The Sun.
London, England, 1842-02-12 00:00:00

ADJOURNED MEETING.

The Conference met again pursuant to adjournment this
evening.
P. A: Taylor, Esq., took the Chair at Twenty Minutes be-
fore Seven o'Clock.
The CHAIRMAN, or taking the chair, stated that the ob-
ject of ;the evening meeting was to give an opportunity to
gentlemen who were Delegates from different parts of the
kingdom, to express their opinions from their constituents.
We have also at this meeting to consider another subject,
which I think of importance. He proposed, therefore, to,
introduce it in the first instance. It was an applica-
tion from gentlemen present, Deputies from the Working
Men's Conference at Manchester—(Loud cheers)—
who had been deputed by the Conference to come to London,
, arid to endeay.,ur to obtain an interview with Sir Robert Peel.
He had thought fit to decline the interview.—(Cries of
" Shame," and ",That's nothing new.") It certainly was nothing
new ; it was only part and parcel of the refusal given to the
Deputies on Tuesday last.--( Cheers. ) As was well remarked
by some of the gentlemen that• morning, Sir Robert
Peel bad occupied a portion of the last five months
in sending everywhere to make inquiries • upon the operation of
the Corn-laws, except from those Delegates from every part
of England who were best calculated to give him the informa-
tion he required.—( Cheers.) His object was to pretend to get
information and stifle all inquiry.—( Cheers.) He thought it
was an intolerable nuisance to send all,
over the world to know
how the landed aristocracy might rob the people without actual
starvation.—( Cheers.) He would now proceed to the busi-
ness of the evening by calling on Mr. Mills, of Oldham, one of
the Deputation of the Manchester Conference, to state what he
had to tell them.
Mr. Mats then came forward and stated that the Confer-
ence from which he was one of the delegates, had been called
together for the purpose of receiving accounts from various
parts of the country, and statements of the suffering that ex-
isted. All those who had read the report laid before the Con-
ference must have been struck with the astounding facts con-
tained therein.—(Cheers.) Sir Robert Peel talked of over-
production, but if he had read the pamphlet which he (Mr.
Mills) had taken care to enclose in the memorial sent to him,
he would have discovered that if there was over-production
there was but small consumption. —( Cheers.) They had come
to London to get an interview with Sir Robert Peel, and lay
before him the wrongs inflicted by the Corn-laws on the mass
of the people.—(Cheers.) They had applied to several Mem •
bers for their advice as to the best manner to proceed. Mr.
Scholefield had exerted himself for them. He applied to Sir
Thomas Fremantle, who had talked about the Right Hon.
Baronet seeng them after Wednesday, but all this turned out
but a mere false statement. Mr. Mills then read the Memorial
to Sir Robert Peel, which was of considerable length,
and stated in harrowing terms the distress and misery
that existed in England in consequence of the Corn-laws.
The following letter from Sir Robert Peel, in reply to the
request for an interview from the deputation of the working
classes, was then read by Mr. Mills :
" Whitehall, 10th February, 1842.
" Sir,--I was very sorry that it was not in my power to ac-
cede to the wish you expressed, in respect to an interview with
the deputation from the working classes, but my time was so
entirely occupied by official and Parliamentary business, that
I could not find an opportunity. I have received and read with
attention, the memorial which was placed in the hands of Sir
Thomas Fremantle.
" I am, Sir, your obedient faithful servant,
(Signed) " ROBERT PEEL.
" Joshua Scholefield, Esq., M.P."
—(The reading of this letter was accompanied by hisses, and
other demonstrations of disgust.) Mr. Mills then read a re-
port relating to the distress in Oldham, from the Anti-Mono-
polist of Jan. 20, 1842. He then continued—lt was no 'lse
calling hard words, they did no good; the time had come for
something else; this was the time for action.—(Cheers.)
