The Sun.
London, England, 1837-05-03 00:00:00

DISTRESS AT NOM-INGHAM.

NOTTINGHAM, May 2.—Having read in your .3'oaraisi
one or two paragraphs from occasional rsorresporflents, some-
what exazgerating an attempt that was mart last week ozi
the part of a small number of the !water classes to exact
charity by a show of menace, in seine respect after tha 'ia-
shion of the mendicant soldier in " Gil •131a5," I thought it
proper (having promised when I last left London to inform
you of any events cl public interest that should occur here
during my sojourn) to attend a meeting that was held relative
to the subject at the Exchange Rooms of this town to-day,
an ,1 to transmit you a brief but circumstantially exact starch
of the proceedings. It may be as well to mention that the
• two principal branches of the trade of this town—the lace
war hosiery manufactures—have, though declining for a
considerable period, lately fallen into sudden, almost total
and, I dread, irremediable decay, and that the necessary
consrque ice is stagnation of business universally, embarrass-
ment of deep and wide extent among the commercial ranks,
and dire distress among the operative classes. This change,
on account of the contrast it presents to the highly flou-
rishing sta`e of trade in this town some years ego, is poig-
nantly felt. The lace trade, some ten years since was so
.profitable that several of the heads of the richest firms were
at that period simple artisans, or, to be technical, twist-
hands. Wages and profits were so high, and employment
and commerce so active, that money by the improvident
(and I regret that many of the twist-hands were in that
category) was considered as so much dross, and such was
the extray..gatit style of living—such the luxurious expen-
diture in dress and in other less refined indulgences—that the
town of Nottingham, to a mere observer of exterior seemed
to merit the opprobrious epithets applied to it by a well-
Lnown Tory evening contemporary of yours. Soon crept
in ambition ; all must be officers and no soldiers. Machines
were constructed by thousandi ; the artisan became a
master in miniature, and lace became virtrfr alga. The
market was glutted to indigestible repletion. Lace and
other fancy articles became so common, so plebeian, that
the gorge of fashion rose at it ; it was soon too vile for the
middle classes, and the funds of the working orders were
mot stoficient to uphold any demand for it at all in propor-
tion. to the quantity manufactured. The tide of fashion
turned another way, and the muslins, and other arti-
cles of feminine finery of this nature manufactured at
Glasgow, came into such general request, that the prices of
the different sorts of twist used in the manufacture of lace
rose to such a height in Lancashire as to preclude the fabri-
cation of the latter article except at a decided loss. As if
this combination of circumstances were not enough, there
came some a few months since to give the coup de grace
to this once profitable branch of industry—the evils of the
currency and the rotten state of the money market. The
Northern and Central Bank has not passed through here
without leaving fatal marks of its trail behind it. Up to
about the period of last October the branch of that Bank
established in this town gave such extraordinary facilities in
the way of raising money, that the town was inundated
with paper, bearing the signatures of persons not worth a
crown in the world, and whose ignorance of the real state
of trade, and wild speculations to revive it, have been the
cause of numerous bankruptcies, extensive forgery, and a
general feeling of insecurity. The evils consequent on the
panic of 1825 were light in comparison with those of the
actual crisis. Such, then, being the state of affairs, you
will not be surprised at symptoms of disorder among the
many unemployed artisans of this town. From their de-
meanour last week, I am of opinion that nothing but
absolute starvation will cause them to proceed to extremi-
ties ; and that if the proceedings of to-day are fairly
followed up, the lower orders of this town will redeem
their character from the stigma cast upon it, by the
riots at the time of the Peers' obstruction to the
passage of the Reform Bill. It is fortunate (if the word
may he used on this melancholy occasion), that there exists
little or no political excitement ; but that the present Go-
vernment is considered by the industrious portion of our
population as paternal and, of course, well intentioned to-
wards them. They do not therefore attribute their dis-
tress to any misconduct or neglect on the part of their
rulers ; but the self-styled Conservatives were in power,
I durst riot, knowing as I do the deep detestation felt by
the operative classes against that party, predict, as I now
do, that we shall pass through this crisis without being
scared in our beds by the glare of the conflagration of
castles, mansions, or manufactories.
The Meeting, a numerous one, and attended by the
most respectable gentlemen of the town and neighbourhood,
was held to-day at twelve o'clock, at the Exchange Rooms.
It was extremely gratifying to see that the individuals of
which the Meeting was composed belonged to every class
of religious and political persuasion ; Churchnian and Dis-
senter—Tory, Whig, and Radical—seemed to merge their
differences of opinion in an unanimous effort to relieve the
distress of their poorer fellow-townsmen.
