The Sun. — London, England, 1839-01-17 00:00:00

GREAT MEE TH TING AT LEEDS E CORN-LAWS. DEFEAT OF MR. FEARGUS O'CONNOR. Lamm, JAN. 15, 1339. A public meeting consisting of several thousand persons, has been held this day in Leeds, called by the Mayor on a very numerous and respectable requisition, and held first in the Court-house, and afterwards, from the impossibility of actsom rnodating in that building a ,quarter of the persons desirous of attending, in the spacious area of the coloured cloth-hall. Unusual interest has been excited in consequence of the attempt of Mr. Feargus O'Connor to overturn the proceed ings of the requisitors, and to substitute for the resolu tions they had prepared an amendment in favour of Uni versal Suffrage. This attempt of the torch-man to de feat by a side -wind the reasonable and honest intentions of the requisitors, was not merely designed (as most of his efforts are) to obtain notoriety and eclat, and to carry on his revolutionary schemes, but had also a concealed object of personal importance to himself. In the year 1834, when Fcargus represented the County Cork in the House of Com mons, he made a speech most strenuously opposing any mo dificafon of the Corn-laws, and denouncing Mr. Hume's rnotisn in favour of " a fixed and moderate duty on the im port at all times of foreign corn," as calculated to ruin the landed interest, and especially the people of Ireland. This doctrine is of course as unpalatable to the working men of England as it was palatable to the farmers of the county Cork ; and hence Feargus has now turned quite round on ti.e subject of Corn-laws, and pretends to advocate their total abo lition ; whilst at the same time be endeavours to draw off the attention of the working classes from a subject so inconvenient to himself, and to mystify the question by mixing it up with Universal Suffrage ! This is the key to O'Connor's conduct: he has becon e the false and treacherous friend to the cause of whir' s he was in 1834 the open enemy. In pursuance of his designs, a placard was rublished on Saturday last, vilifying the requisitors, And culling on the working classes to attend and defeat them ; and this morning anotber placard on green paper was issued, of which the follow ing is a copy : Men of Leeds —Attend the meeting, at the Court-house this day, at twelve o'clock. Fcargus O'Connor will be thu , to assert the rights of labour." The consequence of these invitations was that all the " phy cal force" men attended, and of course the rest of the inhai.i tants went to the riveting for a very different purpose. The result has been that the blu tering Feargus has sustained a most signal defeat, the weakness of his followers is exposed. and the men of Leeds of all classes have shown their g. od sense in defeating the nicks of this agitator, and recording their strong opinion of the injustice and impolicy of the Corn laws. Tho meeting was held at twelve o'clock in the Court-house, Mr. O'Connor and his men having been there half an hour before. The bench was filled with merchants and manufac turers, and the body of the Court-house was crowded with a mixture of tradesmen and working men. The Mayor, end E. Bairns, Esq., M. P., followed by the requisitors, on entering the }.all were received with loud cheers. The Mayor (JAMES HOLDFORTH, Esq.) took the Chair, end opened the meeting by reading the requisition. He then pro ceeded to make a few introductory observations, but he had spoken a very short time when the place became crowded to excess, and a loud cry arose of " Adjourn, adjourn." Mr. EDWARD BAINF.S, jun., then rose, and said that he was informed that there were outside of the building hundreds, and even thousands, who could nut gain admittance to the Court house, end he, therefore, moved that the meeting do adjourn to the Cloth-hall yard. The motion was instantly carried by reclamation, and the meeting adjourned to that spacious area. There were then assembled on the ground seven or eight thcu sand men. The Mayor and the requisitors took their station on the broad steps of the Cloth-hail, and the business proceeded. The M IYOR, in opening the proceedings, regretted that the assemblage had been compelled to adjourn into the open air, especially when the weather was so inclement. He, however, had cheerfully submitted to the inconvenience, and he'had no doubt others were actuated by a similar disposition.—( Hear.) It was not his intention, as their Chairman, to enter at large into the question, inasmuch as there were several gentlemen present who would be able to present them with facts deserving of their most serious attention. A great mess of information had been communicated to the public during the last few months, and they, as intelligent and observing men, could not have failed to be come acquainted with the subject of the Corn-laws as it then stood.—( Hear, hear.) He was extremely anxious that the price of corn should be made cheaper, and he was undoubt edly of opinion that either a modification or a repeal of the present laws was absolutely nrcessary to ensure prosperity to the manufacturers, and comfort and happiness to the working classes.—(Cheers.) To cff:ct this object numerous difficul ties would have to be encountered, They would have to grapple with the great landed interest, but he trusted they would show to that portion of society that the interests of the people required equal protection.—( Hear, hear.) The mer chant and manufacturer were placed in a most painful position by the operation of the Corn -laws. The trade of this country bad been sacrificed to a great extent, and there was every reason to believe that, unless an alteration was effected in the present system, the most ruinous results'must follow.---( Hear, hear.) He would n o t d e t a i n t h e meeting longer. The ques tion was in their hands, and all that he asked was, that every speaker should be listened to with that patience and attention which the great importance of the subject demanded. Alderman GOODMAN moved the first resolution, in a speech of some length, in which he urged the necessity of a strenuous exertion on the part of the public to obtain a repeal or mo dification of the Corn-laws, as the only means of preserving the manufacturing greatness of this country. The resolu tion was as follows :—" That in the opinion of this meeting all men have an inalienable right to the free exchange of the produce of their capital, skill, and labour, for the pro ductions of the people of their own or of foreign nations ; and that all restrictions on the interchange of nations are un just in principle, and as they tend to direct the industry of each into its least profitable and beneficial channels of em ployment, and to foment national animosity, and are most im politic and injurious." Mr. Alderman WILLANS seconded the resolution. The MATO* was proceeding to put the resolution to the meeting, when Mr. FEARGUS O'CONNOR presented himself and said— Prior to the putting that resolution, I wish, Mr. Mayor, to offer a few observations to the meeting—( Hear, hear from a few voices in the crowd.) Mr. Chairman, and Working. men of Leeds, I agree wholly and entirely in every word which has fallen from the Mayor. I agree also with what has fallen from the proposer of this first resolution, and more espedially when that gentleman told you that 1-ie best way ito acquire knowledge was byintercommunication with the labouring classes.--( Hear, hear.) His Worship, the Mayor, told you in the Court-house, that the redress of your griev. ances must depend upon your own strength, and from this platform he has told you it must depend upon your know ledge, and upon your judgment, and to that knowledge and to that judgment I now appeal.—( Hear, hear.) But, Gen tlemen, I would wish that this intercommunication between the employer and the employed were less like angels' visits —few and far between.—(Laughter.) And it is because I have a respect for your knowledge that I am now going to appeal to your judgment, and to that solely, and the amend ment which I shall propose to this first resolution is in order to test your self-esteem and your self-respect, and to show that I am wishful for a more extensive repeal of the Corn-laws than even that resolution would go to effect—. for I am in favour of a total repeal of the Corn-laws.--- (Cheers, and a cry of " Were you when Member for Cork?") The question is, whether or no the Corn-laws shall be repealed for you (pointing to the merchants and others on the busting), or for you (pointing to the opera tives. )—( Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, if the Corn-laws are re pealed by a class, that repeal will be productive of advan tage to a party only—(Loud cries of " No, no," and " six points I")—whereas, if the Corn-laws are repealed by all, they will be productive of advantage to all.—(Hear, hear, and No, no.) And gentlemen, although I have heard much„both at this and previous meetings, with reference to the object to be attained by a repeal of the Corn-laws, I have not forgot that, when proposing this question to Parliament last year, Mr. Clay, an honest and upright gentleman, a manufacturer, let the cat fairly out of the bag by telling the House that with regard to the repeal of the Corn-laws it was that we might have cheaper food, and that the manufacturers might get their work done for lower wages, in order that they might be able to compete with the cheap-bread foreigners abroad.