parison with themselves. The protection | landed, manufacturing, and mercantile now proposed by the right hon. gentleman was higher than any that had ever been afforded to the manufacturing interests. For the protection of the landed classes, and in order that they might demand high rents, the importation of grain was to be prohibited; while, on the other hand, the Usury laws were to be continued, that they might be enabled to borrow money at a cheap rate. Was this the situation in which the landed gentlemen wished to present themselves to the country? If it was, he thought it not an enviable one. It seemed to him, that the opinions of the noble lord (Milton) were deserving of much consideration; because it was very likely that, from his being connected both with the agricultural and the manufacturing districts, his judgment would be impartial and unbiassed. The opponents of the present proposition wished us to deny all the principles which had been laid down by political writers; but he did not think that they ought to expect the Committee to believe, that all which had been stated, from Dudley North down to Adam Smith, was a mass of folly and nonsense. At least, if they could persuade gentlemen in the House to do so, they would not have the same success out of doors. He acknowledged the obligations of the country to the right hon. gentleman for the liberality of his domestic and foreign policy; but he must, nevertheless, give the preference to the plan of his hon. friend, the member for Bridgnorth. He admitted, However, that any system of duty was preferable to prohibition. Lord Clive said, he wished as much as any man, that corn should be at a low price, and the cheaper the better, provided it was of British growth. Mr. Alderman Waithman said, that the body of individuals whom he represented were at all times entitled to much attention from the House, although their interests might not be exactly the same as those of the hon. gentlemen who had already addressed the House [cries of "Question"]. He saw how hopeless any effort on his part must be in the present temper of the House; but he should, nevertheless, endeavour to discharge with fidelity the duty he owed to his constituents. All they wanted was, to be put upon the same footing as the landed interest; and it had been repeatedly said, when it answered any purpose, that the interests were inseparably connected, and liraverly; but were they not fighting for poverty and workhouses, while the landed interest did not pay sixpence towards the expenses of the war [hear!" question !"] He would prove it. In the twenty years previous to 1792, the only variation in the price of wheat had been between 45s. and 45s. 9d. per quarter. An enormous adyance afterwards took place. The stoppage of the Bank of England, which was considered a great national calamity, produced, at least, this benefit to landlords it raised the price of agricultural produce so extravagantly, that the value of the property of the landed interest was increased, at least one-half, and the landlord was thus more than reimbursed for all he contributed towards the expenses of the war, undertaken for the protection of his property Corn rose from 45s. 9d. to 88s. advances of about seventy-five per cent. After what had been absurdly called carevulsion from war to peace, it was to be expected that every thing would decline in priced and value. War had elevated the value of the land, next the value of the produce of the land, and afterwards the price of labour; but the return of peace had lowered manufactures from thirty to forty per cent. And, upon what principle was it, that land alone was to be kept up at an artificial value above its due proportion? Taking the price of wheat at 55s. it gave the cultivator of the soil 10s. per quarter above the price it bore for twenty years previous to the war. He had much respect for the landed interest they were men generally who had a good deal of time upon their hands; who had leisure to do good and to reflect upon the best mode of doing it. He had always thought that to the exertions of the landed proprietors, the country was greatly indebted for the preservation of its liberty and privileges. They were men also who saw their own interests pretty clearly; but he must say, that they seemed to have no conception of the difficulties and privations to which other classes were reduced. The population of the kingdom had increased one third; but if it had been augmented to three times that amount, the manufacturers were still to be told, that they were to obtain bread only from the produce of the country. They were not to be allowed to import corn, but, to export and expatriate the surplus population. There were Colombian and Canadian Societies, and Committees of 1 Emigration, employed in contriving means to send a once happy bpeople for ever from their native soil, merely became they were not to be allowed to eat the bread of industry at home. Such was the condi tion to which the country had been reduc ed, and in which it was to be kept for the sole benefit of the landed interest. It had been said, that the landed interest were the best customers of the mante facturers; and it might be true if they would but buy enough, and at a sufficiently high price; but, if the landed interest would only purchase a small quantity, and that at a low price, the manufacturers could not live. At that moment the quantity of manufactured goods was dar beyond the consumption of the country, and all the manufacturer asked was, tobe permitted to export some of them to Poland, in order that he might there buy wheat for his starving family. He had seen some curious calculations. [Here the worthy alderman stated the calculat tion which related to a farthing a day taken from the labourers of the country, and to a guinea which each might acci dentally find in his pocket, but the im patience of the House did not allow what he said to reach the gallery.] It might be thought by some members that it was impossible for any but a landed mem ber to understand the subject; but he had himself been a farmer in his time, and had sold wheat as high as 133s. per quarter and as low as 50s. per quarter; and gats as high as 60s. per quarter, andras low as 17s. per quarter. He was of opinion, that it was just as reasonable to assert, that the landed interest could ford no adequate notion of the distresses of other classes of society. They had bepr plauded ministers, on a former night for their liberal policy, for the free trade they had established in silks and cottons, at the very echo; but the moment a bit was given that the same principle might be applied to grain, then they started back with horror from the proposition, and de clared that corn was a sort of sacred com modity, which it was almost impious touch. Ministers