The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17,

allow it to he adopted, goes to the extent of asking for an eu
tire abolition of all restrictions on the free interchange
of commodities between this country and ether na-
tions.—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) And, gentlemen, what is
proposed to be done by Mr. O'Connor—(" Aye, that's it?")
He proposes that the people of Leeds—the labouring man,
the middle class, and the capitalist, &mulct not unitedly go
to Parliament with representations of the ruinous and iniqui-
tous operation of the Corn-laws ; but after assembling for
the specific purpose of discussing the Corn-laws, to set aside
all the agitation which has been made on the subject, and
thus play the game of the landlord in opposition to the in-
terests of the people. —( Loud and prdonged chre,ieg.)
The best friends of the landowners of England are those
who would prevent the people uniting together, to exert their
whole strength in obtaining a repeal of this most monstrous
and suicidal act of legislation.—( Cheers.) I deny most em-
phatically that there is any separate interest between the em-
ployer and the employed. I hold it as one of the most solemn
and deliberate convictions of my own mind, that the repeal of
the Corn. laws would put the working man in an infinitely bet-
ter situation as regards labour than he is placed in now.—
( Hear.) If you increase the demand for manufactured goods by
free trade, labour will find a more extensive market, and the
working men got abetter share of the produce of the land ; but
if you maintain laws which tend to restrict the amount of
employment, the consequence will be, that in a short time
capital will no longer produce any return, and the manufac-
turer who is able will take his capital and machinery to a
place where he can find profitable employment for both, and
then I should like to know what would become of yeti.—
( Hear, hear.) Why, the inevitable result will be, that the
whole mass of the labouring population will be thrown into a
state of destitution, and ultimately must fall upon the land.—
(Lend cries of " Hear, hear.") But, gentlemen, there is an-
other view of this matter which I wish to bring before you.
Let us suppose that the motion of Mr. O'Connor should be
carried, will that gentleman explain to ate, or will he prove
either to my satisfaction, or the satisfaction of this meeting,
whether there is any probability of Universal Suffrarre being
carried?—(Loud cries of " hear, hear.") e
Mr. O'CONNOR—It will be carried.—(Great cheering and
exclamations of " No, no.")
Mr. PLINT—I ask Mr. O'Connor whether he thinks the
Extension of the Suffrage is likely to take place prior to a re-
peal of the Corn-laws ?—( Mr. O'Connor called out " Yes, yes.")
The pressure of the Corn-laws cannot be staved off for a
Fined° hour; but if you sanction the amendment of Mr.
O'Connor you postpone the consideration of it to an inde-
finite period, and you do that for an object, of the accomplish-
ment of which there is not the slightest probability.—( Hear.)
We met here not to deny or affirm the right of the people to
an Extension of the Suffrage, but to effect an Abolition cf
the Corn- laws. That is the question, and I leave it to the
good sense of this meeting whether they will be diverted
from this great object by entertaining a proposition which
can end in no practical benefit whatever.—( Hear, hear.) I
am for the Extension of the Suffrage myself, but you mutt
see the irnpolicy of its introduction now. Let a meeting ba
called for that specific object, and I will join with you; but, as
I said before, I will be no party to a movement which can only
end in defeat.--( Loud cheers and hissing.)
Mr. FEARGUS O'CONNOR again presented himself, and
was met with shouts of " Turn-coat, Blunderbuss, Torch-
man," and hisses, intermingled with cheers from his own
party, scattered up and down in the crowd. As soon as he
could be heard, he said Mr. Plint had very fairly asked him
whether Universal Suffrage could be as successfully agitated
as a repeal of the Corn-laws?—(" No, no, that was not it.")
At the time the Mom Bill was carried, they could not have
repealed the Corn-laws, and although they could not now re-
peal the Corn-laws, or make an assault upon any one of the
abuses in the institutions of the country, he had the honour to
inform them that if HE lived, by the blessing of God, they
would have Universal Suffrage.
The Mavoa then called for a show of hands for the
amendment. A number of hands were held up in its favour;
but on the original resolution being put, the majority was
overwhelming: according to the best judges, three to one in
favour of the latter.
The MAYOR declared the original resolution carried by an
immense majority, amidst tremendous cheering, clapping of
hands, &c.
Mr. O'CONNOR and his supporters left the hustings
and the yard almost immediately afterwards, amidst the
hisses, groans, and hooting* of the meeting. They were lite-
rally.hissed out of the yard.
Alderman BA nsoN moved the next resolution—" That the
welfare of all the industrious classes of the British empire is
inseparably bound up with the prosperity of its foreign trade,
inasmuch as by that trade alone can we procure those articles
of food and luxury which are the produce of other climes ; and
more especially as the raw material of our great staple trades—
cotton, wool, silk, and flax, are either not the growth of our
soil, or cannot be grown in sufficient quantity on its limited
surface ; and since these indispensable means of employing our
numerous manufacturing population, and through them giving
a steady impulse to our agricultural industry, can only be pro-
cured in exchange for our manufacturing fabrics, which form
the bulk of our export trade." As a merchant, he testified to
the ruinous effects of the present Corn-laws upon our foreign
trade.

