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party, was called upon to take the heaviest | rection because Sir Robert Peel's reducshare of the sacrifice. We shall see by tions have not gone far enough Those, on and bye, when we come to examine the the other hand, who think that neither details that this apprehension was to a trade nor agriculture, however established, considerable degree unfounded-that the or matured, or flourishing, can support sacrifice is by no means so great as it ap- themselves without the go-cart of protecting pears that it probably may be no sacrifice duties-whose sleep is disturbed by visions at all—and that even the Income Tax itself of German pigs, Swiss bulls, and runts from may be looked upon as somewhat of the Britanny*—and who never ask themselves nature of a temporary advance made by how our manufacturers can consume even wealthy capitalists to relieve and facilitate English meat or English corn, if they cancertain branches of industry which-though not earn wages to buy them-are alarmed now suffering-will, by this timely assist- lest Sir Robert Peel may have gone too far. ance, be enabled to recover themselves, and The former class will never be satisfied: to repay at no long interval their debt to their object is Revolution, and the wholethe general fund. some and at once liberal and Conservative policy of the present ministry is odious to them, as being pro tanto a safety-valve against the fatal explosions which they are trying to provoke. But the other classthose who are inclined from ancient and respectable prejudices to hold out to the last possible moment against any relaxation of protecting duties on home produce-are much more accessible to reason; they are already beginning to see and, what is better, to feel that they are themselves consumers as well as producers, and that, if as producers they are in some degree benefited by high protecting duties on a few articles, they are as consumers mulcted to probably a greater amount by prohibitory duties on a vast majority of others.

It has been said that the series of measures were carried by fighting one interest against another, and thus overcoming, in detail, an opposition which, if united, must have been fatal to the project. But this is a very unfair view of the case, and a very unjust imputation, both on the merits of the arrangements and motives of its supporters. No doubt there was, and still remains, much difference of opinion on details so various, and affecting so many conflicting interests; but these were merged-not in a juggle or compromise of individual objects, but-in a conviction of the extensive advantages of the proposition taken as a WHOle. It was as a whole that this proposition was offered to the consideration of Parliament-it was as a whole that Lord Brougham's Resolutions vindicated it-and it was only as a whole that it could have been carried! The great experiment on the Tariff could not, we are satisfied, have been attempted if the Income Tax had not prepared a foundation for it; nor, probably, could the Income Tax have been carried if the Property and Intelligence of the country had not been persuaded that, considering the circumstances of our manufacturing population, a large modification of the Tariff on raw materials and articles of subsistence had become of urgent necessity. These are what we conceive to be the prominent merits of Sir Robert Peel's policy, and the true causes of the general approbation and concurrence which it has eventually received.

At the first aspect of the ministerial plan there was, no doubt, a strong feeling of surprise, and perhaps of disappointment, in many respectable quarters, at the principles which it was supposed to announce. It was stated both by artful enemies and hollow friends that the Conservative ministry, having attained office by their opposition to the free-trade speculations of the Whigs, had deserted their own principles and adopted those of their defeated adversaries. This impression was not merely erroneous, but indeed the reverse of the fact, and was speedily removed from every mind that looked at Sir Robert Peel's measures as-what they are-a system. The elements, as we have before said, of all financial operations must be the same, the difference can only be in their application. Now the Whigs proposed to deal with the Corn-Laws-so did Sir Robert Peel; but

But we do not conceal from ourselves that the concurrence, though general, is not universal; the plan is too sober, too rational, too practical, to please the extremes of the two sects which divide public opinion on subjects of political and financial economy. The free-trade-and-fixed-duty men (strange inconsistency that enlists two such contradictory principles under the same banner!) are ready to raise an insur-under 4d. or 5d. the lb.

