The Sun. — London, England, 1842-07-23 00:00:00

Strangers eirere - er,lere-1 CO - svitht;reess, and the Reuse divided, when there appeared-- For the amendment Against it Majority DISTRESS OF THE COUNTRY t-In'the.motion being put, that the House go into Com mittee of Supply, Mr. M. GIBSON moved that the House should resolve ; Its elf into a-Committee of the whole House, to take into • e *sideration the distressed state of the country. It Might be said that such a motion was useless, as Parlia tnent had shown that it would not take any step for the relief of the distress, which all upon every side and . rof every opinion admitted to exist, although the sup . Porters of the Government denied its extent. lie had and was so continually pressed by those who sent him to th a t H ouse , to represent their sufferings to Parliament and the Government, that he could not omit any opportunity of bringing the distressed state of the country under the consideration of those who were re , rarded as their representatives. The Hon. Gentleman then went into detail to show the falling off in the sale of butter, coffee, candles, sugar, butchers' meat, and other necessaries of life, by the retail dealers of Manchester ! l uring the last year. He knew that there were men 111 every position of life who were so sanguine as to h ope that their fortunes, however desperate, were sure to retrieve themselves ; but the present state of things in this country allowed of no such indulgence to the feelings of the most sanguine. The predictions which w ere ma d e in the petition of the Manchester , hamber of C om merce in the year 18353 had been fear - fullye verified. The Hon. Member read also an extract 'rum the annual Report of the United Society of Cotton brokers of Liverpool to the same effect. The Right IT eon. Baronet opposite (Sir R. Peel) had said that the i mprovements in machinery caused human labour to be s uperseded. But was it not the fact that the restrictive cud monopoly laws kept away those means of absorption w hich nature had provided for the superabundant 14 ° 110 He read extracts from returns to sho w that * the increase of exports was no proof ! f. - increased prosperity in manufactures ; on the co ntrary, the increase of exports in cotton was t 1 proof of the distress and the' decline of menu factures. —(Hear.) He complained of the attempts made ?n the other side of the House to throw a false co ,- touring over the present state of affairs, and to give a 11 °Pe to the agriculturists that an improvement was a bout to take place. A benevolent and talented preacher, 411 " oh admired by the party represented on the other side of the House, and in close connexion with Members "f the present Government, in preaching a sermon in ?hedi euce to the Queen's Letter, said to his congregation th at !It was necessary to put a check upon the progress of • In altafactures, which were superseding agriculture, and co llecting the people in dense masses. He (Mr. Gibson) d eprecated the issuing of party politics from the pulpit ' 5l the Established Church. The Rev. Gentleman 'de ' pecated the competition of industry with industry and ' ahour with labour, whilst he poured out all his e lo q uence to eulogise the competition of nations in war- and blood. Th ere was a majority in the House that believed th at distres s did exist in the country, and that nothing that ' tll° Right Hon. Baronet had brought forward would Ini '!gate it. Inquiry, therefore, was necessary, and both fides of the House were bound to look into these matters 14 a dispassionate .way, in order to ascertain the best ,Ode of alleviating the evil. There could be no pos -4,,1e excuse for not going into the inquiry. —(Hear.) n,e Iloilo:treble Gentleman had stated that he had submitted all his measures to the House, and there Zas, therefore, not a more fitting opportunity than e present for going into the inquiry. Was the Z ' onvenience of detaining a few Members in town to compared with the wants of the millions ? The coming ha rvest according to all accounts would not be an average e xt e• There was nothing to plead against inquiry , but t he lateness of the session, and that plea had no foun dation. --(Hear, hear.) Parliament was bound .to in quire into the distresses of the people, and Government Would incur an awful responsibility if they allowed Par tament to separate without doing something to alleviate 'ae distresses of the people.—(Hear.) He could not Conceive that the House would do its duty unless it re solved itself into a Committee of Inquiry. The days of the Corn-laWs were numbered, and the time was at hand When the Corn-laws would be erased from the statute °lc, and it would be a wonder that such disgraceful if the laws were ever allowed to exist.—(Hear.) He believed manufacturers had only full scope, the country Would have . tu:ll prosperity, and the landlords would 'ensure a greater rental. Dr. BOWRING . seconded the motion. It was ob `vious that all that he e l been done by the Right Hon. Ba , Zilnetet had had no effect in alleviating the distresses of was t t i l l i c a r t t the Coun try. All that ivies required by the industrious assethat the markets of the world should be t hrown l e d pen to them. It was his belief that the distress itself to th e •CI in , the lower classes was ex tending) ng ones, and it was the country, d . uty of the uOll5O suffering that existed the endeavour consider the the count u r; u that He believed misery as at the much burdened with ndeaeour to' relieve it. w as never so . present inomenx't conceive how Hon. con, Hon. m id he could not ld retire to their homes, and consider that they hat: discharged their . duty e in voting certain supplies., when they had altogeth er passed by th e wa nts of the .people.,—(Hear, he ar.) When thousands of-human beings were ste'rving, ,uld it be said that the Howe of Commons had don e its er u i!,.tY, unless it took their case into consideration !1 1 : ; 1 / 4 , 4 '; r, hear.) In conclusion, he trusted that the Howe ~,1 11 agree to the motion. "' a Pta . inBERKELEY hail never 'shown an improper Lot felt feelieg towards the present Gerninent, b e ae bound to vote for the present motion. 'ras sorry that the able and powerful speech they d o h Ouit heard is as not delivered on another occasion. he came into that Hnuse, he made up his mind not v ,7tte for the motion of the Hon. Member , but when hN" l4 rd the speeelt of the Hose Gentleman, he owneel th "c e ae staggered in his determination. He did not think. ea !, lion. Gentlemen was doing any good to his own e ," s °. There was a great deal of necessary bu siness to le; Yet done, and he thought it would be bett er to leave e n * responsibility with the Government of rejecting all weaciaresfor their relief.—( Hear, hear.) He thought it l e P tli tt be wiser to do as the Irish coachman did , wh en fintr horses ran Away with his coach for ten miles, 41.a8 t i; 4 lee was no t a ble to stop them, he threw the reins on ierses back, and said, " Take the responsibility T h ; gat you, I have nothing more to say."--(Laughter.) t io ° coach, to be sure, was upset. And though he " niat wish that anything should occur to the coach- It e " 'L:nard, or cad, of the Right lion. Baronet's coach, ?iced to see the coach itself upset.—(Laughter.) qr". EASTROPE felt with the Hon. Member for 4uet ?ster the inconvenience of interrupting the public the is ; but very extraordinary circumstances justified (if ation from the common and customary course.-- P" Sae, hear.) The simple question was, whether the th r 'sttet• state of the rountry was such as to demand from e Ater % ihers who represented suffering districts a tlevia -411 frO.vi that course which, in other cases, they should ee ° ,Pt. A-le did not believe that the indomitable deter .e. NI ! , !eon ,of the Hon. Member for Stockport—that all the Iv oe l ,age a ud energy he bad shown in these debates, fe e ',', ( A be se ifficient to carryon the discussion, were it not ved'ie gen, seal and very stringent distress which per the eel entry.--(Hear, hear.) It would be impossi *i „for hi r e, discouraged and discountenanced as he was th in the les u s of that House, to carry on the discus th,e were he a tot aided by a pressure from without, that ou t "Ire arising • from distress unparalleled , mis er y with- • ark; example;set 'eich threatened the disorganisation of ti k ,,tY, and hela' forth to them calatnities which they Sot meet, e end the consequences of which they a ded.—(Hea.r, b t sier,) He thought a great deal might fej ai d in excuse of ti rose rep r e sentatives of lar g e manu `tiling pl ac es foe pressing this motion beyond what h t ! usually an d ordlinin ily done.—(Hear.) They retired ato amusements, to i telaxation from labours, with the l e ,sure and delight which usually follows attentive k e utirs, but they went to the abodes of misery and sue iteng, which they could t' ot contemplate without feel le! of commiseration ant sentiments of pain , at the i r bability to it e ev i a te theta, —(Hear. hear.) They did C "me before tl to Hone' '. vitit topics of oratorical 4 de thation, but witl e a painful detail of distressing misery suffering wretchedness. hOd himself the honour .4'l We said the honeitr—he mien say the misery —of re e-°senting a largo • constituency, who teere.suffer did not g ts f , der litho he could , not deecribe, but icla if he a e ai the Hoi Ise, before the close of the' Session, Iflid be an abani liniment of his duty. The Righ: lion. •t 4r,..lYet told thet a that Government, had done at, 1 , st lli ti• He gave theen credit for imagining they he , . c: ,'ne all th e y co uld do Many of the supporters of the t h"ernment'thought t hat too much had been done, but eq , on his sideof the aouse, who, notwithstanding their te Zn-law and their taris - T, were pressed eith the misery of ..4 1 0 se whom they represent ed, felt that very littletital been ee tl ° te mit; r nee' the wide-spread distress of the country. li e ar.) The people, too,. say that they can have but whie dep en O enee on a House of Commons that tell., them, l e 1 e in ,heir present condition, that all has been done • sue t an be done. It had been said that the increase of ,• _ti le 'fled houses was a proof of the thriving condition of ,ht es WAS st ,'° lll ltry. He wished t the last two years, instead of tbust te n . The number of inhabitable houses in the ie 11 of Leicester was I'l,ooo, and of these 1,600 were 4 1110 ocupied, rather m ore than one in seven.—(Hear.) fe et ‘ , O were 4,000 fraine:3 etnplo‘ ed in the staple menu wee : 1 e of the place. Ono-half was now laid by . H ouses sal,,„ ' 4 epreciated from 30 to 35 per cent. in value, and no Nuld be effected even at that reduct(Hear.) er ' \r ake of machinery had fallen 40 per cent., and those w S°ll ,s vtho subsisted by the hiring out o f p ro p ert y ee e ‘'aili t ar The pone-rates for the first quarter of the seat • sired with those of 1940 . were onbi , year, its comp. 18 4 eu.—(liear:) In 1840 the rate was 2,745/. in ' it w as ; in the present year s,l2ol.—(Hear, It • c . ) Wh en suc h w as, tie state of things in the towns , d the agricultural districts remain long unaffected by ;,, s ame distres s ? Vrithin the last two days ho met Pconstituentof his at time last ers,on who was a t r• I ° l3 , who described himself and his family to be in vitt ° & r eatest misery and distress. He did not, he said , beg, but he t les sired he might be admitted into h 0 )ital, as he had not eaten bread from the previous tnO— lni• - • He went into the hospital, and he was now onone to' •,ap;ricultural ,employment.