The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-21 00:00:00

sr

exist ?—(Clamour.) The amendment he intended to pro- • -•
pose was as follows :
1. That this meeting, whilst it is duly i
sensible of the
estimable blessings derived from the enjoyment of commet-
cial liberty, is still impressed with the belief that whatis, z
called free trade," to use the words of Mr. Clay, formerly '
President of the United States, is nothing more than a beau-
tiful vision, existing only in the imagination of' philosophers
and theorists, and practically repudiated by all nations, since
an indispensable condition to the adoption of it by one nation
is its adoption by all.
2. That in levying a tariff of duties, care should be taken
that all the great interests of the country, viz., agriculture,
manufacture, navigation, and the mechanic arts, should, as
far as may be practicable, derive equal advantage from the
incidental protection which a just system of revenue duties
may afford; making it a matter of extreme impOrtance to
understand distinctly what is meant by. a revenue standard,
both as regards its maximum or its minimum in respect of
amount; and also as to the mode in which such duties should
be levied, whether on the principle of a duty ad valorem, or
be taken in any other way.
- 3. That the terms " Protection to domestic industry" are
of popular import; but they should apply, under a just
system, to all the various branches of industry in the
country. Th t the farmer or planter, who toils yearly in his
fields, is engaged in "domestic industry," and is as much en-
titled to have his labour protected as the manufacturer, the
man of commerce, the navigator, or the mechanic, who are
engaged also in domestic industry in their different pursuits.
The joint labours of all these classses constitute the aggregate
of the domestic industry of the nation, and they are equally
entitled to the nation's protection. No one of them can
justly claim to be the exclusive recipients of protection,
which can only be afforded by increasing burdens on the
" domestic industry" of the others.
4. That whilst this meeting depends with confidence
upon the justice of Parliament for the maintenance of the
rights of the agricultural interests of this country, it cannot
contemplate with indifference the combinations of interested
individuals of vast money power, whose professed object is to
destroy the independence and control the free agency of Par-
liament, and whose leaders have given daring publicity to
their intentions to undermine and control the freedom of
election ; and that, such being the instruments by which the
agricultural interest is impugned, this meeting pledges itself
to oppose, by every legal and constitutional mode, such at-
tacks upon our most valued institutions, and to maintain
arm the
ou city
inviolate the freedom of election and the independence off
t , h
Parliament, not merely as regards the eastern and western
divisions of the county of Norfolk, but also as comprehend-
ingtande b
ocroouoigih
of
ff
King N o re,s' i cpy,
ntnh e a
nbdo rtolui
e g h
boroughof Great
of
Thetford, whose electoralprivileges may, either now orhere-
after,be brought to hazard by being subject to inroads of a
simiar character.
(The reference to " philosophers and theorists" in the amend-
ment was received with great laughter and clamour.) He
did not know whether by the forms of the meeting
he was
precluded from further discussion. He was perfectly satis-
fied to sit down with this declaration of his resolution. The
resolution which had been moved included the sugar duties,
the malt-tax, and everything. He was rejoiced to see Mr.
, Cobden, but regretted the absence of Mr. Bright. It was
impossible to view, without sentiments of the greatest indig-
nation, the excessive bitterness with which Mr. Bright ex-
pressed himself on every occasion.—(Clamour, and cries of
" Question," in the midst of which)
The MAYOR rose, and said it was the right of an English-
man to be heard, and the more readily they listened to Mr.
Wodehouse, the sooner would they hear Mr. Cobden again
in reply. If the interruption were persevered in he cer-
tainly would dissolve the meeting, and then they would hear
nothing.
Mr. WODETIOUSE said, he only asked the meeting to hear
him patiently for a single moment, till he called on them to
bear in mind that not a thousandth part of Mr. Cobden's
speech referred, in the slightest degree, to the resolution
which followed.—(Great clamour and laughter.)
Mr. A. HAMMOND, Westacre, said their representative, Mr.
Wodehouse, had been checked by noise ancrinterruption.—
(Cries of "No, no," and clamour.) Well, then, he had not
been checked by interruptions. He had been checked.—(Re-
newed clamour.) Mr. Hammond then proceeded to state
that he would answer Mr. Cobden himself ; but he would not
say anything hard of that gentleman. What were they to say
of the man who told them at one time that the landlord was
the only party to be affected by the repeal of the corn-laws,
while to-night he had said that the landlord would not suffer.
