The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-08 00:00:00

THE ANTI-CURN-L AN
CONFERENCE,
(THIS DAY.)

The Delegates met again this mot-nine., at the Crown
and Anchor Tavern, at eleven o'clock, Mr. P. A. Taylor
in the Chair.
The CHAIRMAN said that, in opening the Conference
that morning, he should commence by reading some cor-
respondence which had been received by the Committer
since the meeting of yesterday. The Delegates were
aware that an application had been made to his Royal
Highness the Duke of Sussex to receive a deputation
-'rein the Conference, for the purpose of representing t,
him the state of the country, and their views upon the
subject. To that application the following answer had
been received this morning :
Mr. White is commanded by the Duke of Sussex to say that
his Royal Highness will be happy to receive any two of the
gentlemen composing the Deputation who forwarded the letter
of yesterday's date, in relation to the sufferings of the indus-
trious classes, if thosegentlemen can make it convenient to cal,
here about half-past one o'clock to-morrow (Friday).
Kensington Palace, Thursday, July 7.
The reading of this note was followed by much cheering.
The CHAIRMAN then read the following letter froio
the Secretary of the Birmingham Anti-Corn-jaw .Asso-
•iation :
To the Chairman of Delegates from the Manufacturing Dis-
tricts of the United Kingdom, assembled at Brown's Hotel,
Palace-yard.
Sir,-1 hays to inform you, that at a preliminary meeting
held last night at the public office in this borough, of shop-
keepers, i inkeepeis, tradesmen, and retail dealers, it was the
unanimous opinion of those present, that such a movement as
that lately commenced by the inhabitants of Manchester and
Leeds, was highly desirable; but that so many circumstances
combined, having a tendency to oppress and bow down the in-
dustry. of the country, causes feelings of despair to generate
in their bosoms to such an extent, that everything that passes
around them is become entirely hopeless. With a cold, bleak,
and dreary winter before them—with nothing but ruin, utter,
hopeless ruin staring them in the face—with its attendant cala-
mity, revolution, hovering about them, and draining from
within them the very vitals which inspire men to energy;
and to deeds of patriotism—with all these adverse circum-
stances staring them in the face, the shopkeepers and
tradesmen have given up all hope of improving their con-
dition, by remonstrances, and petitioning, ard memorialising,
and deputationising, and bending the slavish knee to tyrants,
who convert the statements of the people's condition into food
for amusement and ridicule, who brutishly laugh at the tat-
tered garments of the poor, and who mock their heart-breUring
representations in giving them stones when they ask for bread.
The shopkeepers have unanimously declued that their only
hope rests in circumstances, which are fast approaching to a
crisis. Those of Birmingham resolved last evening, with Jur-
rowed brows and cheeks flushed with the glow of patriotic in-
dignation, that they would hereafter stand with folded arms
and watch, until that period, when Englishmen, knowing their
rights, will dare to maintain them.
Sir, These are the feelings—this is the determination of tl.e
shopkeepers ktiff'tradesmen of Birmingham. Sir Robert Peel
and his friends have repeatedly acknowledged the distress.
They have expressed their surprise that the poor have borne
their burdens so patiently. The remedy has, a thousand
times, been pointed out to him, and Sir Robert Peel ha
a thousand times refused to apply the remedy I
What hope is there? None ; at least the men of Birming-
ham cannot see any. With such dismal prospects then, arid
with so little chance of success, my fellow-townsmen have re-
tired for the present in gloomy despair; hut ready at a mo-
ment's notice to join in raptures any great national movement
which may be made, with a fair prospect of success, for the re-
demptien and emancipation of our common, our oppressed, and
grievously insulted country. I am, Sir, your most obedient,
humble servant, JOSEPH A. LANDER,
Secretary of the Birmingham Anti CorneLaw
Association.
Steel-house-lane, Birmingham, Jut), 6, 1t442.
