important part
es were then agreed to, at,
the rotation of their crops in Scotland when Pr' '
CORN-LAWS. paring for wheat. The lowest remunerating price
for beans was 38s. a quarter , the highest duty on impoeta'ion
The Order of the Day that the house should resolve
was lls. Now last year Mehemet Ali had imported to this
.tself into a Committee of the whole House to take into country 50,000• quarters, which were sold duty and all re-
consideration the corn and provision laws, having been perms paid, for 28s. a quarter, It would he impas ible to
read,
compete with this, and the present proposed duty would be s ' •
• Mr. KEMBLE presented a petition, which was read total prohibition of the home growth. He therefore trusted i,,i;
by the Clerk at the' table from the mill-owners of a place her Majesty's. Government would
.rec.onsider that. part of theuki
takescale whie.h referred to these descriptions of grain. He 1110014.;
.ois.
;it'
in the environs of London, complaining that the-proposed
wartime, however, by what had occurred to the ,i •
scale of duty upon corn would have the effect of encou-
Aleinber fur Lincolnshire; and as he was also one of the "ski" ' " *el'.
raging the importation of foreign flour instead of wheat., mashers' that had been alluded to, if he could not get the Go- • which would greatly prejudice their interests. The peti- vernment to change their position, he should fall back on the
lion was ordered to lie on the table,
main body rather titan fall into the hands of the enema;
The House then went into Committee. The scale of duties proposed would cause a fall in the value tat.
141 r. WODEHOUSE said he would not trespass at any land in Scotland of 25
per cent., causing distress to the :and'
great length on the patience of the House. The motion lord and tenants, who ' hold under !costa, and the pecutharrs
which he intended to propose was, that the Chairman nature of many tenures there would not allow the pro PricLt
to reduce their rents. In conclusion, he would only say should report progress and ask leave to sit again. He
the
well knew that that motion would be rejected," but he too much appreciated.. the great advantages which
country enjoyed in having not only a strong, but an honest : a
he still felt bound to state why he proposed it for atiop- and upr-ght Government. And he would notput such a Go- '
Lion. There were peculiar considerations with vermnent hi jeopardy for any proposition they might maae on
respect to . barley, which demanded that it the Corn-laws.—( Hear, heat ) Whether as regarded hie own -!'
should - receive peculiar attention. The pa- feelings or the opinions of his constituents, he would rather
;, •
pees laid before Parliament showed that Denmark was submit to larger concessions than endanger their stability. But
better adapted to the growth of barley than of any other a-rain. he could not see how a certain mod ficatioti in the scale of
And notwithstanding the arguments of the late Chancellor of duties on barley and oats could be rejected, if it were proved
the Exchequer, they should not forget that at Elsinore thou- to be for the salvation of the agriculturists of the couutry, or
sands of acres were waiting for the plough ; and moreover why the Government should be obstinate in adhering to aheir
railways would soon run through Denmark, Alecklenburgb, scale ; yet if it were persevered in, and bad consequences were,
and Holstein- It was impossible then to come to any other to follow, they would have the satisfaction to believe that it . '
conclusion than that, however the case stood quoad wheat, it would not be persevered in in consequence of any hostility to
was impossible to say what quantities of oats and barley might the agriculturists of the country, but that a sincere desire to not come in under the new scale from these countries. It maintain and promote their prosperity, had been the object
had been stated that foreign barley would not wait. This he and motive of her Majesty's Minis'ers.—( Hear, hear. )
doubted. He haul heard from Mr. 'Coding that the finest After a few words from Colenel Itustiorer which did not '
sample of barley he bad ever seen was grown in France. True, reach the gallery,
under the present law the importation of foreign malt was pro- Load WORSLEY said that an Hon. Gentleman opposite
hibited. He (Mr. Wodehouse) had twice asked the Earl (Mr. C. Bruce) had stated that he thought the proposed
Ripon whether the law would he allowed to remain so' amount of protection to the growers of barley was insuflielent;
He had asked more than once for information on this subject. but as the measure came from an honest Government, sooner
but could get none. The first time he asked the question of than displace that Government, he would withdraw his opposi-
Lord Ripon he had no answer ; on the second occasion he was Pion to the, proposal. Now he (Lord Wersley) was ready t°
told he must wait. They must not suppose that he intended admit the good intentions of the Government, but at the same
to cast any censure on Lord Haien for so doing ; if there was time he should say that they were mistaken in thinking that
ens public man with whom he had been counected more than the protection they proposed to give would be sufficient. be
any other, it was Lord Ripon; and when he found he could should say from communications he had had with intelligent far:
obtain no answer from him, he could look to nothing but Par- fliers of different political opinions, that the whole body scenic°.
