1421 Adjournment—Ireland— {DEC. 20} Committeee; and likewise Copies of all Amendments made in the House of Lords, and of all Amendments to the Lords' Amendments intended to be proposed in the House of Commons. "Resolved-That the Counsel to Mr. Speaker, with such assistance as may be found requisite, do aid the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and means in the discharge of the above-mentioned duties." JEWISH DISABILITIES. LORD J. RUSSELL brought in a Bill for the relief of Her Majesty's subjects professing the Jewish religion. Read a first time. On the question that it be read a second time on Monday, the 7th of February, COLONEL SIBTHORP wanted to know what further alterations in the law the Government intended to propose for the protection of Jews who might be elected to seats in that House. The House sometimes met on Saturdays, and Members of Election Committees which sat on Saturdays were liable to heavy penalties if they did not attend. How did the Government propose to meet this difficulty? He believed the day was not far distant when they would have a Mahometan sitting in the House, and that at the instance and recommendation of the noble Lord. LORD J. RUSSELL: I understand the hon. and gallant Gentleman to ask me, what is to happen if the House sits on a Saturday, and requires the attendance of any Jewish Member of this House? I believe the usual course is, supposing there is a call of the House, and a Member does not attend, that he is taken into the custody of the Serjeant at Arms, and afterwards discharged on the payment of his fees. I think if it should so happen that there should be a call of the House on a Saturday [Colonel SIBTHORP: Friday night. I say I think I can answer for it that Members of the Jewish persuasion would be very well content to pay the pen alty. Commercial Distress, &c. 1422 MR. SPOONER said, it was with regret he perceived the noble Lord had thought fit to move so long an adjournment. The noble Lord could not have attended to the statement in a petition he had the honour to present to that House, otherwise the noble Lord would have seen the necessity for naming an earlier time of meeting. He could only attribute the long adjournment to a total ignorance on the part of the noble Lord of the distress prevailing among the manufacturing popu lation, and the fearful state in which some of the vast iron manufacturers in Staffordshire and in Wales were at this moment placed. He could tell the noble Lord that masses of people had been discharged, and were daily being discharged, in the great manufacturing districts, and that in consequence of this want of employment for so many labouring men, and a reduction of wages to the employed, it was impossible to fathom the depth of the distress which existed. What course had the House taken to meet existing and coming difficulties? They had appointed a Committee, which Committee could not be expected to make a report before the lapse of several months. The Committee were to inquire into the cause of the monetary distress; but they were not expected to support any remedies for the evils under which the people at present suffered. The right hon. Gentleman the Member for Stamford (Mr. Herries) had a notice on the books which, had it been allowed to be brought forward, would have placed the whole subject under the consideration of the House. The result, no doubt, would have been that remedial measures would have been recommended. By means of a measure adopted by Her Majesty's Ministers, the commercial distress had been arrested. By the same means the large failures which were then taking place, had been stopped. So far, good had been done; but distress was now falling on a class of society which more particularly called for the attention of that House. Motion agreed to. ADJOURNMENT-IRELAND-COMMERCIAL The happiness and prosperity of the class DISTRESS-NAVIGATION LAWS. LORD J. RUSSELL moved that the House at its rising do adjourn to Thursday, the 3rd of February next. He believed nothing required at present that there should be an earlier meeting of the House, and as he believed the time named for adjournment was approved of by the House generally, he begged to move ac cordingly. he referred to, were, in his opinion, essential to the prosperity of the kingdom. Let it be recollected, that thousands were being thrown out of bread. Government had stopped commercial failures, but had broken down the industry of the country. When they talked of there not being sufficient capital in the country, he would ask what was the poor man's capital? The poor man's capital was his labour. It was ne cessary the poor man's only capital should within his own knowledge. Considerable be employed, as that was the only means orders had come from America, and many he had of supplying the wants of his more were coming. A merchant largely family. When the labourer was employed, engaged in the American trade had told all classes were benefited. They might him that he had suspended the execution have arrested difficulties in one quarter, of the orders he had received, because the but they would find that the pressure on same distress which prevailed in our money the industrious classes was becoming every market, and which had produced here day more intense. He would not enter such disastrous effects, was manifesting upon the large field of the causes of our itself in the American money market. embarrassments. He would not force a The Americans were taking the same debate on the House, as many hon. Mem- steps that we were to keep the gold in bers were absent whom he should wish to their hands; and this struggle must inevitbe present when he made his observations. ably produce a baneful action in our own He would, however, just say, that though market. This was another reason why he granted railway speculation had been Government ought