The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-31 00:00:00

interest that was manifested by a large portion of the meeting
to support the object for which they bad assembled. He had
always been the friend of the operatives, and had sacrificed
every other object in support of their cause.—(Cheers and
hisses.) He hoped that the merits of the resolution which he
was about to submit would be calmly and dispassionately dis-
cussed—that personal prejudice would be expelled from the
mind of every man who might express his views on a subject
of such importance as that which was under the consideration
of the meeting—(Cheers and hisses)—the object of which
dee:ended the most prompt and energetic exertions of the
people to obtain. The resolution was—" That the agri-
cultural interest is no more entitled to the exclusive
protection it has obtained upon the rest of the commu-
nity—protection which selfishly guarded the privileges of
the few, to the manifest injury of the many ; causing a limita-
tion of foreign commerce, and preventing fee exchange of
our manufactures for corn. That these are the great existing
censcs of the sufferings which fall on all classes of society,
every member of which has a right to the fruits of his labour
—and these he cannot enjoy unless allowed the fair inter-
change of the product of his labour for that of the labour of
others." Could any individual present deny the truth of the
statements in the resolution ?—(" Hear, hear," and cries of
`• Give us Universal Suffrage.") The principle upo❑ which
he considered that every man was entitled to the fruits of his
labour was founded upon common justice—(Cheers)—and he
was determined to carry out the object of the resolution to
the best of his power for that reason. He had obtained every
thing which he possessed from the produce of the land—but
of what valise would his landed property be to him, if he had
not the assistance of his fellow-countrymen to bring forth its
produce ? Legislation for any particular class or interest
ought to be deprecated by that portion of the community who
had to work for their daily bread ; as the existing system of
Corn-laws was di ;metrically opposed to their interests. They
depressed the price of corn in years of abundance; to the in-
jury of the agricultural interest—they augmented high
prices in years of average supply, and caused its advance to a
famine price, and the supply of food to be placed in the hands
of speculators in years of scarcity.—( Hear.) The eyes of
the Ministry were open to the feelings of the country ; and
nothing was wanting to obtain redress for evils, but the open
and candid expression of the minds of the people, given in a
temperate form.—(Cheers, hisses, and much confusion.) It
was not by an overbearing deprecation of the acts of the Go-
vernment that relief under existing evils was to be obtained.
But let the people come forward in a proper form and explain
their grievances, and the Government could not then over-
whelm the voice of millions.—( Hear, cheers, and hisses.)
He hoped that the meeting would therefore concur in the
object of the resolution which he had proposed.—(Hear, and
cries of " We must have the Suffrage first.")
Mr. TAYLOR, in seconding the resolution, said the ques-
tion was, whether the people of this country thought it right
louver to submit to the taxes which had been imposed on
their food for the sole benefit and interests of 30,000 land-
holders? Whether they were willing to work for sixteen
hours each day for that quantity of bread which they would be
required to work only eight hours for in foreign countries? If
they were not satisfied with their present situation, they were
hound to come forward and seek for reformation of those
laws which were a violation of the chief principles of com-
mercial legislation, and decidedly detrimental to the interests
and prosperity of the community at large.—( Hear, hear, and
cries of " We want the remedy!") It was clearly proved
by the progress of the importation of foreign grain since the
period at which the present Corn-laws had been enacted, that
a sufficient quantity of grain had not been produced in Great
Britain to supply its population ; and, consequently, any
laws which restrict the supply of food, and cause frequent
end excessive variation in its price, must be founded upon
had principles—( Hear, hear)—and therefore injurious to all
classes.—( Cheers.) England was 25 years before any other
country in her manufactures, and had supplied foreign coun-
tries with them, but the moment the duty was put upon the
natural produce of those countries we deprived them of their
market, and held out an inducement to manufacture for
themselves.—( Hear.) Factories were now established in
America, Germany, and Russia, and England was becoming a
second-rate country in her manufactures ; and if those re-
strictive duties had not been passed and enforced, she would
have remained the sovereign of manufacturing countries.—
( Hear, hear.) If the people of England could afford to
take the corn of foreign countries, the foreigner would be
glad enough to be clad in England's broadcloths.— (Hear,
hear.) After a few other observations he concluded by second-
ing the resolution, which, having been put, was carried by a
large majority, amidst much confusion, from the opposition of
the Chartists.
Mr. STOCKS then proposed the following resolution :
" That the cheap supply of food is one of the main sources of
a people's welfare, and any interference with its cheapness
places the strongest barrier against the increase of human en-
joyment, produces the bitter results of debasement, disaffec-
tion, and anarchy : disturbs the relations of all foreign coun-
tries with this; renders them opposed to the introduction of
our manufactures; increases the value of our industry; and
adds to the misery and distress already afflicting this country."
Mr. CIIAMOTT seconded the resolution, which was carried.
Other resolutions were then adopted to carry out the object
or the meeting by a petition to both Houses of Parliament.
Mr. SIMPSON said he had just received a letter from Sir Ben-
jamin Hall, in which he stated his regret that he was obliged
to be absent upon other urgent business, but that he folly con-
curred in the object for which the meeting had been convened,
end that he would advocate a total repeal of the Corn-laws in
his place in Parliament.
This announcement was received by three cheers for Sir
Benjamin Hall, and three groans were afterwards given for
Lord Teignmouth.
Thanks were then voted to the Chairman, and the meeting
separated.

