EMIGRATION : Mr W. Horton presented
petitions from Glasgow and Calton, in favour
of Emigration, as a measure necessary for
the relief of the distressed manufacturers.
Mr. Hume hoped that Ministers would be prepared
to introduce some measure on the subject, as it
was one in which thousands and tens of thousands
were interested.
Mr. Wilmot Horton said, he was on the point of
rising to give notice, that on the 15th of February,
he would move to renew the committee on emigration,
which had sat during the last session. He assured
the hon. member that it would not at all
forward his object to force a decision on the subject
at the present moment. The individuals who desired
to emigrate could not be removed at this season of
the year with any advantage to themselves. The subject
of emigration was so extensive in its nature, that the
House ought to have the fullest information upon it.
Mr. Abercromby contended, that government ought to
come forward with some specific plan for the relief
of the thousands of artisans who were now starving
in different parts of the country.
Mr. J. Grattan agreed with his learned friend,
that some more explicit declaration was wanted from
government. He did not entertain any great hopes of
advantage from the renewal of the committee which
had sat last session. Indeed, the opinion of
that committee held out no hopes of advantage
from emigration. He knew not what better evidence could
have been collected than that which was collected
by the committee, to throw light upon this important
subject. He hoped that the next committee would be
able to propose some temporary measure, which would in
no way interfere with any permanent measure which
it might ultimately think proper to adopt.
Sir James Graham said it was evident from the
correspondence into which ministers had entered
with the editor of "The Glasgow Free Press," that
they were favourably inclined to the system of
emigration. He was sorry to find that they were ready
to see thousands of their fellow countrymen seeking
to be exiled from their native land. The system of
emigration was contrary to the spirit of our laws,
and opposed to many of our most ancient regulations.
He admitted, that it was necessary to do something
to relieve the distress under which so many of our
artisans were at present sinking. He was sorry to
inform the House that since the petition from Carlisle
had been presented, he had received accounts, stating
that their distress was increasing daily. He could state
to the House, that the hand-weavers did not at present
receive more than 5s a week; for which sum they laboured
fourteen hours a day. They were most of them a year's
rent in arrear, and were therefore liable not only
to have that small portion of their property which
remained unpledged, sold to defray the claims upon
them, but to be ejected from their tenements. Their
diet was of the humblest description, oatmeal and potatoes,
and their whole appearance showed that they were reduced
to an extremity of want. In fact, there were thousands and
tens of thousands of them on the verge of starvation at
that moment. He was not going to examine into the causes which
had led to this distress; but he believed that one, and perhaps
the chief, was placed beyond the reach of parlimentary
interposition: he alluded to the improvements which had
been recently made in the power looms. The hand weavers
could not be converted into power-loom weavers, and they were
thus compelled to continue a hopeless struggle with power
loom weavers, at a rate of wages which was regularly
decreasing. Under these circumstances, some special
remedy ought to be applied by government to the distress
of the country. He thought they were so great as even to
justify a grant of public money to relieve them.
Mr. Warburton wished to be informed how, under the present
system of our corn laws, the corn grown in the colonies
was to be sent to England to pay the quitrent, which was
to reimburse the government for the expenses it might
incur in carrying emigrants to the place of their
destination.
Mr. Secretary Peel deprecated the continuance of the
present discussion. It was of great importance that
hon. gentlemen should keep their minds open to
information on this subject, and that they should
not pledge themselves to opinions now, which might,
by possibility, fetter their judgements hereafter.
There were many points connected with the subject
of emigration, into which it would be incumbent
on the House to examine before it came to any
determination. They must consider; first, how far
emigration would be available to meet the distress
which now prevailed in this country on account
of the population being greater than the demand for
labour; and secondly, how far the encouragement
of emigration would affect the interests of the
colonies. It might be impossible to incur the
expense of relieving the distress of the country
by emigration, and when it was recollected, that
an expense of 20 l. was to be incurred for each emigrant,
it could not be expected that the excess of the population
could be sensibly relieved by emigration. One might,
however, see an advantage in supplying the waste lands
in the North American provinces with an active population,
inasmuch as it would create an increased demand for
British manufactures. There would also be, in his opinion
a great advantage to the colonies by encouraging emigration
upon a large scale, even though it might not mitigate
the distress of the mother country.
