The Sun.
London, England, 1842-04-01 00:00:00

No. 15,467.

he produced, his customers perhaps examined, and th.
whole nature of his business laid open, it might be, t
his rivals in trade. This was an amount of exposul,
which no Government had a right to expect from th,
subjects of a free country.—(llear, hear.) The in.
come tax would press unequally upon merchants,
tradesmen, physicians, &c., who were dependent upon
.their daly labour, as compared with proprietors o.
landed property. lie also ,maintained that, while an
it come tax was at all times oppressive, it would Ix
io in the present peculiar circumstances o
the country. He had heard the tariff of Sir ilober'
reel praised as embodying an amount of wisdom Etta
short of Solomon's, if not somewhat beyond it; fo
while Solomon was said to have brought " apes a r.
peacocks from abroad," Sir Robert was to allow nil
importation of asses, of whom he (Mr. M'F.) thought
the country had enough already.—(Laughter.) For
himself, he had not been able to see such great marks
of wisdom in Sir Robert's tariff as some pretended to
find. He remarked that when the people called
out for a reduction of the taxes on food, Sir Ro-
bert Peel took off the duty on • corks, as if that
would satisfy their wants, whereas, the conse-
quence would merely be to destroy the whole cork-
cutting trade in the country.—(Hear, hear.) Th:
fact was, that while corn and food. remained at their
prckejtjukw4Uhe
,whole
mained the same as

EVW, OI

never could compete with their brethren on the Con-
tinent; and, therefore, we found, that whenever they
did come into competition, the former were beaten.
Such would be the state of the cork-cutters and shoe-
makers, if Sir Robert Peel's tariff were carried. But
place them in the same situation as their brethren on
the Continent, and he •believed our handicraft la-
bourers would honourably maintain their position.
When, however, the general taxes' were so exceed-
ingly heavy, and when, in addition to these, our '
tradesmen were burdened with the support of par-
ticular monopolies, they never could be expected
to do so. lie had heard that there was a stand-
ing order of the House of Commons, by which.
the people were prevented from petitioning against
any new tax, while under consideration. There
must surely be some mistake in this ; for what
was the House of Commons but the people them-
selves by deputy assembled there ; and were they
to be told that they were not entitled to state
their feelings on any subject that might be brought
before them ? If, however, the Company could not
obtain direct access to the House of Commons, they
could do so indirectly, by addressing those Members
individually-who had opposed the tax. This would only
cost the printing of the resolutions.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. M'F. then moved the adoption of his resolutions,'
which were seconded by Mr. A. Thompson.
Mr. JAMES M'LAREN supported the resolutions.
On a division, the resolutions of Mr.Macfarlan were
carried by a majority of 54 to 4.

THE YEOVIL GLOVE TRADE.-
THE NEW TARIFF.

The number of men, women, and children depen

dent upon this trade for their means of existence, is
upwards of 20,000. In, and for twenty miles round
Yeovil, it is the chief, indeed the only employment, for
the female population.
The quantity produced is under 6,000 dozen, per
week ; these are, sold in the London market at prices
varying from 6s. to 14s. per dozen, averaging about
10s., and producing a weekly sum of about 3,000/. ;
three-fifths of this is paid in wages ; 1,8001. among
20,000 gives about Is. 90. per head per week.
Many have been the reductions to bring the wages
to this low point, which the poor helpless sewers have
had to submit to since 1826, in order that their
employers might be enabled to keep their ground
against the French manufacturers, whose superior
advantages of climate, better skins, and cheaper provi-
sions, have enabled them to pay the existing duties,
and successfully, in the better kinds of gloves, to com-
pete for the supplying of our own market. In the
struggle, more than three-fourths of the English ma-
nufacturers have been entirely ruined.
Notwithstanding the reduced comforts of our work-
people, last year the Trent& tininliketurezatraulo.,
to pay the present duties and send into this market
128,625 dozen, being nearly one-third of the entire
supply, and yet Sir Robert Peel proposes, without
bargaining for any reciprocity, regardless of the dif-
ference in the price of food in the two countries, to
reduce the tariff on French gloves—habits 2s. per
dozen, men's ,2s. 6d. per dozen, and women's long
3s. 6(i. per dozen, and to allow mits free. if carried,
this will annihilate the English glove trade. Three-
fifths of the entire cost of the article is
labour, and the poor labourers have already
been brought down, as nearly as possible, to
the Poor-house test. Out of the remaining two-
fifths, or 4s. per dozen, what reduction can the manu-
facturer effect ? Out of this sum the skins, dye-stuff,
and eggs..must be purchased, carriage, cost of selling,
and rents paid, risks run, and profit found.
No Yeovil manufacturer is making anything like
sixpence per dozen by his gloves ; it is only the
higher priced goods that pay any profit ; the lowest
labour-producing
ottiitur iefti'nigs
goods
ralwayseathlci
isseoNnlvtda aaantodan l
portionomssan
carried, jrf t
trade will be utterly ruined, and in 'this one district,
20,000 added to the pauper list. Its mere announce-
ment has already put a complete stop to the trade,
and sent thousands to bed supperless ; aye, and din-
nerless too. .

