The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-22 00:00:00

Mr. PARKER (Sheffield) said, that although he
approved, to a certain extent, of the new tariff, he did
not think that any effectual steps had yet been taken to
revive the declining trade of the cauntryt He regretted
that they had omitted from the tariff witch that wou!d
would have rendered it vaittable. They could not ex-
pect any advantage from a plan that did not admit of the
free admission of the produce of other nations in return
for their own.--(Hear, hear.) Legislation had formerly
been suite stationary on this • subject, because they
could not carry with them the opinions of this
`house. But there was a period daring the last
year when the Government thought they saw an op-
portunity of progressing, and attempted to carry mea-
sures to effect it ; they did not succeed ; but the present
Government was fast approaching the period when they
would be compelled to carry the same measures, fur such
good seed could not have been sown in vain. If those
measures had been carried, if that vilely calumniated
budget had become the law of the land, Jae believed the
commerce of the country would have been raised from its
present languid condition, and thousands of persons
would have been fully employed who were now pining
for want of work. He believed the Corn-law then pro-
posed was founded on sound commercial principles, and
would hare produced a great and decided improvement.
Nor could the day be far distant, when they
would be compelled to admit sugar on the terms then
proposed. Trade could not remain iu its present state,
with regard to that important article. He was per-
suaded that the plan of the late Government, more or
less modified, would become the law of the land.
Mr. THORNELY said he thought the House ought
to be made aware of the effect of the new Corn-law on
the importation of corn from the United States. .Up to
the 4th of July, from the 30th of April, the import of
wheat into Liverpool, from the Continent of Europe, was
175,484 quarters ; from the United States, in the same
time, the importation of wheat was seventy-three quar-
ters only.—(Hear.) It was fair to state teat the chief
export of America was flour, prepared 'for the West
Indies and South America ; and therefore, when a de-
mand arose in England for wheat, which was more ne-
cessary than flour, the dial being of great value, there
were no means of meeting it. He believed that if the
measures of the late Government had been-carried, an
extensive trade would have been created with America.
They Lad talked of a commercial treaty with Portugal,
but it was an utterly insignificant countey compared with
the United States of America. This state of things
could not long continue. He confessed that he did not
knew how they could face the approaching winter.
—(Hear.)- The people were beginning to be instructed
in these things, and men of all parties were
throwing aside their party distinctions, and uniting
in their condemnation of the present system. He should
vote for the motion of the Hoe. Member for Finsbury.
Sir R. PEEL said the Hon. Gentleman who had
spoken last had taken credit for fergetting party dis-
onctioes, and having given h cordial support to many
propositions in reference to the tariff. He must own he
could n©t reconcile the panegyric the Hon. Gentleman
had ',asset' on himself with the declarations made in the
course of this debate, that he (Sir R. Peel) avid his col-
leagues
had done nothing whatever to remedy the dis-
tress of the country, that they had been actuated by
a mere subserviency to their agricultural supporters,
and that there was nothing in the propositions they had
made but a desire to conciliate their Parliamentary sup-
portei s—(Htar, hear)—end to sacrifice to that con-
sideration the permanent interests of the country. Re-
ference had also been made to the measures the Govern-
ment had taken for the relief of their financial difficul-
ties, and gentlemen had been particularly severe on the
Income-tax. It had been asked, was this a measure that
should have been proposed to benefit the country ? and
Hon. Gentlemen bad proceeded to demonstrate—as it
was easy to demonstrate in reference to any
tax that that tax could not operate as a
relief to the country, but must have some
tendency to limit the demand for their productive in-
dustry.
But what were the circumstances under which
he proposed this tax- ?—(Cheers.) Was he responsible
for the deficiencies of the revenue ?—(Cheers.) His
term of power in 1831 was ft very short one, and he had
no right to take credit for the measures en adopted.
But in 1835 there was a great surplus in the revenue of
this country ; there was also then a surplus in the re-
venue of India.--(Hear.) In 1841, when he returned to
office, he found a deficit of two millions and a half at
home, and it deficit of two millions and a -calf in India.—
(Heart-near.) He did not allude to this for the sake of
party recrimination—he was simply stating a fact.—
(Jiver, hear.) This fact justified' the adoption of strong
measures for the maintenance of the public credit, and
showed that the imposition of the Income-tax was not
a mere gratuitous act on the part of the Government:—
(Hear, hear.) It was unavoidable, and for the necessity
of it he was not responsible.—(Hear, hear.) Now,
with respect to the tariff, now that it had
passed it appeared to be viewed in a very different
light from what it was when under discussion. When
he brought forward the measure instant efforts were
made by Hon. Gentlemen opposite to increase the dis-
satisfaction and alarm which it produced en that side of
the House. Questions were put to him whether he
meant to relax the prohibition on salmon, as to whether
hops would remain untouched, and as to whether he
meant to effect foreign meat ; and by those, and similar
questions, it was sought to create dissatisfaction amongst
his supporters ; notwithstanding which, however, his
measure had received from that side of the
House very general support. He did not hesi-
tate to say that there never had been made in
any session of Parliament so great a relaxation as had
been made by the tariff. It was said that they had pro-
pounded good principles, which they had not carried out
to their full extent. Admitting the principles to be
good, he thought that if, in the multiplied and compli-
cated relations of this country, they were applied with
precipitancy, it must rather have the effect of increasing
than of removing the distress. Let them, however, look
at the tariff as a whole. Let them look at the reduction
which had been made upon raw materials, the elements
of our manufactures. With respect to the Corn-law,
the Honourable Gentleman admitted that it was infi-
nitely better than the old one, that it would tend
to introduce corn at lower prices, and to insure a
regular trade. 'Cell, if all this were admitted, he must
say it was somewhat extraordinary to declare, at the
close of the session, that nothing had been done to re-
lieve the distresses of the country.-L(Hear, hear.) He
knew how dangerous it was to blame those who made
statements with respect to the existing distress ; but
while he fully admitted and deeply deplored such
distress, he could not agree with those who represented
the country as in a hopeless state of suffering.—(Hear.)