not to adjourn Parliacarried to an improvident extent, yet he ment until they had done something to set by no means agreed with those who assert the Bank of England free from the shackles ed that this speculation had caused the which the Act of 1844 imposed on it. late panic in the commercial world. While The hon. Gentleman concluded by sayhe admitted the evil of improvident specu- ing that he desired it should appear lation, he yet declared that had our mone- on the face of the proceedings of the tary system been sound, the whole result House that at least one Member disof this over-speculation would have fallen approved of the lengthened adjournment on individuals, and would not have created proposed by the noble Lord. He, therethat disarrangement of our monetary sys- fore, proposed, as an Amendment, to leave tem which had occurred, and which was out the words " Thursday, the 3rd of Febattributed to railway speculation. But if ruary,' for the purpose of inserting the over-speculation caused distress, what did " 13th of January. they think would be the result of a sudden stoppage of railway undertakings? Did Government really think they had done good by throwing so many thousand railway labourers out of work? It might be said that Parliament could not remedy this state of things. He denied it. He asserted that it was in the power of Parliament to provide a remedy. It was to Parliament that the people must come for a remedy under such circumstances, for the relief of the pressure which prevailed. the House added insult to injury by refusing to interfere, they would do much to bring their legislative functions into contempt with the people. He would allude shortly to the state of distress which was rapidly spreading throughout the country -more especially from the stoppage of railway works. It was not only the labourer who suffered from being deprived of work-the small tradesman who supplied the wants of the labourer also suffered. The evil did not stop here. Those traders who had calculated their incomes on the previous half year, were obliged to pay the income-tax on that amount, though they actually sustained loss. This, he could tell the Government, would soon be felt in the country. He would also point out another circumstance which had come MR. C. N. NEWDEGATE seconded the Amendment. He must corroborate the statement of his Colleague as to the depression of trade and the distress of the manufacturing districts, and warned the Government that the distress was increasing with fearful rapidity. MR. MONSELL, though not prepared to vote for the Motion of the hon. Member, could not allow the question to pass without calling their attention to the conIf dition of the able-bodied destitute poor of Ireland. He thought he should best discharge his duty, not by supporting the Amendment, but by urging upon the Government the absolute necessity of considering the condition of those unfortunate persons before the meeting of Parliament in February—of bringing forward measures at that time to place the relations of capital and labour upon a better footing than at present. Unless they were at once prepared so as to be ready before their next meeting, it would be utterly impossible to pass them in time to alleviate the distress which would certainly take place in the spring and summer. As an Irishman, he never could hesitate to express the gratitude he felt for the large sums which had been voted for the aid of his unfortunate countrymen by the liberality of the House; but all that money had been | ford respecting colonisation, as it had an spent rather in dealing with the effects especial bearing upon, and reference to, than in removing the causes of their misery. the state of Ireland. To the Motion he Unless measures were speedily adopted to made upon the question, the noble Lord check the onward course of the people to- (Lord John Russell) and the House assentwards pauperism, and to change their so- ed; but the noble Lord said he would not cial condition, the whole of them would recommend Her Majesty to appoint a comsink into misery and ruin. Every day re- mission, but would, by means of reports duced those who before had been in com- from the various Governors of the British parative comfort to the class of those who colonies, obtain all the information sought were most wretchedly circumstanced; and for. Assuming that such instructions had the number of those able to pay rates was been sent out to the colonial Governors, he decreasing gradually, but certainly, week had now to ask the noble Lord whether after week; so that it was evident Ireland any and what information had been recould not but fall into the depths of misery ceived upon this subject, and whether he if some measures were not adopted to was in possession of a sufficient number of check these evils. those reports to place before the House at an early period? MR. SCROPE expressed his regret that the Government had not passed a short MR. HINDLEY wished to make a few measure providing for the employment of observations, as his constituents were exable-bodied poor in productive labour, es- tremely anxious respecting the state of the pecially in the cultivation of the land. It commercial affairs of this country; and he would have had a most advantageous ope- had no doubt that when hon. Members reration if some system of parochial produc- turned to their constituents, the first questive labour had been found, instead of un- tion that they would put to them would productive and profitless public works, or be, what Parliament had done to mitigate mere soup distribution, and other eleemo- this distress, and how they had attempted There was an synary relief. enormous to meet the emergency which had arisen? amount of waste labour and waste land in To such questions all hon. Members could Ireland; and it was ridiculous to expend say was, that