PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATE, WITH REGARD TO THE BILL FOR PROHIBITING THE
EXPORTATION OF CORN, ETC.
On the first day of the session, his majesty, in his speech from the
throne, recommended to parliament to consider of some good law to
prevent the growing mischief of the exportation of corn to foreign
countries.
On the fourth day, a bill for preventing, for a limited time, the
exportation, etc, was read a first time in the house of commons, and the
question put, whether it should be printed, which passed in the
negative.
This day the agent for the colonies of Pennsylvania and New Jersey,
presented a petition against the said corn bill, which was referred to
the committee.
Another petition was also presented by the agent for the colony of
Connecticut, in New England, setting forth that the chief trade of that
colony arose from supplying other British colonies with corn, so that
unless that colony be excepted from the restraints intended by this
bill, both that and those which are supplied by it will be reduced to
great distress, and praying, therefore, that such exception may be
allowed.
The allegations in this petition were confirmed by another, from one of
the provinces supplied by the colony of Connecticut.
Another petition was presented by the agent for South Carolina, setting
forth, that unless the rice produced in that province were allowed to be
exported, the colony must be ruined by the irretrievable loss of their
whole trade, as the countries now supplied from thence might easily
procure rice from the French settlements, already too much their rivals
in trade.
This petition was supported by another, offered at the same time by the
merchants of Bristol.
A petition was likewise presented by the agent for the sugar islands, in
which it was alleged, that if no provisions be imported thither from
Britain, they must, in one month, suffer the extremities of famine.
All these petitions were referred to the committee for the bill.
A printed paper was also delivered to the members, entitled,
'considerations on the embargo,' which enumerated many dangerous
consequences likely to be produced by an embargo on provisions, and
suggested that it was no better than a wicked scheme for private profit,
with other reflections, for which the paper was deemed a libel, and the
author committed to prison.
The bill being read in the committee, produced the following memorable
debate.
Mr. PULTNEY spoke to this effect:--Sir, after all the attention which
has been bestowed upon the bill now before us, I cannot yet conceive it
such as can benefit the nation, or such as will not produce far greater
inconveniencies than those which it is intended to obviate, and
therefore, as those inconveniencies may be prevented by other means, I
cannot but declare that I am far from approving it.
Our ancestors, sir, have always thought it the great business of this
house to watch against the encroachments of the prerogative, and to
prevent an increase of the power of the minister; and the commons have
always been considered as more faithful to their trust, and more
properly the representatives of the people, in proportion as they have
considered this great end with more attention, and prosecuted it with
more invariable resolution. If we inquire into the different degrees of
reputation, which the several assemblies of commons have obtained, and
consider why some are remembered with reverence and gratitude, and
others never mentioned but with detestation and contempt, we shall
always find that their conduct, with regard to this single point, has
produced their renown or their infamy. Those are always, by the general
suffrage of mankind, applauded as the patterns of their country, who
have struggled with the influence of the crown, and those condemned as
traitors, who have either promoted it by unreasonable grants, or seen it
increase by slow degrees, without resistance.
It has not, indeed, sir, been always the practice of ministers to make
open demands of larger powers, and avow, without disguise, their designs
of extending their authority; such proposals would, in former times,
have produced no consequences but that of awakening the vigilance of the
senate, of raising suspicions against all their proceedings, and of
embarrassing the crown with petitions, addresses, and impeachments.
They were under a necessity, in those times, of promoting their schemes;
those schemes which scarcely any ministry has forborne to adopt, by more
secret and artful and silent methods, by methods of diverting the
attention of the publick to other objects, and of making invisible
approaches to the point in view, while they seemed to direct all their
endeavours to different purposes.
But such, sir, have been the proofs of implicit confidence, which the
administration has received from this assembly, that it is now common to
demand unlimited powers, and to expect confidence without restriction,
to require an immediate possession of our estates by a vote of credit,
or the sole direction of our trade by an act for prohibiting, during
their pleasure, the exportation of the produce of our lands.
Upon what instances of uncommon merit, of regard to the publick
prosperity, unknown in former times, or of discernment superior to that
of their most celebrated predecessors, the present ministers found their
new claims to submission and to trust, I am, indeed, at a loss to
discover; for, however mankind may have determined concerning the
integrity of those by whom the late memorable convention was transacted,
defended, and confirmed, I know not that their wisdom has yet appeared
by any incontestable or manifest evidence, which may set their abilities
above question, and fix their reputation for policy out of the reach of
censure and inquiries.
The only act, sir, by which it can be discovered that they have any
degree of penetration proportionate to their employments, is the embargo
lately laid upon provisions in Ireland, by which our enemies have been
timely hindered from furnishing themselves, from our dominions, with
necessaries for their armies and their navies, and our fellow-subjects
have been restrained from exposing themselves to the miseries of famine,
by yielding to the temptation of present profit; a temptation generally
so powerful as to prevail over any distant interest.