—(" That's it lad; d—n the Corn laws.") In Birmingham they have tried this question, and in Glasgow and other places they have tried it, and in each and every one of those places they have fairly failed.—(Loud cries of " No, no.") Gentlemen, we will try this meeting. The proposer of this resolution says there should be a free interchange of produce between all people of all nations.—( Hear, hear, hear.) I agree with him, gentlemen, but I do not hear a word . in that resol u ti on of the unjust taxation of the country, which makes it im possible to compete with other countries.—(Hear, hear, hear, and Question, question I) Who says question ? Why this is the whole question.—(No, no ! and cheers.) The question, working men, is whether or not you are to be en trusted with the safe keeping of that which your masters tell you you ought to possess. I agree with them you ought to have a repeal of the Corn-laws, but you will agree with me when I say if you are entitled to a repeal of those laws, you are also entitled to the distribution of the good arising from that measure.—(Cheers.) If they are sincerely (the mer chants, &c.) in favour of a repeal of the Corn-laws, I don't see any reason why they should object to my proposition, which goes at once to repeal, the total repeal, of the Corn laws. But, gentlemen, mind this, we are told the agricultu ral interest is to be attacked, and that it is to be vitally at tacked. Well and good, so it ought, because it is an odious monopoly, and I suppose it is considered a branch of the na tional faith, but until you settle every other branch of the na= tional faith a ll at once—name l y, t h e money-mongers, die., Jews, and the capitalists, you do no good.—( Question.) These gentlemen (pointing to the hustings) cry question, , as if I was only to holloo out Corn-laws, Corn-laws, Corn laws.—( Hear, hear, hear.) That they appear to think suffi cient to rouse your oppositi on . Wh y, if I had h eard nothing more, and if, in consideri ng t h e su b ject more minutely, I had not derived more information than many who are now called upon to decide the question, I `should shout the cry of " Abolition of the Corn-laws —abolition of the Corn-laws I" the best argument I had ever h eard.— ( Laughter and cheers from his own friends.) It is said food would be cheaper. These words " cheap" and " dear" are relative terms; and when we are told about competing with foreigners, there is nothing said about the general improvement taking place in South America, France, and Belgium. Why, do not you suppose they would very soon put an ad val orem d uty upon our m a n u f ac t ure d goo d s , and that France, in her grow ing strength, and America, in her new republic, would prevent us from underselling them in their own markets? One man ON says, give more wages, and do not allow the manufacturers to have cheap corn in order that they may have cheap labour, and by their competitive system oblige us to compete with the labouring serfs of the Continent. What sort of men must those be who do not consider themselves to have know ledge and judgment sufficient to enable them to vote for their ovt n representatives, who are to look after their interests? One swallutv does not make a summer—nor will one meeting repeal the Corn-laws; and if those gentlemen have the re spect frr your knowledge and judgment they profess to have, they may surely entrust you with the power of choosing those who are to govern the country —(Cries of " question.") I shall be governed by some discretion, and I shall not go at great length, as I might have done, had we been in a different atmosphere, into the whole question of the abolition of the Corn-laws. One gentleman has told you that the agricultural and manufacturing interest must go hand in hand, and that we must not look after a remedy for the grievances there (in the representation we suppose) till we just see all the grievances removed here. I heard you told of the consequences of losing our foreign trade. When I look at some of the stupendous factories built in the present day, and see the tracts of uncul tivated soil sufficient to supply both you and the agriculturists with labour, I am not disposed to try an emigrating tour until I see the whole of that soil entirely cultivated ; and, from my own knowledge of agriculture, I assert, without fear of con tradiction, that the fair and legitimate application of labour to all the land of this kingdom, in England, Scotland, and Ire land, would make us a greater exporting country than the best foreign trade we can possess. I shall move my amend ment; it involves an important point, and brings you to the test; and when your judg merit is thus appealed to, if any man has be en told to come here, and is afraid to hold up his hand for !he amendment, which says he possesses that knowledge which enables him to judge for himself—if that man is afraid, let that man turn his back, and hold up the back of his hard, But Ido not believe there are any such here. My arneed merit is—" That we consider all restrictions upon the im portation of foreign grain as unjust in principle and injurious in its effects; nevertheless we are of opinion that no salutary alteration can be made in the present system until those r whose . benefit the change is contemplated shall have a voice in the choice of those representatives to whom shall be entrusted the power of preventing the recurrence of so great an evil as the present Corn-law."—(Cheers and interruption.) Now, what will be the effect of passing this amendment? After a six months' dalliance, during the whole of the Christmas gambols and the whole of the recess festivities, this last meet ing on the Corn-laws, just before the first meeting of Parlia ment, when you, in thousands, arc called upon to vote your selves incapable of judging in the choice of representatives.— ( No, no.) I move the amendment ; it is for a test ; and if I stand alone, having freely uttered my sentiments and opinions, I shall hold myself justified. Gentlemen, I beg to propose my amendment without detaining you longer; and recollect that the effect will be that every man who does not hold up his hand for it, will say that he is not entitled to the franchise. —(Laughter, No, and cheers.) Mr. Smiles, Editor of the Leeds Times, Mr. Wm. White head, tea-dealer, and also Mr. Joshua Bower, spoke ag dust the amendment as out of order, all of whom urged that the questions of the Corn-laws and the franchise were separate and distinct, and ought not to be mixed up together in the way proposed, the one being a question of food, and the other of right and privilege. Mr. Bawer said he would go as far as Mr. Feargus O'Connor in the Suffrage and Ballot, but he would not go with him as far as physical force.---( Cheers. ) Mr. T. PLINT came forward, and was received with much cheering. He said (holding in his hand a volume of the " Mirror of Parliament") I hope I shall not alarm you by opening this book—(No, no, and laughter). There may be one gentleman present who may be a little alarmed when he knows the nature of its contents. I un derstood Mr. O'Connor distinctly to say that he is op posed to the Corn-laws, and that he is for their entire and total abolition. I hear no denial of that. Is there any denial of that assertion ?—(No answer, but exclamation from a person in the crowd of " Universal Suffrage I") I will come to the question of the Suffrage by and by, for I shall have a word or two to say in reference to it. We all know that Mr. O'Connor was at one time a Member of Parliament —why he is not now perhaps the people of Cork can give a satisfactory answer.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) When lie was in Parliament in 1834—(Great hissing, and cries of " Question.") This is the question. There is a speech de livered by Mr. O'Connor in the House of Commons, in 1834, on the subject of the Corn-laws, and I propose to read to you that speech, or portions of it, from the book which I now hold in my hands.—( Hear, hear, and hisses.) Mr. O'CONNOR—If you read it at all, read it from top to bottom.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. PLINT—When a gentleman comes before a meeting and imputes wrong motives to others, charging them with advo cating the interests of a peculiar class, and not the general in terests of the people, then I say I have a right to inquire what opinions Mr. O'Connor formerly held on this subject, and to see how consistent he now is with himself.—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) If Mr. O'Connor, in the course of four years, has so completely eat his own words on this question, what will he do on other subjects.