Mr. Duncombepresented a Petition from Ship-owners of the town of Whitby, in Yorkshire, complaining of distress, and praying for relief. The hon. Member supported the prayer of the petition, and bore testimony to the existence of the distress complained of.
Colonel Wilsonbegged also to support the prayer of the petition, and wished that he was sufficiently possessed of the gift of the gab to paint the distress in its true colours. [Laughter] He begged that the hon. Gentleman over the way, who thought proper to laugh at him, would be good enough to leave off laughing. He was very much afraid that those Gentlemen had not the interest of their country at heart, when they laughed at him while he was talking of the distress of the country. He would tell those Gentlemen that he was not to be put down by laughter. 1311 The more they opposed him, the more he would go on. He should be unworthy of a seat in that House, and much more unworthy should he be to represent the city of York, if he allowed any man to browbeat him. It was the duty of every man in that House to stand up and make known the real state of his constituents. If he had his way, he would have a call of the House every week, and make every man speak of the condition of his constituents, He supported the Ministers, and would continue to do so as far as his conscience would let him, but not an inch farther. The Government ought to be informed of the distress that existed. Who was to inform them? Why, the House: but, instead of giving the Government that information, the House had all through the Session been carrying on a bickering with the Government. The distress of the country was the grand thing for them to attend to; and when the Ministers were informed of it, they would relieve it, if they had the fear of God before their eyes, and the good of the country at heart. He found no fault with Ministers. He wanted a change of measures—not of men; and that change would come, if the House would inform the Ministers how great the distress was, and if each Member would honestly describe the real state of his constituents. When this was done, then the distress would be probed to the bone, and sifted to the bottom, and after that, they would ascend the hill of relief for the country. If any Gentlemen told him there could be no relief for the country, he would tell those Gentlemen that he did not believe them. Nothing was impossible to man, at least with the assistance of God. Gentlemen might go on laughing, but they should not put him down. This was the time for every man to state what he knew of the condition of his constituents; and to get from them every information as to their wants; and who were more competent to state what they felt than those who suffered? He repeated, every man ought to stand up and tell the real state of his constituents; and those who were dumb on such an occasion, if he had to deal with them, he would turn them to the right about. Men who were disposed to do their duty by the country ought not to sit there boggling about the statement in the King's Speech, as to whether the distress was general throughout the country or not. 1312 He had no hesitation to stand up there, and to say that the distress was not general; there was one class who were exempted from it—he meant that privileged class who had the privileges, and enjoyed the protection of the justice of the country; those who shared the dividends, and who never paid sixpence to the general expenses, but let the whole weight of it fall on the land. What the devil was to become of the country if we went on so? He hoped they would excuse him—he was only a plain home-spun country gentleman—he spoke as he thought—and if in the heat of a discussion he said anything that went beyond the limits of debate, he was sure he should be called to order by the Chair, and he would bow to it. All he wanted was, that every man there should do his duty to his constituents. He endeavoured to do his duty by those who sent him to that House, but he would not stand quarrelling like some of the hon. Members opposite, about reducing 5,000 men. What good could that do? [Cries of "Question."] The hon. Member who called "Question" would, he was certain, not say as much out of doors. He was sure that hon. Member had not the interest of his country at heart.
§ The Speakerhere called "order."
Colonel Wilson. —He would bow to the suggestion of the Chair, but he had only the interest of his country at heart in what he stated, and he did not wish to be interrupted in the performance of his duty. He did not mean to offend any party, and if he said any thing wrong, he was not conscious of it. But, to return to the shipping, he would say that it required their serious consideration; and he was glad he should have another opportunity of addressing the House on the subject. But there was a remedy which might be applied. He would tell the House what it was—confine the bonding system to our own shipping—let them have the benefit of the carriage of all timber brought to our dock-yards—let foreign shipping come in if they liked and land their cargoes, but let them pay the duty, and have, a drawback on them if they took them away again; and let us do away with our new-fangled doctrine of free trade. By the way, this was the production of the right hon. Member for Liverpool, and he wished to God the thing had been suffocated in its birth—he begged a thousand pardons of the right hon. Gentleman, he 1313 meant nothing personal to him; but he must say, that our free trade and reciprocity system was the worst thing for the country which it had ever seen, and if persevered in, it would leave this island at last nothing but a barren and uncultivated rock. He had watched the operation of that system from day to day, and he thought it would have worked differently; but he was deceived—it had worked only ruin, and if persevered in, he was sure it must produce only misery and starvation to the country. He agreed with what had fallen from the hon. Member for York on this subject, and he yet hoped that the noble Duke at the head of the Government would at last send something down for the relief of the public. It was something of the kind which hon. Members ought to think of, instead of sitting there and bickering about 4,000 or 5,000 men, and keep the House up till two or three o'clock in the morning. [Cries of "Question."] He would answer the hon. Member who called "Question" in any way he liked; but he would not interrupt others, and he would not be put down. He repeated his hope, that, instead of the House sitting there "dilly-dally," night after night, till two or three in the morning, debating there about a few men more or less in the army, they would propose some thing for the relief of the country. He had now a communication to make to that House which his constituents had particularly instructed him to make: it referred to what fell from the hon. Member for Montrose on a former evening. [Order] He had not heard it, but had seen an account of it in the public papers. His constituents desired him to state, that a more unconstitutional declaration had never been made in that House or out of it. That they looked upon such a declaration with deep disgust and—
§ The Speaker. —Order, order.—The hon. Member has already stated that if in the heat of discussion he should say any thing trenching on the fair limits of debate, he would bow on being reminded of it from the Chair. The hon. Member, in what he has just said, though no doubt unconsciously, is quite irregular. If the communication to which he alludes refers to any thing which fell from any hon. Member in this House, it was disorderly in those who made it in the first instance, and it would be still more disorderly to act upon such communication here.
Colonel Wilsonwould bow to the opinion of the Chair; but he would put his opinion in another way. The hon. Member (Mr. Hume) had lighted a torch which would be his own destruction. The hon. Member then proceeded with several other remarks which were in great part repetitions of many of those he had before delivered. In conclusion, he observed, that his constituents had instructed him to say, that if Parliament did not apply some effectual relief to the distress of the country, they would be obliged to go to the foot of the Throne; that was their last resource; but go they would, if obliged, and no doubt that Monarch, whom Providence had blessed with a benevolent heart, would be dissatisfied with his Majesty's Ministers for allowing his distressed people to come to him for relief. Let, then, every Representative in that House, if he were the Representative of one, two, or three persons, stand up there and tell the real tale of his constituents, and urge a remedy.—[Hear, hear.]
§ Mr. Sykeswould not then go into the question involved in the petition before the House, particularly after the lengthened and able address of the hon. Member who spoke last, which represented the good sense, the good taste, and, no doubt, the sobriety of the city of York. But he must observe that the petitioners were greatly distressed, and required some measure of relief. He would enter more fully into this subject when it came for regular discussion.