The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1839.

dren to the same professions ?—( Hear, bear.) Do not the far-
me.rs—do not the labourers act in the same way ? Do not, in-
deed, the capitalists go on investing their money in the Three
per Cents. ?—( Hear, hear.) What is the cause of all this ?
There is not room for us all to expand (Laughter)—there is
a straitwaistcoat imposed on the body-corporate, which prevents
war limbs expanding in a healthy and proper manner.--( Hear.)
With one other remark I will conclude. Who has been be.
nefited by these abominable laws? I. it the agricultural la-
bourer? What says the Standard of last evening? Why,
that 150 years ago the labourer was better off by 30 per cent.
than he is at the present time. Has the farmer been
bene-
fitted? What says the Standard in an artiele against the
repeal ? That successive races of formers have gone
one after the other, and one after the other have
slipped into the Gazette. (I-fear, hear.) Have these laws
benefited the lando %tiers themselves? If we travel throueh
the country, and ask whose beautiful place is that ? the an-
swer will be, " It is 'Squire So-and- So's," or " My Lord
So-and_So's. They are abroad--they arc i France—they
have gone to economise."—(Cheers and I iughter.) Be a
Return from the Prefect of Police in Paris, ten years
ago, there were thirty-five thousand English residents in
France, of whom 6,600 were artizans, I am afraid
doing no good there—( A laugh)—and expending annually
8,800,000/ Now, if such were the numbers and expenditure
in France alone ten s ears ago, it is not too much to assume
that on the whole Continent there are now 70.000 absentees,
expending 8,000,0001.—( Hear, hear.) Now, how many of
those 70,000 are land owners—posse ssors of these beautiful
estates, and how large a sum out of that 8,600,000/. is taken
In the shape of taxation by way of Corn-lews.—( Hear, hear.)
gentlemen, I shall now conclude by giving you as a toast,
" The mover and seconder of the motion in March 1838, for
the repeal of the Cord-laws, C. P. Villiers, Esq., M. P., and
Sir William Molesworth, Bart., M. P.—(Loud and long con-
tinued cheering.)
Mr. VILLIERS rose, and was received with enthusiastic ap-
Plause. He said, Genslemen, it would be needless for me to
say that I esteem it a very great compliment to be so
received -at such a meeting.—(Hear, hear.) I wish I
could feel that the very humble services that I
sought to render to the cause in which we are now assem-
bled have merited such favour. The only claim 1 can make
of credit to myself is, that I have net cast away the oppor-
tunity which an intelligent constituency has afforded me of
calling the attention of the Legislature, upon every occasion
my power to the evils and the mischief which these bad
and indefensible laws were bringing on the country.
—(Hear, hear, hear.) Your acknowledgement, Gentle-
Men, at present makes my reward complete, for,
having engaged in the painful and ungratefuk task of
of making last session a deliberate appeal to that= assembly,
which united feeling, interest, and power, in rejecting what I
proposed._( Hear, hear.) But scornfully as my motion was
rejected, I shall never regret having been an humble agent in
that painful experiment which you have so long been making
in trusting to the justice and the sense of the Legislature, for
I am not one of that school who think that we
o,llght never to do what is right, till we can no longer
ao what is wrong—and prefer to legislate, after
thought and deliberation, rather than under fear and ex-
citement.—( Hear, hear.) But, Gentlemen, I am glad to think
that, for near three-and-twenty years you have been content to
carry your prayers and remonstances to the Legislature, by all
the methods the least objectionable that men of sense can re-
sort to, because I think it now gives effect to that course which
You have been forced to pursue.—(Cheers.) You now
stand before the world, as having only descended into the
field of agitation after having exhausted every other resource.
to which reasonable meu could resort, and the urgency of your
predicament has been this, that you have seen ruin staring you
in the face on the one side, and despair of redress on the
other.—( Cheers.) If any man could doubt what he had to
expect from the Legislature, or from the influence of internal
excitement, the conduct pursue I by the Legisirture during the.
last Session of Parliament would have entirely relieved his mind
Of every vestige of doubt.—( Cheers.) You see the manner
In which these discussions are allowed to be conducted in the
House. You see that confident and contemptuous silence
Which precedes the overwhelming vote.—( Hear, hear.) You
Saw last Session, perhaps for the first time, upwards of 300
Members of the Legislature finding themselves at a civic feast,
agreed in their rejection of the measure, and pledging them-
selves
to the maintenance of the monopoly for the
Etit r e, and you saw the result of that increased con-
s"
ence when they committed in any opinion the
Unparalleled act of wanton and selfish legislation in refusing
tiro Bill which the English merchants were interested in
Pais-Leg, and which would enable them to engage in the trade
of expo:ling foreign flour, ground by English millers, the
results of which I have myself seen in the investment of foreign
,capital on the other side of the channel, where large mills I
nave been ereci&d, consequent on the rejection of that Bill, by !
Parties who stated in the hearing of the Commons that
they would have paid 1,0001. out of their own pockets
for that gratuitous act on the wart of the Legislature. —( Hear)
All this took place in the face of those facts which you have
published and authenticated, of the danzer to which our mann-
factures and commerce were exposed by lecreign comp etition,
in the face of half a million of our arsizans, so dis-
tressed as to require special enquiry under the direc-
tion of the Crown as to the mode of relief—in
the face of millions ant millions, being expended in parochical
relief fOrihe support of those persons divested of employment.
I say could any body doubt, who did not believe you to be the
least spirited and most servile of the people on the earth, that
you would not at the first moment have courage to take the