liament. This was a question that involved the fate of to be unanimously of opinion that the existing protection svas . •
millions, and as far as concerned the country, which not too great to the home grower of barley ; and they did net
had for twenty years placed him in Parliament, he think it possible they would continue to cultivate their land fair
would say distinctly that the permanent peace and welfare of that crop with a less protection. A friend of his had lately folu
that country were vitally concerned in the answer which him lately that in conequenee of the proposition of the Govern-
might be returned on this subject. It seemed to him, that ment, only 225. had during the last week been offered fur bar;
with respect to this matter, the intentions of her Majesty's ley in his part of the country, and the maltsters state°,
Government could no longer be doubted ; and this was the that if that proposition were carried, theywould
special reason why he stood there to make known to the House get the greater raft of their barley from America•
that he had hitherto asked in vain as to what were the inten- It niii.t be recollected that none but the fittest barleys were
firms of the Government with regard to the admission of included in time averages. There *as a very great ,ttaritilY
foreign malt. It was at present prohibited; in former years, which was sold at an inferior price, which was not included-
when the export of corn was prohibited, there was an ex- As far as he hid been able to ascertain with respect to his ow"
ception in favour of barley, because at that time they country there was but one opinion on this subject. As re-
had a very profitable export of malt.—( Hear.) girded the alteration in the duty on the importation of fore'gt:
Why was not that export continued? Because there was oh-at the common expression was that they must gm in Oa'
a duty of 20s. a quarter placed on malt. He begged to call the bear it; but he trusted that the case was
not so hopelesm. watt
attention of the Secretary of the path- Department por- respect to barley. He feared that if these resolutions passed
cularly to this subject, be ause he had been especially chosen there would be agricultural distress added to manufacturios •:.e by the Flight lion. Baronet to preside over a Committee distress. That number of persons who now cultivated wouldla% . s
e. •
which had inquired into this subject, and lie would ask him,
would te thrown out of employment and find no other mean'
supposing a person bad taken a farm under the present system, of obtaining a subsistence. If the farms of the House had Per; '.
and on condition that if alteration ue, e matte in the duty on witted, he should have moved that the duties with regard 10
mall, whether such alteration would not be a fair ground for spring corn should remain as they were at present. Fro
gs,
his making a claim for compensation. He considered it, that, however, lie was precluded by the decision upon the tro•
therefore, a hard thing that he had not been able to tiou of his Hen. Colleague. But with respect to the duties on e
get any information on this question.— ( [Dear, hear.) barley and oats he could not see why any change whate seer
l'here was another Member of the Government to whom he should have been proposed. As lie had stated before, he 1.-- • •
would allude, the Paymaster of the Forces, and he would ask gretted extremely that the measure had been brought forward.
him was he prepared to deal out so harsh a measure to the lie gave the Government credit for believing that it wouli
people—a measure which Mr. Huskissoti would not give his afford sufficient protection, and that it would be a settlement of '1 '.41
sanction to. He would beg to tell the Right Hon. Baronet flit question ; at the same time he differed from them in or..- 'Ht. 10,
that though official station was a fair el feet of honeurab'e nion, and should feel it his duty to offer every opposition t° Itl ,Sill,llit
ambition, it was scarcely worth the stain of insincerity. There pasaiog into a
w laW.—e( hear.)
' •°
was another-Member of the Government to
whom he would Mr. CHRISTAI a S seiHeardhe is as quite aware that any gen-
,;
allude. The Right Hon. Baronet at time head of her Majesty's llentan on, that (the Minion-jai) side of the 110050 ?a ' oil
Government would remember that lie (Mr. Wodehouse) had who engaged in a skirmish against her Majesty's_i'etil
called upon and pressed the matter on his consideration, in the meta, was placed in no enviable position. He wished, however' ea'. i
interview he had eat' him, he also sea the liberty of calling his to cell ihe aaention of the House to the state of this question, , .'4i'!,,,i
attention to the introduction of foreign live stock and malt. as regarded Ireland. A vast deal of a'arne existed ie that
ail
As far as he was concerned, he was in total darkness as to the country in reference to the proposed change. He had the , ,-,i' et
intention of the Government with regard to foreign malt, and day. pre-euted a petition of his, not from the monopolising -; 01
how the law was•to be altered with respect to live stock. lle agriculturists as they wean often called, but from the Chamber :;.-eela.l sought to impress on him that the question of duty was cf minor of Commerce of the city, which he had the honour te repre.'•eltr,
.•I.oa ael consideration, but that the larger consideration was to give . praying for an increase- of the duty upon oats end barley. ttoae
permanent employment to the agricultural lehourers. Now, ( hear, hear.) Oats were not genarally grown in Eriglatat but..
