Star.
London, England, 1826-05-12 00:00:00

Dlscharged and relieved from various ratline 60
Debtors, fir the man of
Considered the Cases of
Approved

- £478 0 1
77 Petitioaers
40

Reierred for further Enquiry - 4
Rejected - - 15 and
Considered Inadmissible . IT.
Benefactions are received by John Camden Nrild, Esq. the
Treasurer, Cheyne‘walk, Chelsea; also by Messrs. Hades, Far-
quhar, and Co.. St. James's-street; Messrs. Hoares, Fleet-
street; Messrs. Whitmore and Co. Lombard-street; Messrs.
Cocks, and Co. Charing-cross ; Messrs. Dorrien and Co. Finch-
lane, Cornhill; Messrs. fiammersleys Pali-mall; Messrs. Vexes
and Co. No. 77, Lombard-greet ; mid by Mr. Grasswell, the
litcretary, No. 7, Craven-street, Strand, where the Rooks may
be sees by those who are inclined to support this Charity, and
where the Society meet on the first Wednesday in neat Months

Mr. Lovers., from the Office of the Inspector-General of Corn
prts,tited an Account of the average price of wheat for
the week ending the 6th of May.
A Gentleman presented a Copy of the evidence taken under the
commission regarding the Lovatt Peerage.
The Marquis of SA LTSBURY presented a Petition from owners
and occupiers in the neighbourhood of Charing-Cross, lo favour of
the Charing. Cross Improvement Bill.
The Marquis of LA NSW) W N presented Petitions against Sla-
very from Bradford, in Gloucestershire ; Castletown, ie the North
Riding of Yorkshire; from Middleton; frost a Parish in Leicester ;
from Yarns, in Yorkshire; from Bishop's Writham, in Durham;
and similar Petitions from several Perishes in Durham, and one
from HJlsted,'in Essex.
Bird DAC It E presented similar Petitions from two Parishes In
the County of Bedford.
The Earl of ROSKBRRRY presented Petitions to the same ef-
fect from Melbourn, in Cambridgeshire; from Cheshani. in Buck-
inghamshire; and several similar Petitions from Parishes in Susses-
Lord SUFFIELD presented similar Petitions from Kalahari';
from Milhurst, in Westmoreland; and from several Polishes in
Dorsetshires Lancashire, and Northumberland.
Lord DUDLEY and WARD presented a Petition from Mer-.
chants, Manufacturers, and Traders, in Glasgow and its vicinity.
expressing their apprehensions at the intended measures For throw-
ing open the Colonial Markets, and praying that such measures
might not be passed into a law. The Petition was signed by 700
persons, and expressed a hope that it would receive due attention
from their Lordships.
Earl DA RNLEY presented a Petition from the Roman Catho-
lics of the town of Preston, Lancashire, praying for a removal of
the disabilities ender which they laboured.—LaiJ on the table.
Earl GREY said that he had a similar Petition to present from
a respectable and important portion of the Catholic body. The
Petition was signed by the Duke of Norfolk and by other Noble-
men and Gentlemen of that persuasion, praying fora repeal of the
disqualifying laws which affected them as Roman Catholics. Al-
though concurring with the Noble Earl who had just sat down, in
the propriety of abstaining front any discussion of the important
question which the Petition involved, particularly at the present
period of distress in this country, it was very unfortunate for the
Petitioners that all seasons were equally unfavourable to their
claims. Year after year had he been presenting similar Petitions,
but without effect; and he thought that unless their Lordships
granted relief to the Catholics, the consequences, at one time or the
other, would be most lamentable. He thought that justice and
I policy equally required the concession of those claims; and that was
his opinion in times of prosperity as well as of adversity. He wished
to state that at the present period, when distress and difficulty
added much to the danger, be hoped that the prayer of the Peri-
-1 tioners would be acced.-11 to; and :hat thereby the security of this
country would be esshed.
The Duke of NEWCASTLE presented a Petition from Wood.
bridge, in Suffolk, against any alteration in the Corn Laws.

_
Lord KENYON pr,sented a similar Petition from a Handrail
in F.aex.

laird K ING presented a Petition from the Journeymen Cotton-
spinners of Manchester, praying their Lordships to release the fo-
reign corn now in bond, and also to give his dlajesty's Government
a discretionary power of admitting foreign grain. Ills Lordship
said, that he agreed with the Petitioners in thinking that each mea-
sures would lower the price of food, and that they would also create
a demand in foreign countries for the manufactures of England.--
His Lordship then presented a Petition from the freemen of Wor-
cester, praying for an alteration in the Corn Laws.
Earl GIWSVKNOIt rose for the purpose of stating, that it was
not his intention this Session to bring forward his promised measure
for the more speedy recovery of Promissory Notes. At that late
period of the Session it would not be convenient to enter upon the
subject ; brit he had ant altered his intention of bringing it before
their Lordships, which he would do at a future period.

