The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-29 00:00:00

. them in the face I—(Cheers)—the Factory Bill, that wds to
limit the duration of labour of little children from 16 to 12
hours a day. Mark that. And what did they do ? Did these
Cotton Lords come forward to say, " These little creatures,
and our workmen and workwomen, of whom we are the natu-
ral guardians, require protection, and we ask for the Factory
Bill ?" No ; I will tell you what they did. They see the little
cripples infilm and worn out before their time. It had become
in England mere matter of calculation what human Ha could
endure—what bone and sinew could endure—it had become
matter of calculation, and, above ail, we have seen the intellect
of these little beings, images of God, swept away from them.
We made our appeal, and when the appeal was made, who
opposed it—the Cotton Lords. It is a very singular thing to
observe who supports this agitation in Birmingham. We now
call upon these gentlemen to unite with us. We are ready
to forget all that is past, if they will unite with us ; but the
question is, will we unite with them?—(Loud cries of " Hear,
hear.") Or are they to come up, and bring up the rear rank
of our great army ?—( Cheers.) They may stand in the front
rank when they desk rve it. Let them back us up, and I will
prove and show that they ought to do that. We have, and no
one can deny it, been foremost iu the cause of humanity and
justice for the people of England, and then many names are
put to this requisition as unknown in our cause as the inhabit-
ants of Kamschat.ka. We have experienced a knowledge
in this matter, and this ought to go for something.
There are many gentlemen here whom we should
be happy to retain amongst us, but I put to them whether fifty
yea sis not enough for petitioning? I put it to them, whe-
ther the proper time is not come when the great National
Petition in favour of Universal Suffrage should' not be sup.
potted ? But I shall put it on another ground—l would re-
mind them of the great agitation on the Slave question.—
( Cries of Hear, hear.) They did the very best which agita-
tion could do on that occasion. Did Parliament emancipate
the slaves? No: but mark this—they made us buy it at a
eery great cost : and now I tell you, that if we were to agi-
tate for the Corn-laws, e e must buy it at an enormous cost.
There is another reason why these gentlemen should yield to
us—that ee rode the fore horse in 11337, when the petitions
of 130,000 of the labouring classes were sent up to demand
justice in favour of the suffering people of England.—
( Cheers.) We went to my Lord Melbourne, and he said,
tt Gentlemen, you are come to me to ask me to apply its your
behalf to the House of Commons. lam too much of a gen-
tleman to deceive you, and I candidly tell you there is no use
in applying to it. They will grant you a Committee, and they
will go into the Committee and make a long inquiry
at a great expense. That Committee may or may not
make a report, and that would carry the thing on
for two years. In the meantime, if I were not too
honourable, I would have got rid of you for two years." He
said further, that these Committees and the practice of the
House were for the mere purpose of getting rid of the petitions
of the people. Yes, Gentlemen, so lar as regards these Com-
mittees, they are mere delusions. I would appeal to your
worthy Representatives whether I have not described them
rightly—both of them have corroborated this opinion of the
House of Commons on more than one occasion, and both of
them have corroborated this opinion of Parliamentary Com-
mittees. I now put it to those Gentlemen, if they be sincere,
whether they would advise the people of England to go back
with their petitions to that House of Commons or these Com-
mittees ? But there is another reason—recollect, when you
went you went for no partial measure like this—you went for
a twofold purpose. You said let the people have cheap food
and light taxes, but, above all, let us take care that while the
people have cheap food they have plenty of money to buy it.
This is a very important element in the matter. In the peti-
tion these gentlemen say that their attention has been lately
attrrcted to the subject. This shows a want of foresight on
their parts, and therefore they ought to defer to us.
Now, Gentlemen, observe this well—if there is a bad harvest,
and that the prices are high, many will hope that when the
season comes round they may expect to see bread and other
food cover their tables again ; but suppose we get rid of the
Corn-laws, and that wheat and meat are at a drug price in the
market, and that the labouring man has not a sixpence in his
pocket to buy it, what an enormous delusion it will be.—
(Much cheering.) What rage will seize the heart of every
man, and this earth will be too hot for the people. Gentle-
men, I am against all tyranny, and I do not wish to see the
people with all their passions roused, not only demanding jus-
tice, but taking a terrible vengeance on their oppressors.—
(Cheers.) Another reason why cheap food is not the only
thing for the people is, that they want also an abundance of
money. We have seen in 1834-5, that according to Mr.
Sturge's acknowledgment, wheat was as cheap as if it had
been
eimported. In 1837 wheat was extremely cheap, and
during the severe winter I was so excited at the sufferings of
the people, seeing wheat so cheap in the market, and that
they could not get it then, that the magistrates met here to
send up the placard I had published to Lord John Russell,
and request him to prosecute me for sedition.—(Hear,
hear.) But recollect there is another element which we
rand up for. Not only do we want cheap food, but we want
to secure to the people the fruits of their honest industry, in
order that they may have pcckets full of money to buy the
cheap food with.—( Cheers.) Mark this one thing particu-
larly—since the war the prices of goods and manufactures have
fallen one.half or more, 65 per cent. Out of your wages,
fallen in proportion—or rather out of the remnant of your
wages—you have to pay the whole of the taxes you paid when
your wages were high. Men who were then receiving 30s. a
week, and who are now receiving 155., pay as much taxes as
before, for none have been taken off. Then, if the tax is taken
off wheat, the question is will the land go out of cultivation ?