Mr. MORLEY, the Mayor, was voted into the chair. He
stated, after regretting that some gentlemen better qualified
- than he, was not called upon to preside, that he felt much
gratified at witnessing the attendance of such a respectable
company as that which he saw before him on the present
oension. He was sure all present must be aware of the
great distress that had for some time prevailed among the
labouring classes, and that they would use every effort to
afford such relief as would meet the exigencies of the occasion.
He would leave the business of the meeting in other hands,
and begged to mention that lie had received letters from
Lord Rancliffc,Mr. Masters, and Mr. Henry Smith, declara-
tory of their regret for being obliged to be absent. The
latter gentleman sent a subscription of one hundred
guineas.—(Cheers.)
Mr. T. WAKEFIELD (the late• Mayor) rose to propose
the Resolutions, which he afterwards did seriatim. He
said that they were founded upon a requisition nu-
merously and respectably signed, which had been
presented to their excellent and worthy Mayor,
and which had given rise to the present meeting. The
meeting was one, the object of which was twofold. First,
to cater into a subscription to meet the distress that pre-
vailed among the industrious classes of that town ; and,
secondly, to devise the best mode of applying such sub-
scription. He believed that there was but one opinion
among those who had had an opportunity of forming a correct
judgment on the subject as to the distressed situation of a
great many of the working classes of that town—that that
distress was caused by want of employment, and that that
want had come on suddenly, and not by slow degrees ; so
that the very great numbers who were oat of work were
not in any way prepared to meet the emergency. On the
occasion of former subscriptions, in consequence of distress
among the labouring classes, that distress was accompanied
by the high price of provisions, which rendered assistance
in the shape of money necessary to enable the poor,
even those who had no work, to meet the difficulties of
that period.—(Hear, hear.) Fortunately, at present
distress was not accompanied by very high prices for provi-
sions, and if employment were general there would be little or
no distress. The great evil was want of employment, and if
relief could be afforded by supplying that want it would
confer the greatest benefit on the labouring classes. As
trade improved, and he doubted not but it soon would,
those persons who now laboured under distress would be re-
lieved, and he thought it ought to be their first consideration
to find means of employing diem until trade should revive,
Those gentlemen who were acquainted with the" real nature
of the present distress would bear him out as to the great
advantage's that would follow from giving relief by employ-
ment.---( Hear.) If money were given without requiring
any thing in return, many would be relieved who did not
de-,erve it ; but if employment were to be made the test of
relief, they would be certain as to the character of those who
were receiving relief, and they would be also sure that no frauds
would be practised, and would be completely guarded
against all attempts, on the part of those soliciting relief;
at imposition.. Besides there was a class of persons now
much distressed, and who formerly moved in better circum-
stances, to whose feelings charity bestowed by money raised
by piddle subscription would be grating, but who would
thankfully receive relief in the shape of employment. Such
persons were best entitled to relief, because they did every-
thing in their power to support themselves, and abhorred
noti-,ing more than the idea of becoming chargeable to their
several parishes. There was another class of persons.
He meant those trembling on the verge of pauperism,
whose condition ought to be looked to, and who could best
be saved from being overwhelmed by the prevailing dis-
tress, and forced into difficulties themselves, by having re-
lief given in the shape of employment to those persons who
had no resource, and who were the chief support of the
class that was a grade above them. He advised that em-
ployment should be paid for by the piece, as then the in-
dustry of the individual relieved would be tested ; but
when he said this he did not mean to interfere with any
ehannel of trade exercised by others in the town, that
town being a manufacturing one, and, consequently, every
class liable to the vicissitudes of trade. He thought that
they, above all other description of persons, were called
Upon to show that, when the working classes were in diffi-
culties, they were always ready to come forward and do all
in their power to relieve them from such embarrassment.
He would conclude by begging them to exhibit that charity
which had always existed, and which he hoped still conti-
nued to exist in the breasts of Englishmen.
The following contains the substance of the resolutions
Which were moved, seconded, and unanimously adopted :
That the distress of the working classes of the town ren-
dered it necessary that employment should be found far
them ; that that employment should be by the piece, and
that it should not interfere with the usual labour of the
other portions of the inhabitants ; that able-bodied men,
having families, should in the first instance be relieved, and
that persons residing in Nottingham and its vicinity, though
not belonging to the parishes in which they reside, should be
entitled to the benefits of the subscription, if they came
under the denomination of the class entitled to relief; that
a Committee should be appointed to solicit and receive sub-