The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 22. 1855

MEETING IN HYDE-PARA. YESTERDAY.

There was a very numerously-attended meeting in
Hyde-park yesterday afternoon, with the alleged inten-
tion of protesting against the present high price of bread
in the metropolis. Shortly after two o'clock it became
evident that the intention was to make a demonstration

against something, but what that something was to be,
the crowd appeared to be undecided. Some said that

the object was to hoot " the police and serve them out,"
for their conduct with regard to the Beer Bill riots last
July ; while others maintained that the legitimate ob-
ject of the assembly was " to get bread cheaper."
The portion of the park selected for the demonstration
was that in which the July meetings were held. The
crowd at first consisted for the most part of boys, but as
the hour advanced it assumed a different form, the ma:

jority being composed of well-dressed and well-conducted
persons. A detachment of the A division of police
sauntered about the park in groups of two or three, and
it was observed that the constables selected for this duty

were all experienced men, who has been in the force for
many years, and upon whose steadiness some reliance
could be placed in case of a breach of the public peace.
A reserve of police was also posted in the neighbourhood
of the magazine, should their services be required.
As the hour advanced, the crowd rapidly increased,
and before three o'clock several thousand persons were
assembled. Several individuals then appeared among the
crowd and distributed handbills, announcing the signifi-
cant fact that England had been betrayed, and that
" Lord Palmerston was in collusion with Russia !" -The
persons who distributed these bills were well dressed,
and did not appear to belong to the working classes
proper. One of these documents wound up as follows—
" One word more. It is the object of Russia, and her
agents here, whether Ministers of the Crown, or spies of
the police, to divide the people of this laud among them-
selves, and by exciting the fear and hatred of one class
against another, to divert their combined indignation
from the one guilty head. Be on your guard, therefore,
against being led into any act of violence, •r breach of
the law. Use such constitutional remedies as are left
you. Ad4iress the Crown with petitions to dismiss the
guilty Minister from her councils preparatory to his
being brought to trial. Call upon your (so-called repre-
sentatives in the Commons' House of Parliament to in-

silt upon inquiry with a view to his impeachment, and
put down at once any knaves who would pervert the
gravity of your deliberations into scones of turbulence
and riot."

At three o'clock a movement in the crowd gave evi-
dence that something practical was about to be done.
Two or three men took off their hats and commenced
addressing the people. The first orator who made his
appearance was an old man in spectacles, with a brown
paper parcel under his arm. He drew from his pocket
a paper upon which the heads of his discourse were in-
scribed, and commenced by informing his friends that he
was an individual who had devoted 50 years of his life
to promote the welfare of his fellow men. He was con-
vinced that a crisis had now arrived when it was abso-
lutely necessary that the suffering classes of the country
should meet together and discuss those causes in the
social system which had led to their present lamentable
condition. In order to meet the monopoly of the mo-
neyed classes and the aristocracy, his proposal was, that
the people should unite for the purchase of raw material
in the manufacture and sale of which they could find

employment. (A. voice, " Good.") He was in favour
of beginning by opening bakers' shop; in which the best
bread should be made, and sold at the most moderate
profit. This would have the effect of breaking up the
monopoly of the bakers, and the aristocracy, and the
speculators who bought up the corn and oil of the coun-
try, and kept those articles locked up until they could
exact from the starving mechanics a famine price. (Ap-
plause.) Now, if he were to open a shop of that
kind, would they support him ? (" Yes, yes, de-
cidedly.") He would promise to account to a com-
mittee chosen by themselves for all the money he
might receive, and not to devote a farthing of it to his
own profit or gain. (Laughter, and a voice—" What
about the labourer ?") He would answer that question.
If his system were carried out, as he hoped it would
be, every labouring man should have good raiment and
lodging, but no money until everyman in the community
was pros ided with food, lodging, and raiment. (Laughter.)
Well, they might laugh, but he could tell those who in-
dulged in unseemly mirth ou such an occasion, that, in
all human probability, they would live to laugh at the
other side of their mouths. He had been engaged all
his life trying to improve the condition of his fellow-
men. He bad been a farmer, a miller, a corn dealer,
and a great many other trades, and he was persuaded
monopoly was the ruin of the country. (A. Voice—
" You have donea little in that way yourself." (Laughter.)
He had gone down to Wales 14 years ago, and had been
instrumrntal.in preventing the copperraen from joining
the Reccabites, and his interference had saved many
lives and much property—(bravo)—but he had been run
down by the press and the police. (Hear.) However,
he was ready at any moment to dtclare his principles
and explain his plans. He was persuaded the present
high price of food was to be traced to the operations of
the money classes, who, having made fortunes by the
sweat and labour of the poor, were now banded together
to extort from their hard earned wages a famine price
for their commodities. The same principle was carried
out in a lesser degree by the tradesmen of the metropolis
and the large towns. For instance, the drapers, instead
of adhering to their own business, had commenced sell-.
ing millinery, and the result of this system carried out
in other trades was, to reduce the labour to such a low
figure that the mechanic could not support life on the
miserable pittance he was enabled to earn. The speaker
continued in this strain for some time, and concluded his
observations by stating that ho was ready to go into the
" baking line" if his friends would give him their sup-
port.

