The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, ritiDAY. JUNE 25, 1841.

England pay threepence a pound more than they other-
wise would.—(Cheers.) One word now with resect to
corn—a neighbour of his, R. FAlioAii that
he knew po moth tba PoW. OrLtion as any ether per-
son, MIA tee skid it was quite clear that when corn
was at 725., they could get as much foreign corn as they
required at ls. duty. But he (Mr. Humphery) asked
him what were the people to do, while corn was getting
up to 725., for when it was at 68s. and 705.. 4,wes well
known that the people could tlnt gr 6 It at all.—(Hear
and cheers;) If tizqii was three, four, or five years
lying hi a warehouse, it was not so fit for food as if it
was consumed in a fresh state, and that was thp,restalt. of
the landlords' policy, which wip to .g•et,,eo''n 'e q.) in a pro-
tecting price, and, laLsecneliarli; portion of bad corn at
a low prieT, tho,t", Aftuaged to keep the averages at 68s.
or 170sa corn fit to eat was actually 100 s. per quar-
ter, before they were able to get foreign corn in at a low
duty.—(Much cheering.) In fact, there never was a ,
greater fallacy than th present system of Corn-laws.—
(Renewed cheering.) Another fallacy was; that this
country could grow enough of mil% to ,stippOti its popu-
lation, but they topitwa tp f6fget alit the population had
doubled itself witlllll the last five-and-twenty years.
In 1820 twos, had admitted 1,363,000 quarters, and in
18-30 they brought in 1,700,000 quarters, and fcr the last
four years the amount had increased to 2,700,000 quar-
ters, and had it not been for the high protecting duty,
they might have imported and consumed fire millions of
quarters, and that at the average rate of 40s. would be
10,000,0001.—(Loud cheers.) The question was, how
that was to be paid ? Not with gold, certainly ; but it
might be paid for with their national industry.—(Loud
cheering,) He believed the Almighty never intended
that that industry should be cramped or thwarted.—
(Cheers.) He believed the Almighty intended that every
man should have enough to eat—(Renewed cheering)—,
and he understood that at Odessa, when the landlord
was paid, the corn was actually thrown away, there being
no one to consume it, and the people of England refusing
to admit it.—(Loud cheers.) They were called on to
support four Liberal eandidates.—(A voice in the crowd,
" Where's Lord John ?") He would tell them where
Lord John Russell would be the following day. He would
be with Prince Albert laying the foundation-stone of
almshouses at Norwood for the Fellowship Porters.—
(Tremendous cheering.) They must be aware that he
could not attend at every meeting, but this he would un-
dertake that Ms Lordship would not shirk the nomina-
tion on Monday next at the Guildhall.—(Vehement
cheering.) And he would undertake this also, that he
would be at the head of the poll.—(Loud and long con-
tinued cheering, and waving of hats for several minutes.)
He only wishe Lord John Russell was present to wit-
ness the enthusiasm of their greeting, for he did not
believe that any description could convey an adequate
idea of it.—(Renewed cheering.) It was said—and they
had said everything they could invent against him—that
his Lordship could not attend to the interests of a large
constituency, but he believed he was so thorough a man
of business, that he would be able to do it as well, and a
hundred per cent. better than any other man.—
(Loud and long-continued cheering.) All he would
ask them was to go the poll with a friend
as early as they could on Tuesday evening. Let them
not wait in order to have their votes thought of impor-
tance, let them go ail at the first moment.—(Loud cheer-
ing, and cries of "We will.") There were many good
and honest electors of London in that borough who, he
was confident, would do so.—(Great cheers.) He would
say one word to the Fellowship Porters, many of whom,
he understood, were present.—(Cris of " Yes.") If they
had a free trade in corn, it would do that class an im-
mense deal of good.—(Hear, hear.) If they had the
privilege of unloading and measuring the cargoes, they
could just as easily unload five millions of quarters as
two millions, and have double their present wages.
