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> i; ’ “if: E a“); _ W QRIGIN OF THE GEE“, CONSERfiTIVE PARTY.

1.1]IV0211841 the honour of representing you since 1830, and there has never been in the annals of this country a more important and more eventful period than that which has elapsed since the year 1330. ‘ It was just i at the ‘riod that you elected me that these events took place in: 1' mace which exhibited to Europe physical force triumphant over the constituted authorities of the country, which led a se- cond time to a great revolution in France, and expelled from the throne of that country, for the second time, the elder branch of the house of Bourbon. These events in. PM“ made “Jeep impression throughout the whole of Europe, convulsed the public mind—in some countries lcd torevolutibn, and there Were some which escaped Item the influence of those great events. This great country was not mm from that influence; there arose here a desxre Mchange in the ancient institutions of the country; and the consequence was a fundamental change In the Com- mons’ House efParlismcnt. 1 then foresaw that the change was accompanied with a restless desire for further chan‘fi. 1 then foresan say, 'the importance of laying the foun - tions of a great Conservative party—(loud c easy—attached to the ancient fundamental institutions of the country, not disposed to resist such changes as the altered circumstances of societ might require, but a party determined to main- tain on eir ancient foundations the institutions In Church and State. (Cheering). . necessary to widen the foundation on which it ould stand; it was necessary to call to our aid men from whom we had been separated in consequence of'ditl‘crcnt party consider- stions, and by differences upon principles, the. causes of which had ceased to exist. ‘My‘objcct In public life “'lls not so lunch to gain a. position of political power—~that 1s, ofofi'icial power—but the object at which I laboured was to build up that great part which has been gradually ac— quiring stren —(tremen ous cheers)—.whtch has been gradually wi ening its foundations—which has drawn Its support from time to time from those who were our oppo- nents—which began with nurubers scarcely exceeding 100, but which new presents in firm united ranks a body of 320 members of I’eriutnent—(cluce1~s)-—a body not so stmngin its numbers as it is strong in the confidence of the unno- . (Cheers) And, gentlemen, that party has been pleased to intrust your representative with its confidence; and with respect to all the rumours of difference of uptmon aod'jealousies, depend upon it they are altogether without fonndation——(cheers)—and that party which has paid .Inc the compliment oftaking my advice and my counsels IS a united and compact party, in which no difference of prin- ciple prevails as to the course which we ought to pursue.— (Cheers)

MANUFACTURING ms'rnnss.

Gentlemen, I admit the existence of manufacturing dis— m—I admit and deplore it, but I do not despair. I have seen distress in-manuf'actures and in commerce before now —I think that the causes of the present distress are but temporary, and I hope I shall very shortly see the day when our manufactures will once more revive, and when we shall again fill the place we have always eccupied-—that of producers for the markets of the world. (Cheers) Now, let us consider the important question as to how far the distress of the manulhctures and commerce ofthc coun- try is fitirl attributable to the corn-laws. (Cheers.) Gentle- men, in he course eflast our, complaints were made in the House of Commons of the want of attention paid by the Govermnent to the commercial and manufacturing in- terests of the couutr ', and on that occasion a Minister of the Crown, in defending the Government against the charge made against them, gave the following account of the trade and commerce of Great Britain. Mind you, it was the state of them only last year. On the 22d of July, 1840, on this discussion, Lord Palmerston said—“ If Minis- ters hadnot paid attention to British commerce, they had at least been very fortunate in seeing it advance progres- sively.” He held in his hand astatcmeut of the exports from the United Kingdom. lie would take 1830 as the

first year. The total oflicial value of the exports was-— In 1830 $38,000,000 In 1835 £47,000,000 1831 37,000,000 1836 45,000,000 1832 38,000,000 1837 48,000,000 1833 39,000,000 1838 50,000,000 -1834 41,000,000 1830 51,000,000

And yet all this was under the operation of the Corn-laws —(cheers)——aud Lord Palmerston said, and very justly said it too, the exports, then had risen, between 1830 and 1839, from the value of£38,000,000 to the value of'£53,000,000, u very considerable increase. It might be said that we ex- ported without being gainers by the process, either giving commodities away, or selling them at a reduced value. But ifit appeared that during the same time the imports had also increased in the same proportion, it was quite clear that it would thereby be established, that the whole-, sale and substantial trade of the country was advantageous while it had gone on progressively extending. Lord Palmerston then gave the official value of the imports of the United Kingdom for those ten years, and here they are. The official value of the imports for the same period was as follows :—

In 1830 £40,000,0oo In 1835 £49,000,000 1831 49,000,000 1920 57,000,000 1832 44,010,000 1M7 54,000,000 183:! 45,000,000 1838 01,000,000 1834 40,000,000 1830 02,000,000

