The Statesman. — London, England, 1822-06-03 00:00:00

S t ;I T 11l STATESMAN BRITISH 4.V!) FOREIGN PHIL.INTHROPI S(W'IRTY. Saturday the first General Meeting of the Ed tisk and Petrel en Philsralanpie Satiety, inr th• per maisent relirf of the labonrine rissa•s, 41 . 4% held at Froesess.tn's Hell. Great Quern street. The attend- time, though not very crooded, WAS highly respectable. Several ladies graced the meeting with their presence . At one o'clock the Ksrl of Blessington, Lord Tor rington, Sir Win. de Cr...pigmy, Mr. Coke of Norfolk, Mr. W. William.. Al. P, Mr. Maxwell, M. P., Mr. Owen of Loners, S.r T. Lethbridge, and I other gentlemen entered the room. Lord Ton ington was called to the Chair. The Earl of a:anal:qr. rns opened the business of the day, by stating, that as Ofir of the members of the ereemittee, the duty had devolved upon him of reading t►e Report. The Report commenced with an allusion to the meetiag of the 15th 51.1 y, from which the committee emanated. It then went on to state, that since the meeting alluded to, the circumstances which m ore im peratively call for the experiment of associating the lower orders in a way to meet their necessities, have lost none of their afflicting forst.. Our Irish brethren are at this moment enduring the complicated horrors of want, disease, and immorality : the duration of the agricultural distress in this part of the kingdom, and the ever recurring difficulties of the manufactur ing classes. are equally inns rative of the unnatural state in which the country now finds itself; and p he extraordinary and alarming anomaly, of a population subject to the severest privations, in the midst of abundance, and actively engaged maculae- taring districts, whete tl.e most iedustrioas and ex cellent workmen are unable to mairtain their families. The committee will refrain from dilating further upon inch an accumulation of suffering, and the moral evils which are the inevitable result : but they beg leave to oh that, to step forward to the relief of these use ful members of society—to furnish employment to the healthy, and relieve the wants of the necessitous—to aid the recovery of the sick, and to improve the mo rality of all—are the important and ostensible du ties to which the endeavours of the society are devoted. The report then goes on to state the obligations which the committee owe to Mr. Owen, of Lanark. for his liberal communications to them upon the sub- ject of his arrangements, hut they add that they •' do not embrace the whole of this gentleman's propositions." They then set forth the inducements for embarking in their plan ;-let, The security which it offers to landlords for the payment of rent. 2Jly, Its tendency to diminish the poor rates. 3dly, Its possessing the means of furnishing the most va luable productions with the least possible labour, and yet so regulating the supply and demand, as that the producer and v 01.30114 1 ,- will be equally benefited. 4th, That the Writs and education promoted will offer the best security against the ordinary evils of society. The formation of working communities upon the principle of Mr. Owen's plan, is then strongly recommended upon the estates of the land owners, soil the maxim that " the powers of a community are increased by combination and skilful direction" is fur. cibly urged. _ _ 'rho Earl of I..b.tsFING roN then moved that this Re port he adopted. • • Mr. MAX a ELL, M. P. for Renfrewshire, seconded this motion, and avowed himself to be one of those who thought that the calamities of vice and misery which betel such large portions of the community, might, in a great degree. be obviated, by the spplica elm of a better system of management to the exirtiag condition of society. The greater part of the wet kin;: classes were now enduring great and bitter privations. Many societies were established fur their relief, and contributions bestowed through a variety of channels; there were societies for the reformation of criminals, f.,r the improvement of prison discipline; and he ad ulated the valve of such associations; but, at the same time, be was one of those who was not satisfied Kith mere remedial measures, he wished for prevention —(applause); he wished to see whether the bide causes of such evils did not exist in the present condition of society, and whether it might not be averted by a better classification upon the principles laid down, and so ably carried into effect by :ir. Owen. in vain could palliatives be applied to the present evils which now afflicted large portions of the com munity; while men were in a state of (saline, and ad-, Bering to a system which, perhaps, would constantly expose them to a recurrence of such misery, little would be effected by ordinary measures of education and dis cipline. Of what use was it to go to the gaol, and tell the wretched culprit that lie had fallen there through the want of education and good habits, when, if he got out the next day, he bad to encounter the same want of either asylum or encouragement.