—(Hear, hear, and great hissing, which was kept up for a considerable time.) The MAYOR requested order, and called upon the meeting to exhibit the same fairness to Mr. Plint as had been shown to Mr. O'Connor.) Mr. ['LINT then read the whole of the speech, but with a great many unseemly° interruptions from the physical force men. The following are the passages which most materially related to the question :—" It is high time that this question which, at present, not only agitates the manufacturing and agricultural interests of England, but also the agricultural in terests of Ireland, should be set at rest." " The situation of Ireland is this :—We are a great agricultural country— without manufactures--and we depend, as a vent for our pro duce, on the markets of England. If, then, you admit the importation of foreign corn, duty free, you will throw us com pletely out of the English market—agriculture in Ireland will be neglected, and not only will you sacrifice the only interest existing in that country, but also the landed interest of England, for the benefit of the continental growers of corn." " It has been said that the Irish Members are unanimous in their determination to support this measure. Sir, they are una nimous in their determination to oppose it. I think I speak the sentiments of a large majority of those Members, when I state that this agitation of the question will do consider able mischief in Ireland, and that the mischief will be in creased if a determination to put it aside for some time be not manifested by a very large majority of this House. This is the only question, as it appears to me, in which the interests of the two countries are completely united and iden tical." " The Hon. Member for Middlesex says that this is a question of justice against injustice—of the many against the few ; but what is the reason that we have not heard any mani festation of public opinion against the alteration of the Corn laws ? It is this—that while those persons who oppose the present system reside in large towns, and are easily called together in order to express their wishes to this House, the great agricultural population, who are interested in the con tinuance of the system, are spread thinly over the face of the country, and have not the same facilities for meeting together to declare their opinions upon the subject." "It is said that the repeal of the Corn-laws will make bread cheap, without reducing the value of the land. This is a doctrine I cannot comprehend. If you reduce the price of produce, rent must fall ; if you keep up the standard of rent, you cannot reduce prices." " I rose with a determination not to mix up any extra neous matter with the subject of this debate. I appeal again to the House not to allow itself to be led away by the absurdi ties or the assertions of the Hon. Member for Middlesex. Without troubling the House any further, I conclude by im ploring the Members from Ireland to consider this as a neutral question—threatening in its consequences, if carried, the an nihilation of the liberty, rights, and protection of the poor man —and unanimously to resist the motion." Mr. PLINT—Here is a man who now assents to the propo• sition that there should be an unrestricted. free, and uninter rupted interchange in all commodities between all nations ; and yet, four years ago, he maintained that such a principle would tend to the ruin of the country.—( Great disapprobation and cries of " Old Turncoat.") Mr. O'CONNOR—You have not read the speech consecu vely.—( Hisses.) Mr. PLINT—I assert most positively that I have read the speech exactly as it isprinted.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. O'CoNNoa—l beg pardon ; I thought you had not. (Much hissing.) lam much obliged to you for reading my speech. Mr. PLINT—In the course of the debate in the House of Commons, at the period to which I have referred, Mr. O'Con nor there refused to mix up with the consideration of the ques tion anything which was perfectly and entirely extraneous.— ( Hear, and an exclamation from a man in the crowd, " We've nothing to do with Mr. O'Connor's inconsistency here," fol lowed by great laughter.) What I have you nothing to do with his inconsistency ?—( Hear.) I should like to know what is the best criterion to judge of a man but his past actions. You sly we have nothing to do with his opinions—(" No, we hav'nt.") You have everything to do with them in his public character, and if his past and present opinions do not correspond, and he is unable to give you a full and satisfactory explanation for the difference, what confidence can you have in such a man ? —( Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, there is nothing so unpleasant to me as a public man as to indulge in anything like personal altercation. lam ready to grapple with au argument if it be presented to me, but with abuse and vituperation I will have nothing to do.—(Hear, hear.) There arc one or two argu ments which Mr. O'Connor has brought forward, that I shall shortly notice. And ullovf 'me to say, that his declaration of agreement with the resolution which has been proposed, and the arguments he has offered to the meeting, are altogether inconsistent.—( Hear, hear.) For, what did be say ? He admitted the right of the people of this country to a free interchange with the inhabitants of all other nations ; but before he will establish the principle, he advises you to cul tivate your own soils.—( Laughter, and cries of "It won't do, Paddy.") Mr. O'CONNOR—I recommend the people to diminish the taxation.— (Hear, hear, and laughter.) Mr. PLINT—The taxes have nothing to do with the value of land.--( Hear, hear, and cries of " They have everything to do with it.") I maintain, gentlemen, that if you have a free trade with all nations, thereby having the fullest scope for the employment of capital, causing an increase of labour, the working classes will be infinitely better enabled to pay the taxation of the country than they are now. —(Hear, hear.) That is the precise argument, and not the general reduction of taxes, mixed up with the price of agricultural produce. —( Hear, hear.) What is Mr. O'Connor's argument? He calls upon you to cultivate bad land, which no farmer thinks it worth while to bestow either labour or capital upon, and thus he would give you bad corn, instead of allowing you to receive better and cheaper corn from the Continent.—(Loud cheers. ) Gentlemen, there has been something said respecting the ob ject of the meeting, and an insinuation has been thrown out that it is not intended to ask for the total abolition of the Corn-laws. I tell you that the prayer of the petition, if you THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, allow it to he adopted, goes to the extent of asking for an eu tire abolition of all restrictions on the free interchange of commodities between this country and ether na tions.—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) And, gentlemen, what is proposed to be done by Mr. O'Connor—(" Aye, that's it?") He proposes that the people of Leeds—the labouring man, the middle class, and the capitalist, &mulct not unitedly go to Parliament with representations of the ruinous and iniqui tous operation of the Corn-laws ; but after assembling for the specific purpose of discussing the Corn-laws, to set aside all the agitation which has been made on the subject, and thus play the game of the landlord in opposition to the in terests of the people. —( Loud and prdonged chre,ieg.) The best friends of the landowners of England are those who would prevent the people uniting together, to exert their whole strength in obtaining a repeal of this most monstrous and suicidal act of legislation.—( Cheers.) I deny most em phatically that there is any separate interest between the em ployer and the employed. I hold it as one of the most solemn and deliberate convictions of my own mind, that the repeal of the Corn. laws would put the working man in an infinitely bet ter situation as regards labour than he is placed in now.— ( Hear.) If you increase the demand for manufactured goods by free trade, labour will find a more extensive market, and the working men got abetter share of the produce of the land ; but if you maintain laws which tend to restrict the amount of employment, the consequence will be, that in a short time capital will no longer produce any return, and the manufac turer who is able will take his capital and machinery to a place where he can find profitable employment for both, and then I should like to know what would become of yeti.— ( Hear, hear.) Why, the inevitable result will be, that the whole mass of the labouring population will be thrown into a state of destitution, and ultimately must fall upon the land.— (Lend cries of " Hear, hear.") But, gentlemen, there is an other view of this matter which I wish to bring before you. Let us suppose that the motion of Mr. O'Connor should be carried, will that gentleman explain to ate, or will he prove either to my satisfaction, or the satisfaction of this meeting, whether there is any probability of Universal Suffrarre being carried?—(Loud cries of " hear, h ear ." ) e Mr. O'CONNOR—It will be carried.—(Great cheering and exclamations of " No, no.") Mr. PLINT—I ask Mr. O'Connor whether he thinks the Extension of the Suffrage is likely to take place prior to a re peal of the Corn-laws ?—( Mr. O'Connor called out " Yes, yes.") The pressure of the Corn-laws cannot be staved off for a Fined° hour; but if you sanction the amendment of Mr. O'Connor you postpone the consideration of it to an inde finite period, and you do that for an object, of the accomplish ment of which there is not the slightest probability.