It will be seen from the following resolutions that
all the works are stopped. God help the poor work-
people of this country. Our rulers seem bent upon
trying the experiment how much of misery they
may, without resistance, be made to endure.
At a meeting of the glove manufacturers of Yeo-
vil and its neighbourhood, held this 28th day of
March, 1842, to take into consideration the present
state of the trade as effected by the newly proposed
Tariff, Mr. Wilmington, in the Chair, the following
resolutions were unanimously adopted :
That an alarming crisis has arrived in consequence
of the proposed alteration of the import duty on
gloves, and that it is necessary to adopt pi ompt and
decisive measures, in order to prevent immediate loss
to the manufacturer, and the ultimate ruin of the

trade.
That the contemplated reduction of duty has had
a most injurious effect, and has already induced a
general stagnation of business and total cessation of
demand.

That it is imperative on the manulltcturers imme•
diately to cease making for,one month, and for such
longer period as may be deemed expedient.
That it is necessary also not to commence dressing
any skins during the ensuing month of April.
That the manufacturers, deeply sympathising with
their work-people in the sufferings this measure will
occasion, and which only the sternest necessity would
justify them to propose or enable them to carry, are
persuaded that a course less decided would lead to
still more painful results.
Thirty-ono of the manufacturers of Yeovil and its
neighbourhood pledged themselves not to cut or
cause to be cut, either wholly or in part, any gloves,
or put into dress any skins, during the ensuing.
month of April ; and were determined to act up to
the spirit and letter of this declaration.

THE INCOME TAX.-THE CORN-

LAW.
THE COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL AWOL-
CORN-LAW LEAGUE TO TUE ELECTORS
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

The Prime Minister has called upon your represen-
tatives to levy an additional revenue of three millions
and a half, and has declared that because of the inabi-
lity of the people to consume more tea, sugar, coffee,
and other taxed commodities, he is compelled to sup-
ply the deficiency of the Exchequer by the imposition
of a tax upon income,
Without an effort to ascertrin the cause of this ex-

haustion of the resources of the people, or to provide
any mitigation of their sufferings, you, the merchants,
traders, professional men, shopkeepers, annuitants, and
others, are to be called upon to disclose to oflicial in-
quisitors the circumstance:, of your particular callings,
that your diminished incomes may be shared with the
tax-gatherer, not for the relief of your poorer fellow
countrymen from any portion of their heavy burdens,
but for the support of a system of monopolies which
undermines our commerce and thus drains the sources
of our financial prosperity.

It is to insure the continuance of the corn mono-
poly that you are called upon to submit to a tax upon
your incomes. You are told, indeed, that the tax is
necessary to enable the Minister to effect his commer-
cial reforms. Be not deluded by such a plea. The
trading community have not called for the removal of
duties which augment the public revenue • they have
demanded the abolition of those taxes which serve only
to swell the rents of the landowners. 'We utterly re•
pudiate the attempt to inflict an income tax upon the
community under the pretence that it is rendered ne-
cessary by the reforms of our commercial tariff. Upon
this subject we claim to be heard as the accredited re-
presentatives of all the great trading and manufactu-
ring interests of the kingdom.