difficulties, they were nevertheless liable | year for the purpose of propping up a fallen to serious objections, he should yet hesi- revenue, without the knowledge of Parlia tate in proposing to their Lordships to ex-ment-without any communication with press any opinion with reference to the the House of Commons-was, in his opiprinciples on which the Government had nion, an unconstitutional proceeding, and brought them forward, and had conducted one which no Government ought to have the finances of the country. But it was recourse to. It was objectionable upon because he thought, that, in this mat- the constitutional point as being done ter of the finances of the country, there without the knowledge of Parliament; had been the greatest possible mismanage- but it was even more objectionable as rement, and that the plan of the Government garded the savings banks themselves. was quite inadequate to remedy the evil, What were the savings banks? Institutions that he felt himself bound to state, that he for the receipt and safe custody of the could not think that their Lordships could savings of our poorer fellow citizens; of do otherwise than express their opinion that those men, who, by honest industry and her Majesty's Government did not possess praiseworthy prudence, were enabled to the confidence of that House. Upon va- save something of the fruits of their toil rious occasions within the last two years he to gild the evening of their laborious lives, had taken opportunities of explaining to and who were induced by the Legislature their Lordships the views which he enter- to entrust those savings to the public custained upon these subjects, and the very tody. But if the Government upon every great apprehensions which he felt that the emergency were to be at liberty to touch ministry were embarking in a ruinous these funds, for the purpose of propping course. He had also upon those occasions up a failing revenue, what security would expressed an opinion that some most de- the depositors have for the safe custody of cided, vigorous, efficient, and certain a property which was to them invaluable. scheme ought to be proposed for the pur-He did not mean to say, that any positive pose of extricating the finances of the mischief had actually occurred; but the country from the immense difficulties in principle was wrong, and was calculated to which they were involved. For the last cause distrust in the minds of those whom four years the revenue had been annually the Legislature had invited to entrust their diminishing, and in the course of that savings to a department of the Governtime the expenditure had exceeded the ment, and whose distrust might be enincome by no less a sum than 5,000,000l. It creased by the very fact of the transaction was, moreover, a singular fact, and one he not being carried into effect in the open thought deserving of serious consideration, day, and the face of Parliament and the that during those four years the mode country. In his opinion, therefore, the that had been taken in order to fill up the Government were not justified in persedeficiency in the revenue was one that, vering in it for so long a time. however advisable to resort to occasionally, other course which they had pursued, if under the pressure of a single and sudden not equally unjustifiable, was still liable to emergency, was utterly unjustifiable as a great objection; he meant the practice of general principle, or as applied to a series diminishing the balances in the Exchequer of years. How had the deficiency been by a very great amount. To meet the made up? The mode of doing it was not financial difficulties in which they were known till the present year, when a pa- involved, the Government had diminished per was called for in the other House of those balances to a comparatively very low Parliament requiring the Government to sum. That was a very improvident mode explain how the deficiency had been met; of dealing with the difficulty against and how was it done? Principally by which they had to contend, and if it were tampering with the savings banks, by bor-resorted to upon every such emergency as rowing money from the savings banks, or had arisen within the last few years, the at least what was equivalent to borrowing result would soon be that there would be money from them-by converting part of no floating balance at all. No course of their stock in Exchequer bills into an ad- proceeding could be more objectionable if dition to the permanent funded debt of the carried on systematically for a series of country. Such a course of proceeding, al-years. There was another point connected though not contrary to the law, was, to say the least of it, highly objectionable. To make use of the savings banks year after

The

with this part of the subject, upon which he begged to make one or two observations. It appeared, that, during the course

condition of the finances so precarious, and attended with so much danger-he thought he might now take the liberty of again noticing the subject to the House, to point to the financial mismanagement of the Government, as constituting, in his judgment, a ground for the expression of want of confidence. In 1840, the Government, sensi