—(Dear, i hear.)-1 better system would afford such a man ■ mart for his industry. To attain such was their ob ject, and Mr. Owen had sbewn its practicability. Tbs Honourable Mewber pronounced a warm culogium upon the manner iu which the Lanark establishment was now conducted, and the beneficial condition of so ciety which had arisen around it. lie recommended the more general diffusion of such an example to the country at large, to restore the moral tune of feeling of the people, and obliterate the stains of pauperism. Sir Way. Dv. CR6III.I.:NV also bore the highest testi• mouy to Mr. Owen, and the establishineuts at New Lanark. which he (Sir Wm.) had had the gratification of visiting, and which made him a convert to the prin ciples spun which its benevolent proprietor haul acted. As to the allusioa4 sometimes made to Mr. Owen on the score of religion, all he could 34y was this, that at New Lanark all had their Bibles, and he never sa , c snore real or fervent devotion, than at the ;Haim, places of worship fr-quented by these rople. There may be partial objections to Mr. 03eu's details; but why not select what was really and avowedly good, and thus gradually get rid of the terrible scourge et the poor's rate.—(Applause.) Mr. GAL C bore his testimony in favour of the prin ciples which governed Mr. Owen's plan, and quoted the list of subscriptions in favour of the establishment of the present society. Among them were 50001. from Mr. Owen, of Lanark; $OOO/. from Mr. Ilenry Jones, of Devon; 500111. from Mr. Morrison, and se veral other smaller donations, amounting in the aggre gate to a very large sum. 15.0001. had, he said, been already subscribed from Edinburgh, Manchester, Li verpool, and Birminghain..444(ApCsuse.) Sir THOMAS LITIIIIIRIDGP. said that he had fully consi dered the plan of this Society, and although be was aware it had to encounter a variety of opposing cir comstaaces before it could expect to receive general adoption, still he thought experience justified the attempt to give it a wider diffusion. To compare small thinzs with great, he remembered when the pro posers of gas lights, now so uni Ily adopted, were treated as visionary speculators, and he bad no doubt the result of the present plan would prove equally il lustrative of the principles upon which it was regu• I.ud. Ile lamented deeply the existing state of a gri. elltural distreke, and the very severe pressure which exclusively affected the landed interest; and it WU, therefote, that be approved both in its theory and practice, of a plan which had a tendency to mitigate such an evil. He concluded by moving the appoint. went of provisional officers to this society. Dr PINCK %RD seconded this motion. and defended Mr. Oven from any imputation of indifference to reli gions instruction in the application of his principles. —On the mmtrary, all Mr. Owen contended for was general toleration, and that each should pursue his ow•n particular religious faith without interference, — (applause)—and so it was practised at New Lanark. 111 r. Owe:: tame forward, and was received with great applause. He disclaimed deserving the compli ments paid to him by his friends, and said that he had only ilone Lis duty, is giving a practical direction to the principles which his owe experience had dictated, for the amelioration of the condition of society. Be ing early engaged in manufactures, be bad soon per ceived that the unrivalled progress which Great Bri tain was then making, must eventually undergo a re vulsion, according to the mode in which the system of society was conducted, and what be foresaw had un fortunately been realised in the present overwhelming distress which was endured by the labouring,classes of society. In the midst of the greatest abundance I from nature, Ireland was now suffering under the bit terest distress. There mast be something egregiously wrong in such a system, which turns what ought to be the source of a country's prosperity into its great est disadvantage. He was anxious to probe the real cause of this evil, and see if a remedy could not be de %used to prevent its recurrence. Many