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Northern Star (1837-1852), 23rd May 1846, Edition 2 of 3, Page 6, ^./ THE NORTHE RN STAR ; Mat 23, 184U.

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      ^./ The Northe Rn Star ; Mat 23, 184u.

      ^ . / THE NORTHE RN STAR Mat 23 , 184 U .

      Mdasa Taust Effectual Chick On The Ether...

      mdasa taust effectual chick on the ether shopeepers . . The Chabtist Last Scheme occupies the attention ^ a c onsiderable number of individuals in this place now , and has done so for a considerable time past , and if any of the executive take a turn into Scotland this summer , and give a lecture on the subject in this town , we have not the smallest hesitation in « ay in 2 that a branch of the association will be formed at mice , as a number appear to be waiting in expectation of such a visit . MH . I . OCSATS asd Lawteks . —About fourteen days ago , a w <» . av « r in the employ of the Messrs . Laidlows took a piece into the warehouse , which was prononnciid tV . ulty , and his whole wanes were stopped .

      The man offered to refer the piece to two men mutually ouisen , but every compromise was indignantlv rejected by the masters ; they would not give him a farlb ' nig for workim ? the piece , but insult ingly Offerod him Si . if he would leave the p lace , in these circumstances , the man applied to the chief magistrate , who is also a justice of the peace , who told him he could do nothing for Mm . He then tried some of the h—ew but the most he got from * hem ^ ** - Sice to snmmons his employers to the S « SmaU Bett Ont for his wages . As this court wonld not S fm- * Ut seven weeks , some of the weavers conman to Jedburgh ten

      3 rfiS 5 ^ . rf «*» miles k . a iawver there , who was supposed notto be Smneh u ,, jCr " the influence of the manufacturers , and who on the case being stated to him , furnished the men with an Act of Parliament , and gave them directions in . w to proceed . Accordingly the matter - —sa « a » i brought before our ujortfty chief magistral ? . ^' " ' 0 found it his doty new to interfere . The referees awointed under the act decided that the Messrs . Laidlaws should pay the man £ 1 2 s . 6 d . for ¦ weavim" the piece , and all expenses . This case , among many others , may show the mentheneeessity oFunitiiiu tor mutual protection .

      L 1 MEH 0 USE . "Weiiudcrstandthatthemen ofLimeliouse desire to elect Mr . E . Joxes , "the new Poet , " as their DelespiU ; it- the forthcoming Convention , and have convened a public Meeting at Brunswick-hall , Ropemaker ' s-fields , Limehoase , on Monday , May 25 th , at 8 t . ' clo ^ k . Mr . Jones is invited to be present .

      LEICESTER . At onr ii ? ya \ weekly meeting on Sunday last , after the usual business tad been transacted , the 0011 VW eation birvcd upon the recent conduct of Bairstow , and a general feeling of satisfaction was expressed that eireu : « stances had at last induced him to pull off the ma * k . which he had so long worn , and exhibit to the world the homs and cloven foot , and that we iad obtained a fair chance of being rid of him altogether . Tiis mischiei which , he has perpetrated here is indescribable ; besides the divisions , misunderstanding ? , public quarrels , and private bad feelings hetween brethren which he has engendered and fostered , and thepuhlie odium which he has brought

      npoa Chartism , we have not yet discovered the extent of monetary defalcation in which we are the sufferers . At the conclusion of the conversation , it waa moved by Mr . S . White and seconded by Mr . Whittington , " That the best thanks of this meeting are due , and are hereby given to our gallant youths , Messrs . Margraves , Nixon , and NuttaH , fer their bold and patriotic conduct at the Manchester humbug meeting , in defence of our immortal Charter , to the ntter dTscoaifiiure , confusionf - and thorough rout of the venal , nnprineipled , bribe-purchased knot of tr aits * , who have long been sowing dissensions in our camp under false colours , and have at length exhibited themselves in their own nnmhtakeable

      characters . "

      SOUTH LONDON CHARTIST HALL . Mr . Marriott on Sunday evening last , delivered a very excellent lecture on "The Literature , Politics and ereai utility of the Northern Star . " The worthy lecturer was listened to throughout with marked attention , after which some litUe discussion ensued , in which the Dispute , and other retailing-of-horrorrags , rec-eivd a castigation richly merited , all bearing testimony to the value of our Star . A meeting of the Chartist " Co-operative Land Societies Shareholders residing in this district , took place on Sunday evening last , Mr . Dron in the chair : the following resolutions were after considerable discussion , carried—That we deem it advisable for the directors to purchase land , whenever eligible plots are for sale .

      That we recommend the directors to issue a monthly magazine ( the price to be about threepence ! , containing practical information on agriculture ; the proceedings of the society , and the monthly and quarterly accounts , and that we part-cularly request our brother shareholders in all other districts , to take this resolution into their consideration , and forward their decisions to the directors . The meeting then adjourned until Sunday evening next , when a fresh committee will have to be chosen , and other important business transacted : it is hoped that ailshareholdeis belonging to this district will attend . The committee will meet at half-past five o ' clock precisely .

      KENSINGTON . The Land . —The Royal Kent Theatre , Kensington , was filled to overflowing on Monday evening , May IS , for the purpose of hearing the principles of the Chartist Co-operative Land Society explained by the directors of that society . Mr . Henry ! Ross was unanimously called to the chair , who said the meeting had been convened by the Chartis t body , who had come to the conclusion that the only means of relieving the now surfeited manufacturing labour market was by giving the operaiivas an opportunity of employing themselves beneficially on tbe land . ( Hear , hear . ) Everything sprung fram the land , tbe luxuries enjoyed by the rich , ° and the coarser sort of food , " necessaries consumed by the working classes . He would now call on Mr . Stallwood to move the first resolution .

      Mr . Stallwood in a neat , brief speech , moved the resolution , as follows'' That this meeting is of opinion , that it is highly desirable that a district of the Chartist Co-operative Land Society should be established for Kensington and its vicinity , and this meeting hereby pledges iUelf individually and collectively to support toe same when established . " Mr . Doyle , in seconding the motion , said he hoped none had came there prejudiced against their principles , hut that all would listen calmly , hear each speaker , and judge for themselves . At the present time , ingenuity and industry was exercised by , but not for the advantage of the working classes . ( Hear , hear . ) Lord John Manners had declared in the

      House of Commons the other night , "that the industrious millions did not enjoy a fair share of that wealth which iheir ingenuity and labour produced " ( hear , hear ); whilst at the sameltime he declared "that the manufacturers had become merchant princes , at the expence of the irksome toil of women and children , who they ( the masters ) demanded should continue their twelve hours a day labour in the heated atmosphere of a factory to increase those mountains of wealth possessed by the merchant princes . " Yes , and those masters hai _ just formed themselves into an unholy alliance , for " the pnrpose

      of destroying the trades unions of the workmen , and still further reducing the miserable pittance doled out to them as wages ; the best preventive he saw for this was the obtaining of the land . The lands of England were not sterile , but capable of producing more than enough for all , and what we require is , that the peop le should be put in possession of their rightful inheritance—the soil . ( Loud cheers . ) Sure he was , that no man desired to become an inmate of the poor law bastile , to be separated from bis wife and lamily , but they did desire and were determined to have the means of labouring , and also of enjoying the fruits of their labour . ( Loud cheering . )

