The Sun.
London, England, 1847-11-09 00:00:00

they would appeal—in her they had confidence—in
her humane heart and enlightened head: they knew
that she gloried in the prosperity of her people, and
he had told Lord John Russell that if he refuse I to
redress this mon3ter grievance, they would go to his
mistress, and tell her that no Ministry should exist
who did not make the people happy.—(Cheers.) For
his own part, he had had a long quarrel with them,
hut he had forgotten the past, and now, if they were
willing to do their duty, he would do his. He would
stand by what he had said to Lord John Russell—he
would not see his men injured, but he would do (if
need be) as he had done before—he would parade
them in the streets before the public, and show the
misery which had been inflicted upon them.—(Loud
cheers.) They did not want charity—they repudi-
ated and scorned it; but they did ask for that which
should enable them to give to honesty and industry
the reward of its labour. Those were the principles
which Thomas Attwood proclaimed long ago ; they
were the principles he (Mr. Salt) adhered to now,
and they might depend on it that, so far as the real
interests of the people were concerned, that was the
most important movement that had ever been origi-
nated in England.—(Hear, hear.) They had had
one which was for the extension of the people's
liberty—this was for wages, plentiful and abundant
wages.--(Cheers.) If any set of men thought they
ought to have the charter, all he said was, let them
at a proper time try to obtain it ; but the whole ques-
tion to be agitated now was—wages—good wages for
that labour which was God's endowment to man. To
talk of industry and skill being starved in a country
where there was so much wealth was degrading,
but it was disgraceful to the Government that per-
mitted it. He urged them, therefore, to remember
that the only cry they had to make was—wages—
wages—wages. Mr. Salt concluded
.by moving the
following resolution:—
" That the unexampled commercial ruin which has
made England a spectacle of shame and wonder to
all nations, has not been consequent on any undue
speculation on the part of the people, but has been
caused by the cruel and fraudulent laws whichi re•
gulate her monetary system, and which are n their
nature a warrant of ruin against every enterprise of
industry. The pretence of these laws was to fix
the value and regulate the issues of money, their
effect has been to cause ruinous fluctuations both in

its value and quality. When gold money is abun-
dant, money is still more abundant by issues of paper
money; when gold money is scarce, money is made
scarcer by the withdrawal of paper money. In the
first case, industry is tempted and forced into enter-
prise, in the next case it is involved in certain ruin
by the withdrawal of the very foundation on which it
stood. A fraudulent and fluctuating standard of
value, an immense superstructure of paper on a
narrow and shifting gold basis, are the elements of
our system and the sources of our ruin. The at-
tempt to prop up this system, and to limit unduly
the issue of money by exacting highly usurious
interest, cannot fail to break down the value of pro-
perty, by compelling sales, and the lifting up the
interest of money higher than the profits of trade must
necessarily stop the employment of labour, and destroy
the means of existence of the labourer. Thus the

law is made to destroy the life and property its whole
aim should be to preserve ; for such acts there must
he no toleration, no indemnity. That memorials be
forthwith prepared to her Majesty the Queen, and a
petition to the House of Commons, praying for pre-
sent large and liberal relief, and for full inquiry into
the monetary system, with a view to its permanent
regulation. That the Birmingham Currency Reform
Association be requested to communicate with Liver-
pool and other commercial towns, with a view to
obtain their co-operation. That this meeting hereby
pledges itself individually and collectively to raise and
place in the hands of the Currency Association the
sum of 1,0001. towards defraying the expenses of the
association."

Mr. J. MASON seconded the adoption of this reso-
lution in a speech of considerable length. He com-
menced by declaring that the inevitable result of the