—( Hear.) We met here not to deny or affirm the right of the people to an Extension of the Suffrage, but to effect an Abolition cf the Corn- laws. That is the question, and I leave it to the good sense of this meeting whether they will be diverted from this great object by entertaining a proposition which can end in no practical benefit whatever.—( Hear, hear.) I am for the Extension of the Suffrage myself, but you mutt see the irnpolicy of its introduction now. Let a meeting ba called for that specific object, and I will join with you; but, as I said before, I will be no party to a movement which can only end in defeat.--( Loud cheers and hissing.) Mr. FEARGUS O'CONNOR again presented himself, and was met with shouts of " Turn -coat, Blunderbuss, Torch man," and hisses, intermingled with cheers from his own party, scattered up and down in the crowd. As soon as he could be heard, he said Mr. Plint had very fairly asked him whether Universal Suffrage could be as successfully agitated as a repeal of the Corn-laws?—(" No, no, that was not it.") At the time the Mom Bill was carried, they could not have repealed the Corn-laws, and although they could not now re peal the Corn-laws, or make an assault upon any one of the abuses in the institutions of the country, he had the honour to inform them that if HE lived, by the blessing of God, they would have Universal Suffrage. The Mavoa then called for a show of hands for the amendment. A number of hands were held up in its favour; but on the original resolution being put, the majority was overwhelming: according to the best judges, three to one in favour of the latter. The MAYOR declared the original resolution carried by an immense majority, amidst tremendous cheering, clapping of hands, &c. Mr. O'CONNOR and his supporters left the hustings and the yard almost immediately afterwards, amidst the hisses, groans, and hooting* of the meeting. They were lite rally.hissed out of the yard. Alderman BA nsoN moved the next resolution—" That the welfare of all the industrious classes of the British empire is inseparably bound up with the prosperity of its foreign trade, inasmuch as by that trade alone can we procure those articles of food and luxury which are the produce of other climes ; and more especially as the raw material of our great staple trades— cotton, wool, silk, and flax, are either not the growth of our soil, or cannot be grown in sufficient quantity on its limited surface ; and since these indispensable means of employing our numerous manufacturing population, and through them giving a steady impulse to our agricultural industry, can only be pro cured in exchange for our manufacturing fabrics, which form the bulk of our export trade." As a merchant, he testified to the ruinous effects of the present Corn-laws upon our foreign trade. Mr. Councillor FAIRBAIRN, machine-maker, seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously. Alderman STANSFELD said he had, for the last twenty years, visited the Continent for commercial purposes ; he had wit nessed the extension of manufactures in foreign countries, and could testify to the fact, that our commercial interests were suffering, and would continue to suffer, unless an alteration in the Corn-laws was effected. He instanced the manufacture of one article, mouslin-de-laine, which the French manufactured, observing that they could buy wool in Ireland, take it to France, manufacture it, send it to England, pay a heavy duty, and, after all, undersell English manufacturers. He ended by mov ing " That this meeting views with great alarm the rapid ex tension of foreign manufactures, which owe their rise, as it conceives, to the policy to which the Continental States have been driven by our refusal to take, in exchange for our ma nufactures, corn and other agricultural products, which alone they bad to offer us, and deems it essentially neces sary, in strong and undisguised terms to express its opinion that, unless the manufacturing industry of this country be placed upon an equality with that of foreign countries in the cost of its staple food, the capital and skill which have hither to upheld this country in pre-eminence, will be transported to more favourable climes, its foreign trade will be destroyed, and with it the power of supporting its numerous population, and the heavy burdens of an excessive taxation." Mr. BRUN seconded the resolution, which was carried un animously. EDWARD BAINES, Esq., M.P., being loudly called for, came forward, and was received with great cheering. He said he should have great pleasure in carrying into effect the resolution just passed, and of giving to the petition all the support in Parliament which it was in his power to im part to it.--( Hear, hear.) He should endeavour, clothed as he was with their authority, to use the influence of one of the most important boroughs in the kingdom, for the pur pose of effecting their object.—(Hear, hear.) His decided opinion was, that whether they considered the interests of the British manufacturer, or the interests of the operatives, whom he employed ; whether they considered the interest:; of the farmer or the interests of the husbandman; whether they considered the interests of the landowner himself, every one of those great interests would be benefited by a great modification or entire abolition of the Corn-laws.--( Hear, hear.) He had no wish to speak of himself, but he might, say there were few men who, to the extent of his for tune, was more interested in the success of agriculture than himself.—(Hear, hear.) Feeling that the existing Corn laws were founded in injustice and unsound policy, he was prepared to make the sacrifice, if any sacrifice would attend the repeal of these laws; but he was firmly persuaded that neither to the landed interest nor to any of the interests of the country, would any permanent loss accrue; but, on the contrary, an absolute benefit. It was the interest of all to have the Corn-laws placed on such a footing that the Eng lish manufacturers, the best customers of the farmers, should be enabled to compete advantageously with the manufac turers on the Continent; that the people of this country should have cheaper food, and that foreign nations should receive cheaper manufactures from us in exchange, in return for the advantages which we derive from the importations of their produce.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman, after expressing his high gratification at the dis crimination that had been shown by the meeting this dv, in defeating an invidious attempt to divert them from their object, said that he felt more than ever proud of his consti tuency of all classes, and that he was sure that he should have the cordial co-operation of his Honourable Colleague, Sir William Molesworth, in giving effect to their wishes Parliament. Mr. EDWARD BAINES, kill., read the petition, the adop tion of which he moved. Mr. Baines addressed himself to the consideration of the question of the Corn-laws, as affect ing our manufacturing prosperity, and showed th at t h e effect was tc diminish ou r ex p o rts and to raise the manufactures of the Continent. He produced a number of statistical f ac t s , which most conc l us i ve l y esta bli s h e d this position, and proved that the arguments of the landowners were fallacious and absurd. Mr. T. PLIN T, in a long and powerful speech, seconded the motion, W hich was carried. Mr. Cummins, Mr. Joh n Wil son , Mr. Ritchie ( merc h ant), and Mr. Wordsworth (machine-maker), moved and seconded the other resolutions, which were all carried unanimously. EDWARD BAINES, Esq., M.P., having taken the Chair, a vote of thanks was given to his worship the Mayor, for calling the meeting and presiding on the occasion ; and the meeting then separated, having been occupied in the open air above three hours. The following is the petition agreed to : " To the Honourable the Commons of Great Britain and Ire land in Parliament assembled. " The Petition of the Inhabitants of the borough of Leeds, agreed to at a Public Meeting in the Court-house, Jan, 15, 1839 ; the Mayor in the Chair. " Humbly showeth—That in the opinion of this meeting all men have an inalienable right to the free exchange of the produce of their capital, skill, and labour for the productions of the people of their own or of foreign nations; and that all restrictions on the interchange of nations are unjust in prin ciple, and as they tend to direct the industry of each into its least profitable and beneficial channels of employment, and to foment national animosity, and are most impolitic and injurious. " That the welfare of all the industrious classes of the British empire is inseparably bound up with the prosperity of its foreign trade, inasmuch as by that trade alone can we pro cure those articles of food and luxury which are the produce of other climes; and more especially as the raw material of our great staple trades—cotton, wool, silk, and flax—are either not the growth of our soil, or cannot be grown in sufficient quantity on its limited surface; and since these indispensable means of employing our numerous manufacturing population, and through them giving a steady impulse to our agricultural in&istry z i can only be procured in exchange for our manufac turing fabrics, which torili the bulk of our export trade. " That the prosperity of our foreign trade is entirely depen dent on the maintenance of art equality betwixt British and continental manufactures