All he would now do was to move the resolution, which
was to the following effect:—" That this meeting feels
the permanent importance of a free and unrestricted trade
in corn and other commotities as essentially necessary to
promote the commercial, agricultural, and shipping inte-
rests of this country, and to afibrd full employment to the
poor and industrious classes of the country." If the rest
of the country did what he was sure the metropolis
would do, return men who would support the resolution,
the result would be that the labouring classes of the coun-
try would be better paid and better fed.—(Great cheers.)
Mr. TEULON seconded the resolution, which he consi-
dered one of immense importance, riot only to the City of
London, but also to the kingdom at large, because it
went to show that the measures her Majesty's Ministers
proposed were not for the benefit of the few but for the
whole country.—(Cheers.) The resolution was then
put to the meeting by the Chairman, and declared by
him to be carried unanimously.
Mr. B. WOOD then rose to propose the next resolu-
tion, which Was to the following effect :—" That this
meeting highly approves of the measures lately intro-
duced to Parliament by her Majesty's Ministers as a
progressive means of fiscal reform, and feels assured
they will lighten the burden of taxation, increase the
revenue, and add to the prosperity of the coun-
try.—(Cries of, " Where's Lord John Russell ?")
His Hon. Colleague had already told them where Lord
John Russell would be to-morrow, and his only hope
was, that all present would meet him at Norwood, and
assist his Lordship's endeavours in the charitable
cause in which he was engaged on that day.—(Cheers.)
The great measures they were called together that day
to support were so essential to the well-being of the
country that he did not think there was a single person
present who did not fully and fairly understand them.—
(Cheers.) He believed those who opposed the Minis-
ters on the great questions they had brought forward
were angry and vexed and tormented, because they
were not the parties to bring them forward.—(Great
cheering.) Those very parties knew that if they came
into power, they would be driven to propose the
very measures they were now decrying.(Cheers.)
But then it was said that the present Ministers had
brought these measures forward at an improper time
all admitted that some measures were necessary, and
why, he would ask, was the time improper ?--(Cheers.)
Was it ever too late to do good ?—(Cheers.) Why,
therefore, should those who opposed the present Minis-
ters object to the time ?—(Cheers.) All they wanted
was to foil Ministers, that they might some six or twelve
months hence bring forward measures of a similar na-
ture.—(Great cheering.) What, he would ask, could
be said or thought of men who endeavoured to turn out
the present Ministers upon certain questions, and then,
when they got into power, to adopt those very
measures ?(Cheers.) Sir Robert Peel had done
this twice.—(Cheers.) He acted in this way on the ques-
tion of Catholic Emancipation—(Great cheering)—for
it was not until he saw that there was a probability
of a rebellion rising up in Ireland that he consented to
grant it. Why did he do so, he would ask ? For the
purpose of retaining office.—(Cheers.) With respect to
the Corn-laws, every one knew his opinion, and he felt
convinced that no person could be ignorant of what were
the effects of those laws. As to the statement that had
been put forth relative to this country being able, from
its own produce, to supply its inhabitants with corn, he
considered them complete fallacies.—(Loud cheers.)
These were plain, simple, straightforward facts, and it
needed no sophistry to understand them ; and he hoped
they would never remain satisfied until all their objects
Should be accomplished.—(Cheers.) Their candidates
had spoken plainly and simply, and had plainly told
them what were their objects and opinions with regard
to the three great measures. There were many of his
own former constituents in the room, and he trusted
that they would excuse him if he confined himself solely
to the consideration of those objects. With regard to
other points he would only appeal to his conduct in Par-
liament since he had been their representative, and he
trusted that they were satisfied with it.—(Loud cheers.)
The four candidates for 'the City, Russell, Wood, Patti-
son, and Crawford—(Loud cheers)—had spoken plainly
with regard to all those great measures, and what had
their opponents said ? Why, they had said nothing.—
(Cheers.) Would they support such men as these ?
(Cries of" No.") Did they wish to see those three great
measures carried ?—Cries of " Yes, yes," and cheers.)