Mr. Councillor FAIRBAIRN, machine-maker, seconded the
resolution, which was carried unanimously.
Alderman STANSFELD said he had, for the last twenty years,
visited the Continent for commercial purposes ; he had wit-
nessed the extension of manufactures in foreign countries, and
could testify to the fact, that our commercial interests were
suffering, and would continue to suffer, unless an alteration in
the Corn-laws was effected. He instanced the manufacture of
one article, mouslin-de-laine, which the French manufactured,
observing that they could buy wool in Ireland, take it to France,
manufacture it, send it to England, pay a heavy duty, and,
after all, undersell English manufacturers. He ended by mov-
ing " That this meeting views with great alarm the rapid ex-
tension of foreign manufactures, which owe their rise, as it
conceives, to the policy to which the Continental States have
been driven by our refusal to take, in exchange for our ma-
nufactures, corn and other agricultural products, which
alone they bad to offer us, and deems it essentially neces-
sary, in strong and undisguised terms to express its opinion
that, unless the manufacturing industry of this country be
placed upon an equality with that of foreign countries in the
cost of its staple food, the capital and skill which have hither-
to upheld this country in pre-eminence, will be transported to
more favourable climes, its foreign trade will be destroyed,
and with it the power of supporting its numerous population,
and the heavy burdens of an excessive taxation."
Mr. BRUN seconded the resolution, which was carried un-
animously.
EDWARD BAINES, Esq., M.P., being loudly called for,
came forward, and was received with great cheering. He
said he should have great pleasure in carrying into effect
the resolution just passed, and of giving to the petition all
the support in Parliament which it was in his power to im-
part to it.--( Hear, hear.) He should endeavour, clothed
as he was with their authority, to use the influence of one
of the most important boroughs in the kingdom, for the pur-
pose of effecting their object.—(Hear, hear.) His decided
opinion was, that whether they considered the interests of
the British manufacturer, or the interests of the operatives,
whom he employed ; whether they considered the interest:;
of the farmer or the interests of the husbandman; whether
they considered the interests of the landowner himself, every
one of those great interests would be benefited by a great
modification or entire abolition of the Corn-laws.--( Hear,
hear.) He had no wish to speak of himself, but he might,
say there were few men who, to the extent of his for-
tune, was more interested in the success of agriculture than
himself.—(Hear, hear.) Feeling that the existing Corn-
laws were founded in injustice and unsound policy, he was
prepared to make the sacrifice, if any sacrifice would attend
the repeal of these laws; but he was firmly persuaded that
neither to the landed interest nor to any of the interests of
the country, would any permanent loss accrue; but, on the
contrary, an absolute benefit. It was the interest of all to
have the Corn-laws placed on such a footing that the Eng-
lish manufacturers, the best customers of the farmers, should
be enabled to compete advantageously with the manufac-
turers on the Continent; that the people of this country
should have cheaper food, and that foreign nations
should receive cheaper manufactures from us in exchange,
in return for the advantages which we derive from the
importations of their produce.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon.
Gentleman, after expressing his high gratification at the dis-
crimination that had been shown by the meeting this dv,
in defeating an invidious attempt to divert them from their
object, said that he felt more than ever proud of his consti-
tuency of all classes, and that he was sure that he should
have the cordial co-operation of his Honourable Colleague,
Sir William Molesworth, in giving effect to their wishes
Parliament.