in the three great elements of pro ductive power—capital, s kill, an d t h e cos t o f labour. " That the manufacturers of this country have for a to„; series of years paid a rate of money wages for all descriptions of labour, nearly double that paid by their continental compe titors, because hitherto they have excelled them in the amount of capital, the perfection of machinery, and the industry and skill of the various classes of labourers and artisans, whereby they have been enabled successfully to bear up against t' e lower costs of labour on the Continent, arising from the greater cheapness of food. " That all these advantages are no longer in the exclusive possession of this country, but are now largely shared by most of the European nations, who have wisely availed themselves of twenty-three years peace to accumulate abundant capital, to form manufacturing establishments in all respects equal to our own, and to train up skilful workmen, and are now not only supplying their home markets with manufactured goods which in former years they imported from this country - , but are successfully competing with us in the common markets of the world. " That the formation and consolidation of the manufactur. ing system of the Continent, is, in the opinion of your peti tioners, in a very great degree attributable to our Corn-laws, which, by excluding grai❑ and other agricultural produce from our ports, which the European nations had alone to offer us, have effectually prevented their purchasing our manufactures, and compelled them to manufacture for themselves. " That your petitioners regard this state of our affairs as a manufacturing nation with unfeigned alarm, and would express to your Honourable House its deliberate and solemn convic tion. that in order to maintain successful competition with our foreign rivals, and to preserve the capital of the nation from destruction, either the Corn-laws must be repealed, or the it ones cf labour in this country will be forced down to the level of the rn_mey rates paid on the Continent of Europe. " That a large reduction of the rate of manufacturing wages whilst the Corn•laws are maintained, enhancing the prices of the prime necessaries of life 60 or 70 per cent. abole the prices of the Continent, for the benefit of a small class of the whole community, would not only be productive of great pri. ration and suffering amongst our vast operative population, but would excite intense and just indignation, threatening the stability and very existence of our social and political insti tutions. " That as a measure of strict justice to all the consumers of food, as the only mode by which the foreign trade of the na tion, and the comfort and prosperity of its whole population, can be preserved from destruction—as a necessary means to the stability of our social institutions, and as a guarantee for the maintenance of peace among the civilized nations of the world—your petitioners earnestly implore your Honourable House to repeal all laws relating to the importation of foreign corn and other foreign articles of subsistence, and to carry our to the fullest extent (both as affects agriculture and manufac tures) the true and peaceful principles of free trade, by remov ing all existing obstacles to the unrestricted employment of in dustry and capital. " And your petitioners; &c." AGRICULTURAL MEETING AT BARTON. CORN-LAWS. On Monday a Public Dinner of the Members and Friends of the Barton Agricultural Association took place in the large room at the George Inn; George Maw, Esq , in the Chair; having en his right Lord Worsley, and on his left R. A. Christopher 3 Esq., Members for North Lincolnshire. Mr. B. ficsleden was Vice-President. About 130 persons sat down to dinner, including many of the leading owners an(' occupiers of land in the neighbourhood. There would not be fewer than 200 present during the greater part of the evening. The cloth having been drawn, The CHAIRMAN gave " The Queen."—(Three times three.) " The rest of the Royal Family," which, with all the other toasts, were drunk with the honours. The CHAIRMAN, on giving " The Army and Navy," said they were very useful classes of the community ; though now at rest, he was not certain that they were yet at liberty to beat their swords into ploughshares; and should they be called upon to face an enemy with nothing but foreign corn for their support, he was afraid they would fight them very indiffe rently.—( Applause. The CIIAIRMAN said the next toast came nearer home to their feelings, it was that of a nobleman well-known in that neighbourhood, where indeed lie held extensive possessions, and who was not more consp'cuous for the exalted station llhich he occupied, than for the virtues which adorned that station. If the Noble Lord had been aware of that meeting he would have taken great interest in it; indeed, it was one which affected his interests materially, and also those of his numerous tenantry, over whom he exercised so paternal a care. He would, therefore, propose the health of " The Earl of Yarborough." JOIIN RICHARDSON, Esq., of Horkstow, proposed that it should be drunk with three times three. The VICE- PRESIDENT proposed that it should be given with musical honours, and named another gentleman who could keep time. The suggestion was received with cheers, and executed to admiration. Lord WORSLET, M. P., in acknowledging the toast, said his father was at present in the Isle of Wight, but though so far distant he could not fail to take a deep interest in the object for which they were assembled. He had made him acquainted with the intention of holding the meeting, and in a letter i❑ answer, he said he never knew a time when there appeared so much excitement respecting the Corn-laws; he had known corn much higher than at present, and he could not imagine why so much more ado should now be made than had been the case when corn was higher. He could assure them that his father was alive to the question, and took as deep an in terest in their proceedings as if he were amongst them. The CHAIRMAN next gave " The President of the Barton Agricultural Association, John Richardson, Esq., of Hork stow." Lord WORSLEY proposed this should be drunk with three times three and the musical honours, which was done, if pos sible, to greater perfection than before. Mr. RICHARDSON, on rising to acknowledge the toast, re quested the Secretary to read the minutes and resolutions of the meeting at which the present one was convened. It appeared that the Committee of the Barton Agricultural Association, considering the agitation now in progress, and the attack intended to be made on the Corn-laws, on the opening of Parliament, had deemed it desirable to have a public dinner, for the purpose of discussion, at which they hoped also to have the presence and advice of both their representatives as to the course to be adopted, in ac cordance with which letters had been addressed to both the Members, and they were present in consequence. Mr. Richardson then said, had he the fiery declamation of a Demosthenes, or the refined eloquence of a Cicero, he could not sufficiently express the sense of gratification which he felt for the high encomiums which had been bestowed upon him by the Chairman, and the polite and handsome manner in which the Noble Lord had also pro posed, and the company had drunk, his health ; but he could not and he would not hesitate to state what were his feelings with respect to the Corn-laws. If ever there was a time when the agriculturists were called upon to be on the alert, to rise from their lethargy and supineness, it was the present juncture. He referred to the exertions daily a,.d hourly making by the Anti-Corn-law party to obtain an entire repeal of those laws which were the protection of the British farmer; but he had great confidence in their worthy representatives, and thought they might bid defi ance to any man who was bold enough to rise in Parliament and require a repeal of those laws. He proposed " The health of our worthy Representatives, both of whom are now present." Lord WORSLEY, in acknowledging the toast, said the subject which had been introduced was one which ought to be followed up in that room-..it ought to be discussed. He should disappoint their expectations if he did not enter into it pretty fully. He confessed that he felt far more nervous on this subject than he ever did on any matter since he had been their representative. Their hopes had been raised with respect to what they expected to hear from him ; perhaps so highly, that from the fact he had named, they would be disappointed. The subject was at all times one of great difficulty, although it had never occasioned any diffi culty in his own mind ; he always believed the Corn-laws were just. He never gave a vote in the House of Commons with out due consideration to all parties concerned ; and, after con sidering the subject, he came to:the conclusion that the Corn laws were quite as just and quite as necessary for the manu facturer as the agriculturist. He never, at any time, on being returned to Parliament, whatever might be the majority of any particular class, considered himself the representative of any class, but the representative of all classes. He con sidered this opposition was not got up by those who wished to benefit the working classes, but