The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-30 00:00:00

FREE TRADE INVESTMENT
ASSOCIATION.

Xpublic meeting of the Association, fOr the purpose of having
the principles and the advantages .of the society explained,
was held, at seven o'clock on Triutisday evening, at the London
►lechanics' Institution, Southampton-buildings, Holborn.
Present—Colonel Thompson, George Thompson, Esq.;
Richard Potter. Esq. ; Sidney Smith, Esq., and several othei
gentlemen.

On the motion of Mr. S. SMITH,
R. POTTER, Esq., was called to the chair, who, having
taken it, said that the best way of introducing the object for
which they had met would be by calling on Mr: Sidney
Smith to read the prospectus, and to explain the principles
and nature of the Association.

Mr. &urn, on coming forward, said, as it was a meet-
ing necessarily fur business, he thought it best to
enter upon business at once. There were one or two
great social, objects which in a state of society highly ad-
vanced in civilisation, it became most impotent to
introduce and cultivate, as far as it was possible. The first
was, that in a dense population habits of frugality ought to
be formed, and the means and the opportunity given of
turning their savings to -some important account. The
second arose out of the condition of modern society, very
different as that was from what had existed in ancient times.
Civilisation was not now what it had been in great states.
The greatest of these consisted of only one or two cities, with
a comparatively small population ; and a single town, in
some instances, constituted an empire. But they had a
large surrounding territory at the same time that the popu-
lation to occupy and cultivate it was but small. Hence
they heard of the distribution of lands which was made to the
Roman soldiers, and of the parcels of territory which were
possessed by the citizens of Athens. That circumstance
affected them beneficially. Their having a part of the real
property of the country in their possession created in them
an interest in the well-being and the prosperity of the state,
and in the protection of the peace and the institutions of the
country., Since those days things were greatly altered—in-
stead of four or five millions, the subjects of as empire were
now become 40 or 50 millions, and instead of possessions of
land, the vast majority of the subjects were found without
those things which it was most necessary and most desirable
for them to have. Now the land was monopolised by a small
minority, and the mass of the people had no interest, no pro-
perty, in the soil of the country.—(Great cheering.) It wee
the necessary consequence of this, that they had proportionably
less interest in the country 'e well-being and Prosperity, in
protecting her institutions, or in advancing the civilisation
and the social happiness of the community, than they would
have had under a system more just and equitable, which
gave the subject part in the property to be protected and
improved. Let them take, fur instance, France. They
found there, previous to the first revolution, the land mo-
nopolised by a very few—the nobles in uncontrolled Posses-
sion of the whole—the people without any interest in the
institutions of the country, and with nothing to protect—
and they found that the revolution which followed was ore
of the bloodiest which ever desolated any country, The
cause of the character of that revolution was
,dr.,coVered to
be that the people had no property hi stake. The
first thing they did was to abolish the ,aws of primogeniture
and entail.—(Cheers.) What had been the effect of that?
In the course of forty years the land in France, from being
possessed by three hundred thousand, passed into
the hands of from five to six millions; there was hardly
a father of a family there without a property in
acres. The second revolution showed the effect of those
altered circumstances on the popular mind. Property
was then respected, human life was sacred, not a drop of
blood was spilt, the ledges never stopped from giving their
awards, no effect was produced on the country except the
change in the dynasty, by which the whole was conducted.—
(Cheers.) This exhibits to demonstration the advantages
issuing from the people having a property in the
soil. England is behuld France.—(Cries of " Hear,
hear.") John Bell had a very bad custom of
despising " Johnnie Macraw"—(Laughter)—as he called
the Frenchman, but he had to learn from him a sound lesson.
Out of thirty-four millions of inhabitants, there were six
