most important part of the question is the condition and prospects of those who earn their daily subsistence by labour. From the accounts I have received on this subject, I will select those which have reached me from three manufacturing towns in different parts of the kingdom-from Chippenham, representing the manufacturing interests of the west of England; from Nottingham, representing the central part of England; and Dundee, representing Scotland. The letter from Chippenham, dated the 30th of June, is as follows:

"My dear Sir,

"Chippenham, June 30.

"My statement to you this morning I find, in reference to our books, to be correct. In the six months ending this day we have paid to the same number of people 25 per cent. more wages than in the corresponding period of 1847, and more fully 20 per cent. more than in 1848, and I believe the people in this place generally are better fed, better clothed, and in every way more comfortable than they have been for years. The general trade of the town is in a very flourishing state; poor-rates about 3s 4d in the pound; the number of people in the union workhouse, 97. The west of England cloth trade is unquestionably better than it has been for years. I have reason to know that in the town of Trowbridge more goods have been made and sold in the last six or nine months, and a larger amount of wages paid to the people, than were ever before known, and this I believe is the case in the whole clothing district of the west of England; the Parliamentary returns of the consumption of cotton and wool prove it to be the same both in Yorkshire and Lancashire."

In the west of England and other parts of the

clothing district there is indeed one cause of complaint. The manufacturers cannot get a sufficient quantity of foreign wool. When we reduced the duty on foreign wool it was foretold that the measure would interfere with domestic produce, and reduce the value of the wool grown at home. So far from that being the case, the manufacturers are now crying out for more foreign wool, and the more foreign wool they obtain, the better is the demand for our own wool in order that it may be worked up with the foreign. A letter from Nottingham is in these terms :

"Nottingham, June 11.

"Both in the hosiery trade at Leicester and Nottingham an advance of wages has taken place, and a second advance is now demanded by the workmen and at the present time I should suppose that about one-fourth of the hands have now struck work in Nottingham for a second advance. In my experience, I have never found workmen turning out for an advance of wages but in times when they were comparatively in tolerable or better circumstances, and they have had full work now since May, 1848, and the price of bread and meat, as well as clothing so cheap, that for many years past the operatives have not been so well off. I have no mills working short time, but all fully employed. The silk factories who spin silk for the lace trade, cannot supply the present demand; the lace trade is much improved, particularly in black silk lace and black silk shawls." The letter from Dundee said :

"Dundee, June 11.

"In reply to your letter of the 9th inst., I beg to state that at no period for several years past have the mills in my district been so actively or fully employed as at present. I have every

reason to believe that trade is healthy and flourishing; and it is the general opinion that there is a good prospect of a continuance of this state of matters for some time to come. There is consequently, great demand for labour, not only in the mills, but in all the occupations connected with our manufactures. Provisions and all other necessaries are extremely cheap, potatoes and butchers' meat excepted, the former of which articles is always scarce at this season of the year, and the latter comparatively little used by our working classes. Under these circumstances, I am glad to be able to add that the condition of our labouring population and manufacturing districts generally is at present very satisfactory."

I have read these letters for the purpose of encouraging the hope that, although there may have been a reduction in the declared value of manufactures exported, the condition of the manufacturers is not necessarily deteriorated. These letters furnish conclusive proof that at least in three large towns, separated from each other by a wide interval, and being the seats of different branches of manufacture, the condition of the working classes is better than it has been for some preceding years.

I have now I believe examined the main grounds on which the Hon. Member has impeached the commercial policy adopted of late years, and I submit to the House that the charges which he brought against that policy have not been sustained. The House must be aware of the deep interest I naturally take in this question. I cannot forget-although I allude to the circumstance without the slightest feeling

of asperity that I have been exposed to a good deal of misrepresentation and obloquy. I bear not the slightest ill-will to any one on that account; I must however put in my claim to vindicate that policy which I believe to have mainly contributed to preserve this country from great disasters. The Hon. Member said on Monday night that the doctrine which he had repeated on former occasions, namely, that we cannot fight hostile tariffs by free imports, had never been contested. It is my intention to contest it now. If I refrained from disputing the proposition on any previous occasion, it was from no disrespect to the Hon. Member's ability or station, but the subject has been more than once brought forward at the close of a debate, when I had no sufficient opportunity of entering into an argument of a not very inviting nature.

Before I advert to it, I must however examine fully the Hon. Gentleman's reasoning with reference to the Poor Law. I shall draw from the facts to which he referred a conclusion exactly opposite to that at which he arrived. The Hon. Member said, "See how the poor-rate has increased-look at the charge per head for maintaining paupers-see how many more ablebodied labourers are paupers in 1848 than there were in 1846; and, with those results before you, can you refuse to join in condemning the policy which has produced them?" Let us test the validity of this argument. The Hon. Member adopted, and I am not surprised at it, the paper I

hold in my hand, which is contained in the report of the Poor Law Commissioners, giving the cost of maintaining the poor for seven years when the price of wheat was lowest, and the cost of maintaining them for seven years when the price of wheat was highest. The Hon. Member drew from this return the inference that when wheat was low, poor-rates were high, and that when wheat was high poor-rates were low. I cannot blame the Hon. Member for making use of this return, but I am surprised that public officers like the Poor Law Commissioners should have voluntarily made such a return. It is the most foolish document ever presented to this House. One would suppose, of course, that the Poor Law Commissioners had selected seven consecutive years in each case. The Hon. Member certainly did not state that they were consecutive years, but imagining that they were, I confess, I was startled when I heard him state that in seven years of a low price of wheat, the cost of maintaining the poor was greater than during seven years when the price of wheat was high. I looked at the return, and I found that this is the order in which the Commissioners have taken their seven years of low prices.-1839, 1840, 1841, 1848, 1842, 1847, and 1838. Having made this extraordinary selection, the Poor Law Commissioners state the conclusion at which they arrived, namely, that in the seven years, when the price of wheat was lowest, the cost of maintaining the poor, per head, was 6s. 3d.,