Mr. Cobden had said that the agriculturists had had too
much protection. He (Mr. Hammond) was ready to show
that they had too little. What had been the effect of the
reduction of protection in 1842? Had it not lowered prices
of wheat ss. or 10s. a comb 1 Mr. Cobden had referred to
the number of sales of farmers' stock in 1822. Now, he
( Mr. Hammond) wished the meeting to remembor what had
taken place at the time referred to. It was certainly most
improper and unjust to attribute the distress of that period
to the corn-laws. It was solely attributable to Peel's Cur-
rency Bill, which doubled the farmer's debt, while it left
him only half the means of paying it. For six years, ending
and including the year 1809, the total cash currency of the
country averaged 44 millions and some odd hundreds. The
average price of wheat during the same period was 803. 2d.
For seven years, ending and including the year 1825, the total
cash currency averaged 30 millions some odd hundreds, and
the price of wheat averaged 60s. For 12 years, ending and
including the year 1843, the total cash currency was 28
millions, and the average price of wheat was 525. Thij, he
maintained, was an evidence of the depressing effect of the
currency measure on the interests of the farmer. Mr.
Cobden had tried to prove that protection was of no
use to the farmer. He (Mr. Hammond) would main-
tain that it was of great use not only to the farmer, but to
every individual who works with his own hands.—(A voice,
" Prove it.") The free-traders have tried to charm the peo-
ple with the cry of cheap bread ; they had talked of the fig
loaf, and of the increased quantity of food in the country;
but they had always kept out of view that cheap food meant
low wages.--(Laughter, and cries of " No, no.") What they
meant was that they could not compete with the foreigners
because they eat cheaper bread than the people otthis coun-
try, and because wages were higher here than they were .
there, and God knew they were low enough here too. He
(Mr. Hammond) did not grudge Mr. Cobden the thousands
he had made by manufacture s, but he did abominate the
gross delusion which be pressed upon the minds of those
men out of whom he carved that money, that it was the
landlords of England who, by their attempt to keep up
the price of bread, deprived these men of food. This was
not the case. It merely deprived the manufacturers of a
certain portion of their profits.—(Hootings and laughter.)
What did that great League authority, Mr. Deacon llume,
say on this matter? In answer to a question put to him
by Mr.Villiers, when he was examined before a Committee
of the House of Commons, whether he contemplated placing
the working man of this country on the same footing as the
working men of other countries, Mr. Deacon Hume expli-
citly said, that he would place him on the same footing.
Well, what did Mr. Baring, another League authority, say on
the subject. He said, " I will not deny that the desire and
policy of the men engaged in trade, whatever may be said of
its inhumanity, is to screw down the rate of wages as low as
possible."—(Cries of " Question.") He saw that those re-
marks were not very palatable, so he would try another tack.
—(Laughter.) He would ask why should they believe why
should they trust a body of men bound together by the
strongest ties of interest to aggrandize themselves at the ex-
pense of the rest of the country ?—(Cries of "No, no," and
confusion.) Why, what had they done here? They had
come to " soft-sawder" the farmers, which, however, they had
most thoroughly failed in doing. They came to tell the far-
mers their business, when the fact was, that they did not
know the commonest part of the farmers' business. They
came there to describe the landlords as tyrants., who drove
their tenants to the poll like sheep. He (Mr. Hammond), as
a landlord, denied that altogether. He denied that any land-
lord in Norfolk dare coerce his tenantry.—(Cheers and
laughter.) Before concluding he wished to say a few words
about the use which Mr. Cobden would make of the present
meeting. He would say that he had been opposed by a few
booby country gentlemen—(Laughter)—but that he had
succeeded in convincing and persuading the great body
of the farmers of Norfolk that protection had been of no
benefit to them. He (Mr. Hammond) sincerely hoped .
that the farmers would that night show by their voices
that this was a fallacy. Mr. Cobden had said a hundred times
that he had all the farmers with him who had any
brains in their heads. He (Mr. Hammond) hoped that to-
night it would be shown that all the farmers who had brains
in their heads were in favour of protection.—(Laughter.)
