The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-26 00:00:00

wairsome time before this great question was settled.
No period of distress or suffering should ever be per-
tained to recur again, equal to that which pressed upon
the manufacturing interests for the last five years. No
Ministry should ever be again allowed to place the
Manufacturers in the same state as they were during the
bad harvest two years ago. Knowing that numb,•rs had
tteen against them, that those numbers were increasing
while their opponents were diminishing, and that their
resources are now treble what they have been, the
League bid the people have hope, and take courage, for
they were every day coming nearer the termination of
this system. lie should conclude by introducing to the
meting the Hon. Mr. Bouverie.—(Great cheering.)
The Hon. AV. BOUVERIE came forward, and after the
applause had subsided, said, as this was his first appear-
ance on the London stage—(Laughter)—he should
request the indulgence of the meeting during his remarks upon
this occasion. He needed this indulgence the more because
amongst the gentlemen around him were many who had fought
long and boldly in the battle whilst he was but a young recruit,
who consequently handled his weapon without their power.
Still this was not the first time he had been amongst them. On
the late occasion at Salisbury they fought the common fight, and
though not enlisted under the banners of the League, yet he was
possessed of unity and determination of purpose. They had
been defeated on that occasion, and singularly enough they
were defeated by free trade. He was an advocate
for free •trade, but still he should dissent from
that species of free trade which allowed one nian to buy the vote
of another.—( Hear, hear, and laughter. ) But, in spite of this,
he rejoiced to think that the great cause of the League had
been making such a progress ever since. It had been going
on from month to month, from strength to strength, raining
greater power, influence, and weight. He rejoiced that the
associations and the counter-associations to the League had
been formed, and for this reason—the object they had in view
was to see truth asserted, and all they asked was in-
quiry—(Cheers)—they did not want to mince the
truth.—( Cheers.) The more the subject oas agitated the more
likely were the people to become converts.—( Cheers.) He
felt, however, bound to say that it appeared to him, as far as
he had heard the accounts of the meetings in opposition to the
League, that the gentlemen who formed those meetings had
not taken the best course to elicit the truth. He had read
several of their speeches, and the calumnies that had been
Uttered, the violent abuse that had been used, the choice Bil-
linsgate expressions that had been adopted towards gentlemen
connected with the League, he had never seen equalled ; but,
strange to say, not one single fragment of argument had crept
into any of the speeches, calculated to convince either those
who heard them, or the country at large, that they were
right.—( Cheers.) He found, however. amidst all the great
mass of calumny, slander, and aspersion, one little salutary
fact had been stated by a Noble Peer; he had stated as an in-
stance of the dreadful sufferings inflicted on the agricultural in-
terest by the tariff, that the westof Scotland was suffering from
the duty on cheese.—(Cheers.) Now, this might appear a
little matter, but what was the fact? Why, the tariff did not
snake any alteration in those duties. —( Laughter and cheers. )
The truth was, that Sir R. reel, satisfied with the little he had
done, as a sop to the agriculturists, left butter and cheese alone.
se-(Cheers.) The truth was, there was no alteration in the
duty on cheese, and there was a considerably less quantity im-
ported into this country, as he would shortly prove. In 1841,
when the tariff was not in existence, there was imported into
this country 246.000 cwts.; in 1842, 175,000 cwts. ; and in 1843.
when the tariff was at its full play, 153.000 cwts.—(Cheers. )
Now, what was the reason of this? Why, they had used up
their customers.—(Cheers.) The manufacturing classes, the
working classes, used this commodity, and if they were out of
employ, they had not the means of buying, and that was the
reason why the farmer was unable to sell his cheese.—(Cheers.)
Now, they were on the eve of the meeting of another ereat
Pro-corn-law association, he alluded to the near assembling of
arliament, and little enough, he thought all present would be
of opinion, was to be expected from that body.—( Cheers.)
First of all they had the Protectionists, the majority of the
House of Commons, headed by Sir R. Peel. He had some
hopes of seeing Sir Robert Peel in that place ere long
as a member of the League, and some day or other
he would be perhaps kind enough to offer to same of them
for the season, the use of his bull.—( Roars of laughter.)
er perhaps he might offer to destroy the rabbits in his garden
at Whitehall—( Renewed laughter)—and all this he would,
doubtless, say he did for the benefit of the people.—( Cheers.)
He would tell them why he thought they would soon have him
In that place as a member of the League; it was because, during
the whale of his life the measures he ultimately adopted were
always those which in former life he had opposed --(Great
cheering.) Now. he would bring him to book upon this point.