redress into your own hands that was refused you by other
means?—(Cheers.) Gentlemen, that moment, thank Gad,
has arrived—(Cheers)—and I congratulate you, I congratulate
the country. I could almost say they would praise the spirit
and determination with which you are availing yourselves of
it.---( Cheers.) There is no mistaking the meeting we see as-
sembled here.—(Cheers.) Can any man contemplate it;
composition, and doubt its earnestness, or question its success?
Will any man believe y ou have left your homes and renounced
your leisure and occupation for any idle purpose of agita-
tion ? Or, that you who are so much interested above
allY other class in the stability of our institutions—
aye more than those who waste what you produce.—(Tremen-
!'°ala cheering.) Will any one credit that you would ever
I°ln irf giving an impulse to the general excitement on this
occasion, if you had not believed that any evil would be more
tolerable. than the one you seek to remove. —( Cheers ) And
1"1 any body sloabt of your success who reflects what that
combination of wealth and intelligence, have dared in former
diays against the feuetalism of the country, or when the
Lords of the soil have before attempted inroads on your
property,—( Great cheering.) I say it is impossible to ques-
tion your success, and it is impossible to calculate the bless-
"lgs of that result, because I consider we are struggling for a
principle
will exercise a more bent:Acid influence upon
the condition of man than any other we know.--1 mean that
ple of perfect freedom of commerce between nation and
Loud and continued cheering)—that which con-
sider to be the basis of peace and good will among
alert far above any other union or convention that we have
Yet known, and it is in favour of that I—and I believe those
aehom I address—now present themselves, as staunch and
Zealous advocates, and it is for that reason that I will not
enter into those foolish and fallacious questions which the
agriculturists are raising to confuse men's minds as to the re-
spective value of agriculture and manufacture. We stand here,
on the rights of the community—on the right of every
Man to exchange the fruits of his toil with whomsoever and
Wheresoever he thinks fit.—( Loud cheering.) Yes, the right
of the poor man to enjoy the abundance of other countries at
home, as it is in the power of the rich man to enjoy them by
Journeying abroad.—( Cheers.) First and foremost, in tl:c
advancement of that principle, do I claim for the community
the right of earning the means of subsistence wherever they
can, with the greatest abundance and at the best advantage.
To stop that right seems to me to be a most daring act of
tyranny.—(Cheers.) That that right should be questioned
Is difficult to believe—that it should be continued to be so,
seems to me as discreditable to the peeple as it is disgraceful.
These English Corn-laws are now known throughout the
world, and they are a bye-word of reproach to the spirit and
Independence of Englishmen. The Englishman goes through
the world and boasts of his freedom, and is ever met by the
wretched badge of ignorance and injustice.—( Heir, hear.)
Ask the Prussian and the Russian and the Austrian why they
submit to despotism, and they will say, " How ! are we worse
off than the people of England, who are ever complaining,
and ever enduring laws which they say are starving the people,
Injuring their commerce, and are excused by no public advan-
tage ?"—( Cheers.) We reproach the advocate for Universal
Suffrage, and he points to the Corn-laws. We are met by the
Pauper to whom we would explain the principles of labour, and
We tell him to depend on his own resources, and he points
to the Corn-laws. He says, I know how to obtain my food
-and my living; I can toil from morning to night if you would
exchange the fruits of that toil. He points to the Corn-laws,
and says that is' refused him ; and he says public relief is re.
Anted him. I say, then, that the Corn-laws area sanction to
all the discontent and restlessness and dissatisfaction that
.and it is a scandal to us as a free and just I
People.—(Loud cheers.) But, Gentlemen, I will not waste
another morient of your time in characterizing these laws
as I feel them myself, because I know that I am
addressing people who are every day and hour experiencing
the miseries it produces ; and a more appropriate topic is to
concert means by which we, who are all agreed, can abate the
nuisance. I can hardly think it necessary to deal with the ar-
guments, if so they may be called, which have been advanced
by the advocates of' these laws, for I can hardly conceive that
eaten of education and intelligence could use such arguments
in defence of them. Can you believe that man who tells you
that the commerce of the country is to be placed in jeopardy
that a few more worthless acres may be kept in cultivation ?
Can you, who know that we owe every thing to commerce,
believe such a man ? Can you believe the man who, f
notwith-
standing our laws enact that honesty is one of the principles. o?
eziur Constitution, would cheat the people of their rightsitd
.1 believe that education and morality have got too f/traa-
thatea
sto need any reply to such arguments, but I cannotd
'our mode of arguing in favour of the Corn-laws hase tended
'tin the success of its advocates. I mean that system of mys-
tification and confusion created in men's
minds, and the
de-
priving the question of the real simplicity of its character.
believe the greatest number of persons who are without the
Power to think 3:er themselves are timid in action when they
should be forwarel; and there are others who, when they
bring their minds to the consideration of the question, and
When their attention has been directed to it, have a fund of
good sense which enables them to estimate its real value,
and these at once fall irsio slur ranks. It is therefore our duty
to put forward all the facts and arguments on which our own
conclusions are founded. We have all witnessed what perse-
verance and energy have effected on the question of Slavery.
—( Hear, hear.) The difficulties are far less on the subject
of the Corn-Laws. Here there is no question as to the rights
of property, and the power of the master over the slaves, or his
authority in all matter of discipline and punishivnt, morals

