The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-09 00:00:00

BLACKBURN.

At a meeting of the Blackburn town council on
Thursday afternoon, the Mayor, Mr.-R. H. Hutch-
inson, called attention to the existing distress owing
to the cotton famine, and said Baron C. J. Hambro,
of London, had forwarded £5OO to Mr. Heugh, of
Manchester, for distribution to the operatives suf-
fering from the insufficiency of cotton, of which
sum Mr. Heugh had intimated his intention to send
£lOO to the Blackburn Relief Fund. He also
acknowledged the receipt of £2O from Messrs.
Briggs and Co., of Alexandria, being part of a sum
of £lOO sent by that firm for the relief of the dis-
tressed operatives of Lancashire.
During the past month the Relief Fund Commit-
tee had distributed 55,012 lb. of bread and 54,300
lb. of oatmeal, at a cost, including the loss upon the
sale of 16,025 quarts of soup at id. per quart,
of £716 lls. 81d. From the returns pre-
pared for Mr. Farnall he learned that there were
10,000 operatives out of employ in Blackburn.
If those people were relieved at a rate similar to
that given at Stockport they would have to expend
£330 instead of £lBO per week, The amount of
relief granted here required to be increased, and
something must be done to increase it. Before it could
be accomplished a much larger fund would be re-
quired. The money which they had lately received
from other places ought to act as a stimulant to
greater exertions at home for the increase of con-
tributions. There was a very large mass of the
population who had been long-residont in the town
who were not able to procure the requisites of life,
and who, although now much distressed, did not
come forward to make applications for relief. Those
persons had been living upon their own resources,
which were, alas! now almost exhausted—having
disposed of much of their property. He met a poor
woman who had that day got relief from the com-
mittee, who had sold nearly everything she was pos-
sessed
of, and, when asked why she had not applied
earlier for relief, she said
there
, Were other l because she thought
could not get anyptheo'p e a great deal
.worse. off and
he could learn
was not
The onlya
sufficient o j e e t lon
objection. which
against receiving subscrip-
tions from the nation
of the eottok trade was that some wished to be
Theindependent—but
present
aggra-
vated, and they could not see •
a termination of the
crisis. They should, however, remember, that in
411, matters of national or imperial
policy and when
condition el itittLw

subscriptions were required in aid of the Patriotic
Fund, the famine in India, or any other public ap-
peal, the people of Blackburn had ever been ready
to give their contributions, and he did not see that
at a time like the present the spirit of inde-
pendence manifested should be so respected as not
to allow the benevolent and the charitable to give
them a helping hand in the alleviation of their pre-
sent distress, and particularly in a difficulty like the
present. He was sorry he could not hold out any
prospects of any settlement of affairs which would
relieve them of having to support the poor opera-
tives of the town through the coming winter.
Government had sent down a commissioner to
inquire into the distress, and they had his state-
ment before them. Respecting the statement
made by some persons that they should meet tha
emergency by rates, supposing the rate men-
tioned by Mr. Farnall as being requisite to tide
them over the present year were laid, their rates
would amount to Bs. Bd. in the pound, including
property tax, improvement rates, &c., which had to
be paid on property. There was a large number of
working, painstaking, industrious men, who had '
saved a little money, and had invested it in the
building of a few houses. What, he asked, was the
prospect of those men iv regard to the payment of
rates amounting to Bs. Bd. in the pound out of their
little earnings, or their property? The great chance
was that they would have to undergo a great deal
of hardship during the crisis, many of their ten-
ants being unable to pay any rent. (Hear, hear.)
He should be glad indeed if his remarks influenced
every member of the council to procure subscrip-
tions in aid of the suffering poor, notwithstanding
what had been said about the manufacturers not
having given. lie felt that a great deal of money
had come from a distance, but it was not too much,
even supposing they had a fund in hand of £lO,OOO
instead of £2,000. He trusted the fund would be
largely increased to meet the emergencies. A sug-
gestion was then made that the surplus fund of
£l,OOO in the hands of the Town-hall News-room
Committee, accruing from the management should
be paid over to the relief fund, but it was objected
by members of the committee that it was the pro-
perty of the subscribers to the room, and that, in
all probability, it would be employed in aiding
the erection of a new Exchange, the interest aris-
ing from the £l,OOO to form a local charity.
With the recommendation that the subject should
be brought before a meeting of the subscribers,
the discussion dropped.