Star.
London, England, 1820-05-17 00:00:00

I

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di,position of Parliament, no &eat. practical be-
ref': could be accomplished without the general-con-
currence of the country at large. His Hon. Friend
who had just presented the Petition before them,
t:iffered from him, but in very few and inefficient
riots. The House, he said, must have heard with
pleasure from his Hon. Friend, that some of the
• .
principal manufactures which had been for some time
depressed, had, at least partially, revived. And he
versed with his lion. Friend in thinking, that how-
ever gleemy and unpromising the appearances might
be, there was yet no set hats apprehension (if proper
exte tions were made) that the Commercial and MR-
hitC;L:its of this country would be eadan-
e,:red in any material degree. During the war an ex-
•-eerdinary impulse was given to the Manufacturing
Lierests of Engiand—•-all extensive, but artificial trade
r_vail,2d, which could not be k4pt up in peace.—
eat stale of things must give way to one of a more
:roderate, but more solid and more natural kind. lle
c -::curre.l with his Honourable Friend, that if the
-11 :use *would encourage the commerce and maim-
fecteres of the country by good laws—by wise and
regulatioes, that they would again behold the
revival of commerce and of general prosperity. lint
it was only hy ercat efforts that such desirable objects
ceeld be accomplished ; they were not to fall asleep
ove: the stay % of the country ; they were not to stip-
pe:, that laeause trade had so long flourished—that
bk't: fa:-ZS had gone on prosperously for agi eat
of time, that without any exertions on their
•!t tiley would revive and flourish. On the con-
t: try, teey rnwt he convinced that new and great
had arisen—that the situation of other
countries presented serious difficulties to the encou-
teeement of Pe itish Commerce—and that extraordi-
Errs:: exertions were necessary to meet and to °vet-
e, me these difficulties. Ile entirely concurred %yid)
Ihmeerable Friend in this—that lie did not de-
ll eed with regard to the state of the country ; whilst
Le was willing to admit that the state of the country,
as to its commercial and agricultural relations, could
not preset ye that artificial degree which it held during
the war, but must be reduced to a more reasonable
standard. When his Honourable Friend had stated
that this country had manufacturing facilities above
all other countries, he must vet be convinced that
those facilities would be transferred to other nations,
should they remain in peace for any considerable time.
Those advantages consisted not in the cheapness of
lehour ; they consisted in the extent of capital, in the
rerfect state of machinery, in the enterprising spirit
of oer people. in those respects, we had the start of
tie: other nations of the world. But those would be
lost in the course cf time, and nothing but the greatest
r:ssible :mention to the state of our manufacturing
and commercial interests—nothing but the most
watchful and active exertions, and the wisest laws,
cau:d preserve them. An Honourable Gentleman
Lad stated some advantages as belonging to the cot-
tea manufacturers ; but if the raw materials of that
e.ticle were subjected to any considerable duty, nei-
Cee- that Honourable Gentleman nor the best in-
ihrreed man in that House, could be able to calcu-
I tie the precise extent of the duty which the manu-
facturer could bear, so as to be able at the same time
to hold a competition with other countries ; and to
try an experiment of that description would expose
him to the utmost danger. He (Mr. Baring) re-
peated, that lie did not anticipate any misfortunes to
the commercial interests of the country; he did not
anticipate to have misfortunes, because he had every
confidence in the wisdom of that House. He was
glad to see that there did not exist any hostility in
tie shipping interests of the country, as to the ob.
jests which NI ere embraced by the Petition before them.
lle had that morning attended a numerous body of
the ship-owners, who had met to express their appre-
hensions of the consequences that would result from
t'-:e object of the Petition being carried into effect to
its fullest extent. He addressed that Meeting on
several practical points embraced by the Petition ;
and, as it oFten happens when men exrlain themselves
one to another, he soon found that there was not any
difference, at least not any. great difference between
bias and the Meeting, but that, on the contrary, they
arced on every point, with the single exception of
the timber trade. A great concurrence of opinion
existed between the ship-owners and the other inte-
rests of the country ; and, with respect to any parti-
criar alteration in the Navigation Laws, that body
were anxious to permit the carriage of any articles
fereign bottoms, with this exception, that they
should not eetend to the produce or growth of India,
cr of the Colonies, b,!cause if those articles were
merely to be brought across the Channel in British
vesse:s, it would operate to the disadvantage of Br h
t:sh sl:ipi-aeg. Put with respect to the produce of
every part of Europe, they had no objection to their
importation. The Honourable Member concluded
by seyieg, that when Gentlemen inquired into the
perticuler points, they would not find so much diffe-
eence of opirien as they first imagined to exist; and
;:e did hope, that in the course of a short time they
%eould be :;hie to eiew the yeti( us intercets of this
Century with liberal feelings, and would be able to
apply the means of their revival and prosperity.
The Petition was ordered to lie on the table.
AGRICULTURAL DIsTRESs.
_ _