But as nothing is more contrary to my natural disposition, or more
unworthy of a member of this house, than flattery, I cannot affirm that
I ascribe this useful expedient wholly to the sagacity or the caution of
the ministry, nor can I attribute all the happy effects produced by it
to their benign solicitude for the publick welfare.
I am inclined to believe that this step was advised by those who were
prompted to consider its importance by motives more prevalent than that
of publick spirit, and that the desire of profit which has so often
dictated pernicious measures, has, for once, produced, in return, an
expedient just and beneficial; and it has, for once, luckily fallen out,
that some of the friends of the administration have discovered that the
publick interest was combined with their own.
It is highly probable, sir, that the contractors for supplying the navy
with provisions, considering, with that acuteness which a quick sense of
loss and gain always produces, how much the price of victuals would be
raised by exportation, and, by consequence, how much of the advantage of
their contracts would be diminished, suggested to the ministry the
necessity of an embargo, and laid before them those arguments which
their own observation and wisdom would never have discovered.
Thus, sir, the ministers, in that instance of their conduct, on which
their political reputation must be founded, can claim, perhaps, no
higher merit, than that of attending to superiour knowledge, of
complying with good advice when it was offered, and of not resisting
demonstration when it was laid before them.
But as I would never ascribe to one man the merit of another, I should
be equally unwilling to detract from due commendations, and shall
therefore freely admit, that not to reject good counsel, is a degree of
wisdom, at which I could not expect that they by whom the convention was
concluded would ever have arrived.
But whatever proficiency they may have made in the art of government
since that celebrated period, however they may have increased their
maxims of domestick policy, or improved their knowledge of foreign
affairs, I cannot but confess myself still inclined to some degree of
suspicion, nor can prevail upon myself to shut my eyes, and deliver up
the publick and myself implicitly to their direction.
Their sagacity, sir, may, perhaps, of late, have received some
improvements from longer experience, and with regard to their integrity,
I believe, at least, that it is not much diminished; and yet I cannot
forbear asserting the right of judging for myself, and of determining
according to the evidence that shall be brought before me.
I have, hitherto, entertained an opinion that for this purpose only we
are deputed by our constituents, who, if they had reposed no confidence
in our care or abilities, would have given up, long since, the vexatious
right of contesting for the choice of representatives. They would have
furnished the ministry with general powers to act for them, and sat at
ease with no other regard to publick measures, than might incite them to
animate, with their applauses, the laudable endeavours of their
profound, their diligent, and their magnanimous governours.
As I do not, therefore, check any suspicions in my own mind, I shall not
easily be restrained from uttering them, because I know not how I shall
benefit my country, or assist her counsels by silent meditations. I
cannot, sir, but observe that the powers conferred by this bill upon the
administration are larger than the nation can safely repose in any body
of men, and with which no man who considers to what purposes they may be
employed will think it convenient to invest the negotiators of the
convention.
Nor do my objections to this act, arise wholly from my apprehensions of
their conduct, who are intrusted with the execution of it, but from my
reflections on the nature of trade, and the conduct of those nations who
are most celebrated for commercial wisdom.
It is well known, sir, how difficult it is to turn trade back into its
ancient channel, when it has by any means been diverted from it, and how
often a profitable traffick has been lost for ever, by a short
interruption, or temporary prohibition. The resentment of disappointed
expectations inclines the buyer to seek another market, and the civility
to which his new correspondents are incited by their own interest,
detains him, till those by whom he was formerly supplied, having no
longer any vent for their products or their wares, employ their labours
on other manufactures, or cultivate their lands for other purposes.
Thus, sir, if those nations who have hitherto been supplied with corn
from Britain, should find a method of purchasing it from Denmark, or any
other of the northern regions, we may hereafter see our grain rotting in
our storehouses, and be burdened with provisions which we can neither
consume ourselves, nor sell to our neighbours.
The Hollanders, whose knowledge of the importance or skill in the arts
of commerce will not be questioned, are so careful to preserve the
inlets of gain from obstruction, that they make no scruple of supplying
their enemies with their commodities, and have been known to sell at
night those bullets which were next day to be discharged against them.
Whether their example, sir, deserves our imitation I am not able to
determine, but it ought at least to be considered, whether their conduct
was rational or not, and whether they did not, by a present evil, ensure
an advantage which overbalanced it.