      Mr . P . M'Grath said , it was the duty of the working classes , individually and collectively , to aid and assist iu working out their own redemption . ( Hear , hear . ) And if they did not move in their own behalf , what right had they to expect others to move for them . ( Hear , hear . ) The Land was the main stay of the working man ' s hope ; it was the gift of God to his creatures ; and its blessings should be enjoyed by all , as that great authority , "holy writ , " declared " The earth is the Lord ' s , and the fulness thereof ; " and we are the Lord ' s people . ( Loud cheers . ) He was happy to know that a great movement was at this moment going on in America , in favour of this great question , aud which the " landless men" had taken up with a spirit of intelligence

      an ! zeal which must cause it to eventuate in success . ( Much cheering . ) And he fervently hoped that the American cry would be taken up and reiterated from one end of the globe to the other , until such time as a "landk-ss" man was unknown . We find that the ingenuity of working men constructs railways , invent ? machines , projects new modes of transit , and brings distant countries nearer to each other ; yet , alas ! their own condition deteriorates . ( Hear , hear . ) We find that land is monopolised ; that the fruits of your labour are monopolised ; that capital is monopolized ; that the fish ef the sea , the beast of the fields , and the birds of the air are monopolised ; aye , and that even you , alsD , possess a monopoly of the woes , toils , miseries , and wretchedness of this lire . ( Great applause . ) Trade , we are told , has improved ; yet , paradoxical as it may appear , your conditien has become worse . ( Hear , hear . ) Assured of this , the directors of the Chartist Co-operative

      Land Society put forth their plan , as the only safe and effective remedy for alleviating the social condition of the masses —( hear , hear)—the principles of -which 1 now proceed to explain . Mr . M'Grath then entered m ast lucidly into the matter , and was listened to with breathless attention . He next proceeded with his-wonted clearness and eloquence to demonstrate how easy was the attainment of the Jand , and what a slight effort and small sacrifice would produce the requisite capital to purchase an estate / He did not see when other parties co-operated for their advantage why the working classes should not take a leaf out of their book , and also cooperate for the advantage and beuefit of their order ( Loud cheers . ) And their plan possessed a double advan tage ; for not only would it confer social benefit * but also p & litical power ; and he trusted the elective franchise would never be undervalued by the working millions . ( Loud cheers . ) Their society

      Mdasa Taust Effectual Chick On The Ether...

      wonld enable the operatives who niight / eel disposed tO 20 On the land , and at the same tmve confer ¦» benefit on those who preferred . . remaining at the loom , the anvil , the shuttle , or the last , by taking away the surplus hands , and consequently increasing the demand for their labour , and the wages of these left behind . ( Loud cheers . ) We are not asking vou to join a miserable skeleton o ) a society , but a thing of substance , P" ** " ^' » * W : ? . thousand members , and a capital of JE 9 . 00 D , which is daily increasing . Mr . M'Grath resumed his seat amid the most rapturous applause . Mr . T . CiARK said the Government of this country at present represented Land and Money , he hoped shortly to see it represent talent and honesty . ( Loud cheers . ) We found , at the present time , that a

      certain fat animal was struggling and obtaining a tenth of all , ( lauuhter ) , whilst we were desirous of having a much larger share of pigs for ourselves , ( Hear , hear ) , by turning a certain portion of Tinkers and Tailors into Small Farmers . ( Laughter . ) He had recently bad an opportunity of seeing what the Land would do , 'he had been in ' Worcestershire , where the people had pieces of Land allotted to them , and he found that in a parish where this was the case not a single pauper was to be found who was able and willing to work—nay , there was but one , a man who was upwards of eighty years of age , and very decrepid . ( Loud cheers . ) At the present moment their appeared to be a surplus of Sabour in every species of handicraft , in this " Great Metropolis ; " and whilst this was the case labour would be cheap : ( Hear ,

      hear ); hence it was the duty of all to become their own employers , and then would labour enhance its value , and every man enjoy the fruits of his own industry . ( Great cheering . ) Those clever fellows the editors of newspapers , at the time our Society started , asked , who will sell those noisy Chartists Land ; but when George Robins put up Landed Estates he cared not who he knocked them down to . He did not ask who the bidders were , it might be Richard Cobden , Sir Robert Peel , or Feargus O'Connor , for aught he cared . Mr . Clark next ably described the factory system , aud all its attendant horrors , and described the Capitalists as the Molochs who not only swallowed up men , but their wires and children also ; and said , we frequently hear of Missionaries going over to convert the blacks , but what a blessing would it be if they could convert the Factory Masters into the meek and mild .

      practices ascribed to Jesus Christ . ( Great cheering . ) When he was in the agricultural districts he found persons who objected to their plan , because said they , "it will make men too independent , " and further , " that men who had allotments of Land , when they ( the employers ) asked them to go out and cultivate their land , or to gel in their harvest , said , do it yourselves , we have our own crops to cultivate , or our own harvest to get in . " ( Loud laughter , and great applause . ) In order to show what the Land would produce , Mr . C . quoted from the " Small Farms " o f Mr . O'Connor , and the works of the late William Cobbett ; and concluded his speech with a thrilling peroration , calling on the Working Millions , to emancipate themselves from misery and degradation , and work out their own salvation through the means of the Chartist Co-operative Land Society ; and resumed his seat amidst the loudest cheering .

      The resolution was then put and carried unanimously . Several shares were taken up ; a vote of thanks , oa the motion of Mr . M'Grath , was given by acclamation to the Chairman , and the meeting dissolved .

      WESTMINSTER . A numerous and highly respectable meeting assembled in the theatre of the Teatotal Hall , York Street , on Tuesday evening , May the 19 th , to hear the principle of the Chartist Co-operative Land Society expounded . Mr . C . Doyle was unanimously called to the chair , and said he had just returned from the Chartist Estate at Herringsgate ^ and was happy to announce that the trees were being felled , and preparation made for the erection of the cottages . In a house at which he dined , he was informed by the landlord , that a gentleman who lived in the vicinity of their estate had-said , had he been aware that Feargus O'Connor had intended to buy the estate with the view of locating working * men thereon , he would have paid a £ 1 , 000 extra , rather than it

      should have been done . ( Hear , hear . ) He ( the chairman ) regretted to inform them , that it was utterly impossible that Mr . O'Connor could be present that evening , as he was practically superintending affairs at Herringsgate Farm—and so imperative did Mr . O'Connor consider that duty to be , that to use his own words , " a forty horse power should not draw him hence-, " however , Mr . O'Connor had desired Jura to state , that at an early day he would attend the hall , and endeavour to make up for the disappointment that higher duties , at the present time , compelled him to make . ( Hear , hear . ) Mr . Doyle then made an excellent speech , and illustrated the working of the Land Society , by the operation of the " Workman's own shop , " so recently opened at 151 , Drury Lane , and said , that if any man did not go to that

      shop for his shoes , he was neither a good trades unionist , or a good Chartist . ( Greatcheering . ) He called on Mr . Clark to address them . Mr . Clark said this was the first anniversary of their society , this day twelve months it was ushered into existence , and through it they had become a part and parcel of the landed aristocracy . ( Laughter and cheers . ) Yes , indeed they were brother landowners with Lord John Russell and Sir Robert Peel —( renewed laughter and applause )—and if this principle only extended itself , as it was doing , depend on it , the Weekly Dispatch would cease to issue diatribes against the trades unions of the country , and he really thought that trades unionist who read the leading article in the Dispatch of Sunday last , would

      disgrace himself by longer supporting that paper , or indeed any house that would take it in . ( Great cheering . ) It appeared tohim to be aiding and abetting the capitalists in their attempt to suppress trades unions , and reduce the workman ' s wages , ( Hear , hear ) , and when he was at Birmingham recently , he was informed that Mr . Muntz , M . P ., Mr . Brotherton , M . P ., and one of the members for Hull , had formed a deputation to Sir James Graham , and asked him to procure the passing ofalawfor the abolition of trades unions . ( Hear , hear . ) But , my friends , when our land plan gets into full swing no masters will think it worth their while to undertake such dirty missions , as the men will then have something to fall back upon .

