GENERAL HISTORY. 



[129 



that the House should beaccurately 

 infoiined of the actual state of the 

 corn trade, and the probability re- 

 specting importation before the 

 next harvest, moved " That a 

 Select Committee be appointed to 

 inquire into the corn trade, so far 

 as relates to the importation and 

 warehousing of foreign corn, and 

 to report their observations there- 

 upon ; together with the minutes 

 of evidence which may be taken 

 before them." This delay was 

 warmly opposed by the friends of 

 the resolutions; and though the 

 motion was supported by the 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer, who 

 now manifestly began to waver, it 

 was negatived on a division bv 99 

 against 42. 



On May 23rd, a motion being 

 made for the third reading of the 

 Corn Exportation Bill, Mr. Rose 

 declared that he would make his 

 solemn protest against it, as one of 

 the most mischievous measilres 

 that had ever been brought before 

 the House; and after stating his 

 objections to it, he said he should 

 move, as a rider, that the King 

 should be empowered, with the 

 advice of his Privy Council, to stop 

 the exportation whenever the exi- 

 gencies of the country might re- 

 quire it. After some observations 

 had been made by different mem- 

 bers on this suggestion, the House 

 divided on the third reading. For 

 it 107, Against it 27, Majority 80. 

 The rider of Mr. Rose was then 

 discussed, and was rejected without 

 a division, and tlie bill passed. 



The report of the Corn Impor- 

 tation Bill being brought up on 

 May 24, a conversation ensued, 

 chiefly on the charge of deficient 

 information for the importance of 

 the subject ; aftir which tliebill pro 



Vol,; I.M. 



forma was passed, to be discuss- 

 ed'in the following stage. A great 

 number of petitions in the mean 

 time were brought up from different 

 places, including some of the most 

 populous towns in the kingdom, 

 against the meditated alterations in 

 the corn laws, by which the ex- 

 istence of a very general alarm re- 

 specting their supposed tendency 

 was strongly manifested. The 

 members who presented them 

 thought it their duty, in some in- 

 stances, to express their sense of 

 the danger that might arise from 

 urging measures so unpopular witli 

 a great part of the nation : and 

 Mr. Canning, on presenting a pe- 

 tition from Liverpool signed by 

 22,000 names, said that he thought 

 it impossible for any man who had 

 cast his observation about hirn for 

 the last ten days, not to feel that 

 unless some urgent necessity called 

 for the adoption of the proposed 

 measures, it would be the height of 

 impolicy to urge them at present. 

 The effect of these representa- 

 tions was apparent, when on June 

 6th theChancellor of I he Exchequer 

 rose and said, that in consideration 

 of the number of petitions which 

 had been presented against the prc- 

 |)Osed alteration of the Corn Law?, 

 he should move to refer those pe- 

 titions to the consideration of a 

 select committee, with the inten- 

 tion and hope, that if they could 

 make their report in due time, some 

 legislative measure might be 

 founded upon it in the course of the 

 present session. The motion be'ng 

 put, a debate followed, in which 

 the arguments respecting the policy 

 of the proposed changes were re- 

 capitulated on each side, with some 

 severe strictures, by the friends of 

 those changes, on the means by 