There are, doubtless, sir, sometimes such exigencies as require to be
complied with at the hazard of future profit, but I am not certain that
the scarcity which is feared or felt at present, is to be numbered
amongst them; but, however formidable it may be thought, there is surely
no need of a new law to provide against it: for it is one of those
extraordinary incidents, on which the king has the right of exerting
extraordinary powers. On occasions like this the prerogative has
heretofore operated very effectually, and I know not that the law has
ever restrained it.
It is, therefore, sir, in my opinion, most prudent to determine nothing
in so dubious a question, and rather to act as the immediate occasion
shall require, than prosecute any certain method of proceeding, or
establish any precedent by an act of the senate.
To restrain that commerce by which the necessaries of life are
distributed is a very bold experiment, and such as once produced an
insurrection in the empire of the Turks, that terminated in the
deposition of one of their monarchs.
I therefore willingly confess, sir, that I know not how to conclude: I
am unwilling to deprive the nation of bread, or to supply our enemies
with strength to be exerted against ourselves; but I am, on the other
hand, afraid to restrain commerce, and to trust the authors of the
convention.
Mr. PELHAM spoke next, to the following purport:--Sir, I am always in
expectation of improvement and instruction when that gentleman engages
in any discussion of national questions, on which he is equally
qualified to judge by his great abilities and long experience, by that
popularity which enables him to sound the sentiments of men of different
interests, and that intelligence which extends his views to distant
parts of the world; but, on this occasion, I have found my expectations
frustrated, for he has inquired without making any discovery, and
harangued without illustrating the question before us.
He has satisfied himself, sir, with declaring his suspicions, without
condescending to tell us what designs or what dangers he apprehends. To
fear, without being able to show the object of our terrours, is the
last, the most despicable degree of cowardice; and to suspect, without
knowing the foundation of our own suspicions, is surely a proof of a
state of mind, which would not be applauded on common occasions, and
such as no man but a patriot would venture to confess.
He has, indeed, sir, uttered some very ingenious conceits upon the late
convention, has alluded to it with great luxuriancy of fancy, and
elegance of diction, and must, at least, confess that whatever may be
its effects upon the interest of the nation, it has to him been very
beneficial, as it has supplied him with a subject of raillery when other
topics began to fail him, and given opportunity for the exercise of that
wit which began to languish, for want of employment.
What connexion his wonderful sagacity has discovered between the
convention and the corn bill, I cannot yet fully comprehend, but have
too high an opinion of his abilities to imagine that so many
insinuations are wholly without any reason to support them. I doubt not,
therefore, sir, but that when some fitter opportunity shall present
itself he will clear their resemblance, and branch out the parallel
between them into a thousand particulars.
In the mean time, sir, it may be proper for the house to expedite the
bill, against which no argument has yet been produced, and which is of
too much importance to be delayed by raillery or invectives.
Mr. SANDYS spoke next, in substance as follows:--Sir, the bill before
us, as it is of too great importance to be negligently delayed, is
likewise too dangerous to be precipitately hurried into a law.
It has been always the practice of this house to consider money bills
with particular attention, because money is power in almost the highest
degree, and ought not, therefore, to be given but upon strong assurances
that it will be employed for the purposes for which it is demanded, and
that those purposes are in themselves just.
But if we consider, sir, the bill now before us, it will appear yet more
than a money bill, it will be found a bill for regulating the disposal
of that, which it is the great use of money to procure, and is,
therefore, not to be passed into a law without a close attention to
every circumstance that may be combined with it, and an accurate
examination of all the consequences that may be produced by it.
Some of these circumstances or consequences, it is the duty of every
member to lay before the house, and I shall, therefore, propose that the
inducements to the discovery of any provisions illegally exported, and
the manner of levying the forfeiture, may be particularly discussed; for
by a defect in this part, the regulation lately established by the
regency, however seasonable, produced tumults and distractions, which
every good government ought studiously to obviate.
By their proclamation, sir, half the corn that should be found designed
for exportation was to be given to those who should discover and seize
it. The populace, alarmed at once with the danger of a famine, and
animated by a proclamation that put into their own hands the means of
preventing it, and the punishment of those from whose avarice they
apprehended it, rose in throngs to execute so grateful a law. Every
man, sir, whose distress had exasperated him, was incited to gratify his
resentment; every man, whose idleness prompted him to maintain his
family by methods more easy than that of daily labour, was delighted
with the prospect of growing rich on a sudden by a lucky seizure. All
the seditious and the profligate combined together in the welcome
employment of violence and rapine, and when they had once raised their
expectations, there was no small danger lest their impatience of
disappointment should determine them to conclude, that corn, wherever
found, was designed for exportation, and to seize it as a lawful prize.
Thus, sir, by an imprudent regulation, was every man's property brought
into hazard, and his person exposed to the insults of a hungry, a
rapacious, and ungovernable rabble, let loose by a publick proclamation,
and encouraged to search houses and carriages by an imaginary law.