      Mr . M'Grath ably addressed the meeting , af t er which A Gextxemax , in the body of the meeting , suggested the propriety of displacing that opponent of Trade Unions and AYorking Men , " The Weekly Dispntek , " and putting in its place that supporter of Trades Unions and Working Men , " The Northern Star . " The Chairman said , the suggestion just made was a very excellent one , and he hoped it would be attended to . ( Cheers . ) A Working Man , from the body of the meeting , said that there was a difficulty in getting the Star . and thought , if men were sent about with vans it would facilitate the matter .

      Mr . Siaixwood said , if working men would only call loud enough for " The Northern Star , " and give their orders , the newsmen would supply it , as there was as much profit on the Star as on other journals , as much as there was on sixpenny papers . ( Hear , hear . ) A vote of thanks was given , by acclamation , to the Chairman , and the meeting dissolved .

      DUMFRIES . Mr . A . Wardrop , our able and indefatigable lecturer , has , for want of nobler game , been flying at the local authorities of iate , in great style . Once a week , at least , he mounts the Chartist platform in Queensberry-square ; and , to monster audiences , for the size of the burgh , exposes the misdoings of the dirty little shopocratic vermin , who manage or rather mismanage our principal affairs . Nor is this all , the addresses so delivered , with suitable introductions , are in coarse of being published in pamphlet fashion . In this way the evils resulting from the dishonest silence of the local press on these disclosures , are in a great measure obviated , and their moral effect mightily increased . No . 1 , of " Peeps behind the Curtain" has already appeared ; and

      No . 2 , is expected speedily to follow . Yesternight , Mr . W . addressed a very large gathering in the Square . Subjects : " The Corn Bill ; the Irish Coercion Bill ; and the Short Time Measure" now before the Commons , followed by two petitions , both addressed to the Commissioner of police , on requesting them to dissolve , as an illegal body , and threatening every resistance to the rate ; and the other demanding the instant dismissal of superintendant Jones , of the county rurals , from all connection of the Burgh force . Both petitions were passed by acclamation ; but the topics being of a strictly local nature , the details will hardly interest the readers of a national newspaper , such as the Star . Suffice it to say , that Mr . Wardrop and the workies acting with him , have brought the ignorant " educated and

      intelligent" blockheads in the council to their wits end , into a complete fix . Through superior talent and ^ formation , coupled with an eight or nine years ' training in the Chartist camp , our friend , Wardrop , is fairly in for the office of tribunus plebis , and no mistake . Nor does he go unrewarded . This evening a committee meet in the Temperance Hotel to decide upon the time , place , and manner of presenting him with a splendid Watch and appendages , the gift of hundreds ofhis townsmen , in testimony of the feelings with which they regard his successful exertions in protecting their pockets from the rapacity of a crew who fleece instead of protecting the public .

      Should the committee , as in all likelihood it will , fix upon a soiree , such a course will be the means of bringing the movement partly among the working and the healthy part of the middle class into contact ; and much good may result from an interchange of sentiment between them . Were it not for this sparring we would not know well what to do with ourselves ; and the public , general as well as democratic , talk as contemptuously of the battle going on in " the house on the corn question" as they would of an altercation between a couple of " tinklers ; " only they would be apt to regard the latter with more interest .

      Speech Of B. D'Israeli, Esq. M. P., Agai...

      SPEECH OF B . D'ISRAELI , Esq . M . P ., AGAINST THE THIRD READING OF THE CORN IMPORTATION BILL . Mr . D'Isbaem . — Sir , the Secretary of State , in his speech on the first night of the discussion , reminded gentlemen sitting on these benches and professing opinions favourable to the protection of native industry , that in the varied and prolonged discussions of this question which have taken place of late years , we had abandoned many of tbe opinions we formerly professed , and given up many of the dogmas by which we were formerly actuated . I acknowledge that fact . I believe that to be the necessary result of all discussion . Nor can I understand what is the use of public discussion if , whatever the termination of it—whatever the changes in public opinion upon the matter discussed—both parties take refuge in the pride that they have not changed their opinion with reference to any single topic that had been under debate . ( Hear , hear . ; I do not claim for myself , nor I believe need I claim for those around me , such a power of argument ,

      such a force of conviction , that we have not felt it our duty to listen with attention to the arguments addressed to the house ; and , if we have found that arguments have beed introduced that we could not satisfy ourselves we could answer , and of which we felt tbe force , we have not attempted to maintain the opinions that we could not preserve . But if this rule applies to us—if it applies to one party iu the discussion—I think I can show the Secretary of State that it is not peculiar to us . I fancy that some opinions have been held by leading advocates of this measure and have bean maintained by hon . gentlemen opposite—I speak now of hon gentlemen opposite because I wish that we may all remember who are the originators of these ideas—1 think that opinions have been at different times ably maintained by gentlemen opposite which are no longer infisted on , and which are in that category of adandonment to which the Secretary of State referred . I might begin with the cry of cheap bread . ( Cheers from the Protectionists ) . We had a Minister of the Crown—a member of the Cabinet—even

      in this important session , when we might expect that the opinions of Ministers would be well matured and considered , seeing that we have at least four cabinets a week —a Cabinet minister told us that the clap-trap of cheap bread was universally abandoned by all parties . It seemed to be " the fugitive cry of a dying taction . " The hon . member for Stockport has also announced that that cry of" cheap bread" was naver one ef his . That , then , has been given up ; and I believe , also . Other points with it . It is no longer maintained that the present Corn Law has been the cause of producing great fluctuations in price . ( Cheers . ) Yet that opinion had ones great authority in tho country—has been brought into the diecussion in this house , and if it had been alluded to as the existing opinion twelve months ago , it would have been admitted , and would certainly have been cheered . Yet

      it is now admitted that neither the present nor the late Corn Law , which is a stronger instance , has been productive of any great alteration in price . Well , then , we have been told that these Corn Laws are the bane of agriculture . ( A voice on the Opposition benches , " given up ! " ) Well , that is g iven up also , it seems . We hare the evidence of the best valuers of tithes under the Tithe Communication Act—the evidence of the most skilful land agents in the country—that an acre of land produces twenty-eight bushels of wheat . We have also reports on the table of the house from official sources that in Russia the average produce of wheat per acre is sixteen bushels , and in France fifteen bushels per acre . ( Hear , hear . ) I have here , and it is at the service of any gentleman who may wish to peruse it , the statistical report of the Agricultural Society of New York , in which returns are prices