The CHAIRMAN next read the following letter from a
gentleman in Bangor :
I have been, as you are well aware, intimately known in this
part of the c:-untry for many years past, and my habits and
pr fessitinal avocations have afforded me ample means of obtain-
ing personally, a correct knowledge of the general condition of
the inhabitants. I have- witnessed during the last two
years instances of distress amongst the lower classes wheel.
exceed my powers of duet it ion ; and, from present appearances,
there is overy prospect that such instances will be greatly in-
creased. The earnings of the men employed in the Be.-ichey-
Cafu and the ( logwyn-y-thgfran qusrries had been tor sem*•
rannths past materially reduced by the mode in which their
labour was arranged; the men, however, were kept out
though unable to earn what they had been accustornee
to do, and their hardships were greatly increased le
the high prices which corn and butcher's meat commsnied.
The week bet' re last in Braich-y-Cafn quarry, where there
are 2,500 men employed, the days of labour were to tricted ti.
four days in the week, being equivalent to the discharge of 80u
men : at this time beef, mutton, and lamb are 74-1. the lb., in
the Bangor market, and in Llaunsst on Tuesday last, wheat
was 75s , and barley 455. the qua, ter. The rumour is very
prevalent that it is intended shortly to restrict the
days of labour to three days in each week. The
parish peer ue dreadfully oppressed. Many of them ars
left for weeks together, without being laid the trifling'
weekly pittance allowed to them by the Parochial authorities,
although it is well known that it is the only means which the
gr. at majority of them have to depend upon for their subsist-
eucc. This is not peculiar to one parish, or confined to one
district, but it is generkl throughout this part of the country.
By official returns, there were 40d cases (riot individuals) in
which weekly relief. were in arrear for from one to fourteen
weeks, within the Bangor and Beaumaris Union ; and I found
ye-terday that she paupers in the Llannvst Union (17 parishes)
had been, most of them, neatly three weeks unpaid. 'I he fat-
hers costa not pay the rates without being distrained
upon, and the local bank refused to make further
advances. The distress in that neighlsou-hood is much aggra-
vated by restriction of labour in Colonel Pennan 's quarry, and
by the discharge of a great many labourers from, and the reduc-
tion of wages of those retained upon the Gwydir estate, the pro-
perty of Lord Willoughby, whose agent, Kennedy, is the author
of a pamphlet in favour of the Cnrn-laws. 1 have never know,
the condition of the lower and middling classes more depressed
nor theirpro-pects more gloomy. Everything seems at a stand still,
and every body seems toask, what is come of us ? I can say front
my own knowledge that, but for the charity of those who haul
the means—many whose means were very limited—many indi-
viduals in these districts must have perished from want—lite-
rally the Ifant- of food, during the last two years; and there is
every prospect at present that many of those who were in the
habit of bestowing charity upon others, will turn to seek it
themselves ere long. I fear that the produce of the approach-
irg harvest will, upon the whole, disappoint the expectatiells of
those who trust to its abundance as a means of relieving the pre-
vailing distress. The price of butchers' meat is kept up by the
scarcity of fat cattle, produced by thehigh price of corn. The gene-
rality of farmers, it is very well known, have been obliged to sell
off their corn to meet their rent days, immediately after it was
harvested; and consequently, for the greater part of the year.
are buyers of corn for their use- These men cannot find cattle
for the market (and nine-tenths of them never see butchers'
meat on their own tables from year's end to year', end), hence
the scarcity of fat cattle and the consequent high price o
butchers' meat.

The ❑phoiders of the Corn-laws have incurred a fearful
responsibility. God only knows how it will terminate. Clas•
legislation to uphold a bankrupt aristocracy, and a bloated
priesthood, when the millions are starving, is a dangerous as
well as a cruel political experiment. You know the old saying,
" lrech gwlad nag Arghvydd."—Yours, very truly,
IJr. Wakes Griffith. 0. V. ROBERTS.
Mr. G. 'Fitomi.soN then read the following letter froil
a gentleman in Ashton-under-Lyne ; the contents of it.
he was slim, would be found deeply interesting and im-
portant :

Ashton, July 5, 1842.
