Star. — London, England, 1816-11-29 00:00:00

OMMOY*COVNeI L. one of the fullest Mettin Is of the Ciirn / incii which we ever remelt be - , WAS held in if (lumber, Guildhall. to take iota consi. the I feat question Of Parliamentary Re apres.i..i in the following Requisition, trans• to the LORD under the signatures of of the most respectable Citizens of London : 9 ,..y05i ire eviired to be at a Court of Common Council. - e Thursday nest, the 26th day of November, 1816, the clock in the forenoon, to take into comiZerat,on depressed and impoverished state of the 6 - eintty; a dopt such measures, by Petition or otherwige, as may Abolition of uunecevary Places and Pensions, present enormous Publl.: Expenditure, and promote tbr Iteprestotatlon of the People In Parliament, by we can expect a full redress of Piddle Grievance', security against future e.a ruaclinivoti." Rcqnsition was read, according to the form, WAITIIMAN rose to enter upon the business of r. As a preliminary step, however, In beosted extract raid from the Petition of the Com- Ica to the House of Commons, oa the 6th 110. Clerk immediately read the extract, which ibstance expressive of a strong opinion on of the Common Council in favour of Par- Reform, and a radical reform of abuses, the moo extended at nse. Warromaa then resumed, and stated that his • - adverting to their former Resolution, was , that he required no new opinion on their nu the subject of Parliamentary Reform, but be merely sought a recognition front the Com- Council, of those sentiments which they had so - expressed on the great question, which he „again to submit. Notwithstanding the weight prece dent in his favour, lie was yet fully aware • the question was of such a nature, that he must 'ry have to contend with a strong current of He used the term prejudice, because he rare that it was nothing else than such a feel ;h intervened on this, occasion; for it was no. rat persons of all political opinions on gene. , agreed in the necessity of supporting the .anti.—( Hear, hear). —The simple question was, whether the proposition which he should to submit, was one tending to impair or sub it Constitution, or rather One, the object and result of which must be its invigoration, a recurrence to its first and best principles.— hear).—Anither, object in having the extract ' was, to shew that he had adopted tar more mo ate expressions in the course he now took, than • recorded in that, or any • other set of Resolo. whash had formelly met their approbation. country WiS now reduced to a state of great and bul calamity. They saw a great commercial, oturing, and Morious population at a stand, that great portion of it, on which the wealth of nation mainly depended, wholly destitute of the of selasopport, and this at a period, when, the return of peace, the people were led to expect of heavy anxiety, a relaxation of taxes, an enjoyment of comforts, from all of waich had been by the war long estranged. In this oly state of things. it teas impossible for rglislimen to look about their little circle, without timiaisteting to the hitter distresses that surrounded them. They could not in their daerent parishes set their fellow-matures starving, or fail to administer towards them something in the shape of immediate relief. Let not therefore those who - feel and lament this pressing evil as strongly as those who humanely come Icrward to, render temporary aid to the suffer-r, be c!oree,l, because they wish to apply a remedy to the fountain of the calamity, with any intention of aka:meting the humane and benevolent course of re ref which immediate distress requires. Whether the . ' , coy of that great class requiring relief be occa. by the visitations of a bad season, or any ether use, he, for one, was 'anxious for the their misery, and highly approved of it which had for its object the admini relief.—(llear, hear).—The wants of .med a pramount consideration. He man in the country who would interlere .evolent proceedings. But he wanted 'lie wanted to ascend to the source of', to explain its cause, and by such an ex. n the eyes of the people, and prevent a similar calamity.—(Hear, luar).—They were advocates for real Reform, had , sorts of enemies to encounter—one, profit and emolument from the perpe. -esent system, and who were, of course, continuance of public burdens at any second class, was that set of modest viduals who were always a prey to the oprehensions of their own creation.— d, indeed, that • something in the way fight to be done, but they said, that ion could not be attempted in a time 'eh a moment they suggested the pro ing all energies tor, a common effort onmon enemy When that v.