The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-04 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4. 1845

The success of that party in the community who have
long advocated kee-trade principles may now be re-
garded as certain. The whole country is roused to a
serious consideration of the question, not as regards
corn only, but many other foreign producticns requisite
for the subsistence and comfort of the inhabitants. Pro-
hibition and protective duties have been found of no
use whatever, nay, they have been proved highly inju-
ri4,us to those very classes who enjoyed the mo-
nopolies. They have destroyed enterprise, obstructed
itnprovernen', and prevented the full exercise of that
ingenuity and skill which competition excites, and which
oor countrymen, when left to their own resources, dis-
play more than the people of any other nation. We may
mention, among many other instances, the silk trade and
the glove trade. While silk goods and gloves were pro-
hibited, or loaded with heavy imposts, which amounted
to prohibition, scarcely any improvement in the manu-
facture of the articles took place. The French beat the
English in every market—our manufacturers were left
fur behind, both in the designs and colouring of silk
goads ; ingenuity, in fact, was prostrated, and no im-
provement whatever took place. The same may be said of
gloves; but since the absurd restrictions on importation
were removed a new impetus was given to these manu-
factures, and except, perhaps, in what regards the effects
of climate, they have been brought to as great perfec-
tion, and can be produced as cheap as in France. The
twee law applies to other monopolies, and, above all, to
the monopoly of corn. Our landlords and tenants have
ever since the establishment of the noxious impost, in
Isls, gene on in their eld sleepy course ; they have
obstinately rejected improvement ; they have trusted
b.) protection alone, and when the tax is
no lunge-. found tenable, they begin to show
veal-toms of life. They discourse at agricultural
meetings, not about corn-laws and the sliding-scale, but
:Joint tile-draining, sub-soil ploughs, quickset hedges,
cud fifty other improvements and earperiments that they
had never dreamt of. For this the advocates of free
trade deserve the highest honour, and it is, therefore, gra-
tify ing to find, by accounts from all parts of the country,
that their labours in this respect, as well as in the ac-
complishnielt of their principles, are cordially approved
of by the ahhost unanimous voice of the nation. we i
have given from day to day reports of the numerous
meetings held throughout England—abridged reports, we
admit, both because we could riot find room
for the speeches, and the arguments in general
were so similar, and the facts enumerated so
palpable, that lengthened proof and comment were not
necessary. The itspulse has extended from England to
Scotland and belied, for even the Irish Members, so
Ipng t,'A %eat advocates of monopoly, have at last given
wayetgr—Atiiieottinf was held at Edinburgh, on Tuesday
sARpt/ed: br the-LbsulliiovosT, and was attended by the,
F::tit4:ens of . the: aocthern metropolis, and among
_v:.*top by LordJCFN RUSSELL and Mr. MA,c.i.u-
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