had attempted to explore its causes, but in vain bad be sought the recommendation of any adequate remedy from their labour'. The first enquiry ought to be, for the pur pose of ascertaining the real intrinsic resources of the country, and if they were, as at present managed, suffi cient to meet the exigencies of the people. It was ascer tained by a calculation made within his memory, that the labour of three millions of active tnen constituted the whole wealth of Great Britain. The whole popu lation was at the time estimated at fifteen millions, cad one-fifth was ascertained to he the active contributing proportion of labour. So that according to that es timate one man was capable of producing enough for the wants of five. Since that period, however, the greatest alteration had been effected in society, which could be traced in the history of the world. By ma chinery, by other improvements, one man could in ma nufactures, contribute at'the rate mot of five, but of three or four hundred fold ; but the general average increase of production. as applied to the whole corn munity, was 50 fold compared to the previous period. Five labourers could now with the help of a plough cultivate 100 acres of light soil, enough to contribute -upport to 200 individuals at the ordinary average of feeding. Notwithstanding all these improvements, there was something so bad in the system of society, that the labouring cl were in most instances ina deqtrately paid, and in too many almost starting.— Ought society to sit quiet in such a revulsion, or ought they not rather probe the details of the plan under which the labour of the country was adminis tered, in the hope of securing a fair supply fur all ; and in serving the labouring classes, securing the better enj ryurent of the higher. Ile knew that there was much of charity devoted to the ameliorating the condition of the people, but he saw little of plain jus tice.—(Hear.) The people did not want to live by charity ; it was a mockery to insinuate that they had any dependance upon it; they would do far better for themselves if their industry had fair play, and was better directed.—(Hear.) The worthy gentleman then enforced the superior efficacy of his plan of working by communities, its more certain security of supply, at a cheaper rate, and a more economical distribution of labour. It had been said, that his plan would lower the state of society, and work evil rather than good. If the early culture of good habits in the young mind tended to produce evil, then he avowed himself the author of that evil ? If carrying for ward their early instructions, and nurturing them in manhood to successful industry, and the application of useful knowledge to the attainment of individual independence, he to promote evil, then he was an evil doer—(Hoer, hear.) If devising and lecturing the means of a regular, healthy, and beneficial system of employment for the labouring classes, be to injure so ciety. then he was the author of that injury. —(Cheers ) In conclusion, Mr. Owen remarked upon the impolict of that system which went to crush the industry of artisans at home, and to punish them fur attempting to earn a subsistence abroad ; and pointed out how his plan would remedy the evil and abolish pauperism. He then proposed the appointment of Treasurers. Mr. Tories paid some handsome compliments to Mr. ltaen, and highly approved of the present expe riment (tor it was only such) to ameliorate the ccuJi tion of society. All concurred in the excellent Coln. fort and order which reigned at New Lanark, and that it had intim neighbour hood alrolished the scour ; e of pauvrism. No better proof of the iomlerahle and incurable evil of the latter could be found ta.43 the r .jection last night of Mr. Scarletes bill to remedy the Poor Laws, on the ground that the principle was so had no remedy could be devised to mend it, without a total revision of the supetstructure. In Poor's rate above ten millions sterling was annually raised, two millions of which were spent in the turmoil of parochial liti• gation. This was reason enough to induce the trial of any fair experiment, and he was also desire's of it in opposition to the cold, selfish, and unfeeli.rg theories of political economists, who were for letting things find their level, without practical effort; whose maxim was always Colbert's "laissez faire." Ile (Mr. l'ooke) said " No; let us makeup effort, and see if we cannot, by one common exertion, ameliorate the condi tion of our fellow creatures."