-as done, Imitted the qoestialt of Reform entitled ion. Now, then, was the time they ani how could they get rid of their an at' the expense of. their sincerity ? , (and by far Vie most dangerous of all) of those individuals vdto, whatever were !:tot motives, yet by an ill-tempered and most mis ';'"ous zeal, inflamed the minds of the lower orders peaple, by a tirade of indiscriminate anathemas Rt at r‘ety body but themselves. Those were the ',: at est coot:lies of liberty—for it was by such means , 001 l artifices (tOot,gli good men wrier often en lad fir, the stone). that '2.0 ye-rs ago the Minister 10 put the lives of pair iotie toe:: in jeopardy, ' i-sten on the credulity of otl , ers the necessity l '6:l d . ermicing the liberties of Englishmen. On the ;. occasion, there was no doubt that such men +e hired and paid by Ministers for such purposes ; 'Liar any were now form for a sandal . object, not at once pronou ed nce. Looking at the au•sti on, he hoped the Corporation of London '•" 4 set the example of giving respectability to the of the country. Let them and the men of retry and rail come forward, . and unite with the on- a redress of grievances; they would, by ;',,. '4 I.l,liiion, p ro d uce a double effect, for they would lihdonce to the people that their grievances 6,; r e dressed, and they would, by the operation (VALIC f t ieerday one of the „, i Council which we ;c r oneil (lumber, ( ,'ion the i reat qui „, as expres.t o in th. • :ed to the LORD MA o pt of the most respee 5 ,.. —Y0u are evoired to be G odhall, on Thursday nil poen of the clock in the I rent depressed and in adopt such memures tstalto the Abolition of keen the present enormou ppon in the Reprficntatl s ip a tone we can expect a iaelectual security agal. After the Rcqnsition .eal form, WAITIINIAN rose day. As a prelimii hare an extract Canoed to the H., _ . , 1810. ); The. Clerk immedial sin substance exprei part of the Comm( I moray Reform, am t he roost extended at e Mr, WAITHMAN then 4 lett in adverting to thew, that he requi nu the subject o pt he merely sought st Connell, of those end; expressed on t . ant aga:n to submit. precedent in his fa t the question was o .cessarity have to cons ▪ rjudice. He used t a. s aware that it was r .g which intervened of a '.us, that p:rsons of )s 1 topics, agreed in tl it. onstituttnn.—( Heir, 11. ten was, whether the an to submit, was o ert that Constitution, e, ...tenable result of wh and a recurrence to ii (Hear, hear).—An)tht ', read was, to shew that '; trate expressions is t e, :ere recorded in that 5 , tinns whit had form id 'he country was now .readful calamity. T sr nufacturing, o•iti .1 that great tios tr, - nation tnait4 depe ?fa ~tans of seh.s.apport, , e; .y the return of mace, r , cessation of Leavy a rM dan etijoymt:nt of !.ey had been by the et, rtancholy state of css r. Kcidental caul fttl illniation of tl a* expedient 'tering of that the people form td; was the last ma )01i ith such bent 1)t1 go higher-1: ;gst tetra, and to plaulidu open rearrence of sii vhs, like him. mot kg nay three T who derived p r iff wiry of the pm aims for the tsul ;thee lad timid indiv ttbunded ap; ' 7 ' Thy admittee 4 Of t &rot ouF °I the amehlra ti, nea ••• VAT SUC P O 4 uniti , r. ' 1 , the cur att they adrt kniideratio for ; ;Ito P • " i bes tlCep I :Rs cuss ( of ial y y lOll )1* t 011 ler!" 61 5473* their salutary influence, ctinimund the ifooii crpi: nion of the people, whb would test implicitly , on their efforts, and refrain from any act of violence, as well as bear with resignation the burdens they must sus tain.--(4Hear, hear.) He would not allude any fur ther eith r to that party who live on the taxes of the people, or those who misrepresent the people. Of the latter, he held it unfair to speak at greater length in .their ah,ence. He would, therefore, pass to the greater topic, and draw the attention of the Court to a few facts, which would come the stronger on their attention as they arose in the shape of precedent, and to precedents they could not too often revert. This Court had, at the conclusion of the American war, arraigned the conduct of the Government in strong terms for the inexpediency and injustice of that war. The people re-echoed that feeling, but the Parliament supported the war. Notwithstanding this corrupt exercise of power, the people, when too late, pre vailed, and prevailed (if some Gentlemen pleased) by their clamour.