Mr. BROUGHANI presented a Petition from 50
nr 60 occt:piers of land in Sussex, complaiLing rf
-
g:.e.tt ir.jnry they had sustained, and tin: great
c' tress wl:clt was occasioned, by the importation of
corn. The Petitioners stated, that the taxes
:;Tposi-:d by Government—the extent of the Poor
..ates—and the extraordinary reduction in the price
occasioned the distress of which they com-1
p:ainuti, and they prayed for relief and assistance
tr.,in the I louse. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman'
`.aid, that he did not pledge himself to support the
:,rayer of the Petition to its utmost extent—the ob-
.,:ct of the Petitioners went, in the first place, to
repeal the Corn Bill, and to impose a duty on foreign.
:orn. lle thought that the subject of the average
'.)rice f.xed at 60s. by the Act, ought to be considered
House ought at least to see whether the average
mice which they meant to put, or affected at least to
;Ai% on corn, was not in fact reduced much below
tc original standard. He mei ely threw out this ior.
c colhideratiun of the Hot.te.

Ktitirogi was ordered to lie on the table.
Lord NIILTON presented a Petition from a con-
,ideralrle number of Farmers and Yeomen in the
Norih Riding t,l Yorkshire, complaining of Agricul-
trral Distress. The Noble Lord said,- that he did
-)t concur in the views of the Petitioners. lie,

thought that no effectual relie' could he given to
any particular class of persons; that relief, if at all,
could only be administered on a lit)c-al and com-
prehensive plan, embracing the intere.ts of all classes
in the country.
The Petition was ordered to lie on the table.
_ POSTPONEMENT OF MOTI 'NS.

Sir H. PARNELL rose to withdraw th., notice of motion
which he had formerly given in the absene• of his Right Hen.
Friend (Mr. Grattan), respecting the clal.ns of his Majesty's
Itoman Catholic subjects. The Hon. Baro vet said, that he had
tlmt day received letters from Ireland, which induced him to
withdraw the notice.. A Meeting of the Catholizo was to be
held that tidy in Dublin, where the question as to the propriety
of pressing the immediate discussion of the subject, he un-
derstood, to he considered.

Lord MILTON rose for the purpose of postponing his mo-
tion for the r. peal of the Tax on Wool, to Friday week. He
would, he said, have probably postponed it to this ;toy fortnight,
but that he found a motion cf great importancs on the state of
Agricultural Distress, was to be brought before the House on
that day by an Ho:lmitable Member fur Surrey.
After a short conversation between Lord Casu.earamt and
Lord NircroN, the nnnion was finally fixed for Friday week.
Mr. BROUGII.1:%1 expressed a wish that a motion, of which
he gave notice last night, on the filling vp of the Vacancies in
the Scotch Jury Courts, and which stood for Friday, the 26th
instant, should he hrought on the Thursday preceding.
The SPEAK ER said, that that course was not strktly- regu-
lar, and might lead to inconvenience. It was usual for Honour.
able Mcnthers to postpone motions, but not to accelerate their
discussion.