The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-27 00:00:00

EgNING 14:DITION

to ham► the in, but it; and as they have now el-
gager! wit'n hearty good will in the public cause,
it may 'oe hoped and expected that the more
rowel ss they appear in the House of Commons,
the rr tore dependent they are on the public, the
more zealously will the public come to their aid.
Since - the majority of the House of Commons
have. shown the cloven foot of monopoly, we are
not 1 Ere that it will not be for the credit of the
~luifisters to be defeated. Sir R. PEEL'S resolu-
tion _ expresses one fact honourable to them.
They have lost the confidence of that corrupt
riser ably because they are honest.

Ai 41 of the great arguments of the Pro-Corn-
law It ten against the abolition of the Corn-laws
th at wages would fall with the price of wheat.
The • : landlords benevolently keep up the Corn-
laws to benefit the labourers, and make them
weak] ty and independent. At the same time,
theyil have stolen the commonTfrom the labour-
ers .troughout the kingdoM. The landlords
have studiously endeavw.tred to keep the la-
houre t s ignorant, and have put down beer. shops,
to the : extent of their p'iwer, because they fos-
tered union and kno trledge amongst the la-
boure
Fift. 7 years ago the peasantry parteok in most
ef peasantry
the the field sports of. the landlords, and some of
. ,
cxicketers of that day belonged
Ito the iv.lrlcing. classes. Then the farm-labourers
,:ved
- ,-in the !,:hrm-houses, and masters and
ervan,
lauldlc ads and labourers, were friendly
.o,ether. /ev the labourers are wholly banished
troni the hyn.
-houses, and are persecuted in every
(iirorthless
"rleeivable N% 'ay if they snare a hare or shoot a
11)artridge. 'They are treated altogether as a
..einonstratui
an is enslaved race, and the riots 911830
ethhe one hani 1 that the landlords and farmers on
i, and the labourers on the other,
a 0. that al
igerish m utual and bitter animosity. Since
timosity has been continued and ex-
isPerated y the continued oppression of the
landlords and the continued poverty of the
labourer.
We ce ill the Times with 'its datly diatribes
against f
.he Poor-law, which is a landlord's law,
ada "it ness to our assertion. The whole con-
duct of the. landlords towards the labourers is op-
arirse"ii e and tyrannical, and it must be entirely
b I'!r€ A before they will convince a single human
neing : that they have any regard for the happi-
t,ess pf the labouring classes. Their . assertion
tlat they resist a repeal of the Corn-laws be-
cause that would injure the labourers, is only a
Loist '1 cal, pretext.
leyhadary faith in their own assertion they
lobo
tuld follow it cut. The great employers of
do ur In proportion to their capital, are un-
e dIY the farmers. They have compara-
-0;1Y: little reachi3ery, little fixed capital, while
bu Ik. of the capital cf the manufacturer is
.wed h' t machinery. Supposing wages, ,to fall
ith
e, fall in the price-of corn, the benefits of
th
Clt at, ruing to the capitalist would be in pro-
rnrtion to the amount of their circulating net
their fi iced capital, or in proportion to the num-
ber
th"l ta.nds they employ. Thus the great bene-
iat supposed reduction would belong to
far- cners who resist the repeal of the Corn-
,at id the least portion of it would belong to
the fiat I ufact-arers, who most earnestly demand
"'e rep eal.
4n tr uth, the reduction of priCes, which might
-1.14°e f rem the repeal of the Corn-laws, would
"nee the value of fixed capital. On this ac-
counti -t he present owners of. ships resist the re-
mnetle! 1 of the timber duties, because their old
611iPs would fall in value. Not the manufac-
turers , therefore, but t'lc farmers-would be the
Class >f• capitalists to benefit by the reduction of
Wage; i, supposing wagee to thll in proportion to
the p rice of corn.