      of the produce of sixty-nine counties in the year 1815 , from which 1 find that the average produce is fourteen bushels of wheat per acre in tha t important state . It does not appear , therefore , that these laws have been "the bane of agriculture— ( cheers)—since England has produced more per acre than any other country . ( Cheers . ) Then that is the third opinion which has been given up . Another opinion has also prevailed , that our population has been increasing in a greater ratio than our productieu . That too has been given up . You came down and told up that our population was increasing at the rate of 1 , 000 per day , or 365 , 000 per year , and you immediately assumed that it was impossible with our present means of production to feed us . We have shown you that the price of wheat has been regularly declining . The population has been increasing , and yet the price of

      food has gone on gradually becoming less . If you take the forty-five years previous to the current year , and divide them into three portions of fifteen years each , you will find the price much less in each than in the precedingreturn . ( Hear , hear . ) So that while your population has been increasing , your means of production have gone on increasing in a greater ratio . ( Cheers . ) Another point I noticed which struck me also—and these opinions go to form the public sentiment—is , that our existing agricultural policy has been the occasion of the hostile tariffs of other nations . I believe that has been given up , because it is now totally clear that whatever policy we pursue , the great agricultural countries will not be influenced by it . ( Hear , hear . ) I don't say that is very important , because the new reciprocity is independeutof all considerations of tariff . ( Cheers and laughter

      from the Protectionists . ) Another opinion that at public meetings and in debates of the house has acted a . great part was , that freight itself is a protection to the land of England . That opinion was prevalent fur a long timo , and the hon . member for Stockport , whose speeches I always read with great pleasure , when addressing an influential assembly out of doors , said , " Why should the farmers be afraid of competition ? Why , they are protected by an average freight of 10 s . 6 d . " That sentiment was repeated in this house , and that also , if it bad been repeated a year ago , everybody would have believed , and it would certainly have been cheered in this house . Sir , 1 ; doubt whether freight would be any protection whatever , even from Odessa . Why it is just aa expensive to ship corn from one port in England to another , as from those foreign ports , the most contiguous to us , from which

      we shall recive our chief supplies . ( Cheers . ) Now as to the opinion I have expressed , that the present corn law has not caused the price to fluctuate . It is a happy way that , of clearing the course before we enter on the merits of the question . With regard to fluctuations of price , we maintain in answer to you , that the present , aud even the late Corn Law did not occasion any fluctuation in price . On the contrary , we hare proved that the fluctuation in England has been less than in any country in tho world . ( Cheers . ) I wish to speak on this point with brevity , but the fact Is incontrovertible . In no country in Europe or America , in the richest or the poorest , have the principal necessaries of life been subject to less fluctuation than in England . Now , Mr . Secretary Gladstone moved for returns which were important from their character , and still more from that of the person who introduced

      them to our notice . One of these is a return from the year 1834 to 3840 inclusive , of the weekly prices of wheat in the principal capitals of the United States . Now I take the one of those capitals which would tell most against us—Philadelphia . This is a capital which is one of the most opulent iu the Atlantic states . 1 take it because that state seldom grows sufficient for its own use , aud cannot therefore be affected as a general rule by the English market . It is a great mercantile and maritime state , and the trade in corn is free , being subject merely to an import duty of 8 s . 8 d . per quarto . In the first five years , from 1831 to 1840 , we had no importation of corn at all from America . We had a gaeat importation in 1839 and 1810 , and though we had not much from Philadelphia , we had some , and that importation tended to diminish the limits of the fluctuation of prices . Iu those

      years , from 1 S 31 to 1810 , the average animal difference betiVCeil the highest and the lowest prices of wheat in Philadelphia was 47 per cent ., while , during the corresponding period in England , it was only 33 per cent . During the septennial period the extreme difference between the highest and the lowest prices of wheat was 270 per cent , in Philadelphia , and 227 per cent , iu England . This return gives the weekly prices , and as it might be considered that local and particular circumstances might affect the weekly averages , we will apply the same comparison to the average annual prices . From 1830 to 1838 the difference between tho highest and lowest annual price of wheat at Philadelphia amounted to 121 per cent ., whilst in England the difference was only C 9 per cent . ( Hear , hear . ) There are analogous returns of every corn port and corn market , and the result is similar to

      that of Philadelphia , which , as I have said , is the least favourable to our views of all the American cites . I am perfectly aware it may be said that these markets are disturbed by our Corn Laws , but this cannot bo alleged of the article of rye . My noble friend the member for Lynn , has shown that in the , instance of rye , which is the ordidary food oi the coutinent , and which is seldom imported into this country , similar fluctuations occur . I have a return of the prices of rye at Warsaw and Dawtzic . At Dantvric , the people , we are told , are all iu favour of the fluctuating scale , but at Warsaw , they are noted as being the advocates of free trade ; the price of rye , in these two markets , from 1834 to 1839 , is now before me , aud I find that the difference in tbe aunual price in Warsaw sometimes amounted to 119 per cent ., this was in the city devoted to free trade ; whereas iu Dantzic ,

      a ; tedupon by all the agencies of commerce , the difference was only 05 pur cent . ( Hear . ) I « all the great Prussian corn markets the difference between the annual price of rye for the same period is 100 per cent . ; therefore we may fairly consider that what has been said against tho Corn Law , as producing fluctuation in price , is no longer an argument for this house . ( Hear . ) But the inferences I have deduced are inferences drawn from what took place under the influence of the late law—a law much more tending to fluctuation than the present , for the scale of Mr . Canning , which was an excellent system , was altered by the right hon . gentleman , the first Minister of the Crown ; and it was a scale which tended much more to fluctuation than the one wc now live under . If , therefore , I had taken the experience of the present scale the result would have been still move favourable ;

      but the result being quite favouvable enough and as satisfactory as I could well desire , " I shall just rest upon it . I have shown the house that a great many arguments have been abandoned by gentleir , en opposite , as well as by us . It is possible we may have abandoned many , and yet the leading principles we maintain still remain intact ; but I defy gentlemen opposite , with such fteu warren of sarcasm upon Conservatives , to hying forward a eategMy of abandoned opinion s that can at all compare with those I have to-night lai'd before the house . ( Cheers . ) Now , what are we te -do with those opinions , those exhausted arguments ther ., 0 " exploded fallacies ? " Our great national poet -conceived the existence of a limbo for ex . ploded systems . I think we should invent a limbo for political economists , where we should bind up all those arguments-, that have turned out to be sophistries . ( A

      Speech Of B. D'Israeli, Esq. M. P., Agai...