Then let them be at the poll early on Tuesday morn-
ing, and vote for Wood, Russell, Pattison, and Craw-
ford.—(Loud cheers.) He would advise them to club
together among themselves, and go to the poll together
early, not wait to be sent for. Let them recollect that
the poll commenced on Tuesday morning at eight and
closed at four.—(Cries of " We will be at the Guildhall
at six in the morning.") If they did so and took a lead
in the beginning of the day, they would keep it through-
out, and the victory would be certain. Let them not
think of giving plumpers, but vote for all four.—
(Loud cheers.) They should recollect that the City
election would be the first contest decided, and it was
their duty to set a good example to the country, and the
moral effect of their victory would be incalculable.—
(Loud cheers.) The Hon. Gentleman then prOposed the'
resolution amidst loud cheers. • -
Mr. MAYIIV7 seconded the resolution. He had been
a man".4"...ctitrer for some years. It had been said in the
_douse of Commons that the hatters wanted protection.
Now he, as one, said they wanted no protection—
what they wanted was open trade—(Loud cheers)—so
as to give to the laborious workmen better wages and
fewer hours of labour.—(Loud cheers.) He trusted they
would be at the Guildhall door by six o'clock, and set
the electors of the kingdom a good example.—(Cheers.)
The resolution was then put and carried with one
.
dissentient only, amidst loud cheers.
Mr. APSLEY PELLATT then came forward and was re-
ceived with loud cheering. He said the. questions they
were called upon to consider were entirely of a practical
nature. Did they want a cheap loaf ?—(Loud cheers,
and cries of " Yes, yes.") In France they had a loaf
at half the price it could be procured in England, and in
Poland at one-third. The question was, would they
have free trade or restricted trade ?(Cries of "Free
'trade.") They were now called upon to reap the first
fruits of the Reform Bill. It was for them to show if
they could work the grand machinery,of that Bill, so as
to attain great practical results.—(Cheers.) ' The
Bill itself was but a means to an end. They
were called upon to return to the House of Commons
four representatives who would attain that end. They
had four candidates pledged to do so—Wood, Crawford,
Pattison, and Russell.—(Loud cheers.) Let them return
those four, and by so doing they might rest assured they
were promoting the best interests of the country.—(Loud
cheers.) The Tories had boasted that they had reduced
fifteen millions of taxation, while the Whigs had reduced
only five millions ; but it was easy work to turn the first
fifteen screws of a machine while it required a skilful
and energetic workman to turn the last five.—(Loud
cheers.) The .four Liberal candidates were all pledged
to promote and support those principles of commercial
_ ose
heers.) It was for them to
say whether they would support, those
uand her Ministers had ap-
pealedo
of,h
reform oton Ntsh,hiec
a(Loud cheers, and cries e will, we will.") On
those great principles what had the Tory candidates
country.—(Cheers.) the
tr yQ.7.ue ceen
said ? Nothing.—(Cries of " They will do nothing," and
cheers.) Would they support such,,
say-nothing, do-
nothing men ?—(Cries of " No, no. ) Let them then all
come forward, and be at the polling-place early on Tues-
day morning, and
vote for Wood, Crawford, Pattison,
and Russell,—(Lou( and 4°ng continued cheering.) He

would not detain them lenger, but would at once propose
the following resolution :--" That this meeting
of pledges,.
iVer, rttist7t'ft., e4^ Ihe ,LY
London, the four advocates ednitileitial Reform.
Wood, Crawford, rattieon, and Russell, being eassured
that in so doing they are serving the best interests fthe
country."— (Loud cheers.)
Mr, GRAFTY seconded the resolution. tio tail often
had the 116110iit tat adateSSitig
the& in that rocrti
before,
but he never felt it so high an honour raS -On.the Ipi,'esent
occasion. They had then mponpt then gentlemen who
had, earlytanAl i.ate while Life electors) Were en-
joyitt. sieep, been engaged in protecting and up-
holding their interests. "Would they then have the To-
ries ?—(No, no.) If they would have the Tories—(Loud
utes of " No, no")--if they wanted a large standing
army in Ircland—if they wanted taxation to its height—
then they would have the Teriese-=,-(Cheers.) They
would then have. Sit il; Alt sd many
fbr
fdf du
(Laug And what was this Church extension for ?
timi eXtedsion.—
--(A voice in the crowd, " Why,'-1* you to go to, to
be sure."—Laughter.) Now if they :were determined
that these men shoUld be kept in their prsper position,
which was, where they were at preseiite::--(A laugh)—let
them rush to the poll, remembering. that " he who would
be free, himself must strike the blow."----(iidul cheers.)
