The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-26 00:00:00

THE COUNCIL CHAMBER OF THE
LEAGUE,
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

have recently spent a few days in Man-
chester, having visited that town partly on business,
and partly that I might see anything that was worth
st eing in it. During this visit I have been greatly
interested with many things pointed out to me, and
particularly with the wonderful manufactories, and
with the skill and energy with which they are carried
on. But, however strange it may seem, I have ar-
rived at the conclusion, that the most remarkable
sight in Manchester is to be found in the offices of
the great free trade association, or as it is more com-
monly called, the Anti-Corn-law League.
The gentleman at whose house I was staying is a
member of that A ssociation, and pretty regularly
attends the meetings of the Council, and knowing
that from a recent thorough examination of the ques-
tion of free trade, I had become a convert to its doc-
trines, he introduced me to some of its prominent
members, and I spent some portion of almost every
day in their society, at the Council-room of the
League.
I need not describe the offices of the League fur-
ther than to say, that they are situate in Market- '
street, within 100 yards of the Exchange, and consist
of extensive and commodious apartments, fitted up
in a manner suitable to the importance of the work
for which they are engaged. That which struck me
as most notable about the whole place, is the regu-
larity and frequency of the meetings of the Council,
and the efficient and business-like manner in which
its affairs are transacted.
The first time I went with my friend and host to
the League offices, was on a Monday morning ; it
was a little after ten o'clock. Mr. Wilson, the Chair-
man of the Council had already taken the chair. The
secretary of the League, Mr. Hickin, was upon his
left hand, and on each side of the long table sat seve-
ral gentlemen, who were members of the Council. I
was introduced to most of them. Mr. Cobden was
there ; Mr. Woolley and Mr. Lees, both of whom are
manufacturers; Mr. Rawson, a gentleman formerly
in the Nottingham trade, but now I believe retired
. .

from business,— and who is treasurer of the League;
Mr. Bickham, who is a calico-printer ; Mr. Prentice,
the proprietor and editor of the Manchester Times, a
paper which has long laboured zealously in the cause;
and Mr. John Brooks, also an extensive calico-printer
and merchant, and one or two others whose names at
this moment I don't remember. On the desk be-

fore the chairman were a number of letters from
agents and friends of the League in various
parts of the kingdom, which were read aloud
to the Council, and the needful replies were
agreed upon and noted down by the secretary,
to be attended to during the day. Many of these
letters had reference to the progress of the registra-
tion in different boroughs, and some requested a
supply of free-trade tracts ; others applied for lecturers
to be sent into certain districts, or contained reports
of their progres from lecturers who were holding
meetings in distant parts of the country. Of the last-
mentioned, one I remember was from Wiltshire, and
informed the Council of the particulars of some
meetings recently held in that county. I need not
assure you that I felt deeply interested in these pro-
ceeedings, and that I gladly acccepted an invitation
to come again the following day. Tuesday is the
principal market-day in Manchester, and is also an
important day at the offices of the League. At ten
o'clock, Mr. Wilson was again in his place, and most
of the gentlemen I have before named were there.
I saw some who were not present on the Monday,
among whom were Mr. Bazley, of the firm of
Gardner and Bazley, through whose fine spinning
mill I was politely shown ; and Mr. J. B. Smith,
who, I was informed, contested the borough of
Walsall in the year 1841, and is represented to be a
gentleman of great experience in all matters of trade,
and in questions of political economy. The letters
of the day were again read, and the replies dictated to
the secretary. During the morning, many gentlemen
from the neighbouring towns called in and united in
the proceedings. Several were pointed out to me :—Mr,
Henry Ashworth, from Bolton ; Mr. Whitehead, from
Rawtenstall ; Mr. Bright, M.P., from Rochdale ; Mr.
Robert Munn, from Bacup ; Mr. Whittaker, from
Ashton, and several others, came in and stayed for
some time. After the regular business was trans-
acted, there was a good deal of conversation
on various matters connected with the progress
of the free-trade cause, but turning chiefly
on the recent registration results, and the
proceedings for attending to it in future. It is easy
to perceive how important such meetings as this must
become. The gentlemen who called in were in some
degree representatives from the towns from which
they came, and reports of what was doing in the dif-
ferent localities would doubtless stimulate each other
to continued exertions.
. _