in his Opinion, the new Poor-law Poll could not be carried into in Ireland. 'f his crop employed a greater number of the IV! .
effect, if the proposed duty were to be passed into a law. He latimo who suppied this country, as might be inferred frow represented a county which had, perhaps, received greater the fact that, while England imported from 1528 ' 1
benefit from the New Poor-law than any other in the country, 3,93.4,969 quarters. of foreign oats, site imported nearlyto / 841' t
but he' apprehended that, with the adoption of the 19,000,000 quarters of fureign wheat. The withdrawal of !at,
proposed duty upon barley, that law would press protection fur oats from irelend, would increase the 1,500,tr - upon the agricultural labourer with the same severity with unemployed persons to 2,000,000 or 3,000,000;
whirls it now pressed upon the manufaetuting labourer. Ile workhouses could not hold them. And it should be borne '11! . .
so that ita,a_ ~
admitted that the Poor-law was a useful measure, but if the mind that in Ireland there Were no manufictures to fall beets
Present motion were acceded to it could no longer act.. -Time on as here. Since the passingof the present Act, there had bee:,
Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving that the Chairman imported into this country from Irelant 27,914,039
should then report progress,'and obtain leave to sit again. oats , valued at 2,000,000/. It would therefore evidently be oast . .
„Mr. GREEMNE, the Chairman of the Committee, begged gerous. to throw this kind of grain gout of cultivation, for in'js
f time ;
leave to esk the lion. Gentleman 'what was the effect lie anti- certainly. the foreigner could beat the Irish oats out o- tie
cipated from his motion?
market, under the proposed scale—a result that she mere par ti=
Mr. woDEHOUSE said that the effect he anticipated was, cularly tivoided, considering that Ireland had now the burtben
The • .
that barley' would be erased from the scale. of Poore'-rates, for the first time, thrown upon her. s,
anror-
Mr. (31-11-'2 ENE said that the metion would not have that effect. i three places on the Centinent, from which the lareest
,
only result of its being adopted welt! be, chat the .
Thed at e next tattoo of oats might be expected, were Petersburgro Elsinore,,
time the house met they should find the question in precisely and Harnburgh. The price at Petershusgh was from 12s• to
.
from
quarters
.t.
the same state as at present. lie suppose) that the motion Its. ;at Elsinore, from l2s: to I6s. ;soil at Harnburghe _
which the Hon. Gentleman intended to have nut was to the effect 14s. to 16?.: so that they might consider the average pieces g
that lie (111 - Greene) should repert the resolution to time House. be 13s. a quarter. fo this they would have to .e.,
Sir ROBERT PEEL commenced his observations in so
low a tone of voice as to be almost inaudible in the gallery. we 2a. a quarter for freight ; and that, With a duty of S''
quarter.foreign
oats eculd be brought into the British market at 21s. a
was ,
. '
understood the Right Hon.' Baronet to say that he had listened, The price of oats was also always lever in Ireland than it -.g - .
"
with attention to what bad fallen from his Hon. Friend,-but he in England ; and, therefore he thought he was justified in.aa '"
did not mdan to follow his arguments, by which he had at- , that the proposed scale did not afford sufficient
tempted to show that the scale proposed should produce eaten- 1 Irish grower, He should be sorry to do any thing to obstructPr°teeti"Ytima

marriages ' so many of those marriages having been
solemnized, and the number of persons who would be
supp6sed not to have been born in wedlock if those
marriage; were held to be invalid, the greatest
apprehension was naturally excited. The. number
of petitions which had been presented to the
House upon the subject, of which he himself
had this day presented many, showed clearly what
the extent of alarm was ; he, therefore, hoped
that no time would be lost in calming the fears
and apprehensions of the Presbyterians of the North
of Ireland, and that, the proposed measure would be
passed into a law as soon as possible and without dis-
cussing
the merits of any future measure.