—(Hear.) That was b e e tree but he had no doubt that many more might adduced when the population of the towns went to the I .,ptry eek relief by competing with the agricultu eessabourer s who wete not themselves a bit too well off.— eee'ear, i nst ear,)- So tb at it WAS likely that rural districts, eeb;: e a d of bei 'n/e - the fanciful resorts of delight and gaiety as j e " they see I r a described, would be soon as unseemly eato u e ° wretches I towns which were now se much depre • The lion. heal;) He would repeat the question of t b; M eee b, ern- Manchester, and ask whether every w i l l % that ouh, . to be done had been done ?—(Hear.) th ou at had been• o,: ai in the way of emigration ? He e ght that the ft eets of the country might be benefi poo'Y employ e e : i n car e:ying out to richer localities the me r of this ' con n t r y ;who could not obtain employ ilt at h ot ne . The Honourable Baronet then "t 1 to wh: et :had been &lie by the Uon. Xember -78 _ ____ LL~ reeo t r• question t should be:, feelings Wit le of those $. ied ; and if .l Low to whoa' )cal Magistt .1 not heard; ystem of 1113 t h draw .a the deser cl eh refusing r,, n that most uni`'' Sti' nstrous 9 1111 ' lief witheatle tate of tbe t l and whirl' inter to be intlW, made it (gle p it there_ OA, 1157 Wai t t i :ary for'l l o 1 the - oct , Ld been ~•) had si llinOess o it. di ng of t thief. tcontroliT, r m ight s i • tletnen,° •ery c mdin•;, ,itwls 1 they. -pt live O f ;i ol3 ` 1 .ed tl7 , )po iosi o oP •. ie 103 30 --73 he f ol able gf. cr ir g apr i o . a Ce n ti Bospiiig met t p , to eXP I II , A.)1151; 9 4 Latiti t "At' d - 6 ,0 - • • n pe I: ight,t the had thbi AY-00, issic 11 0 , ,10 to ,d i re .0 6 : e 0 0 Aiit 6°) .,,,,od .so to a „ Ad o) iho c oos • f ca giog ° 1 • ••• a 19q. ' - • - ' is day 011 ataitte t$ ce ; Or ,e valie 11 , ( Hear./ use, be, gate 0 be VI" t, , nis lu o J, _ ^ THE 'SUN, LONDON, SATlTilnkir - -- Northempton and by the late Lord Egremont in pro- carry that principle out to demonstrate its absurdity. If siding the means of emigration fur their tenants, and the ttse iithabieante 4)1 the country were to export their whole prosperous condition in which they now lived, seuding household furniture, undoubtedly it would increase the home money to their friends, and advising them to amount of the exports, but it would at the same time emigrate and partake of their own blessings. The impoverish the country. With a view of showing the Noble Lord at the head of the Colonial Department i increase of destitution in Manchester, ho would state had not, he supposed, overlooked this subject, but he that in 1835 the poor-rates amounted to 24,0611. and in (Sir J. Easthope) did not think it had been sufficiently 1842, to 4 - 5,835/. The rate was now increasing at attended to ;at least it was :not tried as a means of 1 the rate of 1001. for out-door relief, and 200/s relieving the distress of the country, and therefore it i for - relief in the workhouse. A great deal had could not be said that all had been done for that pur- been ~said of the immigration of the agricultural la pose which could be done. He did not think that a long bourers into the manufacturing districts, but a reference , period could elapse under the present pressure without to the Report of the Poor-law Commissioners would bringing danger to the country, and therefore he thought 1 shins , that the amount of that immigration had bee n that something ought to be done to relieve the distress I greatly overrated. He trusted the House would not, of the people. re j ect the motion. Mr. HUME said that the argument urged on the ,No other Member rising to . address the House, 'other side was the necessity of giving a trial to the pre- strangers were ordered to withdraw, but no division on sent Corn-lams. The Right Hon. Baronet at the head i the main question took place. of the Government looked forward to the admission of 1 Mr. COBDEN having (as we understood) moved the corn under his Bill, but though a million and a half adjournment of the debate, on which motion the House quarters of corn were in the home market, the working divided.' The numbers were— -33 c lasses were unable to avail themselves of the supply in F or the ad j ournment consequence of the want of means to purchase , w hic h Against it resulted from the low wages that were received in Majority against the adjournment •-155 the present depressed state of commerce. He On 'our entrance to the gallery, admitted that die tariff would be ultimately Mr. lIINDLEY was on his legs, and moved the ad nroduetive of beneficial results to the trade of the journment of the debate, amidst loud cries of .' Oh, oh," country, but. in its immediate effects it could furnish and " Question, question." very little advantage to the working classes. The disc Mr. 0. BERKELEY said he was sorry he could not tress in the country was appalling, and could they sup- vote for the motion of the Hon. Member if he pressed it pose that such state of distress as had been laid before to a division. the House, so frequently during the present session, I Mr. HUME said that his Hon Friend had expected could possibly continue. * Certainly not. The time was that the Rig ht Hon. Baronet would have spoken, and lie not far distant when the landed interest would be swept was anxious to have an opportunity of making an expla away by the evils which their own selfishness had nation upon what might be said. He did not think the generated. The monopoly sustained, for the ad- Right lion. Baronet had treated those who brought the vantage of the landlords, would be found even- subject forward as he ought. tually to be the most ruinous policy that could be Sir R. PEEL said that if regular attendance at the brought to bear upon their interest. The remedies for . House was any proof of sensibility to the distress the evils under which the country was sufthring had been of the country lie had certainly given that proot. pointed out by gentlemen on that (the Opposition) side --(Loud cheers.) He ventured to say that for of the House, and the responsibility of the con- one night that the Hon. Member fer Ashen' was in his sequence of those evils • must be borne by the piece; he (Sir 'R. Peel) . was there three.—(Cheers.) Government that had rejected the remedies proposed. The lion. Gentleman was absent during most of the He would only request of the Right Hon. Baronet fairly debate, and as a justification for moving the adjournment to carry out his own principles. He was sure that lie of the House, he said that he (Sir R. Peel) had not might thus provide food and employment for the people. answered his question, whether, if corn rose to about Three-fourths of our population were now restricted in 50e. or 545. the quarter, he would promise to open the their consuption, and nothing could remedy the evil but ports. With regard to those debates, he had shown no en extensive change in our commercial policy. By un- impatience to those whose opinions were adverse to his fettering the trade of the co ntry, the Right. Hon. own. lie might have complained 9f delay, but he never Baronet might dispense with the Income-tax, which was a , attributed the conduct of Honourable Gentlemen measure that could only tend further to aggravate the opposite to any improper motives, or to any national embarrassments. From the hour that our ports desire to obstruct the public business. He had would be permanently opened to foreign corn, destitu- taken a part in, the discussions upon this sub tion would cease, mills would be set to work , employ - j ect when., at was brought before the House on various ment - would be found for our distressed operatives, and occasions, on one of which it was debated for three sue every class of the community would be extensively bene- cessive nights. A motion had been made that an hum fited. If no such measure were adopted, with the Govern- one address be presented to her Majesty, that she would ment would rest the responsibility of the consequences. be pleased to refuse her consent to the prorogation of Mr. FIELDEN, who was very indistinctly heard, Parliament till a searching inquiry had been made into: could bear his testimony to the deep distress which per- the unprecedented distress which prevailed throughout the vaded that portion of the manufacturing community with kingdom. That motion was negatived by 165 to 84.• which he was acquainted. It was his firm impression (Hear, hear.) He had on that occasion, as the organ of that unless some alleviation of that distress were soon to her Majesty's Government, stated what prevented him take place, it would be impossible to maintain the peace from assenting to that motion. Since that motion of the country during the approaching winter. He im- was made by the Hon. Member for Aberdeen, plored the Right Hon. Baronet to take some ,steps whiph to the effect that her Majesty's Government should open the would give hope to our distressed operatives. It was his po that occasion he and others of her Majesty's Government its, which was almost the same as the present mo t ion , and wish to had discussed s e rvice ; the question. Last night another debate had but how, he would put it to the Government, could he ac - taken complish that wish, if no step were taken to relieve the place on the subject, which exactly embraced the same topics which had been adverted to this evening, and on that oc depressed state of the trade of the country? moon also he stated what his opinions were. —( Hear, hear.) Sir CHARLES BURRELL, who rose amidst cries of No intention had been shown yesterday by the Members of " Divide " from the Ministerial benches, wished to re- the Government to treat their opponents with any disrespect.— mind Hon. Gentlemen on the opposite side, that if the ( Hear, hear.) His Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State agricultural interest were depressed, that could only tend for the Horne Department and himself had spoken in the course further to diminish the home market for manufactured of the discussion. Previous to the division the Honourable goods. Member for Manchester had stated that he should Mr. VILLIERS rose amid loud cries of " Divide." not persist in moving an adjournment of the debate He said the Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down, because he would bring forward the question again in going into n had stated that if all the Liberal Members were like the from ouch Committee l ha t t he inf p er r en se e n e Is d eut t e t i r al: Member for Oldham, the question would stand in a a n s f ta S te n r i l ly t . , b N urtli practiced) , a continuation' of the debate of ' the preceding even better position. He could retort the compliment, by say- ing..