The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-14 00:00:00

FINANCIAL REFORM MEETING

AT LEEDS.

VISIT Or MR. COBI;EN, M.P.

. _
LEEDS, FRIDAY, NOON.—At the Music Hall, Leeds,
last night, a very crowded meeting was held to receive
Mr. Cobden, M.P., Colonel Thompson, M.P., A. Henry,
M.P., and other guests of the Cobden banquet, held on
the previous evening at Wakefield. During the proceed-
ings very great enthusiasm prevailed. Mr. J. G. Mar-
shall, M. P., occupied the chair, and was surrounded by
nearly all the leading Liberals of the district.
Mr. COBDEN, who, on rising, was greeted with the
warmest enthusiastic plaudits, spoke as follows :—Mr.
Chairman and Gentlemen—l am sorry to say that, be-
ing a little out of practice, and having had last night oc-
casion to address an assembly of friends met at Wake-
field, I feel myself rather hoarse, and am therefore quite
unable to speak but in a conversational way; but as we
are met here to talk over matters of business, and as it
may be called a sort of domestic inquiry into the affairs
of the state--(Laughter)—we shall be able to get on,ln
I dare say, by preserving the conversational tone.
fact, our situation now, as it seems to me, is very like
that of certain railway shareholders—(Laughter)—who
have had occasion to call meetings of the proprietors to
appoint committees of inquiry into the management of
the directors.—(Cheers and laughter.) And the people
of England have also had public meetings to form finan-
cial returns associations to inquire into the conduct of the
Go.vernment.—(Hear, hear.) And really I think it
was high time ; for the resolution which has been
moved, and in the sentiment of which I cordially con-
cur, has correctly told us that during the period since
1835, the national. the public expenditure of the
c, untry has been increased nearly ten millions. It was
quite ten millions when we began to appoint these
committees to inquire.—(Laughter.) Now, mark me,
the increase in our expenses since 1835 is as great
as the whole expenditure, nay much greater
than the whole expenditure of the United States for
the government of 20,000,000 of the people there—
(Cries of " Shanfe.") Well, how has this arisen? Some
people account for this in one way and some in another.
We know that the money has been raised, and as it has
been truly said by this resolution that it has been vainly
spent in warlike establishments. But how is it that this
expenditure has gone on without being checked by one
party or another? Why, it is simply because the people,
after 18:35, having withdrawn their attention from the
conduct of their representatives, the old system which
prevailed before the Reform Act passed was renewed,
and the Government made and the Parliament sanctioned
this increase of expenditure, partly and mainly, I believe
for the purpose of increasing the patronage of Govern-
ment.—(Hear, hear.) Now, down to 1835, after the
passing of the Reform Act, there was a very considerable
amount of retrenchment. I do not attribute to the Re-
form Act that it was like the new broom sweeping clean;
but I attribute it to the low price of agricultural produce
in 1835, and a year or two previous. It is a singular
fact, but if you look back for the last thirty years
you will find that whenever the price of agricultural
produce has been low the Government expenditure has
been cut down; and, on the contrary, when the prices of
agricultural produce has been high, notwithstanding the
terrible distress which has been coincident with that fact
in our manufacturing and commercial districts, I repeat,
that when the price of agricultural produce has been the
highest the expenses of Government have increased. This
is so remarkable, that it' you take a list of the expendi-
ture of the Government, and put it parallel with the
price of corn for the last thirty years, you will find that
the one is a pretty good barometer of the character of
the other. And the solution I derive from this fact is
this, that the Government of this country is mainly in
the hands of the landed proprietors; that in times of
great excitement, which must in thir very nature be
evanescent—for the people cannot always be in a state of
popular fever—in times of popular excitement, no doubt,
the great communities—such as I have now the honour of
addressing—the great and popular communities, exercise
a great power, because, when they express their opinion,
it either convinces, or if it does not convince, it alarms
the agricultural interest into an acquiescence in re-
form. But as the rural and landed interest governs this
country, when they are doing well and getting high
prices they are willing for taxation to be high and ex-
penditure to be lavish; but when prices come down they
look for a diminution of the national expenses. It is
one of the great advantages which I should calculate on
from the repeal of the corn-laws, that it will put the
agricultural interest in the same boat with the rest of
the community.—(Applause.) Although they may for
a time try to delude themselves—or the landlords may
try to delude the tenantry—with the idea that they will
get back protection again, and they will return to
high prices once more, yet when they are once con-
vinced, and they will very soon be convinced, that they
cannot return back to the tax upon corn, then, in spite
of all you may hear to the contrary, you will see the
Members for the rural counties walk into the same
lobby with myself and Joseph llutne.—(Applause.)
They tell us they cannot compete with the foreigners
in the present state of taxation, and therefore I am
very glad that we hove been the first—that we, the pre-
tenders, have been the first—that the manufacturing dis-
triets have been the very first—to come forward and offer
to help the agriculturalists to reduce taxation; and more,
if they will co-operate with us—that those taxes shall be
reduced which I believe press particularly upon that
interest. But I don't want this to be misunderstood.
Our ;excell, nt friend, the chairman, very properly said,
that we have burdens upon our shoulders which will im-
pede us in the path even of free-trade; and to have the
ftf I advantage of free-trade—it is to be sure not perfect