—(Hear.) In 1:011C111 ,ion he remarked, that the late lamented fluke of Kent, who was ever foremost in strugglieg to improve the con dd.,' of hiafellow creatures, was engaged shortly hefts. his death in considering this subject in a Committee which was then in being fur the purpose.—(Applause.), lie then proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Owen, which was seconded by M r. Crooks, sad acknowledged by the gentleman upon whom the thanks were con ferred. A gentleman in t . .e body of the ball defend ed he political economists from Mr: Tooke's attack, and said the terms the latter bad need could apply to Tor pid or Adam Sn.ith, to Malthus or Ricardo. Thanks were then voted to the noble Chairman, and the meeting adjourned at half-past four o'clock. CHESTER COUNTY MEETING. (tßn■ THE Iffolt4lN6 CHRONICLI On Monday last there was a meeting of the county of Chester, called by the High Sheriff, in conformity with a requisition, signed by 185' ialtabitants of that County. 'fhe meeting consisted, it is said, of from fifteen hundred to two thousand persons, chiefly of the most respectable of the Yeomanry and Tenantry. It would seem, from the proceedings of the meeting. that great dissatisfaction was expressed, because few of the great Landholders attended. " Their absence," said Colonel Dodd, ' may, however, be easily account ed for, because, from attending such a meeting as this, and from the sending up so manly and energetic a pe tition as the one now proposed, me titles or offices of 'emolument are to be expected from Ministers, who have these good things at their disposal.' The petition adopted by the meeting midair.' much that we cannot approved of, being, as we think, com pletely at variance with sound principles. AU classes are interested is pushing economy and retrenchment to the very utmost, and in a Reform of the House of Commons; and resolutions having these objects in view will receive the assent of all but those who have an interest in the continuance of profligacy and cor ruption. But the Chester petition not merely eulo gises the British Corn Law system, but draws certain concltpions from our former Legislation, which cannot be ton much reprobated. The petition sets out witli stating— " That parliament has, by a long series of legislation, fully recognised the policy of encouraging Agriculture, as the priwirary source of national prosperity ; and that these kingdoms have accordingly, until of late years, greatly increased in wealth, power, and population. " That independently of such being the generally ac knowledged and self evident policy of this and every great country, numerous Acts of Parliament have beets passed during the last war, ' For the inclosure of Waste Lands," For the better encouragement of Agriculture,' and 'For the further security against scarcity in future. " That a national guarantee, as sound and as legiti mate as that afforded to the Fundliolder for the payment of his interest, was by these Acts granted to the owners and occupiers of land, (or the protection of the immense capital invested in the cultivation of the poorer soil. " That notwithstanding these securities, the capital so invested is now, and has for some lime past, been utterly unproductive, and is menaced with speedy and final de struction ; and that these poorer soils, which are now cultivated at a loss, constitute a large proportion of his Majesty's dominions." They afterwards couple propositions in favour of Retrenchment with the alternative of • repeal of Mr. Peel's (Sill:— " That it is the decided opinion of your Petitioners, Mat ally remedy, to be tilieient, mast proceed epon the principle of lowering the proportion which taxation bears to the price 0/produce, whether by a modification oldie Bill of 1819, conbuority called Mr. Peel's Bill, or kya great reduction of the establishment and totes of the country. And they have therefore seen, with great dissatisfaction, that useless places and oppressive taxes have been continued, owing to the overwhelming and unconstitutional interference in the House of Commons, of a numerous phalanx of Ministerial placemen. " That, however severely your Petitioners feel the in justice of compelling them to discharge their obligations to a different currrucy, from that in which they were contracted, they consider themselves hound to protest against the still greater injustice of keeping up unne cessary estaLlishineuts in ewes of such general poverty and distress; of inaiutaining the salaries of offices, with out correspondent reduction, and of continuing any longer a single place or office not absolutely requisite