The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-20 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION

REPRESENTATION OF LIVER-
POOL.
(From the Liverpool Times.)

The conspicuous part which the Noble 'Lord who re-
presents this great commercial port has volunteered to
take in resisting the measures now before Parliament,
for liberating the commerce. of this country from the
shackles which restrain it, renders it absolutely necessary
that those whose interests and fortunes are involved
in the opening of the trade of the country, should
take decided means at the approaching election, to show
to Parliament and the country that their opinions
and those of Lord Sandon do not agree. The Noble
Lord has thought proper, at the present crisis, to sacri-
fice the interests of the manufactures and commerce of
the country, and those of the majority of his constituents,
to gain the favour and promote the interest of a small body
of monopolists. Whether, in so doing, he has been actuated
by gratitude for past, or the hope of future favours, by a
disinterested love for monopoly and exclusion, or a
practical calculation as to • the effects which the
breaking down of the system of monopoly will have
on his own personal interests as a landowner, or whether
his Lordship has Acted without regard to his own inte-
rests and those of his friendS, and from a desire to pro-
mote what he believes to be the interests of the country,
we leave to the decision of those who have had better

opportunities than we have of judging of his Lordship's
character and motives. One thing, however, is perfectly
clear, that his Lordship, for some reason or other, has
volunteered to take the position of Advocate-Gene-
ral of monopoly and exclusion, and we, therefore, call
upon all those who have any regard for their own inte-
rests, any wish to mitigate the sufferings of the working
classes, any desire to put an end to the present unparalleled
embarrassment of trade, and any wish to place their own
interests and the interests of She country upon a solid and
lasting foundation, to come forward and show that they
rare determined to have those interests and opinions
fairly represented in the Commons House of Parliament,
and not sacrificed either to the selfish interests of a landed

representative, to his complacency for his West India
Mends, or even to his Lordship's want of comprehension of
the necessities of the country. Let not those who are opposed
to the recent proceedings of the Noble Lord imagine,
however, that they will gain what they and the country
hme a right to ask, without considerable exertion on their
part.' Sacrifices must be made if any good is to be done,
and the' v certainly will be made, unless present resolutions
and profe,,sions are allowed to evaporate in empty threats.
We, therefore, call upon those of our Brazilian mer-
chants, who k,7ow and feel that their interests have
been shamefully assailed by the Noble Lord, to
come forward and vindicate their- rights, on those
of the merchants who feel that the Noble Lord is
jeopardising the commerce Qf the country, to come for-
ward likewise, and on all those who have considered
it an honour to have the name and principles of Liver-
pool associated with the name and commercial principles
of William Huskisson, to make a determined effOrt to
place the representation of this town on such a footing
as will save it from being used as the strongest argu-
ment for monopoly and exclusion.
In a case like this, there is not the least need of
mere ad captandum arguments or appeals. All that
is necessary is, that the electors should calmly con-
sider what is their interest and the interest of their
families. With regard to the sugar duties, for in-
stance, where is the man, not having a sinister in-
terest, wiisq can doubt that it is for the interest of
every family Liverpool to have sugar at reason-
able rates, and 1-.10 longer to be subject to prices
which press most Cuelly on the comforts of the
poor, and are also felt to ;:a,ve been a very heavy burden
on the incomes of the middle classess ? Is it not
enough, and more than enough, that every family
in this town and throughout the country, besides
paying a tax of at least 100 per cent. on sugar for
the benefit of the general Government, should pay an
additional tax of 50 per cent. for the benefit of
a few West India proprietors ? Most persons would
suppose that this was sufficient, but not so Lord
Sandon. He is not satisfied with compelling every
.one of his constituents to pay this amount of
protection to his West Indian supporters. What
he requires is, that they should have the total control
of the market, and the right of extracting every shilling
whicili can be screwed from the public by an abso-
lute monopoly. We are told, indeed, by the advocates
of the W,''St India interest, that the amount of re-
lief given by the Government measure, will be in-
significantly suPial- This may be a very sufficient
reason why the pivpo.sed reductions should be car-
ried further, but it is a miserable one why they
should not be carried so i*.v. Indeed, the view taken by
the grocers of this town in •.he petition which they for-
warded to Parliament last wee*, and which Lord San-
don had the pleasure of presenting', is evidently a sound
one. They ask that the duty should be reduced to 30s.
instead of 365., and if it is their interest, As sellers, that
the duty should be no higher, it is certainly the interest
of the consumers likewise.

