The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-14 00:00:00

THE ANTI-CORN-LAW
CONFERENCE.
(THIS DAY.)

The Delegates met again, at 12 o'clock this morning
at Herbert's (late Brown's) Hotel, Palace-yard, Mr
Shuttleworth, of Manchester, in the Chair.
The CHAIRMAN said that the absence of their former
Chairman, Mr. Taylor, who had presided over their
deliberations with so much credit to himself and ad-
vantage to them, would be but temporary ; and they
might expect him to be with them again to-morrow.
Dr. PERRY, the delegate from Reading, proceeding to
address the meeting. The prosperity of the district
which he represented did not depend so much on the
manufacturing industry of its. population as upon the
outlay made among them by the aristocracy ; and yet
the general distress had extended itself to that neigh-
bourhood, and was making rapid strides among its inha-
bitants. He would read a communication he had re-
ceived from Reading, in confirmation of that statement.
Dr. Perry then read the following letter
"In Reading the shopkeepers all say trade is wretchedly bad;
they wonder what will be the end of these things • but it is
next to impossible to get at particulars. Those who employ
many hands tell me that the men, rather than quit their employ,
are willing to take lower wager, as they know it would be of
no use to tramp. One of them (a working man) told me he
had travelled above 100 miles to get a job, and bad not been
able.

" In an establishment that last year employed 100 men there
are now only thirty. In another business of equal extent, con-
ducted by a most respectable firm, the men have been reduced
by one-half. Another master who formerly employed fifty
men has now only twelve. The first innkeeper in the town has
failed—the others aro suffering much. Large houses in the
provision line find the consumption considerably falling off,
and the greatest difficulty in getting in their payMents
Drapers are very slack, a fact which proves much,for the middle
classes will have dress, (even if they deprive themselves of
food) to make a respectabe appearance. Taken on the whole,
trade is worse than ever. In one shop where, in 1825, the sum
of 1,2001. was returned with only two hands, the last year's
return was enly 890/., with seven hands. In another shop
there is not so much taken at the present time by ,one-half, as
there was at the same period last year. Among the paper-
makers on. the Loudwater, the like distress prevails. The
masters of 20 mills on the same stream, have had two meetings
to consider whether they should turn their hands off for seven
weeks, in consequence of the heavy stock of
.paper on hand,
which they cannot dispose of. Many people in Reading live
on a little bread and tea, and scarcely know what it is to taste
animal food_ for weeks together.. Some have been known to
walk for 20 miles and clear but sixpence. 1 know three per-
sons who travel in the neighbourhood of Reading, in the way
of business, two of whom take this year about one-half of the
amount of last year : the other went his round lately in the
expectation of taking between seventy and eighty pounds, from
parties who had never before failed in their payments, but
returned in the evening, having taken less than five pounds the
whole day."
That was a picture of the state of :the humbler classes
in Reading. He had not anticipated, as some others
had, that the late change in the Corn-laws would pro-
duce any benefit to the working community. On the
contrary, he believed the change would only work ad-
vantageously to the lauded interest. The only effect
of the increase in the number of towns at which the j
averages were to be taken, was to keep the
averages five shillings lower than under the old
system, the result of which ultimately was, that
corn wre, kept longer in bond, until the price
rose. All the disadvantages of the sliding scale also be-
longed to the new system, by which the speculators were
enabled to cause such fluctuations in the price of corn
as suited their purposes. That all classes of
the community, except the landlords, would be bene-
fited by the repeal of the Corn-laws was clear, but
he conceived that in order to prevent farmers having
long leases being injured by the abolition of the law,
there should be a clause introduced in 'the mea-
sure, which would enact that all farmers so circum-
stanced should be free to give up those long leases, and
enter into new engagements- with their landlords. But
even the landlords would not be injured by the change,
if the system of paying'the rent in corn, or rather, ac-
cording to the marketable value of corn,which prevailed in
Scotland, were adopted in this country. The, present
Corn-len had no redeeming feature in it. It was fininded
in injustice and cruelty to the poorer classes, having for
its sole object the keeping up of high rents for the
benefit of the aristocracy. lie enjoined every Christian
minister to lift up his voice against this law, not through
any feeling of partisanship, but on the ground of its
being an unjust and unrighteous law, ruinous to the tem-
poral interests of those who were committed to their charge.
He should be happy, if anything he could say, would
hasten the moment for the abolition of the law. The
Delegates knew enough of the evils of this law, but-the
country in general..was very ignorant on the subject. The
country generally wanted information. In' Reading
and Abingdon there was a great lack of correct
information on this subject of the facts connected with
the distress which was rolling its torrent over the land.
He thought the Conference should take means to circa-
I late information relative to the facts of the distress