to the existence of the Monarchy." We repeat it, that passing Resolutions of this de scription, only arms one part of the population against another, and plays the game of the partisans of cor ruptions. Mr. Wilbraham, indeed, made a number of excellent observations on the extravagance of our es tablishments, and the tiegemity for further redaction. —" When 1 see, be said, " the distress that univer• sally pervades the Agriculturists, wheo I see Farmers totally ruined, and landlords much distressed, can I honestly say that a reduction of three and a half per cent. on the Civil List (for I think that is the whole that has been effected), is a sacrifice commensurate with the exigency of the times? When I see a mili tary and neral establishment, after deducting the live millions of which we have beard so much, as the dead weight entailed upon us, in consequence of the war, and which I should be the last person to infringe upon, above double that which was thought sufficient in the year 1792 ; when 1 recollect, that that esta blishment of 1792, was formed by the late Mr. Pttt, a man of nu small authority perhaps amongst souse Gentlemen here, one year before the French war, and three years after the r.ontuencenteut of the French Re volution; and when I see the same extravagance in every other department of Government, can I help ear ing that there remain resources its economy and retrenchment to which Alin!sters have nut yet bad re course? When our fortunes are reduced througlsmt the kingdom, in many counties certainly one ball, but not to exaggerate, 1 will call it one-thir.l, is it not rea suitable to require a corresponding reduction in the salaries in ev,ry of ? If we are anat.). to 1114:sr such a request, as to the efficient officers of tinverurnetit, how much more are we juatified in demand. ing the total so i ipression of all those Pcnsions (no' given fur real service to the State.) and tilos, , siuecure places, which, as far at heat as applie I to members of the House of Commons, are inconsistent with the letter as well as with the principles of the Constitution. If the Parliament fairly represented the sentiment of the people,it the House of Commons fairly re-echoed the feelings of four-fifths of the pops lotion of this kingdom, such a state of 'Mugs would not have lasted far one Session. 'f hese pensions hays lately been defended as • y to p -e the influ ence of the Crown. I deny that they add one ray to the splendour of Royalty. They are the engines of M i nisterial power. They are the means which a 31ini , ter makes use of to convert the voice of the represent 11lire/ of the people apinut 6lcir ow• resistible Can a stronger instenec of 111itisteriel pew• r Iwought forward than that mentioned in the petiti that had it not been for the votes of 61 placensec in the House of Commons, that tax upon salt, whit!, is universally esteemed so odious, would bare already bees suppressed." We wish ►se could best ,w the same unqual:fied so• probation en the speck of Mr. Davenport, the mover of the petition. He very properly observed, that " they were :hen liberally subscribing in Cheshire, 1 4 send back to Ireland that corn which the Iri•b toes, selves grew, wh►t they wasted, and we did not; b, t which they were too poor to consume." But doer be thick that '• if the manufacturers are (as he sap') now selling their goods at an unusually low p• e which creates a sort of adventitious demand for thew" the situation of the agriculturist would be benefited by annihilating this trolls sad eiguienting the eoz. her of paupers from the rauls of the industrious semen ?" 0 • We hare reeeired N. Belzoni', hiaieno , al treatment im experienced at the Ope-a Howe 04 llusrsda, evening fait, bet haring atisclerstiod OW UN nu - Missile: Aar Leen Judi:Wed upon Use inekeet, we waive theinsertim of his Letter. piticg op STOCKS, AT OND O'CLOCK. rat DAY. Rao! Medi— . ..... 239 . lo4la Stott. 3pr Ct. Rod 79 I Ditto /Wads -Its. --c. I, ~ 1 psw Ct. Coos 791 9 I Nadi Sea Stock.' 3I per Cost 4 pet Coots .04111 lis.Bilt2O i.l. . 