Another orator, who delighted in a long beard and
moustache, and who but for his Cockney accent might
have been taken for a member of the " depressed
nationalities," commenced his address by expressing
a hope that no breach of the peace would occur,
but that the people would quietly assemble and dis-
cuss the social questions in which they felt an interest,
without attempting to commit any violation of the
law. The newspapers of the past week had all discussed
the meeting of last Sunday, and one of them had ven-
tured to describe it as one of the "good old bread riots."
He hoped, however, that the people would not originate
any riot, which was precisely what their enemies wished
them to do. There could be to concealing the fact that
while wages in this country remained at zero, bread was
at famine price. The newspapers talked of their being
no reason why a working man with regular wages should
not be able to support his family at present prices, but
he could not see how it was to be done. How was it to
be done by a man with a wife and family on 18s. a-week?
(A voice, Yes, and on 35. or 4s. a-week.) He was him-
self a carpenter, earning 30s. a-week, and he assured'
them he found it a hard struggle to live. It was said
that the war with Russia raised prices. It was no such
thing. We were now, after one enormous and another
abundant harvest, and bread was at famine price. Rus-
sia had nothing to do with this, but the statesmen and
the governing classes had to answer for it. (Applause.)
It was intended by Providence that the people in the
land should eat the produce of the land, That was na-
tural ; but it was unnatural that the money classes, the
speculators, and the rogues in grain should, by their
wealth, so combine, that the food was kept from the
poor man till it advanced to famine price. The news-
papers said, forsooth, that whatever sacrifices the poor
had to make on account of the war, the wealthy classes
participated in a greater degree. That was false, and
they knew it. (Hear.) If the wealthy classes gave up
everything they had ever wrung from the poor, they
would still have the upper hand ; and if a nobleman bad
to discharge all his servants to-morrow and do his own
work, the only consequence would be that the exercise
would improve his digestion. (Good.) The monopolists
and the aristocracy were combined to raise the price of
food. They were the Coins of society, who rebelled
against the law of nature and of God, and slew their
fellow-men. (Cheers.) He wished that their (the people's)
brothers, the soldiers and the police, could have their
true position brought under their notice. (Hear.) And
this could be done by a combination of the people, because
they would print and distribute tracts to show the ope-
ration of the baneful
stem under which the people
eluded. Look, for instance, at the
were oppressed and
soldiers in the Crimea working for a shilling a day to
maintain thee honour of their country, and yet, whea
they di~~ their families, who looked to them for support,
wer pensioned upon charity, and thrown upon the Pa-
triotic Fund. Was that a way to reward those whose
supporters had perished in battle ? He would have no
such soldiers. He was in favour of citizen soldiers—
every man a soldier, and not sham generals, sham mini-
sters, and sham rulers. This individual, who was very
warmly applauded, concluded by calling upon his hearers
to join in a combination against the corruption and mal- '
administration of a system which entailed the greatest
hardships upon the poor by doubling the price of the
chief neceessaries of life.
f w
ihddeoat nyh thereawnyeaoxsbt
Several other persons addressed the people in various
parts of the park, until evening and indications of a
shower dispersed the crowd.
The conduct of the police throughout the day, as far
as it came under our notice, was extremely creditable,
although exception may be taken to the arrangement by
which they were allowed to loiter about the ground, and
thus expose themselves to the animosity of the crowd.
At one period of the day a riot appeared imminent. A
group of four policemen were followed up and down by
the crowd, hooting and hissing, and when they arrived
at the Magazine. Guard-house,, sticks were thrown at
them, and the crowd appeared resolved upon mischief,
if the slightest pretext bad been afforded them. The
police, however, faced about from time to time, and bore
a good deal of provocation with good humour; but had
they attempted to take into custody any of the enthusi-
astic competitors for the honour of " bonnetting" them,
ohundreds present, the result
It waabject of the crowd, on the whole, appeared to be
rather
Ws attemptoo 'displayftn nmadeoiin to
donumbersnhsaut o
ther thanomieoel
et
;anything
ordse
Jo!
osoue.,r
noes d nt oo
of the crowdasserting that "a few
less than 30,000 pe
more TOWS would de,
There could not have been
moue ne the park at one time.
imw
aeanrmany pitched

ele
g ei n
ogto Pyi
no your
amol ipnb tier
aosfiin
as
/Iseoirloofway-'s Oint-minatleatntedr
fProilmls
[ADVERTISiMENT.
ItlizvaProfessorHolloway :
aße:ess to the wonderful
persuaded him to all
this complaint
xpAeriefrcfneoddr
y
soe3" ef; efficacy
y‘l)vife a saafour
he
drepcieeyleiyedtioi, if
afflicted
d Witht
at scrofula,
e
hopessurgeoonfs
recoverf,
es
caoi dverhye,
aw asi
friendncurpaebrlseu. After
medicines, and the consequence was that
entirely got rid of his complaint."—Sold by all
vendors throughout the world ; at Professor
establishments, 244, Strand, London, and 80, Maiden-
lane, lane, /siew York ; by A. Stampa, Constantinople ; A.
GUidlcy, Smyrna; and H. Hoods, Malta,