—(Hear.) The consequence of that war was a great and heavy distress, but nothing like the distress which prevailed at the present time. It became necessary to revert to facts, however tedious the recurrence might appear; because, when men, whose only object was die prevention of evil, were charged with an intention of diverting the public mind from the rval grievance under which it was affects& it became doubly incumbent upon them, when so calumniated and misrepresented, to guard against every such attempt. Had the people been fairly represented, the American war would not have taken place. At the close of that war, the voice of the people, expressed through votes of the Corpora. tionof Lundoti, its variuus Liveries, and other great bodies in the kingdom, aided by powerful men, suc ceeded in drowning the influence of evil counsellors, and putting an end to that calamitous war. In the year 1781, the Right Hon. William Pitt received an Address from the City, in consequence of a motion of his in the Huuse Commons, on the 7th of De- cember of that )ear, in favour of Parliamentary Re.. ttnm. In his answer to that Address, the Right Hun. Gentleman proceeds in these words: " I will brg leave to tuke the earliest opportunity of expressing how happy I am that my motion of the 7th instant hat ma your approbation; and I beg to assure you that my exertions shall never be wanting in teat cause of Reform which I believe to be most esettts.tily necessary to the safety of the Constitution and to the In st interests of the people." —Mr. Fox also, to his immortal honour, never flinched fruin this great question, and at all times gave it a decided and unequivocal support, both in and out of Parliament.—(Hear.) He even carried his feeling for it so far, that when propositions of an ideal character were attached to it, he continued his support, resting for the amelioration of such crude ideas to the future arrangements in Committee, or otherwise, which must accompany the maturity of all fi:.,t propositions. When a Minister, he gave the same support ; and in the native manliness of his character, was the same to it wherever it appeared. For such conduct he was thanked by the Common Council. Indeed they had repeatedly thanked a I number of great men, who stood forward in its cause —so that it the advocates of Reform were in error, they were consoled with a fellowship among the greatest men the country ever produced ; and in the then discusssion in Parliament, they could c.mnt thirty-two of the most distinguished men in' the em pire.—(Herr, hear, hear.)—When Mr. Pitt on the second occasion introduced the same subject to Eli. liament, he mainly grounded his argument on the necessity of guarding against a recurrence of the rash and ruinous expenditure of fresh wars, which he said could not be done without a Reform in Parliament. He was right in his prophecy, and what rarely face curred to men, he lived to fulfil his own prediction, and to involve the country, through the want of Re. form, in a fresh and equally ruinous war, which sacri fleet' the wealth and blood of the nation.-;-(Hear, i:ar, heir.) —The Worthy Gentleman then referred to the fOrmer proceedings of the Court, such as those of 180 S, 1810, and March, 1816, in which they had recorded sentiments much stronger than any Much he now meant to submit. Unless, therefore, they could prove his sentiments manifestly wrong, they must agree to them, or act at variance with their former recognised and repeated opinions.—(Hear, hear, hear.)— If consistency formed a part of public charaCter in the good sense of the term, he trusted the Corporation of London would not recede from that virtue, but would record it by their good acts. They had * right to maintain an influence in the opt. nion of the public, and it they had not that influence, the fault must be their own—(Hear.) If they were not looked up to, they must deserve such treatment. If they act moderately, but firmly, they would main- Uhl a preponderance, and prevent the occurrence of those unfortunate popular disorders which the ra vings of knaves and madmen were likely to produce on the irritated minds of the lower classes. All he required of the Court was, to repeat what they had dope on Mr. Maddox's motion, an the seat-selling affair, between two Ministers of the Crown and other occasions of a similar nature. He only wanted them to open their eyes to a system vvhich engendered a wasteful expenditure, and rejected every kind of con. troul. It was that expenditure which caused the pre sent distresses; and surely it was not too much to enquire whether they could be traced to that source, or if by possibility any other origin could be found for them—any such, for instance, as the state of the weather, the stagnation of trade, from any particular or local cause, er any other such visitation ? Pallia tives would not do . here. The Corn Bill had its day, and, as was well predicted, did nothing. The last Petition of the Court, even the recommendation of the Prince Regent to Parliament, on the subject of economy, was unattended to, though it was ev:dc.nt nothing but a permanent measure could afford ade quate relief. The Corn Bill and similar expedients were calculated to relieve one set of men at the ex pense of another—(llear.) That the