The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-28 00:00:00

less than Sir R. Peel declared the farmers of
this country could grow it for—(deer, hear)—
barley 15s. less ; oats 10s. less ; butter half the
price for which it can be produced ; meat, 2s. a
stone less than what it can be fed for.—(Hear, hear.)
Timber is half the price it was under protection.
Berk is one third the price. Willows (and I believe
you grow willows here) are half price—(Hear, hear)
—and I heard your Member, Mr. Monckton Milnes,
in the House of Commons, make a most eloquent
speech in defence of protection. He said that about
half his constituency would he ruined if the duty
were taken off foreign willows.—(Hear, hear,
laughter, and an exclamation of "He is a great
grower of willows.") But what has been the result
of free trade in cattle ? Tens of thou4ands of far-
mers in Great Britain and Ireland have almost been
ruined by disease being introduced amongst their
cattle.—(Hear, hear.) But amidst all this misery
and suffering, what are the farmers told ?—(Hear,
hear.) We are told, as Mr. Jefferson says, that we
are only in a state of transition. Transition ! Where
to ? From our green fields to the back settlements
of America ; from our comfortable homesteads to the
union workhouse; from full purses to empty purses;
from a state of prosperity to ruin.—(Hear, hear.)
And now, gentlemen, what is our present position ?
Parliainent has been sitting two months. It has
decided by a majority of 119 that the corn laws
shall not be re-enacted. I am not surprised at it,
for it was a free-trade Parliament ; but !let us
see another general electiou, and then we will
find whether the corn-laws are to be re-enacted or
no.—(Hear, hear, and loud applause.)—Parliament
has decided by a narrow majority of 21 that the agri-
culturists burdens shall not be reduced. Well, it is
high time for us to look to it, and we are assembled
here to-day to do it. I will show you how to do it.
We have opposed to us the Lancashire cotton-spin-
ners, who are known as the Manchester school. They
have a number of hired agitators—Cobden received
his three guineas a day and travelling expenses—
(Hear, hear, and laughter)—who have gone through
the country, and are prepared to go through it again,
to stir up a had feeling amongst the different classes
of this country against each other.—(Hear, hear.)
We have a Whig Government opposed to us at pre-
sent; but, mark my words, that if the country speaks
out, and most unmistakeably, so as to convince Lord
John Russell that he is backed by the feeling of this
country—not looking upon;the manufacturing districts
of Lancashire and Yorkshire as the whole of Great
Britain and Ireland—backed by the general voice of
this country, he is prepared to re-impose a duty upon
foreign corn.—(Applause, and an exclamation of "No
doubt of it.") Then we have Sir R. Peel, who tells
us that he feels deep sympathy for the agriculturists,
and he lays his hand upon his heart in the House of
Commons when he says so.—(Laughter.) He says he
hopes never to live to see protection restored. I tell you
that his life is in your hands if you choose. If you
will follow the advice, farmers of Great Britain and
Ireland, which I shall give to you, in two years you
will see protection restored.—(Cheers.) Mr. Cobden,
in his speech at Leeds in December last, said that if
the farmers and the landed proprietors of this country
attempted to get up petitions or address Parliament
and the Queen in favour of the restoration of protec-
tion, he would take up his abode in Yorkshire, stir up
a rebellion, and make the farmers and landed pro-
prietors compound for their existence.—(A. Voice—
" Let him try it.") That is plain language, and was
used at Leeds, within a stone's throw of the place
where lam now addressing you. Now, I am going
to take him at his word, and 'sill see if we cannot make
the cotton lords compound for their existence. Let
us see who the people are in this country that Cobden
says he'll make compound for their existence.—
(Hear, hear.) Ah !he is something like a tomtit on
a church steeple.—(Applause and much laughter.)
Why, the man must be mad. There are 200,000
landed proprietors ; and, let me tell you, that above
50,000 of these 200,000 landed proprietors possess less
than 30 acres of land, each of them.—(Hear, hear.)
Now, this is a body of men that are to compound for
their existence—not the rich aristocracy. There are
700,000 farmers, who, two years ago, possessed a
capital of 250,000,000/.—(Hear, hear.) I should
like to see the cotton lords of Lancashire weighed up.

I will stake my existence that three •fourths of them
could not pay ss. in the pound.—(Hear.) I know
that is a fact. Mr. Bright said the other day that
the great majority of the cotton-spinners had been
labouring men. (Hear, hear.) That shows how
rapidly they can make money by spinning cotton.
