The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-09 00:00:00

_
•
I
4t42,2 CON

I

last he was turned out to get work ; and, because be went
out of the district to find work, he was taken before the.
magistrates, and charged with desertion, for whit he
was sent to prison for a month. It was or him
to grumble ; he was served so again after that. God
bless my heart and life I (exclaimed this man) " I never
seed sich agoto be sure as how I was served. I knows
enough of starvation and misery to make me say, God
send us free trade 1' "—(Cheers.)
The resolution was then put, and unanimously
agreed to.
Mr. COLE said that he had no idea until he got on the
platform that there were half so many persons present,
neither could he have believed that in a district where
there were comparatively few houses, so large a number
would congregate together after the toils of the day,
many of them coming from a considerable distance. But
it went to prove that hunger, the cause of a dissatisfied
mind, would drive people to do many unusual things, and
make them submit to serious inconveniences.--(Hear,
hear.) lie believed the time had nearly arrived when
the atrocious corn-laws would be blotted out of the
statute-book.--(Cheers.) Lord J. Russell, a nobleman
who enjoyed the confidence of his Sovereign, had de
clared that those laws were not only the blight of com-
merce, and the bane of agriculture, but the cause of
penury, death, and crime among the people.—(Hear,
hear.) Could such laws, then, be permitted to remain in
a country like this ?—(Cries of " No, no.") They were
morally repealed already.—(Cheers.) He was satisfied
that Sir Robert Peel or Lord John Russell must repeal
the corn-laws. Would the protectionists move for a
Committee of inquiry into the truth of Lord J. Russell's
assertion ? No. They refused the self-same thing
last session.—(Hear.) Meetings like the presen
were certainly constitutional ; and he thought this one
would be gratifying to Lord John Russell, and even to
Sir Robert Peel, who was waiting for the people of this
country to press him on to repeal, for he knew, as well
as any man, the bad effects the corn-laws were producing.
The resolution he had to propose was, that petitions,
founded on the res elution already adopted, should be
prepared, and circulated throughout the district for sig-
nature, and then be presented to the House of Commons.
He was satisfied that a great moral and intellectual im-

provement had been produced among the working classes
by the exertions of those gentlemen who had agitated
this question, and diffused information upon it. Who
would have supposed that such a meeting as this could
have been collected, and would, as he had no doubt,
quietly disperse ? The League had taught the people
that everything was to be gained, not by physical, but
by moral force.—(Hear, hear.) They now knew where
their strength lay.—(Hear, hear) He hoped the young
men present would devote their leisure- hours to self-
improvement, and read and reflect upon the history and
laws of their country ; in that way they would learn
what were their rights, and how properly to secure
them. He did not believe that the farmers were to be
blamed for low wages ; much depended on the demand
for, and supply of, labour. Neither did he believe that
any one would suffer from the repeal of the corn-laws.
Instead of land going out of cultivation, he thought that
the reverse would be the case. There would not be so
large a stock of rabbits and hares kept on the land. A
protectionist, not ten miles from that spot, bad so many
hares on his land, that they actually consumed more
of the wheat crop than the whole of he families of
farmers and labourers.—(Hear, hear.) There was
some talk of having a county meeting ; should one
take place, let the labourers go and show the protec-
tionists that they were really desirous that those laws,
which bad produced so much mischief and misery, should
be repealed.—Xheers.)
Mr. EDWARDS, in seconding the motion, said he be-
lieved that Sir Robert Peel was inclined to do justice to
the working people of this country ; but it mattered not
to them, as working people, whether a Whig or Tory
held the reins of Government, so long as they were well
fed and clothed.—(A voice—" And no curry powder.")
And no curry powder.—(Laughter and cheers.)
The motion was then agreed to, as also one of thanks
to the public press—that portion of it which advocated
the rights of the people.
The CRAIRMAN—In closing this meeting, my fellow-
labourers, I wish you to take notice of two things.
First, you have heard these poor labourers state their
distress ; but we don't wish to insinuate to you that you
are to rebel against the law that is now in existence.—
(Hear, hear.) In the next place, we don't wish to insi-
nuate to you that you are to neglect your employment
—(Cries of "No, no.") You are to follow your work
with honesty, integrity, and uprightness.—(Hear, hear.)
You will do all you can to please your masters, and live
up to the law that is now in existence as far as you can,
and do it for conscience sake.— (Hear, hear.) For you
may depend upon it that the very moment you break
the law, the very moment you neglect your masters' em-
ployment, you put a weapon into their hands with which
to wound yourselves.—(Hear, hear.) Recollect that a
few years ago the mob rose in Ramsbury and other
places, and took the wrong step. They destroyed peo-
ple's property, and demaned their money, instead of
acting legally, and petitioning the Sovereign and the
Government. Had they done so, no doubt they would
have been heard. But not doing so, they put a wea-
pon into the hands of the monopolists, and the monopo-
lists rode about the country, and hauled them away to
prison, and rejoiced that they had got them just where
they would have them.—(Hear, hear, and cries of " We
know better now.")
Three cheers were then given for free trade, and for
Cobden and Bright, after which the meeting quietly dis-
persed, breaking into as many separate parties as there
were roads ; some of them had long journeys to make
before they could reach home.
Some letters from labourers were forwarded to the
chairman, amongst which were the following, which we
verbatimgive Pt

