The Express.
London, England, 1848-06-01 00:00:00

TILE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 1, 1848.

groan had taken on their quarters at Finsbury-equare.
Capt. Hay immediately sent olf a large body of police, who
found about 1,000 penons assembled, whom they quickly
dispersed
The Green having been cleared aid the military drawl
off, the majority of the police were ordered beck to their Ise.
veral station.. About 500 ordinary and 40 mounted were
ordered to remain during the bight. Cabs arid special mes-
tenger' were also kept in readtisess to convey any intelli-
gence if it were tie.. .emery to summon the authorities.
It wurrenerally reported on the Greta, that In the event of
an outbreak there the signal was to be convoyed to the se-
veral club., and a general outbreak would tike place.
During the evening a strong body of special conetahles,
with the E irl of Arundel and Surrey at their head, assembled
in the school-1.0.,m and church of St. Martin-in.the-Fielda,
and remained in readiness until they received notice from
the commissioners of police that their attendance was no
longer requisite. The noble earl dismissed those present
with an announcement that he should be in attendance with
his brother constables every evening as long as there seemed
any likelihood 0. their services being required, and he hoped
other parishes would follow their example.

Tut NAVIGATION LAws.—There were 272 signa-
tures appended to the City of London petition fur rairal of
the navigation laws, presented on Tuesday by Mr. Lebow
chore. Among thew are the names of tne gov rnor. the
deputy•governor, and several directors of the Bank of Eng•
land, sev. rat Lombard-street bankers, and many of the
leading mercantile firms of London.
BROMPTON HOSPlTAL—Yesterday evening a spe-
sial general court of the governors and directors oa this
chtrity took place ut the board room, Brompton, his grace
the Duke of Richmond in the chair. Some routine business
having been transacted the meeting proceeded to tho elec-
tion of three additional assistant physicians, which resulted
in th a appointment of Dr. Bowie, Dr. Quaid, rid Dr.Cott"n.
His Royal llighnces Prince Albert, who laid the f iundation
stone of the building, esamined the various wards and offices
of the institution, and expreand himself highly gratified with
the ilitfcrent internal arrangements.

THE REFORM MOVEMENT.

We have been requested to give publicity to the
following I. tier from Mr. home to the Chairman of the
Preston Reform Leiiaue :
London, 6, Bryanstone-square, May 31, 1849.
Sir,—l beg to say, in reply to your letter, that no more
effectual aid cam 5e g yen to my motion of the 20th ot Junej
in favour of ref ,rou, then by petitions to path msnt, ems.
nating from public, meinits or otherwise, contioed to the
inha.ntrints of the st v, rid district-, and I recommend that
the petiq ms be rosewood through the medium of the repre.
seat/gives fir the respictive localities where such petitions '
aro originated
Ac 1 11,4 it impossible to reply sepantely to the numerous
letters which are addressed to me from different parts of
Great Britain, inquiring by whet means co operation can he
best afforded to toe reform movement. I have availtd myself
of this mode of sendi .g sou an answer, in order that it may
be read by my correspondents generally in the columns
of the public pr, as,
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
JOSEPH HUME.

Mr. W. Limey, Chairman, Preston, I..tcaehi;e:----
P.S. I recommend great care in receiving signatures, and
Only th.se residing in the locality, as much dicmrcilit has
been brought up m petitions by the insertion of fictitious
names.—J. H.

RETRENCHMENT AND EQUALISATION OF
TAXATION.—MEETING IN LIVERPOOL.
Yesterday, at noon, a great public meeting or the
inhabitants of Liverpool, promoted by the Finantial Reform
Aasoci Awn recently formed in that town, wan held in the
Sessions Howe, " for the purpose of petitioning parliament
to take immediate measures, by wise and prudent retrench-
ment and a just revision of taxation, to equalise the ordinary
expenditure with the ordinary income of the country." The
meeting was convened by T. IL Horsfall, E.q , the mayor,
in compliance with a requisition numerously and respectably