There was something which was a great deal better than show,
and that was union ; and there would be such an union of the
this,a
timew o working ihnagd
amenrri
arrived,
amasters,nd
th e y awse
rhade
callednever
thei
r he
The
t
ttertireeasda-ntadzewxeorutlid go a
onL ifs sith e)
other with
monopolies
had
prudence,
gone before, but so long as they were divided, this thing could
not be accomplished. The working men of Oldham knew that
the bread-tax was a great monopoly, but they also knew that
there was another monopoly—the monopoly of class legislation
—(Cheers)—and he for one, though he should toil for the
they did
razes
anndd
same object which they all worked for, should always re-
member that, so long as class legislation continued, English-
men would be slaves.—(Cheers. )
Mr. CORBETT, from Birmingham, said he felt proud that
he was a working man.---(Cheers.) There had been a great
deal said, these last few years, about the distress in this great
nation. He should like to know who had selected those people
who brought on this distress? They could not say it was the
working men.—( Cheers.) Had they participated in making
the laws, they never would have been in this state.—( Cheers.)
He also should recommend a,union between the roasters and

•
the working men. Without union, they could do nothing.
The middli daises could alone effect nothing. Look at the
masses who were opposed to them. They had the clergy
against them, with a few honourable exceptions. Instead of
the clergy being the friends of the poor, they were, generally
speaking, their oppressors. They had the two Houses of Par-
liament against them ; the fundholders, placemen, pensioners,
and landholders, all against them. The working classes, by
themselves, could circa nothing; and the odds which were
against them should convince every one of the necessity
of being .united.—( Cries of " Hear, hear.") He had
to express the determination of the men of Birmingham, that
if the middle classes joined them heart and soul, they (the
working classes) would be with them to a man.—(Load
cheers.) And he might add, that unless they acted honestly
by the working men, they would not have their assistance,
nor ought they, indeed, under those circumstances, to expect
it. —( Cheers.) What he had seen since he had been in this
room, had convinced hint that England would not sink yet, if
the working and the middle classes would only unite.—
(Cheers.) The working men he had met at Manchester in-
duced him to believe, that if the middle and humbler classes
were true to one another, this country need fear no eompeti-
tion. A good deal had been said about making sacrifices. He
approved of sacrifices for the public
_good. Let the people
be sober; nothing contributed so much to raise a people, in a
moral and political point of view, as sobriety. He was confi.
dent that, with union and firmness, justice—complete justice
would, ere long, be obtained.
The CHAIRMAN informed the meeting that the Rev. Mr.
Massie was about to communicate to them the result of the
deliberations of the Executive Committee as to the best mode
of presenting .the Memorial to the Queen which had been
agreed to in the morning.
The Rev. Mr. Massie then came forward, and said that
the Executive Committee had discussed the question sub-
mitted.to them. It had been stated by some of the members
that the only constitutional mode of presenting the Memorial
was through a Peer of the Realm or a Privy Councillor.
There wasi however, a strong desire on the part of many mem-
hers to comply with what seemed to be the prevailing wish of
the. Delegates, that they should proceed in a body and endea-
vour to present the Memorial themselves to her Majesty It
was. necessary, however, that previous application should have
been made to the official authorities for permission to take such
a step ; and some time would; of course, elapse before the
answer could be received. But in the meantime, if Delegates
would find it necessary, according to their previous arrange-
ments,•to leave London, the consequence of that would be, that
a small number only of their body could be present. Now, a
diminutive demonstration would tie compatatively ineffectual,
and would lay the League under a sneer or a rebuff. The
Committee, therefore, although with a feeling of great regret
and reluctance, had determined to renounce the inten-
tion of recommending the Delegates to attempt to pro-
ceed in a body with the Memorial. They recommend
that. Earls Ducie, Radnor, and Klnnaird should be respectfully
requested to take the earliest opportunity of using their privi-
leges as Peers of the realm, to bring before her Majesty the
Memorial of that Conference.—( Hear, hear.) There w ere
other Noble Lords or Learned Lords whom they would have
also named, were it not that those Noble persons had not out
and out declared for a total anti immediate repeal ; anti then
other of those Lords had rather discountenanced the Con-
ference of the mioistets of religion upon that subject, and ex-
pressed a doubt ,bother it was a moral or religious question.