There 'NH a pdpei. which WAS dailed the " Great
Big Thundering_ Press."—(Laughter:) It had been
trying to prove that two and two made three instead of
four.—(A laugh.) Ho held in his hand a tax-paper.—
(Oh, oh, 0h.,) They were not to be frightened, it was
his own, lhitt paper Wits or the year 1830, when the
Tories were in role. When they were out of office they
said "We have left the Treasury in such a nice state
that you cannot take off a single shilling more of taxa-
tion. He would come to the present year.—(A vol.= in
the crowd "Read the year 183025) Ile begged pardon
for the omission. The amount that he paid for taxes in
1830, and he would tell them as a plain man who lived
in a plain residence—(Laughter)—the amount of the
ltiaexepsayhenotihven? plavidhyw,aisiolop/aid
. 15s.
Now that was
when the Tories had taken off every thing, What did
certainly 10 per cent.
more than he did last year, but the full amount now
was 51. 15s. ld. Let the Tories look to that. He hoped
to have the honour of seeing the whole of those gentle-
men around him at the Guildhall on Tuesday. He him-
self would be there at seven o'clock in the morning.—
(Loud laughter.) He would tell all he knew to take
their breakfasts over night—(Renewed laughter)—and
he trusted that at four o'clock on the day of election they
would all throw up .their hats and shout " the victory is
won."—(Loud cheers.)
The resolution was then put and carried.
Mr. CRAWFORD then came forward, and was received
with loud and long-continued cheering. He would first
offer to them his grateful thanks for the reception they
had given him. Such kindness was the highest stimulus
he could receive in furtherance of those duties which
their kindness had imposed upon him. But when he had
thanked them, he felt that there was little room for him
to say much upon that occasion. The object of, their
meeting had been so able, so perspicuously brought out
by their eloquent Chairman, that it would be superfluous
fur" him to attempt to follow him. But it occurred,
however, to his mind, that that was the roam in which
their opponent's first meeting took place on last Friday
week. Messrs. Lyall and Masterman were then there.
He (Mr. C.) knew not what they said further than what
the Times had informed him.—(Groans.) In that paper
he read just what he would have expected as Mr. Lyall's
speech, considering that he came from an establishment
more celebrated for its feelings of monopoly than any
other that existed in the city of London. But that esta-
blishment had been reduced under a Liberal Government.
Mr. Lyall, in langume sufficiently intelligible to him
(Mr. C.), had told the hat they had nothing to expect
from him in furtherance of the object for which the Queen
had dissolved the late Parliament. He (Mr. C.) did not
want language more plain to satisfy his mind as to the
truth of et; and if, unfortunately, he (Mr. Lyall) should
have a place in the House of Commons, he would
be the supporters of all those monopolies of which
they were then trying to get rid.—(Loud cheering.)
Mr. Masterman was more cautious ; he pruiently told
them nothing.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) He said
that was not the time to discuss the corn question.
That question would be broue-ht on for discussion in the
House of Commons. Now, if he meant anything, he
must mean one of two things—either he has never con-
sidered the subject, or he is opposed to any alteration in
the Corn-law. And then with regard to the Alder-
man's views, as expressed since he has been announced
as a candidate for the City of London. Not many days
before his name was found attached to a petition to the
House of Commons, praying for the adoption of all those
measures for which he (Mr. Crawford) asked their sup-
port in returning him to the House of Commons. Now,
there was another gentleman, whose patriotic spirit in-
duced him to come forward for the City of London.—
(A laugh.) That Hon. Gentleman had given his former
constituents a kind of parting advice. He recommended
them to put up two Tories, but he (Mr. Crawford) was
very much mistaken if they had found one yet.