Now, the farmers of Great Britain have 3,000,000 of
labourers regularly employed under them, receiving
daily wages from the farmers. You have besides that
every profession and trade resident in the whole of
the agricultural districts. Now, let me ask you who
the people are that are going to make us compound
for our existence ? I tell you there are those 600
cotton-spinners, and Cobden at their head ; a few
more hired agitators—the man who "has whistled a'
the plough," who was whistled out of the army with
a cat-o'-nine-tails at his back ; you have some twenty
political parsons that would side with them because
they hate the institutions of the country—they want
to down with the church and uproot the monarchy.
--(Hear, hear.) Mr. Bright at Manchester one day
had the audacity to say that a republic would be as
beneficial here as in America, and then he talked
about the cheapness of it. Why, Lord John Russell
talked about low prices, and he said, "It seems to me
that low prices are introducing low views." Yes, and
he might have added, " low practices, low principles,
and low men into power."—(Hear, hear.) Now,
lam going to give you some advice ; and if the
landed proprietors, farmers, and labourers, and pro-
fessions and trades depending upon them, will adopt
the advice that I am now going to give, it is my firm
belief that protection will be restored in less than two
years, and the cotton lords, and I believe Mr. Cobden
himself, will petition for it to he restored. Now, far-
mers, and men of the Pontefract polling district, I
advise you to convene a meeting in this town of all
the landlords, clergy, freeholders, barristers, attor-
neys, physicians, surgeons, bankers, land surveyors,
wine merchants, spirit merchants, innkeepers, beer
sellers, builders, joiners, masons, mercers, linendra-
pers, tailors, butchers, bakers, grocers, druggists ve-
terinary surgeons, lime burners, saddlers, wheel-
wrights, cabinet makers, carpenters, ironmongers,
b'acksmiths, nailmakers, tinners, farm implement
makers, corn-millers, tanners, shoemakers, horse
breakers, horse dealers, cattle dealers, seedsmen, gard-
eners, clock and watchmakers, glaziers, plumbers, bri
makers, tilemakers, hatters, bonnetmakers, glover-,
dressmakers, basketmakers, ropemakers, farm la-
bourers, and every person depending upon agricul-
ture. When assembled, tell them that they are de-
pendent upon you and your capital, upon your in-
dustry, upon the land you till—(Hear hear)—for all
their comforts, their prosperity, and advantages wi ieh
they enjoy—(Hear, hear, and applause)—that your
ruin will speedily fall upon their heads ; that you
must all stand together or together fall; that you all
swim in the same boat ; and that you are determined
that every trade or profession shall stand by you, and
that you are going to form a Wool League. Now,
then, farmers, there's more in that short proposition
than you are aware of. Let the farmers of Great
Britain and Ireland enter into a wool league, and vow
they will never again wear cotton if they can be
provided with woollen or linen goods, and in two
years the cotton• spinners of Lancashire will com-
pound.—(Loud cheers.) Yea, and notwithstanding
Mr. Cobden said he would make us compound for our
property and for our existence, I for one will pledge
myself here—let it be taken up throughout Great
Britain and Ireland—that cotton will be kept in
America—let wool be kept in England.—(Loud
cheers.) Who will you have to back you ? The
South Down breeders of the south, the Highland
breeders in Scotland ; but, alas ! from the consequences
of free trade 150,000 poor Highlanders are now starv-
ing to death. Wales will come with you heart and
hand, with all her mighty mountaineers ; you will have
every sheep-breeder throughout Great Britain and
Ireland crying, " Hail, fellows, well met, but we are
now striking home !—(Loud cheers.) And, further,
you will have the woollen-manufacturers of the West
Riding themselves—they will cease to mix their nasty
cotton with their wool—they will have no occasion to
consume a million and a quarter of wheat in daubing
their nasty calico.—(Hear, hear.) And let me say
one word for the woollen manufacturers of Yorkshire.
They have never joined those Lancashire cotton lords
in their virulent and infamous attacks upon the landed
interest of this country.—(Hear, hear.) They are a
noble race of men, take them all in all, ever ready to
hold out the hand of hospitality and friendship to the
landed interest, ever ready to subscribe to the insti-
tutions of the country, charitable as well as loyal,
whose motto, like ours, is "live and let live," and who
blushed with shame when they saw men engaged in
the trade of England so degrading themselves as to
subscribe money to send such foul-mouthed libellers
as Cobden to Parliament.—(Hear, hear, and ap-
plause.) But I may be told that the wool of this
country will not produce all the articles requisite for
the clothing of the people. It may not, but still if
necessity arises we can fall back upon /lax and
linen. The linen trade of Ireland alone—that is the
linen and the oilcake trade—require 6,000,0001. of
capital to keep it in a state of existence. It requires
1,500,000 acres of land to produce the flax that is uow
consumed in Ireland alone ; and, far God's sake, let
us see if we cannot hold out the right hand of good-
,' will to the Irish people, to enable thol to keep their