Lords Sitting of 1 March 1830

MINUTES.
On the Motion of the Marquis of CLEVELAND, the return of the quantity of foreign lead ore imported into England from the 1st of January, 1825, to the 1st of January, 1830, was ordered to be laid before the House forthwith.—The Duke of RICHMOND postponed the Motion for an Inquiry into the State of the Country, from Tuesday-week to Thursday-week, on which day he should, he said, move "That a Select Committee be appointed to take into consideration the internal state of the country, so far as relates to the working classes, and the effect of taxation as regards productive industry."— Sir A. GRANT and others from the Commons brought up the Consolidated Fund Bill, which was read the first time, and ordered to be read the second time to-morrow— Adjourned.

NATIONAL DISTRESS.
The Earl of Winchilseasaid, he had to present a Petition from a number of owners and occupiers of land in the county of Kent, complaining of the Distressed State of the Agricultural Interest, and praying for relief. It was not his intention to make any observation on the subject at present, as an ample opportunity would be afforded him for the expression of his sentiments when the motion of the noble Duke (of Richmond) was brought forward. He regretted that he had been prevented, by peculiar circumstances, from laying this petition before their Lordships, prior to the motion of a noble Earl (Stanhope) which had recently been discussed; because he believed, that from the wealth, intelligence, and respectability of the parties from whom it came, it would have commanded some degree of attention. Being on his legs, he wished to ask the noble Duke whether it was the intention of his Majesty's Government to renew a committee which had been appointed two Sessions ago, for the purpose of inquiring into the finances of the country? The report of that committee had been received with very considerable satisfaction by the people at large, especially as Ministers had declared their intention to reduce the public expenditure to the lowest
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possible point. As to what had been done in the way of retrenchment, he would at another time declare his opinion. At present he would content himself with, asking, whether the reductions proposed to be made in the establishment had been carried, in the opinion of Ministers, as far as they properly could? For his own part, he was not prepared to say but that the different establishments might be materially reduced by Parliament, and yet be conducted on a scale sufficient for the maintenance of the honour, the dignity, and the security of this country. He trusted that the committee to which he had alluded would be allowed to renew its labours, and to inquire minutely into the expenditure of the country. He was perfectly convinced that either the taxes must be greatly reduced, and with them the expenditure of the country, or that some effectual mode must be adopted, to enable the distressed population of this country to meet the pressure of those taxes.
The Duke of Wellingtonadmitted the necessity of reducing the taxes as far as possible. He agreed in the propriety of that proposition, but he could not be expected, at a moment's notice, to enter into a discussion on the subject of the reduction of taxes and of expenditure. The noble Earl had asked, whether it was the intention of his Majesty's Ministers to revive the Finance Committee. On that point he had only to answer, that Ministers had no such intention.
The Earl of Darnleysaid, that in the county with which he and the noble Earl were connected, and he spoke more particularly of his own immediate neighbourhood, it appeared, from whatever cause the circumstance might arise, that there was no want of work. The labouring population were tolerably well employed, and the poor-rates had not increased very much. In some parishes in which he was interested, they were only four shillings in the pound. He admitted, with the noble Earl, that there was great distress, very deep distress indeed, in parts of the county of Kent; but he did not think it was so great as it was supposed to be; and he believed that, generally speaking, though wages were low, there was no want of employment.
The Petition was laid on the Table.

CONDUCT OF RUSSIA.
The Marquis of Londonderrysaid, he wished to take the opportunity, seeing the noble Earl, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in his place, of asking a question, which, as he conceived, was nearly connected with the honour of this country. In the year 1828, his Majesty's Speech to Parliament announced, "that his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia had consented to waive the exercise, in the Mediterranean Sea, of any rights appertaining to his Imperial Majesty, in his character of a belligerent power." Such was the declaration of his Majesty in February, 1828; but, in the month of October following, they were informed, by a letter from Lord Dunglass, a nobleman holding a situation in the Foreign Office, that his "Imperial Majesty intended to establish a blockade of the Dardanelles, which blockade would be limited to the prevention of vessels bound to Constantinople, and laden with provisions, or articles contraband of War, from entering the Straits; and that, in the opinion of his Majesty's Government such commercial enterprise of his Majesty's subjects, as might have been already undertaken, upon the faith of his Majesty's declaration in Parliament, would not be liable to be affected by that blockade." Nothing could be more inconsistent than these two declarations. Individuals were first induced to act on the assurance given in the Lords Commissioners' Speech, and then came this letter, declaring that a blockade was intended. This was a most extraordinary instance of a rapid change of sentiments; and he wished to know—
The Lord Chancellor,interrupting the noble Marquis, said, would the noble Marquis allow him to suggest that there was no motion before the House?
The Marquis of Londonderrysaid, he had but a few observations to offer, which would prevent him from introducing the subject hereafter. He wished to ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign Department, whether he was willing to lay before Parliament the correspondence growing out of this transaction which had taken place with Russia, in order that he might be enabled to judge whether the power and dignity of Great Britain had been properly upheld on that occasion.
The Earl of Aberdeenassured the noble Marquis that he should receive the most ample information on the subject; and he hoped the noble Marquis would find that the honour of this country had
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been fully maintained in the transaction to which he had alluded. There would be no difficulty in producing this or any other information which the noble Marquis might think necessary with respect to this or any other subject connected with the transactions in the Levant.

AFFAIRS OF GREECE.
Lord Hollandwished to know, as there appeared to be a final settlement of the affairs of Greece, whether the noble Earl, in consequence of that, would be ready to lay before the House, at an early period, all the documents connected with it.
The Earl of Aberdeenanswered, that he feared those documents would not be ready so soon as the noble Baron or as he himself wished. It was not in his power to state exactly when they would be ready to be submitted to their Lordships; but the noble Baron might rest assured, that to soon as they could with propriety be laid before the House, they would be forthcoming.
Lord Holland.—I suppose I may expect them on the Greek calends, [a laugh.]