and if they did find one, he would certainly meet the
fate that awaited Mr. W. Attwood if he had ventured to
have stood for Greenwich. He (Mr. C.) had said all
that was necessary as to the language of his opponents ,•
and with the liberal views which the constituency of
London had hitherto maintained, and which he believed
they never would desert—he hoped—he believed, they
had nothing to fear in the coming result, encouraged as
they had been wherever he and his colleagues had
met their constituents. He believed that the prin-
ciples of free trade had been assisted through the
instrumentality of the Report of the Committee on
the Import Duties in the House of Commons. He
would assure them that if he were again returned, it
would be the fourth time—as the representative
of the city of London, he would work out
those principles which he always professed. Those prin-
ciplos were the result of experience and close observa-
tion, and, for the good of the country, required to be
speedily carried into effect. He had feared that the
time was more distant when the principles of free trade
would be recognised, as it has been in the present day ;
he really did not expect to see Ministers prepared to
propound these great doctrines in the manner in which
Lord Melbourne had so lately done. He feared that
those great measures would have been deferred until
some national calamity, like famine, or the total decay of
our manufactures, or the demands of the people could no
longer be deferred, without risking the safety of the na-
tional institutions.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. PATTISON said his first duty would be to give
them some account of the stewardship with which his
constituents bad entrusted him. On all occasions he had
worked steadily for the peg le, and he trusted that he
had shown by his votes in the House of Commons that
their interests and their prosperity had been his first ob-
ject. He had given his steadiest support to the Ballot—
(Loud and long continued cheers)—to the Extension of
the Suffrage--(Loud cheers)—and he had voted for the
abolition of. Church-rates (Loud cheers)—and
he
trusted from the manner in which they received that brief
enumeration of some of his votes in Parliament, they still
considered him entitled to ask them to return him
again as their representative.--(Cheers:) He did not
flinch from those opinions now, but would still support
them ; and, above all, he was determined to support
those principles of free trade and the abolition of mono-
polies which had been brought forward by her Majesty's '
present Ministers--(Loud cheers)—and which, unless
fully carried into effect, would cause our trade and ma-
nufactures to retrograde in a manner that was frightful to
contemplate. One of England's best customers, America,
gave comparatively few orders now to our manufacturers,
for although England imported American cotton and
American tobacco she refused to receive American corn.
—(Loud cries of "Hear, hear," and cheers.) On all
occasions he would be found at the side of the people,
and when he saw the highest and most exalted individual
in the empire—their gracious and beloved Queen—on
their side—(Tremendous cheers which lasted several
minutes)—he little doubted of their ultimate success.
The highest and most glorious cause was in the
hands of the electors of London, and upon the
result of Tuesday's poll depended in a great mea-
sure the fate of England. It was not his own
cause he pleaded, it was the cause of their fellow-
countrymen ; and trusting they would support
that character for patriotism and liberality which
always characterized the city of London, he would con-
elude by thanking them for the attention and kindness
with which they had heard him.
Sir M. Wool) (who only arrived a short time previ-
ously) said he hoped that although he was late to the
meeting, he should not be late at the Guildhall on Tues-
day next.—(Loud cheers.) He was detained at a dinner
given by the Guild, to which he had the honour to be-
long, and the moment the toast of the Royal Family was
drunk, he then turned his thoughts to the people. As
had previously addressed them,
bed for him to say, however,
hisut Hon.
little C o lreeamg a
iu ens
he should briefly observe, that with respect to free
trade he had always been its warmest advocate, and he
considered the measures proposed by the present Mi-
nistry as the greatest boon that could be offered to the
English nation. When the Corn-laws were first enacted

Le witnessed violent tumults as the consequence in his
native town, and then he was convinced they should be
repealed ; and repealed they would be, if the electors
fearlessly and manfullmov Y did their duty.of The Hon. Bthe
a-
ronet concluded by ing a vote to
Chairman for his conduct in the chair, and his invariable
and consistent efforts in promoting the good of the
people.