—( Hear, hear.) It appeared to him that it must hare been ing that if all the Members of the agricultural interest cons idered in that light even by the Members of the late Ad. were as bold and manly as the Honourable Gentleman, ministration, inasmuch as he saw but two or three of them pre- Members, of the opinions he was expressing, would be sent that evening. He felt assured, that there would have been better acquainted ,with their arguments. But he believed a larger attendance on the part of those gentlemen, if they had thought thus present was ase s ar t t e e d h isc d ussion of an important he was the seventh Member on this side the House who had spoken cn the question, while gentlemen opposite himself,no addressed a the al t r i e o n ut tl'eaaitd sp oken had preserved a porteneaue silence. He should not make y su e' b le e lY. and he 1281 because he had no new statements, and no new evening, explanations to any apology for such motions as the - present. The apology make.—( Hear.) ought to come frem those who compelled this course.. Mr. EW ART was bound to admit that the Right Hon. If :hey had instituted any inquiry , or su gg ested any Baronet had not manifested throughout the discussio.. a in that remedy, they should not have impeded the progress of House any personal disrespect towards his opponents. But it public business, but receive their remedy, if they had any, appeared to him that it would have been better that the Right with gratitude.. But no such thing had been dune. It was Hon. Baronet shout 4 have give() the explanation he had just absurd to ascribe distress to the caprices of fashion ; they made before the House had proceeded to a division that even really had a. right to expect something more comprehensive log. He t d o id t t i t s t o e t, R h o ( u o s v e ev i e u r o , u s l v d !s t h hen th h a e t the . q d uestion of an ad than that from the Ministers of the Crown. They were .1 r 5! ou l` r ar rae csOßDEN contended that the question before the reluctant to trace it up to the Corn-laws, which they House . that evening was not the same question which they had were so unwilling to repeal. If they had. nny inquiry considered yesterday. He should support the motion for an the unsound nature of the laws would be. detected, and adjournment of the debate until Monday, in order to give Hon. the fallacies by which they were defended exposed. Members further time to consider the question. He believed Their arguments might do for quiet and prosperous that the majority of that: House was held in utter disgust times, but would not apply now. They had promised throughout the country.—(Cries of " Hear, hear," and " Oh, much to the people, but whore was the fultileient ? oh.") He was much mistaken if the truth of that statement How could they tell the labourers now that high bread was not proved before six months had elapsed. caused high wages. when the workmen were living on Mr. HAWES regretted to find himself obliged to differ with a halfpenny a day ? Did they dare deny that the ma• his Hon. Friend the Member for Stockport; but it certainly me m:Wring . novas were in the deepest state of appeared to him, that to resist the deliberate opinions of a majority - f the House, was altogether contrary to the prinei• misery ?—(Hear, heat.) What had become of their plea of representative Government.—(Cries of "Hear, hear.") excuses that these laws were for the public advantage 0 He thought that they had more reason to complain, that on a now ? They denied their past arguments by their pre - motion made, and supported by the Members of such irn sent silence. He defended these discussions. The portant places, no Member of the Government should have !light Hon. Member for Dorchester (Sir. J Graham) , risen and answered , ho wever briefly, 'the arguments used had stated that the fended proprietors were a small body, on the. occasion.-o( Hear, hear.) Such a thing had all-powerful when backed by public opinion, but if not never occurred before, and he thought his Hen. Friend supported by that asould, if they insisted on monopoly, had some reason to complain. But, on the other hand, he bring on national convulsion. He bel i e ve d that th is was must repeat that if such motions were pressed he must resist them, on account of the important constitutional and represen their present condition. They were accused of stopping the course of public business ; what encourage- tative question that was involved in it. ment had they • to go on with the public busi- Mr. COWPER urged his Hon. Friend to withdraw his ness ? They said they were an impotent minority. motion.fi lELDEN said his answer was, that the people we e What were the grounds of this conclusion ? All that the starving for want of food, and if no remedy were provided by Government claimed credit for, was owing to the impo- the Government, he should like to know what Government was? tehit minority. Every body now was anxious to prove Government in this country was an expensive affair; they three he had always been a tree trader. Had the Import raised sixteen or seventeen millions from the people, and could Duties Committee done nothing ? There was nothing they complain of being obstructed in the votes of supplies abusive, in either House of Parliament, that was not or any other measure, when they were prevented from robbing heaped on that Committee, yet it was the basis of the the people while they were taxing them ? He was rejoiced to . throw every obstacle - in the way ;he told them that the people ne w tariff. Every debate produced some advantage , had no money to pay them. The Right Honourable some s admission from the opposite side, or some ex p osuro Baronet was not doing his duty to thepeople of this P the l Held justify the of the'country, that he would tell him li' Right nly. The evils of aw on this . could mot i o n ,on another ground.. Nothing had been proposed Honourable Baronet had granted him a i personal interview, by the Gs.lvermaient that could benefit the people. That and had received lijm very courteously, and at that interview he was a suffit'ient justification of such motions as the pre - (Mr. Fielden) had communicated some important facts to him; sent. They were required in the present state of things, he had called hi s attention to the state of the countr y , and for that the people were starving was something had asked him to do something to prevent the people - tangible. Noth. log of that sort had been offered. The from starving for want of food. But all his entree tariff had been es meeived in the spirit of that French tries had been of no avail ; never since he had been w h en informed that the people were story- in that House, had he been able to procure any relief for a Prince who, suffering people. The Right Hon. Baronet had talked of ma ing for want of brm.l(l, expressed his surprise that they chinery being the cause of distress ; now he had .a petition in did not purchase cakes. The p e ople were star vin g for pocket from a poor flannel weaver of Rochdale, and the want of that brad which they had not the means he did not wonder that that individual considered ma of purchasing, and the Government told them they should chinery as the cause of his distress. In his petition, he have meat and perfumes; cheaper. The Government had says—what does he say?—(Laughter.) The gentlemen done nothing to relieve the distress. The people wanted who laughed had much better go home to bed to their a free trade in food, that the masses / night have the wives. —(Roars of laughter.) Ha says in his petition that means of obtaining the necessaries of life. His object in he commenced work at about seven years of age ; that in the year agitating this question Inscl always been that the people 1825 he laid out So/. in such machinery as he and groan quire's' for his own house, and saved 40/. besides ; that should have the means ef living by their labour, should be placed as much able re all anxiety on the score m wo an rkhe w u e e s staringnn ruined,hi in the the had fae n e othin , f hab bu t t ian t n h e e l of obtaining the means of subs. l .stence as possible. All weaver sent s his petition i fi nt rst I to the Right Hon. Baronet, who that could be done for the moral improvement of the sent it back to him wishing he would place it in other hands, people— all that could be done for the improvement of and the weaver had sent it to him (Mr. Fielden). Here was their education, must fail, unless they were well fed. a case of great hardship, and were they to tell him that there —(Cheers.) The first care of a Government ought to should be no relief? It was the old constitutional practice be to see the people fed. If they were well fed, well to insist, to demand a redreis of grievances before a clothed, and well educated, they might safely be en- shilling of the supplies was granted, and this practice trusted with the exercise of political privileges. His be should pursue. They had voted twenty millions for the object had always been to feed, to clothe, to educate, emancipation of the slaves, yet the slaves were better taken and to enfranchise the people.—(Hear.) • They were t e w ar e e nt el y mti n on t s h t e o relievena mauve s, y et o 4 iLra y tiz o s u . ld Why ilae not his vote at present pursuing a sinister. and unwise course of for that purpose. And he would tell them how to do it. Let legislation. If the people were poor and dependent, what- them go into the manufacturing districts and buy up the stocks ever might be the form of government u nder which the y in hand, and keep them till there was a der..and for them. If lived, they must be staves.—(Cheers.) I t was a great they, continued as they were, - the public credit would be mistake to seek to invest the people with political rights, shaken—the funds would not be worth two year's purchase. and at the same tiros to neglect to better their physical If the Government refused the relief he would continue to ob condition. It was impossible to maintain the present struct the voting of ;and it would remain to be sever if law; the people were increasing at the rate of 1.00 the people would support him Thezoph i t i in the mannfa a day, and the object of this law was to place food out of taring districts would e. s. n il a st or e t ar h e im if . they ca a l t led e h d i i m d tll i o d um ee l: their reach. An igeoraot people might submit to I sejentu bias s of d o .h . did b trusting the public business. If the Right this, but an educated - people never would; and I accused,, Hon. Baronet and his colleagues did not give them some hope in a country where the people were educated, and of a better state of things, he would divide against going into a every one had a right ,to express his opinion, it would Committee of Supply, if he stayed there until five o'clock in the be impossible to maintain a law poised for the purpose morning. of keeping them wretched. lii the present state of the Mr. T. DUNCONIBE thought that if the Hon. Member country there would be great danger in teroroguing Par- for Stockport, when he moved the adjournment, had stated the nt i'hout passing so me measure fur the relict of reasons for his so doing, that the Right Hon. Baronet would lite' e-- "taking upon itself have given eex laiiation he had since given, and the debate the ch:q7c", and the Government was . . wc 1i le been Co tinued After that explanation he trusted e t aren . responsibility in refusing all inquiry into its a great the motion would be withdrawn, and that the Hon. Member causes. for Stockport would address the House. Mr. "Ali\ :TZ did not altogether approve of the ree- P•Sir R. PEEL said that what the Hon. Member for Fins tice of he kriging forward one question, and debating bury had stated was the fact. • He was surprised at the Hon. This had been a Corn-law debate to all Member for Stockport moving the adjournment of the debate another. been better if intents and p 'orposes, and it would have at so early an hour as twelve o'clock ; and, if the Hon. Member t s ' e m a n had brought it forward as a Corn- had st ated his reasons for the motion, he (Sir R. Peel) should the Hon. Gen law debate at f te•st. But although he did not altogether certainly have V s ve c h N s e li e u xp i llna m th o in tio which he had given since. approve of the ttu:ition, he did not wish it to be understoo_cP Mr. Al' G I t hich' hied been submn it zs t t o o ne th o e f %d u i! different H e last that Isis c9iisti \ rents were in an easy and comfortable nature from t a w by the Hon. Member for Finsbury. It had not been state. He had'; been down there two or three times n b igh a t n i • t forward in consequence of the debate of last night not a week for the last month ; he had inquired of every having been adjourned. fie had a motion on the paper on the person he met, ?