      laug h . ) Yes , sophistries ; but these called arguments are the things that have agitated nations and converted a Ministry . ( Hear , hear . ) It is all very well to say , that af ter six or seven years of discussion , we have found them to be fallacies ; still they are the agencies by which a certain amount of public opinion has baen brought to bear on a great economical question . That public opinion has changed tbe policy of government , and , accordiroj to our belief , is perilling the destiny of a great kingdom . ( Cheers . ) I must freely acknowledge that one of these fallacies is resuscitated by myself . Notwithstanding the high authority of the Seeretary-at-War , and notwithstanding the inferential adhesion to his opinion , and the still higher authority of the hen , member for Stockport , I must rise on this occasion and cry out cheap bread . I do believe that the effect of the

      present Corn Laws is to raise the price of the necessaries of life upon the community ( hear ) j but I believe I can show that they increase in an infinitely greater ratio the purchasing powers of that community . ( Cheers . ) JIow shall I prove this proposition ? The first witness I call in court is a great authority , it is a work circulated under the influenee of that great commercial confederation , the power of which is knowledge , written by a gentleman wlie was once a member of this house , and I believe would have been so now , if t had not had the pleasure of beating hiin at the first election I won—I mean Colonel Thompson . ( Hear , hear . ) It is proved in hi * Catechism that the corn law is a tax on the community because it acts artificiaUy , on an average raising the prioe of wheat 10 s . a quarter , and thus is equal to a tax o 20 , 000 , 000 . Another economist , equally celebrated , and

      more successful , a free trader , has fallen foul of the authority of this work , and has shown the gallant calculator that he has omitted the number of quarters that go to sea , Slid those consumed by the agricultural body and their horses , dsc , all which may be looked upon as deducting from the amount to which the people are taxed , and that , therefore , the burden is only 9 , 000 , 0001 . or 10 , 000 , 0001 . but I will adhere to the first calculation . Now , what is the conclusion to which this school of economists , who have exercised a great influential opinion in the country , have come , and which they have avowed ! They say it is better for England not to raise a single quarter of grain , aud then this tax will be saved . This is , I admit , an extreme case ; but that is the only true way of testing the truth of a thing . Suppose England imports 50 , 000 , 000 quarters , and that that saves 10 , 000 , 000 or 20 , 000 . 000 of taxation , —you cannot deny that England in such a case has also lost the amount of the wages of labour that would have produced this quantity , ( hear ); that she

      would also havo lnat the profits of the capital that would have been invested in producing it , and likewise tie rent that would accrue , after paying the wage of labour and other items of necessary expenditure . ( Hear . ) I know you will say I am quoting a case in an extreme point of view , but you cannot test a principle without taking an extreme point of view . The hon . member for Stockport did not , in his address , press the views laid down in the Corn Law Catechism . He is a practical man , and he knows very well that there is no chance of changing any law in England if you were to come forward with those extreme applications . He says "I do not admit your conclusions—Roland shall be thrown out of cultivation ; but what we say is this , you are creating an artificial price for the benefit of a class . " Now I see no difference between a territorial class and the handloom -weavers . If you say there is a corn law kept up to give revenue to any class in this country , and that by putting an end to that law the people will be better fed and betteremploycd then that law cannot be maintained . But there is an

      element of calculation which we call in here ; and that is that there will in such a case he a great displacement of labour . We can show that then the . . price of corn must necessarily bo such as to render it impossible in the greater part of this country to cultivate wheat , or other grains , with a profit , ( Hear , hear , ) You must acknowledge that such a result will cause a great ' displacement of labour . ( Hear . ) We will meet you with faet . I protest against your answering us with assumption . ( Hear , hear . ) I am not going to trouble the house with visiting all those parts we are familiar with , and all those countries from which we may be likely to draw corn . The hon . member for Somersetshire said there would be , in Russia , an annual surplus of 28 . 000 , 000 , and the information was received with a sympathetic cheer from the other side ' of tbe heuse , while the right

      hon . gentleman ( Sir J . Graham ) heard it with a doubt . New the only authority for that calculation is an officer employed by government to analyse and draw up the tariffs . I believe the right hon . gentleman himself laid these tariffs on the table of the house . ( Bear . ) The information in thi « case is supplied by your own blue-books , aud from these and other sources much was to be learned on this important question . ( Hear . ) I will not direct the attention of the house to the great resources of the area of the Volga , nor to the valley of the Mississippi , though I have evidence to show that it is calculatsd to produce an indefinite quantity of grain—all this has been already repeatedly stated ; but what I want to bring before the house are the markets that are never mentioned , but which are markets that I believe would greatly influence prices in this country . There is one market that has

      never been mentioned in these debates , and that is Hungary . ( Hear . ) I shall be excused , perhaps , forenteriug here upon matters known to the house , but which it is of importance to have clearly before us . Hungary is a plain that consists of 36 , 000 square miles of the richest soil in the world—tbe soil of a garden which you may go over for hundreds of miles and not find a stone in it from one foot to seven in depth . There arc considerable morasses , no doubt , and you may , perhaps , take off one-third for tlie area of those morasses ; this would leave 24 , 000 square miles of the most fertile soil in the world , under the influence of a climate most admirably adapted to the growth of corn . I have had returns sent me of the quantity of grain grown in Hungary tbe year before last ; and I may mention that in Croatia there were raised a million and a half of quarters . Then , it may be said , how are we to

      get corn from Hungary ? Why , Sir , I received a letter , not long ago , from one of the greatest corn merchants at Slssuk , the first corn market in Hungary , and he says , that on an average of the last five years , the price of the finest Hungarian corn , which I must remind you is the finest in " the world , which in the Dantzic market ranks with the finest Dantzic wheat , was 18 s . Cd ., and that you may send it from this town of Sissek to Carlstadt , by the river Save , at a cost of 4 d . the English quarter , and from Carlstadt to the port of Fiume for Is . 8 d . a quarter . The person who gives me this information is a practical man at Sissek , and he is ready to prove the accuracy ofhis opinions by acting upon them , He says , " Only give me a regular trade with England , and I will send you , from Sissek , 500 , 000 quarters the first year . " That is the report of a merchant of Hungary . But do you mean to

      saythat that would not exercise the greatest influence on your market ? When the demand is steady the market is steady ; but I can show you what the effect would be with an increased demand and an increased supply . Now , I would take the markets of Hungary . The corn might be sent from tho two chief ports of tin-Danube , and here I might observe that it is a very curious circumstance that in the year 1812 , as appears by a return 1 hold in my hand , there were 1 , 350 vessels laden in those two ports with the produce of the Danubian provinces , but only eight of them were English . It is a remarkable fact that while commerce was thriving and free trade was advocated , this , the greatest commercial couutry in the world , had only eight vessels laden at those ports . But a gentleman writing to a house in England , —I will give his name to the right hon ,

      gentleman , and I think it will astound him , for it is Mr . Sanders , of Liverpool ( hear ) , says , — "I will undertake , by my correspondents , to secure wheat from Hunj-ary at the price of 18 ? . a-quarter , free on board ; and I will lay down this year , in an English port , 200 , 000 quarters , at 28 s . to 30 s !; and if you will secure me a certain , a sure market , I will double that quantity next year . " That same gentleman , that same Mr . Sanders , who has given in his adhesion to the right hon , baronet , to-night , in the manuscript letter which I have read—but which I trust the rightliou . baronet has not rend , bccause , immediately after he gives in his adhesion to the policy of the right hon . baronet , I find he says that the banking bill of last year must ruin the country —( hear , hear )—that same Mr . Sanders then oilers to enter into a contract to supply 1 , 000 , 000 quarters of wheat at 28 s . a-quartcr , and if the

      measures of the Government pass , he will undertake at the end of this year that that 1 , 000 , 000 of quarters shall be doubled and sent to England at reduced prices . ( Hear . ) . Now , under the head of " uuenumerated markets , * that do not form a subject of discussion in this house , I will mention Spain , which I am sure would act greatly on this country—I will mention Egypt , and I will mention Sicily . My opinion is , that in exact proportion as your demand for wheat and the various kinds ot grain increases , in the same proportion prices . will diminish . This is the opinion I entertain . I believe it may be laid down as a principle of commerce that where an article can be progressively produced to an indefinite extent , precisely as tbe demand increases the price diminishes . ( Hear . ) I am perfectly aware that that is exactly contrary to the opinions professed by hon .

