The Sun.
London, England, 1840-03-31 00:00:00

EVEN I.NO EDIT tON.

!SECOND EDITION.

SUN OFFICE, Seven o' Clock.

AN TI-CORN-LAW DELEGATES.

(THIS DAY.)

The Delegates met to- ay at one for the purpose of
waiting on Lord J. Russell, the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, and the President of the Board of Trade.
When the Delegates had entered the room of Conference
it was found that Lord J. Russell was absent, and
the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated that this absence
was °wing to a slight indisposition of his Noble Friend.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer afterwards stated the
oßinion of his Noble Friend on the present system of
..orn-laws. It was this—That the system was attended
with great inconvenience, and it was his wish that a mode-
ate fixed duty should be imposed on foreign corn, till it
reached the price of 705., and that the duty should then
be gradually d:minished.
d CHAIRMAN, and after him Mr. E. ASHWORTH, ad-
_r_TA at some length the two members of the Govern-
ment present, pointing out the many evils of the present
.ti slaws, and the necessity of repealing them.
Mr, BREWSTER said he had, fur the last twenty years,
been connected as a clergyman, as an overseer of the poor,
taken withcould a parish containing upwards of 30,000 souls, and
speak to the relative amount of distress which had
tha n Place at the different pee iods of depression during
'ended
time. The distress three months ago, though not so
among the working classes as on some former
occasions,lled Was accompanied by greater suffering. This
nattributed to the fact, that at former periods of distress
the middle classes were able to relieve them by subscriptions
d other means,
an
reach, while, at present, the distress having
d those classes themselves, it was found impossible
oro, raise subscriptions to any amount for the relief
_ the destitute labourer. It had been his lot
these
witness much of this suffering which resulted from
circumstances. e had seen children around the
beer lie of
taf a dead mother, whose death they attributed to want
°°'-1 He had seen fathers of families who had not
tasted food for (lass ; and he had seen mothers with infants
at their breasts, who had not received any nourishment for
t:fe previous twenty-four hours. Had he been in tile place
those parents, he would have felt it to have been his
duty, and he
would
have been warranted, he conceived,
useverY principle of religion and morality, after
• g all other means to obtain food for his perish.
ing family without effect, to have taken food for them
wherever he could find it.—(Here considerable symp-
tom
did s of dissent were exhibited by the meeting.) He
rest. not anticipate any x,,ressiun cf dissent from one
7,,,,2.rig upon the highest authorities in lew and in ethics.
"use gentlemen must remember that in Scotland the un-
entpl ,yed labourer receives no relief from the poors' funds,
and that any man in the position he had described had no
alternative between being accessory to the commission of
murder—to the death of fellow creatures, of a wife and
obildien depending upon them for subsistence, or the be..
e°lning a criminal in the eye of the law, though justified,
as he thought, by the great principles of morality and
religion. It was thus that the people were thrown out of
employment by the operation of the Corn-laws, and being
driven
to desperation by their sufferings, some of them
became the inmates of prisons, and had the brand of
crime fixed upon them for life. He knew something of the
feelings and opinions of the people of Scotland ; and
though he felt convinced that the demand for farther re-
forms beyond the repeal of the Corn-laws could not now
be stopped, yet that an immediate and total repeal of these
laws would greatly tend to render the progress of those
reforms safe and constitutional. He had just been in-
-1" Hied by some of his friends now present, belonging to
Paisley, that thousands would immediately be thrown out
of employment. Ha asked how, without any means of
relief to the unemployed in Scotland, the authority of
the lam otdd be ma'ntained ?
Mr. JJICKINS, the Mayor of Carlisle, entered into a
detail of the distresses to which our labouring population
is now exposed, adding that those distresses were yearly
increasing.
Mr. Bactoxe, the borcughreeve of Manchester, stated
various facts which had come under his own knowledge in
Manchester, showing the misery endured by the poorer
classes of that town. From a printed document it ap-
peared that there were 1953 families in which the average
earning of each individual did not exceed Is. 41d. per
week. A large part of that sum must have been spent in
Pawn-offices. The mill-owners were every day declining,
and had greatly reduced their hours of labour. He had
sold a mill in Manchester four years ago for 32,0001.
and he had lately re-purchased it for 10,0001.
Mr. LABOUCHERE said that he need hardly observe, that
la giving his opinion en the present occasion, he spoke
ruefely as a Member of Oarliament, and not in his official
capacity., He was afraid his opinions would not completely
satisfy the gentlemen present. He was certainly opposed
to the present system, as he thought it was attended with
imany disadvantages, and made the corn trade little better
than a gambling transaction. He was satisfied the system
Was a bad one, and he would never refuse voting for in-
quiring into it. lie would therefore support the motion
of Nlr. Villiers this year Ls he had done last year, but at
the same time he could not advocate a total repeal of the
existing laws, He believed that such a change would
be of too violent a nature, and he did not think it would
be advisable to deprive our agricultur:sts of all protection.
His vote would not, therefore, he for a total repeal, but
for a fixed duty, which he thought would be a more ra-
moderate, and just system than the present.
Mr. ELLISON, of Dewsbury, said he was a Poor-law
Guardian in the centre of a manufacturing population, and
ha felt convinced that the Corn-laws and the Poor-laws
could net subsist together.
The CHAIRMAN said in allusion to observations which
had often been made, that he thought Government might
inquire into the possibility of entering into negotiations
with the Governments which had entered into the Prussian
League for the purpose of enlarging our commerce with
them.