He was sorry that the hon. baronet had fallen into
the fallacy which had been so ably exposed on a former
night. He had said, that there were at present many
individuals who were willing to place themselves
in the same situation with convicts, and who voluntarily
asked for that exile which the law attached as a penalty
to great crimes. Now this was not the case. The exile into
which the petitioners wished to enter was very different
from that to which convicts were consigned. In the first
place, the exile of the convict was a punishment, and
inflicted upon him legal infamy. he went out stigmatised
by a conviction for crime, and not as a free settler.
His labour was not his own ; but was appropriated to
another individual who paid him no wages for it. On the other
hand, so far was the exile into which the emigrant went
from being considered as a punishment, that many individuals
who were in possession of a small capital, and by no means
in a state of distress, had made application to the
government in the following style:
"Give me a grant of a hundred or two hundred acres, and I will
transport myself and my family to Canada, because I feel
that I can turn my capital to greater effect in that country
than I can do here."
Individuals who made such applications scarcely cosidered
themselves exiles, and certainly ought not to be described
as individuals placed in the situation of convicts. It was
the repetition of this extravagant arguement that had induced
him to rise upon this occasion, and to intreat gentlemen not
to pledge themselves to any hasty opinions on the subject of
emigration, until they had read the report of the committee
upon it, and the evidence attached to that report. The
information which Colonel Cockburn had given to the committee
was particularly valuable, from the knowledge which he possessed
on the subject, and well deserved the attention of the hon.
gentleman.
Mr. Maberly trusted that ministers would take the advice
which had been tendered to them by the Hon. baronet, and
would depart from the rule which they had laid down three
sessions ago. On a motion which his hon. relative had
then brought forward respecting the best mode of relieving
the distress which prevailed in Ireland owing to a
redundancy of population, it had been laid down by ministers,
that the interference of government, in the way of an
advance of money was highly improper. He contented, however
that there was a redundant population, it must be relieved
by an advance of capital, otherwise it could not be got
rid of. A special remedy was required for a special case
of distress; and more inconvenience would be occasioned to the
country, in the present instance, by adhering to fixed rules
than would be occasioned to it, in other instances, by
departing from them.
Mr. Benett contended, that it would be better to put the waste
lands of England into cultivation, than to send our population
abroad to engage in similar employment. The waste lands of
England would long since have been cultivated, had it not been
for the embargo of tithes and taxation which was laid upon them.
He thought it extraordinary that, at a time when we had eleven
millions of acres ready for cultivation, we should send our
population at the expense of 20 l. a man, to cultivate the woods
and deserts of Canada. He believed that nothing was wanted
in Ireland but the security of life and property, to rescue
the waste lands of that country from their present uncultivated
state. If life and property were rendered secure in that
country English and Scotch capital would soon flow in. He
objected to the project of emigration, and thought that the
enquiry into the propriety of it, should be postponed till
after the discussion of the Corn-laws. If the prayer of the
numerous petitions which the hon. member for Aberdeen had
presented should be granted, the House would have a number
not only of manufacturing but also of agricultural labourers,
praying to be banished from their country. He trusted, however,
that both classes of labourers would soon find employment in
their native country, and would long remain in it, adding to its
wealth, and increasing its resources.
Mr W. Horton said, that if the hon. member would allow him,
he would propose him as one of the committee, and he had little
doubt, but he would soon be convinced, that it was much
better that persons should leave this country to cultivate
the richest lands in some of our colonies, than remain here
to cultivate the worst.
Ordered to lie on the table.