We notice as a curious instance cf popular the new Tariff, a panic actually excited in some credulity, that there was, on the announcement of parts of the country, under which farmers sold their cattle at ruinously low prices from the dread that meat was to be imported-from Hamburgh for inhaving in fact never been sold in Hamburgh itself stance-and sold in London at 3d. a lb. ; such meat

the Whig object was to abrogate, Sir vast present value, and pregnant with still Robert's to maintain and confirm them. greater results-we feel it to be our duty The Whigs talked of dealing with the to refute imputations on their origin, and Tariff, but ventured to approach but 3 misstatements as to their operation, which, articles out of 1150, and those only under to whatever extent they might be credited, the false pretence of increasing the revenue must be injurious to the practical effect of -Sir Robert did deal with the whole 1150 the great experiment itself—to the characarticles of the Tariff, but with the avowed ters of those who proposed it, and to the purpose of diminishing the revenue, at least force and permanence of that public opinion for a time. The Whig measures (though on which it mainly relies for its present ridiculously inadequate to their object) pro- and future success. Besides, Sir Richard fessed to be wholly fiscal-Sir Robert Vyvyan is no ordinary pamphleteer; his Peel's were the very reverse; he disclaim- character and station, his talents and accomed all fiscal objects, (which he effectually plishments, and the principles he has heresecured by a bolder stroke-the Income tofore professed, invest him with a share of Tax.) and directed every change he pro- individual authority, which we regret to posed to the relief of distress and the in- find misdirected, and which we should be crease of comfort throughout the masses of happy to see restored to its original course. the people. Dealing, therefore, with the And, finally, there are in the publication same materials, it was hardly possible that itself circumstances so peculiar as to chaltwo systems could be more different in their lenge particular notice, not to say animadobjects and operations. They were, indeed, version; and to these we shall begin by navigating the same sea, but it was on calling our readers' attention. opposite tacks; they were travelling the same high road, but it was in contrary di

rections.

Just as this, the true state of the case, had been, as we thought, universally acknowledged, and when all minor differences of opinion in the Conservative party seemed to be arranged in a general acquiescence, the public were surprised by the appearance of the letter of Sir Richard Vyvyan to his constituents, the electors of the borough of Helstone, in which that gentleman-long known, and on several occasions honourably distinguished, as a Conservative-revived, and embodied in a hostile and bitter manifesto, the most offensive, and, we think we shall show, the most unfounded imputations against the whole Conservative party, and more pointedly against the chief Conservative leaders. If we weighed only the intrinsic merit of this production or the effect it produced on the public mind, we should not have thought it worth the attention of our readers; but there are some collateral circumstances connected with it which appear to require special consideration. In the first place, it records the most systematic disapprobation of Sir Robert Peel's measures, both in principle and detail, that we have seen; and we find that it has been the parent of some other pamphlets ejusdem farine, the title of one of which- Guilty or Not Guilty?'-we have prefixed to this article merely for the occasion of saying that it is more absurd and violent than Sir Richard's own letter, to which, indeed, it has a strong family likeness. Now, convinced, as we sincerely are, that those measures are of

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The first and most obvious question is, why the Member for Helstone chose to express his sentiments in this form. Sir Richard is not merely a member of parliament; he is a gentleman of studious habits, who professes to have devoted much attention to the science, as it is now called, of political economy; and he is the representative of a special class of industry, which, as well as all the other great interests of the country,' are, he contends, seriously damaged, and still more seriously endangered, by the ministerial measures. Why, then, did he sit by, a silent, and, as far as the public knew, assenting spectator of measures which he so strongly condemned? Why did he not avow his opinions, make his objections, plead the cause of his own constituents and of the country in general, at the proper time, and in the place to which his constituents had, for that very purpose, delegated him? Why, above all, having such serious objections, or rather charges, to make, had he not the candour to do so in the presence of those whom he meant to arraign, and who might, and we have no doubt would, have given him an immediate and probably a satisfactory answer? Why did he bottle them up at Westminster to explode, two months later, the sour and frothy fermentation at Helstone? Half the pamphlet is employed in giving vague and obscure excuses for this strange conduct, which, as far as we understand them, the other half contradicts. For instance:

In this letter I have already stated my objections to the income-tax, and my vote is recorded against it; but had 1 endeavoured to

deliver the same opinions in the House, by speak-protested against their course of proceeding.'— ing upon the subject, such a speech would have Ibid., pp. 6, 7. been treated by the main body of the Conservatives as an attempt to excite mutiny in their camp, and my motives would have been honestly misinterpreted by some, and unfairly misrepresented by others.'-Letter, pp. 35, 36.

