CORN-LAWS — MINISTERIAL PLAN — (FIRST READING OF THE BILL). (Hansard, 4 March 1842)

§ Sir R. Peel

said, he would take that opportunity of answering the question which the noble Lord had just put. This bill had been drawn up in conformity with 45 the resolutions which had passed through committee, and assented to by the House. It had been drawn up in general conformity with the explanation which he had made on the part of her Majesty's Government on moving for leave to bring it in. There were one or two points which it might be convenient now to state with respect to it. In the first place, with respect to the present inspectors, he had received a great many communications, representing the hardship of immediately removing them, and that removal would give ground for claims for compensation, which he was certainly very anxious to avoid, when it could be done consistently with the due performance of the public service. The arrangement which he proposed to make with respect to inspectors was this—in all new towns to place the averages under the Excise-officers, acting under the authority of the Board of Excise. In existing towns to continue in office those inspectors who might be perfectly efficient for the performance of their duties, and to place them under the control of the Board of Excise. Power was to be given to the Treasury, acting in concurrence with the Board of Trade, if they deemed it advisable, to grant superannuation allowances to inspectors removed from office, where, from length of service and good conduct, they might be entitled to retiring allowance. The whole duty would be performed by the Excise without expense, or at a very small additional expense to that attending their other functions. There would, therefore, be a saving of the chief part of the present expense of taking the averages. With regard to the period at which he proposed, that his bill should come into operation—a point on which a question was put to him the other night—as the bill was, in every instance, a relaxation or remission of existing duties, it appeared to him desirable (and he trusted all would concur in this) that when the bill received the assent of the Legislature, it should come into operation as speedily as possible. Its practical operation might be postponed until the new system of averages could be applied to the regulation of the duties, or the new duties might be regulated for a short period by the present system of averages. He thought, upon the whole, that it was for the public interest that the bill should come into operation as soon as possible, and therefore be did not propose that it should wait for the new system of averages. The bill, therefore, upon passing 46 into a law, would come immediately into effect. The new duties would be regulated by the old averages at first, and, at the termination of the first six weeks, the new averages would take effect. With respect to the noble Lord's question, the revision in the list of towns which had been promised had taken place. He had stated from the first, that in extending the area from which the returns were collected, his object was to have more accurate means of judging of the quantity of corn sold, and of the price of that corn, and also to take additional precaution against fraudulent combinations for the purpose of affecting the averages. He had uniformly stated, at the same time, that in adding to the list of towns, he had no design to affect indirectly the amount of protection to domestic produce. He did not wish to diminish the average price, or raise the duty by increasing the number of towns. The noble Lord asked on what principle the towns had been selected. It was exceedingly difficult to act on any very satisfactory principles in the selection. It was not very easy in towns in which there were no inspectors to ascertain their relative importance, or the quantity of corn sold. It was evidently very difficult to determine the importance of the markets in towns so circumstanced. But in the revision of the list of towns, they had acted on this principle, which appeared to him a fair one. At present, there were 150, or perhaps 151 towns, in which averages were collected by means of inspectors, and of these a certain number were in the midst of agricultural districts, and a certain number were chiefly of a manufacturing and commercial character. They took first the manufacturing and commercial towns which were not now included in the list, and added them to the existing number. They then made a selection of towns in agricultural districts, and attempted to maintain the same ratio between them and the manufacturing towns added, which existed between the agricultural and manufacturing towns of the existing list. That was the principle on which they attempted to proceed. The noble Lord would have an opportunity of seeing the list, and of course of showing omissions in it if there should be any. Some gentlemen might have local information, which he (Sir R. Peel) had not the means of procuring. There might be errors in the list of towns, and some which were omitted might be of greater importance than some which were selected. He could 47 only say, that he had taken all the means in his power to collect the most important towns, and if any one could point out an error, it would be a subject for discussion when the bill was in committee. It was his wish—subject of course to the pleasure of the House—that as the sense of the House had been marked with respect to the resolutions, the measure should be framed as rapidly as it could, consistently with that degree of deliberation which the House might think fit to give to its details. He would, therefore, propose to fix the second reading for Monday next. If it should be desired again to debate the measure upon the principle, and if other business should prevent there being time for considering it—of course, he would not bring it forward at an hour unsuitable for that discussion. If the sense of the House was in favour of the bill, as an improvement of the existing law, he would do all in his power to bring it into speedy operation—not pressing it on unduly against the wish of those who might be inclined to take part in the discussion of it. He believed the bill would be printed to-morrow. He should fix Monday for the second reading, with the understanding that, if the business of supply should occupy the attention of the House until a late period on that evening, the second reading should be fixed for a future day.