Mr. EDWARD BAINES, kill., read the petition, the adop-
tion of which he moved. Mr. Baines addressed himself to
the consideration of the question of the Corn-laws, as affect-
ing our manufacturing prosperity, and showed that the effect
was tc diminish our exports and to raise the manufactures of
the Continent. He produced a number of statistical facts,
which most conclusively established this position, and proved
that the arguments of the landowners were fallacious and
absurd.

Mr. T. PLIN T, in a long and powerful speech, seconded the
motion, Which was carried.

Mr. Cummins, Mr. John Wilson, Mr. Ritchie (merchant),
and Mr. Wordsworth (machine-maker), moved and seconded
the other resolutions, which were all carried unanimously.
EDWARD BAINES, Esq., M.P., having taken the Chair, a
vote of thanks was given to his worship the Mayor, for calling
the meeting and presiding on the occasion ; and the meeting
then separated, having been occupied in the open air above
three hours.

The following is the petition agreed to :
" To the Honourable the Commons of Great Britain and Ire-
land in Parliament assembled.
" The Petition of the Inhabitants of the borough of Leeds,
agreed to at a Public Meeting in the Court-house, Jan,
15, 1839 ; the Mayor in the Chair.
" Humbly showeth—That in the opinion of this meeting all
men have an inalienable right to the free exchange of the
produce of their capital, skill, and labour for the productions
of the people of their own or of foreign nations; and that all
restrictions on the interchange of nations are unjust in prin-
ciple, and as they tend to direct the industry of each into its
least profitable and beneficial channels of employment, and to
foment national animosity, and are most impolitic and injurious.
" That the welfare of all the industrious classes of the
British empire is inseparably bound up with the prosperity of
its foreign trade, inasmuch as by that trade alone can we pro-
cure those articles of food and luxury which are the produce
of other climes; and more especially as the raw material of
our great staple trades—cotton, wool, silk, and flax—are either
not the growth of our soil, or cannot be grown in sufficient
quantity on its limited surface; and since these indispensable
means of employing our numerous manufacturing population,
and through them giving a steady impulse to our agricultural

in&istryzi can only be procured in exchange for our manufac-
turing fabrics, which torili the bulk of our export trade.
" That the prosperity of our foreign trade is entirely depen-
dent on the maintenance of art equality betwixt British and
continental manufactures in the three great elements of pro-
ductive power—capital, skill, and the cost of labour.
" That the manufacturers of this country have for a to„;
series of years paid a rate of money wages for all descriptions
of labour, nearly double that paid by their continental compe-
titors, because hitherto they have excelled them in the amount
of capital, the perfection of machinery, and the industry and
skill of the various classes of labourers and artisans, whereby
they have been enabled successfully to bear up against t' e
lower costs of labour on the Continent, arising from the greater
cheapness of food.

" That all these advantages are no longer in the exclusive
possession of this country, but are now largely shared by most
of the European nations, who have wisely availed themselves
of twenty-three years peace to accumulate abundant capital,
to form manufacturing establishments in all respects equal to
our own, and to train up skilful workmen, and are now not
only supplying their home markets with manufactured goods
which in former years they imported from this country-, but are
successfully competing with us in the common markets of the
world.

" That the formation and consolidation of the manufactur.
ing system of the Continent, is, in the opinion of your peti-
tioners, in a very great degree attributable to our Corn-laws,
which, by excluding grai❑ and other agricultural produce from
our ports, which the European nations had alone to offer us,
have effectually prevented their purchasing our manufactures,
and compelled them to manufacture for themselves.