generally throughout the country, so as to enable the
people to come to a correct judgment on the question.
He had been astonished at the doubt and unbelief ex-
pressed by persons with whom he had conversed on the
subject, and he thought it would be desirable that a
document hould be drawn up, setting forth those facts,
which documents should be signed by persons whose
names would be a guarantee for their veracity,
and circulated through . the country.,-(Hear. hear.)
The inhabitants of the metropolis were not by
any means well informed on the subject, and it had
been suggested to him that it. would be advisable that a
small folio sheet, or a small pamphlet should be draw),
up, printed, and left at every house in the metropolis,
for the purpose of conveying correct information to the
inhabitants as to the dreadful state of distress at present
existing, and as to the causes of that distress. The in-
hsbitants of the metropolis ought not to be left in ignor-
ance of the state of the country.—(Hear.) True, the
shops in the metropolis were most of them occupied,
but those who used to be so busy in them now stood idle
behind their counters, and would now have plenty of
time to read the pamphlet. He threw out that hint for
the consideration of the executive committee. There
was another subject to which he had intended to have
directed the attention of the Conference. in which, how-
ever, he had been anticipated. He had intended to suggest
the propriety of calling a meeting of the merchants of
the City, to consider the subject, but he was happy to see
that a circular, calling such a meeting, had
already been issued. The agricultural districts
more especially stood in need of information
on the subject. Newspapers and periodicals were little
read in those districts, and the ignorance existing on the
subject of the distresses of the country, and on the ope-
ration of the Corn-laws, was lamentable.—(Hear, hear.)
They should go into those districts and convene
meetings of the farmers and agricultural labourers
argue with them, give them information, dispel their
prejudices, and convince them that all the distress
which they were now beginning to feel arose from this
law, which they had so long hugged to their bosom. The
farmers felt the ground was slipping from under them—
they saw the cloud was gathering, and knew not where it
would burst ; and if public meetings were called
in the agricultural districts, and argumentative
speakers were sent down there, the agriculturists
would be enlightened. They would be glad to have,
the law repealed and to take their leases upon a new
principle, more in harmony with the state of things
which would be brought about when the old sys-
tem should be superseded.—(Loud cheers.) There
was one thing he wished to observe with regard
to holding public meetings. He knew that their
meetings had been interrupted by the efforts of some
members of the Chartist body. He did not know if
that had been done at the suggestion of the leaders of
that body —he did not think that it had
been done at the suggestion of those leaders.
He looked upon those interruptions as the ebul-
litions of isolated individuals. The proper course to
pursue, in the case of such interruption occurring;
was not rudely to interrupt the Chartist speaker,
but to treat him decorously, and to listen to him.
They should • listen to any one Tory or Chartist who
might wish to address them. Let them state their
reasons, and if there was no member of the
Anti-Corn-law League able to refute their argu-
ments, then they might presume that their
arguments were valid. He was willing that every
Chartist should speak his full mind. The Chartist
would ascribe their evils to class legislation, the remedy
for which, he would toll them, was a change
in the constitution of the House of Commons.
To that he (Dr. Perry) would say, Amen.—(Cheers.)
He would tell them that the present House of Commons

did not represent the people, but only the upper classes,
who had obtained their seats by bribery and intimida-
tion--to that also he would say, Amen.—(Loud cheers.)
The two representatives of Reading who had already
voted away 8,0001. a year out of the pockets of
the people of Reading., by the votes they
had given on the questions of the duties ov,
tea, coffee, and sugar, were not the representatives of
the people, but of a small section only, and had been
returned by means of bribery and intimidation.—
(Loud cheers.) The Chartists, therefore, came
ultimately to the same conclusion as themselves.
There was not one of the Chartists who advo-
cated the Corn-law, who said it was good to keep
up the price of the food of the people, cr who
would vote for the continuance of the present law.
Let them prove to the Chartists that they were desirous
of raising the working class, and of making them happy
members of society—(Cheers)—and they would secure
'their support.—(Cheers.) He had heard it said by some
that their cause was going down. He did not imagine
that such could be the case for one moment. Their
cause was making progress in the minds of the peopl6
of this country : and notwithstanding the present Go-
vernment and the present constitution of the House of
Commons, they would succeed in removing these mono-
polies, and renovating the prosperity of the land.
'I he Rev. J. S. BAILEY, of Sheffield, had very little
to say, and what he had to state he would try to say
as quietly as possible. The other day many of them
probably heard some of the appalling statements
that he had brought from Sheffield—statements

that he could prove to be true if the hand-writing
of the sufferers was to be admitted as evidence
of their truth. It would appear, from the statements
to which he had referred, that there was a' dlffwence
weekly of some 6,0001. less in the payment al wages in
that one town than there was a few ' years ago.
'1 he meeting. therefore, might easily imagine what
would be the consequence of that difference upon
human actions and feelings.—(Cheers.)
( The meeting had not concluded when we went to press.)

A man had la,` week loaded his cart with hay, in
a meadow, near Chateaurouz, when, in rubbing a chennea:
mat. h against the wheel to light his pipe, a spark communi-
cated with the hay, ani in a few seconds the whole mass wa-
in flames, and was speedily consumed. The fire also gained a
hay-rick, which was rapidly reduced to ashes.