The Chancellor of the EXCHE6WER said that the facts
which had been brought forward undoubtedly deserved
the attention of the Government and the country. It would,
however, be very difficult to enter into negotiations with
foreign Governments, unless there was a certainty of their
being sanctioned by Parliament. Nothing could he more
dangerous than such a proceeding.
Mr. COBURN said that the present question was of far
too important a nature to allow the Government to remain
undecided on it. Ile thought that no Ministry could any
longer stand without being committed one way or the other
On the subject ; and that a Ministry taking up the repeal of
the Corn-laws would eventually have the support of the
Majority of the country.
The Deputies returned to Brown's Hotel shortly after
three o'clock.
The CHAIRMAN, on taking the chair, stated that he sup-
posed all present had been to the interview, and had beard
all that passed, and from that every gentleman could form
his own opinion. One thing was perfectly clear, and that
was that there was only one course to pursue, and that was
to go en with their appeal to their fellow citizens over the
whole country. To enable them to do that, one thing was
necessary, namely, funds, and they would, therefore, allow
him to call their attention to the subscription list which
was laid bef,re the meeting yesterday. Many gentle-
men, yesterday, stated that they wished to have time
to consult with their colleagues as to the sums
I.vhich they should put down. It was necessary for them
10 buckle on their armour and proceed in the course which
had already met with such success. Mr. Beaden, a Dele-
gate from Taunton, was present, and would be enabled to
inform the meeting of some extraordinary exertions in their
cause that were taking place in the agricultural districts.
Mr. Alderman COBDEN said he should not be doing jus-
tice to Mr. Beaden if he did not state that he had been
a
gitating their cause in Taunton, where he had lectured
and spent much money in the glorious work they had in
view.

_ •
Mr. BEADEN then came forward amid much cheering.
It was true, as had been stated by Mr. Alderman Cobden,
that he had devoted his time, and not a little money, in 1
agitating the subject. Ile had within the last few days
delivered a couple of lectures gratuitously, and the result
was a Working, Man's Association. Ile had never wit-
nessed such excitement. It was said by the chairman that
they must proceed in the agitation ; now all that he was
afraid of was that agitation on this question could not be
stopped.—( Cheers.) Lord Bacon said there was no
reasoning with a man who had a hungry belly. lie be-
lieved that the people were ripe for revolution; the Go-
vernment would do nothing for them till they were in a
scrape, which he was afraid would soon be the case. It
appeared to him that they ought to get this question
continually before Parliament; let detached motions
be brought forward ; let one, for instance, be for ascer-
taining the cause of distress; let others be for other sub-
jects, all of which would have a tendency to the repeal of
the Corn-laws. Such motions would pester the Govern-
ment, and something like alteration would be the result.
—(Cheers.) As far as he could agitate he would do so ;
he was no new convert to the question, but had been its
advocate for years. Sir Thomas Lethbridge had told him
that he was for a fixed duty; but rather than no alteration
should take place, he would vote for a total re-
peal. But ho was ready to support a fixed duty of 7s.
if it was an expiring one. Sir Thomas Lethbridge
had got much odium for the course he had adopted, but he
was determined to persevere in his good work.
A DELEGATP. said that Lord Hatherton was of the same
opinion ; if he could not get a fixed duty he would vote for
a total repeal.
Mr. Haywaito said that from the interview they had had
that day, it was clear that it was the conviction of her
Majesty's Ministers that the great mass of the people were
nut prepared for a repeal of the Corn-laws. This was
their fortress, and how was i t to be attacked? Why, by
enlightening the people on time subject of the Corn-laws,
which starved them. By agitating the questio im in the
manner they were doing, the result would be pressing the
People on the Ministers. That was not to be done without
funds, and he trusted, therefore, that all should come forward
quickly, _(C beers.)
Mr. lI!SDLEY, M.P., apologised for attempting to ad-
dress the meeting, not being a Deleg,atc, but he trusted
those present would excuse him if he said a few words, as
he was intimately connected with the commercial in-
terests of time country. His object in coming
da d to
nY " w there to-
Mforw to know whether trey really intended
r. Villiers to bring forward the motion to-mo rrow,
arde:cpress the strong fveling, he had against pressing it
that
At
lie bad DELEGATE 'I
ATE observed that he had seen t-. Villiers;
passed a good night, his health was much im-
proved, and that he would certainly bring forward the
motion to-morrow evening.
Mr.
lIINDLEY dirt not at all desire to interfere with
the determination of Mr. Villiers who had taken such a
Ought to be consulted, but he ( Mr. Ilindley) felt that he
..W.oyledoh: wanting in his duty to his constituents if he did
re eto state his opinions—these opinions might
taken for what they were worth. If the
motion were brought in to-morrow, the division would in
all Probability take place on Friday; and he believed that
all expected a strong majority against them. It was said
they should appeal to the country. The Ministers said the
majority of the country were against the repeal, and that
they must enlighten the country upon the subject.—•
t.......____