freedom of trade yet, but I suppo,e we shall soon make it
so (cheers)—to have the full advantage of that freedom
of trade w.' must remove the burdens from our shoulders.
Bet I don't want it to go forth, or to be understood by
our opponents, that we are making this outcry because
we think we shall not be able as well to compete with
foreigners without corn laws as with them. It was
always my opinion, before the corn-laws were abolished,
that whatever taxation we might have to bear, and what-
ever our competition with foreigneri might be, you will
bear it all the bt tter without the bread-tax than with it.
And I say so still.—(Loud cheers.) But if the agricul-
turists complain that, -now that they are for the first
time suffering under competition, they cannot carry on
their business without reduction of taxation, we have not
placed ourselves in opposition towards them, but we
have been the first to come out and offer to aid them in
reducing taxation. I had occasion last night at Wake-
field, to allude to the attempt that is now being made to
raise the outcry in favour of reaction; that the people
are tired of having corn at 455. per quarter; whereas
they would have had it at 70t. if they had had the late
sliding scale.— (Loud Cheers.) I had occasion, last night
to say a few words upon this subject, because I am
anxious that these people, these parrots, who keep re-
peating words till they themselves believe them to be
true—that they should not run away with the delusion
that the people of the West Riding, who, more than any
others, have contributed to the repeal of the corn -laws—
I say I am anxious that they should not delude them-
selves with the idea that you are in favour of a return to
the old system of corn laws.—(Hear, hear.) They tell
us all sorts of things have happened in consequence of
the repeal of the corn-laws. There is nothing that is
rnyaterious that has happened, but it is said was in
consequence of the repeal of the corn-laws. They
have lately had the impudence to tell us that Ireland is
suffering in consequence of the repeal of the tax upon
corn. I thought we had had some inquiries into the
state of Ireland before the corn-laws were repealed ; I
thought I had read some letters of Edmund Spenser, con-
taining a description of Ireland three hundred years ago,
much the same as if they had been written yesterday. I
thought I had read something in Dean Swift which
might have been received from a correspondent a week
ago; and I thought that there had been a Devon com-
mission, producing three blue books that disclosed a
state of things most disgraceful to this country, and un-
paralleled on the face of the earth.—(Hear, hear.) And
yet they now come forward to tell us that free-trade has
ruined Ireland. Why, if any country has been in a state
of ruin for 300 years, it is Ireland. What has ruined
it? Ireland has been ruined because she wanted some-
thing better than potatoes for her people to eat. And
what has helped them to live? Why, Indiaa corn, which
was brought cheaply from abroad. Why ? Because
you had removed all obstructions to its importation.
I have heard that some graceless wight once said
that the best remedy for the evils of Ireland was to let
the Atlantic over it about ten feet for twenty-four hours.
My nostrum is different. I say inundate Ireland with
Indian corn and good wheat, and that will cure them
better than by letting the ocean upon them.--(Loud ap-
plause, and a voice—" It you feet them, they won't
work.") Oh, yes they will work, if you will give them
two shillings and sixpence a day.—(Vehement applause.)
Well, then, gentlemen, these people who want to per-
suade us that there is a great reaction in favour of an-
other corn-law, complain to us in agricultural meetings
in the south of the low prices of their produce. They
say they have got sprouted wheat. I read this account
in a report of an agricaltural meeting in Sussex, where
one of the Duke of Richmond's friends got up and said
—" I have had to sell my sprouted wheat for 325. 6d.,
and to give some to the pigs, as no one will buy it now,
but before the repeal of the corn laws I could have sold it
at a good price for the people to eat."—(Hear.) This
may be very well for the farmers; but you will not have
to complain that instead of eating sprouted wheat, which
might produce cholera or dysentery, or some bad disease,
You can hay good flour; and I don't think you will have
any right to complain or wish to go back to the old sys-
tem.-(Applause.) I can understand that a bad crop is
a very bad-thing for
weal
eSourex farmers. We know that
in the south andwest
weather, which fell in the England we had bad wet
critical time when the wheat
was upon the ground; thatc
in lLand,sast
nauttoumKnentth i s
Thatbad
weather extended from the
was an unfortunate thing for the farmeds and landowners,
who had their corn exposed, and wererready to gather it
up; but in the north of England and on the east coast
they were more fortunate; the crops were got in in
good state. What I want to draw your attention to •a
this, that if these farmers in the West of England have
misfortune once in four or five years with their crops,
it is just what every manufacturer has with his
manufactures. Look at the change of fashons ; look at
the breaking of machinery ; at the new inventions of
machinery : look at the civil war in Germany ; at the
outbreak in China, and many other things which have
happened in our experience—look at all these things,
which may operate upon and interfere with our trade
and manufactures.—(Cheers.) You must bear in mind,
oleo, in this calculation, that when the year is pros-
p'ereus the manufacturer does not come to the public to
a,,k them to have a share in the balance ; he pockets
the profits of the good year, and when from rain, or
fire, or any other accident, the year happens to be bad,
the manufacturer I.cannot say pockets his loss, but he
puts up with it, and does not come to Parliament
whining and saying-he has had a bad trade, and wants
the law passed to protect him and to make his trade
profitable. We say the same thing to the farmers—make
your own arrangements—make your own bargains. We
have got land to let, and you must take into oon3idera"