CORN LAWS.

The Earl of MALMESBURY rose for the purpose
of moving the resolution of which he had given novice,
and in doing so he assured their Lordships, that he bad
undertaken the task with great pain and embarrass-
ment. It was most pAinful for him to differ on that
occas;on, from some Noble Friends, with whose opinions
he had genet ally coincided, and his embarrassment,
arose from the necessity of discussing the important
and delicate question if the Corn Laws, at a period such
as the present, when distress prevailed in the country.
He regretted that the subject had not been taken up by
some other Noble L rd of greater abilities: but what
encouraged him to undertake the task was, the indul-
gence which he had experienced on former occasions;
but if he should not succeed in the duty which he had
undertaken, he hoped the failure would not be attri-
buted to the cause, which he thought was that of justice.,
but to the insufficiency of the advocate. By some it
might be considered that the course which he was pur-
suing was an attempt to prejudice the question ; but in
his opinion it was best for the House to display its own
sentiments on any important measure before it came to
it in the shape of a Bill from another place.—Two mea-
sures were then before the other house of PAriiament, the
one to admit bonded corn to be relea'ed, and the other
giving a discretion to Government to admit the importa-
tion of grain, at a fixed duty. If their Lordships were to
Make any alteration in the Bill, he understood it must fall
to the ground. (.. No, no," from L trd Liverpool). His
Lordship then said he would not pursue that branch of
the subject, but he would take a short review of what
had been done respecting the Corn Laws within the last
year. The President of the Board of Trade had, in his
speech in March, 1825, when he was opening to Parlia-
ment a scheme of liberal policy, stated as his opinion,
that the existing Corn Laws should be sevi►ed, but that
he had no intention of proposing such alteration during
that Session. However, in two months after that de-
claration, shire were two nseasum introduced into
Parliament, by ear of which 433,000 quarters of bonded
coin were admitted into the market for home consump-
tion. The second was what was called the Canada
Corn Bill, by which the American Colonies would be
placed on a footing with the mother country. It was
the pleasure of their Lordships to limit the provisions
of the latter measure, and without further alteration.—
That was the state of the law at the termination of the
last Sessions of Parliament. At that time the country
was in a state of unexampled prosperity. At the com-
mencement of the present Sessions it had been annOuu-
ced that all intention of interfering with the Corn Laws
was to be abandoned for the present Sessions, brat; it
was intimated that some change would be proposed in
the next. In that course he had agreed, because he
thought the agitation of the subject would bring into.
cornpeti. ion the two great interests of the countrt.—,
Aboitt ten days ago, when the distress which prevailed