by popularity hunters, and those who wished to make large fortunes by the ruin of other people—and he had no doubt what the effect would be if they carried their object ; wages would be reduced to the price of bread, and the manufacturing population would be no better off than they are now. He entered into a series of returns made to Parliament showing that to every country from which corn had been imported into this country from 1829 to 1836—a1l during the operation of the present Corn-law, our exports had increased materially. The aggregate exports to these countries being, in 1829, 20,387,316/. ; in 1836, 32,828,0381. The fact was the manufacturers of Manchester wished this country to become the Manchester of the whole world, which was impossible. Other nations as well as this had been at peace some years, and bad, like ourselves, been cultivating the arts, and turning their capital to account, and would continue to do se. It was idle to suppose they had not. They manufactured better articles than we did, and that was the reason their goods found a market. We had, a few years ago, the earthenware trade to Egypt, but the French introduced a better article, at a somewhat higher price, which entirely drove us out of that market. The French manufactured better silks than other people, therefore, people would buy them. If it was so in one article, he knew not why it should not be in another. It was not the price but the quality. There was no part of the world where wages I were higher than in America —we exported to America. There was no part of the world where wages were so low as India, yet we could manufacture and carry out and sell goods in that country cheaper than the inhabitants could make themselves. Then, again, had the manufacturers no protecting duties? If they remove the Corn-laws, let them at the same time remove the import duties on foreign manu factured goods. I,ferreci to several ~iher par liamentary returns. He thought it could be fairly shown that free corn had caused the price of corn to rise. From 1730 to 1735, the average price of corn was 395. 2d. ; from 1735 to 1765, just before the time of the opening of the corn trade, 539 the average price of corn was 34s 10id. ; from 1766 to 1774 during the free trade, it wa - , bs. 10c1.--no less than 16s. above the average of the preceding thirty years. He mentioned this, that in case there were any friends from Hull present, they might see that if they got the old system it would be no advantage to them. He thought it was quite clear that no oerson wou'd be benefited, but that hundreds of thousands would >,G ruined. Look at the burdens the landholders had to bear compiret.: with those who lived in towns ? Was it fair, then, to deprire them of protection ? The repeaters represented that the operatiyes would get so much more bread for their !about if corn were lower, but would any of the manufacturers say that they would not lower the wages of the operatives in case of corn coming down ? Where, then, would be the benefit to the operatives ? Mr. Huskisson, who was a great admirer of free trade, and who was not very anxious to say much in favour of farmers, said that 170 years' experience had proved the evil produced by dependence on foreigners for supply, and that a steady home supply was the only firm support for steady prices; but how would the free traders obtain a supply in such a year as this, if the Governments of foreign countries would not let the article leave their countries, as had been the case when corn was dear and scarce in England, and the growers in Russia were anxious to export, an order came out to prohibit exportation until the price in England was sufficiently high to allow an export duty to be laid on the article. He did think that those who were advocating a repeal of the Corn-laws were cutting their own throats, and he believed that many sensible people who thought that a fixed - duty would be advantageous, would pause before they decided upon that. He thought it would be very easy in Parliament to defend the cause of the farmers, and that an overwhelming majority would be on their side. He did not make many speeches in Parliament—(" We hope you will 1") —but he would take care to vote the right way._( Cheers. ) His Lordship concluded by advising every parish in the county to send up a petition numerously signed, especially by tenants, and stating the number of acres each subscriber occupied. The meeting was afterwards addressed by Mr. CmasTo- PHEIL in a long speech, and by other gentlemen. A series of resolutions were agreed to, and a petition founded thereon resolved to be adopted. It was intimated that similar meetings were intended to be held in all the other provincial towns in the division, at several of which one of the Members would be present. CORN LAWS. MEETING OF THE WARD OF CRIPPLEGATE WITHIN. A very numerous and respectable meeting of the inhabitants of the Ward of Cripplegate was held yesterday afternoon, at the Ward School-room, in Phillip-lane, pursuant to a notice upon a requisition to Sir M. Wood, the Alderman of the Ward. In the ah4lice of Sir M. Wood the chair was taken by Mr. Deputy Jaques, at half-past two o'clock. On taking the chair the worthy DEPUTY begged to call the attention of the meeting to the purpose for which it had been convened. A requisition, signed by many of the most re spectable inhabit an t s o f t h e W ar d' o f C r i pp l egate Within, had been forwarded to Alderman Sir M. Wood, requesting him to call a meeting for the purpose of discussing the ques tion of the present system of Corn-laws, and to consider the propriety of petitioning Parliament to repeal them. Alder man Wood regretted much that feeling it to be his duty that the meeting should be called, he could not be with them, in consequence of his absence in the country. He had, how ever, answered the requisition, and stated that if it could be postponed until the 6th of February, he would feel great pleasure in attending it, considering as he did that its object was one of great importance.--( Hear, hear.) Under these circumstances he (Deputy Jaques) had taken the chair, and he felt assured that he would be enabled to perform the func tions of his office without difficulty, from the kind feeling and good humour which prevailed amongst the inhabitants of the ward.—( Hear.) He well knew that the present system of Corn-laws was one which required amendment, and that something should be done in reference to them which would relieve the distress which prevailed amongst the manufac turing and labouring classes ; for unless something was done those interests of which this country so proudly boasted—its manufacturing interests—would be destroyed.—( Hear, hear.) He would now resume his seat, satisfied that its conduct would prove gratifying to the public, and to every individual amongst them.--( Cheers. ) The requisition calling the meeting was then read. Mr. Hociee, in proposing the first resolution, stated that he felt glad to observe the interest which was manifested in the business with regard to which they had been convened. The Ward of Cripplegate took the lead in the sale of the manufactured produce of the country, and such an evidence of feeling, therefore, came with a good grace from them, and he trusted their example would be followed by all the other wards in the City.—( Cheers.) The .first resolution, which was only one o f a ser i es, merely tended to give ex pression to their feelings in reference to the present high prices of corn, and the continued advance of these prices. Per haps, then, he would be allowed to make some few observa tions as to the tendency of the Corn-laws generally.—( Hear. ) He had given his attention to the subject since the year 1813, and he felt assured that the result of Corn-laws had since then uniformly been for evil, and not for good. Such laws were both impolitic and unjust.—( Hear.) They were impolitic as having the effect of cramping our foreign trade ; for it would be allowed that wherever we took our manufactured produce in foreign countries, we took thence foreign commodities in return—we would not take our manufactures to America, for instance, if we did not want its tobacco and coffee in exchange. Thus, the system which prevented competition in America with other countries, limited our trade and our returns in pro portion.-_( Hear.) But this system was also unjust, as it taxed the bread of the poor man for the benefit of the land holder.—( Hear.) And it was not only unjust to this country, but to those countries from which supplies of corn were de rived. Germany and that part of Prussia which was not iden tified with the confederacy—that portion which was watered by the Vistula—those states regarded our corn trade as a nuisance, for when corn was at a low price here, the effect of the present scale of duties was to leave their corn to rot in bond, or in their own granaries— it could not be imported here.— ( Hear, hear.) On the con trary, when the prices in this country were high, we went to those states with our money ; we raised corn there to a famine price.—( Hear.) It was no wonder, then, that they were discontented, and that restrictions were imposed upon our commerce.