My dear Sir,—l beg to hand you a statement iliu.trative
the present state of this parish, and tending to prove that un-
[ess some channel be opened for the productive employment of
capital and labour, property will be eaten up, and ruin inns'
inevitably overtake all classes•depcndent upon trade iu tint
district.
1. Rates laid for the Relief of the Poor in this Parish from
1836 to 1842 inclusive :-
1836. October 5 £4.845 9 7
1837. September 20
1838. November 6 ...... 4,794 19 10
1839. August 24 6,442 16 5
1840. April 6 and December s—two rates 12,219 8 7
1841. June 13
1841. January 1 and June 11—two rates 15,364 16 2
or an increase of 200 per cent. since 11136 It is very probable
that another rate will be required before Christmas, a, 4.001)/
of that laid in June is required to liquidate arrears ; and it i,
worthy of notice, that in 1836 the parish had funds in ham;
amounting to 00!.
he difficulty of collecting the rates is daily increasing, as
the rate-payers are daily being impoverished ; there was pro-
perty unoccupied, and therefore yielding nothing to the parish
tunds in June last, the rental of which amounts d to more than
12,000/. per annum, and this sum may be said to incrfa-c
every day.
2. Out-door relief granted during the three months ending
June 30, in the following years:-
1836
1837 .. . 488 9 1
1833
1839 . 578 0 6%
1840 716 4 7
1841
. .
1840 1,093 9 11
being an increase of 130 per cent. over 1836.
3. Employment.—Eight mills, employing, when at work,
at least 1,000 persons, are standing; six others, employing
least 3,000, are working only four days a week ; and the wages
of those who are at work are constantly reduced by the pres-
sure of the times-upon the employer.
The number of persons unemployed is about 3,000, or one-
seventh of the entire population.
Believing these facts will bearexamination, and wishing the
present meeting of Deputies may bring about some important
results, but hoping against hope,
I remain, my dear Sir,. yours on behalf of the Ashton and
Dukin.eld Anti- Corn-law Association,
JOSEPH SPENCER.
The reading of these several cUtinliunicutions was
Frequently interrupted by cheers.
General GREENE, of the United States, was them
;alled upon by the Chairman, and proceeded to address
the meeting as follows :—The first question probably
Nhich will present itself to the minds of all aroutui
me will be, who is this gentlemen from the
United States Low about to address us ? and
why it is that lie comes before this assembly ? What
inducement can he have to mingle
in our deliberations ?
My answer is, that lam an American. That word must
.:onvey to your mind one main impression, which is, that
You and I have a common ancestry
;ion, and that we have common sympathies.—(Renewed
---(Cheers)—that
have a cotmnon language, that we have a common reli-
,:heers.) I have said that we had
a common ancestry ;
but where do Igo to trace my ancestors ? Do Igo to
the bleak hills of Scotland ? No. Do Igo to the moun-
tain districts of Wales.? No. Do Igo to the fertile
:alleys of England? No. 1)o I fro to the Emerald Isle?
No, Ido not. If you ask how theta I can claim a cons-
non parentage, nay
answer is that Igo to neither coin:.ry, because. I'll go to all.— Cheers.) To whatever
)art of the United Kingdom I turn I find my ancestors
;here. The mingled blood of every section flows in these
eins.—(Clicers.) I must, therefore, be excused if I tell
.Ifr. (Moundl that as Ido not feel I have been priju-
!iced by the Union lam slot a repealer.--(llear, bear.) I
lave read :it home
accounts of the distress which has
oervaded England. I have heard in this assembly accounts
of sufferings calculated to rend the 'wart, but which I
;save known through the description only that has been
of them. We, on the other side o: the At:aitie,
:now of no such sutrerings.—(Cheers.) And why cu
.ome amongst you to-day ? I come to point out to you,
.his land of promiae. (The lion. Gentleman here poi. ted
.o a map of America placed ire a corucr of the room.) The