      gentlemen opposite , and to tho opinions taken up by her Majesty ' s ministers as the basis of their present policy . We had it announced from the hustings , that exactly as you import 1 , 000 , 000 quarters from tho continental markets prices abroad will raise 10 s . a-quarter . That was announced by a great authority—it was the echo of members of her Majesty ' s government ; and then the lion , member for Montrose very frankly stated the other ni ght , that the result of all these changes was to equalize prices ; that we should equalize prices by our demand ; that we should not lower prices , but by equalizing them wc should put the people of the continental countries on the same footing as ourselves . Certainly tha principal ground ¦ upon which this measure was recommended to the great body of the people entirely depended upon this question , whether England would maintain its character as an agricultural country—whether the population employed

      in agriculture would still be employed ; the question whether there would be a great displacement of labour entirely depended upon that circumstance . ( Hear , hem-. ) I mentioned incidentally on a former occasion the article of tea . Every mie knows that there lias been a great increase in the demand ; and every one knows that there lias been a great decrease in the price . But tea is produced in only one couutry—there is no competition . However that suggestion was received in rather num . credulous manner ; and , although it whs not met by any decisive argument or fact , it was subsequently contradicted in a manner very unsatisfactory . 1 will do it very shortly , hut I will show the house how far 1 was justified in the statement I made . . I thought it best to ren-r to a mercantile house which , I believe , has the greatest transactions with China of any house in this country . 1 fairly expressed to them the assertion I made , and the sort oi

      Speech Of B. D'Israeli, Esq. M. P., Agai...

      contradiction which I received . Now , what was the answer I received ? "I hand you enclosed the prices of sound congou tea , the kind most consumed in this country , from which you will observe there has been a great full in price since 1831 . " What has been the fall ? Why , in 1831 , it was 2 s . 2 d . a pound , and in 1848 itis 9 d . ( Hear , hear . ) But I know very well that it may be said the price of 1831 was , to a certain degree , artificial . The mercantile power of tho Bust India Company kept the supply limited ; but I find that the decUnsion of price was from 1831 W 1832 and 1883 , and then it was influenced by the new system . In 1831 it was 2 s . 2 d . per lb . ; in 1832 it was 2 s . ljd . ; in 1833 , Is . Ufd . ; in 1834 , Is . 9 d ; and in the following year it was Is . 40 , Then it came down to is . Id ., Is . lOd ., and 1 . 2 Jd . Then came the disordered state of China , which is interesting , because it shows the

      artificial prices it produced : —First , it was 2 s . 5 d ., then 2 s , 6 d ., then 2 s . Id . That was in 1839 and 1840 ; and , in the following year , it was Is- 9 £ d ., then Is . 3 jd ., then 10 d ., 9 jd ., and , in 1846 , it is 9 d . ; and , during that time , the importati / Hi of tea has increased by millions upon millions of pounds . ( Hear , hear . ) The next instanee I shall take is one which would be favourable to our cause , —a most legitimate one , —a production which bears more analogy to that of corn than any other—and that is cotton . I must remind tho house that the right h < m . haronet ought to know something of the subject . He contradicted my statement respecting tea , and said upon a subsequent night that , by the accounts , received irom Canton , the price was rising , as if that had anything to do with tho argument . There must be an undulation of prices . But here is the article of cotton . The price of cotton per lb . was , In 1836 , 10 Jd . ; in 1837 , 8 | d . ; in 1838 , 81 d . ; in 1839 , Ojd . ; in 1840 , 6 $ d . ; in 1841 , 5 | d . ; in 1842 , 5 id . ; in 1843 , 5 id . ; in 1844 , 4 Jd . ; in 1845 , 4 id . ( Hear , hear . ) But let me remind the bouse , that during those 10

      years , in which I have traced this progressive fall of prices the importation of cotton into England has risen from 350 , 000 , 0001 b . to 597 , 000 , 0001 b . —( Ioudcheers)—while during the same time all other manufacturing countries , including the United States , have increased their consumption from 282 . 000 , 000 lb . to W QQ . QOQ lb . Well , now , Sir , it appears to me a perfect demonstration as regards the principle that while there is no natural or artificial course to check the production of an article , that exactly in proportion to the demand will the price of the article diminish . I know very well that the article I am now going to call attention to is one extremely difficult to deal with , and I might have evaded the difficulty because there is such irregularity , such an anomaly with regard to sugar , that I might fairly have omitted it , and have said that sugar does not prove the case , and may fairly be left out of the catalogue . ¦ But it occurred to me to see what has been the price of sugar sinca the East Indian trade was put on an equality with the other , and the demand has increased for that article . Now , this is the

      price of Bengal sugar at the end of the year 1811 : —brown Bengal sugar was 47 s . to 52 s . in 1842 it was 45 s . to 57 s . " in 1843 , 47 s . to 55 s . ; in 1844 , 39 s . to 49 s . ; in 1843 , 38 s . to 42 s . ; and in 1846 , 37 s . to 42 s . It commenced , in 1811 , to be 49 s . to 52 s ., and at the end , in 1846 , it had fallen to 37 s . to 42 s . ( Hear , hear . ) Again , in 1841 , there were imported into England 24 , 000 tons of this sugar , and that has increased to 62 , 000 tone , ( Hear , ) I might observe that the case would h » . ve been much better if I had taken the beat kind , for in the first year the price was from 69 s . to 74 s ., and it has progressively fallen in the last year of importa . tation to 52 s . and 56 s . ( Hear , hear . ) Therefore the case of sugar is in perfect harmony with the ruling principle I have mentioned , What is the case with coffee ? I must apply my rule again . I will take the East India coffee ,

      The state of our relations with our West India colonies is of so anomalous a character as to commerce that it is perfectly impossibly to form an opinion upon that part of our trade . Now let us take Ceylon coffee , the importation of which has immensely increased . I will only take the first and last year . In 1840 Ceylon coffee , per bag , was 90 s . to 91 s . In 1846 it is 44 s . to 47 s . ( Hear , hear . ) In the first year there were imported 33 , 000 bags . Last year the number imported was 133 , 000 . ( Hear , hear . ) Then , take the case ef Mysore coffee , not grown in our own possessions . In the first year the price was 77 s . to 82 s . per cask ; last year it was 36 s . to 48 s . Whilst in the first year there were imported only 48 , 000 casks , and in the last year it has increased to 63 , 350 casks . I am sorry to trouble the house with these details . I refer to them

      that hon . gentlemen may have the opportunity of investigating this important principle . Look to the case of indigo , of salt , of iron , of coals , and even to the case of fruits , since the alteration of the law , and this principle may be clearly obsmed and invariably demonstrated in every one of them . Is it then unreasonable to ask what there is in corn to make it an exception to the general rule ? ( Hear , hear . ) I want that question to be answered . ( Hear , hear . ) I think it as fair a question to ask in debate as cam be conceived . Why is corn an exception to this principle ? Is it because corn is produced in every country and under every climate of the world ? What is the country whleh cannot produce corn I In Persia , as has been found very recently , corn is produced at present at 5 s . a quarter . Then with respect to theprice at which it could bo sold here , the question is merely one of