-na all, old and young men and subject g for some time past, on going into Committee of Supply. women, Whig, s i nery, , and Radical, without excep- Sir R. PEEL had misunderstood the Hon. Gentleman. tion, stated that • the'v had never known trade so The motion the Hon. Gentleman had had on the paper was, on bad, or so sligfit "a. hope of any improvement. the motion for going into Committee of Supply, to draw the He had himself ais lace of motion for an inquiry into attention of Hit/ House to the shopkeepers of Manchester— the distress next se, scion ; he ...bought the present was a very different motion from the pres ent.—( Hear, hear.) not the time for thet inquiry. e . " . l w country was never Mr. MUNTZ trusted the motion for adjournment would be so disturbed as at th e present moinei:e ; but neither the withdrawn. 'ett • were in a Mr. HINDLEY, in withdrawing his motion for adjourning country, nor the II ouse, nor the Aline 5,e , condition to inquire. —they had not been .7g t on. • the debate,• 'd in reply the taunt of the Ri h H elf punished Baronet paid that vas on his (Mr. Hindley's) absence from the House, he enough yet to make them seek for the truth. ile • N he begged to congratulate the Right lion. Gentleman in not on the point of establishing a new business in the Uell; hay had the same cause for absence from the House that bourhood of Birmine :ham, and the applications that 7ver .. ° he (It r. Hindley) had—severe domestic calamity.—(Hear.) made to him for emp loymeot were mortifying in the ex • Mr. COBDEN said that the proposition before the House treme. Persons did not come to him boldly as English- N eu one calling on them to make an inquiry into the causes men ought to do, and say I will give you a fair day's o f the distress of the country. It was the duty of the labour for your inone y; bait they came trembling lest they House to institute that. inquiry. The country was not now in should be refused—a skin g for work as for charity . He the condition it was at the commencement of the session. would not make one n mna,rk as to the cause or the remedy. E v ery w f e f k o r , t e u v n e e r li ' O l f a ihe that elapsed since that time had added to tie believed a full rep iedy might be fou nd. With regard I et c' In ca ls ine into o ffi ce co h u e n t r a y s . 1c e d W i' h o e r n t t t. he m Right Hon. Ha ont to the remedy, he wSnild . ealy observe on o ne p assage in facts of the case , and promised to devise somee t m o e c asur onside e o r f t r h e e • the speech of the Right H ert. Baronet, when he brought lief for the coun t ry. The Right Hon. Baronet had ample op forward the Budget. The . .t light Hon. Baronet had said, portunities of knowing the increase of the distress—he kceiv, " When we restored the elect station in 1819, we took time week after week, the progress in the increase of the poor-rates to do so." There was a va. st deal in this. They did —he knew the decrease which had taken place in employment, take time, for they had not I restored the circulation yet. io wages, and profits throughout the whole coun t r y, and h ow They had restored the coin only, and he begged the had he fulfilled his promise?—(Cheers.) He had never, once Right Hon. Baronet to conside r that point when seeking condescended b rherisaleheLei rale, the untrbefore the House. for the cause of the distressed ( sondition of the country. Baronet,( he r s h . a t d moved for a Committee colleague tti o u f tr the R to ig t l t i t t e Hon. state Mr.' MARK PHILIPS was for, an immediate inves- , of the relations between master and labourer q in e the West In tigation into the causes of the dis trees, and ou that point dies—another Committee had been sitting:the whole session, to he differed from the Hon. Member ' who had just sat down. inquire into the state of the negro population on the coast of No less than 62,900 of his cons, ituents had requested Africa—but no Committee had been appointed to take into him to state to the House the di), tress into which they consideration the distressed condition of our own population. — were plunged, and the destitution b y which the y were (Cheers.) Hon. Gentlemen opposite, who represented agri surrounded. It had been said that . -. the increase an the culture, t h ou ght that by remaining silent they . s h o uld induce exports was a proof of prosperity. The y had only to a belief that the agricultural districts wore pot i u a state of Oil- tress. Why, he would ask the Right Hon. Baronet the repre sentative of North Devon, if the rate of wages in his county k exceeded 7s. a week ?—(Cheers. ) He would put the same question to the Members for Dorsetshire, Somersetshire, Glou kesterslaire, Wiltshire, and Hampshire, and yet they told them that the Corn-law was for the benefit of the agricultural popula tion. If the inhabitants of Bolton and Stockport believed that their sufferings conduced to the comfort of the peasantry of the 'agricultural districts, it might be some mitigation of their mis lortunes, but it only aggravated those misfortunes; tolnow that the robbery that was committed on theist was of no :earthly advantage to the labouring peasant, hitt was solely for the benefit of the landlords.—(Cheers.) It was a.subterfuge to say that these laws were maintained for the benefit of the la bouring population.—( Cheers.) The county representatives did not come there with clean hands. It was gross hypocrisy to pretend that these laws benefited the labouring popula tion. %% by, the lowest rate of wages, for unskilled hands, in the manufacturing districts, was twelve shil lings a week ; and they would fain, by their land lords' legislation, bring - down the rate of wages for skilled hands in those districts to 175. a week, and reduce them to the same permanent state of distress to which they had already te dueed the agricultural districts. He hoped the distress in the manufacturing districts was only temporary —in the agricultural districts he knew it was permanent, as far as the labourers were concerned. Did they think that their sitting in silence there, as if their la bourers were well paid, would screen them from the indignation of the people ? By no means. There was a class of men in Lan cashire, the unworthy successors of Watt, and Arkwright, and Peel, who hung like parasitical weeds at the feet of the aristo cracy, and who, the more they were trampled on, the more they flourished in their debased position. It was such men that told the Right Honourable Baronet that the present distress was but a passing cloud. Against the assertions of those men he warned the Right Honourable Baronet. They but deceived him. But there was a class of men whose statements as to the real state of the country the Right Honourable Baronet might and ought to believe—the Delegates now in London, from various parts of the country, seeking to devise a remedy for the existing distress. If they looked to America they would see a means of alleviating the distress by opening an outlet for the manufactures of this country. Presi dent Tyler had vetoed the high tariff which had been proposed in Congress. He saw the Hon. and Gallant Member for Li verpool (Sir Howard Douglas) shake his head, but he could tell the Gallant Officer that President Tyler had vetoed the tariff. Sir H. DOUGLAS—President Tyler has not vetoed the tariff, he has only suspended it temporarily. Mr. COBDEN continued—Had he not been interrupted be was just going to say what the Gallant Member had stated. President Tyler had vetoed for a time the high-tariff _upon our manufactures, and thus an outlet for our productions was created, which ought to be met in a similar spirit by our Government with respect to laws regulating the import of corn. It had been said that they were obstructing the public business. That public business was the voting of the militia estimates, to put down, he supposed, the starving people. He believed they might be better employed in finding them food.—( Cheers.) Their shopkeepers' acted more wisely than they did. The shopkeeper who had a house at the corner of a street, opened windows, to catch the tide of traffic.—( Hear.) Far otherwise, and far less wisely, they acted with regard to America.—(Hear.) They commenced the busiuess of the session with a Corn law, and they had that night posted the Poor-law. There was something like poetic justice in the sequence. They had passed the Poor.law, which. be believed never would be necessary if they only allowed them to have recourse to the markets that might be, but were not open to them. The Poor-law was originally devised to find raw material for the people to work with, but now they might have the raw material of the new world, and they would not take it. If a person had the malice of a fiend, he might rejoice at the mode in which they were proceeding. The New Poor-law would not save their estates. Their present policy would create an amount of po verty which would burst the workhouse walls.—( Hear, hear.) The people were now lying by the sides of hedges and walls, but when the winter came, where would they go to? If they were driven from the ditch side by the terrors of the hostiles, they would become banditti, or they must be put into the workhouse.—(Hear, hear. ) Such were the fruits they had in store for them. He would say one word to the [light Hon. Baronet before he sat down. The Right Hon. Baronet was all powerful in that House, but he might become an in the country, and he might be able to cut off that bigoted section who now acted as a drag chain on his career if he altered his policy. It had been said that the Right Honourable Baronet did what he could. That, he runt say, was an equivocal compliment, for it was at the expense of his honesty. He (Mr. C.) believed that the Right Honourable Baronet was acting consci entiously. He was in principle a free trader, but practically he was opposed to it. But the time was now come when those principles should be adopted, and he believed that the Right tionouraNe Baronet was the only person who could carry ' them out wiihout incurring the risk of a revolution. The Right Hon. Baronet might carry out the principles of a liberal eommercial policy if he pleased to do so. A great respon sibility, therefore, devolved on the Right Bon. Baronet. It was his (Mr. Cobden's) belief that it' the House separated without adopting some measure calculated to alleviate the gene ral distress, a state of confusion would inevitably follow during the coming winter. The Right Hon. Baronet had it ' in his power to remove that distress ; and if he took the course • which would lead to such a result, however much be might be ' accused of deserting his party, let his answer be that he found distress and relieved it, that he found trade depressed and re ' vived it, that he found the people famishing and that he gave them bread.