Agricultural interest required relief nobody doubted, but this could not be done, without pressing upon the manu facturing and commercial interests, who were equally suffering—manufactured goods were sold within the LA week, to his knoWledgc, at from 25 to 60 per cent. under the regular price—so that it was in vain to attempt relieving one class in the community ; in• deed all were so interwoven together, that what al lectcd one must operate upon the others, in a regular gradation ; each class falls back upon the other, until the last, as was the case at present, was com pelled to resort to charity for subsistence. Here he ' cooyd•• • • • • not o saving, at some " of these who ,• • now administered aid to the sufferers, were in such ' asimation that they knew not whether in't vo months hence, they would not require . the same r:lief them - - . selves. This brought another question u %der consi deration. How Could all these evils have accumu lated ?—to this the plaih answer was, the w.lr was the source of them all—that war which, in the shape of subsidies, 'carried out of the country a circulating medium of solid metal to the Amount of more than £4o,oo3,ooo—(Hear.)' How then could trade re-' sive, with such an incubus upcn its progression ? Taxation kept pace with this issue—and Bahl( paper, of cOurse, kept in the same ratiol and, in the shape of supplying the drafts made from the circulating medium, actually doubled its amount—( Hear), and this quantity of artiliciel Money raised the price of every article is life, The taxation which this sys-1 tem created was not immediately felt—for the issuel of Benk notes, while they remained in .circulation, packed it down in a great degree. Gentlemen then used to put their hands into their pockets and take out a handful of notes,• end say, "Can we not get beef and mutton, Ste. for those, and do you say they are not so much money ?" This was all very well, eti long as the delusion lasted, bat the moment the bubble burst, then how did the matter stani e When thetree began to bear its fruit-e-when from sixty to sreo,ooo,oeo were withdrawn from circulation (for all the country bank paper speedily diseppe are, and none but a contracted issue of the Bank of England remained), then The evil appeared in the naked shape in which it was predicted. The circulating medium was gone, and left lee substitute after it. People may talk of soup shops and subscriptions—why, they were all good in their way, but it was a small way in the general devas ation—(Hear.) He would not under value such efforts; but, after all, charity was a bad substitute for labour. It was to tell a sturdy and intrepid population . that they must, after all their struggles arid endurance, submit to beg their bread. If even they could he trammelled into such degrada tion, the evil would still be permament, while the remedy would be but temporary —( Hear.) To this it might be asked, .g Well, what will Parliamentary Reform do, will it feed the people ?" He would answer, No ; but in investigating an evil, the cause must be probed and ascertained, before the remedy was arranged ; and after all their enquiry, it would appear diet a want of a fair and full Representation of the People in Parliament, as a check upon the ex penditure of the public money, was the plain and deep cause of all the evils that were now felt through out the country. As to the relief which things re quired, lie knew well it must be, in the best hands, a work of elow operation; and that the people must bear with patience a certain continuance of suffering: Let their present wants be attended to, but let their future security be also effected—(Hear.) Let Par , liament be required to revise their proceedings, and yield to the prayers of their constituents. Let them annul all useless pensions. On this subject of pen sions some good people, awl those too who were fore most in procuring subscriptions, exclainied— ,, Oh ! what good can result from tearing from , 80 persons' a SU In of ae 4 2u0,000, which was the whole of the Pen• sion List ? what would that amount to in the general mass?"—Why, this was a strange sort of argument to emanate from those who told the country that a subscription of 8.50,000 would do a great deal, and yet in the same breath said to knock off 82(X),000 a year would do nothing—(Lord crier of Hear.)-- He was never a visionary re former, nor ever attended the meetings of those persons who, twenty years ago, harangued the people on such topics, and played the game of Ministers with success—(llear.)