It is new to us to hear that the 'main body of the Conservatives' are drilled into such Turkish discipline that a calm and candid statement of a member's opinion would be considered as 'mutiny;' and we wonder that Sir Richard Vyvyan should have, even for a moment, submitted to such degrading thraldom. We wonder, too, that the example of so many other gentlemenas good and as steady Conservatives as himself-who took active parts in the several discussions, did not encourage him to venture on some, however gentle, expression of his opinion: and, after all, we find it hard to reconcile Sir Richard's aversion from anything that could look like mutiny with the publication of this very bitter and offensive manifesto against his leader and his party.

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But, strange as is the general aspect of this conduct, it seems, in its details, still more inconsistent. Amongst the propositions of the new Tariff was a lowering of the duties on foreign metallic ores-metallic ores being, as our readers well know, the staple of Cornwall, and creating the special interest which Sir Richard Vyvyan represents. A deputation from Cornwall was instructed to wait upon the minister to propose an increase of protection for copper ore (viz. 107., or at least 7. 10s., per ton, instead of 51., as proposed by the Government*). Sir Richard thought, it seems, that the Cornish deputation did not understand their own business, and that the proposed protection was insufficient, (though he does not say what rate he would have recommended):

Sir Richard, who does not hesitate to publish to all the world, and in very unmeasured terms, his differences with the deputation, the ministry, his friends, and his party, shrunk sensitively from even a conversation in Sir Robert Peel's private room, lest it should have exhibited the aphim and the deputation! which, as it appearance of a difference of opinion between pears to us, was, and could be, no difference at all :-for the deputation only agreed to the lower sum because they could no longer hope for better terms, and would assuredly not have quarrelled with Sir Richard for endeavouring to convince the minister that a higher protection was necessary. What followed is still more surprising. We have the evidence of the successive alterations in the printed copies of the Tariff that there was no item of the whole catalogue more modified-we prethan this very article of copper-ore, and sume on discussions with these deputations none therefore on which the personal intervention of the member for Helstone could have been more desirable for the interests of all parties. If Sir Richard had any personal reasons for not attending a meeting at the prime minister's office-if, peradventure, he have thought that his proper place in Downing street would have been to receive, instead of attending, deputations

may

-no such reasons could exist for his not at

tending the discussion in the House of Commons:-there, of course, he would take his natural part; he would explain the importance of the interests confided to his guardianship; he would urge the inadequacy of the proposed protection; he would state the amount which he thought necessary-the

lower rate; but if he could not persuade arguments against the the House to adopt his own rate (the amount of which he never states), he would have fallen back upon those who advocated a £10 duty; and if that should also fail, he would concur with the other Cornish

Under this impression I declined accompany ing them when they conferred with the prime minister in Downing street, because my presence on that occasion would either have implied a tacit acquiescence in their opinions, had I been silent, or it would have promoted an incon-representatives in trying to obtain their venient and worse than useless discussion in his proposition of £7 10s. This, surely, was hearing, if I had declared my disagreement and the natural and proper course; but what did Sir Richard ?—

We state the matter in generals, for the details were very complicated and took several shapesfrom the first proposition of 5. per cent. on the value, to a scale reaching from 17. 10s. to 71. 10s. on the lon of metal: 61. per ton of metal on the richer ores was finally adopted, with, we believe, a pretty general concurrence; but there are such various interests concerned-the miner, the smelter, the importer, the manufacturer, the consumer-that an adjustment which shall satisfy everybody is no easy matter.