" That your petitioners regard this state of our affairs as a
manufacturing nation with unfeigned alarm, and would express
to your Honourable House its deliberate and solemn convic-
tion. that in order to maintain successful competition with our
foreign rivals, and to preserve the capital of the nation from
destruction, either the Corn-laws must be repealed, or the
it ones cf labour in this country will be forced down to the level
of the rn_mey rates paid on the Continent of Europe.
" That a large reduction of the rate of manufacturing wages
whilst the Corn•laws are maintained, enhancing the prices of
the prime necessaries of life 60 or 70 per cent. abole the
prices of the Continent, for the benefit of a small class of the
whole community, would not only be productive of great pri.
ration and suffering amongst our vast operative population,
but would excite intense and just indignation, threatening the
stability and very existence of our social and political insti-
tutions.

" That as a measure of strict justice to all the consumers of
food, as the only mode by which the foreign trade of the na-
tion, and the comfort and prosperity of its whole population,
can be preserved from destruction—as a necessary means to
the stability of our social institutions, and as a guarantee for
the maintenance of peace among the civilized nations of the
world—your petitioners earnestly implore your Honourable
House to repeal all laws relating to the importation of foreign
corn and other foreign articles of subsistence, and to carry our
to the fullest extent (both as affects agriculture and manufac-
tures) the true and peaceful principles of free trade, by remov-
ing all existing obstacles to the unrestricted employment of in-
dustry and capital.
" And your petitioners; &c."

AGRICULTURAL MEETING AT

BARTON.

CORN-LAWS.
On Monday a Public Dinner of the Members and Friends
of the Barton Agricultural Association took place in the large
room at the George Inn; George Maw, Esq , in the Chair;
having en his right Lord Worsley, and on his left R. A.
Christopher 3 Esq., Members for North Lincolnshire. Mr.
B. ficsleden was Vice-President. About 130 persons sat
down to dinner, including many of the leading owners an('
occupiers of land in the neighbourhood. There would not
be fewer than 200 present during the greater part of the
evening.
The cloth having been drawn,
The CHAIRMAN gave " The Queen."—(Three times
three.) " The rest of the Royal Family," which, with all
the other toasts, were drunk with the honours.
The CHAIRMAN, on giving " The Army and Navy," said
they were very useful classes of the community ; though now
at rest, he was not certain that they were yet at liberty to
beat their swords into ploughshares; and should they be called
upon to face an enemy with nothing but foreign corn for their
support, he was afraid they would fight them very indiffe-
rently.—( Applause.
The CIIAIRMAN said the next toast came nearer home to
their feelings, it was that of a nobleman well-known in that
neighbourhood, where indeed lie held extensive possessions,
and who was not more consp'cuous for the exalted station
llhich he occupied, than for the virtues which adorned that
station. If the Noble Lord had been aware of that meeting
he would have taken great interest in it; indeed, it was one
which affected his interests materially, and also those of his
numerous tenantry, over whom he exercised so paternal a
care. He would, therefore, propose the health of " The Earl
of Yarborough."
JOIIN RICHARDSON, Esq., of Horkstow, proposed that it
should be drunk with three times three.
The VICE- PRESIDENT proposed that it should be given with
musical honours, and named another gentleman who could
keep time. The suggestion was received with cheers, and
executed to admiration.
Lord WORSLET, M. P., in acknowledging the toast, said his
father was at present in the Isle of Wight, but though so far
distant he could not fail to take a deep interest in the object
for which they were assembled. He had made him acquainted
with the intention of holding the meeting, and in a letter i❑
answer, he said he never knew a time when there appeared so
much excitement respecting the Corn-laws; he had known
corn much higher than at present, and he could not imagine
why so much more ado should now be made than had been
the case when corn was higher. He could assure them that
his father was alive to the question, and took as deep an in-
terest in their proceedings as if he were amongst them.
The CHAIRMAN next gave " The President of the Barton
Agricultural Association, John Richardson, Esq., of Hork-
stow."