and education. Here we have a base wrong inflicted on our
fellow men and fellow Christiana—men of the same colour and
clime as ourselves.—(Cheers.) For these reasons I think we
ought now to insist on being heard and not to allow the ques-
tion to be shuffled off as it has hitherto been—( Loud cheering )
We must come to book with the landlords.—(Cheering.) We
will give them a fear hearing, but we demand the same for
ou-selves ; and I am satisfied that we are in a condition to invite
them to the proof of all they allege, if they allow us to esta-
blish our allegations.—( Hear, hear.) There are three or four
points of some importance which should be set before the pub..
lic with regard to this question. One is that the Corn-laws
have injured, and do injure, our foreign trade. The next is,
that they augment our public burdens, whether general or
local. The third is, that the cultivators and occupiers of the
soil do not derive any advantage from them; and if I were to
name a fourth, it would be that the owners of the land them-
selves have no more right to protection than any other class of
the community.—( Cheers.) Now I am perfectly satir.fied
that there are in this district persons who possess facts to de-
monstrate the close and intimate connection between the Corn-
laws and the injury to our foreign trade—( Hear, hear)_..
and I venture to speak this the more confidently, because
I have myself lately visited those 'States and countries where
manufactures have made the greate.st progress, and where the
result has been most felt at home. If anybody should attempt
to question the truth of this he would deny the evidence of his
senses. I allude to the States of the German Commereisl
League; and I do not hesitate to say that the practical opera-
tion of that League has been to establish a vast workshop in
the heart of Europe, supplying the wants of twenty seven mil-
lions of people who were formerly supplied from this country,
and which promises to become the most formidable competitor
of this country.—( Hear, hear. ) I venture further to say tai .t
the principles upon which that League was established was
owing to the restrictive duties we have adopted. I will add
further, that if these restrictive duties are continued fur
three years longer they will raise the tariff against our goods,
and that they will include all that is valuable amoni those
who are left of our customers in Europe within the ',care.—
( Hear.) If these facts cannot be denied, the landowners
who have created this state of things are responsible for al
the evils and calamities which flow from the loss of our tra'ie.
They have forced these manufactories into existence, and it
now depends upon the fate of this question whether they are
to prosper or not. They wanted capital, and we have driven
it from our shores—they wanted artizans to superintend the
construction of their machinery, and by the operation of the
Corn-laws we have driven them over to the Continent.
—( Hear, hear.) There was one thing more essential, and
that was to keep :the price of provisions low on the
Continent, and that has been attained by the Corn-laws ; and
if it were asked what the effect of the repeal would be, the
answer is—that, first, it would raise the price of provisions on
the Continent ; and, sec aridly, that it would increase the de-
mand for labour in this country.—( Loud cheers.) I have
had the most candid admissions made by persons abroad upon
this point, and they have candidly confessed to me that their
workmen were more unskilled than our's, and that if they had
to pay the same wages to their unskilful workmen, they could
net compete with us in the market. What, therefore, they
dre is, the repeal of he Corn-laws, which would raise the
price of corn on the Continent, and drive our artizans home
age n. I was also interested in observing how well they un-
derstood the question, and, as it appeared to me, far bets er
than it is uede stood here. Their inquiries were most anxious
as to the excitement on the subject here, and they seemed to
have a distinct notion of the effect of a fixed duty.---( Hear. )
They all seemed to think that a fixed duty of about 10s. a
quarter, would suit them exactly, but that the repeal would he
fatal to them.—( Loud cheers ) Their reasoning was per-
fectly intelligible. There was great discontent in the northern
provinces because the tariff excluded our manufactures, en 1
there was no vent for their agricultural produce. The sonic
observations as to the sffe t of repel and a fix d duty, were re-
peated not once, but twenty times to Ice. I know, 'Gen-
tlemen, that it is unnecessary to enter into these details to
persons touch better informed on the subject than myself, but
if I should say anything further to the cbservetions I ma le while
abroad, I should say there is not a moment to be lost.
I was informed, and I believe that every year their artisans
a-e becoming more skilful aed experienced, and a number of
articles formerly produced exclusively by this country, are the
results of the improvements they have effected within the loot
few years.—(Hear, hear.) I saw all the arrangements mode
to put the names of English manufacturers ou all foreign
goods, and they said they would not have ventured to put them
if there was any real or perceptible difference, although they
would not have ventured to do so a few years ago. Therefore
every day the repeal of the Corn-laws is postponed we are
losing the chance of recovering the ground we have: lost.—
(Hear and cheers.) But the other point of the great addition
to our public burdens, which the Corn-laws occasion, is
equally obvious. Oae of the disadvantages we sustain in
in competing with the foreign manufacturers is, that we are
much monr heavily taxed. Half of our income is devoted to
the support of our public estabishments—the army and navy,
and the supplies of ships in the dock-yards. The cost of
provisions enters into every one of these, and, in proportion
as the price of bread is reduced, are savings effected in all
these items.—( Hear, hear.) Can any one doubt that we are
paying more taxes than are necessary, when we are paying
more to every public servant than would be necessary if pro-
visions were lower ?—( Hear, hear.) What is the great amount
of our local burdens—the Poor-rates and County-rates—corn-
possd of, but the cost of supporting a certain number of per-
sons in public institutions and gaols ?—( Hear, hear.) Every
