The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-22 00:00:00

bath by punting bi 3 letter to Sir Robert Peel, as
well as by cvtitirm Llssehnois, only Monday is left
fur the time des-.2ribec2 " the as.t few days," and the
" recently" of the whole work of capulsion, And then
as eCen froth charity schools are not usually
performed exterepOte, Oie Clergyman must have known
that what he denied so per,!rtipterily on Sunday was
about to be perpetrated on I\l3nday, and that it must
become fact before his equivocating contradiction could
bscomo public
And here we le7.re tbo parties in this contemptible
affair, from the highest of thetti ff; tilm lowest, to di-
side amongst themselves, as best they Clay; their seve-
ral proportions of convicted disingenuousness. We
congratulate the parents of the expelled children for
contact with any of the eet is moral pollution. Those
who may wish to know yet more of the thorough dirti-
nest; and falsification to which the borough in question
is subjugated'; we refer to an article from the last num-
ber of tie Jlirtnclicsle titheit, headed "The Tamwortb
Pe ti t iun."—Morning Chronic-it.

THE UNEMPLOYED POOR.
PUBLIC MEETING AT LEEDS.
(Abridged from the Leeds Times.)
On Saturday evening last a numerous meeting, con-
venel by placards issued by the Operatives' Enumera-
tion Committee, assembled in the Music Hall. The
body of the meeting appeared fo Ise aisles:st entirely com-
posed of opt ratives, to the number of abotit 700. Ia
the orchestra, however, we observed W. Aldan), juc,,
E•q., M.P. ; J. G. Marshall, Esq. ; I'. 13. Peace,
Esq. ; Detroem Lupton, Ecq. ; T. D. Luccock, Esq. ;
the Rev. Thomas Scales ; Arthur Lupton, Esq. ; Al-
dermaa Batesoa ; James Greco, Esq. ; Dr. Smiles, and
acme other genii trien. The meeting was entirely con-
ducted by the operatives ; it was under the presidency
of an operative, and all the resolutions were proposed
and seconded by operatives, with the exception of one,
which was a vote of thanks to the Chairman. The
meeting was of an exceedingly interesting character,
and was conducted throughout with perfect decorum,
and with complete unanimity of feeling, all the resolu-
tions being passed unanimously.
Mr. JOHN SPEED, an operative, was unanimously
elected Chairman. Atter taking the Chair, be rose and
said—lf he had been alloyed to consult his own feel-
ings, he certainly would tiot have taken the position in
which they had placed him. Yet he must confess that
he received some encouragement from the consideration
of the fact that however feeble and inefficient the advo-
cates might be, the cause is which they were met was
one which must commend itself to every enlightened
head and fiery generous heart. If he were asked for
what purpose that meeting was called together, he
would answer simply for the purpose of lit ing before
them and the country the destitute condition in which
thousands of their fellow-citizens were doomed to drag
out a miserable existence. That want existed to a very
alarming extent, was known to all persons, from the
Queen on her throne to the humblest nrtizan, and he
confessed to him it W 53 matter of regret, that as all
political parties agreed as to the existence of the
distress, there should be such a diversity of opi-
nion, not (rely as to its causes, but as to its cure.—
(Heat, hear.) One aid that Backs had made too
tree with their credit ; another that it was caused by
gambling and over-speculating amongst the merchants
and manufacturers ; another that it was attributable to
the unfavourable operation of the Corn and Provision-
laws ; and another said it was entirely attributable to
the narrow and contracted extent of the elective fran-
chise. But whether one or all of these causes com-
bined, had brought them to the present crisis, he was
glad to say, and he hoped it would be distinctly under-
stood, that this was a problem they had not not to solve,
that was a question they were not about to discuss.
Teey had le, en told to "educate, educate, educate,"
and he acknowledged that: education was necessary ie
order to teach them rightly to perform their duty to-
wards themselves, their,country, and their God ; but
still whether they were instructed or not, employment
was indispensible.—( Hear.) As far as he was able to
judge, the great men of the country, who ought to be
their protectors, seemed to consider the mass of the
population as nothing but hewers of wood and drawers
of water.---(Cheers.) But were he surrounded by the
Members of both Houses of Parliament, be would say
to them—My Lords and Gentlemen, although your
brows may be adorned with coronets—although you
may be clothed in firm linen and fare sumptuously every
day—and although at night when you recline on your
pillows of down you may he lulled to sleep by sounds
of sweetest melody—yet when the curtain falls, as fill
it will, then will you be no worse, neither will you be
any better, than the occupant of the mud walled cottage
who has to toil from early dawn till dewy eve, and who
is then compelled to rest his weary limbs on a pallet of
straw.--(dear.) Do not the rich and ,the poor come I,
from the same Creator? Are they not both cross-
ing
the same octan of time ? Are they not ul i-
mately to be arraigned at the same bar—and will
they not receive their destiny front the same Judge ?