I learned that, besides the daily morning meeting of
the Council, which began at ten and generally lasted
till half-past eleven or twelve o'clock, there was also
an evening meeting at five o'clock, which was often
for the discussion and arrangement of some points left
over for further consideration from the morning, and
which partook also of a social character. On this
Tuesday evening the meeting was to receive further
reports en the registration for the southern division
of the county of Lancaster. Tea was served in the
Council-room. The most active members of the

Council were present, and many whose engagements
prevented their regular attendance in the early part
of the day. The London morning papers were in,
and their contents formed the subject of conversation
during tea. The abuse of the Herald, or some fal-
lacy of the Post, afforded amusement, whilst satisfac-
tion was expressed that the independent press was
laying bare the sufferings of the agricultural labourers.
About six o'clock the chairman resumed his place,
and business commenced. The result of the late re-

gistration in South Lancashire, I had learned from
the public papers, had been greatly in favour of the
free-traders, and this meeting was to take steps for
securing the position they had gained. Tuesday and
Friday evenings were set apart for this purpose. Mr.
Wilson briefly stated what had been done at the pre-
vious meetings, and requested reports of their progress
since they last met. One gentleman stated that he
had the names of five persons to give in for qualifica-
.

tions for South Lancashire, three of whom would
- •

also qualify for North Cheshire, and two for
the West Riding of Yorkshire. Another handed
in the names of five young men employed
in a large wholesale warehouse, who were
anxious to qualify for South Lancashire. An-
other gave in the names of himself, his brother,
and three of his sons, for South Lancashire. A large
number of names were thus handed in, and entered
by the secretary in a book kept for the purpose, with
the address and occupation of the parties. Mr.
Bright was present at this meeting, and reported what
was doing in Rochdale, from which it appeared that
such was the determination of the free-traders in
that district to qualify for the county, that they had
hopes of making a large increase to their present large
majority on the register.: One striking part of his
report was, that many of the best paid and most intel-
ligent of the working-men were making great exer-
tions to obtain a county qualification, and were pur-
chasing freehold cottages with such funds as they
had saved, and many were saving, with a view to
obtain qualifications. Mr. Cobden informed the
meeting that a deputation from the Council had
already been appointed to visit all the towns in the
county, and also in the West Riding, to have interviews
with the free-traders, to confer with them on the im-
portant duty of enlisting the suffrages of the merchants,
manufacturers, shopkeepers, and working men in the
contest which must now be resolutely carried on
against the infatuated monopolist proprietors of the
soil, whose policy, if not counteracted, would shortly
bring ruin upon themselves and the country. If it
were necessary to come to that, they must have an-
other and a final struggle between the towns and the
great proprietors, from whose legislation every truly
national interest had suffered so deeply.
At this meeting the Council-room was most un-
comfortably crowded, and a spirit and determination
were manifested such as I have rarely seen. And,
indeed, what has already been done in South Lanca-
shire is most important and decisive, and would seem
to have opened a way by which the monopolists can
be fairly grappled with.
Before coming to Manchester I had, of course,
often heard of the League, and I had read some par-
ticulars of its managements and organisation in a
letter once published in the Morning Chronicle, from
the pen of a stranger who had visited its head-
quarters, but what I have seen has nevertheless very
much surprised me. The members of the Council
whose names have been mentioned, attend,
was told, almost invariably every day. Every
morning for six days in the week Mr. Wilson
is at his post, and several other members are his
constant companions in his labours, and no one is
more regular in his attendance than Mr. Cobden
during the Parliamentary recess, except when he is
engaged in holding meetings throughout the countxy ;
and Mr. Bright, who resides at Rochdale, ten or
twelve miles distant, is generally present three times
a week. Like other persons living at a distance from
Manchester, I had heard of few of the Manchester
Council, excepting Mr. Wilson, as Chairman, and
Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright, who bad both spoken
at a meeting, at which I was present, In the town in
which I reside, but I found out whilst in Manchester
s.t there were others, and not a few, whose services,
if not
-"
tnuch before the public, are to the full as im-
stain the position of the 1."1„t
portant to s.. h,e
well-known litho: " °V
those gentlemen. Ana
the. one distinguishing
::,..ature of this movement, and
aapplause
elevates it in my vie;; above almost every
public never other, thai; eclat of public meetings and public
in it
. The men
is not nee,; as a stimulus to those who
and wl:Oh°saere namesengaged
of the
the cause hear of, ^..rs
tthiroianagtoinwthhoemir liataboseurr!
newspapers, are at le
and as devoted to “aun