they had been called together millions in maintaining the poor in idle- for the purpose of indemnifying the Governness in workhouses, when the cultivation ment; but that as the steps had not been of the soil would return remunerating pro- taken by the Government which it must be fit for any labour employed upon it. The presumed they intended to take, such inwant of employment in Ireland drove the demnity had not been asked or needed. He people, in hundreds of thousands, to this must say-and he made the remark in no country, taking the bread out of the mouths unfriendly spirit-that he thought the Goof our own people, and burdening the poor- verument was to blame for not having acted rates. There was a desire on the part of with more stringency and energy upon the the Irish landlords to clear their estates, question of railways. Let them call to and get rid of their small tenantry, who of mind the position in which the House was course could only come over here, being in 1845. Parliament passed Railway Bills offered a few shillings a head for the pur- in that year, anthorising the raising of pose. This winter an extraordinary immi- 45,000,000l. of money; in 1846, they gration was to be expected, and would evi-passed Bills authorising the raising of dently prove extremely oppressive. There 132,000,000l. of money; and last Session was a positive premium upon the practice for 40,000,000l., making somewhere about of "clearance," and there were some hun-215,000,000l. of money to be raised in a dreds of thousands of the poorer tenantry few years. Could any man in his senses in Ireland. He urged upon the Government the necessity of some compulsory measure for the employment of labour in Ireland. The EARL of LINCOLN rose to ask the think this was a wise or proper proceeding? and yet it had been sanctioned by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Tamworth, and the noble Lord at the head of the Government. Did the noble Lord or the right hon. Baronet think that the people of England could subsist by travelling on railways, which could only be made out of the surplus of the savings of the people, and the capital raised in the manufacturing districts? A great cause of the disasters among the trading community had been that mercantile men, when they wanted money, found the railway companies competitors with them in the money market, thus raising the rate of interest, and increasing the difficulty of obtaining money. He wished the Government to consider whether or no they could obtain the cooperation of the leading railway companies towards an enactment by which directors of railways would not be allowed to make calls upon the shareholders unless with the consent of two-thirds of the body, and that they should not, for six months, be allowed to raise money at more than five per cent interest? Many people were of opinion that this new Committee for the purpose of inquiry into the causes of the recent commercial distress was appointed for the purpose of relieving the Government from responsibility, and shelving discussion in Parliament upon those matters. He was not inclined to think so harshly; but must, at the same time, observe that the objects of the Committee were much too onerous, and the boundaries of their investigation too wide, and even indistinct, to afford much probability of their coming to any practical conclusion, or of much solid advantage being derived from their labours. He disagreed with most hon. Members who found fault with the Bank Charter Act; for whereas they thought it was blameable for its want of accommodation in seasons of distress, he thought it was chiefly reprehensible for its giving no warning in seasons of prosperity. They were a spirited, enthusiastic, enterprising, and energetic people; and some still small voice to whisper in their ears was most necessary at periods when the nation was buoyed up with the prospect of sudden wealth Oh, if Fortune fill thy sail He thought the Times newspaper demanded the gratitude of the public, for its exertions in repressing railway speculation. He blamed the Bank of England for the undue stimulus it had given by suddenly lowering the interest of money, and again in raising it to an excessive height. MR. GLADSTONE wished to make a remark respecting the business of the Session. In answer to a question put to him, the noble Lord at the head of the Government said, he did not expect he should be able to introduce any measure with reference to the Navigation Laws (alluded to in the Speech from the Throne) at an early period after the recess. He (Mr. Gladstone) heard that answer with very great regret. He was not surprised that the noble Lord should find some difficulty in bringing under the notice of the House at an early period all his measures; but he apprehended that if there was any one subject more than another which all classes were desirous of seeing definitively settled, one way or the other, during the present Session, it was the Navigation Laws. The subject was ripe for discussion, and much useful information had been elicited regarding it by the Committee of last Session. It would be highly satisfactory if the noble Lord would, at as early a period as possible after the recess-early enough, at all events, to give full time for discussion and deliberation to both Houses of Parliament before the close of the Session-bring forward this question, so that the commercial and shipping interests might not be kept in a state of suspense injurious to their own interests and to the country generally. COLONEL SIBTHORP said, that Parliament had been called together at an unusually early period-it would seem as if they met merely for the purpose of adjourning-for what had they done? And again he would ask them why should they now adjourn? They had passed a Coercion Bill for Ireland; but the Government did not wish Parliament to