The Sun.
London, England, 1836-05-24 00:00:00

MUNICIPAL REFORM

TITNES-MEETING AT

.. ~,~ cr~~ ~~if,

•
On Thursday a nun::-,rous hleptil.l4
of tP tditieliio eiin,
stitatiog tb". retirien Corowit.tio appointee at tile Royal
gotei, on the 13th lustatit: for the purpose of forwarding
m
' petitions to Parliaent on the subject of Corporation Re-
.
form and Tithes., as also to ti4.ake arrangements for the great
meeting of the citili.evr,, to take place on Monday nekt, was
field at the (torn-Exchange Rooms, pUrstiant to adjourn-
ment. Leland Crosthwaite, EN:, i‘,ol tailed to the chair.
Mr. CROSTIIWAITSe SA.Ow that as a lover of peace; as an
Irishman who felt deeply the injustice offered to his country,
and as a 13ritish subject entitled to such.. !:'.ig-ai and consti-
tutional remedy as the BritiA i(eltstitiition afforded him, he
felt himself called Itp'3ll to come forward and complain of
the treatvactit WVich they had received from a single branch
of thc Legislature, which had attempted to neutralise the
Useful and beneficial measure intended for this country.—
(Cheers.) Its rejection by the Lords was but a prelude to
the rejection of every measure that could be productive of
benefit or advantage to the Irish people. Let them then
give the British Legislature and the British people to under-
stand that they never would be satisfied until they were
placed upon a perfect equality with them.
Mr. FrrzsimoN M.P,, would venture to assure the
meeting that the *tune brilliant success which had attended
their struggles for civil and religious liberty would be
evally, the result of °Atli' struggle for Municipal Reform.
Wi ere the people of Ireland to be thwarted, he would ask,
by the few individuals who composed the Upper House of
Legislature, who, whether they happened to be Solons or
fools, were alike hereditary Legislators ? There were many
opinions abroad as to the manner in which the House of
Lords should be reformed. He had his own opinion of
the subject ; but all he would say was, that whether the
change was to be organic, or whether it was merely to be
an infusion of Liberal Peers, he hoped that the period
would soon arrive when a few individuals would cease to
possess the power of frustrating the wishes of a whole na-
tion, and of destroying their confidence in British faith and
British justice.—(Cheers.) Mr. Fitzsimon concluded by
proposing the following Resolutions :
Resolved—That every Reformer be entitled to be ad-
mitted a member of the Petition Comniittee for Corporate
Reform and the settlemeot of. .the Tithe question, on being
proposed' and seconded by members; and on the payment
of 1/. subscription. That no person be entitled to take
part in the proceedings of the Committee who is not en-
rolled as a member. That it be a standing order of the
Committee that no motion shall be adopted (save for the
admission of members), without two days' previous notice
at least. That public meetings of the Committee be held
twice a week during the present crisis—namely, on Wed-
nesdays and Satrdays."
Mr. CLOSE seconded the resolutions.

Mr. MARCUS COSTELLO protested against the people
being called upon to make any demonstration of their
strength for a mere shadow, such, as he contended, the
Bill sent up to the House of Lords was, emasculated and
shorn as it was by the concessions of Ministers, and di-
vested of that most important feature, the selection of
sheriffs by the People.
Mr. LAWLESS defended the views taken by Mr. Costello,
at considerable length.
Mr. H. GRATTAN, M.P., agreed with Mr. Costello and
Mr. Lawless. There were there, however, to deal with
the Bill, not as it was, but as it is.—(Hear, hear.) They
had met, not to say whether they would take the Bill with
the amendments, as they were called, but to say whether
Ireland should have insult superadded to injustice. In
every measure of relief; Ireland did not get justice. Her
hopes were tampered with, and she was deceived. Look
at the Reform Bill. Three Bills were brought in, and Ire-
land, as usual, got the worst.—(Hear, hear.) This was a
parallel case with the present ; and bad as the Irish Reform
Bill was, no English or Irish Member had been able to
amend it since it passed.—(Hear, hear.) They were ready
to live with England, if they got but justice. But why
should they be treated differently from England ? He would
say to England, give us British justice, or at once sell our
country, and pay our debts.—(Great cheering.) He would
not, till the English Carlists were overthrown. They might
oppress the black, and enslave the Indian ; but, so help him
God, they should not with impunity insult his country,
whilst he bore the name of Grattan.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. J. D. MULLEN proposed Daniel. O'Connell a mem-
ber of the Committee—(Enthusiastic cheers)—and at Mr.
O'Connell's own wish, he would propose that his name
should be put on the list.
Mr. O'Connell's name was enrolled amidstloud applause.
The CHAIRMAN said the committee was formed before
Mr. O'Connell knew anything of it, and his so promptly
coming forward to join it was the best answer to the asser-
tion which had been made, that he would accept the amended
Bill.