local tax must consequently be increased, -by whatever in-
creases the cost of provisions. The next point is to show,
after having demonstrated the evils of the system, that
no one derives any benefit from it. That can he demonstrat, d
to the satisfaction of the public, if not of the farmers. The
latter say—true, we have. no interest in paying higher rents
and higher price for our seed and the keep of our horses, but
we are afraid the landlords would not make a proportionate
diminution in the price of their land. The next point is, that
the landlords have no claim to exclusive protection, and I ven-
ture to say, that he has no more title to it than the landlord at
an inn between Manchester and London would have to com-
pensation, because of the establishment cf the Railway. If
these facts are established and made known, I believe we shall
have all the community with us. Some friends of ours have
thought it wise and defensible to recommend a compromise
of principles. I do not venture to recommend such a course
lest I should be looked upon as a traitor to the cause.—( Loud
cheers.) The mode of proceeding we have now adopted has
been forced upon us. We have been told that nothing can be
done unless there is external agitation. Fortified, then, as
we are in this cause, as no men were ever in any other—
sanctioned as we are by the authority of every thinking man,
who has given any reflection to the subject—justified as we
are by the experience of a quarter of a century, of the present
sufferings of commercial men—of the outrages inflicted upon
all principle, and law itself--I say, if you now falter in prin-
ciple, you will be unworthy of the struggle in which you are
engaged. I have given notice of a motion upon the subject
in the approaching Session—( Immense cheering)—and what-
ever course you may suggest to us, you will nowhere find a
more
willing servant than myself.—( Jenew ed cheering. )
Sir W. Alooeswoern then presented himself, and was re-
ceived with great cheering. He returned thanks for the man-
ner in which his health had been drunk. lie said, that dur-
ing the seven years he had sat in Parliament for Cornwall
and Leeds, he had on every cccasion voted against the Corn-
law —(Cheers.) He had felt it his duty, not merely to re-
cord his vote, but to express in the most decided terms his ad-
herence to the principles of free trade, and his strong convic-
tion that any tax on food, whether in the shape of fixed or
fluctuating duty, were most injurious to the economical interests
of this country.—( Applause.) It had been but too well proved,
he was grieved to say, how pernicious such a tax had already
been. It had been shown by undoubted facts, and on the high
authority of many gentlemen then present, that in consequence
of the virtual prohibition to receive foreign corn in payment
for their manufactures. The foreign demand for the produc-
tions of their industry was gradually decreasing. The
chants were thereby losing the best markets in the world. The
profits of the manufacturing capitalist were greatly reduced, as
were those of every other description, not excepting the farmer.
Many persons who possessed large capital,were tempted by the
hope of more profitable investment to transfer it to other
countries, there to employ the cheaper labour of races inferior
to their own, not fur the purpose of employing such labour
as it might most beneficially for this country be employed, in
procuring articles of exchange for the products of their home
industry, but in initiating them in competing with them, and
that too by the aid of British-born skill and British-made ma-
chinery, in those very commodities with which they could,
both best and cheapest, supply the world, were it not for that
accursed Corn-law. These concurring causes were depriving
the labourers of employment ; their wages were therefore
low, and from the high price of food frequently insufficient ;
at the present moment their wages were hardly enough to
preserve them from starvation, as the home-crops were defi-
cient ; and supplies of food could not be obtained from abroad,
first because the Corn-law had prevented the growth of
food for the markets of this country, and secondly because other
governments had wiselyproliibited exportation,which would make
their subjects share with the people of this country in the evils
brought upon them by the folly of their rulers, in the supposed
pursuit l of their selfish interests. He said the folly of their
rulers, because as a landlord, and having no property of any
description except in land, he felt convinced that the landlords
were acting in ignorance.—( Cheers.) That as a class they
were as deeply interested as any other class in the permanent
and increasing prosperity of this country, now seriously en-
dangered by a Corn-law ; for in proportion as this community
became richer, and more populous, the demand for the uses of
their land would increase, therefore the value of their lands,
and consequently of their rents, must decessarily augment.
To every one the Corn.law was an evil. In ordinary occa-
sions it gave rise to that general uneasiness which was felt
when there was a want of employment, and wages and profits
were low. On other occasions, and those unfortunately not
rare ones, when Divine Providence withheld the blessings of a
bounteous harvest, then it became a sentence of famine. It
would be Paesumptuous in him to address the assembly
at greater length on the subject of the injurious conse-
quences of a Corn-law. He came there not to speak
but to listen, not to discuss, but to receive instruction
from those whom daily and hourly experience had made best
acquainted with that question, and thus he hoped to learn
such facts as would on a future occasion, and in another
assembly, furnish him with fresh weapons of argument to
assault the upholders of a Corn-law. The period for discus-
sion was past—the time for prompt and vigorous action was
come. It afforded him the highest satisfaction to find that
this question was no longer considered to be a purely specula-
tive one, but thatit load beets taken up as a practical one,
immediately to be urged and insisted on by a great portion of
the most active and intelligent minds in this country, by men
who knew both when the period for action was come, and
; how on such an occasion to act ; he referred to the gentle-
; men whose delegates he then had the pleasure of addressing.
i The first requisite for action, he observed, ' was union ;