sit to see its working, and, if found inoperative or inefficient, murders and crime might go on as usual. Surely there ought to be some reason assigned for their being called together. He believed the fact was, the Government felt themselves in a most uncomfortable position-they felt themselves unequal to their duties, and they wished to shelve upon Parliament that responsibility which ought to attach to themselves. They found themselves in a dilemma, and they called upon the House to extricate them. And what was the cause of their adjournment? Where would the noble Lord at the head of the Government be during the recess? Probably hunting, or shooting, or dancing. There was a Member of the Government absent in another country. What was he doing? Was he on public business or on a pleasure excursion? Was he living on his own fortune, or receiving the public money? How long was he to be absent, and what was he doing, or what did he intend to do? He supposed one of the main reasons for this sudden adjournment was the anxiety of the Government to escape from those questions which hon. Members | support of the people had been altogether might, from time to time, think fit to put destroyed, it was no wonder that the great to them. But the question the English distress which prevailed last year should people would ask was, what had Parlia- have existed. The efforts made by Parlia ment, what had the Government, done to ment had no doubt the effect of saving the relieve the distress under which the coun- lives of many of the people; but it should try now suffered? What had been done not be forgotten that one consequence of to mitigate those sufferings in the commer- these efforts was, that the people were cial world which were so keenly felt? taken away from the cultivation of the What had been done to alleviate the suf- soil, and that there was necessarily a great ferings of the unemployed operatives? diminution in the crops for the present The answer was, a Committee had been year, and a proportionate want of the means appointed. The country would feel very of support. He was glad, however, to be proud to hear that the Government had able to say that he saw the prospect of a determined to relieve its sufferings with a much more extensive cultivation of the soil blue book, which would be produced when next year. those sufferings had terminated fatally, something after the manner of the physician, who had his medicine compounded just when the patient was dead. If the present Government was as weak, incapable, and irresolute as it seemed to be, they had better quit office than ruin the country. Let them have another body of men who would, at all events, strive to do busi-ject he was quite willing to give his confiness, and not call the representatives of ths people together merely for the purpose of extricating them from the position in which their imbecility and imprudence had placed them. was SIR LUCIUS O'BRIEN wished to call the attention of the House to the distressed state of Ireland, and more particularly of the western part of it, with which he more immediately connected. He would never cease to bear testimony to all that had been done for Ireland by this country during the last year; and he regretted to have heard some of the language that had been used in that House on the subject. But it was right that the House should be made acquainted with the difficulties with which the gentry of Ireland had to contend. They were surrounded by starving multitudes whom it was impossible for them, by any effort, to provide with sustenance; and he greatly feared that in many parts of the country any exertion they could make would be wholly insufficient to keep the people alive; and that the task would thus again fall on that House of saving the people from starvation. He was of opinion that Parliament had taken the proper course in passing the Bill for the suppression of crime and outrage in Ireland, in the first instance; but he hoped that after the recess they would lose no time in considering other measures for the relief of that country. Considering that the crop on which depended the whole MR. HERRIES hoped that his hon. Friend would not press his Amendment. No hon. Member could hesitate to sacrifice his own personal convenience to the public interest, if it were shown that it really would conduce to the public interest that that House should meet at an earlier period than that proposed; but on this sub dence to the Government, for they would not have fixed the day they had, unless they believed it would be for the furtherance of the public interest. He hoped that the statements that had fallen from the two hon. Members for North Warwick concerning the lamentable condition of the manufacturing classes in those districts with which they were best acquainted, would not be lost upon the House. The attention of the House had been much called to the distress of the people of Ireland; but little attention-he regretted to say too little-had been bestowed during the present short Session on the embarrassment under which the manufacturers were now labouring, and the depression of the operatives in those districts. It had been stated, upon authority which he supposed was correct, that two-fifths of the working classes in the manufacturing districts were at present out of employment; that of the remainder a portion only were in full employ; and that a large number of factories and mills were working short time, and no inconsiderable number working not at all. If to these things were added the fact that merchants abroad were purchasing cotton at a lower price than our merchants, and carrying away to foreign countries produce which ought to be in the hands of our own operatives, it proved that the most anxious deliberation, not only of the Government, but of Parliament itself, was required; and he trusted that |