Several gentlemen scouted the idea of such an opinion
being entertained of 111 r. O'Connell.

Mr. POWER moved the next resolution, expressive of
the intention of the friends of Corporate Reform to meet
at the Coburg Gardens on Monday, which was passed una-
nimously.
Mr. GRATTAN, M.P., proposed the next resolution, de-
claring the necessity of local, and, if possible, simultaneous
meetings to speak the feelings of the country—the right
of Ireland to a Corporate Reform, and the necessity for
the speedy settlement of the tithe question.—Passed una-
nimously. _ _

The remainder of the business having been disposed of,
Mr, SHEIL came forward to move the adjournment of
the meeting, and after some prefatory remarks relative to
the publication of his letter to the Protestant clergyman, in
which it was stated, that. le must elect either to refuse to
pay tithes or to resign his seat in Parliament, the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman proceeded to observe :—Every page
of the bill-book of the Court of Exchequer speaks volumes
on the condition of the country. I believe that not less
than 600 bills for Tithes have been filed by one attorney.
The instant the reform of the Parliament was proposed in
England, the reform of the Church seized bold of, and
soon engrossed, the attention of the people of Ireland.
Lord Stanley thought that while the people could be excited
with impunity in one country, the people could with impu-
nity be put down in the other. Accordineiy while he ad-
ministered every imaginable-proeto the passions of
Englishmen in favour of a reforiti tate, he employed
all the resources of coercion to prevent'. the re-
form of the Church. But to refute this ;lon, came
in rapid succession that, series of dismal events that have no
tongue indeed, but speak with an organ most miraculous.
Then comes, I say,Newtownbarry and Carrickshock, and the
rest of those terrible incidents which form a part of the bio-
graphy of Lord Stanley, as well of the annals of the country
which was cursed by his most calamitous misrule. His policy
towards Ireland was a Tory one ; and when the Tories came in
they pursued the same course, and almost immediately after
their accession to power the horrible slaughter at Rathcormac
took place.' But Sir Robert Peel was horror-struck by
Rathcormac ; and under the influence of the impressions
which it produced upon him, he declared that the tithe
system could not, as it stood, be permitted to remain. But
as it stood it has remained—the Tory House of Lords have
repudiated every measure for its amelioration, and to the
scenes of slaughter; scenes of litigation which will not, I
trust k God, lead to slaughter, have succeeded. The just
confidence of the-people in the Government has taught
them, generally :,peaking, to abstain from acts of guilty
turbulence, in the deprecation of which every wise and
every good man must concur.—( Hear.) But let this Go-
VOttitent be put out, let the Tories Come in, and let the
tithe question remain unsettled, and how terrible the con-
sequences
which must inevitably follow. The hatred to the
existing ecclesiastical impost is not confined to the mass of
the people. I am firmly convinced that what we announced
as the result of Lord Stanley's measure, has come to pass.
We told him in 1832 that he would but transfer the detes-
tation of tithes from the tenants to the landlords, and that
he would place the Aristocracy in the same unfortunate
position in which the clergy were situated. Accordingly
the Protestant gentry of this country are beginning to feel
the blister. The Irish House of Commons took an effec-
tual mode of putting down the tithe of aelstment. They
did not wait for the assent of the House of Lords. They
abolished the tithe of agistment with a single resolution,
and with one touch of the Legislative sponge effaced and
wiped it out for ever. The descendants of that Protestant
aristocracy who have far less strong motives for the sustain-
ment of the Church than their forefathers could have, af-
fect, indeed, at this juncture, to oppose the vast popular
combination against the abuses of the Establishment ; but
wait a little, and after they shall have been mulcted with
exemplary costs, you will see these lovers of order meta-
morphosed into fierce and turbulent co-operators in the agi-
tation which experience has unfortunately taught us, sup-
plies the only remedy for the redress ,of the grievances of
Ireland. But whether they shall co-operate or not, I. care
little ; we can do without them.—( Hear, hear.) With us are
the millions, who return the majority of Irish Members (ay,
there's the rub), and we cannot but prevail. The tithe
question touches every man's pecuniary interests ; the cor-
poration question awakens every man's national pride.
What ! take from us our Legislature—take from us our
House of Commons—make us 'but a province of England
—and then tell us that for all these losses we shall receive
no compensation, and that we shall, after the surrender of
our country, be deprived of the rights and privileges of
British subjects ; and that British institutions shall be
denied to those who, for the sake of those institutions, have
made fresh Saerifices! The people of Ireland are not yet
,so fallen and prostrate as to brook an ignominy like that.
But what do I say ? Of fall and of prostration why
should I speak ? Have we not in every encounter
discomfited the enemies of our country and put them
to rout ? To the old tactics, by which so many victories
have been won, let us again , resort. The masses must
be raised in legal and gonstitutional manifestations of the