      locomotion ; bat , taking the best opinions , I consider that ( com 10 s . to 20 s . is the price per quarter at which it could be sold here . At any rate , the cost of the carriage hither is the only barrier that we have as to the price at which it could be sold for when the corn laws are repealed . Before , however , I venture to enter upon an estimate of the consequences of abolishing the present system , I will saythat I know it has been urged that with respect to the importation of foreign cattle the agriculturists _ had all this fear Of being overwhelmed with the increased supply from the continent , and their fears hare not been realized ; and why , therefore , should they fear an enormous importation of corn from the continent 1 But , I should say , there is as slight an analogy between the cases as can easily be conceived . In the first place , the continent of Europe is a corn-growing country , and was a

      corngrowing country long before England was a corn-growing country . In the next place , the continent of Europe never was a cattle-raising country . Tlie very circumstance of the prevalence in those countries of the Roman Catholic religion , which interferes so much with the consumption of meat , has operated to discourage the rearing of cattle . No person pretends that there is anypart of the continent where the pastures are equal to those of England . The expense of transporting articles so heavy as cattle is another point of distinction ; and altogether I think the analogy is as imperfect as it can be . The conclusion , then , to which I arrive is , that by this measure you are displacing the labour of England that producss corn only in order to admit into the consumption of this country , on a large scale , foreign corn , the produce ef 1 ' oveign labour . What will be the consequence ? As I believe the

      prices after the change will range from 30 s to 35 s . a quarter , having always , as now , a tendency to fall , 1 believe that the consequence will be what I shall proceed to ex . plain , I believe that an Imaginary line may be drawn , as was dene by the right hon . baronet at the head of the Government , but that it will apply not merely to England . Then the l ight hon . Home Secretary gets up and says that Englaud is not an agricultural country , but has become a manufacturing and commercial country ; and when the rig ht hon . gentleman is reminded of his words , he replies , " I said not exclusively . " But surely the commerce of England is not of yesterday . Tlie commerce of England is much more ancient than that of any other country in Europe . It is perfectly new to tell us that England has been a strictly agricultural country hitherto , but that now there is to be a change , and she is to be

      a manufacturing country . I believe that England is not as great a commercial country at present as she has been at a previous period of our history . { Hear , hear , and a laugh . ) I do not of course meau that England does not conduct at present a greater amount of commercial transactions than at any former period , but my meaning is , that in proportion to her population and capital , and in proportion to the population of tlie world , her com . merce is not so important as it was at former periods ; those periods , I mean , when we had all the commerce of the Levant and the Turkey trade , and when we had the commerce of the Spanish Main . I believe that at those periods the profits of commerce were greater ; and with reference to tlie existing capital of the couutry , that the capital employed iu vonnnerce bore n larger proportion than at present . But England is henceforth to be a

      manufacturing country , we are told . Let us test this as- ' sertion . It is said that we have been every day becoming more and more of a manufiietiug country ; but if you look to the general arrangement of labour in England , you will find that England is less ot a manufacturing country than it has been . ( A laugh . ) I say that , without doubt , the manufacturing industry of this country was morescattered ( a laugh)—over the country 100 years ago than at present . The lion , gentleman takes up a word ; one cannot always select onu ' s words ; I mean to say that the manufacturing industry of the country was move dispersed ; that there were more counties in which manufactures flourished 100 years ago than at this moment . For instance , throughout the Wtst of England we had manufactures , and veryflourishing manufactures , and I say that tho woollen iiiaiiulactureROfthiscountry bore thenagreater proportion

      to the manufacturing industry of the rest ot Europe than it does now , and that it bore a greater importance inEurope than it does now . Why you had many manufactures 100 years ago , which are now obsolete in many counties . or only most partially pursued . But you have had , unquestionably , a gigantic dcvelupemeiit of manufacturing skill in a . particular county . It is unprecedented , and I shall always speak ot'it » as a tiling which confers the greatest honour on this country , which has been the greatest source of its wealth , and of which every Englishman should be most proud - . but generally speaking that developeineutof industry has been confined to one county ; but then the Minister comes and tells us that Eng l and is to be a manufacturing and commercial country in future ; that is to , say , " 1 would change the whole system of the country for one county . " ( Hear , hear . ) I hear of a repeal of the union , but 1 think it not wholly impossible

      we may have a revival of the heptarchy —( a laugh )—if , we are t » tell the counties that are purely agricultural that they are lo have a starving population , because in one county there has been a peculiar developement in . one kind of industry ; for tluuis the argument of the Aliuister . But tlien what nv * the resources to . support the people Which this branch of industry can afford ? Supposing this depreciation of agricultural produce effected . Supposing this great revolution , as you admit it is , carried , aud thai we c «\ se to he an agricultural population ^ and that m become the workshop of the world—that it to say , sup pobing wc try to maintain our people , ami support oui present financial arrangemen ts , on the cotton trade wlia ' will be the effect . Why , the first result of the change will b < found to be this , that it affects directly or indirectly threi or four millions of our people . But what will be the ef feet on the cotton trade , which is met by hostil tariffs m every part oi the world \ Suppose you doubl

      Speech Of B. D'Israeli, Esq. M. P., Agai...

      it , what will be the result ? That you will find em ploy , * , ment for some 300 , 000 persons by g 0 doing . But ifif machinery improves at the rate it has done , the chanaete will probably employ only 150 , 000 additional hands . Thoioi tendency of this measure , therefore , is inevi table , and tho 8 result will be that an extensive displacement of labour r will t » k » place , and that misery , and ultimatel y , political il disaster will take place . lam told that immense thin may be done by the agriculturist , by the employment of >{ " capital and skill ; and that tbe progress of events ought t not to dispirit him , because he has capital to support him i and skill to enrich hiro . Now let us test that . When s s man lends capital to another he naturall y , I believe , looks s to the return he is likely to obtain fur it . The mort gagee e looks to the margin beyond the rent ef the estate on which k he lends his money . Well then , now I suppose it will bo » said men will be more ready to lend their money to the a landowners oi this country than they wer « before this i

      measure . But observe , you are not only by this measure » diminishing the probability of the landowners effecting - loans on their estates , but you are giving the capitalist t the . means of making secure investment of his capital in i other countries . Look at the relation which will subsist i under this measure , between him and his foreign comv . spondentat Hamburgh . He has no longer to fear the operation of the alining scale ; ho goes at once to his London banker , and begets his capital to lend to the foreigner . In fact , you will at the same time , by this law , be diminishing the security which the landowner has to offer the capitalist : and offering to the English capitalist a better investment for his money abroad . So much for the capital : then we are told about skill ; but that is so indefinite a thing that it is almost impossible to enter on a discussion upon it . But the agriculturist , I think 1 can show , far from being backward in this respect , is mora advanced than the manufacturer ; that he produces