millions of proprietors, who tilled the laud with their own
hands, and ate the breach of industry; and who, while they
were coecerneci in 'providing for the comfort of their fami-
lies, felt themsetves bound up with the best inte-
rests :of society at large. The contrast which
Britain presented to what was broad and striking. There
were 216,000 inhabitants to the. square mile, and in some
cases one proprietor Owned the whole county.—(Hear, hear.)
Indeed fortyanae fiftieths of the people were without pro-
perty in the soil, and therefore without interest in the pro-
tection of the country. Yet, this being the case, such %Tag
the law, as that had been effected by the Reform
Bill even, that there oottki be influence possessed over
the representation, or the education. hr the legislation of
the ()wary, but by the Pess'.'lsion of so many bricks.—
(Shame.) By the men Which the Association proposed
use, they holes to make a great increase in the eketeral
votes., buch an increase it\ the borough and eljunty votes
as would sweep altogether the arist:bcracy from the
face of the country.—(Hear. bear.) They , could not
promise to the publie the abolition of the laws of promo-
geniture or entail' but the Association oars results perhaps
equally good, and by means which he would proceed to ex-
plain. He said, some might be astonished, when first they
meddled with property, to hear that a house might
be got at a fifteen years' purchase ; and others
might say that that would be no great advan-
tage, unless a tenant could be insured; for if the
purchase were of land they could turn up the soil and make
something of it in the absence of a tenant. The way to in-
sure a tenancy was for every one to become his own tenant,
besides the disadvantage escaped of paying an exorbitant
rent to another landlord. Why, a man went on paying at
the rate of 201. a year, which would amount to
2001. a year, and after that time he mug'
on still paying the same amount of' rero
(Hear,go
hear)—whereas he meant to propose a P''
the man might pay the 2001. —ueme by which
house would become his own. at once, and the
sum borrowed in any ays- ...saving him to pay back the
the rent he wee ~ which would be as easy as paying
confessed wont to give to the landlord. He
the was sceptical of the trustworthiness of
~istem which proposed this, when it was first
mentioned to him, bat, after subjecting the whole
to the most vigorous test of arithmetic, and having had the
testimony of others in favour of it, who with experience
joined acumen, he was satisfied that it was a workable
scheme, which might be safely commended to the public.
After some further remarks, Mr. Smith said there had been
delivered that day in the Common Pleas a very re-
markable judgment intimately affecting the course of the
League.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") It bore upon
the Splitting Act, an Act under which it was contended that
the splitting of property into 4es. freeholds, in order to give a
vote, was il.egal. There was some fear that the League might
after all be out-generalled.iln delivering his judgment, Chief
Justice Tindal declared that the course pursued by the
League was perfectly legal—(Great cheering)—that he con-
ceived that course in accordance with the Reform Bill, which
intended that the franchise should be extended as far as possible
to the people, and that he could not conceive anything more
commendable than the purchase of property in order to have
a voice in the affairs of the country.—(Cheers.) Mr. Smith
said that the calculation on which the Association was
founded was, that by the end of ten, or say at the outide
twelve years, every person paying 10s. per month would realise
1201.—( Hear, hear.) Many, might be able to do so out of
the odd sixpences which they spent no one knew how. The
inducement offered by the Association to lenders, as those
might be called, was beyond that held out by savings'
banks, which only gave 3 1-3 per cent., they gave
five per cent. As to borrowers, he said one ad-
vantage offered was, that the sum might be
paid back by small iestalments. If a man
wished to borrow 601., he might take a share for 60/. ; he
would, in that case, pay ten shillings a month towards liqui-
dating the principal, and four shillings additional for interest.
After mentioning these particulars, Mr. Smith proceeded to
speak on the advantages which were thus offered, and espe-
cially to those ,who wished to benefit their country by the
riddance of great evils. He then resumed his seat amid great
cheering. _ _