He knew that they had many farmers with them who had
brains in their heads, who cultivated their lands,
iltvar who
em-
ployed their energies, who invested
land, belonging, che
spent their money upon improving.
thtehe not make such a
admitted, to another party; but did
hy
and laughter.)
safe by ?—(He,ar, ear,
bargain as they were
that had been uttered by Mr.
Was all the nonsense tropnd
to
one man, and a butcher
Cobden about letting. la
again?—(Cries of " Yes.") He
sheep over it ag
runningthat there were cases of
(Mr. Hammond) did not deny
injustice. He thought it was a case of injustice where a
man to sport
let his land to anotherover, and perhaps to
a gentleman from Manchester and Nottingham, who cared
for nothing but making a mercantile transaction of it—who
kept hares and rabbits, not for sporting, but to send to
market. This he did consider as a grievous injustice ; but,
fortunately, such cases were very few. Mr. Cobden
had de-
scribed the landlords as the most • unjust men on the face of
the earth, who not only took rents from their tenants, but
biassed their political principles. Now he (Mr. Hammond)
had canvassed the western division of Norfolk, not for him-
self, but for a friend, and he had had occasion to see the
screw applied much tighter by attorneys or money-scriveners
than ever he had seen it by landlords. Mr. Cobden also told
them that the League wished to increase the franchise. If
Mr. Cobden wished to increase the franchise in this country,
why did he not, in the House of Commons, bear witness to
his desire ? But the fact was, that he only wished to in-
crease the franchise for a particular purpose, and nothing
else. But he (Mr. Hammond) frankly said that he els-
approved of this interference with the representation of this
country altogether ; but ho no more disapproved of it than
he did of the interference of the Carlton and Reform Clubs.
He thought all interference bad. He begged to urge upon
the meeting not to be led away by the false statements of
Mr. Cobden—for false he maintained they were. He (Mr.
Hammond) admitted that he had failed to convince the meet-
ing' that his views were right. He was sorry to say that,
he had been weak in argument although strong in the
knowledge of what was right. He bad not the ability to ad-
dress them as he ought, but he begged the farmers to re-
member that, doing away with protection meant wheat at
30s. a quarter.—(Cries of "No 1" and shouts of laughter.)
It meant the lowest possible wages for all kinds of labour.
Mr. Cobden had taunted them that their labourers were only-
receiving Bs. per week. He (Mr. Hammond) employed a
great many labourers, and at this moment they were re-
ceiving 11s. a week ; moreover, they earned Si. 12s. 6d. in
harvest. Mr. Hammond concluded by urging the farmers
to continue to held together, and all this bobbery of the
League would come to nought.
Mr. BALL then came forward and begged to be allowed to
make a few observations. He denied that the coma
erg
1815 had been passed with a view of securing 80s. 9
alisingu the
for wheat, as Mr. Cobden had stated,
or tflue purpose of
price of wheat in any way, but rathero ,00inst
the risk of
giving protection to the British farmers
habundance as to beat
corn coming in from abroad in sucr
would be ruined by the
down the prices here till the gro
thweedepression which occurred
competition. With reference
totewbich Mr. Cobden had alluded,.
among the farmers in 182' , but to the fact, that im
that was owing, • not to the corn
lly ary
hest. Accordin
0000
1821 there was Lureuthat
yearabundant no fewer than 4,000,000
to Mr. Jacob, t were
of wheat above the average ; in addition to whicls
quarters
no 000 quarters imported from Ireland ; and It
there were 1,0
was owing to this excess of 5,000,000 quarters that prices were
,
beaten
down, and so many farmers ruined. The corn-href had
no tendency to produce this depression in price. Matters were
bad enough with the corn-law, but they would have been ten
times worse without it. They were told that there were vast
quantities of corn in America, and that if we only had free trade
we should have an abundant supply of corn from America,
and that she would take our commodities in return. Thik
sounded all very well in theory, but it would never do in prao,
Lice. One effect of the introduction of American corn wee,"
be, that it would sweep away all the milling property in tluis
country, for America would send flour in such vast qv ami-
ties, as he verily believed, would reduce the value of milling
property at least 50 per cent. ; so he advised everyb' ody who
had got mills to look to themselves before they advocated
free trade in corn. Hebelieved that Mr. Cobde• a would not
deny that the capital employed in mina was >` Sore than equal