1. I, pleb es. Nits Fours. ' 10199. $ port:mit I --Mtg. I i.e.:13.21i pet. LougAno j oi 1546 ________stia3 26.5.. pm p• Imp. S pet Irish b eer Coot 1 Lott. Tickets WI. I.; . Vie *tattosnatt. " TN/ SMITS/II STAISSIIIIM" INCOSPOMAILO MITM STATESMAN." LONDeIN: MON DAT IMNING, JCS 3, 1922. T STOCK RXCII.4.NOR, TWEI,VE The market this morning is exceedingly iseoy, owing, it is supposed, to the closiog of Cow,ls to. morrow, which causes a great scarcity of money, anl to the idea that Russia is on the eve of strikinz a blow against the Turks. Consols for the Account are 79n, and for Money 79 sellers. FORIIIGM MARKET. The new Russian loan is scarcely mentioned, owing, it is said, to some mancearre having been played upon the brokers, and the general opinion is that the; will soon experience a great depression. Scarcely a bargain has been done in this Stock this morning. The Chili Loan is still much sought after. In other foreign securities there is but little transactin;, with very heavy market. New Rossia Bonds - SI so Now Chili Prussian Danish - 7G - hi - S 4 Spanish, Old - Coitirebia - New - - - 611 - 101 Private letters front Paris this morning stste, ti,st the present opinion in that capital is, that hustilitms between Russia and the Porte arc inevitable. The Republic of Buenos Ayres has lately decreed that it would not attend to th e commani eatiang of any foreign agent, unless he came with credentials as • diplomatic character. We have received this morning . , a file of talent!), papers, to the 12th .(January, of which the fallow lug are abstracts of some of the articles : Advice' from Ooa, to the 4th of December, men tion, that the Captain General of Portu4nese 1141 a, Don Manuel de Comm', who bad lately arrived t%ere from Rio de Janeiro, had obtained an ascendancy is the Government, and that the five members of the rc cently constituted Provisional Junta had been arrested and confined, at the moment when they were inteivlini: the same fate for his Excellency. D_in Nl,ta eel had possession of the Palace of Pangim, with the approli don of the inhabitants. A new Junta bad been form ed, of which the Go►ernor was President. _ . The Calortta Jorrnal gives a picture of .a t.v.► months after the revolution, by which the displaced, and previous to the counter-revolit:ioti, which the authority was restored to the King's Gover nor. The revenues of Goa amount, in ortlinsry years, to between tid eight lacks of rupees. Tsie Mary force is stated at 1000 men, of whom 21111 on.y are Kuropeaus. Their pay is moderate, ant the diers ars poorly disciplined. The clergy are es:.- mated at SOO in nutuber, and they are ignorant t... a disgraceful degree. Paris papers to the Ist instant, firing; ensue interest ing intelligence respecting Russia and Turkey, but still as contradictory as ever. Whilst the J.nraatat• liebats publishes an article front Vienna, dated May 22, annoencing that the Russian armies had itivatiel Moldavia, and that the Turks were falling ha.k ra pidly, and destroying every thing di their retreat, the Quotidicnne asserts, that au extraordinary courier bronglit intelligence to Vienna, in the ni t clit of the 19th and 20th ult. that the Porte had not only pro mised to evacuate those Pr:ncipali tie., hitt that a Coo.- missary ors. ten his way to Iluenarest and Jaxiy with necessary orders for the Comm . ..oilers of the Oman iu forcts io bioh those places. It anti:trig, ho withstanding the contradictions which still prevail, that events are assuming a wore decisive shape, an I that in a short time we may expect to know fur ate 4 hat is the result of the tedious ara protracted neg. , ciations which have hitherto turned all the calcutatioos of puliticians.—The C. .!iiat.'uaerf contains a go, I deal of information f out Ipain. It apprars that o. the 19th ult. a soldier of the was aided a: Madrid by a militia man for havin:: t tied " Long lie.; lln absulate Kiag ."' It was expected that his com• roles would have Avenged his death, hitt tilt-000i the interference of Generals Alorill,raad lli•••;0, Ali hostile movements were prevented. Oil', ial Reports hail heen received by the Government tkit the " FActi•tes" had been ',eaten at ernry point in t!tr ptoviece of Ca talonia, and that in order to five a great example and to prevent fresh insurrection.," no (ratter hail in most instances been given. In the first action 719 Insurgents are said to have been k It e d ; aut la the t•. tiatill In oi c t SA .•,' ~- szly ond . id rar nd. new ~ to n aafi w ont 01 whn M. r a "We hatilP I MI 111 Q 4:1 that fo ps JII I . ..rif al TEI rv►nrd %!ff 7 ,1 1.444.1 :Lf. " a t all 'ra ea 10' tl dread which ei 1:sout: stop th Logic were life i after al itg ill k.at the d.,1 of Mao]; f 1.:Ic b tl. II Ter's Pi I. wake all the 1, , ! will r I Frog. ai 1114 YID tay, th LefOCIS ►iii be of, .Ise b e An/ Cl tit 61, tLe ni as the ;Lis while N teeter oect of ithis of ralp wi aftild Oars, a laartm s 4 W.l , I,lte cut a l , 111 nil Itere y 41.1 iu I Int 3 :! of t: thin 11, tre p r , si tactic a f 14 , 13 64 ll this g re ! l +ikt is 1 h il b " !Ai 4114 . I L ta