union amongst all persons, of whatever political faith
I they may be, who acknowledged that a Corn-law
••
was an enormous grievance. That union shoald be
foun led upon the tacit agreement, as well as upon
the e traest conviction, that all other public questions, were
for the present, of little consequence compared with that of a
total Repeal of. the Corn-late—(Tremendous cheering)—that
as from the continuance of that statute, the prosperity of this
empire was in imminent danger, so all persons who were pro-
foundly and solemnly convinced of that fact, should spare no
efforts—should think of nothing—(Cheers)—nor, as far as
possible, permit ought else to be thought of, till this great
danger be averted.—( Loud cheers.) Nor could they hope
without some such solemn league and covenant to be success-
ful against their adversaries, who were both many in number,
and powerful in their ignorance.—( Loud cries of 'hear, hear.')
The gentlemen of Manchester had been accused by their
Representative in the Cabinet, of having been faint hearted and
lukewarm in this cause, during times when others had
been struggling in vain in their behalf. Whether or not this
accusation were well founded, he could not pretend to say.
Certainly he did not remember, when he last year had the
honour of seconding Mr. Villiers, to have heard the influential
voice of that representative—(Cheers) nor the previous year,
on the motion of Mr. Clay, was that Right Hon. Gentleman
less silently favourable to an alteration of the Corn-law.
Were these the proofs of their want of zeal ? If so, they had
now made ample amends by siezing, with signal promptitude,
the, right moment for action, and selecting with the soundest
judgment, the best course to be pursued. Their example lad
heeti followed by Liverpool, Glasgow, the great town lie had
the honour of representing, and he hoped the other towns
of Great Britain and Ireland would likewise imitate them
in collecting subscriptions, and promising petitions to Parlia-
ment against a Corn-law.—(Cheers.) Every petition
should contain the prayer to be heard at the bar of
the House of Commons, It was impossible, he thought, to
overrate the importance of obtaining permission to give evidence
against the Corn Law : for then so clear a case against it
could be teak out, and one supported by such unquestionable
testimony, that few persons, who attended to it, would be able
to deny the extent of their grievances, the justice of their com-
plaints, and honestly refuse them address. In order to obtein
permission, two things were requisite ; first numerous petitions.
Secondly, that tile members, to whom those petitions were en-
trusted, should be called upon to maintain their constitutional
right of explaining in a speech the grievances of the people,
(cheers) when the petitions of the people were presented. Of
this most important privilege the members of the House of
Commons had often been deprived by some foolish under-
standing. A member who attempted to speak, even on the
most important petition, was immediately put down, and the
petition itself laid unnoticed and consequently without influence
on the table of the House. Thus the right of petitioning, one
of the most important constitutional safeguards of their libar-
tiea, was degrad id into a mere farce. This (eight no longer to
be endured. He was glad to find that his hon. friend Mr.
Ward, the. member for Sheffield, had taken the same view of
this case as himself, and had pledged himself to his
constituents to maintain their right of having their
petition attended to. Remembaring, as be well did
with what success and determination Mr. Ward had brought
under the consideration of the House the Appropriation ques-
tion, the important question of having correct lists of the dini.
sions, and several others, he felt convinced that pledge would
be redeemed. If this were done—if might after night peti-
t ors against the Corn-laws were presented, and on every pos-
sible occasion a debate be made to arise—if the prayer to be
heard at the bar be repeated over and over again, they might
be assured that at last their complaints would be fully exa-
mined, and justice would be done to them.—( The Hon. Baro-
net concluded amidst loud and general cheering.)
The CHAIRMAN said it was his duty (which he omitted in
opening the business of the meeting) to announce, that in ad-
dition to the Members of Parliament who had favoured them
wiih their company, there were present
Mayor and Deputation from Leeds
Ditto ditto Lancaster
Ditto ditto Hull
Ditto ditto Bolton
Ditto ditto Stockport
A Deputation from Edinburgh
Ditto Glasgow
Ditto Birmingham
Ditto Wolverhampton
Ditto Liverpool
Ditto Nottingham
Ditto Derby
Ditto Leicester
Ditto Blackburn
Ditto Preston
Ditto Halifax
Ditto Wigan
Ditto Rochdale
Ditto Sheffield