herefore it is we ask for justice, far and impartial
justice ; we ask no more, and I fervei;tly hope the sun
of that day will never arise, when we shall be satisfied
with less.—(Loud cheers.) The Chairman concluded
by requesting that every speaker would speak courte-
cushy, yet uncompromisingly, and by claiming the indul-
gence of the mediae towards the operatives who
might address them. They would not expect a com-
pany of amateurs to tread the stage with the grace
and dignity of old professed actors ; neither would they
expect from a body of working men the same critical
and grammatical accuracy and precision as they would
from men who had spent their time in schools and col-
leges.—(Loud cheers.) He then called en the Secretaryc
to read the Report.
The Report stated, that, though there might be some
exaggerations of distress in particular instances, the
Committee were confident that the number of families
inadvertently and unavoidably omitted, would far
more than counterbalance any exaggerations. The fol-
lowing extract from the Report gives an account of
the manner in which the enumeration has been con-
ducted :
" The Provisional Committee having issued circu-
lars, containing a condensed view of their projected
operations to the operatives employed at the various
factories, workshops, &c., found, from the prompt and cor-
dial response with which their solicitations for co-opera-
tion and support were met, that they would be justified
in proceeding, without delay, in the prosecution of the
inquiry. For this purpose they provided a suitable
enumeration book for each of the wards, containing a
series of columns, with printed designations, signifying
the order is which the particulars were to be noted.
They then selected twenty intelligent persons, good
penmen, from amongst the unemployed operatives, two 1
of whom were assigned to each of the wards. They
likewise employed Henry Hare, a competent parson,
otherwise unemployed, to work out a correct analysis
from al,. the books, and the Sub-Committee met every
evening (Sabbath excepted) during the taking of the
enumeration to investigate the progress and accuracy
of the work."
The following is a summary of the more detailed ac-
counts with respect to the condition of each ward of the
town, contained in the Report :
Gitosa A ?.10UNT.—Number of families, 4,752 ; num-
ber of persons, 19,236 ; number of employed, 3,780 ;
number of unemployed, with those depending on them,
16,156; 'ti;tal weekly income, 937/. 191. Id. e aierage
per head per week, 114 d.
The Report concluded as follows:--• . .
!' It is necessary to observe that the sum from which
the gross average is taken, includes all the items derived
by families included in the enumeration, whether, from
the parochial board, charing, or other extraordinary
resources. Were the Committee desirous of producing
Sensation alone, they might possibly give a keener in-
tensity to the emotions which the above humiliating
picture of the social condition of thousands of their
fellow-citizens must have produced, by reciting nume-
rous cases of soul-harrowing privation communicated I
by the enumerators. They will only state generally,
that in scores of instances the enumerators were
obliged to write with the books placed oa their knees,
in consequence of the absence of every article of fur-
niture that might be made available for resting the book
upon ; and in many, very many instances, such was the
manifest destitution, that little else than the damp wells
which enclose them conttitute the only title to ' home'
which the miserable inmates could claim. In conclu-
sion, your Committee beg leave to state that they have
not caused the purlieus of the towns to be explored for
the purpose of swelling the amount of destitution in the
Report, as several confined places, notorious for their
permanent misery, are not included in the enumeration.
They, therefore, feel themselves warranted in declaring,
notwithstanding the humiliating and painful reflections
which the announcement may induce, that the foregoing
Reports con'ain a faithful representation of the social
condition of English artisans and their families in this
borough."
The reading of the Report caused a deep sensation in
the meeting. The Secretary stated that they had not
included in the Report those whose average income was
more than 4s. a week. They had taken 4s. as a fair data
or criterion. They thought that if an individual could
live on 4s. a week, those who had more would be coin-
paratil ely comfortable. If they had made the maxi-
mum sum leas, the average sum per head for subsistence
would have been 'less. If they had made it more, of
course, the average sum per head would have been more
also. They were anxious that it should be understood
that the number stated as beirg unemployed, or as sub-
sisting on the stated income, were not all able bodied
adults, but that that number included all who subsisted
on the stated income of the family, whether men, women,
or children. The two columns gave the gross number
of individuals, 19,936, who were living on an average
of I lid. per head per week, and this would give them
some idea of the amount of destitution existing in the
country.—(Cheers.)
RAT I'l-1 OM AS (an operative) proposed the first re-
solution. Ile observed that their object in meeting to-
gether was not to discuss either the merits or demerits
of one party or another, but simply to lay before them
a plain'and ueexageseteited statement of the deplorable
arid appalling amount of destitution existing in the
tows.—(l;iear, hear.) To his fellow-operative, was