present monetary system was to depreciate the value
of labour ; and he went on to say that the evil must
be remedied by the people, for that in the House of
Commons they did not understand it, and although
they had the Government and the bullionist against
them, he did not doubt but that ultimately they would
be successful. The Times newspaper was opposed to
them—that was an evidence that they were in the
right. It had been the invariable practice of that
journal to treat with contempt every measure intro
duced for the benefit of the people ; but in the end it ge-
nerally came round and supported it. If they had had
the support of the Times at the commencement of the
struggle, their success might have been more proble-
matical than it then was, but the course which that
journal had adopted made it plain what the result
would be.—(Hear.) They who had opposed a reform
in the currency now began to see that a change
was inevitable, and there were thousands of others
who dared not at present identify themselves with
the movement.—(Hear.) Mr. Muntz and the cur-
rency reformers had been charged with wishing to
make the country rob its creditors; nothing was
further from the fact; but it was a fact that the
creditor interest of the country had robbed and was
robbing the debtor interest.—(Hear.) We were
paying 50,000,0001. to Government annually,
30,000,0001. of which went to the funded interest,
for not one farthing of which had they a return ; and
now, by a recent attempt to relieve the pressure, the
gold came in by a forced reduction in prices, thereby
destroying the home trade, and forcing them to sup-
ply foreigners before themselves—clothing foreigners,
although they could not get a coat to their own
backs. The speaker then gave various statistical
details, with a view to show the injury worked by
the present system, citing particularly the fact, that
by the withdrawal of 4,000,000/. of money from cir-
culation, 100,000,000 of bills of exchange must be
stopped ; and he concluded by declaring it was im-
possible for the present state of things to go on—
that there was a power in England which should make
the money-mongers yield—that they would be made
to make money subservient to life, and not life sub-
servient to money.—(Cheers.) He had (he said) told
Lord John Russell that he was a Chartist, and that
he was desirous of seeing great changes in the Go-
vernment of the country; but at the same time he
should regret if that change was forced on by the
miseries and wretchedness of the people. Mr. Mason
resumed his seat amidst much applause.
Mr. MUNTZ, who was very warmly greeted, said
that he challenged any man in that meeting, or out of
it, to prove that he had ever heard a more Found,
practical, or useful speech—one embodying a larger
amount of information on the subject of the currency
than that which had just been delivered by Mr.
Mason. It showed a complete knowledge and under-
standing of a most intricate question, and was there-
fore so much the more valuable.—(Cheers.) He came
there (he said) at very great inconvenience that night;
in the first place, he had left a great deal of business
undone, and in the next he had not had his dinner;
but he thought it was due to them that they should
have a fair report of what took place at the interview
with Lord John Russell ; and however much he
might have been desirous of that originally, he was
doubly so since he had read an article in the Times
that morning.—(Hear.) Now he was sorry to say
that the press generally was not very nice when a
fact was to be established. They didn't stick at
falsehood, and the article which appeared in the
Times of that morning was a tissue of falsehoods. He
was quite certain that it had been concocted by some
one who had an object in misstating that which had
taken place.—(Hear, hear.) What he had said to
Lord John Russell was, that at the time the memo-
rial was adopted, it was intended to have asked his
Lordship to interfere to prevent the further progress
of the ruin that was then daily going on; but that,
consequent on the step which Government had taken,
all they then had to do was to lay before his Lord-
ship a statement of the effects and disasters arising
out of the late pressure, to show to him, too, that the
profits arising from trade would not allow of those
engaged in it paying eight, nine, or ten per cent. for
money, and that if nothing else were done it would
be impossible for the manufacturer to continue to
employ labour ; that was the substance of what he
said. He stated further, that he knew it to be a
fact that the profits of trade were so small that the
old principle could never be re enacted, that of
bringing back gold by a reduction of prices to an
amount equalling five or six per cent. without involv-
ing those attempting this in complete ruin. He had
told his Lordship, too, that the ruin which would
come from a re-enactment of the present law in
its full force would be greater than it would have
been had it never been relaxed. The Honourable
Gentleman next adverted to some predictions of his
and observations made by him at the time the Act
of 1844 was under discussion, and thereafter he
went on to state that he had written a note to the
editor of the Times declaring that the whole of the
statements which appeared in his article that
morning were completely false. lie entered into
some details with the view to show that as he
himself furnished the particulars of what took place
at the interview with Lord John Russell to a re-
porter from the Times' establishment, he had so much
more the reason to complain of these inaccuracies;
and thereafter he went on to complain of the manner
in which the people were treated by the Government
and the press. He had written, he said, a letter to