—He was lately asked to take a part in such a proceeding, but he declined, from a wish to avoid the company with which he must necessarily associate in the arrange. ment of the business, or to attend at all, well know. lug that he must come to issue with them—a sort of I rupture that he, from the nature of his health, dis liked betere a concourse of two or three thousand persons. He conceived such leaders dangerous, and he did not want firmness to shake them off and leave them to their own insignificancy. On die great sub ject of Reform, they all know that the Cornish Bo roughs return more Members to Parliament than did the four largest Counties in England—(Hear.) The Anti-reformers said, 4 , We know all that ; but if you once allow the system to be thrown open, then you open an inlet to such contusion, that the people will in the end overthrow the Government." What, the • suffer ings people !—the people, who hZve borne all their suer ings and struggles with patience—who have fought the battles of their country, aed seen pensioners feed ing on their spoils !—These are the people whose re turn for such endurance is-44 Oh I they can bear to see the Constitution destroyed, but they'll rebel if you attempt to ameliorate it, and with it their con dition."—(Cries of Hear.) Let no such trash be ut tered against a patient and intelligent people (Hear.) The Bill of Rights ordained frequent Parliaments to redress the people's wrongs; and yet, according to the modern practice, the more the people were ag •grieved, the less they should complain; for, if their voice was heard tinder the severity of their sufferings, they must at once be pronounced on the eve of a re volution, and the Parliament they had sought to have convened still further protracted—(Hear.) The Worthy Gentleman then alluded to the bitter opera tion of the absentees, who, instead of attending to the improvement of their estates and consequent em ployment of their people, departed for the Continent, and there not only spent their taxes, but some of them the unworthy pensions which they wrung from those taxes. Any man with but three acres of land could employ some hands ; but how many might not those wite tive hundred acres employ, who were running away from the distresses that prevailed, and spending their rental jet other countries—(Hear.) No econo -1 my short of a national one would now be of any ser. vice. A new manufacture of fuel was talked of, but this would go for nothing, like the other palliatives ; for if it was successful, what would become of the immense number employed in the collieries ? No thing would be found efficient but an honest House of Commons, which would bring back the Constitu tion to its original character. For the attainment of this great and paramount object, he would beg leave to propose the following Resolutions (for which see ilekertieetnent.) These Resolutions were received with great ap plause. Mr. Sheriff Kiawr rose to second the Motion for the adoption of these ResOlutions. He could not, 'he said, 'perform this grateful duty without compli. minting the Cnmt on the zeal, ability, and modera. • " • iton d IsplAye:l by !lib flonourdble Friend—the tried friend of Vie pet-11)k.. who hitcl .s!, ably int!neirced the ' subject this t' Ay (!fear), and who had accompanied his statement with a fecii; lor the distresses of the country that did hoc:lt- !n lis head and heat t. He could not Osa reft ant boo; coogratalating his worthy Friend on the ptoTect that was thia day unfolded of seeing the gr:n clustion of Patli.tmentary Reform. for which he had so many years snuggled, brought • t , ) the eve of its final consommation—(Hearr.), The Worthy Sheriff here followed ;the Mover in his ani- mated description of the system of corruption that unhappily pr:•vailed during the last twenty-five years, and which subverted the Mod-marks of the Constito- tion, and' absorbed the real Wealilt of the State— (Hear.) Tnis overwhelming taxation which so ab. sorbed the wealth of the State, was created by the wanton arid unnecessary expenditure of a sanguinary war, and perpetuated by a representation, (as some Would call it, but as he would c ill it, a misrepre. sentation) of the people—(lkar.) It was this that reduced so greAt a portion et the effective population of the country t the humility of pauperism—a state into which they could never have fallen if they had been fairly represented. Here wad the practical con. sequence of the borough system, which affected the rights and properties of the people—(.fiear, hear.)