Mr. PELLATT seconded the motion. He observed that
upon the result of next Tuesday's election depended the
welfare of England, and he might indeed say of the world
at large. He hoped the electors would act, not as men
engaged in a personal conflict, but as men supporting the
forgerythe ;
most disgrace-
and, as in the
case cause of universal humanity. As .a member of the Ge-
uiltpyhoefry,
of
Ge-
neral Committee he had an opportunity of observing the
base and scandalous means resorted to by their oppo-
nenetse. had beenfAlderman
Hgum
ful falsehoods. They, were in favour of what they called
a sliding scale in the importation of corn, but he also be-
lieved they were in favour of a sliding scale in politics.
The necessity of an early attendance at the Guildhall on
Tuesday next could not be too frequently impressed
upon the minds of the electors. Let them, as it had
been before observed, eat their breakfast the night before,
that they might be early at the poll.—(A voice in the
crowd, " We must, or we shall soon have no breakfast
to eat.") Let them vote for their wives, for their fa-
milies—let them vote for their Queen and for posterity.
(Loud cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN having returned thanks, the meeting
broke up, after giving three cheers for the Qtt :en an'd
free trade.

THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT:—
The workmen employed in the erection of the New
Houses of Parliament, have just commenced laying. down
a bed of concrete, intended to receive the foundations of
the above buildings. From the length of time which
this process will occupy, with other preparations, it is not
expected that the foundation-stone can -be laid for at least
three months to come. _

DEVONPORT ELECTION.

SPEECH OF SIR, GEORGE GREY, BART., 'M.P.,
At a nieetliig Ofihe EleetoiS on Monday, June` 21, 1841.
(From the Devonport Independent:)'
Sir GEORGE GREY on coming forward to elite:es the
was received with loud and enthusiastic cheers
- essembly, which continued for some
fill" all Part`' of 14..• - restored, he said, " Cen-
time: Whet% gitePp4 hpki ire" •
tlemp;,,iiiito &are addressing youon oat:Ili-ay p.''_,T,k"L._„'tf• it, WaS. At 00 Jag en hour, an hour
eslubi-
rendered late be'r 744444kiC41814 ctf that splendid
don with whicl 'YO-tilgreeteCt qf myself and
my Honourable Colle glitillet I could
cress
ague into this bor:Ct!'
the feelings of
do little more at that time than e,..; --a that
great gratification with which I had witneee_
splendid spectacle—a gratification, gentlemen, increases
to a degroe by the sense which I felt that not to do
honotir''ld ds; iiicilFicitiaa,ls,iii dtif4difeS; Wits that splendid
demonstratiOn prepared, lint id tlB BOndlif tit 211eprinci-
ples of which we are humble, though I trust sitiderd
porters.—(Lond cheers.) When I look around me, at
the scene that is exhibited, I am forcibly carried back
to a period now nearly nine years ago, when I stood
here for the first time surrounded by many persons whom
I now see around me ; when I entered your town per-
sOrtelly Unknown, and stated before you then, as I state
beeom }solititivV; the pririCipi@S eta 'Which I had peeviaitsly
acted, and whet you ratified these peitielpies liy Ictur
approbation and by the voice. of a resolution, encddraged
me to bee une a candidate for your representation.