of the last ten years, additions had been nothing, to impute no blame, to abstain, made to the annual charge of the pub- as far as possible, from anything calculated lic funded debt of the country to the to excite inconvenient discussion; and he amount of nearly 1,000,000l., for which no had had the satisfaction of hearing from provision whatever had been made by Par- his noble Friend at the head of the Goliament. This was not, perhaps, objec- vernment, that he admitted all the statetionable at the period at which it was ments he had made-that he admitted first done; because at that time there most of the inferences he drew, and, in was a positive surplus of income over ex-fact, although he did not admit all, he did penditure, so that the additional expense not refute any. He thought, therefore, thrown upon the country by the process of that he might take the liberty now, when raising the money did not add to the pub-two years had elapsed-when he found the lic burdens-it merely diminished the surplus. But during the last four years there had been a constant deficiency of revenue to meet the expenditure of the country, and yet no provision whatever had been made for the 1,000,000l. added to the public debt. It was a large sum, and, taken together with the additional expense incurred by the mode of not rais-ble of the necessity of doing something, ing a sufficient income to meet the expen- proposed to meet the exigency of the time diture, and, with the revenue lost by the by a considerable addition to the taxes. too hasty adoption of the Post-office This showed that they felt the necessity scheme, the gross amount of both in of making some effort to meet the crisis their effect upon the balance of income but the scheme they adopted was but a and expenditure, was not less than clumsy contrivance, and was accompanied 2,200,000l., pretty nearly the whole by a notification of a plan contemplated amount of the deficiency which Parliament by the Government, which if it had been had been called upon to provide for in the carried into effect would have been quite course of the present year. This exhibited in contravention of the whole principle of a mismanagement-a want of arrange- the finance project of that year; he meant ment on the part of the Government the negotiations for a commercial treaty which was quite unpardonable. The finan- with France, which was at that time going ces of the country could not bear to be on, and was announced to Parliament at treated in such an unskilful manner. the time of the budget. Now, the main His noble Friend (Earl Spencer), who part of the scheme of 1840 consisted in the moved the Address, had observed, that com- imposition of new duties on the customs merce could not wait for any long consi- generally and an additional duty specideration on the part of the Legislature-fically upon spirits. But if that treaty that its defects, if remedied at all, must be remedied with promptness and despatch. But brief as the period, that commerce could wait, might be, finance could not wait so long. Finance was more delicate, more sensitive than commerce. In finance we might be ruined before we knew where we were. He could only designate the proceedings of the Government, therefore, upon this point of finance, as most short-mercial treaty with France, and therefore sighted, most imprudent, and most impolitic. Upon previous occasions he had stated the view which he took upon this subject, and he did so under a strong sense of the very serious danger to which the country was exposed by the condition in which its finances were placed. He hoped, however, that he had never stated anything beyond what the case actually required. He had endeavoured to exaggerate

with France had been carried into effect, it would have been necessary to call upon Parliament to undo a great deal of what had been done the year before, in order to put the expenditure of the coun try upon a right footing; for it was clear that there were certain articles of French produce upon which our duties must have been relaxed under any com

the increase of duty to which such articles would have been subjected by the plan of 1840, must have been taken off in the subsequent year, thus destroying all previous calculation, and throwing commerce into uncertainty and confusion, by a policy at once vacillating and contradictory. They now came to the present year, and they found the deficiency of revenue to be the same. No; it was not the same;

that benefit the interest of the consumers of Canadian timber? and the only effect of the change in a commercial point of view would be a certain encrease in the trade to the Baltic, counterbalanced by an equivalent diminution of trade with our North American colonies. And how are the consumers of Baltic timber benefitted? Mr. Macgregor, who had laid a rigmarole paper before the import duties Committee--who got a gentleman from the office of the Board of Trade before them, though it was impossible he could know what he was going to do or to say-had laid a proposition before the committee for altering the duty, which he (Lord Ripon) believed was the foundation of the whole scheme, and this gentleman said, that the duty on Baltic timber amounted to from 50 to 200 per cent. Take it at 100 per cent.; then, if the duty were 55s., the cost of the article would be 110s. per load. And what is the benefit given to the consumer? Why 5s. out of 110s. Was there any person, knowing anything of business, who supposed that a reduction of 5s. in 110s. would benefit the consumer? might put money into the pocket of the merchant or the builder, but not one farthing into that of the consumer; therefore, this tax could not answer the triple object proposed by the Government. He called it a complete fallacy, and he considered such a scheme for supplying the deficiency of the revenue as little short of madness.

