The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-21 00:00:00

this country at one time petitioned that the o'7
leading to this metropolis might not be inlPrelt
because it would lessen the value of land; and
yes
the roads had been improved, and with inerlo,
facilities of communication the value of land hauthe
creased.—(Hear, hear.) At the last election;
tenant-farmers cried out "No surrender oldie co.ru_s
laws," and, under the influence of the landlords, Wei
t
returned a monopoliA House of Commons.; bu .the"
believed that no set of men were ever so deceived
farmers had been six months after the passing of
last Corn Bill and tariff. If those electors could eler:s
helieL;
cise their independent and free voice, he firndY
that 99 out of every 100 of them would dismiss
Robert Peel as a bad doctor, and call in another
rs;)
more skilful physician.— (Laughter and cheelos
Yet the very men who had confessed thereseund
deceived on this question were now rallying yari.,
the professed farmers' friends, in the shape .ef °owe
cultural Protection Societies.—(Hear.) 14'or his ties
part he rejoiced in the formation of these sole ow
because he believed that their opponents must %Is
either discuss the question, or confess thenase,'
beaten.—Hear, hear.) Discussion would tena,,,,,
elicit the( very same information which would rata
been elicited by the Committee of their friend Itiellsr,
Cobden, had that Committee been granted.----e„,0..
hear.) In the debate which took place upon "1;0
tion, an Hon. Member stated that a Mr. Dal I,
been somewhere and shattered the arguments °Viol
Anti-Corn-law League. He hoped these Protec.
Societies woul4. let in upon their dark minds the hit;
of day. He confessed, however he had some dee •
as to their ability to do so. A few weeks sgs°ll,
county meeting was called in Somersetshire; ,
though not living in that county, he attendeat
order that he might pick up some information;
more triumphant refutation of the principles et Pd
tection he had never heard than at that meeting; se
more triumphant decision in favour of free trade .111,
never made. A few days after a Protection Seelre4
was established in Bristol. From the advertiselnol
calling a meeting for that purpose, he, and siejoiit
brother farmers considered that every agrien;:f4s; -
had a right to attend and take part in the
sion. On applying to the chairman, 1100_4
they soon found that such was not the
—(Laughter.) Had the question been r fity
cussed, he had no doubt that the niktite
c
of those present would have determined to ivoir,..:
a society for the protection of agriculture, inuteel
nexion with the Anti-Corn-law League.—(Laug„7„,.A.
With reference to this meeting, the Lul-fig. .
lane Express boasted of fife attendance of 6uvroej,
mers, in a room which, however it might be erlnnhtes:).
would literally hold no morethan 200.--(LOP • b
While, therefore, he rejoiced in the discussion u'°
would be elicited by means of these Societies, he tie
say, that he thought they themselves were but
„pr,
inclined to it.—(Hear, hear.) Had the time roe,
mitted, he would have noticed at :some ,length es
arguments brought forward in reference to the 'Toe
imposed on agriculturists. He would notice 0111),Ta
point. He did not believe that the farmers Pt/lose
inordinate or unfair proportion of the
(Cries of " Hear, hear.")- What w tas
ould be the ne
of the remission of a certain portion of the talohlig
Landlords knew very well that they could
reasonably expect their rents from the surplus, I'oo.
the farmer produced after the expense of allys if.
and his own maintenance , had been provided for. oj.,
a riding-horse or a shepherd's dog were Wanted me
a tax was pai lon this account, this tax must • t•"
out of the rent, and the landlords very wisellf:degt.
ted the taxes upon riding-horses and shephemjtiSce
knowing that, in point of fact, this would be sobeso
augmentation of their own rent.—(Heart
vris
From what he had said they would see that he toe
opposed to the corn-laws even from intereste,oo
tives, setting apart any higher motive.-Viontse
hear.) But he was also opposed- to thew .010/
he believed them to be immoral and imeqtfded
laws. He believed they were immoral, as recese
the labouring population; he believed theYhe es.
inequitable, because they were maintained at toot,
pease of the many for the benefit of the few.--1 this•
hear.) Rather than live on the wages of the I°oo ,
trious himself, he would doff his coat and go tLetf
to-morrow.—(Hear, hear.) The religious
with which he was connected interfered bat
ofebt
comparatively speaking, with politics. thdeeli
this subject ought to be discussed calmly and s 0011
rately, apart from politics. His creed was j3o_,
t 1
religious, and commercial equality."—(Cheol'iwtati?,
while he disclaimed any political feeling;
candidly avow that he advocated a rer wer• e
these laws from a belief that they .ittotis
injurious to his own interests, that they were Iniitist.,
to the poor, and also that they were decided!! ;ow
He wished' his brother farmers call-lily-nog bel
rately to inquire into the effect of these laws; °tie
hoped that the Anti-Corn-law League would °cis•?