" Sir,—l take the liberty of addressing myself to you,
as it is not convenent for me to atei,d your meeting,
ineurly to inform of my distress, with is verry Great. I
ashure you I have four children to maintain and not A
potato for my use, my house rent verry high, wich maks
it impossable to get bread Enough half my time for them
I ham the Father of six Childern, one died A natural
deth, and one Burnt to deth A Month Ago, in all these
troubles and aflie,ticms 1 have not had the lest assistance
from any one. my Children are all so young that my
Wife cannot earn anything, therefore I will leave you
to Judge my case. I will further add there is but few that
would not attend youre meeting, if they dare. the poor
are under that Bondage wich makes them afraid to make
thair distress known, if they did thay would be dis-
charged from thair work and turned out of doors. God
grunt that these Petitions might be herd.
" your Aflicted and humbel Servent."
" December 31, 1845.
-

" Gentel men, as it is not Convenant for me two a tend
your meeting. I mires myself two your notice in the fol-
lowing re marks of the distress of the farm labores
are in the present time ; in the first place I will state the
Case of the men that have a wife and two Children onley,
as most pepel say, that these men cannot be bad of, but
see the case, all the peepel knows that the wages in Wil-
shear is Bs. per week, and when the Master has% taken 4s.
per month for rent, there is but 7s. per wick for two,
provide food for the four peepel, and there is 7 days in the
week that is Is. a day, that 3d. each pirson, and as all
have a little food 3 times a day, that is Id. for Each meal,
and now we se what can be bought for the ls. We give
7d for a tour pound lofe, and so we see that there is 6
pound of Bred and 3 half pence for butter for the four,
that is a pound and half each a day. And now, if Igo
where there is 4 children that brings it two one pound of
bread a day for Each person, and one farthing for each
for butter, and if we go where there is 6 Children, that
brings it two 3 quarters of a pound of bread a day for
each, and three half pence for butter for 8 peopel ; and
now if this was stated before the masters of the labores,
they would ask me what I should do with the
_Erxter
Ernings in the summer a mowing andhow'ng, d
atnakeseelP:
ing, my answer two this is, that thendffire-place
house
30 years Ex-•
per week, that is 21. 12s. a yeatr,
the
perence, I well know twoikeaepdh h sopbe, candela,
aired, and wosted, neede s, n pins, Bruins a rtists two
keep the houseclean, thattakes s. per week more, that
is 21. 12s. more, and the man have a pare of shoes a year,
that is 125., and the wife a pear, that is Bs. more, and 2
children a pear each, at ss. each, that is 10s
more,' and
pe
we rent a lettel Land of our masters at 8
pence e per pool,
and we have aboute 30 poles, and
takes
more a year and two keep
all kinds of two
a pound i n
repair—that takes 10s. a
year more. So now to sum
up all the
s. d.
household arteckles, that is the firing 212 0
Candela, sope, and the other arteckles
The four pare of shoes, that is
All kinds of tools, that fa 0 10 0
30 pole of Land, at Bd. pole, that is

LS 4 0
and there is no more than 4 month two Earn this sum
in, and where is the man that takes L 2 9s. Od a month
for 4 month. I Dont know the Man. And the failure in
the potato crop makes it a great deal worse than it was
12 month ago, and the deterance in the price of bread
makes in the above named lamely 2s. a week and have
but one shelen to pay it with, and I cannot add no
more at present. " Your humbel servant,
" A LABORER."