Mr. O'COr.iNELL thought the great object of any
measure upon the subject should be to legalise those
marriages retrospecively, as well as prospectively—
the law should be made what every person sup-
posed it Was before. Ile had himself occasion,
more than once, to consider the, question, and he had
no hesitation in giving an opinion that those marriages
were legal. Mr. Justice Perrin, to his (Mr. O'C.'s) own
knowledge, had a's,) given an opinion to the same effect,
and he also followed up that opinion by deciding that
those marriages were valid. The Hight lion. and
Learned Gentleman then suggested the propriety of
enacting.some decisive measure as soon as possible.
The House then went into Committee on the Bill.
Sir R. FERGUSON said a question arose on the first
clause, whether Presbyterian Ministers, members of the
Established Church in Scotland, were to be regarded
as Dissenting Alinisters'in Ireland. -
Mr. Sergeant JACKSON said there could he no doubt
that in Ireland, where the Episcopal Church was the
established form of religion, Presbyterian ministers were
Dissenters.
Mr. O'CONNELL inquired whether there was any
occasion to leave the question undecided. No one would
suppose that a Protestant clergyman of die Esta-
blished Church in Scotland, on going to Ireland -and
marrying parties there, became- a Dissenting minister.
It appeared to him, that by inserting the words " Pres-
byterian Minister" in the clause, the difficulty would be
removed.

.After a short conversation, in which Sir R. Ferguson,
• Mr. Jackson, and Mr. Vernon took part, the clause was
agreed to.
On the second clause being read,
Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN said it was his intention
to oppose the clause in its present form. Ile could
• not go further than to say that parties contract-
- log second marriages, should not be subject to
be prosecuted fur bigamy ; that was the ut-
most extent to which he could go. Ha should say
• No to the clause as it 71Co,ii at present, and if any
Ron. Member would support him, he would divide the
Committee on the clause.
Mr. Sergeant JACKSON defended the clause.
Mr. FOX MAULE said they had in the first case a
woman who had been married several years, and
had most probably a large family—the marriage
having been supposed to be legal, and the children
to- be - legitimate up to a recent period. In the
next - place, they had a woman newly married,
with probably no family at all, and who at the
time of the marriage was probably perfectly aware of the
circumstances under which the husband had deserted
who, until recently, had been considered his wife. They
had to choose between these two evils, and cer-
tainly he thought that
,justice required that they should
recognize the first marriage, and not the second, further
than-to exempt the parties from a prosecution for bigamy.
After a few words from Mr. O'CONNELL,
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said that they
could not, unquestionably, make the present Act
have a retrospective effect, by declaring illegal
second marriages contracted by parties who had
been married, in the first instance, under the late law, and
while those marriages, according to the decision of the
Judges, had not been legal. All that could he
said upon the subject was, that the law now about
to be ,enacted could not meet the whole of the evil.
He also wished to observe that the present Act
did not declare that. the former marriages were invalid,
and it did not in any way confirm the decision of the
Judges if any doubt could be entertained upon that subject.
Mr. S. O'BRIEN was understood to say that he.
thought it proper that those should be absolved from
bigainy, who had married a second wife, their former
marriage having been declared illegal..
Sir GEORGE GREY thought if those parties were
absolved from bigamy much annoyance and expense
to the parishes. would ensue, as it would be a great
inducement for those who had large families to
marry again, whereby they would become chargeable
on the parish. - •
Sergeant JACKSON said a few words which were
quite inaudible in the gallery.
Mr. MURPHY suggested that a clause should be in-
serted in the Act which would make any father mho had
contracted a marriage subsequent to the decision of the
Jtidges, liable for their children.

Mr. FOX MAULE said it would be a vast hardship
that a marriage which had existed upwards of twenty
years, and the issue of which had been a large family,
should be set aside and the man be enabled to marry
again. Let them suppose.the Case of a man Who had
died since the decision of the Judges, the law permitted
that the property should descend to his children, and yet
would it not be a hardship that these children should
not be declared legitimate ? • lie would divide the Com-
mittee on the question.
The Committee then divided, when there appeared—
For the clause • 159
Against it 63
Majority in favour of the clause pG
The clause' was therefore carried.
The remaining clauses were then agreed to, and the
House resumed.

,~