The Sun.
London, England, 1839-02-11 00:00:00

CORN-LAWS.

REAT PUBLIC MEETING AT PLYMOUTH

FOR THE REPEAL OF THE CORN-LAWS.

This day (Friday). one of the most crowded meetings
which ever assembled in the Guildhall, met for the pur-
pose of petitioning Parliament for a repeal of the Corn-
laws.

The Mayor ( GEORGE SOLTALI, Esq.) took the chair a
little after twelve o'clock, and hazing read the requisition
which was most numerously and respectably signed, ex-
' pressed his conviction of the deep importance of the sub-
ject, as affecting the welfare of so large and deserving a
portion of the community—the manufacturing classes. lie
called upon the meeting to enter into the consideration of
the subject, calmly and dispassionately, and strongly urged
the importance of merging all party or political feeling in
the discussion of the subject before them.
Captain PHILLIPS, R.N., opened the meeting by stating
that they were met for the purpose of adopting a petition
to Parliament for the repeal of the present obnoxious and
cruel Corn-laws. The resolution he should propose to
them would be to substitute a very moderate fixed duty ;
but it would be open for the meeting to receive an amend-
ment either for a total repeal of the duty—or a moderate
duty, decreasing every year—he should not say to which of
these alterations his sentiments inclined, but confine him-
sell to an exposure of the ruinous consequences of the
present system to the manufacturing interests, upon
which the welfare of the country mainly depended; they
were told that wages rose in proportion to the price of corn.
He would ask, was it so ?—( Loud cries of " No, no.") In
1806 the price of wheat was 365. a quarter, and wages
were 10s. a week--in 1838 wheat was 78s. a quarter, and had
wages doubled ? It was a mockery to make such a propo-
sition. This was a question between the landowners and
the public. Now, the number of the former might be es-
timated at about 100,000, the latter at about twenty-five
millions. Were the interests of such a majority to be sa-
crificed to such a minority ? He would tell the meeting that,
if the manufacturers were to be sacrificed to the landed pro-
prietors, England would dwindle down into the insignifi-
cance of a petty Italian state. The capital and machinery
would be very soon removed to the banks of the Elbe ar:d
elsewhere ; and then a foreigner, coming into England,
and inquiring for Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Shef-
field, and Liverpool, would find them little better than de-
serted villages. He begged to propose that a petition be
presented to both [louses of Parliament.
Dr. HAMILTON rose, and having ably defended himself
and fellow-requisionists from the charge of having im-
properly taken the lead in this cause, and denounced the
apathy of those who, whilst they accused him and his
friends of unbecoming zeal, had exhibited the most inglo-
rious indifference up to the eleventh hour—nay, the very
twelfth hour—entered upon a brief history of the Corn-
law, which he divided into seven well marked epochs,
tracing it from its introduction, in the reign of Ed-
ward the Third, in 1360, down to 1828, when, through
the active exertion of the present Noble Secretary for
the Colonial Department, the graduated scale of
duties now in operation was introduced by the 9th of
George IV., chap. 60., which, although meant in kind-
ness, had been as injurious in its results to all classes, as
the worst of its predecessors—a fact fully established by an
examination of the annual prices and fluctuations under
it, the range of which appeared to have reached 113,i per
cent. Upon examining the official returns of our exports for
the three consecutive years, 1836, 1837, and 1838, he
found a decrease in the value of the exports of six of the
staple products of our industry to no less an extent than
13,714,6341. These six branches of industry we. eas
follow :

Cotton manufactured goods ... £8,736,802
Linen ditto ditto ...... 1,256,191
Wool and Woollens 2,910,382
Cutlery and Hardware 419,349
Silk manufactured goods. 364,964
Hats 26,946

£13,714,634
While, to counterbalance this decrease, we have an increase
and
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manufacturers ; cotton wool to produce tivals to the Glas-
alsmwillistli
gow and Manchester looms ; linen yari to be converted
into Holland to undersell the manufacturers of Belfast;
mills and machinery, with coals and culm to set them
going ; our workmen are also become an article of ex-
port; the master manufacturers soon must follow : and in
the end landlords will find their produce unsaleable from
the want of custo ners, those who remain behind being ton
poor to buy, and Britain—proud and haughty Brita'n—
fallen from her high estate, no longer holding the balance
between contending nations, will sink, as a mere agricul-
tural nation, into insignificance, and end her glory by be-
coming the dependent vassal of ome Continental Power.
The Doctor concluded a powerful and convincing speech
by seconding the motion.
The meeting was then addressed by Thomas Fox, Esq.,
Thomas Gill, Esq., Joseph Treffey, Esq., and several
others, and a petition adopted, praying for the repeal of
the Corn-laws, and the substitution of a very low perma-
nent duty. An attempt was made to support the present
system;but the speaker was unable to obtain a hearing, and
a member of the Working Man's Association likewise
failed in endeavouring to turn the attention of the meeting
from the abolition of the Corn laws to that of the present
state of the Suffrage. One unanimous sentiment pre-
vailed, that of inextinguishable opposition to the present
and ruinous system of corn taxation.