—( Cheers.) The House then divided, and the numbers were,- • .. 156 For the motion . Against it _... Majority in favour of the motion --92 The House then went into Committee of Supply pro forma, and immediately resumed. The Committee of the Court of Exchequer (England) Bill was postponed till Monday. BONDED CORN. The Bonded Corn Bill went through Committee, the Re port to be received on Monday. The Fisheries (Ireland) Bill was read a third time, and passed. MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, AND BOLTON PO LICE BILL. The amended Report on this Bill was received, the amend , ments agreed to, and the Bill was ordered to be engrossed. STAMP DUTIES BILL. The Report on ibegiamilsutie;BillZsbrought up. ASSESSED TAXES BILL (No. 2). The Report on this Bill was brought up, and certain amend ments in the Bill proposed and agreed to. The other Orders of the Day were thee disposed of, and the Ilouse adjourned at a Quarter to Three o'Clock. ANTI-CORN. L A.WiiONFERENCE. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday. The following letter w•as read : Boszox, LINCOLNSIIIRE.—Trade here is unusually dull. Parties who en our market days used to consider 5/. and 6/. a bad day's work, do not absolutely take so many shillings The grocers are glad to have their receipts for the day averaging above the fourth of what they were formerly. Mechanics and labourers are idle. The market-place is nearly full of labourers on a Monday morning, and the only busy portion of our popu lation are those at the relieving-officer's door, the pawnbrokers, or at that of the Magistrates' sitting-room, adjoining the police office. The families of respectable tradesmen are :iterally starving. Take an individual ease. My next neighbour, a Tory freeman by the way, whose rates being paid for him, voted last week to saddle me with a Church-rate,—this man, who has been in comparatively (with those in a similar trade) wealthy circumstances, has a large family. He has not a shil ling in the world—overwhelmed in debt—he has only brought home one sixpence during the last three weeks, and that ob tained by the sale of part of his tools. Trade, a carpenter. He is two years in arrears of rent. This is a faithful history of the " ways and means" of the respectable tradesmen in this town. The Rev. Mr. MASSIE (of Manchester) then addressed the meeting. He had had the pleasure of being in the gallery of the House of Commons during the debate of last night, and had been struck, with several other friends, with the marked silence which prevailed on the Tory benches on the subject they advocated, and the principles of free trade generally. He did not mean to criticise the speeches of the few Members who spoke on that occasion ; Sir R. Peel rose to speak of the disturb ances in the Potteries, which he said were not so serious as had been represented ; he said it arose from colliers striking fur 4s. a day rather than 3s. 6d., and that the agitation was caused by evil and designing men, who were sent down among them. He spoke like a man who seemed to require something stronger than water to support him ; never before had he seen him apply a tumbler to his lips in the House of Commons, but this he did twice during last night's debate. He appeared to want it to sustain his tremulous voice, or to give him time to think, co.. what he had to do was hard work. His speech, itself, was weak and full of claptraps—his speech was like his cause, weak and emasculated, and it appeared to him that he had lost that strength of mind which became the Premier of a great country to possess, in order to to lead the nation forward in a new career of commercial policy. He complained most bitterly of the gentlemen of the deputation from the Conference who waited upon him at Downing-street. He complained that they spoke in a declamatory manner, and said he was certainly rather disposed to turn a deaf ear to them in consequence. But he arose to address them principally on one of the most interesting statistic Reports that had ever been mode relating to the county of Lancashire. It was pre pared for the meeting of the British Association at ancilester. (The Rev. Gentleman then laid before the said he s h ou ld b e very brief r in meeting a Report, entitled , " Statis tical Illustrations of Halifax, gentleman h a d expresse d 9 e the Past and Present Sta te of Lan cashire," by Henry Ashworth, the substance of which Was given by Mr. Ashworth at the meeting held at t he City of London Tavern, on Wednesday.) some degree of hope. ; he wished he could instil the same feeling into him , for it would sav e many sleep. M.iThlAs observations. less nights. He di d not see any p ros p e ct of amend ment unless the Corn - l aws were re p eal ed. rse N l : va o t f io i nt a . In Halifax the distress was not yet so extreme as in other places, but it was fast increasing. By_ a i return of the amount of pauperism in the Halifax tin on, in 1838 and 1842, number ofpaupers had increased from appeared that the. from 3,704 to 8,531, and the rates from 1,8931. to 3,4891. Several respectable shopkeepers of Halifax had told him that their returns across the counter were not one-tenth what they were two years ago. The Rev. Mr. MORON, of Stourbridge, said the cry of distress came from all parts of the country, and to remove that distress it was necessary to remove that most abominable of all abominations —the corn mono poly. In the mining districts the distress was intense ; and in the Potteries the people had turned out in what, on the other side the way, would be termed rebellion, but it was a rebellion of the stomach. All were looking to the Conference for aid.—(Cheers.) Their position was more satisfactory than it was three weeks ago. It was now admitted that something must be done. If there were not a speedy remedy there would be a speedy outbreak. The statistics of the poor -rate at Stockport showed how the, poor-rates fell almost entirely on the middle classes; they must unite with the working classes, and the sooner they did it the better. Why should an honest man be forced to leave his native land ? It was an outrage upon propriety to propose such a thing. Let the Corn-laws be repealed, and let food be brought to him, instead of forcing him to go to the food.— (Cheers.) The effcct of the Coru-laws on the moral character of the people was also bad. The people were unable to send their children to b s c—ools, and the col lections for religious purposes were falling off. Their cause against the Corn-laws was the-cause of truth against error, and of justice against injustice and cruelty. The Rev. Mr. SCOBELL wished to know whether, in the pamphlet to which allusion had been made by Mr. Massie, Mr. Ashworth had made any allowance for the difference in the value of money between the year 1692 gie present tinet s ITTLt 23, 1&i2: 3 Mr. AsliwoßTH said the pamphlet had been unex pectedly brought under discussion that morning during his absence, and therefore he was not aware exactly of what had taken place. His object in drawing up that statement had been merely to lay before the British Association, on their assembling at Manchester, a view of the statistics of Lancashire. With reference to the inquiry made by Mr. Scobell, he begged to state that he had taken the nominal value of the currency of the realm, regardless of any change in the value of money between the two periods. But they should also take into their calculations the diminution in the value of articles of clothing. &c., purchased by money, and it would then be found that the diminution in the value of clothing was greater than the diminution in the value of money, so that the owners of rents were in a better position for commanding the comforts of life than they were in 1692. To show the increase in the value of landed property, he mentioned one estate which had been purchased by the grandfather of the present pro prietor for a flitch of bacon and a peck of oatmeal. That estate was now worth 1,0001. The value of property in Lancashire had been improved by the intelligence, in genuity, and industry of the heads and the hands of its population, and he exulted on looking at that county, to see the triumphs that mind had gained over matter. A change, however, was now passing over them—a wasting process was swallowing up this prosperous in crease, and, if not stayed, would at no distant period fling back that beautiful county into the waste whicd it was in former days. They might form some idea of the great importance of Lancashire, and of the industry of its population, when he informed them that about half a million of the working people of Lancashire supplied one-half the exports of the whole United Kingdom.— (Cheers.) Surely these men, who were now suffering the deepest distress, Were entitled to the sympathy of the country. (The Hon. Gentlemen then went minutely into the statistics of Boston as given in the pamphlet, and repeated the statement made by him in the City on Monday, that the Committee of Inquiry found that comparing the number of blankets found among a con siderable number of distressed families with the number of persons in those families, the average was 10f persons to each blanket.) The Conference might wish to know what was the general appearance of the people in the town of Bolton. A person entering the town would see groups of men sauntering idly about ; their countenances haggard, care-worn, and anxious ; their clothes torn and patched. Some of these were men who had been employed in making the most difficult parts of the machinery of lo comotive engines ; these men stood at the corners of the streets, sullen and heavy, with eyes looking any thing but complacently at the vehicles of the wealthy bat rolled past them.—(Cheers.) Their minds could not understand why men possessed of skill, and in genuity, and honesty, and strength, and industry, should be suffered to pine in squalid destitution and misery. —(Cheers.) Many of these people had but ss. 6d. a week whereon to maintain six persons. Of that ss. 6d. no less than 4s. Bd. was expended in the purchase of articles of agricultural produce, and of that Is. 6d. went in payment of the food tax—so that the Corn-laws took Is. 6d. out of that ss. 6d. to give to the landlords.