In the unsatisfactory debate which took place in the House of Commons, all the other members representing the British mining inter£7 10s. It is my belief that most of our deep ests contended for no greater protection than the copper-mines will be seriously injured, if not altogether abandoned, unless the importers of foreign copper be compelled to pay a much

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higher duty; and this conviction is based upon | cannot carry that, I shall unite with
statistical documents, the accuracy of which
has never been questioned. But to have in
sisted upon it in debate, in opposition to the lan-
guage of other Cornish representatives, would
have exposed me to the imputation of being an
alarmist, and of affecting to know more and to see
farther than those who opposed the ministerial
propositions; for such is the certain result of
every man's endeavour to urge his own indivi-
dual opinion in a popular assembly like the
House of Commons when he is unsupported by
the concurrence of members who are at least as
much interested as he is in the matter under

discussion.

The only justifiable motive for speaking on such a question was the hope that other gentlemen might have been thereby induced to vote in favour of a higher rate of duty,-a hope which, under the circumstances of the case, it would have been absurd to entertain. By giving utterance to opinions which would have placed me in direct opposition to the members who had conferred with the minister, I might indeed have convinced you that I am not unmindful of your interests, and of those of my native country; this object, however, can be attained by addressing you in writing, and by offering my deliberate advice to the miners in general upon the conduct which seems the best suited to their present perilous position.

Such a course enables me to make an unreserved declaration upon the alarming prospects of calamity to which not only the miners of Cornwall but almost every productive class in the nation are exposed by the policy of the present government. In thus stating my views without disguise or hesitation, it is necessary to com. mence by directing your attention to the circumstances under which they obtained office: unless you calmly reconsider the events of the past year you will be unable to form an unprejudiced estimate of the approaching danger.'-Ibid., pp. 7, 8.

you in

trying to obtain £10, or even £7 10s., in preference to £5,' would that have been Then he offers to the Cornish miners and direct opposition' to those colleagues? to the nation at large his deliberate advice' on their " liberate advice meaning, it seems, advice perilous position,'-dethat comes too late; but he would not give them his assistance in the discussions in Downing street-nor a speech, nor even a vote, in the House of Commons, while there was yet time to have diminished at least the peril of the position. During the whole of this transaction, Sir Richard was-for such reasons as he gives-absent from the deputation; silent in the house; reserved with his colleagues; mysterious as to his own views; and, above all, adverse from being an alarmist; and then he turns right round, and publishes this letter, because such a course enables him to make an unreserved declaration prospects of calamity to every productive upon the alarming class of the nation,' and of stating these views without disguise or hesitation.' In the midst of all these contradictions it has escaped Sir Richard Vyvyan that this last assertion seems to admit that, however unreserved' the character of his letter may be, his previous conduct in the whole af fair was not unlikely to be charged with hesitation and disguise.'

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The freedom with which Sir Richard treats the motives and the actions of other gentlemen not only justifies, but requires, our directing these observations ad hominem, and the more so, because we find that the chief practical object of his letter is a Was there ever such a tissue of incon- Cornwall especially, should petition her suggestion that the country in general, and sistencies? He abandons his own proper Majesty to dismiss from political life both duties, in his own proper place, lest he her present and her late ministers—' the should be called an alarmist, and then vol- two rival sections [factions?] wrangling for unteers-without mission and without ex-office'-and to call to her councils some cuse, and when it was too late to do any good, though it might do much mischief he volunteers, we say, to sound a general alarm on every possible topic, and to endeavour to create a panic in every possible quarter. He suppressed, he says, his opinions, because they were in direct opposition' to those of his colleagues. The government proposal was £5; the Cornish members were stickling for at least £7 103.; and for £10, if they could obtain it. Sir Richard was for some higher rate, which he envelopes in mysterious silence, but say £12. Can going the whole length of one's friends, and even a good deal farther, be called 'direct opposition? If he had said to his colleagues, I prefer £12; but if I

third party, as yet unborn, whom Sir Richard does not directly describe, but by many mysterious hints indicates, we think, individual person of Sir Richard Vyvyan as being centered in, if not confined to, the himself. The process by which all the rubbish of Tories and Whigs-the Peels and Stanleys, the John Russells and Palmerstons-are to be thrown aside, and the Vyvyan administration suddenly erected on their ruins, is ingenious and easy :

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the present emergency. It must inform the The nation itself has a duty to perform in sovereign of the danger to which almost every interest is exposed. Unless our Cornish miners approach the throne with statements of the

grievances about to be inflicted upon them by her ministers, the Queen cannot be aware of their condition.'—p. 44.