It

it was aggravated, because in addition to the deficiency of the year before, the deficiency calculated for the present year would exceed 2,000,000l., and then the Government came down with a scheme which they professed to consider a plan for putting our revenue on a sound footing-namely, the alteration of the duty on the three articles to which the noble Lords opposite had referred, and it was stated by the Government that these alterations would have the triple effect of improving the revenue, extending our commerce, and benefitting the consumer. He should have no difficulty in showing, that not one of these alterations could possibly effect all these objects. He would point this out. The manner in which it was proposed by the Government to deal with timber was this: they said, that the proportion between the duty on foreign and on Canadian timber was unduly favourable to the latter. He did not defend the disproportion in the abstract, he admitted that it did require revision; but what he questioned was, the prudence and the policy of the mode in which the Government proposed to revise it. They proposed to increase the duty on Canadian timber by doubling it, that is, by raising it from 10s. to 20s., and to reduce the duty on Baltic timber by 5s., that is, from 55s. to 50s.-increasing the duty on Canadian timber 100 per cent., and reducing that on foreign timber by 9 per cent. Now, what the noble Lord had stated was true, that Then as to sugar; the it was admitted that Canadian timber was amount of the reduction of the price of not so fit as the Baltic for certain purposes sugar which would be obtained by the -though this was not quite a clear propo- measure of the Government, was calculated sition, since in Canada there were build-at a fraction of a farthing per pound. ings, churches and other edifices, that had Now, unless the price of the article should been standing for 120 or 130 years; but be reduced at least 1d. per pound, it would his noble Friend had said at the same time be folly to expect that the consumer would that it was admitted, that a great deal of derive anything from it. He was not preCanadian timber was perfectly fitted for pared to say, that there was no period at. other purposes-namely, for the internal which the duty upon foreign sugar could timber of houses. In those cases its supe- be reduced, and he could not bind himself rior cheapness compensated for any defici- to such a proposition. But the noble ency in its quality of durability. Now, Lord who had moved the Address had told the scheme of the Government to benefit their Lordships, that if he thought the fothe consumer was by increasing the duty reign slave-trade would be promoted by the 100 per cent. How could that benefit alteration of the system of the sugar duthe consumer? Then it was said, that ties, with all his love of free-trade, he for it would answer the purpose of revenue. one, would not consent to it. Now, he How could that be? Perhaps it might, thought it must have that effect; he if it had the effect of compelling the thought there was, at least, great danger people to substitute Baltic timber for Ca- of its having that effect, and this, in his nadian timber; for, supposing the same mind, was an objection to the scheme. He quantity of timber to be consumed, it had been engaged in the noble work of exwould pay a higher duty. But how would I tinguishing slavery in our colonies. That

great experiment was now in a course of most important part of the whole case, he trial, and he believed it was working re- meant the alteration of the Corn-laws. markably well, and he had no doubt that That was a subject so difficult, so delicate, the produce of sugar in our free colonies and, in some points of view, so dangerous, would, at no distant time, be largely in- that he hardly knew in what manner he creased, and sold at a cheaper rate. The should best approach it. He wished to measure was one which he had the honour express his view of the question, but not to of opening in their Lordships' House, trouble their Lordships more than was neand he, therefore, took a deeper interest in cessary. He thought he should be able to the question. He thought the measure of show that the measure was one in which Government would have the effect he had their Lordships ought not to concur. The mentioned, and that, at all events, it was noble Mover of the Address had told their unwise to risk it. He knew it was said Lordships that he was an advocate for free that all this was sickly sentiment; that trade-for free trade in every thing, and, those who opposed the measure on the above all, a free trade in corn. But the ground that it would tend to the increase noble Lord very fairly referred to the of slavery, pretended a deal for the aboli- monstrous exaggerations which prevailed tion of the slave trade which they did not upon this subject. But the first question feel; and that under that pretence they to be asked was, what is the real proposition cloaked their reluctance to afford to the of the Government? Is it free trade, or people the benefit of cheap sugar. He did merely a question of the best mode of givnot think this was sickly sentiment, and, as ing a protection? In his opinion, whatfar as he was concerned, he had ever been ever might be the professed object of the forward to join in any project to extin- Government, within whatever bounds guish the slave-trade, and the first vote he they might incline to limit their views, had given in Parliament, when a very the whole question is in substance, and in young man, had been in support of Mr. the view of all parties in the country, a Fox's bill for the abolition of the slave-question of absolute free trade, without any trade. But there was another subject to be protection whatever. Why were the considered in this question, which had not two noble Lords selected to move and been noticed by the noble Mover. It had been second the Address? It was customary only within these two or three years that it for the Mover and Seconder to confer had been deemed expedient to put the su- with the Ministers previously, and he gar-grower in our territories in the East must assume, that the noble Viscount at Indies on the same footing as the grower of the head of the Government was aware, West-India sugar. The climate of India when he selected the two noble Lords as was adapted to a variety of products, and the Mover and Seconder of the Address, could grow an immense quantity of excel- that they would argue the question on the lent sugar, and it was our duty to develop principles of free trade, and no other. It the resources by every means in our power. was not unfair or unjust to infer that this It should be recollected, that the vast pro- is the end of the whole scheme. The gress of our cotton manufacture in this country cannot have the slightest doubt, country had extinguished the cotton ma- from what had been said in pamphlets and nufacture in India, and the policy of this newspaper on newspaper, and from the country had always been (upon the wisdom bitter reproaches and calumnies cast upon of which he gave no opinion) not to permit the defenders of the corn laws, and from the East-India Company to put any duty the arguments of the anti-corn-law league, upon the manufactures of England, except that there was to be an abolition of all a nominal one of about 24 per cent., which protection; and that nothing short of that produced a trifling revenue, but afforded would satisfy those who impugned the existno protection to the manufacturer of the ing Corn-law with such unmitigated and East. He said, that justice required that fierce hostility. And their Lordships must we should pause before we let the foreign therefore make up their minds to that slave-owners come into competition with if they adopt this Address, and give their the growers of East-India sugar. Was confidence to such a Government. If this there anything sickly in that? It appeared was a question bona fide whether there to him that objections without end applied should be a fixed duty of 8s., or a sliding to every part of the Government scheme, scale-if it was a question as to the mode which he thought would appear still more of giving protection, which was the most strongly, when he came to consider that convenient and the fairest--would that be

