The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-15 00:00:00

of in common with other classes in society t./lat were'
and
affected by the operation of the corn-laws;
at the meetings they had attended they declaa
that the establishment of a free trade system '
would not have the effect of doing them the I
least possibly injury.—(Hear, hear.) He (Mr.
Villiers) had had recently a great deal of communi-
cation frequently of late with men of the highest
respectability, who stood in the position of represen-
tatives of extensive landed proprietors ; in fact, they
were the agents of some of the Peers of the realm,
who were amongst the largest landowners in this
country. To one of these gentlemen, in particu-
lar, he had addressed himself, and he asked
him, if he concurred in the opinion that the repeal of
the corn-laws would be injurious to the tenant-
farmer; and his answer was that there was no gen-
tleman in the country more surprised than he was at
the strong feelings he had heard expressed amongst
the tenant-farmers in favour of the repeal of the
corn-laws.—(Hear.) That gentleman said to him
(Mr. Villiers) that he had repeatedly heard the
farmers say that they would not have the least
fear as to the result of a repeal of the corn-
laws, for they could not conceive how such a measure
could injure them.—(Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Villiers)
then asked the same gentleman what were the bene-
fits which he conceived would be likely to follow the
measure, or what the results expected to flow from it;
in fact, he asked him, if the corn-laws were
repealed, what was his estimate of the loss which the
farmer would be supposed to sustain ? The answer
of the gentleman was to this effect—That he
had asked the same questions of the farmers ; that he
asked them, on behalf of the nobleman whom he re-
presented (as kind and generous a landlord as ever
lived), whether they would wish, in the event of the
corn-laws being repealed, to have clauses inserted in
their leases enabling them to cancel those leases six
months after the corn-laws should be repealed ? The
farmers said they would take time to consider. They
did consider the matter maturely, and the result
was, that they all declared that they did not wish to
have the clause inserted.—(Loud cheers.). Well,
the advocates of protection said that such a measure
would be the ruin of the farmer—the total, utter ruin
of the farmer; but, in reply to that assertion, he
(Mr. Villiers) had the assurance to the contrary of
this gentleman of whom the had been speaking—
(Cheers)—a gentleman of the highest respect-
ability, honour, integrity, and one who, if he
were to be summoned before a Com-
mittee of the House of Commons to give
evidence upon the subject, every word he uttered
would carry with it weight and importance, by reason
of the position which he held.—(Hear.) He (Mr.
Villiers) would now read to the meeting an extract
from the speech of an agricultural gentlemen,delivered
at a recent meeting in the country of more than
20,000 persons, in order to show what the sentiments
of that gentleman were upon this question. The Hon.
Member then read the extract, which was to the effect
that he declared himself a country 'squire and extensive
farmer, residing in the neighbourhood of a manu-
facturing district ; but from that fact, he did not
think it would be fair to make the state of the agri-
cultural labourers in that district a criterion by which
to judge of their general position, and, therefore he
had taken care to acquire information in counties
that were strictly agricultural ; and after having
made himself acquainted with the state of
the agricultural labourers' condition in Dorsetshire,
Gloucestershire, the Isle of Wight, and several other
agricultural counties, he had no hesitation in saying
that their condition was so bad, that it would have
been necessary for him to have sought in the work-
houses for many skilful labourers."—(Loud cheering.)
Now, he (Mr. Villiers) did think it was a very im-
portant fact that the farmers of this country, who
really understood their interest, had so powerful an ad-
vocate in their favour as the gentleman from whose
speech he had been reading that extract.—(Cheers.)
Such speeches were the more calculated to give con-
fidence to those who opposed the corn-laws, from the
fact that those who were opposed to free trade were
far from unanimous.—(Cheers.) They did not agree
amongst themselves even in their own speeches.—
(Hear.) He recollected that Lord Salisbury made
a speech at one of those protection meetings, in which
the Noble Lord declared that so far from protection
being excessive, his Lordship did not think they had
half enough of it.—(Laughter.) But Lord Essex
happened to be present at the same meeting, and
yet, strange to say, he did not utter a word upon
the subject.—(Laughter.) His Lordship certainly
did say, that with regard to the inferior descriptions
of grain, he was of opinion that the duty upon those
ought to be removed, and that they should be admitted
duty free.—(Laughter.) But it_was rather strange,
that while his Lordship was quite willing to admit,
duty free, all descriptions of agricultural produce,
that could be required for the feeding of cattle, he
had not said one word about that which was required
for feeding the people.—(Cheers and laughter.) Now,
with respect to the advocates for the continuance of
the burdens upon land, he (Mr. Villiers) would defy
any man who read their speeches to say that any two
of them agreed.—(Hear, hear.) Why did they not,
if they felt that they were right, bring in their Bill,
which they had so often been solicited to do ?