had, perhaps, done all they could, or, at least, all that the landed interest would let them do, for the bere of the country at large. If they wanted taxes, the landed interest gave them taxes if they wanted supplies the landed interest gave them supplies; if they wanted to down a mania income in the funds, taithe a extent of one fifth, the landed interest | lord who spoke last but one had saidj readily supported the project, and one that he had no objection to flow prices; fifth of the funded income of the country provided the corn was British ?bibWas the was seized "cat one fell swoop." But, if noble lord aware that such was the ministers ventured to touch the land, the growing extent of the population of this country gentlemen instantly became the country, that British corn would not feed pillars of the state: "We support the the people? The first duty of the governs labouring classes we pay the taxes ment was to take care that nobody should starve. We must be an importing country; and the next question was, under what regulations we were to be an importing country? They must protect the landed interests if they desired the establishments to be maintained. He could not object to cheap bread; but if that cheapness could only be obtained by sacrificing the estab lishments, in such case he must,as ahe did, enforce the necessity of protecting agriculture, to enable the land to bear its share of the burthens of the countryyorg the poor-rates, the county rates, and, above all, we pay, and support you," they said, like the servant of the Com moners to the servant of the Peer, in High Life below Stairs:". Suppose we stop your supplies, what becomes of your dignity then?" But for this combination between the landholders and the place-holders, neither of them would be able to drink their Burgundy and Champaighe, while millions in the country had not bread to eat, and, what was worse, were not permitted to get it. Honourable members were, perhaps, not aware, that there had been no less than three thousand five hundred cases of bankruptcy and in solvency last year. Not only paupers from want,hadbeenled to thecommission of crime, and thus filled the calendar, but thousands of individuals in the middle classes, who had hitherto supported themselves with respectability, were now on the very brink of rain. Was such, or any thing like it, the condition of the landed interest? All men must yield to circumstances: at this moment they were imperious: distress was general, and unequalled in severity, and relief must be afforded. If the price of wheat was taken at 60s. it would operate as a prohibition, and corn would never be sold cheap again ["question, question."] Had he been addressing an audience on which there was even a remote chance of producing conviction, he should have spoken with more confidence and effect; orit was, he had been anxious to perform his duty, and if he had done so imperfectly, the blame was not imputable to himself. Lord George Cavendish gave great credit to the hon. member for Bridgenorth, for the manner in which he had introduced his amendment; for this was a subject of vital importance, and thanks were due to any man who afforded the House and the country, and ministers themselves, omaterials for sifting the matter to the bottom, and examining the question in all its bearings. He confessed, that from the wise and liberal spirit which ministers had dis played on several occasions, he was dis posed to place much confidence in them. A great clamour, it was well known, had arisen on this subject, both among manu facturers and agriculturists. But, considering that ministers seemed disposed to deal impartially and justly with all parties, and that they had had much greater ope portunities of investigating the real estate of the question than others could have had, he trusted that the measure would pass upon the terms which they had suggested. He need not trouble the House with any further remarks except this-that the subs jeet of the commerce in wool was one of the greatest importance, and one which ought to receive the speediest and most mature consideration. Without some additional provisions and regulations, made with reference to this matter, the late law, with respect to weights and measures, might lead to a great deal of confusion.ma Lord Howick also gave great credit to the hon. member for Bridgenorth. But he could not agree with him, nor with the worthy alderman, that the landlords had been repaid by the high prices of grain for their peculiar burthens; for this, among other reasons; that they liad often been compelled to sborrow capital at a higher rate of interest. He was not altogether satisfied with the amendment of the hon. member for Bridgenorth; but, on the whole, he liked it better than the propositions of ministers, and would therefore yote for it. 4 Sir F. Burdett said, that he found he differed so much from many hon. members, that perhaps the committee would excuse him if he trespassed longer on their attention than would otherwise be necessary. He could not, however, avoid premising that there was one unfortunate and prevalent error on this subject; namely, a general impression that there was a contention of interests in the state between agriculture and manufactures. A worthy alderman had in some degree lent his countenance to this error. The worthy alderman had accused the landed gentlemen of being a peculiarly grasping avaricious class of persons. However, justice ought to be done to the worthy alderman, fon, in another part of his speech, he had said, that the landed gentlemen were amongst the most liberal in the country. In such opinion he cordially agreed with the worthy alderman. He repeated, what he had on a former occasion declared; namely, that there was no class of men in this country (and if not in this country, not in the world), more liberal, or more considerate, in all their dealings than the country gentlemen of England-the class to which he had the honour to belong. The hon. alderman seemed to think it an absurd position to say, that if every man in the country had a guinea in his pocket to-morrow, no man would be the better for it. Nevertheless, such was clearly the fact; because, as every man would remain in the same relative position, no man would be able to command more of the conveniences and comforts of life. When the House considered, that the landed interest was that out, of which every other interest sprung-that without a productive agriculture there could be no large body of merchants and manufacturers no great quantity of goods sold or manufacturedno traders exchanging produce between the two bodies; that, in fact, all commerce grew out of the prosperity of agriculture, they must be convinced, that the interests of both were one and the same, and that all depended