The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-07-10 00:00:00

Vrorttlitno in Vac!lament

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—MONDAY.
Mr. DISRAELI rose to move that the house would resolve
itself into a committee to consider the state of the nation. He
began by observing that the distress of this country had been
progressive since the formation of the present Government,
notwithstanding the favourable circumstances they had en-
joyed in the absence of an organized opposition, and in their
being uncontrolled and uncriticised. He contrasted the con-
dition of this country when the present Government assumed
• the reins of power, in 1846, with relation to Europe, to our
colonies, to Ireland, and to our finances, with its present state,
when European tranquillity and English influence had disap-
peared together—when many of our colonies were ruined,
others were discontented, and some had been in insurrection
—when our exports had declined £7,ooo,ooo—when our once
prosperous agriculture was prostrate—when Ireland was in a
state of social decomposition—and when, instead of a surplus
revenue of £3,000,000, there had been a deficiency to that
amount, terminated not by an act of the Cabinet, but by the
. interference of that house. Mr. Disraeli then read official de-
tails which showed the depression of wages and increase of
pauperism among the labouring classes, whose condition, he
observed, was a test of the real state of the country ; and he
insisted that it was the paramount duty of the house not to
separate without inquiring into this unprecedented and pro
gressive decay of the country. He appealed to the statement
not only as a justification, but as an urgent cause of his mo-
tion, and he proceeded to examine the reasons to which he
referred the deterioration of the population and the general
decay of the country. A principal reason was the decline in
the value of our foreign commerce ; and he showeebthat, not-
withstanding continental convulsions, the quantity of goods
exported from the United Kingdom (denoted by official value)
was equal to that of the great years 1845 and 1846 ; but the
declared value of exports in these two years averaged
.€59,500,000, whilst in 1848 it was only £53,000,000; so that
our working classes, for the same quantity of goods, had re-
ceived .e6,50P,100 le.. in 1848 than in 1845 and 1816. From
this and ether facts, Mr. Disraeli argued that the principles of
profitable Interchange with foreign nations adopted in our new
commercial theory were erroneous, rendering British labour
of less exchangeable value. Other reasons were found in the
' state of the home market and the fall of prices, which diini-
nished the means of employment ; and in the increase of im-
migration from Ireland, the result not of the famine, but of
the policy of the Government. In the midst of these evils,
what had been the financial proceedings of the present minis-
ters? Increased expenditure and increased taxation. Mr.
Disraeli then reviewea tt o.r -oinnial administration—the
darkest page in their history—and passed thence to their to-
reign policy, which, he maintained, whilst it had diminished
the influence of this country, had been one of the principal
causes of the continental convulsions; and he adduced the
case of Italy as an example of the principles and the effects of
their policy. The hon. member concluded with the following
eloquent peroration :—Hitherte this country had been, as it
were, divided into a hierarchy of classes. each of ,v Rica was
open to all, but in which =y Englishman was taught to be-
ac occupied a position better than the analogous
position of his order in any other country in Europe. The
British merchant, for example, was most creditable ; he was
wealthy and trustworthy. The English farmer was the most
skilful, as was proved by his obtaining a greater produce than
any other farmer in Europe or America. 'lhe English manu-
facturer was likewise the most skilled manufacturer, and si-
lenced the looms of Flanders, France, and India. The ability
of the British sailor has passed into a proverb, and chivalry
seemed to have found its last resource in the breast of the
• British oflicer. In like manner, the learned professions, our
physicians, and lawyers, held a higher position than the pro-
fessional men of any other country. I have heard it at the
same time stated that the superiority of these classes was at-
tained at the cost of the last class in the great hierarchy—the
labouring population. But, though I have heard in this house
- something of the periodical sufferings of that class—as if every
class had not its periods of suffering ;—and though I have heard
districts referred to where their condition was much depressed
—as if a district condition was not essentially exceptional—l
have no hesitation myself in saying, and I shall he surprised to
be contradicted by facts, that no great community has existed
since the fall of the Roman empire where the working popula-
tion were placed in so advantageous a position as the working
classes of England. I speak not of those civil rights which are
superior to those enjoyed by princes in other countries, but I
, speak of their material condition. I say that they have had a
greater command over the necessaries of life than any popula-
tion of equal size in any community in Europe. For the last
60 years their progress, and it can be proved in detail, has
borne a due proportion to the progress of all other claSses;
and for the last 20 years the spirit of our laws, most important
in such matters, and the spirit of our society, have been to
elevate their condition. Therefore I will not conceive that the
position of the last class in this hierarchy was relatively infe-
rior to the others, but I hold that the English working man
was in a better condition than the working man of any other
country. It was a state of society based on the aristocratical
element in its most complete and greatest developement. You
thought you were destined to change these laws. Instead of
accomplishing the best, what you want to do now is to achieve
the cheapest. I have shown you that the economic principle
which you have acted on is a fallacious one; and that the ne.
cessary consequence of it is to cause the impoverishment and
embarrassment of the people. But your policy. has done more
injury than this, and will lead to greater misfortune. The
wealth of England is not merely its material wealth, for nei-
ther is it the well-cultivated acres of England, nor our havens
full of shipping, nor our ingenious arts and unrivalled manu-
factures, nor the intrepid industry of our mines, that form the
sole or principal wealth of this country. We have, indeed, a
treasure more precious than all these; and that is the charac-
ter of the people. This is what you have injured. You have
destroyed, in destroying what you ca'l class legislation, that
noble and indefinable spirit of ambition, the source of our
greatness, prosperity, and power. (Cheers.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER vindicated the course
pursued by Lord Palmerston, whose object had been, through-
telt all that had taken place, to preserve the peace of Europe.
The right hon. gentleman then proceeded to reply seriatim to
the arguments of Mr. Disraeli, quoting largely from statistical
documents, to show that the free trade measures of the govern-
ment were not of the destructive character to the commerce
and industry of the country represented by the honourable
member. Wages had necessarily been affected by the Ten
Bill, but he had received information from the manu-
facturing districts, to the effect that the reduction in the
amount of wages was more than compensated for by the low
price of provisions. In the first four months of the present
year there was not a single article of export which did not ex-
hibit a very large increase, as compared with the correspond-
ing four months of last year, clearly showing that prosperity
was returning to our manufactu-ing industry- In conclusion,
the right hon. baronet expressed a hope that the house would
not abandon a course of legislation which had been so benefi-
cial to the country, and called upon the house to negative the
motion of the hon. member for Buckinghamshire.
Several other members afterwards spoke, and the debate
' was adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-7TtrEsDim

Mr. F. O'CoNNon brought on his motion for the adoption of

" the People's Charter,"-the six points of which are annual
parliaments, universal suffrage, vote by ballot, equal electoral
- districts, no property qualification, and payment of members.
11r. SHARMAN CRAWFORD seconded the motion, which was
negatived by a majority of 222 to 13.
Mr. BANKES moved that the house go into committee, for
the purpose of considering the mode of preventing fraud in
the sale of bread.
After a discussion the house divided, when the motion was
carried by a majority of 54, the numbers 91 to 37.