      [ more , wastes less , and that he is more industrious than any manufacturer . Generally speaking , I think I can show , that there is every reason for considering the English agriculturist to be more intelligent and more effective than the English manufacturer , and I mean to prove that by the evidenco of a member of tbe Anti-Corn Law League . What is the evidence of Mr . Greg—that evidence which most hon . members are aware of , and which all have heard of ? He says , speaking of the manufacturers , " Competition is so severe that I almost doubt the possibility of the English manufacturer maintaining his ground against theforeign manufacturer . ' * But no one can say that of the English agriculturist . ( " Hear , hear , ' and a laugh . ) He produces in some cases double , and in others treble , the amount that any foreign agriculturist p roduces from the same breadth of land . Therefore ,

      with respect to the English farmer , as compared With the English manufacturer , I can absolutely prove that he wastes less and produces with more effect . ( Hear , hear . ) Well , I know there . is an argument , or rather an appeal , which tells much in these discussions , and which influences opinions both out of this house and in this house , when you . bring forward the condition of the English labourer in particular localities . My hon , friend the member for Shaftesbury ( Mr . Sheridan ) , who has done himself great credit for the energy which he has devoted to this subject , has introduced the state of the Dorsetshire labourer into this debate : now , the condition of the Dorsetshire labourer is . one of the reasons why I give my support to these laws . ( Hear , hear . ) It is very easy to say , "Here is a man who , compared with the generality of the civilized world , is in a depressed and miserable condition , and protection has produced this condition . " But if I am not able to show that protection has bad nothing to do with that condition , I shall be ready this night to go into the same lobby with

      her Majesty ' s government . I have asked tha house before , and I repeat , if protection has produced the Dorsetshire labourer with his 7 s . a week , bow is it that protection has not also produced the Lincolnshire labourer with double the wages ? I do not say that this is an argument , but it is a suggestive question , which I will follow up , and will explain . Mr . Huskisson forcibly illustrated it . When Mr . Huskisson first settled in Sussex his attention was necessarily drawn to the extreme pauperism of that county ; aud , after giving to the subject the greatest possible consideration . Mr . Huskisson said that he traced this pauperism to the fact , that Sussex was formerly the seat of tha great iron manufacture , and that the agricultural population had never sbsorbed the manufacturing . This appears to have been the case with the western counties of England , and do n * t therefore accuse protection of being the cause . The western counties have been the seats of manufactures , and the manufacturing population has never been absorbed in the agricultural . But go at once into Lincolnshire , a protected county ;

      Lincolnshire is to agriculture what Lancashire is to manufactures—( cheeva )—and I will rest ouv case on the state of Lincolnshire . Lincolnshire is a new county ; there were no ancient manufactures there ; the population of Lincolnshire has been produced and is supported by the land , as the population of Lancashire has been produced and is supported by manufactures . ( Hear . ) I have often thought of that celebrated tower which looks over Lincolnshire , that if my galiant friend , whose family have represented the city of Lincoln almost since the days of the [ Stuavts , would take , the areh-fiend of political economy and put him in that celebrated niche , he would see looking towards the north , those interminable wolds , stretching almost to the Humber , which within the memory of man was the domain of the rabbit , and which is now producing exuberant crops ; or , looking over

      Lincoin-heath , he would see land where , within the memory of living man , there was a lighthouse to guide the traveller on his path —( cheers)— -and which—my gallant friend will bear witness to the truth of what I am saying —( "hear , hear , " from Colonel Sibtborp )—was let to a warrener , at 2 s . Cd , an acre , and on which now the finest corn is produced ; or he might look towards the east , and , averting his eyes from the wolds and theheath , view the fens down to the sea , an immense number of small fens , all drained by the steam engine . ( Cheers . ) Looking towards the east and the west , and over the Wildmere-marsh , he would see great tracts , one of 00 , 000 acres in extent , and another of 90 , 000 acres in extent , all creating and sustaining a numerous and prosperous and a contented population , ( Cheers . ) But then I am told that it is the contiguity of manufactures which

      makes Lincolnshire so productive , and that it is not protection ; but the frontiers of Wiltshire are nearer to the great manufacturing town of Birmingham , the capital of the iron manufacture , than Liucolu is to Lancashire or to Yorkshire . See , then , what Lincolnshire has produced under protection—protection tested under the most auspicious circumstances , as in Lancashire manufactures are under the most auspicious circumstances . And when you find that the inhabitants of the western counties are iu a state of misery and depression , do not say that their misery is owing to protection , which is , perhaps , the only reason why they exist at all . Nothing astounded me more than a speech of the noble lord the member for Falkirk ( Lord Lincoln ) , which he recently made at Newark-market , where he asked , " What has protection done for you V . Why , the market of Newark

      is supplied with the corn of Lincoln-heath , which can only be raised by the annual application of artificial manures , though it is the finest corn in the world , and is sent from Newark into the markets of all the great towns . ( Hear , hear . ) What , then , has protection done ? If your protection had never existed , you would have yet left to you those wild wolds , those heathy fens , aad those plashy marshes . ( Cheers . ) You cannot , however , decide this question without looking at the colonies . It is idle to talk of Canada , and to speak with levity and with in . difference whether it is annexed to the American States , or remains as a possession of England . Canada has all the elements of a great country and of a great trade . She is calculated to ba tho Russia of the Xorth American

      continent it she be not annexed to states the ties of which are far from indissoluble . The hon . gentl * man last night , answering my noble friend ( Lord G . Bentinek ) , talked of the commerce of Canada as nothing but th * means of smuggling into the United States . My argument is that we ought to keep Canada ; not that I want to encourage a smuggling trade even if we could get no other ; but I want to know what will be the condition of England if all tbe transatlantic continent shall belong to one power ? ( I will not , however , dwell upon the case of the colonies ; neither will I touch upon the case of Ireland : it is too terrible a subject , even upou the showing of the noble lord whose conversion has been so much a matter of triumph to the Ministerial benches ; lie has announced this measure as fatal to the

      small farmers —( hear , hear)—and , when we know that Ireland is a nation of small farmers—( hear , hear)—we may fairly anticipate the result . But , thers is one reason with respect to Ireland given by the hon . member for Stockport ( Mr . Cobden ) in a speech recently made in this house , and in other places , with considerable effect , which I cannot help noticing , as it comes from a quarter so influential .. Kg says that "in any argument in favour of the corufows , of all the countries I should never have thought that Ireland would have been brought forward in support of protection . " Wh y , Sir , this is a saucy and . gallant sally , but is it any argument ? l > oos it carry with it any proot ? Does the hon . member mean to say , " Htjr © is a population driven to the last resource of human subsisieuce , and living on potatoes V Then how arc they to got even the potatoes without cultivating the laud and

      01 'ortuctng the wheat and the oats , which they send to Inglnnd ? (" -Hear , hear , * " and some interruption . ) I want to know what will be the state of Ireland if this measure haue the effect on the markets which I anticipate « If J am wrung in my supposition as to that effect —there are a thousand arguments you may use against me—theje are a thousand assumptions you can make , and yw may indulge in allthe vagaries of political economy ; but if I am right in my idea of the effect these measures will have on labour in the united kingdom of England and Ireland , I want to know in what state Ireland will be when you have prevented her people from liianuf acturing the wheat and the oats ? You tell us that capital will enter Ireland , and tliat manufactures will be established there . How long will it bo first ? ( Loud cheers . ) How long a time will pass before these manu .

      fjictures are established ? Perhaps in the interval the iron manufacture may be revived in Sussex , or the droop . ing energies of the Dorsetshire labourers miiv bo raised by tlie high wages given by the hon . members for Stockport and for Rochdale . ( Cheers . ) I cannot help saying that this measure will change the character of the country so far as it relates to agriculture ; and , believing that Us teurtuuy is to sap the elements and springs of manu . faetunng industry and commercial prosperity , and believing , also , from its effects on the pieciousme ' tals , which I Will not now notice further , that it will injure all interests , and bring about a domestic and social convulsion , I amoblieedtoask myself , if indeed tho measure be so perilous , why is it produced « ( Cheers . ) I need not ask what so many ask , and what so many ask in vaiu—I need not ask what is the state ef tho circumstances oi

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), May 23, 1846, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_23051846/page/6/