Lord WORSLEY proposed this should be drunk with three
times three and the musical honours, which was done, if pos-
sible, to greater perfection than before.
Mr. RICHARDSON, on rising to acknowledge the toast, re-
quested the Secretary to read the minutes and resolutions of
the meeting at which the present one was convened. It
appeared that the Committee of the Barton Agricultural
Association, considering the agitation now in progress,
and the attack intended to be made on the Corn-laws, on
the opening of Parliament, had deemed it desirable to have
a public dinner, for the purpose of discussion, at which
they hoped also to have the presence and advice of both
their representatives as to the course to be adopted, in ac-
cordance with which letters had been addressed to both the
Members, and they were present in consequence. Mr.
Richardson then said, had he the fiery declamation of a
Demosthenes, or the refined eloquence of a Cicero, he
could not sufficiently express the sense of gratification
which he felt for the high encomiums which had been
bestowed upon him by the Chairman, and the polite and
handsome manner in which the Noble Lord had also pro-
posed, and the company had drunk, his health ; but he
could not and he would not hesitate to state what were his
feelings with respect to the Corn-laws. If ever there was a
time when the agriculturists were called upon to be on the
alert, to rise from their lethargy and supineness, it was
the present juncture. He referred to the exertions daily
a,.d hourly making by the Anti-Corn-law party to obtain
an entire repeal of those laws which were the protection of
the British farmer; but he had great confidence in their
worthy representatives, and thought they might bid defi-
ance to any man who was bold enough to rise in Parliament
and require a repeal of those laws. He proposed " The
health of our worthy Representatives, both of whom are now
present."

Lord WORSLEY, in acknowledging the toast, said the
subject which had been introduced was one which ought to
be followed up in that room-..it ought to be discussed. He
should disappoint their expectations if he did not enter into
it pretty fully. He confessed that he felt far more nervous
on this subject than he ever did on any matter since
he had been their representative. Their hopes had been
raised with respect to what they expected to hear from him ;
perhaps so highly, that from the fact he had named, they
would be disappointed. The subject was at all times one of
great difficulty, although it had never occasioned any diffi-
culty in his own mind ; he always believed the Corn-laws were
just. He never gave a vote in the House of Commons with-
out due consideration to all parties concerned ; and, after con-
sidering the subject, he came to:the conclusion that the Corn-
laws were quite as just and quite as necessary for the manu-
facturer as the agriculturist. He never, at any time, on being
returned to Parliament, whatever might be the majority of
any particular class, considered himself the representative of
any class, but the representative of all classes. He con-
sidered this opposition was not got up by those who wished to
benefit the working classes, but by popularity hunters, and
those who wished to make large fortunes by the ruin of other
people—and he had no doubt what the effect would be if they
carried their object ; wages would be reduced to the price of
bread, and the manufacturing population would be no better off
than they are now. He entered into a series of returns made to
Parliament showing that to every country from which corn
had been imported into this country from 1829 to 1836—a1l
during the operation of the present Corn-law, our exports
had increased materially. The aggregate exports to these
countries being, in 1829, 20,387,316/. ; in 1836, 32,828,0381.
The fact was the manufacturers of Manchester wished
this country to become the Manchester of the whole world,
which was impossible. Other nations as well as this had
been at peace some years, and bad, like ourselves, been
cultivating the arts, and turning their capital to account,
and would continue to do se. It was idle to suppose they
had not. They manufactured better articles than we did,
and that was the reason their goods found a market. We
had, a few years ago, the earthenware trade to Egypt, but the
French introduced a better article, at a somewhat higher
price, which entirely drove us out of that market. The French
manufactured better silks than other people, therefore, people
would buy them. If it was so in one article, he knew not
why it should not be in another. It was not the price but
the quality. There was no part of the world where wages I
were higher than in America—we exported to America.
There was no part of the world where wages were so low as
India, yet we could manufacture and carry out and sell
goods in that country cheaper than the inhabitants could
make themselves. Then, again, had the manufacturers no
protecting duties? If they remove the Corn-laws, let them
at the same time remove the import duties on foreign manu-
factured goods. I,ferreci to several ~iher
par-
liamentary returns. He thought it could be fairly shown that
free corn had caused the price of corn to rise. From 1730
to 1735, the average price of corn was 395. 2d. ; from 1735
to 1765, just before the time of the opening of the corn trade,