(Loud the rs.) Those were the days in which a Go-
verrinient existed, that has lately been traduced among
you as a G werrintent flint hsd cursed this country for
ten years ; a Government which ; may say without
taking greater credit to it Pr' it deSeffee; 1i441 kly the
help of the people, gentlemen, by whose help ildrie gadA
measures caa be carried out, called you as a borough
into political existence.—(Loud cheers.) I stand here
to state the political principles on which I have acted,
and to render you an account of that stewardship, which
before two days have elapsed t shall have resigned into
your hands t I stand here Id ask }`till to ikOieW your eon-
fidenee in me if you approve of the principlel f have
advocated, and if you approve, in the main of the poli-
tical course I have pursued.—(Cheers.) It is impossible
for me, it would be vanity in the extreme in me, to think
that I could please every individual elector, .by every
individual vote I have given, but this I de ask you to do ;
I ask you to compare my conduct, not only as an in&
vidual but as a Member of a party, for I am a member
of that Government which has endeavoured to carry out
the principles on which they came into office—l ask you
to compare my conduct, in the main, with that of those
who now ask you fer your confidence against tl4-----(Loud
cheers)—and by your decision, by your verdict, I will be
bound, and to that opinion, I will bow with the greatest
deference and submission.—(Cheers.) The Govern
ment, of which I am a member, has been attacked
in very harsh language ; it is true that they have
appealed to the people, and that appeal has been
described to you as exciting and unconstitutional What,
tell me that it is unconstitutional to appeal to the people
on a question in which the people are the party most
deeply interested? Tell me that the decision of Parlia-
ment, albeit carried by a majority of one, ought to be
final and decisive, without giving the people, the deposit
of all political power, an opportunity of expressing their
opinion on a great question, in which their vital interests
are concerned?—(Loud cheers.) I feel that hgre, at
least, I need not defend the Government from the Charge
brought against it, that it has done it for the purpose of
excitement, and that they have cast a firebrand abroad
into the country; it is a calumny on the whole of the
people to make such a charge, and you, Gentlemen, you
have refuted it.—(lmmense cheering.) A proper degree
of political excitement is an inherent principle of
the Constitution, and those men read the Constitu-
tion but badly who say, because the people feel
strongly, and when they feel strongly, it is a reason
why they ought not to be called on to express their
opinion.—(Cheers.) I have said that they are great
principles which are now called in question, and I ask
you not to take this merely on my statement, or as my
opinion, if you are not already convinced, I ask you to
permit me to read an opinion, not of one person only,
but from many of the first- eminence, in the first com-
mercial city of the world—London.—(Cheers.) In an
address, which has lately appeared in the public papers,
and which some of you have perhaps read, and addressed
to the electors of London, signed by the first merchants
of the City, they state that " a great crisis in our finan-
cial and commercial affairs has arrived : of this fact no
reflecting man can entertain a doubt. Our commerce
requires the most fostering care to maintain a progres-
sive prosperity commensurate with the continuous and
fearful increase of our manufacturing population. Fo-
reign nations, profiting by the opportunities of peace,
are becoming oar rivals in the markets of the-world ;
and, jealous of our protections and restrictions, they are
driven, in self-defence, to retaliatory measures of the same
character. The stability of our monetary system is endan-
gered by the sudden and violent convulsions of our foreign
trade, engendered by a false system of artificial interfe-
rence and partial protection, whilst our manufactures are
Ofing under an insufficient demand and falling prices for
their productions, and our industrious population is sub-
jected to the evils of irregular and insufficient wages, ag-
gravated by an artificially high price of the necessaries
of life." The address goes on ,to say, " The issue is
now in the hands of the electors—the question before
you is plain, simple, and distinct. You have to decide
between monopoly on the one hand, and freedom on
the other ; that monopoly which had been justly de-
scribed the parent of scarcity, of dearness, and of un-
certainty, and that free commercial intercourse "by
which alone the prosperity of nations can be perma-
nently sustained.' I say distinctly, said Sir George,
on concluding the quotation, that I do not ask you to
take any of these conclusions from me only, as I may
be considered interested and biassed, but from those
who have an interest and an important stake in the
country, and they tell you that the question you have
to decide, is that of monopoly on the one hand, acid
freedom on the other ; between that monopoly which
has been justly described as the parent of scarcity,
dearness, and uncertainty, and that free commercial
intercourse by which alone can the commercial
prosperity of this great nation be permanently
sustained..— (Cheers.) That is the question you
now have to decide, between monopoly on the one
