The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-22 00:00:00

• .-
veyed, though late and slowly, towards our respective
"tinations- We chose the latter, but Mt without great .
uneasiness, thinking of the danger mentioned by M?.
Stansfield mid Mr. Craig, and remembering the late ter-
rific accident on the Great 'Western, to passengers :tra-
velling with a luggage train. Our anxiety was not a
little increased at 13arnsley, by the attaching of several •
heavy trucks behind our carriage, which in the event of
any accident occasioning a. sodden stoppage, Would pro-
bably have overwhelmed us in the same way as the un-
fortunate .passengers on the (..rent" Western were •de-
stroyed, on the occasion to which I hare referred... Hap-
pily, however, we arrived in safety, though late, at ABA-
borough. • Thire Mr., Stanstielil, who' • had, throughout.
conducted himself Avith the greatest politeneAs,'
sumed an authority whieltwe blame him only for not hav-
ing exercised at Normanton. lle ordered out a pilot
engine and a Royal`carriage (which was at Maslau-ough-
. to convey Lord Wharncliffe to town on the follow lug day)
'by ',which' we were Soon conveyed to Sheffield ; the •
Ipassengers for Derby, &c., having preceeded with the
luggage .train. Brit ,e7ea in the short rim from Mash orough
to Sheffield; we -found fresh cause for uneasiness,--in -the
discovery that the, tender ran before the engine---that
unsafe and improper arriingenient which, -about twelve
months ago,. caused a drdidful accident and the deaths of
an engineer - and stoker, on this very line. We arrived
at Sheffield a quarter before twelve. But the passengers
for the south, on their arrival, at a late hour, at Derby,
would have to remain there, until a quarter past eight -Mil
the following morning, before they could proceed.t-O-town.
I have thus given you a plain statement of the facts,
a.nd•l remark that no sufficient reason but bad manage-
Ment or negligence can be assigned for our arriving at
Normanton too late for the south train; that arriving
there immediately after the train had started, it would
have been the easiest thing imaginable to stop the train
for the few moments necessary to attach our carriage, and
even had the detention amounted to five minutes, the loss
could have been recovered with the utmost ease before
arriving at the next station; and my third remark is, that
if the isTormanton station be, as we were assured, unpro-
vided with a pilot engine, if the station master has no
authority to' fulfil the engagements of the Companies
With their passengers, this state of things betrays a
shameful disregard of the rights of the public, and of the
contract into, which the Companies - enter with their
paSSengers. , Under the old system of coaching, the
I public were= -- protected by the power which passen-
gers had to .provide themselves with another convey-
anee at the cost of . the coach proprietors. But since the
Railway Companies, by keeping exclusively in their own
hands the passenger traffic on their lines, depriVe
the-public of this remedy, it is incumbent upon them not
only to-make such arrangements as shall reduce the un-
certainties of travelling to the minimum, hut also to
make provision for the prompt redress of such wrongs as
the mismanagement of their servants may at any time
cause. Their ene-agements with passengers ought to be
kept With scrupulous fidelity. They have no right to
throw upon the public all they losS and inconveniences
of, the casualties of the line.- When a bargain is made
with -a passenger, by the issue of a ticket, to convey
him to a given, place, by a given time, that passenger
has a right to expect the utmost exertion to be made
by the Company to overcome any accidental difficulty
that May arise. But for Railway Companies, that hay e
contracted to deliver passengers in London, on the Wed-
nesday- juorning, to stiffer their understrappers at Nor-
manton to 'offer, •as - the only alternative in the case• of
disappointment,. a conveyance. back to Leeds, is. adding
insult to injury, and is a flagrant violation of that good
faith vhich the public haVe a right to expect.
I remain, Gentlemen, yours obediently, •
THOMAS WILEY.

No. 12, Qld Haymarket, Sheffield, Jan. 19, 1842.
P.S.—I mould just add, that a short statement of the
facts was made in the Company's banks, at Norrnanten,
and signed by the following gentlemen and several
others:—Mr. JobnArMitage, Mr. Wm. Pitt and bro-
ther, and Mr. Thos. Swift, of Huddersfield i Mr. Lom-
Max, of Rochdale; Mr. Hamilton, of Sheffield, &c.

GREAT ANTI-CORN-LAW MEET-
ING AT GLOUCESTER.

GLOUCRSTER, THURSDAY AfORNINg:=:-Last night one
of the greatest meetings- ever known in this county was
held in the Shire`Hall of the city of Gloucester, for the
purpose of discussing the question of the Corn-laws, and
considering the propriety of adopting a petition to both
Houses of Parliathent, prayinivb a total and immediate
repeal of the obnoxious tax on food.