lax in its endeavours to enlighten their taie-001
(Chees ) If they could only employ a few .e,
practical tenant-farmers as lecturers, he
they would do an amount of good, and fu
rtUe' ._
osto
cause of free trade. The minds of the &rivet"' t° be
already alive on this subject. He had reason sfi
lieve that the effect of the county ineeti4to
Gloucester had been entirely to change
opinions of many tenant-farmers, Who is•
before opposed to the repeal of the cornieige,
The principal element of real power was knolviiise.t7
Let the farmers become enlightened on this suuthe4
and then he would only ask them to do whai;sos,
consciences dictated. He would ask them to till
freemen in every sense of the word, and he,,,,,,001,1
say to them, " Remember that he only is
whom knowledge on this question makes free,
Mr. COBDEN then came forward to addrrfioro
meeting, and was received with the most. "cis :It
applause, which was continued for upwards -0; Ji°,
nute. After the cheering hail subsided, he n:asek
thought they would now be at no loss to understs'L inte
it was that he was refused a Committee to inclutwiireit
the condition of tenant-farmers and farrn-,Yl`Althe°_A
—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) He came here..%-si, arc
from that other Assembly, as a court of aPr.Aite.,
these were his two first witnesses.—(Great wet
They had heard to-night two speakers 111/ theft
bona fide real, live farmers.—(Laughter.) 0100/
talents as speakers, they must judge for tilivol
He had had the opportunity of visiting the
et
one ; the other gentleman he had not t-pr
.0;
the pleasure of visiting. He had been
~ev,:d•ofe;
Lattimore'sTarm, at Whithampstead, in HertiT oat
and he challenged his brother farmers in that,
to say whether he was not correct in statht.taeP
Mr. Lattimore was one of the best practical
in Hertfordshire.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.)re,
more, he would undertake to say in his Pt on Al
that on his farm he produced in a tafr
average, one-third more than was produced Toole
land in his parish, while he employed 0015
many labourers as were employed on 91 eheerse.
upon the same surface of land.—(Lotes vijeohe,
Now, this.was but the beginning of the 11.00 tit
which they intended to lay before them' We),
mouths of practical agriculturists, as to the
vier.
which the corn-laws conferred upon their
(Hear, hear.) They had heard someinla bl7l
agricultural labourers. He wished they eeeotee',:,
a few of them there, and let them see the gores.,
of those best of home customers for rnanufeeb elfr,,
(Laughter.) Their friend Mr. Hunt had I;eldigt'",
that in the protection meetings which were jje L.
cussion was not allowed on this subject.
itioetiee-.
Cobden) had invited discussion at count," „„notiieit;
He had held 28 open meetings in as snanf:,
he had invited all corners, and he wits
find opponents. Mention had been maule°olc-e---
Day of Huntingdonshire ; and a Noble 3;0oin
Duke of Richmond—had stated, in his Plroa
House of Lords, that he (Mr. Cobden) had .40 °not
from Day at Huntingdon. Now, that - not t
one of the slips of his Grace, for he .fie di
Huntingdon. It was the only place which the olje ,
happen to go to—(Laughter)—and it wse tba into
place where they were out-numbered 11 ese_idlios
jority. But he did not mention this as snit rihoj
himself, for he could account for the de,cenflosionert"g-:
tingdon on another hypothesis. Hun":''''
always been a little behind the other countleosoonettr•
land. It was a curious historical fart
ittee %VP' et
with that country, that it was the last P Petra
they burned old women for witchcraft,;l3
laughter)—and it was a remarkable fact,
reit') eheuilio
true, that up to this day a sermon vvas,PAkeLe
Huntingdon, in fulfilment of a bequest le'; in Uri
charitable person, by a fellow of a eelleg Did n.
bridge, against witchcraft.—(Laughter.) iooln
thing' oth"
not think it would be a very charitable
v_
body would, in making their will, lea„! 12004
foundation to send one of these fellows•
College once again to preach against thF,Zonse ".;„,
—(Laughter.) He did not see much differ 5ti1r...) •
tween burning old women for witchcratly__r_ hey
ing old women and little children.—(lnfiteonle
But whilst on the subject of the Duke tot I,fo,
high authority, Mr. Day, he might inellitly_iro?
protectionists had been very industriouLcen,
a pamphlet written by Air. Day; "41,'" -wish
industry, and very great ingenuity —he
could say with as much truth and utinssel",,
which this worthy gentleman had giros
all their speeches for the last five years. . anstrlior
slight task—he gave him credit for his
(Laughter) —but of that heap of I;_tly 011c.,,,e"
he must confess that they ha timege
a great deal of nonsense in Past tod efer.Tof
out of that heap of rubbish he had coliee
thing he could find that was in the least collet
being recorded ; and, by ingenioUsly transPesrO
tences and suppressing dates, he had manag_et:,.,,Alt7e
often a totally different meaning to what we t'4o
intended. He would not give them more_
instance. He wanted to prove his (Mr.
inconsistency. How did he do it ?
He • b
speech, in which he told the operatives of
and joss'
that they ought to have their land at one-bee
tiha
and he quoted another speech, in whielps• A
armers, ui Bedfordshire, that he did not tpw"