That we may not give occasion to violence and injustice of the same
kind, let us carefully consider the measures which are proposed, before
we determine upon their propriety, and pass no bill on this important
occasion without such deliberation as may leave us nothing to change or
to repent.
Mr. EARLE spoke next to this effect:--Sir, notwithstanding the dangers
which have been represented as likely to arise from any errour in the
prosecution of this great affair, I cannot but declare my opinion, that
no delay ought to be admitted, and that not even the specious pretence
of more exact inquiries, and minute considerations, ought to retard our
proceedings for a day.
My imagination, sir, is, perhaps, not so fruitful as that of some other
members of this house, and, therefore, they may discover many
inconveniencies which I am not able to conceive. But, as every man ought
to act from his own conviction, it is my duty to urge the necessity of
passing this bill, till it can be proved to me, that it will produce
calamities equally to be dreaded with the consequences of protracting
our debates upon it, equal to the miseries of a famine, or the danger of
enabling our enemies to store their magazines, to equip their fleets,
and victual their garrisons.
If it could be imagined, that there was in this assembly a subject of
France or Spain, zealous for the service of his prince, and the
prosperity of his country, I should expect that he would summon all his
faculties to retard the progress of this bill, that he would employ all
his sophistry to show its inconveniency and imperfections, and exhaust
his invention to suggest the dangers of haste; and certainly he could do
nothing that would more effectually promote the interest of his
countrymen, or tend more to enfeeble and depress the power of the
British nation.
If this would naturally be the conduct of an enemy, it is unnecessary to
prove that we can only be safe by acting in opposition to it, and I
think it superfluous to vindicate my ardour for promoting this bill,
when it is evident that its delay would be pleasing to the Spaniards.
Mr. BURREL then spoke as follows:--Sir, if this law be necessary at any
time, it cannot now be delayed, for a few days spent in deliberation,
may make it ineffectual, and that evil may be past of which we sit here
contriving the prevention.
That many contracts, sir, for the exportation of provisions are already
made in all the maritime parts of the empire, is generally known; and it
requires no great sagacity to discover that those by whom they are made,
and made with a view of immense profit, are desirous that they may be
executed; and that they will soon complete the execution of them, when
they are alarmed with the apprehension of a bill, which, in a few days,
may take from them the power of exporting what they have already
collected, and snatch their gain from them when it is almost in their
hands.
A bill for these purposes, sir, ought to fall upon the contractors like
a sudden blow, of which they have no warning or dread; against which
they, therefore, cannot provide any security, and which they can neither
elude nor resist.
If we allow them a short time, our expedients will be of little benefit
to the nation, which is every day impoverished by the exportation of the
necessaries of life, in such quantities, that in a few weeks the law, if
it be passed, may be without penalties, for there will be no possibility
of disobeying it.
Sir John BARNARD spoke next, to the following purpose:--Sir, I cannot
discover the necessity of pressing the bill with such precipitation, as
must necessarily exclude many useful considerations, and may produce
errours extremely dangerous; for I am not able to conceive what
inconveniencies can arise from a short delay.
The exportation of provisions from Ireland is at present stopped by the
proclamation; and the beef which was designed for other nations, has
been prudently bought up by the contractors, by which those murmurs have
been in a great measure obviated which naturally arise from
disappointments and losses.
There is, therefore, sir, no danger of exportations from that part of
our dominions, which is the chief market for provisions, and from whence
our enemies have been generally supplied: in Britain there is less
danger of any such pernicious traffick, both because the scarcity here
has raised all provisions to a high price, and because merchants do not
immediately come to a new market.
The bill, at least, ought not to be passed without regard to the general
welfare of our fellow-subjects, nor without an attentive consideration
of those petitions which have been presented to us; petitions not
produced by panic apprehensions of imaginary dangers, or distant
prospects of inconveniencies barely possible, but by the certain
foresight of immediate calamities, the total destruction of trade, and
the sudden desolation of flourishing provinces.
By prohibiting the exportation of rice, we shall, sir, in one year,
reduce the colony of South Carolina below the possibility of subsisting;
the chief product of that country, the product which induced us
originally to plant it, and with which all its trade is carried on, is
rice. With rice the inhabitants of that province purchase all the other
necessaries of life, and among them the manufactures of our own country.
This rice is carried by our merchants to other parts of Europe, and sold
again for large profit.