The MAYOR of Manchester ( Thos. Potter, Esq. ) then gave
- The Members for Lancashire who voted in the minority
on Mr. Villier's motion.".—( Cheers.) The obnoxious Corn-
laws had destroyed the comfort of the poor man, had destroyed
the prosperity of the farmer, and had only enriched the land-
lords.—( Hear, hear.) He congratulated the meeting on the
means they were taking to annihilate those laws—he knew
they would persevere and their exertions were Certain of
being crowned with success.—( Cheers. )
Mr. BROTHERTON then rose to return thank, and w:.s re-
ceived with deafening cheers. lie thanked them for their
warm and flattering reception. It was unexpected on his
part, and he dc, ply regretted that he should be called on to
respond to the toast, in consequence of the lamented illness of
their worthy and respected friend, Mr. Mark Phillips.
- Hear.) He was reminded by the banner on the walls of
that room that "England expects every man will do his
duty."—(Cheers.) He trusted that at the ensuing meeting
of Parliament all the Lancashire Members would zealously
represent the sentiments of their constituents on this most
important question.—( Loud cheers.) For himself, he would
say, that his humble services were completely at their com-
mand. Ever since the Coro-law was enacted in 1815, when
the House of Commons was surrounded by bayonets, he had
been the most determined opponent of that law, believing it
to be opposed to all the best interests of the country ;
and since he had had the honour of a scat in
Parliament be had always either raised his voice or given his
vote in support of every motion that bad been made for the re-
peal of these laws. He had considered these laws, and al-
thongh he was attached, as it was natural he should be, to
manufactures and commerce, yet he did not wish by any
means to depreciate the agricultural interests. He knew
that they were fellow-countrymen, and they only had one
interest. He wished both to prosper.—(Loud cheers.)
Prosperous manufacturers would ever be good customers to the
agriculturists, and prosperous agriculturists would be good
customers to the manufacturers.—(Cheers.) This was no
party question, it was a question between the nation and a
small but a very powerful class: it was a question of life or
death to the manufacturers.—( Cheers.) The ground of his
opposition to the Corn-laws rested upon the foundation
of eternal justice.—(Cheers.) He considered the Corn-
laws to be unjust, inhuman, and impolitic.—( Loud cheers. )
He had ever considered the system as a most wicked one.
Whatever was a tax upon the necessaries of life must increase
the cost of production, and diminish the profits of capital.—
( Hear, hear.) The consequence of this was that manufacto-
ries were being erected all over the Continent—their machinery
%%as exported, their artisans were leaving the country, and
foreigners were enabled to undersell them in various places.
He really feared that if this lamentable state of things conti-
nued, the foreign trade of England would be destroyed.—
( Hear, hear.) It was said that the Corn-laws had been in-
troduced to keep prices steady ; but had that been effected?
The landlords would say " Yes," but such was not the fact.
Old Hobbs, the philosopher of Malmesbury, had said that ma-
thematical truths would be denied, if it were the interest of man.
Some change in the present system was absolutely necessary,
and it could not be too soon effected. It was stated at the
Chamber of Commerce that the country lost twenty-five mil-
lions a year by the Curn-laws. If the subject was looked at
retrospectively, it would be found that since 1815, when the
Corn-laws were established, 550 millions had been lost to the
country, and if to that was added the 300 millions paid to
the army and navy, the whole of the national debt would be
paid off.—( Loud cheering.) He trusted that on this subject
there would be a perfect union among all parties, and that
they would give " a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull alto-
gether," for the total repeal of the Corn-laws.—( Applause. )
Mr. HOLLAND HOOLE, in proposing the next toast, said,
that as master and servant, he had suffered under
the operation of the Corn-laws. He had at preient
many hundred:human beingsdependaat on him for support, and
he would most decidedly confirm the observations of Mr.
Gr.‘g and others, that their Wide could not be supported if the
Corn-laws were not repealed.—( Hear.) His own experience
supplied him with facts, which if it were necessary he would
detail to the meeting, and which must convince the most
sceptical of the injurious tendency of the present system. It
had been stated that the people were not interested in the
present agitation ; but what more than the present meeting
could be required ? Were not they the representatives of the
working classes—did they not employ them, and pay them, and
as;Mr. Greg had t their, for the last two years out of their
capital ?—( Hear.) Were they not the first to see the coming
storm, and feel the quaking foundations of the commercial
and manufacturing prosperity of the country ?—(Cheers.)
What more did they want ? Did they require another Peter-
loo, or did they want men, maddened with hunger and frenzied
by famine, their children perishing before their eyes, to come,
with uplifted hands, and threaten the destruction of property
and life? Was that the way they wanted to have the Corn-
laws repealed ? Thank God, that would not be the case.—
.(Cheers.) Mr. Hoole concluded by proposing—
" The manufacturing and agricultural classes; may their
mutual interests be a bond of union between them."