Seven o'clock' in the evening was the hour appointed
for the commencement of the proceedings but long before
that period the immense hall was crowded to suffocation.
Between two and three thousand artisans were preSent ;
and the platform was occupied by some of the principal
merchants of the ciiy.:. .-
It will be seen that a foolish and abortive attempt was
made by the Tory party to create disunion and confusion;
but it failed, as it might be expected it Should. - _ ,
The MAYOR having been called to the chair by accla-
mation, proceeded to obserVe that the present meeting of
the citizens of Gloucester had been called in consequence
of a requisitiekePresented to him, most numerously •
' signed-4y the merchants, manufacturers, and others of
the city. , - -- -
.
J. 0.-KIMBERLEir, Esq., a merchant, then came for-
ward and said that upon previous occasions, when' they ,
had met upon this most. interesting and important ques-
tion, it had been trumpeted forth by the monopolists that
they would resist any alteration whatsoever in the Corn- •
laws; but, from certain-indievions , it was pretty clear
`thatpari it was ..t.t li b
Thus,' i iit e'i'i iti ii 31
therefore,
rfot I:7
itl I: joeuslt(yi
propose some measure on the subject on the opening of
'hseGseevenrtnhinatelitpub-
lic.'totetbde;s(pannelptho:iedig
aelvteenraftinLmatdhcevite'odriebsy.
bOu ft
ibucoursesm uheebui-laus
liviouttilpdrcapvaerre, dtbtaotatLy
mwheati.t
rnt biosric' A the fraudulent sliding'scale would
the country.—(Cheers.) They did not
the direful effects of the Corn-laws to a
need
bw
ue'earsso pea tlthit‘: "
opinion
which
ceenohhthaot
r(rrreaydce.
sec
sr:
---(
Sir CI
H. e ePrese. I;
great distance. Let them look at the port of Gloucester
and its solitary condition, with scarcely a vessel floating •
in its noble basin.—(Hear, hear.) Let them look at the
impoverished condition of the labouring classes, and
the diStress pervading even the tradesmen.—(llear,
hear, hear.) Did not these things speak loudly
for some sweeping alteration in the Corn-laws ? He dirt e,
not see how it faCjiossibleifor the Tory Ministers long
to resist the overpowering moral influence which would
ere long-be-brought to bear against the iniquitouiCorn.- .'
laws.—(Cheers.) They.might prevaricate, they might .
shut their eyes and their ears for a brief period, but ul-
timately they might be compelled to yield,. and grant
what the people so evidently desired—a total repeal '9l
the Corn7laws.—(Voeiferous cheering.) Mr. Kimberley
having again read the resolution, sat down amid loud and
continued cheering.. , ' . . • t
'..- T. STURGE, Esq., seconded the resolution.
S. BowLEr, Esq., then cime.forward. to propose the
adOp!ion -itioggititin to both Houses of Parliament, .
praying' fo' mediate and total repeal of the Corn-
laws. •Iltrattid that this was no party question. The
aprinciple of an exchange of commodities with foreign
Countries had a higher principle than mere national
wealth. It was excellent in so far as spreading civili-
sation, And Christianity- too:—(Cheers.) Every country
should telheir Country, and every man their brother.—
(Hear, and. cheers.)" Let thehi look at Wales, for ex- '
ample. . They speak a different language, and formerly
they werelindependent. ' Now, supposing for the sake of .
arginnent,4kat it still remained an independent. nation ;
well, O'er -Rave discovered iron • in abundance, a large
portion of people are employed in her mines ; and
what is the result ?` They have ten times more iron than
'what they want ; and accordingly they send to England
and elsewhere the superabundance., We also send them -
food. ''
Now, suppose_. the Welsh were.to say to us, " No,
we shan't have our food
.from you:" We reply, " Well,
we shan't have .your,iron." , And , what is the 'conse-
quence? \Why, the Welsh would , pay dearer for their
food, and we would pay dearer for our iron."-(Hear,
hear.) Now; that was a very simple way of explaining
the operation of the Corn-laws to all except those who
had the landlords' dust thrown in their eyes.-L(Laughter
and cheers.) Again,' let them look' at the condition of
the agricultural labourers: -11e.had found, on examina-
tion, that in six agricultural counties in England there
were snore paid;" in poor's-rates than in any twelve ma-
nufacturing counties in England.—(Hear, hear.) Bu. t
they were told that the estates were mortgaged, and
unless the landlords had high rents they could not exist.
Now, his reply to that was, that if he went into debt, he
must bear the brunt of it himself. The landowners
would not pay his debts, and he saw no just reason why
he should pay, their mortgages.—(Loud cheers and -
laughter.) Butlet them for one moment see what the
landoivners paid in land-taxi first as compared with fo-
reign countries, and secondly as compared with the
amount of other taxes.paid by the manufacturingpopu--
lation. He read from an authentic document:— ' ,

" The' whole taxes imposed in Great Britain were—

Land tax
Other taxes
FRANCE.

Land tax .C 23,250,000
Other taxes
PRUSSIA.

Land tax £3,994,000
Other taxes
AUSTRIA

Land tax
Other taxes 7,700,000"
Thus it would be seen, that whilst all foreign countries
of Any note paid in land tax more than equal to the other
taxes, England paid about 1,000,0001. out of upwards of
50,000,0001. of taxation. He would therefore throw out
a suggestion which he thought should be adopted through-
out England. That was, that a book should be opened
in every borough, where all who were opposed to the
existence of a tax upon food should enrol their names,
pledging themselves to vote for no candidate but who was
a Corn-law repealer.—(Loud cheers.) Their strength
would thus be known.
The petition was then read.
J. G. FRANCILLON, Esq., seconded its adoption.
W. ConrEn, Esq., then came forward to propose an
amendment, when he was received with a burst of hisses
and laughter, and it was in vain that he attempted to
obtain a patient hearing. He at length retired from the
platform, together with his Tory supporters.
The petition was adopted without a dissentient voice. •
Thanks were then given to the Chairman, and the
meeting dispersed.

THE " OBSERVER "NEWSPAPER.--Pers".
desirous of preserving a faithful report, for future re.
ference, of the proceedings connected with the splendid
ceremony of the Christening of his Royal
Prince of Wales, are recommended to preserve the two
Jan, 23,
neit Observers ; that of Sunday, Highness the.
will contaiu
all the preliminary particulars, and the Observer of Sun.
day, Jan. 30, will comprise the most eorrect account of
the ceremonial.
LONDON SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION
OF YOUXCI FEMALES.—The Court of Directors of the
Honourable East India Company have just presented to
this Society a donation of twenty pounAn
Thrograorton-street. ...-office, 9,