That this trade is very important appears from the number of ships which
it employs, and which, without lading, must rot in the harbours, if rice
be not excepted from the general prohibition. Without this exception,
sir, it is not easy to say what numbers, whose stations appear very
different, and whose employments have no visible relation to each other,
will be at once involved in calamity, reduced to sudden distress, and
obliged to seek new methods of supporting their families. The sailor,
the merchant, the shipwright, the manufacturer, with all the
subordinations of employment that depend upon them, all that supply them
with materials, or receive advantage from their labours, almost all the
subjects of the British crown, must suffer, at least, in some degree, by
the ruin of Carolina.
Nor ought the danger of the sugar islands, and other provinces, less to
alarm our apprehensions, excite our compassion, or employ our
consideration, since nothing is more evident than that by passing this
bill without the exceptions which their petitions propose, we shall
reduce one part of our colonies to the want of bread, and confine the
other to live on nothing else; for they subsist by the exchange of those
products to which the soil of each country is peculiarly adapted: one
province affords no corn, and the other supplies its inhabitants with
corn only.
The necessity of expediting this bill, however it has been exaggerated,
is not so urgent but that we may be allowed time sufficient to consider
for what purpose it is to be passed, and to recollect that nothing is
designed by it, but to hinder our enemies from being supplied from the
British dominions with provisions, by which they might be enabled more
powerfully to carry on the war against us.
To this design no objection has been made, but it is well known, that a
good end may be defeated by an absurd choice of means, and I am not able
to discover how we shall increase our own strength, or diminish that of
our enemies, by compelling one part of our fellow-subjects to starve the
other.
It is necessary, sir, to prohibit the exportation of corn to the ports
of our enemies, and of those nations by which our enemies will be
supplied, but surely it is of no use to exclude any part of our own
dominions from the privilege of being supplied from another. Nor can any
argument be alleged in defence of such a law, that will not prove with
equal force, that corn ought to remain in the same granaries where it is
now laid, that all the markets in this kingdom should be suspended, and
that no man should be allowed to sell bread to another.
There is, indeed, sir, a possibility that the liberty for which I
contend, may be used to wicked purposes, and that some men may be
incited by poverty or avarice to carry the enemy those provisions, which
they pretend to export to British provinces. But if we are to refuse
every power that may be employed to bad purposes, we must lay all
mankind in dungeons, and divest human nature of all its rights; for
every man that has the power of action, may sometimes act ill.
It is, however, prudent to obstruct criminal attempts even when we
cannot hope entirely to defeat them, and, therefore, I am of opinion,
that no provisions ought to be exported without some method of security,
by which the governours of every place may be assured that they will be
conveyed to our own colonies. Such securities will easily be contrived,
and may be regulated in a manner that they shall not be defeated without
such hazard, as the profit that can be expected from illegal commerce,
will not be able to compensate.
It is, therefore, sir, proper to delay the bill so long, at least, as
that we may produce by it the ends intended, and distress our enemies
more than ourselves; that we may secure plenty at home, without the
destruction of our distant colonies, and without obliging part of our
fellow-subjects to desert to the Spaniards for want of bread.
Mr. BOWLES spoke in this manner:--Sir, the necessity of excepting rice
from the general prohibition, is not only sufficiently evinced by the
agent of South Carolina, but confirmed beyond controversy or doubt, by
the petition of the merchants of Bristol, of which the justice and
reasonableness appears at the first view, to every man acquainted with
the nature of commerce.
How much the province of South Carolina will be distressed by this
prohibition, how suddenly the whole trade of that country will be at a
stand, and how immediately the want of many of the necessaries of life
will be felt over a very considerable part of the British dominions, has
already, sir, been very pathetically represented, and very clearly
explained; nor does there need any other argument to persuade us to
allow the exportation of rice.
But, from the petition of the merchants of Bristol, it appears that
there are other reasons of equal force for this indulgence, and that our
regard for the inhabitants of that particular province, however
necessary and just, is not the only motive for complying with their
request.
It is shown, sir, in this petition, that the prohibition of rice will
very little incommode our enemies, or retard their preparations; for
they are not accustomed to be supplied with it from our plantations. We
ought, therefore, not to load our fellow-subjects with embarrassments
and inconveniencies, which will not in any degree extend to our enemies.
It appears, sir, not only that a very important part of our commerce
will be obstructed, but that it will, probably, be lost beyond recovery;
for, as only a small quantity of the rice of Carolina is consumed at
home, and the rest is carried to other countries, it is easy to conceive
that those who shall be disappointed by our merchants will procure so
necessary a commodity from other places, as there are many from which it
may be easily purchased; and it is well known that trade, if it be once
diverted, is not to be recalled, and, therefore, that trade which may be
without difficulty transferred, ought never to be interrupted without
the most urgent necessity.
To prove, sir, that there is now no such necessity, by a long train of
arguments, would be superfluous, for it has been shown already, that our
enemies will not suffer by the prohibition, and the miseries that
inevitably arise from a state of war, are too numerous and oppressive,
to admit of any increase or aggravation upon trivial motives.