Will they also take off the Malt- tax ?—( Hear, hear.) I say
that we must have all the taxes off that prey upon industry, and
let them be put upon property. If we come to measures
which in England will break down all prices, then I say break
down all taxes. The fund-lord must be taken down if we
go on. First, we have the money-lord and the fund-lord,
who, having joined the landlords in the plunder, and having
sucked out from the people all they could, the former now
turn's King's evidence upon his fellow thief, and ex-
claims, " What a thief the landlord is ?"—(Laughter.)
They say " You will join with me in crushing the land-
lord, for you cannot keep such company with safety." Men
of England they have cheated the landlords and will cheat
you. Take the affair into your own hands. A gentleman be-
hind me asks, how arc we to do it, and I will tell you. These
men bold power only for the purpose of plunder and nothing.
else. If you go to join the fund lord in putting down the
landlord, I will tell you what the result will be. I have here
to-day put into my hand a statement of the prices in Germany,
and the average shows all prices aro one-fifth what they are
here, or at all events one-third. Now they say we want to
have the Corn-laws repealed in order that you may compete
with the foreigner. What ! will those gentlemen say that
the English labourer, without one tax taken off, will be able
to compete with the untaxed German ?—(Hear, hear.) When
the German liveswell upon ss. a-week, will any one say that
the Englishman is to be brought down to ss, a-week wages
with English taxes?—( Hear, hear, hear.)l will tell YOU
the conclusions the Northern Star comea to upon this point.
Upon the amount of wheat consumed annually we pay six
millions, and the amount of wages received even at the low rateof
10s. per week is 156 millions. Now a reduction of price
upon wheat on the average of years would be about 10 per
cent., which upon six millions would be 600,0001. • but 10
per cent. off wages would be, upon 156 millions, fifteen mil-
lions and a half. There would thus be a gain of 600,0001.,
and a loss of 15,500,000/. ; and this is the way the people
are to be benefited. I could say a great deal more, but I
think I have said enough to convince any honest man_ that he
can no more get the repeal of the Corn-laws than we can get
justice for the people.—(Cheers.) Instead of our joining
them in this worse than foolish, this fraudulent appeal, let them
join us ; I have no doubt of the result. I call this Hall the
Hall of Victory, for since it was built we never were defeated,
and we will not now.—(Great cheering.) I call upon the
people here, in this spot, consecrated by so many triumphs, to
repel this attempt to disunite us, and your cause will eventually
triumph.—( Much cheering.)
Mr. WILLATS, as one of the oppressed—one of the work-
ing classes, claimed a hearing. They were called upon to
petition Parliament for the repeal of the Corn-laws, but they
might as well command the rolling tide to flow back, as do
that.—( Hear, hear.) Why had they not called upon the
working men before, if they wished to do them any good ?
In the present, as in all their proceedings, it would appear
that the object was merely to disunite the people, and then use
them for their party purposes. The only principle they could
contend for was Universal Suffrage.—( Loud cheers.) They
must not turn to the right hand or the left, but go forward
consistently with the principles contained in the People's
Charter, by which relief would be given to the industrious hut
starving people of England. He believed the present was a
complete Whig trick. They were now called upon to peti-
tion for the repeal of the Corn-laws, when the ports had
been opened for several weeks.—(Hear, hear, and great
uproar.) They had other laws to complain of besides
the ' Corn-laws. They had the abominable Poor-law,
which separated man from his wife, and tore the innocent babe
from its mother's bosom.—(Cheers, and cries of " Ques-
tion.") Had they not also Universal Suffrage to demand?
All of them had different crotchets in their heads—some on
the Corn-laws, others on the Poor-laws, and others on the
Factory-laws ; but he would call upon them to abandon all
these, and go for the great principle of Universal Suffrage.—
(Great cheering.) He asked the working men would they
go for the repeal of the Corn-laws?—(No, no.) Would
they abandon Universal Suffrage?—(No, no.) No, they
would not, at least—

None but designing knaves,
Abject, crouching, willing slaves.
—(Cheers.) The people, in fact, had made up their minds
to have Universal Suffrage next spring, and he supposed it
was now intended to amuse them up to the end of the present
Session with the Corn-law question, when a Government duty
would be fixed. He hoped the people weuld go on and per-
severe. They had been frequently told that they wanted no-
thing but union ; and now that they had obtained it, was it to
be allowed that a certain party should come in and sow dissen-
sion among them ? The people had been taught to respect
their rights, and that principle had been sealed with the blood
of their forefathers—sooner than yield it there should be blood
again, for it was a principle worth living, and a principle
worth dying for.—(Loud cheers.) He called upon them to
go on, under the sanction and authority of the laws, in the
work they had undertaken—
Let your strength roll on from shore to shore,
Till down comes oppression to rise no more.—( Cheers. )
The CHAIRMAN then rose to put the original resolution and
the proposed addition to the meeting, but was met by cries of
" Read it again."
The resolution and addition having been read,
The CHAIRMAN put them to the meeting, when the addi-
tion or amendment was carried by a large majority. This
was followed by tremendous cheering, waving of hats and
handkerchiefs, shouting, clapping of hands, and other noisy
demonstrations of triumph.
On the motion of Mr. R. K. Douglas, Mr. Joseph Sturgo