Here, therefore, the imports had increased between, 1830 and 1839, Ii'om £46,000,000 to £652,000,000; a clear proof that, notwithstanding the local and temporary checks which our comtnerce had experienced, on the whole it had gone on steadily improving, and that betWeen the two periods it had increased not much less than from two to three. Gentlemen, that is the opinion of the Minister ofthc Crowu for foreign affairs, as to the increase in the trade and com- merco of the country from 1830 to 1839, during the whole of which, ‘you -will remember, the Corn-laws were in

'operation. (Cheers) Now, Gentlemen, this makes one

very much doubt whether the Corn~laws can fairly or honestly be assigned as the cause of the present manufactur- ing and commercial distress. (llenr. Lord Palmerston, It was true, was speaking last year, am he had not had the report ofthc state of either for 1840; the returns were onlv made up to 1839, and you may say it is possible, since thcri, that a diminution of this increase had taken place, and that causes new existed, arising therefrom, for a repeal of the Corn~laws. Gentlemen, we have new it full account of the state of the trade of Great Britain for the year 1840—we have now the returns of the year not included in the Noble Lord‘s statement; and what do they say? The accounts of the value of the exports and imports ofthc country for the last three years, bringing up the returns to the latest sstble period, the end of December, 1840, are as fol- w:—

TMDE OF GREAT BRITAIN WIT" FOREIGN PORTS.

Years. Official value of lm orts. 1338, - - — £50,800,000 p 1%, - - - 60,300,000 1840, , - - - 65,800,000

orrtcun VALUE or TOTAL EXPORTS. 1838, - - - £104,810,000 1839, ’ - - - 109,700,000 1840, . - . - - 116,000,000

Last year, you will remember, it was alleged, was one of severe distress among the manufacturing and commercial classes. In perfect fairness, we must, then, give the un- favourable state of the question as well as the favourable. The return I have just quoted gives the quantity of goods sent out of the country, and shows the increase that bad it place; but another return thatIhold in my hand

RITAIN sxnon-ren, was IN - £49,640,000 2,701,000

« lute inciease in théreal value, (Cheers:

In order to form that arty, it was .

. in . 3 ~- §o thafaltliough,‘ne compo-st} I ,3) 1840, , re 1: a dupintiltou of value 1 I I find that: you botitpare 1810 with 1 ' ,there-Is an-sabsm are dry details, and'tbey may appear uninteresting to many, -—~but, after all, they are the only means by Wthll o_great question like that We are now discussing can be satisfac- torily settled. It is by a reference to figures and to accounts that we can best approximate jto facts.’ I am new, inquiringé \t’liother*‘tl1erc is such an alteration to the trade and commerce of this country as requires a corresponding alteration in (the Corn-laws. . -

‘ ‘ sntrr‘t’sc sun NAVIGATION. . I take the navigation and shipping ofthc country for the last three ‘cars, and in looking at them I cannot help thinking, that i there was anything like an absolute decrease to trade and commerce, there would also be a decrease in the ship- ping of the country. I‘Vell, then, what do I find? Here are the returns on the subject: ~

sxyicxrtos or was urn-ran xmonou. » Vessels built and registered.

Years. Tonnage. 1838, - - - 241,000 1839. - - '- 205,000 .

1840, - — - 333,000 Total number of Vessels in the Foreign Trade. Entered Inwards

.1838, - - - 4,000,000 1839, - - v 5,440,000 1840, - - - ' 4,650,000

Cleared Outwards. . 1838, - - - 4,100,000 1839, - - - 4,490,000 1840, - - - 4,780,000

I take the tonnage oftbe vessels, because I think it the fairestathe number ol'ships built or dispatched would be no sufficient criterion, because some might be small and others large. Well, then, here is an increase presented within the-lust three years from 4,100,000 tons to 4,780,000 tons. Gentlemen, Ido not, as I have more than once stated this day, deny the existence of manulbcturing distress In Nineuton and elsewhere. I admit it and I regret it; but on looking at these great measures we are bound to take the most comprehensive views we can, and by all possible means to avoid the serious error offounding national legis- lation on imperfect data and confined views. In so doing ——,in Icgislating for this district or for that, for the purpose ofonc interest or another, we might run the dangerous risk ofundermining the foundations of our national prosperity. And I do think that if you disturb agriculture and divert the employment of capital from the hmds,‘ you may not increase your foreign trade, for it is a thing of doubt under existing circumstances; but will assuredly reduce the home trade, by reduciug‘thc menus to meet the demand, and thus permanently to injure yourselves also. Gentlemen, Isald that I did not deny the existence of manufacturing and commercial distress, and I said likewise that I hoped it would be but temporary—that the cloud would soon blow over, and that the great foundations of manufacturing prosperity were not affected. THE causes or COMMERCIAL DISTRESS.