—(Laughter.) Some twenty years ago Sir R. Peel had op-
posed certain resolutions brought forward at that time by one
of the leading Members on the Liberal side of the House of Com-
mons, he alluded to Mr. Horner, on the great currency question.
Now, eight years afterwards, what would the meeting believe
Sir R. Peel did? Why, is 1819 he brought forward a mea-
sure based on those very resolutions, and in his place
in the House of Commorp, without a particle of
shame that formerly he had opposed the very resolutions he
was then calling upon the House to adopt.—(Cheers.) An-
other great question on which he had altered his mind was the
Catholic Emancipation question. There he had altogether
changed his opinion; and how any mortal man, with the or-
dinary sense that God had had given him, could put truth or
faith in him again, he was at a loss to conjecture. In 1827,
when Mr. Canning came into power, Sir Robert Peel stated
as his reason for giving up his seat in the House of Commons,
that Mr. Canning had always been favourable to the Catholic
claims, and as the granting of these claims would be injurious
to the Church, he felt bound to oppose them ; and yet two
years after that he granted these claims, and that too in his
character of a Minister of the Crown.—( Hear, hear,
and great. cheering.) But he (Mr. Bouverie) had not dole
With him yet.—( Laughter.) In the year 1833 Sir R. Peel,
the leader of the Opposition, in the course of the functions
cast upon him, made a speech on the financial state of the
country, and on the income-tax being adverted to, he ex-
pressed his opinion upon it. He was not so fond of expressing
his opinions now, because he had been several times made to
eat his own words.—(Cheers and laughter.) He had now
great difficulty in expressing his opinions ; but upon that occa-
sion he did express his opinion, and said that nothing but a
case of extreme necessity could justify Parliament in times of
peace subjecting the people to the inquisitorial proceedings of
the income-tax—and that having recourse to that machinery
for the purpose of raising the revenue two or three per cent.
Was most unwise.—( Cheers.) That with respect to It eland,
it would be grievously felt, and would be most injurious; that
it was his most anxious desire to see Ireland treated as much as
possible like England—( Cries of " Shame" )---but that to sub-
ject England and Scotland to a property-tax. and not Ireland,
would be most unjust; and yet, after all this—after all these
statements, he had done that very thing which t ears back he
. believed to be unjust.—( Cheers). Now, surely, after a public
man had so gone back from what he had publicly stated, and
that, too, after great consideration, in his place in Parliament—
no honest man could trust either him or his declarations.
-While he (Mr. Bouverie) said the time might come when
they would see Sir Robert Peel enlisted is their ranks, he
could assure them, that he should not much rejoice at it.--
(Cheers,) Of this lie was sure, that when time had rolled
on, and they were all gone to their accounts, their descendants
would be shocked to find that in former days there were such
leaders of party as Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Alderman Gibbs.—
(Great laughter.) With respect to the great party who were
for agricultural protection, and supported Sir It. Peel un-
willingly, they contended for no other proposition than this,
that, supposing there was no custom-duties required at all,
that supposing the revenue could be raised by some internal
'resource of taxation, such as Crown-lands and so on, that
supposing that state of things existed, they would still have to
maintain the whole army of Customs Commissioners, tide.
waiters, overseers, revenue cutters, and so on, for the purpose
of keeping out foreign produce.—(Cheers.) In short the agri-
culturists demanded that as a right. Now, why did they do
10? They admitted that the Anti-Corn-law League had, ab-
- straetedly, principle on their side.— ( Cheers.) Air. Gladstone
had said that free trade was connected with common sense.—
(Cheers.) Mr. Baring was for free trade in the abstract—
Great cheering)—and a gentleman who had spoken at a
Ineeting in Sussex was for the principle of free trade in
-Theory, but net in fact.—( Laughter.) Of this he (Mr.