Hr would refer to one or two facts connected with the
general coudition of the country, not immediately re-
ferable to the circumstances of the day. He would
take the comparative increase of the population for the
last ten years, and the increase in the number of
inhabited houses ; these he thought were good teats of
the condition of the country. If the number of inhabited
houses fell off, as compared with the population, it might
fairly be inferred that the condition of - the country. had
deteriorated; but the number of inhabited houses, within
the last ten 3 ears, in England and Wales, had increased
in the great majority of counties with reference to the
population. From the population returns which were
about to be presented to the House, he had a return of the
increase per cent. on the populatioh between 1831 and
1841, and also of the increase per cent. of the inhabited
houses for the same period. He did not think
that that was a very unfair test of the
general condition of the country. Now, with respect to
all the counties of England, there hail been an increase
per cent. in the number of inhabited houses, as competed
with the increase in the population, in every county of
the forty, with the exception of six. In six there had
been a decrease in the number of inhabited houses, as
compared with the population ; in thirty-four there had
been an increase.—(Hear, hear.) In Wales there had
been an increase 'per cent. of inhabited houses itt eery
county, without exception.—(Hear.) At the tame time,
he admitted that that was a comparison upon the ten
years ; and upon so long a period that increase might
exist, without negativing the allegation of .great distress
at present existing.—(Hear, hear. the Hon. Gentle-
man, the Member for Manchester, had complained of
his declining to receive a deputation of shopkeepers
front that town. Now it •was with gt eat regret that he
had declined the application: There were so many
demands upon public islets that it was impossible in
every case to reconcile the performance of other duties
with the receiving of deputations. He must here ob-
serve, that sometimes th:-.,re was a tendency in deputa-
tions to forget the Celled for which the inter View was
sought. Th:ae
Was sometimes manifested miller dis-
P°sitiell. to oratorical display—(tlo.7)—than a plain
s`setethent of facts o and thtnigh he was pre-
pared to listen with patience A° a simple
.statement of facts, he Coniessed he had enough of decla-
mation and oratorical display in the House of Com-
mons to makti him turn rather an unwilling ear
to mere declamation on the part. of those who formed
deputations. It should be recollected that the. time of
public men was public property.—(Hear, hear.) The
don. Gentleman, the Member for Manchester, pur-
suing his course of disparaging everything which had
been done by the tariff, explained that although they
had reduced the duty on coffee, it would be of no use,
because they had not also reduced the duty on sugar.
New, what was the fact with respect to the consump-
tion of sugar s? The quantity of sugar consumed in
this entry in the year ending April 1841, was
3014,000 cwt. ; in the year ending April, 1842, it was.
3,998,000 cwt., being an increase in the consumption at
the same rate of duty of 482,000 cwt. He thought they
Should nut refuse to let in this ray•of light upon the dis-
tress of the country. With, respect to shipping there
had been an increase in the port of London, in 1841, as
compared with 1842 ; whilst there had been a decrease
of 60 in the entry of foreign vesseis, there had been an
increase of British vessels to the amount of 200. He
thought they ought not to judge hastily of the operation
of the Corn-laws or the tariff ; but he thought there
did appear a tendency to gradual import of foreign corn.
The charge against the old Corn- law was,. that there was
no regular trade, and that gold had to be sent out to
meet an extraordinary demand. He must say that, as fur
as he could judge, the import had been gradual, and
there had been no derangemeut of the monetary system
of the country.--(Hear, hear.) If they might judge
from the accounts in the daily papers, the effect was
equally. gool—(Hear, hear.) Now, with respect
to the motion before the House, he need scared)
say that it was wholly cut of his power to give
his assent to the motion of the Hon. Gentleman. The
motion was in effect a pledge Of the House, to repeal the
Corn-laws at an early period of the next session. The
Hon. Gentleman proposed that the House should address
her Majesty to assemble Parliament in October or No-
vember, for that purpose. There had been instances,
undoubtedly, in which Parliament had given similar ad-
vice, but the cases were rare, and nothing but the most
urgent necessity could justify it. If it were unanimously
acted upon, the liouse would in iaet be eNereising the
prerogative of the Crown. On constitutional grounds he
should object to the motion. Ile saw no sufficient ne-
cessity for adopting such a course. The Government