I see causes enough in the world, as ‘Well as in this coun- try, why there should be manufacturing and commercial distress at the present moment, totally independent of the Corn-laws, and which we should all hear in mind on any consideration of the question. Gentlemen, I do fear that in the north of England an undue stimulus has been given to manufacturing industry, by the accommodation system pur— sued in the joint-stock banks. (Hear, hear.) I think the connexion of the manufacturer with the joint-stock banks gives an undue and improper impulse to trade in that part ofthc country; and I think that, in consequence of this, there have been more mauufitcturcs produced within the last two years than were necessary to supply the demand. This, 1 think, is one of the many causes ofthc manufactur— ing and commercial distress at the present moment. But there are several others. Look to the state of some ofthc countries ofthc world, which took at one time the greatest quantity of our manufactures. Look to South America, for instance. \Vbut the operation ofthc internal disseusions in that country has been upon our trade and commerce is, perhaps, inculculable. During the period which I have been speaking of, the ports of South America, with which our traffic chiefly lay, have been strictly blockadcd by France. Consequently, there has been a complete interruption to our trade in that direction, and a consequent diminution in the demand for our usual supply of manufactures. Now let us go northward on the same continent. One of the best consumers we have for our manufucturcs are the United States efAmcricu, :1 country with which I trust we shall long maintain the intimate relationship of friendship and peace. (Great cheers.) And, gentlemen, I do hope that neither country—that nor this—will be mad enough to quar- rel abouta boundary line, when pence can be preserved without detriment to the honour ofeithcr——-for the prescr- vntiou of national honour should he the first consideration. And I do further hope that the good scusc and l’uodemtion of both countries will avert any quarrel between two nations who boast of a common origin, who speak the same lan- guage, and between whom any collision could not take place without materially affecting the warm, the best inte- rests of humanity all over the globe. (llcar.) But, as l was saying, that great country labours under asimilur distress to our own, which also arises from similar causes. The faci- lity of accommodation afforded by certain bunks there gave an undue stimulus to industry; this produced extravagant speculations; many persons failed in consequence, and trade necessarily then came to u stand-still. That, as I have stntcd, was one ofthc causes ofour own manufacturing dis- trcss. \Vcll, then, look at Canada. I hope and trust that that country has now settled down quietly, and that all symptoms of rebellion are at an end; then you will easily conclude that a rebellion could not have taken place in any country without producing 11 stoppage in the demand for mauufhctured goods, and a consequent depression in com- merce. Look next at the state ofthc Peninsula, the condi- tion ot'Portugal and Spain, both internally convulsed, and both still unsettled. This could not exist either without also affecting the demand for our manufactures. Range, then, along the shores ofthc Mediterranean, and pass on to the coast of Syria. 01) that coast no doubt the British arms have been triumphant, as ltrust they will alwavs be; but unquestionably they affected the demand for our manufac- tures. Egypt, too, was in a state of warlitre ; another cause of depression in trade and commerce. Go, then, to China. Under the present circumstances, it was impossible but that the relations in which we stood towards that empire should affect the demand for our manufactures as well as our en- tire commerce. And then, to come back again to Europe. Look at the state of France during the lustvycar. Look at the enormous outlay of money made by her on militarv pre- parations—which sum was, consequently, a diversith of capital'from useful purposes. In the great kingdoms ofthe middle and north of Europe, it was the same as in France. All these causes combined could not exist without essential- ly affecting our commerce and manufactures. \Vhen you come to consxder the undue stimulus to industry in the ma- nufacturing districts of the‘ country—when you come to consider the condition of the United States—the state of China—the way in which France has been—when you put these things together, all causes, mind you, affecting the market'lpt‘ your goods—(hear, hear)——-and then combine them mm the two or three defective harvests we have had I ask you to answer me the question, whether or not the , have not been sufficient to account for the depression of manufacturing industry; and then to say we are called upon under such circumstances, to substitute n fixed dut on f0: reign corn for the present ascending and descending scale 9 (Cheers) Gentlemen, it is by a careful consideration of these facts I have come to the conclusion, that the existinu system should not be altered ; and that, moreover, we shoukj’ as much as possible, make ourselves independent of a fol reign supply. Seeing, then, how rapidly avricuItui-e has increased, and that, according to Mr. M’Culloch, you are enabled to support 7,000,000 of people more than you did

with thellincreaséiiiq‘uantity ' 1839; you. Will :A'

Gentletnc’n‘fihese‘ y

completed, and the probable amount of the

twenty years since, with only the same resources, I there-

excludes 53005? price rises 111 she system‘

abundant supply ofytiur ow‘p, ,ther the foreign supply, and which, whep then this'countrv, freely admtt IL. I say, gent ems , r Other” proposed has a manifest disadvantageever eve yféht t; that when coru rises to a heighltl Intpgécpmlggpsnylegtfi Re i ' ' 't WI no , the people of this country”: R. h . y: Who 0 ' t Ilon. Bat onet, dut of 8s. e1 quarter. The 1g _ V _ ‘ ‘ is; jusi two hdiu-s speaking, ,then moved amidst’the most enthusiastic cheering. _. Lotto J. nussnLL’s annnESS To "run ancrons on THE CITY or LONDON. .