The province of Carolina, sir, has already suffered the inconveniencies
of this war beyond any other part of his majesty's dominions, as it is
situate upon the borders of the Spanish dominions, and as it is weak by
the paucity of the inhabitants in proportion to its extent; let us,
therefore, pay a particular regard to this petition, lest we aggravate
the terrour which the neighbourhood of a powerful enemy naturally
produces, by the severer miseries of poverty and famine.
Sir Robert WALPOLE spoke next, in substance as follows:--Sir, nothing is
more absurd than for those who declare, on all occasions, with great
solemnity, their sincere zeal for the service of the publick, to
protract the debates of this house by personal invectives, and delay the
prosecution of the business of the nation, by trivial objections,
repeated after confutation, and, perhaps, after conviction of their
invalidity.
I need not observe how much time would be spared, and how much the
despatch of affairs would be facilitated by the suppression of this
practice, a practice by which truth is levelled with falsehood, and
knowledge with ignorance; since, if scurrility and merriment are to
determine us, it is not necessary either to be honest or wise to obtain
the superiority in any debate, it will only be necessary to rail and to
laugh, which one man may generally perform with as much success as
another.
The embargo in Ireland was an expedient so necessary and timely, that
the reputation of it is thought too great to be allowed to the
administration, of whom it has been for many years the hard fate, to
hear their actions censured only because they were not the actions of
others, and to be represented as traitors to their country for doing
always what they thought best themselves, and perhaps sometimes what was
in reality approved by those who opposed them.
This, sir, they have borne without much uneasiness, and have contented
themselves with the consciousness of doing right, in expectation that
truth and integrity must at last prevail, and that the prudence of their
conduct and success of their measures would at last evince the justice
of their intentions.
They hoped, sir, that there would be some occasions on which their
enemies would not deny the expedience of their counsels, and did not
expect that after having been so long accused of engrossing exorbitant
power, of rejecting advice, and pursuing their own schemes with the most
invincible obstinacy, they should be supposed on a sudden to have laid
aside their arrogance, to have descended to adopt the opinions, and give
themselves up to the direction of others, only because no objection
could be made to this instance of their conduct.
How unhappy, sir, must be the state of that man who is only allowed to
be a free agent, when he acts wrong, and whose motions, whenever they
tend to the proper point, are supposed to be regulated by another!
Whether such capricious censurers expect that any regard should be paid
by the publick to their invectives, I am not able to determine, but I am
inclined to think so well of their understandings, as to believe that
they intend only to amuse themselves, and perplex those whom they
profess to oppose. In one part of their scheme I know not but they may
have succeeded, but in the other it is evident how generally they have
failed. It must, at least, sir, be observed of these great patrons of
the people, that if they expect to gain them by artifices like this,
they have no high opinion of their discernment, however they may
sometimes magnify it as the last appeal, and highest tribunal.
With regard, sir, to the manner in which the embargo was laid, and the
expedients made use of to enforce the observation of it, they were not
the effects of a sudden resolution, but of long and deliberate
reflection, assisted by the counsels of the most experienced and
judicious persons of both nations; so that if any mistake was committed,
it proceeded not from arrogance or carelessness, but a compliance with
reasons, that if laid before the house, would, whether just or not, be
allowed to be specious.
But, sir, it has not appeared that any improper measures have been
pursued, or that any inconveniencies have arisen from them which it was
possible to have avoided by a different conduct; for when any expedient
fails of producing the end for which it was proposed, or gives occasion
to inconveniencies which were neither expected nor designed, it is not
immediately to be condemned; for it might fail from such obstacles as
nothing could surmount, and the inconveniencies which are complained of
might be the consequences of other causes acting at the same time, or
cooperating, not by the nature of things, but by the practices of those
who prefer their own interest to that of their country.
But though it is, in my opinion, easy to defend the conduct of the
ministry, I am far from thinking this a proper time to engage in their
vindication. The important business before us, must now wholly engage
us, nor ought we to employ our attention upon the past, but the future.
Whatever has been the ignorance or knowledge, whatever the corruption or
integrity of the ministry, this bill is equally useful, equally
necessary. The question is now concerning an act of the senate, not of
the ministry, and the bill may proceed without obstructing future
examinations.
If the bill, sir, now before us be so far approved as to be conceived of
any real benefit to the nation, if it can at all contribute to the
distress or disappointment of our enemies, or the prevention of those
domestic disturbances which are naturally produced by scarcity and
misery, there is no need of arguments to evince the necessity of
despatch in passing it. For if these effects are to be produced by
preventing the exportation of provisions, and a law is necessary for
that purpose, it is certain that the law must be enacted, while our
provisions are yet in our own hands, and before time has been given for
the execution of those contracts which are already made.