-- It was by such a course that a standing army was . imposed on the country in a time of p:Atound peace. The time was then arrived when a radical Reform might be c tiled for without any degree of popular danger. When he spoke of Reform, he, of cqttrse, meant a moderate And constitutional Reform—oze which would go forth throughout the country as a proud example, and be followed as it ought to be throughout the empire, to the discomfiture of the tools of corruption, and their equally worthless em ployers. The Worthy Sheriff eloquently concluied, by calling on thL friends of the Constitutioe to act as became them on an recotine like the present, and to embrace the open and constitutional means of seeking a redress of their wrongs—(Hear, hear.) Mr. S. DIXON, after some allusions ti. indisposi. tion, congratulated the Mover of the ltesrlutions,.anxl the Court at large, on the moderation of the lone assumed to-day, as compa.ed with that adopted co former occasions. The Worthy Gentleman ( Mr. demlaless, found he could obtain more by hi; mildness than tic could by his treats. The great evil, it now appeated, was t h e distress of the people, and the great remedy Parliamentary reform. Now it was a singular fact, that when people were asked about faniamentztry Reform, they all wished something could done, and yet when their sense. ments were canvasse.l, no two agreed upon the point. (Hear, and cries of 66 We do en r - ee.") ehe %If orthr Motor had, in his acsoltitions, ernhodied all his pre. dictions cluting a spice of 241 years that had been fulfilled; but he forgot to mention those which bad not—such as the destruction of the tlatglo Spanish Army, which must be driven into the sea, and a min). be ut equally singular and improbable conjectures. 'rhe war expenditu!e war., of course,intreduced.-why, it was necessarily enormous, and the : last year panics. larly so—and yet it was that year, expensive as it' was, which struck the final blow, and by so striking it saved the country the cost of a pro:tatted co/..est. II should, therefore, have his warm support, whatever effect the expense may have upon others. Reform in Parliament was an old nostrum--they had the cape. tience of its trial in France, where, under the mask of repairing the structure, they pulled it down, and could not rebuild it. (Hear.) Some speculative architects of this kind were indeed disowned by the reformers in this Court—they were called raving madmen—and yet, if he was not mistaken, those who disowned them now, when they got too cheap, had acted with them in the Guildhall of this City. He particularly alluded to Mr. Hunt, who was,he sup posed, alluded te by the Worthy Mover. (Load fries lof Order! and csnriderable interruption.) Mr. WAITIIMAN—" I never acted with the Gen. tleman ; on the contrary, I always avoided any com munication with him." Mr. Dixosi-4. I saw it myself, and, therefore, am sure of what I say." Mr. WAMINIAN ---" You never did—l have ever avoided him, without committing actual rudeness. : — Yeti may deal in personalities of this kind, if you please, and with. impunity, for I shall not insult the dignity of this Court, by adopting your example, and replying to them." Mr. DIXON-- , " I shall speak and think for myself. What I heard, I will repeat ; and what I saw, l will declare." Cries of " Order ! sbante, no personalities," with loud hisses.) The LORD MAYOR observed, that such a mode of disapprobation —(6isrer)—could not have happened within the bar, and, if it welt repeated without, strangers must be instantly excluded. Mr. Dixon remarked, that the hissing was, he thought within, not without the her s where he was glad to see such a concourse of strangers, who ap peered to conduct themselves with great decurum....-. But quitting this frivolous interruption' and going, to the main question, he would say, that the present dis. tresses, so tar from originating in one question, sprung from many. The employment cf the numbers in the army and navy, which suddenly subsided at the peace, was one great cause of the present distress.— Another, and though he highly valued ingenuity, he could not but observe upon it, was, the great increase of machinery. Tliii also threw a great number of people out of employment. Until ot late years, for thirty miles round the manufacturigg towtts of Eng. land, the spindle in every cottage employed its hands, the threshing in every farm house gave its.ratio of labour, and so in other cases where ma chinery now supplanted the necessity of manual labour. Then we had the trade of the world, now we had improve ments, which some might valite more than he did ; such as going up by steam to Richmond, or down to Margate. (4 laugh.) But. looking at the made of relief proposed, what was it but an invasion of the rightsot others—for how could the privileges of Par. liamentary Representation in the Borough System, *as it was called, be taken from the possess,rs,. with. out any fault or crime on their part, any mare than any other, right that belonged to the lowest in the community ? (Hear, hear.) It was strange, how. ever, that those who wanted to abolish this right in Sao, were inclined to avail themselves of it for their own purposes, and Alderman Smith had nauted an individual then in his (Mr. Dixon's) .eye, w4 O .was r i , r i i