“To run ELECTORS or- THE CITY or LON-13011.. “Gentlemen—I request You to accept my. smcele iii]: heartv thanks for the honour you have confensd Clbiiitrtlions; by elsetifnfglnfe one pfyoutf Representam es In t e s o'ariamen. - ' __- Hefllgliould hav‘e'lnade this acknowledgment at an cellist period, had Inot been desirous of explainingw YO: t 5: course which the generalstate of the returns Will ma 6 1 It ' to ursue. ~ ' ‘- . mi" (irderp to do this the more clearly, I must refer to some vents. . , _ pa‘s‘tll‘i the early part of last year, when a resolution dado}?- intr a want of confidence in the Government was Wong: fofward, I distinctly announced the intention of proposmg a - ditienal taxes to meet the increased expenditure of the coun- try- , . - s "s the Estimates had been 1‘ In the present yeat, o seen u revenue could be calculated, her Majesty’s Ministers, took into their serIous. consideration the disparity which still 'eXISted between the In- come of the country'and the cost of Its . establishments. I

“We found that the new taxes werenot sudictent sup- )l the deficiency. » _

‘1 lI‘VVe were of dpinion that we could not, With due regard to the honour and safety of the nation, reduce Its naval and military forces. ' , .

“But, upon a careful view of our commercml Impostsy We, came to the conclusion, that by removmg,prothIttons and lessening restrictions, it.was possible to replenish the trea- sury, and at the same time to secure to the working-classes a greater command of the necessartes of life at steady. and moderate prices. _ ‘

“ The first measure brought forward on this subject was intended to give increased freedom of trade to our Colonies.

I“ But in defending this measure, in a debate before Easter-,1 stated that the Cabinet were resolved to apply the same prin- ciple to our whole commercial policy, and had prepared pro- positions to carry their views intoeffect.

“ In the face of this declaration, it has been asserted that our commercial and financial plans were brought forward only because we had been defeated upon' a clause in the Irish Qualification Bill. .

“It was difficult to refute our arguments; it was easy to misconstruc our motives ; and those who were incapable of discovering reasons, have not been unequal to the labour of inventing facts. , ‘ ,

“ Others have said that, with a precarious majority in the House of Commons, we ought not to have announced mea- sures ofsnelt vast importance.

“But had we resigned with a deficient revenue, and with- out pointing out the means of improving it, the some persons would, with far more justice, have accused us of being afraid to meet the difficulties we had caused, and ofimposing upon our successors an unpopular or impracticable task.

“ It appeared to us, on the contrary, that it was our duty to lay before the House of Commons plans which we deem— ed beneficial ; when defeated there, 'we advised her Majesty to appeal to the people at large. r

“As soon as the new Parliament meets, we shall take the first opportunity ofasking for a clear and decided judgment upon the policy we have proposed. ,

“ The result of such an appeal may now be easily fore- seen. In the English cities and boroughs there is a small majority in our favour. 1n the Scotch cities and boroughs, a very decisive majority the same way. In the Irish boroughs and counties there is also a majority in favour of the policy ofthc present Ministers. In the Scotch counties the majority will be the other we ; and in the English counties that ma- jority will be overw iclming.

“ To those who recollect Lord Stanley’s description of our English county representation, or who have observed the effect ofthc Chandos clause ofth c Reform Act, this re- sult will not be at all surprising. It should be added, how- ever, that the manufacturing districts have not, as might have been expected, tended to restore the balance. As no Ministers of the Crown can stand Without the confidence of the Ilouse of Commons, our retirement from office will im- mediately fi)ll0W the condemnation ofour policy. In this altered position, it would be inconsistent with my notions of: public duty to harass the Government of the day by vex- atious opposition, still less to deny to the Crown the means ofmamtaining the reputation of the country abread and in- ternal quiet at home.

“But when the great principles of religious, civil, and commercial liberty come into question, those principles must be firmly and fearlessly supported. Whatever party may be in power, they are so inseparably connected with the progress of society, that although the country may doubt, may pause, may ponder, it will examine, discuss, and finally adopt them. i