That contracts, sir, are entered into for quantities that justly claim
the care of the legislative power, I have been informed by such
intelligence as I cannot suspect of deceiving me. In one small town in
the western part of this kingdom, fifty thousand barrels of corn are
sold by contract, and will be exported, if time be allowed for
collecting and for shipping them.
A few contracts like this will be sufficient to store an army with
bread, or to furnish garrisons against the danger of a siege; a few
contracts like this will produce a considerable change in the price of
provisions, and plunge innumerable families into distress, who might
struggle through the present difficulties, which unsuccessful harvests
have brought upon the nation, had we not sold the gifts of providence
for petty gain, and supported our enemies with those provisions which
were barely sufficient for our own consumption.
I have not heard many objections made against the intention of the bill,
and those which were offered, were mentioned with such diffidence and
uncertainty, as plainly showed, that even in the opinion of him that
proposed them, they were of little weight; and I believe they had no
greater effect upon those that heard them. It may, therefore, be
reasonably supposed that the propriety of a law to prevent the
exportation of victuals is admitted, and surely it can be no question,
whether it ought to be pressed forward, or to be delayed till it will be
of no effect.
Mr. FAZAKERLY spoke next, to this effect:--Sir, as the bill now under
our consideration is entangled with a multitude of circumstances too
important to be passed by without consideration, and too numerous to be
speedily examined; as its effects, whether salutary or pernicious, must
extend to many nations, and be felt in a few weeks to the remotest parts
of the dominions of Britain, I cannot but think, that they who so much
press for expedition on this occasion, consult rather their passions
than their reason, that they discover rather enthusiasm than zeal, and
that by imagining that they have already traced the effects of a law
like this to their utmost extent, they discover rather an immoderate
confidence in their own capacity than give any proofs of that anxious
caution, and deliberate prudence, which true patriotism generally
produces.
There is another method, sir, of proceeding, more proper on this
occasion, which has been already pointed out in this debate; a method of
exerting the prerogative in a manner allowed by law, and established by
immemorial precedents, and which may, therefore, be revived without
affording any room for jealousy or complaints.
An embargo imposed only by the prerogative may be relaxed or enforced as
occasion may require, or regulated according to the necessity arising
from particular circumstances; circumstances in themselves variable, and
subject to the influence of a thousand accidents, and which, therefore,
cannot be always foreseen, or provided against by a law positive and
fixed.
Let us not subject the commonwealth to a hazardous and uncertain
security, while we have in our hands the means of producing the same
end, with less danger and inconveniency; and since we may obviate the
exportation of our corn by methods more speedily efficacious than the
forms of making laws can allow, let us not oppress our fellow-subjects
by hasty or imprudent measures, but make use of temporary expedients,
while we deliberate upon the establishment of a more lasting regulation.
Mr. CAMPBELL spoke to the following purpose;--Sir, that an embargo on
merchandise or provisions may, upon sudden emergencies, or important
occasions, be imposed by the prerogative, cannot be doubted by any man
whose studies have made him acquainted with the extent of the regal
power, and the manner in which it has been exerted in all ages. The
chief use of the prerogative is to supply the defects of the laws, in
cases which do not admit of long consultations, which do not allow time
to convoke senates or inquire into the sentiments of the people.
For this reason, in times of war the imperial power is much enlarged,
and has still a greater extent as exigencies are more pressing. If the
nation is invaded by a foreign force, the authority of the crown is
almost without limits, the whole nation is considered as an army of
which the king is general, and which he then governs by martial laws, by
occasional judicature, and extemporary decrees.
Such, sir, is the power of the king on particular emergencies, and such
power the nature of human affairs must, sometimes, require; for all
forms of government are intended for common good, and calculated for the
established condition of mankind, but must be suspended when they can
only obstruct the purposes for which they were contrived, and must vary
with the circumstances to which they were adapted. To expect that the
people shall be consulted in questions on which their happiness depends,
supposes there is an opportunity of consulting them without hazarding
their lives, their freedom, or their possessions, by the forms of
deliberation.
The necessity of extending the prerogative to the extremities of power,
is, I hope, at a very great distance from us; but if the danger of the
exportation of victuals be so urgent as some gentlemen have represented
it, and so formidable as it appears to the whole nation, it is surely
requisite that the latent powers of the crown should be called forth for
our protection, that plenty be secured within the nation, by barring up
our ports, and the people hindered from betraying themselves to their
enemies, and squandering those blessings which the fertility of our soil
has bestowed upon them.