llouverio) was convinced, that the more they knocked
.Oft' the shackles that at present were bearing on
the country, the more moral would they make it.—
(Cheers ) But then these gentlemen, the agriculturists, con-
Easier she burthens upon the land ! What comparison, he would
11k, was there between them and the burthens placed upon the
tots:lv-7 to maintain the protection laws? One was only a
hurtheis cst pounds, shillings, and pence, while the other was
that of s;deeing, privation, misery, starvation, and death.—
( great cheNing.) One could not be weighed against the
other.—(Cheer's.) They could not put in one scale, tears,
misery, and wretchedness, and in the other gold.—( Great
cheering.) There was no comparison between them, and in
his opinion, and in that of all thinking men, the pecuniary one
Ought to be put out of consideration.---( Cheers.) Now what
Were the burthens of which there was so much said ? Why
Sir R. Peel had enumerated them at Tamworth ; he said,
look at the tithes. Now, how he (Mr. Bouverie) would ask,
were they a burthen upon the land ?—( Great cheer-
ing.) A thousand years ago a provision had been
?n, 'Ate fir the clergy, and the party took the land subject to
tuat provision.— (Cheers. ) It was a burthen on the land if
they pleased, but not to the parts taking it, because he got
the land cheaper.—(Cheers.) Then, with respect to poer-
-rates and highway rates, they were said to be burthens, and no
doubt they were eta some measure so ; but did not the occu-
piers of houses bear equal burthens ?—( Cheers.) Then they
came to what really was a burthen—the land tax ; and what
Vas the amount of that ? Why he found that in 18a1 it pro-
duced 1,214,000/. ; he bad looked up the items of the receipt
of income, and he found the greater portion to be legacy and
Probate duty. Now the land paid neither of those duties at
411•—(Cheers.) If he was to succeed to-morrow to an estate
‘'of 50,000/. a year he should not pay a shilling duty, but if the
Viand had been sold, and the party had left him the money he
should then have to pay 10 per cent. duty.—( Cheers.) Now
'this he thought was a good set off against the land tax.—
(Cheers.) There was another section of the House of Corn.
atolls who said they disregarded the notion of protection
Illtugether, but they said they must have revenue, and it ought
to be uporit corn as well as any other article. Now the free
traders said to that, No, it is one of the necessaries of life, and
upon that ground it would be impolitic to place a duty on it.
Duties ought to be regular, and corn could not produce a re-
gular duty on account of the change of seasons and other mat-
lers.—(Cheers. ) The free trader also said that a tax should
lake as little as possible from the pockets of those who had to
say, and should give as much as possible to the Government;
alit that corn would not do that.—(Cheers.) He agreed
vith.tte Chairman, that of the ultimate success of the League
mo one cold doubt—(Cheers)—they were sure sooner or later
to succeed.—( Cheers.) Let them look at all the great ques-
tions of polities! importance that had been decided in the coun-
tSr), and they wo,ol find that where the people pronounced in
•faveser of thins they had become the law of the land.—( Cheers. )
1490.0, he would asls, obtained the Reform Bill ? The aristo-
c, "ley t No,:but the people.—( Cheers. )They asserted it was right ;
it s 'as resisted for a time, but it was ultimately carried. Was it
the ui -per classes that brought about the abol:tion of slavery ?
bu the people willed it, and the slave trade was abolished.
And, toe ',vas to a practical question of some importance to all
of the e perhaps not so important in its besaings as
this
count Which hi
benefit of rY
that to h\ bad j.t referred, was it the aristocracy of
vied, ~•-,‘r who willingly carried, for the
postage measure ?—( Hear,
the vies the Pe"i '-
hear.) Hemiddle conten
classes who carried it—the
wh„Prol,ttha.t both the Whigs and Tories were
' "u to it • it vat the ts
Inch would
re to succeedthey exerted their stseogth,. would he
a, d who saw the great benefit w
reetrue if ther;eas-,;..re was orried.—( Cheers.) But he need
confine himself to that meargre. If they went back to the
as travelle d hack 900 yoatl=, they would find that this
battlenowfought at t but period. To. in,iidirdhleatclwasassetshheardestholetn?,
Th to fight aga, sea.st naosaopoly' .4n-
Ared a was, that
that all mono ;tea
were abelswihagsd.
posted,
hudne:
clarit 'au twenty year; ago an Act
• past,il*goauib_, eieg:rdsut::/eit that t he sate" should
be abolished. Tie
thing Would be witnessed
perhapsL• that they woo Id see an Act of Parliarment passed, not
in such gens 'ral terms, but an Act of Parliament de-
facing the that the cor s-laws were injurious to the best interezts
be , country, and tL'a t they should therefore from that tame
'Pealed. (L
A oud sehe,,rs).
As Ir.
th ,• j. Fox t' cam forward to address the meeting.
fusion e vis
don. Gen tlern. sn w, :s commencing, considerable eon.
theto°l Plate •hrou:s h the 'breaking down of a barrier near
he haPtitakers..
tO tddres% t Oisdhem oxx the 'first meeti been at lenngths
of resatorenew year of
Cation . d, he said
g
I.timo where contusion, anxiety, and uncertainty,