(Hear, hear.) Because they well knew that if they
did so, it would apply to the exemptions as well as
to the burdens ; and they also well knew that the
exemptions would be found to preponderate.—
(Loud cheers.) Men of even moderate politics
were in the habit of speaking of the proba-
ble effects of a Divine calamity or a scarcity ; but
now their argument was, that at the present moment
the country was never in a more prosperous state, and
that therefore no change was necessary. Some men
were advocates for changes in everything but the one
most required; but the moment it was proposed to in-
terfere with the corn-laws, then they insisted that
people should let well alone.—(Laughter.) Now he
could not disguise from them who now heard him,
the fact that those were the class of men who, the
more universally advantageous any measure was
likely to be, which should be introduced into the
Legislature, the more strenuously would they oppose
it, and therefore the advocates of free trade should
leave nothing undone to defeat such opposition, be-
cause it was the opposition of the most interested and
unpatriotic party that ever arrayed itself against the
people. (The Hon. Member concluded amidst the
loudest acclamations.) _

Mr. HOUGHTON next came forward. He com-
menced by saying that he never once stood up to ad-
dress a public meeting under circumstances so pecu-
liarly embarrassing as those attending his appearance
on the present occasion. His embarrassment was
increased by the fact of the importance of the present
crisis, by the eloquence of those patriotic gentletnen
who had preceded him, and by the fact of his having
abandoned the opinions he had formerly entertained
upon this question.—(Loud cheering.) He would
have no hesitation in saying to the meeting
that, if he did not conceive he had had
sufficient reasons for changing his mind upon
this subject, he would deserve to be denounced
in language as strong as that which cha-
racterised the speech of a reverend gentleman recently
in Staffordshire, who had denounced Sir Robert Peel
as a traitor to his country and his religious principles.
(Laughter.) Now, he (Mr. Houghton) was cer-
tainly a traitor to his country in that sense, because,
for twenty-five years, he had been expending his money
and his time upon his estate, and had also been ad-
vising those around him to do the same in the way
most approved by protectionists.—(Hear, hear.)
However, he had since changed his mind, and he had
no hesitation in saying that protection was the parent
of idleness.—(Cheers.) Let him ask when it had ever
been known to prosper. Look at it with respect to
the silk trade. When protection was about to
be removed from that article it was said that the re-
sult would be the ruin of that trade ; yet, strange to
say, that so prosperous had been that trade ever since,
that now the silk trade of England had hoisted the
flag of triumph even in India.—(Cheers.) The same
observations applied to the wool-growers. He was
an extensive wool-grower, and upon that point he
had expressed his opinion to that great and good
nobleman, now no more—he meant Earl Spencer—
(Cheers)—to the effect that the wool trade would be
ruined by the removal of the protection duty ;_ but
that nobleman assured him that that trade in Eng-
land would be better than it ever had been, and the
result proved that his Lordship was right.—(Cheers.)
Well, let him now turn to another article, that of pigs.
Why, they wanted all the fat pigs they could get, and
if the Americans sent more of them, they in Eng-
land would be glad to receive them.—(Laughter.)
Then with regard to beef. What was the case
there? They, it seemed, had in the same country
beef always fat—oxen ready for the knife. But what
was the real fact ? Was bacon cheaper ? No; it
was as dear as ever. So was beef; and therefore he
contended, that all this fear was perfectly ground-
less.—(Hear, hear.) Then, again, wool was nol
cheaper now that they had free trade in this article.
lie would maintain this, that if protection, as was
stated was good, they had since the days of Ifuskisson
been going backward, and every movement, as
certainly as day followed night, had been a step
nearer to free trade. Why, the very hat that he wore
was a French hat ; and had not the hatter in this
country an equal right to come forward and claim for
protection. But did he do so ?—(Cheers.) His own
opinion was this, and he would beg their patience one
moment while ha stated it. They had now had the
corn-laws for thirty years. It was therefore no new
acquaintance. lle had himself had occasion to give
evidence before a Committee of the House of Com-
mons; he had also attended meetings when digress
had been the cause of their assembling ; andp now for
some facts illustrative of the working
oforn the
rotective
when 4
system. In 1822,aPr was
most stringent, he would read them one
line of what took place at a meeting held in the
county of Kent, in consequence of unusual distress,
and they prayed for a change in th 3 law.—
(Hear,
hear.) And yet this waa in the very height of pro-