—(Cheers.) The prophecy of the Standard was in a fair way of being fulfilled. The editor of that paper had said " England would be as great, and powerful, and all-useful Englishmen would be as rich as they are, if one ruin were to engulph all the manufacturing districts of England." That was a prophecy—a prediction. perhaps the ex pression of a hope, to the triumphant fulfilment of which they •srere rapidly hastening. He looked upon those words of the Standard as the expression of a prediction or a desire, rather than as an observation,—(Cheers.) Before sitting down he wished to make one observation on a statement which he had made the other day in the City. Ho had there stated that the rating of Bolton was made on a valuation of 84,0001., and that 31,0001. were in a condition to pay the rates. He had frequently be fore made that statement, and it had never been contra dicted that he had heard of, until last evening. He had not been present, and therefore did not exactly know what had passed ; but he had been informed that it had been stated that the sum of 31,0001. was not to be consi dered as the test of the ability, but of the willingness of the persons to pay rates. It appeared that a part of the inhabitants of the town denied the validity of the Char ter, and on that account refused to pay the rates. Such had been' the statement that had been made. He had not had an opportunity of hearing from Bolton on the sub ject, but he thought it right to take the earliest oppor tunity of referring to the statement which had been made. Mr. HumE, M.P., who was loudly cheered by the meeting, said that he was happy to think he might con gratulate them on the proceedings in the House of Cr,m mons last night.—(Hear, hear.) They had been anxious to obtain from her Majesty's Government a distinct declaration of their intentions in the present alarming state of the country. Until last night, however, they had no definite avowal of those intentions. He thought that there could now be no doubt as to the course which Ministers- meant to pursue, or as to the grounds upon which they would take that course. Sir James Graham and Sir Robert Peel had admitted that the distress of the people was great and widely ex tended, but they seemed to entertain a lurking hope that the distress was but temporary, as well as a desire that the measures they had passed should have a further trial. Sir James Graham distinctly said that a trial of those measures had not yet been made, and thatit would be very unwise and very unreasonable not to give them an opportunity of ascertaining what might be the results of the commercial policy they had adopted. Sir R. reel alleged that he was not prepared to introduce any new measures, as he expected, from symptoms already exhibited, a revival of commercial prosperity. There was no doubt but there had been of late a considerable increase, as stated by Sir Robert Peel, in the Custom-house entries. That circumstance might, however, be attributed to the fact that a great quantity of goods had been kept back until the new tariff should come into operation ; and no proof had yet been given that we could calculate on a per manent revival cf prosperity. Sir Robert Peel, in the course of his speech, had adverted to the in crease in our population since the year 1831, and he showed that that increase had taken place by the returns of the late census. But the argument that had been thus used was little better than a fallacy, because there might be a great increase in the census of 1831 as compared with the census of 1841, and yet there might be, as he (Mr. Hume) believed to be the case, a very great reduction in the number of occupied houses during the last three years—during the period which Mr. Heyworth had properly called " the period of the wasting process." Now he would recommend the Delegates to endeavour to ascertain, as nearly as they could, the number of houses in different towns which had become untenanted since the years 1836 and 1837, when he took it for granted that all our houses were occupied. Let them in the same way endeavour to ob tain correct returns of the number of mills which had since a given time been standing still in various manufacturing towns. 'He thought that such statistical details would go far to prove the dmount to which our manufactures had declined, and the consequent destitution of the working classes ; and those details might be advantage ously used in the next debate on the subject of the national distress in the House of Commons. He should, therefore, recommend to the Delegates to communicate all the in formation they could collect upon these matters to their supporters in Parliament. He believed it might thus be shown that the present depression of our trade had proceeded to an extent never before parralleled. He was himself persuaded that while every former commer cial crisis of this country was but a temporary cessation of trade, the present crisis was attended with an alarm ing destruction of capital. The result of this would be that, even if trade should revive, they could not avail themselves of the change, inasmuch as the capital by which it was to be turned to account was every day dis appearing. He was sure that Sir R. Peel himself was fully sensible of the value of manufactures, as a main element of the national greatness ; and that appeared to him to be clear from the Right Hon. Baronet's speech of last night. He could even tell them that there were symptoms that Sir R. Peel was a convert to their opinions, whatever might be his power of carrying them out. He had but one further observation to make. It was most important, in his opinion, that some step should be taken to unfetter our commerce be fore Parliament was prorogued.—(Hear, hear.) If some sound system of commercial policy were not immediately adopted it would come too late, because it would be impossible that any satisfactory arrange ments could be entered into either with America, or other countries, for the exchange of our manufactures for their corn, unless the terms upon which these ar rangements could be made were immediately known. He mentioned this as a proof how necessary it was that they should make every effort to obtain some concession from Parliament before the prorogation took place. Mr. LEwis, a delegate from Stroud, mentioned, as a proof of the deterioration of manufact u red goods, that he hadjust seen a merchant in the City, who had pur chased some go )ds, and whew asked by him the price at which they were bought, he replied that they would be cheap at a Ils. a yard ; but the gedtleman assured him that he had purchased them for 6s. a-yard.--(Hear.) Mr. HE Y WORTH, of Liverpool, read the following let ters, received from town missionaries in Liverpool, show ing the deep and wide spread distress of the people of that City : Copy of a Letter received from a Liverpool Town Mis sionary, dated July 18, 1842. The part of the town in which I labour is in Toxteth-park. There are in my district about fifteen hundred poor families ; many of these are in the greatest distress. Daring the five years that I have laboured in the mission, there never were so many mechanics out of employment as at the present moment. There were rather more labourers out of work last winter than there are now; but the number of mechanics at present out of employment is very mach greater than it was in the depth of winter. The trades that are suffering most' from the want of' work, are joiners, carpenters, sawyers, blacksmiths, and ehairmakers ; some of these have been as much as nine months out of work, others only a few weeks. It is a very common thing for me, in my daily visits, to meet with families who have been for two days without food. lam now speaking of decent families, who used to live comfortably, and who struggle even now to keep up a decent appearance. Po verty has compelled them to part with nearly all their furniture and clothes, It is a very common thing for me to near such persons say—We have parted with our eight-day clock, or we have been obliged to sell our best bedstead, to get something to eat. It is very common in my district for mechanics, unable any longer to get work at their trade, to seek it as day-labourers. A shipsmith, living in Ashton-street, told me the other day that he had walked to Argburth to get one day's work at digging potatoes. A carpenter's wife told me that her husband had not had one day's work at his trade during the last twelve month s , but that he had lately succeeded in getting a little to do as warehouse porter. A blacksmith's wife told me that her hus band was gone to try to get a job of work at haymaking, f or that he had clone nothing at bis trade for the last ten month s . I generally visit' fro m twelve to eighteen families every day, and never does a day pass without my meeting several out of work. Chi Friday last I visited no less than eight families where the men were out of work, and their wives and children were without food. Within the last six months many persons, both childen and adults, have died, whose illness was occasioned by want of food. The distress appears to be Increasing every week, and what the end of these things will be God only knows. Liverpool, July 18, 1842. Sir,—Being desired to give a short account of the state of the poor in my district, I beg to state that I labour as your missionary on the east side of the town. The state of the poor in this neighbourhood was extremely destitute during the last winter. I have scores of families on my list, who are reduced to the last degree of destitution; many of them are unable to walk for want of food, and had no prospect but to remain at home and die on their beds of straw, till I re- presented their condition to some benevolent gentlemen who came to see a few cases for themselves, and declared that they never should have believed that such a degree of misery ex isted in Liverpool, bad they not seen it themselves ; they thought my statements were highly coloured till they witnessed the cases for themselves. These individuals relieved a great many from their own private resources, and I obtained relief for numbers from the public charities o f town. I expected, that when the season advanced, people might obtain employment, and that the distress would be diminished; but, alas I during the summer months, the wretchedness and destitution have increased iu a great degree ; employment is more scarce, private resources and the public charities have become so exhausted, that they are unable to meet the de mands made upon them. have been recommended to send the people to the parish office, which I have persevered in doing; but they almost in variably declare to me that having waited there for whole days successively, with empty stomachs, they have been dismissed without even being permitted to state their case. I have at present on my district men who, with large families dependent, have been for three, six, nine, and some twelve months without employment, and have pledged every available article they had for which they could get a penny for food. I have persons who attend at my meetings who have pledged and sold their coats from their backs, and their hats from their heads. • One man had pledged his coat and afterwards sold his hat for threepence to get bread for his children, and yet these people continue to attend religious meetings, although they have now nothing hut absolute starvation staring them in the face. I fear that if some change for the better be not speedily pro duced, some awful crisis is near at hand. I fear that I am not able in a few words to describe the misery that exists, but if any gentleman wishes to witness for himseif some of these scenes of wretchedness, I shall willingly accompany him. that he may judge for himself. Yours, &c. TOWN MISSIONARY. [The name is omitted lest it might injure the body of which he is a missionary.] Mr. O'CONNELL, who was loudly and enthusiastically cheered, said he gladly availed himself of the permission to address them. It was not his intention to trespass upon their attention at any length. He knew that he had not the power to afford them any instruction, and he was sure that it would not give them any satisfaction that he should unnecessarily consume their time. He came there he should say, on his own behalf. He came there to express his decided opinion that it was the duty of every representative of the people, to give his counte nance, such as it might be, to their exertions, and his vote in favour of the plans which they had suggested.