in the country assumed the character of disturbance, a
Noble Marquis (Lansdown) bad sugges:ed the pro
priety of advancing- a sum of money from the public
purse for the purpose of relieving the sufferers, and
urged upon his Majesty's Mini.ters to accede to the
proposition. The Noble Earl at the head of his Majesty's
Treasury stated, in reply, that them were two sources,
from which the sufferer. might expect relief. The one was'
private subscriptions, which were in themselves a very
indifferent source, and the second was the Poor Laws.
And upon them he (Lord. Malmesbury) thought that
the greatest reliance would be placed, and in reterence
to the Poor Laws he did not think he stated too mild,
when he said that the seven-tenths of the Poor It rte
were paid tbr the landed interest. The -Noble Earl
(I iverpool) declined acceding to the advance of pubic li
money; but he had proposed the two measures wl.icl;
were then under consideration. The one was similar
to one of the measures of the last sear, for admitting
bonded corn into the market for home consumption; aid
on this point he would wish to ascertain whether such
corn was to be admitted at once into the market, or
whether a notice was intended to be given of such 'a
proceeding? Hir Lordship made no objection to that)
measure; bat he thought there Aaoul I be no inconve-
nience of giving a notice of six sleeks or some such
time, before a large quantity of grails would be admit-
ted into the market. The second had been originally
ro give a discretion-to his Malesty's Ministers to admit
foreign coin on the payment of a duty of 12.. per go ar-
ter ; hut that was modified into a 'mewl:, less objec-
tionable, because more limited. It was not his inten-
tion to oppose the' first of theie measures; brit to the
latter, modified as it Was, his objections applied.—
He would now state,, from official returns, how much
foreign corn had been introduced into this country since
the Ist of last June. The bonded "corn admitted under
the Act of the list Session amounted to 433,000 quar-
ters : and that horn Canada to 95,000, making 528,000
quarters. If to this were to be • added the 300,0.,0
quarters now in bond which were to be released by the
present measure, there would be a total of 828,000
quarters in eleven months. Should their Lordships
grant the power called for by his Majesty's Ministers
to introduce 500,000 additional quarters, the whole
importation,in the course of one year, would amount
to no less than -1,328,000 quartets. Now the regular
importation of foreign cora at former periods had been,
about 4.50,08'd quarters a-year, so that even if the House
only-passed the Bill for allowing the admission of fo-
reign corn, there would still have been imported as
machia eleven months as in a year and a' half in or-
dinary time% The next point was the possibility, or
the probatriiity, of a scarcity,' and in order to shew
that tics suck, danger was..to :be apprehended, he
would' compare the averages of former years with
those' or the two last, and 'in order that all should
he ptifectlY fair, be would' exclude years of war
from the "comparison. The average sOrice of corn in
the niontiftif November, 1415, was 565. per quarter. In
May, 1816, it was 75i. being a rise of nearly 20s. In
Novembei; -1816, it was 98s. and in May, 1817, it
reached 1051. and that was a year of scarcity. In May,
1825, the average was only 60s. or 455. less than in
1817. Ortthe 14th of Nov. 1825, two months after
the harvest, it was 655. 4d. and in Feb. 1826, five months
after the harvest, it was 601.-sd. Now that eight months
had elapsed since the corn of last year had been reaped,
and when the price might be supposed to have in-
Crewed, it was only 60c. per quarter, or five shillings
less than immediately after the harvest. He had-learnt,
indeed, ndtwithstanding what had been said about the
general emptiness of wheat granaries, that in the corm.'
ties of L'ecoln, Norfolk, and Sussex, them was an abuts.
dart quantity of corn on hand, and no symptoms of a
deficiency of stock.. Was there any thing in the view
which he had taken to justify any apprehension of an
approaching scarcity, or to render the present measure
necessary ? The most objectionable points in that mea-
sure, however, were the manner and time at which it
was produced. All parts of the country were joining
in the cry that the existing distress was caused by the
Corn Laws. If he thought so he would unite with any
other Noble Lord in soliciting their repeal; bet before
measures wire adopted, the effect of which was to ad-
mit the charge, he wished for inquiry to shew whether
it was founded. 11: learned Inns the master manu-
facturers' that the present distress was occasioned by
Combination; from the workmen that it arsoe from
machinery. Old fashioned people like himself thought
that it might proceed from the new commercial policy
adopted, and the unprincipled speculations to which it
had given rise. Others ascribed it-to the state of the
currency. Was it not proper, therefore, when there
were so many different opinions, to ascertain what was
its real cause, instead of fastening at once on the Corn
Laws, which he was convinced had nothing whatever to
do with it ? And ought not enquiry to be conceded when
the measures of his Majesty's Ministers were of a nature
to confirm the unfoonded outcry which bad prevailed ?
He would pledge himself that in a week, and with only
six honest intelligent manufactorers, for that woull be
sufficisnt, he would prove that the earn Laws were not
the cause of the existing distress,' and that the means
adopted for its relief would ultimately tend to its ag-
gravation, by injuring the Landed Interest, from whom
the manufacturing one must receive its greatest support.
-Another season for demanding inquiry ;was, that in
speaking of that maximum price for the protection of
native Corn, the Noble Earl. (Li verpool) bad called it
the other-night, a famine price. - ,How came four
shbrt years to produce this difference? •In 1822, 80s.
per quarter was a proper price, and now it was a famine
one.! If. what was't -moderate price in one year was
to -become a famines ptice in another, then there could
be- no. fixed system, whether on the subj..ct of corn or
any other articles, and the.sarne objection would apply
to a duty of 12s. whichntthst be increased- or reduced
annually, as citcurnstances might require._ It -eras;
therefore, important to inquire, whether there had been
an alteration in the value of money, apd whether it was
not possikaleat once .to establish a fixed syttemaaf -Corn
Laws. -.Cern, besides, was .not ijre only article which
aporen famine price, it the Noble Earl's view of things
WCre adopted, clothing was as •nreessary as-corn,'- and
coats, shoes, fuel, tea, ednication.alki sea vinati wages, aU
had now reached famine prices. •He WV part:Sal to the
education of the lowas.tlases.. ,The • more-they -were