WESTMINSTER REFORM SOCIETY.
Last night a special meeting of the Westminster Reform
Society assembled in Stannard's Hotel, Charles-street, Co-
♦ent-Garden, for the purpose of considering the propriety
of petitioning the Legislature for the repeal of the Corn-
laws. General E vans attended, and Mr. Leader's letter,
which appeared in our impression of yesterday was read.
Mr. ROGERS having been appointed Chairman, a resolu-
tion declaring that it was expedient to petition for imme-
diate and total repeal of the most unjust tax upon bread

was moved and seconded.
Dr. WADE then said he was glad to see the middle
classes holding out the right hand of fellowship to those
who were poorer in the things of this world. It was ne-
cessary that it should be so for the well-being of society. He,
however, could not agree to the resolution, because he
thought it was useless to petition the House of Commons as
it was at present constituted. He wished much for the re-
peal of the Bread-tax, bat he thought a Society holding such
a high position as theirs should at once go to the root of
the evil. They should not attack the Corn-lax s, but the
evil which produced the Corn-laws. As society was now
constituted, one class threw the burden of taxation from
themselves, and so it went on till nearly the whole of the
taxation rested upon the poor working class—the least able
to bear it. There ought to he a general reduction of taxa-
tion in order to put the English workirg-man upon a
level with his fellow upon the continent. When he was In
France he found thit a labouring mason or builder could make
as much money in the summer time as would keep him all
the winter, without work ; that could not be done in this coun-
try, but it ought. The Repeal of the Corn-laws would be a
mere sop in the pan ; it would not give the poor man either a
dinner or a supper—it would afford him a mere trifle of relief;
in fact, it would just enable him to starve on a little longer in
his misery. The cry which had been got up for the Repeal of
these laws was, in his opinion, nothing but a piece of elec-
tioneering trickery. It was raised in order to bolster up the
Government; got up by them when they well knew, that when
the question was brought before the House, it would be
smothered by delays, and examinations, and Committees. It
was not intended to take off the tax—it was a mere tub thrown
out to amuse the whale—thrown out to prevent the working-
clascs from steadily pursuing their demand for their rights.
Under the new system, he wished for neither Tithes, Corn-
laws, or any other impost to press upon any one class. He
would have no one class monopolize or tyrannize over another.
He wished for remedial measures—large remedial measures.
which were necessary for the happiness and contentment of
the people. Let them have those remedial measures, and then
they would soon and for ever get rid of these laws and many
others which were equally obnoxious. He would propose
as an amendment, " That whilst we are of opinion,
that the Corn -laws, which tax the consumer of bread one-third

of the price of every loaf to enrich a wealthy faction, are un.

just in principle, this meeting is fully convinced of the utter
uselessness of appealing to Parliament for a repeal of those or
any other unjust laws, until the whole people are represented,
and the Parliament based upon the principles of the National
Petition and the People's Charter. He saw by The Sunthat
such an amendment had been carried in a large meeting at
Birmingham, and he hoped they would do so also.
Mr. SELLIS seconded the amendment. The petition would
have no effect, as the excitement had been got up by the Le-
gislature for their own purposes. It was ridiculous to sup-
pose that the landlords would give up any part of their privi-
leges upon a mere petition. It was absurd to suppose it, and
whenever the cry had served its purpose it would be allowed to
die away.
Mr. SMITII said his opinion had not been altered by any-
thing which had fallen from the mover and seconder of the
amendment, and he would still vote for the original resolution.
The amendment did not speak out plain ; by implication it
said that when they had obtained Universal Suffrage they
would get a repeal of the Corn-laws, but he did not see that
they would be one bit nearer their object, supposing it to be
got. No doubt, we would get all the town population with us
by then ; the great mass of agriculturists, who were under the
coritroul of the landlords, would be against them. He could
not agree with his friends, that there was no use in petitioning
the Legislature. Petitions had had a great effect when Parlia-
ment was more corrupt and not so amenable to the people, and
surely they would not now lose their effect when the people
had more power over the representation. It was said
that this agitation was a Government measure, but
where was the truth of the statement? He wished that it was.
It was clear that it arose in the manufacturing districts, and
from the manufacturing interests, which were being wholly de-
stroyed by the iniquitous tax. He considered the repeal of
the tax would steady the markets,and that might prove a great
advantage. He would take a boon from any party ;in no
county were great reforms got at once. Let them get a re-
peal of these laws and then they would get more. He would
vote for the original resolution.
Mr. PROUT—These laws were a master grievance, and if
the House of Commons would grant an abolition of the laws it
would prove a great means of alleviating the immense distress
which now existed among the working classes. He thoughtit
was a fallacy to suppose that wages would fall with the price
of provisions—he did not think they would ;at all events, he
was quite sure they would neither fall so fast nor so far. lie