The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-26 00:00:00

BETHNAL GREEN.

At a meeting of the members of the Bethnal-green Reading-
room and Mutual Instruction Society, held at their rooms,
the following resolutions were, after an animated discussion of
three nights' duration, unanimously agreed to.
Moved by Mr. Jolts DUCE, and seconded by Mr. SAMUEL
SULLY :—" That any law which gives exclusive protection ro
one class, at the expense of the people, is unjust in principle,
mischievous in its effects, and incompatible with the interest
and prosperity of the country.
" That the laws which restrict the free importation of the
first necessaries of life have in their effect diminished the de-
mand for labour, erected obstacles to free intercourse with
other nations, and are destructive to our commerce with the
world ; therefore this society is of opinion that all such laws
ought to be repealed, more especially the Corn-laws."
lILLL.

( Abridged from thel-itiliazette of Saturday.)
A special general meeting of the Chamber of Commerce
having been called for Thursday, about 22 of the members as-
sembled in the Exchange soon after eleven o'clock in the morn-
ing, when
J. K. WATSON, Esq. was called to the Chair.
Mr. SQUIRE addressed the meeting, saying that he enter-
tained none but the most friendly feelings towards the agricul-
turists, and was quite sure the proposed measures would not
injure them, but prove beneficial to all the interests in the
country. Mr. Squire then moved a resolution to the effect,
."That, in the opinion of this meeting, the present scale of
differential duties ought to be altered and modified for the be-
nefit of the revenue and the general interests of the country ;

that a general revision o f the Customs' duties was necessary ;
and also that the present duty on corn was highly injurious to
the community at large, without bestowing any adequate b.-
nefit on the agriculturist ; that a moderate fixed rate of do..r
ought to be substituted, and a friendly intercourse with all LA-
lions kept up."
Mr. THOMPSON concurred in the observations which ha,l
fallen from the last speaker.
Mr. WADE thought there was one point in which the ques-
tion affected this town particularly—he meant the alteration in
the duty on timber. He would be the last to advocate a mea-
sure, if it were one calculated solely for the benefit of a single
locality ; but when advantage to such locality was combined
with benefit to the nation at large, it then became their boun-
den duty to use every effort to obtain it. Liverpool had long
been called the turnpike-gate to America, and just in the same
way would Hull be called the turnpike-gate to the Baltic, pro-
vided the measures under consideration were once passed. Be-

tween three and four hundred cargoes of wood came here per
annum, two hundred of which were deals. Let gentlemen re-
flect on that. Then as to the sugar duty, it had been said that
by taking that produced in Brazil they would he encouraging
slavery ! This was sheer nonsense and hypocrisy. Under thy
circumstances• therefore, he seconded the motion.
Mr. LEVETT should vote for the petition with great pleasure.
Mr. FOSTER. remarked that it had been asserted that if a

free trade in corn, or a trade approaching to free, were once
established, we should be dependent on other nations, and
such a thought had influenced Lord Wellington n&others
similarly situated; but what were the facts? Why during
the contests in which he and others were engaged, we con-
tinually got corn from the Continent. —( Cheers. ) There was
no fear, therefore, need be entertained on that head, for
some part of the continent would always be cpen to us.
Mr. ATKINSON cordially agreed with the sentiments ex-
pressed in the petition of Mr. Squire which they had heard read.
It was then moved and carried, That a petition founded
upon Mr. Squire's resolution be prepared, submitted to the
members of the Chamber of Commerce, and then trans-
mitted for presentation to the Houses of Parliament.
The CHAIRMAN would just remark that the measures pro-
posed by Lord John Russell were the wildest measures ever
proposed by any man in any country. Nothing but madness
could have induced him to bring them forward, knowing, as he
must have done, they could not pass.
Mr. Tiromesom regretted the Chairman had not given ex-
pression to his sentiments before the debate was closed, for one
of two things must be true—either Mr. Watson was mad, or
he (Mr. Thompson) was mad, because, the measures which
Mr. Watson said could be approved of by none but a madman,
he (Mr. Thompson) regarded as wise measures and a proof
of wisdom in him that had brought them forward-4 Laughter. )