on the welfare of the landed interest. If that was impoverished, all the other interests must suffer with it. He was aware there was one class of persons who had indeed a different interest. He alluded to the national creditor, the af nuitant, and those who were in the pay of government. These formed what was called the unproductive part of the com munity. But though their interest was really opposed to that of the rest of the community, the difference was not such as to excite their jealousy or hostility Something had been said, in the course of this discussion, respecting the change that had been made from the Winchester mea? sure to that which was termed the Impe rial measure. This change would illud trate his opinion of the cause from which all the difficulties of the country had arisen? He was one of those who thought that the distress of the country was altogether of an artificial nature that it resulted from bad legislation, and from bad legislation alone. There had been another very mão terial change, not only of the bushel that was applicable simply to corn, but of that common measure of the value of all com modities in the land, which was called currency; and this change had been nearly in the same proportion as that from the Winchester measure to the Imperial namely, about one third. The courty gentlemen found themselves embarrassed because they were called upon to pay the same amount of taxes out of a diminished income. Suppose, for example, an act of parliament had been passed, requiring persons who had entered into contracts in the Winchester measure to fulfil them sitt the Imperial measure, could such a pro ceeding be justified? Would it not be d gross fraud upon those who had entered into the contracts? This was just the dase of the country. Government, he believedy was not aware of the effect it would prod duce, when it changed the currency. was his opinion, however, that, if that currency had not been altered, there would have been no agricultural distress. What was the evidence of facts upon this sub ject? During the twenty years previous to the late change in the currency, there had been no distress in the country; ba on the contrary, while there was a large annual importation of foreign corn, every interest, including that of agriculture flourished in an extraordinary id degree! The only wonder was, how, after so predis gal an expenditure, the country had not only been able to bear it, but, at the cho 3 AM F All parties would stand in the same relative position. The great object to be gained for the relief of the country was, that all its burthens should be reduced, in proportion to the increased value of the currency. The distresses of the country resulted from the existing contracts having been made during high prices, while the parties were called upon to fulfil them at the standard of low prices. An equitable adjustment of contracts was that which alone could fully relieve the country. He admitted that the difficulty of carrying such a measure into effect would be greate but it was nonsense to deny that it was desirable. He thought it unlikely that corn would ever rise to such a price as to give practical effect to the proposed Reso lutions. It was true, it might do so through a famine; but that, instead of benefitting, would inflict injury on the agriculturist. He believed that no country ever had two such distressing measures imposed upon it at once as the Corn-law of 1815, and the Bullion act, each of them deeply affecting the vital interests of the country. The effect of them was, necessarily, to throw the country into dreadful disorder. If we had adhered to the existing system, palliating and mollifying the evils and inconvenience of it from time to time, we should have done much better; and the country, he firmly believed, instead of being in a state of distress; instead of seeing its industrious farmers dragged to prison for debts which the fault of the legis lature, and not their own misconduct, had brought upon them, would have been in a state of unexampled prosperity.oghada of that war, to find itself more flourishing | food. and more prosperous than it was at its commencement. The agricultural interest had never been injured by the importation of foreign corn until another cause had operated upon it; and then, and not till then, distress ensued. It was palpable that the whole evil had arisen from mistaken legislation. He believed government had intended well. The principles on which they had acted were good in the abstract, but not applicable to the circumstances of the country when they were carried into effect. The hon. alderman had charged the landed gentleman with being reckless of all interests but their own; and he had intimated, that they were ready, for their own relief, to apply a sponge to the national debt: in short, that they care about nobody but themselves. He had heard declarations made in that House, which could leave no doubt of the utter groundlessness of that imputation. When hints of that kind had been thrown out, landed gentlemen had got up and declared, that sooner than lower the interest of the public debt-not to talk of wiping it away altogether they would strip the coats off their backs; and even stronger expressions had been uttered, which he would not repeat. On such occasions, none had expressed themselves more warmly than the landed gentlemen. If justice, however, was due to the public creditor, government owed an equal measure of justice to the landed interest of the country. When government contracted the currency, they did to the landed intereste precisely the same thing as if they had broken faith with the national creditor, by at once lowering the rate of interest, and paying him a less sum than they had contracted to give him. A contrary effect had not been produced by augmenting the currency; because the process was gradual, and the injury was not felt, as it came on those who suffered it by degrees. Prices were thus almost imperceptibly raised; and the whole frame of society was settled on the basis of high prices. He differed entirely in opinion from those who were favourable to low prices. Taking all the circumstances of the country into consideration, he was convinced that high prices were necessary to its ease and prosperity, in its present condition. Nobody could really benefit by low prices. The labouring classes would receive only as much wages as was proportioned to the price of VOL. XVI. Mr. W. Duncombe concurred in the principle of the resolutions, proposed by the right hon.' Secretary. Mr. Alderman Atkins also stated his approbation of the measures of government. The Committee divided on the Amendment: Ayes 50; Noes 335; Majority against the Amendment 285. List of the Minority. Fergusson, sir R. 7 Hobhouse, J. C. Howick, lord Lombe, E. |