it to be impossible to effect any such object by a legislative enactment. It is utterly beyond your power, and a mere delusion, to say, that by any duty, fixed or otherwise, you can guarantee a certain price to the producer. It is beyond the reach of the Legislature. In 1835, when you had what some thought was a nominal protection to the amount of 64s., the average price of wheat did not exceed 39s. 8d., and I again repeat, that it is only encouraging delusion to hold out the hope that this species of protection can be afforded to the agriculturist. To return, however, to the subject; I again say that nothing can be more vague than to attempt to define a remunerating price. The different qualities of land, and a thousand other considerations, enter into the question." Greater difficulties occurred in fixing the value of foreign corn; for its quality as compared with that of England, freight, distance, and other considerations disturbed the calculation. Sir Robert Peel then described his new scale. "We propose that when corn is at 50s. and under 51s. in price, a duty of 20s. shall be taken, but that in no case shall that duty be exceeded. We propose that when the price is 51s. and under 52s., the duty shall be 19s.; and after this we propose that there should be what I should call a rest in the scale. That at the three next items of price the duty should be uniform. Thus it would be:When the price is 52s. and under 53s., the duty should be 18s.; when 53s. and under 54s., 18s. ; and when 54s. and under 55s., still 18s. When the price is 55s. and under 56s., we propose that the duty shall be 17s.; when 56s. and under 57s., that it shall be 16s.;

when 57s. and under 58s., that it shall be 15s. ; when 58s. and under 59s., that it shall be 14s.; when 59s. and under 60s., that it shall be 13s.; when 60s. and under 61s., that it shall be 12s.; when 61s. and under 62s., that it shall be 11s.; when 62s. and under 63s., that it shall be 10s.; when 63s. and under 64s., that it shall be 9s.; when 64s. and under 65s., that it shall be 8s.; and when 65s. and under 66s., that it shall be 7s. At the three next items of price I propose another rest in the scale similar to the former. I should propose upon the next three a duty of 6s., that is to say, when the price is 66s. and under 67s., when it is 67s. and under 68s., and when it is 68s. and under 69s. In each of those cases the duty would be 6s. When the price is 69s. and under 70s., I propose a duty of 5s.; when 70s. and under 71s., a duty of 4s.; when 71s. and under 72s., a duty of 3s.; when 72s. and under 73s., a duty of 2s.; and when 73s. and under 74s., a duty of 1s. the quarter. When that price is arrived at I propose that the duty should altogether cease. The sum of the proposition, then, is this, that when corn in the British market is under the price of 51s. the quarter a duty of 20s. shall be levied, which duty shall never be exceeded, for I am quite satisfied that it is useless to take any greater amount of duty."

He described the nature of the changes with respect to other grain than wheat. "With respect to the other articles of grain, I propose to adopt the proportion of value and duty which I find in the present law. Valuing wheat in the proportion of 100, barley in that of 53, oats in that of 40, and rye, peas, and beans in that of 58; if it be assumed that at the

price of 56s. for wheat the duty would be 16s., then the duty on barley, when at 29s., would be 9s.; on oats, at the price of 22s., there would be a duty of 6s. 3d.; and on rye, peas, and beans, at 32s., there ought to be a duty of 10s 3d. These are the proportions under the existing law, and I am not aware of any reason for altering them with respect to the other kinds of grain."

He then came to colonial wheat. "The law with respect to it is to this effect that British colonial wheat and flour shall be imported into this country at a duty of 5s. whenever the price of British wheat is below 67s.; that when the price of British wheat exceeds 67s., it shall then be admissible at a duty of 6d. I propose to give the same advantage to colonial wheat, respecting the reduction of prices at which it shall be admissible, as is given to other descriptions of wheat. But, considering that the sudden drop in the prices from 5s. to 6d., on account of the difference of 1s. in the price, is at variance with the principle of the law, which seeks to establish as equable and uniform a reduction of duty as possible, we propose to make this arrangement respecting colonial wheat that when the price of British wheat is under 55s., the duty upon every quarter of British colonial wheat shall be 5s.; that when at 55s. and under 56s., it shall be 4s.; when at 56s. and under 57s., it shall be 3s.; when at 57s. and under 58s., 2s. ; and when at 58s. and upwards, it shall be 1s., thus taking away that sudden fall in the amount of duty levied upon colonial wheat which takes place under the existing law, but giving to the colonial wheat that advantage in the reduction of

the price which is given to other descriptions of wheat. With respect to flour, I propose to maintain the same calculation as exists with respect to wheat, so as to allow it to be admitted upon the same relative terms."

Sir Robert Peel then recapitulated the reduction which his new scale would effect :-"When corn is at 59s. and under 60s., the duty at present is 27s. 8d. When corn is between those prices, the duty I propose is 13s. When the price of corn is at 50s., the existing duty is 36s. 8d., increasing as the price falls; instead of which I propose, when corn is at 50s., that the duty shall only be 20s., and that that duty shall in no case be exceeded. (Hear, hear.) At 56s. the existing duty is 30s. 8d.; the duty I propose at that price is 16s. At 60s. the existing duty is 26s. 8d.; the duty I propose at that price is 12s. At 63s. the existing duty is 23s. 8d.; the duty I propose is 9s. At 64s. the existing duty is 22s. 8d.; the duty I propose is 8s. At 70s. the existing duty is 10s. 8d.; the duty I propose is 5s. Therefore it is impossible to deny, on comparing the duty which I propose with that which exists at present, that it will cause a very considerable decrease of the protection which the present duty affords to the home grower, a decrease, however, which in my opinion can be made consistently with justice to all the interests concerned."

