§ Lord Wharncliffesaid he had to present a petition from the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of Leeds The petitioners begged to call the attention of their Lordships to the distress under which so many of their fellow-townsmen were now suffering, and had been for the last four years. That distress, if any doubt existed with respect to it, could be placed beyond all dispute by the returns relating to the relief of the poor, the rates for which had been doubled since 1838. These were for the in-door poor, but the increase in the number of outdoor paupers, in the same time, and the increased expense attending on them, were enormous. The petitioners prayed, that their Lordships would adopt some measures, for the purpose of inquiring into the cause of the distress, with the view of devising some remedy.
The Earl of Radnorwould beg to ask the noble Earl who presented this petition whether, with such a striking illustration 225 of the distress of the country before him, he could, as a Member of the Government, advise her Majesty to allow Parliament to separate without endeavouring to find some means of relief for the poor by means of advances (as we understood the noble Earl) for the purpose of giving them employment? It was true we had now very fine weather, and employment was to be had by many, but the fine weather could not last for more than a couple of months more, and then people would be as bad or worse off than ever.
Lord Wharnclifecould not advise the adoption of the suggestion made by the noble Earl. He had hopes, that trade would get better, and more general employment would, of course, follow. As to inquiry into the causes of the distress, he did not see what good that would now do, for (as we understood the noble Lord) the repeal of the Corn-law would only make matters worse.
The Earl of Radnorshould like to hear the grounds on which the noble Lord rested his hopes of trade getting better, and on which hopes the Government seemed resolved to do nothing, and not to recommend to Parliament to do anything. They used to hear talk long ago of the "omnipotence" of Parliament, and they had it on no less an authority, he believed., than that of Blackstone, that Parliament could do anything except turning a man into a woman, or a woman into a man; but it appeared, now, that Parliament could not, or would not, do anything, and in the meantime, the people were suffering—suffering severely.
§ Petition laid on the Table.