— (Hear, hear.) He had the honour to represent the largest constituency in Ireland—the Yorkshire of Ireland —an agricultural community in which, it might be said, there were no manufactures ; and yet, both he and his constituents were as anxious for an abolition of the Corn-laws as any of the gentlemen around him.— (Hear, hear.) He was exceedingly anxious for the suc cess of their patriotic attempts to put an end to all taxa tion upon human food. Among the means of accom plishing that object the people of Ireland had always reckoned the putting of Parliamentary representation upon a lager, and therefore sounder, basis. They had taken the liberty of suggesting that to the members of the Conference ; but in doing so, they had not the slightest notion that they would be considered presump tuous in offering their advice, and they had not the least idea of annexing any condition to giving them their assistance. He was not there conditionally-. He was there absolutely.—(Hear, hear.) He was there, therefore, unequivocally t') support their measures ; but those measures he would tell them could never be carried into effect unless their moral power was increased. How were they to persuade the landowners ? They might remember the anecdote of an old Scotch Member, who said, in times gone by, that he had heard many a speech in the House of Commons that changed his opinions, but he had never heard a speech that changed his vote. — (Heir, and a laugh.) They might convince the landlord as long as they pleased, but the sound of their pantaloon pockets would carry their votes. The prospects of the country were lamentable. On the one hand the people were starving, and on the other hand the landlord class were obdurate and unfeeling. He had been blamed for calling them a sordid aristocracy; but he wanted to kno iv what else they were ? He had no hesitation in saying that those who took their bread out of the mouths of the famishing were but a sordid aristocracy.—(Hear.) It was a frightful prospect. On the one hand, one class could not get employment or wages ; on the other, the landlords insisted that they should give their price for their corn. If the principle were applied to trade in a town, John Bull could insist upon setting up a rival shop.—(Hear, hear.) It had been said that the aristo cracy did not believe in the distress ; he should probably have to insinuate to-night, that they did not believe it. There was one being, the enemy of mankind, who " be lieved and trembled ;" the aristocracy believed also, but they did not tremble yet. He hoped they might not be in peril, but it was their duty to act as If they were so, and endeavour to secure their safety, in spite of them selves. It was not the aristocracy who resisted the tyranny of Charles, and broke down the monopolies of the trade of that day, which confined it entirely to those who had Court interest ; it was the middle classes, and they were that middle class now, with the advantage of being more powerful than at that time, for political in formation had descended to the operative class ; they were a thinking class, and, alas, now a suffering class also; and it was necessary that, in spite of the aristo cracy, that class should have the means of subsistence. He was afraid to indulge himself in saying what extent of peril the aristocracy was in. He had been taunted with a wish to effect that which he prophesied ; this was the common case ; those who told others of their dan ger, were accused of creating what they only foretold. Their danger was created by themselves. What had occurred this week with regard to bonded corn ? —(Hear, hear', hear.) It had been proposed to take a certain quantity of corn out of bond, only on condition that other corn should be put in place of it. Twenty-nine sagacious land-holders silia they could not consent to it ; that frauds would take place ; that in spite of their bolts and locks, frauds would be committed. What did they , call fraud ? Why that the poor man might get an additional biscuit for a penny. It appeared to him insanity • the greater, for what they heard last night. Peel m ade a must artful speech, as when did he nut ? Only when it was not the interest of his party to do so. He told them not to suppose that he had dis tinct hopes of amelioration, but he said here is the Globe, here is the Manchester Guardian—papers op posed to my party. I do not read them to excite hopes. Oh no ! But his party had all the benefit of the inference, without his running the hazard of the assertion. He spoke of the increase of the consumption of sugar during the past year, but the people would consume a thousand times as much, if it were free of duty. Another part of his speech showed great oratorical talent. He admitted repeatedly that distress existed in different localities ; he did not attempt to say that it was confined to those localities,tut he repeatedly dwelt on its partial and local nature, and though he had not the resolution to deny that the distress was general, yet his party had the benefit of the suggestion. That was why the aristocracy were hardened to their complaints. They still believed there was a glimmering of hope. Peel said, give my tariff a fair experiment ; but while he made the experiment, the people were starving—starvation could not postponed. He feared the interval between this and the next session ; it must increase the distress, and even if it did not grow worse, ought they to remain as they were ? Grow worse it must, in consequence of the change in the temperature, which would require more material to keep life in the human being. He really shuddered at the prospect be fore them ; ho shuddered most of all to think that those classes of the community who were circled by luxury, who were " clothed in purple and fine linen," who en joyed every delight that the world could give them, had no feeling for the famished father, the starving mother, and the pining child.—(Hear, hear.) At all events they would have acted their parts ; they would have freed their souls, and done all they could to avert these calami ties. They talked of the distressed districts being disturbed by agitators; there never was a change proposed by any one but he was called all that and worse ; it was their , hire and salary ; and the man was not fit to lead a move ment of the people who could not bear that, and ten times as much. The pertinacity of the Anti-Corn-law League delighted him. They were bound to continue ; the metropolis had not assisted them as it ought—(Hear, hear)—it was not to be wondered at. All the wealth of the world was congregated in the west-end of London, and it was one of the worst symptoms for a nation when the wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few in the midst of a distressed population. The distress was uni versal ; he could answer for its existence in Ireland though it was not so conspicuous, from there being just enough provisions in different localities to keep away absolute famine. In other districts provisions were also cheap, but if bread were a penny a pound it would be useless where the people had not a halfpenny to purchase it. Ire land, therefore, had an interest in their strife; it was to feed those operatives of that country who had been many years settled among them, who had no settlement here, and many of whom had rather die than be sent back to the misery they must experience in Ireland. They were, therefore, interested in assisting them, and would be equally ready even if they had not that interest in so doing. If the League was compelled to adjourn over the session, he would state that there was no legal, peaceable, or constitutional act which the Irish people were not prepared to do to assist them.—(Cheers.) Su far as the voice of the people could assist them, they might command them, and he only regretted that they could not serve them more effectually. It was the cause of humanity, charity, and social order, for social order could not exist with a total want of employment and want of wages. The higher classes might b , 3 secure for a time, but the evils that rankled the heart within the skilful workman, and brought down the genius capable of every invention mechanical science gave scope to, which dulled the eye and stupified the mind, had an unfortunate up-rising q uality ; like the flame of destructi on , th e fi re might glow more intensey below, but at last it would mount to the highest summit. They were bound to continue to act in behalf of humanity, and if they did,theso heL sordid aristocracy would at last yield to their efforts.—( C heers . ) his adherence to the Mr. EWART rose to give in C(OltUrr.seullicaornkneedll accept y cep th t people en t e H fo o r n. th G e it me.) They must stand _ by the people of Ireland, and e th ß e i fi li tl t e, good, when began, that intellect and common they will stand by us- It was the popula r head, and if the • aristocracy sense should put itself at its had raised a commotion, it was right that some power ferment. should "ride the whirlwind and direct the storm.' And who could better do this than the smug and influential middle classes of England ? Their creed was safety and safety consisted in wholesome agitation, for if they sank to sleep that slumber would be tho slumber of death. It was their duty to carry on the wholesome agi tation they had commenced, on the same principle as the agitation of the elements prevented disease and cor ruption. If they were temperate and persevering it would be impossible for Peel, or the country gentlemen, or the aristocracy, or the parsons either, to prevail against them. A vote of thanks was proposed to Mr. O'Connell, Mr. Ewart, and Mr. Hume, for their services in the cause, which was carried by acclamation, and briefly acknow ledged by Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Ewart. The CHAIRMAN said, that the meeting at its rising would adjourn till Monday. Before they separated he would read the following letter from Nottingham, which might be taken, in some degree, as an answer to the statement of Mr. Gaily Knight, that Nottingham was not so distressed as it had been represented to be : Nottingham, London Road, July 19, IS-12. The amount of distress in this neighbourhood is dreadful in. deed, and it is increasing ; the last two or three weeks were worse than any that preceded them, and the expectation of every one here is, that the coming weeks will be worse stall, • and that the winter will be terrific. Being myself chairman of the Stoney-street Benevolent Society, and having about 400 weekly customers in business, no one has better opportu nities of knowing the state and sentiments of the working classes, and I am quite confident that the opinion expressed above is true. If you ask " can the people exist through the winter without bread ?" in answer, I beg leave to say that I have already seen the poor suffer so tremendously in this nei ghbourhood that I cannot tell where the limit to their endurance is. The feeling amongst the better disposed of those that suffer is, without