Mr. CLAY, M. P., spoke to this toast. It was impossible
not to feel that the present meeting, replete as it was with
every element of wealth, of respectability, intelligence,
and social position—replete as it was with every
element which could give weight to the ex-
pression of public opinion, was of great importance.
for the accomplishment of the great object that bad brought
them togethes. The Hon. Member then alluded to the con-
temptuous manner in which the question of the Repeal of the
Corn-laws had been latterly treated in the House of Com-
mons, and argued that that fate would await the question no
more. In his opinion laws more disgraceful in their operation
had never sullied the Legislature of any country.—( Cheers. )
The protection which was extended to the lauded interest was
different in character from that ever extended to any other
class. These laws were intended to regulate the price of corn
so that it should never fall below a certain sum.
What right had the producer of corn to have the article which
he produced kept at a high price, any more than the producer
of a bale of goods ?—( Hear, hear.) The prieection of the
Corn-laws differed not only in degree, but in character, from
any other protection. It was to our Corn-laws that were to
be attributed that wide spreading of hostilities to which his

lion. Friend. Mr. 'Villiers had alluded. It was to our Corn-
laws that we owed the Prussitn Ler.gue.—( Haar, hear.) -He
thought it was impossible to read the evidence given before the
Committee in 1836, without entertaining very strong doubts
whether it would not be possible, with a more judicious appli-
cation of capital to land, for the English agriculturists to com-
pete successfully in every produce of land with the foreign
growers.—( Hear, hear.) This should be borne in mind that
if the foreign grower bad in some parts (though not in alt) a
better climate, and perhaps a more fertile soil, at a cheaper
rate, we had more than an equivalent advantage by having
a concentrated population for markets ; a population affording
a ready demand for all the varied produce of a farm, for pro-
duce se bulky that it could not be imported ; and that the very
same circumstance afforded an nnbounded facility of procuring
manure. —( Hear, hear.) Therefore, he said, it was impossible
to consider the subject ateentively, and to read the evidence
given before Parliamentary Committees without feeling that
this question had never yet been fairly tried, nor would it ever
be fairly tried until all this odious monopoly was removed, and
the agricultural capitalist (for such was the farmer) was left
to employ unfettered his capital and skill as it might seem best
to him. Then he was convinced the. English farmer would be
-able to compete successfully even in the growing of corn
with his foreign rivals.—(Cheers.) They had' not to
contend, as it was constantly endeavoured to be shewn, with the
whole agricultural interest, comprehending under that term
the owner of the soil, the farmer, and the labourer—they had
simply to contend with the owner of the soil.—(Cheers. )
The Corn-laws-were decidedly injurious to the farmer, and it
could not be said that the labeurer, whether agricultural or
operative, could by any possibility be benefitted by the high
price of food.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") He had no
hesitation in saying, that if there was one class more
deeply and permanently interested than another in
the continuation of those laws, that class was the
landowners.—( Hear, hear.) It had been said by some that
the present Corn-law agitation had been got up by selfish men
who wished to make large fortunes. He thought such a
a charge came with a bad face from the landowners. There
was an old adage, that those who lived in glass houses ought
not to throw stones—(a laugh)—and he really thought it
would be as well if the English landowners were not to talk of
selfishness. In conclusion the Hon. Gentleman said
he believed their perseverance would he ultimately crowned
with success. To despair of ultimate success would 'be to !
doubt that right would triumph over wrong, and his bumble
though zealous exertions would always be at their service.—
(Loud cheers.)
Mr. Alderman Kartstraw proposed the next toast. He
sincerely congratulated them on the position in which they were
now placed. He considered these laws an insult to the peo-
ple. To the deputations from other towns, and to the men
of Manchester, he would say let this be your motto, " Toe
total and immediate repeal of the Corn-laws."—( Great cheer-
ing.) He would take the liberty of impressing upon all
the necessity of considering the question in all its bear-
ings--let them not depart from the principle ; for he verily
believed, that nothing but the carrying out of that principle,
would save the manufactures, the farmers, and all classes from
ruin. The crisis was rapidly approaching, and he would impress
upon them, in order to avert it, the necessity to agitate, agitate,
aeltate.—( Cheers.) He would give them—" A cheap loaf for
the people."—( Applause.)
Mr. LEADER, M. P., then presented himself to the company.
The Hon. Gentleman, in a very able address, pointed ou the
evils which wereoccasioned by the present system of Corn-laws.
He observed that if steps were not immediately taken for their
repeal, nothing would save the manufacturers from ruin and
the working, classes from starvation. Much discontent and ex-
citement existed among the latter class at present. He re-
gretted further to find that they were not disposed to join the
advocates of the repeal of the Corn-laws. He trusted, how-
ever, they would be induced to view the matter in a different
light, and join them heart and hand. No class would be more im-
mediately benefited by the accomplishment of that object than the
working classes themselves. The wealth and intelligence of the
manufacturers might enable them to succeed, but if they were
• backed by the working millions, they would be irresistible. It
had been suggested by some parties to have a fixed duty, but
as their opponents had inscribed on their banners "No Sur-
render," let them inscribe open theirs " No Compromise."—
( Applause.) It was clear that the Ministers would do nothing
unless well pressed, and if so they would have more pe haps than
they liked. Mr. Leader then referred to the manner in which
the petitions of the people were treated in the House of
Commons, no discussion of any kind being allowed upon them,
and hoped the people would pray for an alteration in that re.
spect. They should also petition to be beard against the
Corn-laws at the Bar of the House, far that plan had been re-
sorted to on a former occasion with the best results. He
trusted that they would persevere unceasingly until they had
attained the object they had in view.---( Cheers.)
Mr. J. C. DYER said it would not be becoming in him at
that late hour to occupy too much of their time. They should
never lose sight, while endeavouring- to get rid of these mis-
chievous laws, that they had a very powerful body of interested
opponents to contend against. Let them keep in view the
principle upon which the repeal of these laws was claimed—
namely, their injustice.—( Cheers.) They should always con-
tent-I that the people had a right to exchange their productions
and manufactures for whatever they required in other
countries.—( Hear, hear.) He denied the right which the
agriculturists claimed of having a protection which no other
class of the community enjoyed. And he was satisfied that
the interests of the farmers would be rather benefited than
otherwise by the repeal of these laws. Let it be supposed -
that these landowners had a right to supply the country with
home grown food, what would the principle lead tu ? In
1780 the population of Great Britain was only eleven
millions, and by the last census in sixty years it had
nearly doubled. If in the course of another sixty
years the population was again doubled, and amounted
to forty , millions, as might be calculated, what a tremen-
dous power would that place in the hands of the land.
owners. No power was so tremendous as the power of starva-
tion and the power of compelling the manufacturing and working
classes to pay whatever sum they pleased to fix as the price of
food.—( Hear, hear.) That position was enough to point out
the folly and absurdity as well as the danger of such
a principle.—(Cheers.) The people of Manchester had taken
the lead in the present glorious struggle, and he trusted they
would be manfully and cordially supported by all the other
parts of the country.—(Loud cheers.) He trusted that if
that was done, and when the honesty of their principles was
fully understood—when the danger of refusing them was
rightly appreciated—those obnoxious laws would be for ever
annihilated. It was evident that no country could re-
main for any time stationary—it must either progress
or retrograde, and as evident symptoms of decline
were already visible, it was their duty to endeavour to arrest it
in time. He was about to name to them a gentleman, who had
done more than almost any other in the kingdom to promote
this question.---( Loud cheers. ) When the powerful appeals
of Colenel Thompson bad been so long disregarded, he trusted
that now they would evince the respect they entertained fur
his valuable exertions.—( Much applause.) He begged to
propose " The Author of the Corn-law Catechism, Colonel
Thompson."—(Three times three, and loud cheering.)