—( Hear.) It had been said that if the Corn-laws were repealed, the total ruin of the farmers would ensue—as to this there were different opinions, but his was that the farmer would ultimately benefit; for all must allow that, in such a case, the rents must be lowered to meet the case. It was amusing to find, at the meetings of which the Marquis of Chandos and other noblemen and landholders, of the same opinion were present, that all their sympathies were offered and given to the agricultural labourer and the farmer—their own rents appeared to be mere dust in the balance.—( Hear.) This was not the opinion given by the Duke of Wellington, under whose Government the old laws were modified. That straightforward Nobleman had said he did not deny that the purpose of the law was to keep up the price of corn ; that it was, in fact, so intended, in order that the. landholders in this country having property should be enabled by its en hancement to keep up the dignity of the position which they held.—( Hear.) This was straightforward and honest ; but the sympathy of those landholders who had signalized them selves at the recent meetings seemed to be given altogether to the labourers and farmers. How truly so he would leave to the meeting to form a judgment. There might be a differ ence of opinion in the meeting as to the course which should be pursued in reference to the Corn .laws—whether there should be a modification of them—a fixed duty--or a total re repeal. But the present resolution could not affect this ; he would, therefore, reading it to the meeting. It was— " That this meeting views with alarm the present high and increasing price of corn, producing, as it cannot fail to do, great distress amongst the poor; and which, but for the hitherto providential mildness of the present season, would have subjected the population, already too much exposed, to such severe privations as might have led to tumult and confu sion, attended with the most disastrous consequences to the peace of the community." Mr. DUTHOIT said that he had been requested to second the resolution. There was no person who wished well to this country who did not know that a strong competition in busi ness of every kind existed, and who did not desire that this country should not exceed all others in its manufactured pro duce. This was a large commercial country, with a great capital circulating through it, and yet, with its taxes upon the bread of the labourer, they were called upon to compete with other countries. What, he would ask, had destroyed Ant werp? Bad laws—a system of oppression ; and then the bur dens placed on manufactured produce. Thus, and from these causes, Flanders had sunk.—( Hear.) What, then, must be the result when they found that the price of bread in this country was double that in Hamburgh ?—( Hear.) How could they, under such circumstances, compete with the manufac tured produce of other countries?—( Hear.) Foreign coun tries had taken, and were daily taking from us, our most valuable operatives and artizans ; the imperial establish ment, near St. Petersburgh, employed about 300 hands —it used from 2,500 to 3,000 bales of cotton annually —it made from 25,000 to 30,000 pieces of sail-cloth, and great quantities of cotton bagging also; and in various other branches did an immensity of work. It possessed a large establishment occupied in machine-making, which was continually at work, supplying every part of the country where new spinning establishments were being established. Nay, more; all the hands were either English or Scotch, and the heads of the establishments were all Scolchmen ; and a spinner in Russia had only to send to these factories, and he could obtain the machinery requisite for his purpo se complete. These facts showed that the best portions of our population were leaving us, not being able to obtain the means of subsistence, and this was mainly attributable to the Corn-laws.—( Hear, hear.) For a man having a family of seven or eight children could not afford to maintain them, when his wages were not raised, and when he was subjected to an increase of expenditure to the amount of thirty per cent. —( Hear, hear.) In reference to other countries, Russia also has established numerous manufactories of her own, and the effect they have had upon the commerce of this country you will perceive by the following estimate. The statements as copied from the table of the Board of Trade, or from the Custom-house returns. In 1820, we ex ported to Russia 13,203,851 yards of cotton cloth, in 1837, only 84,722—sixteen times in 1820 as in 1837. In 1820, we sent 5,442,535 yards to Prussia; and in 1837, we did not send a yard. To the German States in 1820, we sent 47,658,285 yards; in 1837-38, 581,535 yards, less by 10,000,00(1 of yards. Now, gentlemen, let us look to our exported yarns, eed ‘ , e •;h6il by the c , .),1):N11-; , ;:n of the increese ere- e the decrease o f th e manu f acture d c l ot h , di scern how the Corn-laws bad crushed the best hand-loom weaver down to his present deplorable state of privation. Taking the ag gregate amount of the cotton twist exported to Russia, Prussia, and the G etm a n States in 1820 I find amounted to , to 20,677,602,b5. weight; v,hilst in 1837, it am oun teu v 17,576,351111:; , more than an increase of 50.000, 000 1 bs. _ A ,ed .; France, Gibraltar, M a lt a , an d th e lonian Islands, Italy a the Italian I s land s , T ur k, y real the ,r,t, we , the aggregate in 1820, 2,003.0001b5. eight of yal ant t, 1837, 14,172 708ib , ., F.. , ven times es o;uch. he 1.71 , 4 1 . , _r t ': States would use in the present year upwards of 0 , 11- 4 , thousand bales of cotton, which was more than or re-third ) d the amount exported to England and Scotland, which %/ A , cause a great decrease in our export of the mantifact article, and this was mainly attributable to the tax on bread. ( Hear, bear.) He would now call the attontion of the lag to the article of hosiery. (Mr L'uthci , here exhiluyae, several samples of hosiery, of German cianufacture.) Ong' of these articles was produced in German: , at Iss. could not be had here under double the price, the article 1)0, as good as could be produced here, with the exception n. slight defect in the manufacture of the heel,_(' Hear.) r i n _ c meeting:u could e u as he p r r e wl u u n c e ed er h 4 l 2s. Germany This wfoorol2d7s. convince6d , otherbe sold that Great Britain must succumb to other coup ttries a s r i ll garded her manufactures, unless steps were takem to repe a t the Corn-laws; for unless corn could be had at a chet e i r rate, they could not pay to their workmen a price for t R 4 the co abour which would enable them to live.-( Hear, and' cheer o , Mr. AMBROSE MOORE then suggested that all the r ese o „ lutions should be read before that proposed was agr(!ed 0, ,1 although he had no objection to this. yet i;e might, if quent resolutions were of nature he could not Ag . re: firs t All the resolutions were aecordiogly read, and. the I° having been put, was unanimously agreed to. jcct which they had met to discuss was one of the hiohes,t.;2l Mr. LART rose to propose the second resolution. 'rb es t tance to the whole country. The question was not a poT tb , one-it was a question between the few who compose° 70 landholding interest and the vast mass who constitute d people. All the various Corn. laws which had been , en ac to r from time to time had been mischievous failures. The o ,,id these laws was passed in the time of Edward I V., when it " fo r appear there was a superabundance of Corn in the country;,ho this law gave a bounty of ss. a quarter to every foreigner the chose to export the product. He would not touch upon d intervening changes in the law, but mention that, the last 0 1801 imposed an import duty of 6d, a quarter, which vra g o 1804 increased to 245. 3d. a quarter, when the price of C .D. was under 50s. In 1813, wheat advanced to 61. a quarter; 1814 it fell to 645. ; in 1815, the Corn-laws were alte,." e , again ; and in 1828 they received the shape which t'' Core at this day.-( Hear, hear.) Well would it have b e e7 , e for the country had no laws ever been made on the silk e n( It was said if you destroy the agricultural interest, r o will you be able to pay the taxes 1? Now, he was far It ° o g wishing to destroy the agricultural interest ; but he could help remarking that the agricultural interest paid but a v er9 ) small proportion ind e ed of th e taxe.t.;on.-( Hear, Va l i Again, it was urged by th e l an dl or d s , " Oh, b ut we w ank s, sr a are you against the chance of bad hare ests, here and 0 0 where, by keeping all possible land in cultivation, and ther e , a deal of bad land which we sh ou ld b e o bli ge d to leave tin eal tivated if we were not encouraged by large protecting &tile To this it was a sufficient answer, that the interest of e t e whole community was not to be set aside for the sake of a le e , hundred thousand barren acres, which could besides be ad,. /1 ". 40 tageously applied to other purposes than raising corn "lc, the unwilling soil.-(Hear, hear.) It was argued, too,,t; e ", the agricultural interest, as the landowners called themse i lle , had as much r;ght to protection as the manufacturers. ‘) as a manufacturer, asked for no protection-( Hear, b i cio -least of all, would he desire to be protected by a tax o ° o7 should operate i n j ur i ous ly up o n a ll other clas se s o f the re , munity, p and which should imperil the very existence of it e country.