The -CHAIRMAN begged just to say, before calling
on Mr., Thompson, that in societies analogous to
the Free-trade Investment Association, such as friendly
societies, Odd Fellows' clubs, &c., there was great
uncertainty whether their affairs were in trustworthy
hands—a difficulty which was very unlikely to
impede any from joining that Association, where the
leading men were so well known to the country. He
quoted also from a book recently given to the world
by Mr. Neeson, bearing on such societies, in which he had
proved, from statistics, collected by the Statistical Society of
England, from the friendly societies in Scotland, that these
societies were unlikely to last twenty years, for by that time
those who had formed them would have become old, and the
money paid in would not be sufficient to meet the expendi-
ture which would then be necessary. ,
The CHAIRMAN then called upon
Mr. GEORGE THoMPSON, who said he was thankful that,.
in that meeting, and in future meetings connected with the
affairs of that Society, he would not be excluded, or rather
precluded, from addressing many who would have a share
in the affairs of the country by the extension of the franchise,
and that he would have every opportunity of addressing
them on those interests which had led them to connect them-
selves with that Society. There were other besides poli-
tical inducements for joining that Association. No man could
connect himself with it without being a better man for so
doing, for he would be compelled to adopt habits of temper-
ance and frugality. They would discover by assocHawn
what they had been loag in discovering—the might of
social power. It was that which had constructed their rail-
ways—which had raised their clubs—which, in connexion
with
moral and pecuniary power, seemed almost omnipotent.
—( Hear, hear.) For himself, he was induced to join that
Association by other considerations. He had long wished
the extension of the franchise—he had long sympathised with
his unenfranchised brethren—but he never sympathised with
those who feared that power when it should be put into the
handa of the people at large. They had discovered the
means by which they might lift their friends to their true
position in society; and the way to do so was by patting
themselves first in possession of the right. Thereby they would
be made better men, and for the advantage they would
have no one to thank but themselves—the attainment of
the right, and the position they would gain would be in 'vir-
tue of their own act. lie was a free-trader; they were a free-
trade Association; there was no need to disguise it—it might
be published through all the world.. He wished for an as-
sociation of thirty, or forty, or fifty thousand men, the majo-
rity of whom, by having availed themselves
_ of that so-
ciety, would become part and parcel of the country, and
have a share in sending a representative to the Commons
House of Parliament. He spoke as a free-trader. Had they
been dreaming, or were they dreaming? Was it what they
had been hearing merely, within the last few days, or was it
matter of history, that Sir Robert Peel had come down to
the House of Commons, and, in a speech of three hours and
twenty minutes' length, had proposed a measure in respect
to free trade? He did not know whether his Honourable
Friend (Colonel Thompson) believed it to be true. He (Mr.
G. Thompson) believed it, and he believed what he had heard
that day, that the Tories had laid their heads together to
carry the immediate and total repeal of the corn-laws, rather
than that the Anti-Corn-lays Leage should go on creat-
ing votes, dispossessing a Noble Lord here and an Earl
there, hereditary representatives rather than. that
system of dispossession and possession should go on,
and they should be asked to give up also what they
valued above all—their political power.—(Cheers and
laughter.) He was told that day that a Gallant Duke—
(Hear, hear)—whe had given in his adhesion to the repeal
of the corn-laws, but who volunteers, like a soldier to do
his duty to his Sovereign, found himself reduced to this
single argument in favour of a repeal of the corn-laws when
he laid hold of this Noble Duke and that Noble Marquis, to
solicit their votes.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) "It is
better, said the Duke, to be wise in time, if you have a mind
to keep Marlborough, or if you wish to retain such another
eonety ; for the people will grow in power and in their de-
mands, and they will not be satisfied with the repeal of the
corn-laws."—(Great laughter, and cheers.) Hence they had
the phenomenon of Sir Robert Peel becoming a free-trader.
He (Mr. Thompson) was not ashamed to say he read a
venerable book, the Bible. He was reading in it the otherra
day the history of Israel while they were on the
to curse
of Moab, when Balaak, the King. sent for t
Sir
_Kn.'Peel and
the people. He could not help thinking
°faSnittfacturers and
the agricultural Moabites.--4 a
artisans, like the Israe/ites,..hkaldaub-ech.LlTah 1
might} in the lands
MA WI thtrtfOrel
t 'P
a meetieg of the elders and chief men