exception, this—that God Almighty has sent plenty for them, but that the wickedness of man prevents them from receiving it. The prevailing sentiment amongst another, and very numerous class, is that of most bitter exec ra ti on of those who, they say, have made laws to rob them of all that makes life desirable. I am of opinion that it is the collateral influence of religion and religionists that is a principal cause of our having had, no violence here. From information that I can fully rely upon, I am convinced that the working classes of Nottingham, Derby, Mansfield, Leicester, Hinckley, and Loughborough, are much worse off now than they have ever been in the recollection of any individual living—that their condition is becoming worse and worse every day—and, in fact, that it has changed for the worse permanently. If the unemployed here were to be guilty of outrage, they would be more pitied than execrated by the inhabitants in ge neral. They are all getting to be of opinion that" the world is not their friend, nor the world's law." I could send - you numbers of descriptions of instances of ex treme suffering, and also of the use of very violent language, and many instances have come under my own observation in which disease and death have been the consequences of *int. The unemployed are now going about begging in parties of I t to 200 or 300, using language that is very near demanding. The Conference then adjourned till Monday. PETITION FROM THE CONFERENCE. • Presented and read to the Heuie by C. P. "Mien, TE , ota Thursday Even in g. . - " That the long-protracted distress of this nation is•gene. rally increasing, and has become intolerable. That, without animmediate change in the policy of the Legislature, there is no hope of a restoration of public prosperity. The disruption of the very elements of F ciety is threatened, the stability and good order of the State are hastening to an end. The indus trious classes are starving, and your laws prevent them from earning bread. We call upon your House instantly to abolish ail monopolies which interfere with the rights of labour, and to take means that you shall not separate until the Corn-laws be entirely repealed; and, while we deliberately declare our belief that the remedy for the existing distress is within the powers of Parliament, we hereby record our solemn warning that the consequences of rejecting the application of that re medy will be at the door of your Honourable House. . " And your petitioners will ever pray," Scc. MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS. CITY, FRIDAY EVENING. SUN.—The English Money Market has been without any feature or business. The funds appear to have an inclination to advance still further, were speculators to show any disposition to enter into extensive operations. At the termination of business Consols were 90,1 90 3 / 4 for Money, and 904 90i for the Account. Bank Stock, 1654 1664 ; India Stock, 248 249; Exchequer Bills, Old, 46 48 ; New, 44 46 premium. The prices of Fenian Securities remained firm. Belgian Bonds were 101 1 4, 102!!, : Dutch Two-and-a-Half per Cants., 51 514 ; the Five per Cents., 101 1014 • Danish, 82 83 .; and Brazilian, 63 65. Mexican was quoted, 364 364. The Share Market was exceedingly heavy, prices, however, differed but little from those of yesterday—London and Birming ham were 178 180; Birmingham and Gloucester, 48 W ; Great Western, 86 87 ; the Half-Shares, 614 62 ; North Mid land, 59 60; the New Shares, 29 30; South Eastern and Dover. 224 23 ; the Scrip, 24 3 ; Eastern Counties, 84 94 ; Northern and Eastern, 404 414 ; Blackwell, 9 94 ; and Brighton, 33 334 per share. The Foreign Exchanges did not vary materially from the state in which they were on Tuesday. Hamburgh advanced to 13 11, 13 114 ; and Paris declined to 25f. 674 c., 2.5 f. 724 c. The quotations for the Bonds were—Colombian, 21 214 ; Peruvian, 16 17 ; Portuguese Five per Cents., 334 33i ; the Three per Cents., 194 194 ; Spanish Five per Cents., '2l 214 ; the Three per Cnts., 204 21. The conversation in the House of Commons last night on the subject of the Stade duties has attracted much attention in the City among those who are eitterested in the trade with Hamburgh, and as the commerce with that city is very ex tensive, it is needless to state that the question is worthy of consideration. It may be fairly stated that, with the exception of Russia, and until lately, Mexico, no trade has been subjected to so much annoyance as that which has to pass up the Elbe, asd that annoyance owing solely to this impost. The rates charged by the Hanoverian Tariff, and fixed upon arbi trary principles, and without the slightest reference to Ham burgh, which city is more intimately interested, have been collected in the most vexatious manner, the slightest deviation making the parties liable, however innocent they might be of any intention to defraud, to the most . annoying proceedings and 'heavy fines. If the de scription of the goods in the market from this country:.differ in the slightest degree fromihe Hanoverian book of ra , the trouble and additional charges are numerous. For ins tan ce, if the duty be levied by the package, and if it be in a b ale and termed such in the ship's papers, it pays a certain rate; but if the German word tallen, which means precisely the same thing, be used, but one half is charged. In shipping beer from this country, it is understood to be a British manufacture, but if it appears as such in the documents submitted to the col lectors of the duty, it pays exactly ten times as much as it would. if called beer. Examples have been cited, upon trifling errors, by which the loss to that country would, had they been permitted to pass undiscovered, have been but trifling, have been visited with the confiscation of ship and cargo, which have been released, only by submitting to very heavy penalties; one, in particular, where by rnisdescribing a small parcel of goods the difference would not have been Ss., the fine levied to, procure the restoration amounted to upwards of 2151. The duty was originally fixed at one-sixteenth per cent., but by innovation the charge now varies from one-half to five per cent.; besides this, there is the trouble of paying no less than eight different exactions : first on the ship, then the cargo, each article being separately enumerated, next a commission of six-and-a-quarter per cent. on these to the officers, as a fee for their trouble of collecting them; then harbour dues under the denomination of " ship's expenses," a separate com mission also upon this ; next a certificate of return, and lastly a tax upon the passing Stade outward bound ; this last being doubtlessly the most cheerfully paid of them all. Much doubt exists as to whether the Congress of Vienna, and the subse quent Convention at Dresden in 1619, did not abolish those duties in Coto ; but even if they be legal, it is no less imperative upon the Government to take the necessary measures to re lieve one of the principal branches of trade from the great op pression, under which it now labours. COURSE OF EXCHANGE—(YESTERDAY.I Amsterdam CF. 12 8 Ditto, at sight Rotterdam .........2 U l2 8i Antwerp l2 7b Hamburgh M.B. 13 14 ' __ . . Gibraltar ... ....... 46 Leghorn . .. .. 3O 23 Genoa 25 90 Milan . Venice Altona Paris, 3 days' sigkt 25 60 Ditto, 3 months 25 85 'Naples ......... iPalerrno, per oz 1191 (Lisbon Oporto 521 Rio Janeiro 261- Bahia Buenos Ayres New York, 21 days sight 4131 Philadelphia. PRICEI, OF BULLION, PER Ca. Foreign Gold, bars £3 17 9 Portugal Gold C0in...3 17 5 New Doubloons 0 0 0 New Dollars.. 0 4 10 Silver in Bars... 0 4 11 Marseilles Bourdesxm 25 90 Frankfort on Maine... 151 i Petersburgh, 3Us ... 37 8er1in..... Vienna, effec. el. 3 M 957 _ . M. Trieste, ditto 9 58 Madrid Cadiz 36t Bilbao 36 Barcelona Seville CORONER'S INQUEST. SUICIDE BY A CHILD NINE YEARS OF AGE. Last evening an inquest was held at St. George's Hospital, before Mr. Higgs, on the body of Emily Cowdroy, aged nine years. Mrs. Thomas, of York-terrace, Chelsea, a married woman, stated that she resided at No. 6, Church-terrace, Chel sea. Deceased and her parents occupied the second floor. There were five children of them altogether. On the 15th instant, about eleven o'clock in the morning, the mother of the deceased was in her room, and some of the children called out that Emily had broken a mug. Witness told the mother not ' to beat her, and she said she would not.. The deceased was that \ on the stairs, and seemed distracted about the accident, went upstairs and was shortly afterwards followed by the mother. There was a screaming then by all of the children, and the mother came down stairs again. In a moment or two 1 the screaming was resumed more violently, and in a minute or two afterwards witness heard that the deceased had thrown her \ self out of the window, and saw the landlady of the house carrying the child up stairs in her lap. The children were not treated harshly by the parents. A little girl, a sister of the deceased, about six years old, stated that the deceased asked her to undo her dress, which She took off and threw into a corner, and said, " Thank you." She then kissed her little brother, and got up on the window seat, and opening the window, was getting out, when she (the sister) attempted to prevent her, but she kicked her from her, and threw herself bead foremost into the area. Their mother was then down stairs. The father of the deceased, who was affected to tears, stated that the deceased was a most affectionate and sensitive child , The mug in question was a mere child's plaything, but the de , ceased set great store on it, as it belonged to one of her sisters. The deceased was quite naked when picked up in the area. Several other witnesses were examined from whose testi mony it appeared that the mother entered the roam at the ' instant the child was in the act of getting out of the window, ' and franticly rushing forward was only just time enough to ' catch hold of the deceased's hand, but was not able to retain her hold of her. The reason assigned for her undressing her. r self was, that she was ashamed of her clothes which were very shabby. It also appeared that she had been impressed by the I father, although not intended by him, in a serious way not to [ break that mug.—Verdiet, " Died from having thrown herself , from a window while in a st a te oi mental excitement." TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. 8 / rt _A paragraph having appeared in a daily Journal, copied from the Windsor Express, stating that the Guard of Honour of the 15th Regiment, stationed at Claremont during part of her Majesty's late stay there, had been removed in consequence of the misconduct of the men, I am authorised to inform you that there is not the slightest foundation for such a statement. I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, C. GREY, Lieut.-Colonel, Buckingham P a l ace, July Equerry in Waiting. 20.1 t de Bonnald, Archbishop of Lyons, arrived on. the Marseilles, on b oar d t h e Mi nos steamer , fro m R owe, Whither he w en t t o rece i ve t h e C ar di na l's hat. 1.1. de , orbm Janson, Bishop of Nancy, was a passenger in the same packet. The Church Intelligencer contradicts the r umo ur that Mi ss Gl a d s t one o f Liverrol, has apostatized to the Roman Catholi c Ch urc h. Vic statement, it is said, is entirely without foundation. •