--( Hear, hear, hear.) H e th o ught it a great P 4 that some means had not been taken for p e tti ng th e inhabits u ir of towns and the country labourers int o more f requen t cono, nication. It would be a very easy matter to show the agri c 01 v tural labourers that they were, in fact, as mach oppressed by the landowners and th e i r C orn -l aws , a s were the populatio rr .. g y towns.-( Hear, hear.) H e h a d p r epared some slight stet i g tical references. which wo u ld strongly illustrat e the exist io ' e I state of things :-In 1820, we exported to Russia 13,20 3 % e s yards of cotton cloth ; in 1837, only 847,022 ; sixteen tw o ; as much cotton cloth in 1820 as in 1837. In 1620 We 5,11, 5,442 535 yards to Prussia, and in 1837 we did not send A Y a r d s , To the German States, in 1820, we sent 47,658,285 Y 8 7 1,, and in 1837, 38,581 ; 533 yards-less by 10,000,000 Y ar i e Looking to our export yarns, it would be seen, by the coreP B o , son of the increase of yarns with the decrease of exported Int l factured cloth, how the Corn-laws had fatally crushed the o f tish hand loom weaver down to his present deplorable sta te r privatioa. Taking the aggregate amount of the cotton ti o , exported to Russia, Prussia, and the German States in la' 10 ; he found that it am o u nted to 20,677,604 lb s . weight; "diposa in 1837, it amounte d to 77 , 576,351 lb s., more t h an an inc, f ' 7 0 of 50,000,000 lb s. T o F rance, Gib ra l tar, M a l ta, and the lonian Isl a nd s , T ur k ey an d t h e L evan t , we exporte d in d is aggregat e i n 1820, 2,003,000 lb s. we i g h t o f yarn bt 1827, 14,172,708 lbs. ; seven times too much. Well our weavers complain-well might they be in a state of s‘ ll.e. i'll edness, when o ne -h a lf o f our i mporte d raw cotton went 04!,,:g the shape of yarn. He mi g ht ment i on, too, another s tri g fact, that a friend of his at Nottingham, the son of a man " e had once carried on an i mmense manu f actur i ng concern the now found that he could actu a lly ex p or t hi s var i ous goodstr°7, Saxony and other places, and re-export th em to t h e Medic b' ranean, &c., at a far greater profit than he could realit e „, e , manufacturing them himself in England ; and he h a d et ) "„s, quently altogether given up the latte r b ranc h o f his bueaw ._( Hear.) If this were the case in one class of cominei enterprise, there was no reason why it should not be eV' so in others. He concluded by reading the second resolet2°,l„ " That the present syst em o f C orn -l aws , f o unded on a and varying scale of duties, whilst it produces high prw ee . has compl e t e ly f a il e d i n it s purpose o f preve nting extre w o fluctuation in the p r i ce o f corn , or con f err i ng an y perma rie l e benefit on the agricultural interest, has operated to the el i c y g sion of our manuf ac t ures f rom f ore i gn mar k ets , occa sionerb°,o of employment to our population, caused the labour-marke t a be overstocked, the rate of wages to be reduced, and crested all the evils of excessive competition in every departmen t , i trade, and ha s b een , a b ove a ll others, the means of allo vni , other countries t o success f u ll y r i va l us in the cheapness of d' e productions, and will in a short space of time annihilate oa . of our manufactures altogether." A to Mr. E. WILSON, i n secon di ng th e reso l u ti on , re ferre d e , the various A c ts o f P ar li amen t w hi c h h a d b een p asse d in rye ference to corn, a ll o f w hi c h t h e i r exper i ence h a d p r oved eg be inoperative in preventing a fluctuation of prices, ° l l,O being beneficial to the agricultural interests. When corn sg even at 80s. a quarter; the landlords endeavoured to extrae t io t large a rent as th e y cou ld , i n re f erence to t hi s pr i ce, and bter farmer was just ena bl e d to cu l t i vate t h e so il without i!..„.74 ruin to himself. A c i rcu l ar l etter o f t h e M arqu i s o f StaT to his tenantry, i n 1822 , prove d t hi s, f or i t set f orth that tue-ii rents should be calculated according to a scale, depending, be the average price of grain, leaving the tenant scarcely ; means of subsistence. Such a system of vassalage c ould 0 0 be beneficial to th e agr i cu l tur i st, w h o was always compaile,a-,01,t pay a ra c k- ren t f or hi s tenement ; and it not only injured a•ag but the trading commun i ty generally.-( Hear, bear.) ' he this was not the fi rs t t i me t h at t hi s su b ject had been un d e r t consideration of the City of London, tor, in 1826, some v ets fb strong resoluti ons , i n re f erence to i t, h ad been passed by ", Common Co unc il o f London, even at a period when the cl ° ", - trine of fre e t ra d e h a d many opponents there.-(Mr. Wils°t, here read the resolutions referred to.) He considered tb i ll the state of things in 1826, which called forth these re,,,1: 7 tions, was exact l y s i m il ar to that which existed now. .`" labourer was reduced to a state little above starvation, l e the farmer was just within a few shillings of bankruptcy; e l had no i n d ucement to labour, for if he did exert hilos the produce of his exertion would be taken by his landlor d ; Again, the m anu f ac t urer cou ld not consume t h e bread whic. was grown by the a gr i cu lt ur i s t, f or h e was d r i ven by opPr,e/a sive taxation to a f ore i gn mar k et . M r. Wil son t h en procee°,e„ to quote at length from an a dd ress o f L or d Fi tzw i lliam to tl•- landowners of England, showing that the Corn-laws were it y operative, and conf erre d a b ene fi t upon a small class, and 0 6, ; the wealthiest of th e na ti on. I n consequence of the Corn-10,; (continued Mr. Wil son ) a h eavy per tentage, vary i ng f ro m to 90 per cent., was imposed on manufactured articles in PI, land, being the cost of labour upon the staple produce. hoped that the present meeting would prove to be merely commencement, and that the agriculturists and the manufac' turers would not cease in their exertions till justice was der° to them.-( Cheers.) Mr. AMBROSE MOORE then addressed the meeting, and said that he was happy to find that it was not one of a party e harac' ter, but one convened to discuss a subject in which every lob s ': bitant of the wa r d was i ntereste d . He did not agree with t h' e observation s o f t h ose gent l emen who regarded the conduct n' the landlords to be oppressive for personal interests to be pr° - moted by base purposes, for the landholders might as well il l ' sinuate such motives in reference to the manufacturers, wb ° obtained great p ro fit s f or t h e i r pursu i ts i n trade.-(Hear .) Neither cha rge wou ld b e a fa i r one, and intemperance 0", not the way in which to settle the question. Such Mee t, ings as the present would do good, but he had been pre' sent at oth ers w h ere i t i nerant lecturers endeavoured to age ' tate the public mind, which had quite a different tendency's -( Hear.) The question might be resolved into three part; -wheth er th ey pre f erre d a free trade, a graduated scale e` duty, or a permanent and fixed duty.---( Hear.) Did they consider that a free trade in corn would do good ?-(" yes.") He meant would it do good to all classes ?-(" yes. He did not think they could pay the national debt by a t"' open corn-but he would ask, were they prepared to force, all protective duties ?-( Yes.) Some might say " Yes , and some " No ;" but this, he considered, would in a great measure depend on the fact whether they dealt in the al . ' ticles protected or not-( Hear, h ear ) -an d if t h ey d en ied protecting duties to the ag r i cu lt ur i st t h ey must be prepare d to deny them also to the manufacturer.-(Hear,) Let them imagine, then, that there were no duties upon corn imported. The question then was, sho u ld t h ey say to the cultivators 0 , ,' the soil that if they raise an amp l e quantity of bread we sha h give them the preference over other countries, in order to secure a supply; for if so, then must there be a protect' ing duty upon foreign corn.--( Hear, hear, hear, and No, no.) He would not advocate the enormous protecting duty now in . r e r d twh nyi whilst h l o io o on k sl .d e d ( hi ua i tv n ye t into.._( 0 - fiuxi ( de H dn e or a ta r t . be ) e tfoAon duty? in et u h e e h r q i Hn u e es s o t tm i h o oe n a g w o : 1 posed ; but the subject was one, therefore, which should b e n e w o x h t a e_ m t whether stances, yet Is. would be too much in others. Again, he re nt the p ia u r ty e e y e w t th s e a y l lv coulday high not g h e e rd e n , oarnnd withoutnow collecected when th e p orts were open to foreign corn, and yet when there paying h ryas ig h is p price for it.-( Hear, hear, hear.) He had heard gentlemen say that n , ti , vi , .l . standing th e high price of corn an d t h e h a d e ff ects o f ( ct'S, that theSc!, lavts tv:Te, nevertheless, inoperative practicaliy-ho w could this be so ?-the positions were irre concileable.-( Hear, hear, and no.) He had also heard it said, ,that a repeal of the Corn-laws would leave the poor , lands uncultivated ; then should we not have a smaller quo- BELVOI R d ay forty per 12sitants rernt For rester, th e Stuart Wort Mr. Croke r had left for ' Lord Hill 1.0 an‘ghley. 4-1 p.., ; ;, the Duke'of'. Strathfieldsay