N( )w, why do not the landlords come to this
cone lusion? Because they do not believe their
°III?. assertion. They know, and the farmers
Przietically well know, that wages would not,
44(t never did, fall as corn fell in price. If
744;es so fell from the abolition of the Corn-
tslllr ,ray as the great bulk of the expense of cul-
:atin7, land consists in the wages of farm-ser-
91ts) smiths, wheelwrights, carpenters,saddlers,
kc., how can the landlords assert that the
and would go out et cultivation ? The expense
°f cultivation consists in wages, which, the land-
°l.ds say, will fall as the price of corn falls, and
"seclue.ntly there will be as much profit on
cultivation when. wheat is at 40s. as when it is
lat B°s. Per quarter. The two assertions of the
andlorcis that wages will fall as the price of
land falits, and that as the price of aim falls the
atri will go out of cultivation, are incongruous
ccintradictory. Neither of the assertions
survF °Y foundation in fact; they are made to
1:11 purpose; they are mere fudge and hum
hq; and the landlords who make them do not
'ileve then,.
They know that a fall in the price of corn causes
i 1
Itextension of the demand fol. labour. There
fall '°s corn to give for labour, and wages do not
the 48
COrtl falls in price. They know, too, that,
consequence of the demand for labour is that
e Yt•zu- derk
for food increases; that the farmers
win
tulebc 'trivet' by competition to improve their
Den ivati°ny and to grow more corn at a less ex-
to They know that both these assertions,
pQ extent they make them, arc untrue ; and
pr Must be conscious that they are bolstering
fa'selloo Ysd.
tem of plunder by a system of wilful
•

b-ave already stated, at considerable length,
4-4,e, reasons which, in our judgment, fully justify
c `it'solution of Parliament. They may all be
°l°Pristd in one sentence. A totally em set of
el,eillustances have arisen to divide political
arties `ince the Parliament was elected, and both
Parties
agree in appealing to the people to decide
;tw
the Parliament. The leaders of both parties re-
gnifie the propriety of the course, and only
ertaiu journals (,bject to it to raise a prejudice.
,
sAalit the Ministers.
It is nataral that each party should desire to
haveZ,, Possession of the Government, when a dis-
"'ution takes •place; but there is really nothing
ll the desire of the Tories'not to allow the Whip
to
l'(336`2ss the advantage which should make that
conduct unconstitutional in the latter, which the
in °ruler v
ou Ld. adopt almost the instant they were
power.
a. Suet!. be;tng the fa.cts—both parties being
e-reed that the new questions and the new eh--
urnsta.nces which have arisen make an appeal
to the
Peo-A)le necessary—to discuss whether it be
bb' or not, as done by
°Y the the Whigs or
'furies, is wholly superfluous. At the
same Vane there are abundant precedents tc
dustifY the course Ministers mean to pursue.
"r7ll apprehend that dissolutions will neces-
lly be. frequent, unless public opini,m can be
uronglit directly to bear on the Legislature
:Witbottt going through the formalities of
an election. It cannot have escaped the
notiee• of any living
"vents, observer, that political
political changes, and alteration:
Pled
la Public opinion, now take place with unexam-
rapidity. Railways, bnto more
rapid and close
comm y bringing i
unication many millions of
People, have given their own velocity to the
Public mind. They h: ve had a similar effect on
Public opinion to the
be
of the popula-
.tioa, and changes will be great and rapid, as
-the People of the metropolis had suddenly in-
creased to three millions.
Atantl Discussion is now in-
y spread through the land, and a new po-
litical opinion started, and astonishing the coin-
Alunity to-day, it have any fcaibility or
Any truth, is ripe for decision in a few weeks or
Jponths. Such a change in .society, unless by
410!.ne contrivanc.c! üblic opinion can be brcught
to bear ina recogniged manner directly on Par-
lia'tne.nt, Will make frequent dissolutions nee
sUY to decide the r3ew uestions which will con-
tinually arise. 14 fast, the Chartists _Avithout.