signed.
The Matron read the requisition convening the meeting.
He said no meeting could be held for a more simple, a mere
legitimate, or a more cnnstitutional ohj- ct. (Applause.)
Mr. Churchwarden Frnousos moved the fiat resolu-
tion. People, he raid, had ceased their party cries, and
were now deeply occupied with questions sal pounds, ;bil-
lings, and pence. Merchants could now scarcely bring a
cargo at their own risk, the majority of mills were stopped,
many working half time; and the tradesna. n, above all
others, were emliarraseed. Ile could attest from his own
experience the depression of the shopkeepieg inter. et in
Liverpool. In the last 19 months there had been 848 bank-
ruptcies in England and 292 in Scotland. He might sur-
prise them when he stet d that there were in England alone
two millions of paupers, costing annually eight millions liter-
ling to maintain them. Amongst the causes of •his distress
the Currency Bill, in his opinion, stood prominent. Another
cause was the taxation, which was unjust in principle. The
poor man paid 10s. in the pound, the middle
classes 65., the very weas.thy only Is. In 1847
the exci•e and customs duties paid 37,000,0001. ; the
stamp duties yielded 3,000,000/. ; whilst the land, the whole
land of England. paid but 1,200,4001. (Hear, hear.) After
suiting the determination of the people to demand financial
reform, Mr. Ferguson conduit 4 by moving:
'That the depression and want or confidence under which the trailing
and commercial interests of the country are now labouring use
greatly aggravated by the present unsatisfactory state of toe national
finance.
Mr. C. HOLLAND seconded the resolution. He said, 'e-
vading to his own c mfession, the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer would be 6,000,0001. short in January, '49. Was
not commercial prosperity or adversity intimately con-
meted with the credit system of the country ;
and could it be en a secure basis when we round
those who managed the monetary affairs of the country
actually going on with a bankrupt exchequer, without
the moral courage to come forward with any plan to re-
lieve themselves from that lamentable position ? (Applause.)
If next year the Chancellor of the Exchequer had to go to
that great monopoly the Beak of England tor money, and
another commercial crisis were to ensue, where could the
trading classes of the country go to obtain the supplies which
they would require? Since 1815 an addition of 60,000 men
had been made to the standing army of the country, and
seven millions addition bad been made during the same time
to the expenditure for the forces. What possible
justification could there be for all this, when
the Queen told them in her speech at the opening of parlia-
ment, that we were at peace with all the world? We should
Ask Lord John Russell what had been the cause of the revo-
lution in France ?—financial grounds alone. The great se-
curity for a country like this was commercial prosperity,
healthy employment for every man in the community, and
not thousands of idle bayonets paraded up and down. The
18 millions which our army and navy cost, if left to fructify
in the pockets of the people, would have been better em-
ployed in industrious pursuits. He knew from a re-
sidence in various parts of the world that the
appearance of a man of war was dreaded by the cap-
tains of merchant vessels, as the oportunities to enter
produced disorder among the crews. The country next to
us in its commercial relations was the United States; yet
their navy was only a drop in the bucket ximpared to ours,
and yet they had equal protection to ourselves all over the
world. The public had now to assert the principle that they
would insiA upon retrenchment; and when the Chancellor
of the Exchequer brings forward his deficiency, all classes
unanimously should say, " reduce your expenditure"—that
is the secret. (Applause.) The people would no longer
permit liberal members to be bearded by the aristocratical
portion of toe house, when they put questions about abuses,
or demanded firancial reform from the govern ...ent. The
principles of communism were tried to be adopted
in France ; but he trusted that if we could ob-
tain true principles of legislation in this country,
namely, if capital and labour had free exercise, and
taxation instead of Lakin, so much from the fruits of capital
and labour, were removed from the proceeds of industrious
labour and made to fall more upth accumulations of capital
and property, we should accomplish, without resorting to the
doctrines of communism, a practical communism, in regard
to the division of profits ; we should relieve the working
classes, and secure to them a fair day's wage for a fair day's
work.
Mr. J. TAYLO!:, cotton broker, off:re 1 a few remarks
to show the depressed state of trade, and created some
amusement by declaring that it would have been better for
Liverpool if the Mersey had been blocked up for the last two
yearn. lye thought from the disturbed state of the continent
we might have to suffer for the next two years still more
commercial embarrassment ; hence there was absolute ne-
cruity for great retrenchment. He would not canvass the
merits of the ministers or their opponents—both parties bad
lost his confidence; but let who would be minister, the
country could not pay taxation up to the point it had
done for some years past. (Applause.)
The MAYOR put the resolution, which was carried unstr-

mously.
Mr. C. ROBERTSON moved the second resolution. The
necessary retrenchments, he maintained, would never be made
till the country should insist upon them. The present mi-
nistry had coin nitted a greater outrage, in the matter of
finance, than any government which hail preceded them for
a long time. They came into office when the income was
equal to the expenditure, and contrived, before two short
years were over, to convert it into a deficit of three millions;
and when they were asked to retrench, they commenced by
increasing the army and navy estimates. When one abuse
was pointed out, they met it by the creation of another, to
balance it. (Laughter.) lie wished it to go forth to the
country that the opposition which Liverpool had offered to
the increase of the income tax was net so much against the
tax itself es against its mode of collection and its want of
equalisation. The resolution which he had to move was :
That the national expenditure is on a scale of unjustifiable extra-
Who, he asked, could doubt the truth of it ? Pensions for
doing worse than nothing—places made for men instead of
meritorious men being called to till places--jobs of all de-
scriptions, large and small—commissions poking their noses
into everybody's business, and pockettioit the public money
on the plea ot doing the public a strvice—sinecures from
which the fortunate possessors, atter being some time in pos-
session, retire, receiving a large sum as compensation for doing
nothing. (Laughter.) Sometimes when we beard, as a meri-
torious act, ot some public office having been abolished, we
found it only to be a plausible pretest for giving to the
sinecurist something out of the public parse in
shape. (Rear, hear.) Then there were the hangers-ots
court, of whom, if the truth were known, he had no doubt
our gracious Mai,e7 would b:a as glad to gat rid of as bar
kriA Pabi KA, W0+1164 We 'gut goatees a the pol:shgunds.