a question upon which to agitate the coun-I therefore a necessity for the importation of try as this had done-to set class against foreign corn, the importation in those four class, to rouse the worst feelings of our na- years amounted to 4,936,822 quarters. In ture, and to create such a ferment through- the last four years the price was nearly the out the country, as would render any useful same, 64s. 4 d. and the importation was consideration of the question utterly imprac- 6,780,823 quarters; so that during these ticable. The question could not be settled so. two periods, the law performed its office of He would, if their Lordships pleased, say supplying the corn that was wanted. In that both parties were guilty of exaggera- the second period the average was 46s. 84d., tion; but the dangerous and violent agitation, considerably below both the first and last, the agitation which threatened disorders, and the importation was only 205,889 and the breaking-up of all social feelings, quarters. But it had not been an exappeared to him to be on the side of those cess of importation that had produced who clamoured for what they called "cheap the low price, but the increase of probread," though cheap bread it would not duction here, and this shows that the law bring, even according to the distinct and had effected its proper purposes. Those honest declaration of the noble Earl him- purposes being to admit all that could be self, who advocates so warmly the extreme wanted when the price was high, and our own principle of no protection whatever. supply scarce, and to exclude it when our When charges against those who sup-own abundance caused the price to be mateported the Corn-laws, of being hard- rially reduced. It was said, that if there hearted monopolists, were spread amongst had been a fixed duty, there would have the people-he did not say by the Go- been comparatively no fluctuation at all; vernment-he did not accuse them, but that commerce would have been free by persons of influence-it was a most and easy, and everything would have dangerous agitation. He regretted to find gone on well. This, however, was contrary in a report he would not call it a charge, to experience in respect to many other but an insinuation-that, as the Legisla- articles. Upon a former occasion, he had ture is composed of great landed proprie- shown their Lordships, that, taking a series tors, the people were led to believe, that of years, in the prices of wool, cotton, they were ready to strain measures with a hemp, silk, and articles without end, imview to keep up their rents. Then their ported in large quantities from every Lordships had been told to look at the part of the world, there had been greater question in connection with the existing fluctuations than in the prices of corn. The law, and it had been said, that the exist- noble Lord who seconded the Address had ing law had entirely failed in its object. alluded to the objection made to the proHe would show, that the law in its opera- posed scheme, on the ground of its making tion had not only not failed, but that it this country dependent upon foreign suphad produced the effects which it had ply, which was a dangerous thing, and he been intended to produce. Their Lord- had argued that he saw no danger in this; ships would find, from a return of the but it appeared to him that it was the true averages of corn for several years to the ground upon which he felt himself juslast year, that the average price of corn, for tified in supporting the Corn-laws, and the last twelve years, had been 58s. 6d., he could not, after all the consideration which was not at all an extravagant aver- he could give to the subject, divest age; and if they divided the period into himself of grave apprehensions, if we two parts-and that was the fairest way. were to depend on the importation from it would appear that the average price of abroad of the main part of our supply, and wheat, in the first six years, was 59s. 1d., neglect the cultivation of corn in our and of the second six years 57s. 64., so that own country, we might find the difficulty the averages of the two portions very nearly aggravated every year; for although the agreed; showing that there had been in noble Seconder did not think that the imthe operation of the act, something ap-portation of foreign corn would throw land proaching to an equality of price to justify his saying, that the scheme had not failed. But, in order to make the point still more clear, he would divide the period into three parts in the first four years the average was high, 63s. 10d.; during these years, the averages being high, and there being

out of cultivation, yet if he listened to the arguments of others who wished to abolish the corn laws, and who called this a landlord's question, they argued that land had been brought into cultivation, which would not have been so brought but for the corn laws. Why, if so, according to their argu