file Earls of Ducie, Radnor, and Kintiaird had, on the other
hand, emphatically and distinctly approved of the present move-
went.,

eetingaskoredthwe whether
the AG
DelegatesEtimit E act:: d infeel the b
assuredoilotfhtahte m
the
proposal
Com-
mittee would be effectual? lie remembered a petition ad-
dressed to her Majesty had been on a former occasion en-
trusted to a Noble Lord for pres.entation,, but it had been for-
warded by him to the Secretary of State, through whom it
had, been presented. What certainty was there that the same
thing might not occur again ?
'The Rev. Mr. 111.4smc said that on the occasion referred to
the Noble Lord had declared that, in consequence of the delicate
health of her Majesty at that period, he did not wish to pre-
sent the petition in person ; hut that at any other time
he would have gladly availed himself of h:s privilege as a Peer
of the realm for such a purpose.—( Hear, hear.) The Rev.
Gentleman concluded by leaving the resolution of the Com-
mittee in the hands of Cie meeting.
The CHAIE.3IA ti then put the question that the recommen-
dation of the Executive Committee should be adopted.
'flie motion was unanimously
agreed to.
Mr. FALVEY next came forward to address the meeting. He
had been deputed, with three or four other working men, to
present the Memorial which it had formerly been determined
should be presented to the Premier. Little did he antici-
pate that a refusal to listen to that Memorial would have
been given by the Prime Minister of England—by the man
a e
or
who, a' few months before, had graciously received a depu-
tation from a certain body, because they agreed with him in
attributing the distress of the country to over-production and
machinery. These men had been graciously received ; and
they, in their turn, declared that Sir
When it
li.
e Peel
( Hear, hear.) He might have a heart, but, if he had, it
was a bad .one.—( Hear, hear.)
those who said they were sent from the working men, and
when they were asked to show their credentials, and had none,
i w
,waited
i had a t
e heart.—
n t.—
by
he allowed he was imposed on, and said he was very sorry in-
deed —(Hear, hear.) And because he was deceived on a pre..
vious occasion, he would not receive any real deputa-
tionEngland.—(Hear, from the real working men . --ear, hear. )
111 (Mr. Falvey) thought that the Prime Minister deserved
impeachment—(Cheers)-=and if the working classes had been
represented, he would have been impeached.—( Hear.) The
Minister of the Crown was responsible for the conduct of the
Sovereign ; and when Polignac advised Charles the Tenth of
France b put restrictions on the press, he was impeached and
banished, and the revolution of 1830 was the consequence.—
(Cheers.) Sir Robert Peel ought to be warned by his ex-
ample. He said that over-production was the cause of the
distress of the country, and that the hours of labour ought to
be.curtailed'; but what an insult to. the females of England to
tell them that short hours would redress their wrongs.—
( Hear, hear. ) He was working in a factory himself for
thirteen hours a day, and he allowed that the hours were too
many ; but when they ceased to be employed, would the ari-
stocracy support them ?—( Hear, hear.) Let them but have
the power of exchanging their labour for the bread which
others had to give them if they were not prevented from doing
so, and they would require no aid and no assistance. It was alleged
at one time that over-production was the cause ; at another,
that over-population was the cause ; but did not one argument
destroy the other ?—( Cheers.) They were recommended to
emigrate ; but he would advise the people not to do so; Eng-
land was made for them, and they were made for England.—
(Cheers.) . Sir Robert Peel, with his usual cunning,
endea-
voured to set the Ministers of England against them, by mak-
ing the Corn-laws depend on the Tithe Commutation.--(Hear,
bear,) He said the Tithe Coinmutations were founded ori the 4