people's resolve, For this, let the grest trieetinw on Mon-
Wt DC pglipal Ydr 1111; acti ii6k6r6 MOntTaY, in this
grAif,; M.,t;bat46; ieli SO Many glorious
tifl3 tiSSQo4lid2-1--tei Stii.4(lay next as-
emote here again. For my part no ettort shall oe wanting ;
all my faculties, my entire heart and soul, to this great
cause shall be devoted. If Ireland shall arise, she will be,
beyond all doubt, triumphant ; and if she shall remain ac-
quiescent in the insult which is prepared for her, to her
baseness her fortunes will be adapted ; and she will, in her
degradation, but meet with her deserts,
Mr, Sheil was then called to the chair, and thanks having
been voted to Mr. Crosthwaite, the meeting adjourned to
Saturday.

THE SUN, LONDON, ITESDA Y, MAY 24, 1836

improved in the same degree as those of the private com-
panies, and consequently they compete with them on very
disadvantageousjerms. Had the steamers been the pro-
perty oche commanders, as the Harwich packets formerly

were, they would not only have kept pace with the im-
provement of the vessels of the private companies, but
would have put on such a superior class of vessels as would
have entirely done away with any private competition.

We canna here omit observing that the provisions of
the treaty entered into with the French Government, in
1833, appear to be disadvantageous to the English packets,
as they are obliged to deliver their mails at Calais at 11
o'clock, A.M., and must consequently be in readiness to start
from Dover immediately on the arrival of the London mail

there. The harbour of Dover being dry at low water, the
vessels are frequently obliged to anchor in the roadstead all
night, and keep their steam up at an expenditure at least
equal to what would be required for an ordinary passage.
The expense and inconvenience of embarking under these
circumstances, in open boats, prevent many of the passen-
gers from going by...the mail packets, and they lose entirely
the freight on carriages, horses, bullion, &c. One of the
commanders estimates this loss at 4,0001. a year.
The rate of fares for the conveyance of passengers in the
French and English packet-boats, is fixed by one of the
articles of that treaty, and it is expressly provided that no
alteration can be made in the fares without the consent of

the two offices. A competition, however, exists, equally
injurious to both, which has induced them partially to dis-
regard the fixed rates, and is the cause of much complaint
from passengers.
The English plyers at Dover and Calais are allowed to
exercise a discretion in bargaining with cabin passengers to
carry them for half, or deck fares ; and one party is thus
charged not quite one-half what the other is for precisely
the same accommodation.

enginetlrg tif the Past Ofce packets order them at
their own discretion froth the ifacie'Siiidth

Your Lordships will observe, from the evidence which
has beert collected froth, the servants of the Post Office,
thdt 1116 diT3h, third 4ereiging any real controul
over the service or the ap6rictittife, }ids 614 Adted as a
screen to cover the responsibility of others. He is not a
seaman, nor sufficiently acquainted with steam navigation
to be able to form an opinion of the repairs requisite for the
vessels or the machinery. We see no reason to entertain
the slightest suspicion unfavourable to his character or in-
tegrity ; but' from the account which he appears very
frankly to have given of his own qualifications for the situa-
tion which he holds, we cannot consider him to be able
competently to discharge the duties which belong to it.

From the statement he has made of his services, we find
that he had been for many years employed as a packet-
agent ; Itnat at a period when the duties of such a situation
weret of a very different character from what they now arc.
The packets at that time were the property of the com-
manders, and maintained at their own expense. He was
subsequently appointed a Riding Surveyor, and when his
advanced years and infirmities rendered him unfit for that
office, he was placed, in 1832, in command of the Dover
station.

Notwithstanding the great excess of the expenditure over
the receipts on this station, we are of opinion that facility of
correspondence is of such paramount importance, that we
should not hastily blame any outlay which appeared to con-
duce to the regularity of Post Office communication. A.
reference to the evidence of the captains will, how-
ever, convince your Lordships that the vessels now
provided by the Post Office, are neither adapted to the
regular and speedy transmission of the mail, nor otherwise
to the convenience of the public, and that unless the
packets are greatly improved, -the receipts are likely to be
diminished to an incalculable extent, as they will be unable
to compete with the vessels which private companies are
now placing upon this station.
Captain Hamilton, the senior Commander in the Ser-
vice, states, that the Post Office packets have not been