The great object, Vwe suspect, of Lord Sandal, and
of the other landowners to whom the town constituencies
have had the folly to commit the guardianship of their
interests, is the defence of their own monopoly at the
expense of the community. Even if Lord Sandon
was under no obligation to the West India interest, yet
his interest in keeping up the price of corn would, we fear,
be quite sufficient to induce him to make common cause
with them. It is his own battle that is fought, and
though we have not the slightest wish to insinuate that
Lord Sandon is more selfish than men in general,
yet we must say, we have never seen any thing
in eis character or conduct which would in-
duce us to think him capable of sacrificing his
own peculiar interests to the interests of the
country. So far as those interests are fair and legiti-
mate, no one would ask him to make any such sacri-
fice, or would think any the worse of him if he re-
fused to make it ; but the shipowners of this great
port have reason to complain that the Noble Lord
should render it impossible for them to obtain
freights in ordinary times in the corn-growing
countries of Europe and America ; the merchants have a
right to complain that ho should destroy everything like
regularity in the trade in foreign corn, and the public ge-
nerally ( that great unprotected and much injured interest),
has a right to complain that the Noble Lord should be a
party to inflict upon them all the evils of embarrassed
trade and extravagant prices. At the present moment
there is not a single merchant or shopkeeper in Liverpool
who is not suffering from the dreadful depression in trade
which the Corn-laws have produced in the monetary affairs
and the bniainess of the country ; and unless party spirit has
destroyed every thing like reason or regard to their own
interest in the mercantile and trading classes, the Noble
Lord will be taught that the inhabitants of this large town
will no longer allow their business to be thrown into con-
fusion, and their fortunes to be destroyed, to gratify either
his party objects or his personal interests. The Noble
Lord, by volunteering to take the position of defender-ge-
neral of the monopolies which press upon the country, has
rendered it unavoidable that the next contest for the repre-
sentation ofLiverpool should be a contest between liberal
principles of trade and commercial monopoly. lie has taken
his ground ; on that he must be met, and on that ground we
hope and believe he will be defeated. Our hope rests
not on any fancied change of opinion as regards general
politics, but upon the present position of the country,
upon the lessons of wisdom which painful experience is
pressing upon all men, and npon the odious and ruinous
soTour d which the Noble Lord himself has thought fit to
ljake.

We trust that no time will be lost in inviting
the President of the Board of Trade, Mr. Labou-
chere, or some other man of good Parliamentary
standing, and thoroughly pledged to the reduction
of the duties on the prime necessaries of life, and
the emancipation of the trade of the country, to
come forward and contest tho representation of Liverpool
on those grounds. Lord Sandon has himself thrown
down the gauntlet, and no one entertains a hope
that our legal representative, Mr. Cresswell, will
show ono whit mor(I, of sympathy for the trade
of the country than his noble colleague. If either
of them is returned again for Liverpool, the in-
fluence of this port goes against freedom of trade_againN t
the principles of Huskisson:—and this we trust the
Liberal portion of the constituency will never allow
without a struggle.
THE CORN-LAW CRISIS.

A meeting of the inhabitants of Salford, a 11d b
public requisition, numerously signed, is to called
o:
Friday morning, to express their opinion at the present
crisis.
These are times for stern spirits and firm hands. We
write advisedly ; we write for Irishmen ; we appeal to
their memories g we await, but we are sere of a stern
and ominous response to that appeal. The time is no
longer one of compromise, it is not a time for bin-
ciliation. No I The people of Ireland never can,
never must forgive the Tories. If Sir Robert Ptol
and his despicable band of hypocritical scoundrels pre-
sent themselves to pass the threshold of office, Ireland
will meet them ! And are their words burning enough
to express the horror, contempt and indignant hatred
With which their impudent profligacy might be rebuked.
To England there are many reason why the Tories
should not remain in office. The late debate contains
a- summary of them all. National prosperity, the
public welfare—all that is great or useful in laws or
government were sought to be sacrificed to selfish
and avowedly
pretences?
dishonest interests. And under what
The slave-trade. The Tories pleaded for
their own plunder and monopolies on the score of huma-
nity, and the shame 1
em hypocrites avow that they use
both religion and philanthropy merely as instruments to
obtain a totious triumph. Leagued with the
Chartists, combined with the West India planters, in
fellowship with Anti.s
avery zealots, Sir R. Peel has
placed his party beforeavh e empire in startling defor-
mity. I htrishmen. you once
ad you must arise and
already rebuked Sir
Robert Peel from office 7 n
do so again. Ho must never obtain
one hour's dominion.
Ministers
But we do not fear it. will not resign, and
appeal
theposition of the Tories in an a
be disastrous and contemptible.
their dishonest
tact, and enprincipled Chartism, and hypocritical huma-
nity will have !ono for nothing. Theyu
for-
ward as the open and avowed supporters
ft come
ntnhble,
Unanswerable,
selfish mo-
nopolists to the nation : they must hear,
the taunt of the starving multitudes whom they plunder.
If Engiand be roused; above all, if Ireland ha thoroughly
awakened, they cannot succeed. But if they should ?
Wine, then, we hope that our hostility will be unappea.
WA: sal
. undying
I If a people must rise, can they rise
In a holier cause ? • For their rights, for their homes,for
their, altars, the
Lasysouth, bute in
nr IRreeplanori
peoplec nsces.
will stake every thing, if
the faction never returns to power.
MONOPOLY oa No Mon our armour fora ONOPOLY.—We must buckle
more serious warfare than any we
ho in
g hitherto engaged and every man must feel that
ln the approaching general election the oligarchy are at