In conclusion, he thus emphatically disclaimed the idea of legislating in favour of particular interests: "My belief, and the belief of my colleagues is, that it is important for this country, that it is of the highest importance to the welfare of all classes in this country, that

you should take care that the main sources of your supply of corn should be derived from domestic agriculture (hear, hear); while we also feel that any additional price which you may pay in effecting that object is an additional price which cannot be vindicated as a bonus or premium to agriculture, but only on the ground of its being advantageous to the country at large. You are entitled to place such a price on foreign corn as is equivalent to the special burdens borne by the agriculturist, and any additional protection you give to them I am willing to admit can only be vindicated on the ground that it is for the interest of the country generally. (Hear, hear.) I, however, certainly do consider that it is for the interest of all classes that we should be paying occasionally a small additional sum upon our own domestic produce, in order that we may thereby establish a security and insurance against those calamities that would ensue, if we became altogether, or in a great part, dependent upon foreign countries for our supply. (Hear, hear.) My belief is, that those alternations of seasons will continue to take place, that what ever laws you may pass you will still occasionally have to encounter deficient crops, that the harvests of other countries will also at times be deficient, and that if you found yourselves dependent upon foreign countries for so important an amount of corn as 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 of quarters, under these circumstances, and at a time when the calamity of a deficient harvest happened to be general, my belief is, that the principle of self-preservation would prevail in each country, that an impediment would be placed upon the exportation of

their corn, and that it would be applied to their own sustenance. (Hear.) While, therefore, I am opposed to a system of protection on the ground merely of defending the interests of a particular class, I, on the other hand, would certainly not be a party to any measure the effect of which would be to make this country permanently dependent upon foreign countries for any very considerble portion of its supply of corn. That it might be for a series of years dependent on foreign countries for a portion of its supply-that in many years of scarcity a considerable portion of its supply must be derived from foreign countries-I do not deny ; but I nevertheless do not abandon the hope that this country, in the average of years, may produce a sufficiency for its own necessities. (Hear, hear.) If that hope be disappointed, if you must resort to other countries in ordinary seasons for periodical additions to your own supplies, then do I draw a material distinction between the supply which is limited, the supply which is brought in for the purpose of repairing our accidental and comparatively slight deficiency, and the supply which is of a more permanent and extensive character."

Finally, he said that he considered the present not an unfavourable time for a settlement of the subject; there was no great stock of foreign corn on hand to alarm the growers; the recess, notwithstanding the distress that existed, had been marked by an unusual calm; there was no popular violence to interrupt legislation; and there was a disposition to view any proposal for the adjustment of the question with calmness and moderation. Whether his proposition were accepted or rejected, he hoped

Lord John Russell said, that he did not intend, after what he stated the other evening, to offer any opinion at present upon the plan which had just been submitted to the House; but in order that they might come to the discussion of the question with as much information as possible he did not mean of a general or statistical nature, but as regarded the plan itself-it appeared to him advisable, if not absolutely necessary, that the House should be put in possession of the list of towns from which it was proposed to take the averages in future; because it would make a great deal of difference whether those towns were small or large. He, therefore, hoped that the right honourable Baronet would be prepared to lay upon the Table tomorrow a list of the towns, or the greater portion of the towns, which he intended to introduce into his plan.

Sir Robert Peel replied, that he should, of course, endeavour to supply the list referred to by the noble Lord, and would probably lay it on the Table on Friday. He begged to assure the House that the list would be made out upon the principle of taking the most important towns. The returns at present included many small towns, particularly in Wales. The Government thought it, therefore, advisable to make a revision of those returns, solely with the view of taking as a test those towns which contained the principal corn markets. The selection, he could assure the House, should not be made with a view of influencing the averages in the slightest degree. Any indirect operation upon the averages he totally disclaimed.

Mr. Cobden said, it was not his intention to enter into any argu

ments upon the merits of this important question at present, but he should not be doing justice to himself or his constituents if he did not declare that he felt no surprise at the proposal which had been submitted to the House by Her Majesty's Government, inasmuch as he had not expected that they would have proposed a measure beneficial to the country. Looking to the constitution of the present Government, he repeated that he was not surprised at their proposal, for he did not expect to get grapes from thorns or figs from thistles." The present proposal of her Majesty's Government he ventured to denounce as an insult to the sufferings of a people whose patience had been extolled by the right honourable Baronet, but whose patience deserved a very different treatment from that which it was now proposed by the landed aristocracy and the Cabinet, which was their instrument, to confer upon

them.

This policy towards the people of England he very much feared would end at no very remote period in the utter destruction of every interest in the country.

The House then adjourned.

On the following day, Lord John Russell gave notice that on the ensuing Monday he should move a resolution condemnatory of the principle of a sliding-scale, which he subsequently announced in these terms: "That this House considering the evils which have been caused by the present Cornlaws, and especially by the fluctuations of the graduated or slidingscale, is not prepared to adopt the measure of Her Majesty's Government, which is founded on the same principle, and is likely to be attended by the same results."

Mr. Villiers followed Lord John