hand, and freedom on the other, and if, as a member
of the Goeernment, I 'Stand here called on to make an
excuse for that Government for their conduct on this
question; it is not' for now submitting it to Parliament,
not for having appealed to the good sense and reason of
the people, but it is for their not having brought it for-
ward sooner, and that they had not sooner had recourse
to the measure they now eulvocate.—(Tremendous cheer-
ing.) Gentlemen, you are all aware that the expendi-
ture of the country having increased—though perhaps you
are not all aware, there has been great misrepresenta-
tion on this subject abroad; that fifteen millions 'of taxes
have been already reduced—increased by the reduction of
the Post-office revenue by the Ministry that, it has been
stated, has been a curse to the country—it became ne-
cessary that from some other sources the revenue
should be made up to meet the necessary expenditure of
the country, an expenditure necessary to maintain the
navy—and who is there, I ask, in this the finest sea port
of the world, will deny that the ',navy ought to be main-
tained—Cheers)—on a high footing? and to maintain
the British flag and the efficiency of the British navy,
they had never shrank from appealing to the people ;
but for these reasons it became neeessa,ry to see in what
way a sufficient revenue could be raised in order to
uaineain the establishments of the country in that
state of efficiency which every lover of his country-
would wish to see them maintained in ; and
the Government having
.last year failed in having re-
course to an increase in direct taxation, he meant
the addition of ten per cent. to some of the existing taxes,
and having carefully considered the evidence, which per-
haps most of them had read, given before the Committee
on the Import Duties in the House of Commons ; they
resolved to submit to Parliament measures based on the
principle not of increasing taxation but of diminishing it,
and of increasing the revenue, not by increasing the tax-
ation, but by increasing the consumption of the neces-
saries and luxuries of life on the part of the great body
of the people, and by that means, as Lord J. Russell had
emphatically observed, unchaining and developing the re-
sources of the country, and increasing the revenue of the
nation, not by drawing on the enjoyment of the people,
but by increasing it by a system, of which every indi-
vidual in the country, however humble, should sensibly
feel the benefit.—(.Cheers.) It is on this principle that
the alteration in the sugar duties was proposed, and what-
ever may be the sophistry put forth in newspapers and
placards, it is impossible to deny that the price of this
commodity has been raised to such a degree, by the undue
protection given to some favoured class interests as to deny
its use to a great part of the population of this country.
On this question many have tried to get up the public
feeling —the righteous feeling of public indignation,
which I know animated this place as much as any other
place in the kingdom, against the former accursed system
of slavery, and have endeavoured to enlist them in their
favour and interest. They now denounce slavery with
uplifted eyes, as a deadly sin, though when you were
tale
l
assisting to give the slave his freedom, they, with
same unlifted eyes, protested against the injury that
would be done, not to themselves, to be sure, but to the
negro, by etnancipating him from the parental and
fostering care the masters exercised over him.—(Loud
cheers.) I need, not, Gentlemen, waste your time by
expatiating on the hollowness of these pretexts, which
have been exploded in the House of Commons where
they were broached, which had been exploded by
the good sense and reason of nearly all the Anti- Sla-
very Societies throughout the kingdom, and which have
been exploded by the good sense and reason of every
thinking man in the community: I need not, I say,
waste your time by going over again the arguments by
which those who put forward those pretexts were
abashed and put to silence—(Hear and sheers;—
and convicted, in connection with the Anti-Slavery cry,
and while raising it in the House of Commons, of sharing
in the profits of slave labour themselves:—(Cheers.) Now
with regard to the Corn-laws,c let me ask, " Where is my
Honourable Opponent e (Tremendous cheering.)
Up to last week I should have supposed that not only
no opponent on this question could be found. as appears
to be the case, within these walls, but that none breathed
in Devonport, even in the person of my Right Hon. Op-
ponent.—(Cheers.) You may have heard that last year
I had the honour of putting face to face with the Hon.
Gentleman's distinguished relative in the House of Com-
mons, what he (Mr. Dawson) thought of the Corn-laws,
and his cordial adoption of their own principles, which
the Hon. Gentleman who now asks you to transfer your
confidence from us to him, had stated with a degree of
candour which made him almost suspect its sincerity, on
the ground that he found it utterly useless to canvass the
borough of Devonport except upon Anti-Corn-law prin-
ciples.—(Loud cheers.) But at that time those prin-
ciples were opposed, and all knowledge of and connexion
with the opinions expressed en the subject by the lion.
Gentleman was - disclaimed by the Hon. Baronet the
Member for Tamworth ; and it seems as if the Hon.
69043144 n. 1494*c9 received uutruction, and has.