Sir Robert WALPOLE replied in the following manner:--Sir, it is so
unusual among the gentlemen who have opposed my opinion to recommend an
exertion of the regal authority, or willingly to intrust any power to
the administration, that, though they have on this occasion expressed
their sentiments without any ambiguity of language, or perplexity of
ideas, I am in doubt whether I do not mistake their meaning, and cannot,
without hesitation and uncertainty, propose the motion to which all
their arguments seem necessarily to conduct me; arguments of which I do
not deny the force, and which I shall not attempt to invalidate by
slight objections, when I am convinced, in general, of their
reasonableness and truth.
The necessity of that despatch which I have endeavoured to recommend, is
not only universally admitted, but affirmed to be so pressing, that it
cannot wait for the solemnity of debates, or the common forms of passing
laws. The danger which is every moment increasing, requires, in the
opinion of these gentlemen, to be obviated by extraordinary measures,
and that pernicious commerce, which threatens the distress of the
community, is to be restrained by an immediate act of the prerogative.
If this be the opinion of the house, it will be necessary to lay it
before his majesty, by a regular address, that the nation may be
convinced of the necessity of such extraordinary precautions, and that
the embargo may be imposed, at once, with the expedition peculiar to
despotick power, and the authority which can be conferred only by
senatorial sanctions.
Whether this is the intention of the members, from whose declarations I
have deduced it, can only be discovered by themselves, who, if they have
any other scheme in view, must explain it in clearer terms, that the
house may deliberate upon it, and reject or adopt it, according to its
conformity to the laws of our country, and to the present state of our
affairs.
Mr. PULTENEY spoke thus:--Sir, whatever may be the meaning of other
gentlemen, who must undoubtedly be left at full liberty to explain their
own expressions, I will freely declare, that I am sufficiently
understood by the right honourable gentleman, and that, in my opinion,
no remedy can be applied to the present distemper of the nation, a
distemper by which it is hourly pining away, by which its vitals are
impaired, and the necessary nourishment withdrawn from it, that will
operate with sufficient efficacy and speed, except an embargo be imposed
by the prerogative.
That this opinion, if received by the house, must be the subject of an
address, is in itself manifest, and the reason for which an embargo is
required, proves that an address ought not to be delayed.
I cannot omit this opportunity of remarking, how plainly it must now
appear that many of us have been unjustly charged with obstructing the
progress of the bill for pernicious purposes, with views of raising
discontents in the nation, of exposing the administration to publick
hatred, of obstructing the measures of the government, or hindering the
success of the war, when we have receded from our general principles,
and suspended the influence of our established maxims, for the sake of
facilitating an expedient which may promote the general advantage, by
recommending his majesty to the affections of his people.
Mr. PELHAM here replied, to this effect:--Sir, I am far from blaming any
gentleman for asserting, on all occasions, the integrity of his designs,
or displaying the reasonableness of his conduct; and of what I do not
disapprove I shall not decline the imitation.
It is not uncommon, in the heat of opposition, while each man is
convinced of his own honesty, and strongly persuaded of the truth of his
own positions, to hear each party accused by the other of designs
detrimental to the publick interest, of protracting debates by artful
delays, of struggling against their own conviction, and of obscuring
known truth by objections which discover themselves to be without force.
These accusations, which are on both sides frequent, are, I hope, on
both sides generally false; at least, it must appear on this occasion,
that those who press the bill had no views of strengthening their party
by a victory, of wearying their opponents by obstinacy, or of promoting
any private purposes by a new law; since an expedient, by which time may
be gained, and the avowed end of hastening this necessary bill secured,
is no sooner proposed on one part, than received on the other.
At the close of the debate, a form of an address was proposed by Mr.
CLUTTERBUCK; which, being approved by the house, was presented to his
majesty: and an embargo was laid on all provisions accordingly.
On the 17th day of sitting the house proceeded on the bill for
preventing exportation; and ordered an account of the corn which had
been exported for six years last past to be laid before the committee.
The house also addressed his majesty to take off the embargo on ships
laden with fish or rice, which his majesty had before ordered to be
done.
On the 21st the corn bill was again the subject of deliberation, and
some amendments were offered by Mr. SANDYS, containing not only
exceptions of rice and fish, which had been before admitted, but
likewise of butter, as a perishable commodity, which, if it were not
allowed to be exported, would corrupt and become useless in a short
time.
He proposed, likewise, that the two islands of Jersey and Guernsey might
continue to be supplied, with certain restrictions, from the port of
Southampton.
It was proposed, likewise, in favour of some other colonies, that they
might receive provisions from Britain, lest there should be a necessity
for the inhabitants of those provinces to abandon their settlements.
The penalties of this law, and the manner in which they should be
recovered and applied, were likewise settled on this day.