And the Cornish miners, it seems, are peculiarly fitted for taking the lead in this great political regeneration, because

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In the first naval action of the last war, a British frigate, commanded by Lord Exmouth, captured a vessel in every respect its superior, although a great portion of its crew were Cornish miners who had never before been at sea, and were brought into action in a few hours after their embarkation.'-p. 45.

Some readers may not see the force of this argument-but we read it thus-that, as Cornish miners became, within a few hours, able and victorious seamen, so a

Cornish member would become by as short a process an able and triumphant minister. One difficulty only presents itself-the petition if it reached the Queen must be infallible-but the ministerial despotism would endeavour to intercept it. Against that obvious danger Sir Richard has provided a remedy remarkable for its novelty and ingenuity

'There are constitutional methods of submit

might not be disposed to support his administration, a patriotic sacrifice which would effectually relieve him from all rivalry or opposition:

'I believe that many representatives of their fellow-subjects would gladly retire into private life, and vote for the election of their successors, if such a sacrifice on their part would enable the Queen to look for ministers beyond the nar row circle to which her Majesty is confined by the present system.'—p. 43.

This really exceeds all the rest! Gentlemen who will not now so much as listen to Sir Richard Vyvyan's advice about a duty on ores, would nevertheles, gladly' commit political suicide in favour of this modern Salmoneus, who hopes to make his way to the government of the empire by a bridge of copper!

But, closing here, as we are glad to do, those personal observations which the tone and temper of Sir Richard's letter irresistibly invited, we shall now proceed to examine what is more important-the facts which he has alleged as the excuse of his mutiny, or, as it may, we fear, be more properly called, his revolt.

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His first and main charge against the ministry and the whole Conservative party in parliament is a very serious one indeed, affecting not only their policy, but their honesty and their honour. The country, he says, is

ting their grievous complaints to the Queen, without consigning it to the care of a minister. Every peer of the realm is privileged to ask for an audience. With proper precautions, the working miners of Cornwall may rest satisfied that their petition will be placed in her Majesty's hands, however their enemies may en-exposed to poverty and ruin, by an administradeavour to keep the Queen in ignorance of their tion calling themselves Conservatives, but differdeplorable prospects.'-p. 46. ing only in degree from their predecessors, against whose policy they invoked the aid of the too confiding electors of the United King dom, within the last twelve months.'-pp. 5, 6.

Again:

We are not aware that any other precautions' were necessary for such a purpose than that Sir Richard himself should have put on a dress coat and gone to one of the Queen's levees, where he might have 'placed the petition in her Majesty's hands,' without incurring much danger from the machinations of ministers. The passage, however, is valuable on another account, as conveying an important intimation that the new party which is to be charged with the future administration of affairs does not consist-as from the rest of the pamphlet might be supposed-in Sir Richard Vyvyan alone, but that he has a peer ready to work the omnipotent petition into the Queen's presence. We are thus assured that the new administration would have at least one voice in each house of parliament; but, Sired with zeal to promote the election of memRichard having some modest misgivings that he and Lord Blank alone could hardly make head against the united force of Whigs and Tories, suggests to those who

The leader of the opposition [Sir R. Peel], who had originated the vote of distrust before the dissolution, was commissioned by the Queen to form a new government, and the constituencies looked forward with confidence to an immediate cessation of ministerial endeavours to unand trade, while they hoped that some of the settle existing regulations affecting agriculture obnoxious changes effected by the Whigs, more especially as regarded the Poor Law Commis sion, might be reconsidered. They were fully justified in entertaining these expectations: appeals had been made to them upon such questions, against the Whigs; and they had labour

bers, in whose assurances of opposition to the reliance. Under such auspices, Sir Robert Peel measures of the late government they had full became her Majesty's prime minister.'-pp. 11, 12.

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