Colonel TflompsoN then rose to return thanks, and was
wAcomed with deafening cheers. This was the first time he
had ever presented himself before an assembly of this kind, in
a country, of which it was once said that her merchants
were princes, but he was afraid the time had now come when
at least many of them, if princes, were living on their
hereditary revenues.—(Laughter.) They need look no farther
than to their own houses and families, to sec how they had
been brought down from greater wealth to less--and
from wealth to poverty, and which of them had not
some friend thrust into that hell of the community—
the Bankrupt List,' or who had transported himself
to Van Diemen's Land because this country was too
hot to hold him.—(Loud laughter.) They had been
teak but they were now strong. There were fluctuations in
all human affAis. Let them show themselves not to be feeble on
the day of their success. Let them not have to blame themselves
hereafter that they let slip the moment of their power.—( Ve-
hement cheering.) They must make no feeble compromise—
those who desired much must ask enough.—(Cheers.)
Their adversaries had imposed on them a tax which had
oppressed them for 23 years, and why should they not put
something like a tax on them ?_( Cheers.) He understood
their lion had said that he roared five years ago—was it not
time that he should roar again ?—( Cheers, and laughter)—
and that not gently. Should ho refuse, bitter would be his
feelings. He could assure them, if he had time and opportu-
nity, and power, ha would endeavour with his own hands to
stick a " p" into the name of their Representative. (A laugh. )
They should call on men of all political feelings to unite with
them in removing those iniquitous laws. Let them give
a fair chance to every body, especially to those now in power;
but if they would not exert themselves other men should be
put to the helm.—( Cheers.) No man should count too long
off public
and they
and the speedy attainment of the
all health and happiness,
were
ecalrvainseeest who were soonest and most heartily
—the spirit of the public was now up,
along with it. (Cheers.) In conclusion, he wished them
great object for which they had met together._(Cheers.)

said—ln consequence of the over-.
w he :lineil CHAIRMAN aI a
applicationsaIAN
for tickets to this dinner, the Committee,
T
to accommodate a vast number of individuals, shut out on this
occasion, have made arrangements for a Dessert, to
be held here, at five o'clock to-morrow afternoon, at
which the Me:nbers of Parliament and the Mayors and
Deputations will attend. We have a great body of im-
cpaomrteantmiainlfyormmailte. At eleven o'clock to-morrow morningiosn to receive from deputations who have
there will be a meeting of the delegates at the York Hotel to
arrange for the final plan of proceeding, and we shall
be able at the desert to announce the result of our
deliberations. / am happy to inform you we have
collected 6001. to-night, so that we have now nrarly 6,0001.
( Great cheering.) I nfovi give you as a toast, " The Anti-
Corn-lawGlasgow."—
(Cheers.)
Mr. JourisoN, the President of the Association, returned
thanks. He found that a portion of the London Press vas
making a atotement to the effect that the landowners
Association o
paid all the taxes of the country, and that the
manufacturers had hitherto escaped. In answer to
that he would now make the following statement :
I happen to own a few hundred acres of land, worth about
1,0001. a year ; I am also a cotton manufacturer and foreign
Y manufacturing establishment is entirely devoted
to therc supply of foreign demand. We do not ask Britain to
pmuerelhmasnet—nlasmzle yard of our production; our customers are
the people of America, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Manilla, Chili,
and such like. Our works would answer all purposes were
they placed on the banks of the Elbe in place of the Clyde, or,
perhaps, the banks of the Hudson would be better than either.
We give employment to 1,700 people, and consume 1.200
barrels of flour, and turn out 25,000 yards daily. Now I wish
to contrast the advantages to the State of such an establish.

went with my psition as a landlord; as such I pay direct
taxes as under :

Assessed taxes on windows, carriages, horses, servants,
dogs, &c £24 17 0
Land-tax, about 6 per cent. on rental 25 3 3

£5O 0 0
On Manufacturing and Commercial Establishment.
Paid to the Collector of Customs—
Duty on 974,400 lbs. cotton wool, at 2s. 6d.

per cwt...
Ditto on dye stuffs, oils, &c l5O 0 0
Ditto on 1,200 barrels foreign flour, averag-
. ing several years 20s. per barrel 1,200 0 0
Stamp duty on 85,0001. Fire Insurance 127 10 0
Ditto on 150,000/. Marine ditto, at 4s. 6d
per cent
Ditto on 150.000/. ditto Returns, at 53
Ditto on Bills of Exchange, Lading, Re-
ceipts, &c

3'27 10 0
375 0 0

100 0 0

£3,367 10 0