The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-31 00:00:00

V.itt a§31114

LONDON:
WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 31, 1842.

The tithe system was destroyed in Ireland
from the moment Mr. O'CONNELL recommended
his celebrated system of passive resistance. The
people made no attempt to violate the law; but
such as had pockets buttoned them up, or thrust
their hands into them, and those who had none
folded their arms, and looked on with the seem-
ing fixedness of statues. The tithe collectors
were peaceably allowed to drive off cattle and to
carry away furniture ; the seizures were adver-
tised to be sold by auction ; but though. there
were thousands of spectators, the only bidders
were the parsons themselves, to whom fat cows
were sometimes knocked down for a shilling. A
system like this could not continue; the Govern-
ment took the alarm ; and the redress of the na-
tional grievance was the almost immediate con-
sequence. When this system of passive resist-
ance was alluded to in the House of Commons,
Sir ROBEIVE' PEEL described it as a monster un-
known to the British Constitution—au incarna-
tion of sedition so subtle as to bid defiance to
any plan of coercion adopted by the Executive.
Repressive laws can only be framed to meet
cases of active resistance. That passive resist-
ance which consists in utter inaction, cannot be
made the subject of any legislative enactment.
While a reasonable hope was entertained that.
by peaceable agitation and discussion, the people
of England might obtain the removal of all re-
strictions upon their industry, passive resistance
was confined to Ireland. The habits and preju-
dices of Englishmen were in favour of free dis-
cussion, and of noisy, and to some extent tur-
bulent, opposition to all acts of oppression on the
part of the Executive. To meet, to grumble, and
to remonstrate, they regarded as their birth-
right—as an undisputed legacy, bequeathed
to them by their sturdy ancestors. But
that right the Government is now tak-
ing from them ; they are not suffered to
assemble in the open air ; and the consequence
is, that we now hear them, for the first time,
seriously advocate the adoption of the passive
resistance principle. The Secretary of State
and the Tory Press are for converting the police
force into organised bands of bludgeon-men,
spies, and informers, and therefore it is not sur-
prising-that the people should defend themselves
by adopting the only system by which they can
with impunity be set at open defiance. For what
can be done against men who will neither raise
their hands, nor open their mouths—who will
eschew the use of certain articles of food or
raiment—and who, like inanimate objects, will
become motionless at the withdrawal of every
application of physical three ? Such men can
neithav be cajoled nor coerced. At the Com-
plete Suffrage meeting, presided over by
Mr. JOSEPH STunoc, in Holborn, on Mon-
day evening, the proposal to adopt the prin-
ciple of passive resistance was received
-with acclamations of applause. If it take
root in this country, the result will be even
more disastrous, as regards the Executive, than
in Ireland. JOHN BULL is not naturally a mer-
curial animal, and the principle of passiveness
will well accord with his naturally sluggish dis-
pos7tion. But whether or not it will be implanted
in the British soil, depends upon the immediate
eoLduct of the Ministry with respect to public
meetings, and the -prosecution of the prisoners
arrested during the late disturbances in the ma-
nufacturing districts, Either Sir JAMES GRA-
.;.4ABI must recede from the ground which he has
taiken respecting the power of the constabulary to
interpret and execute the law of public meetings,
or the people will be forced to adopt some sys-
tem beyond the reach of pace interference, for
the realization of such objects as they may huge

in view. Whether that system be passive re-
sistance or secret association, the danger to the
State will be a thousand times greater than from
any congregation of oratorical operatives on
Bethnal-green, or on Kennington-common.
Barking dogs rarely bite; and it is seldoth in-
deed that men ever do any active mischief who
are suffered to dissipate their dissatisfaction in
rhetorical display of their grievances.
Whatever the Tory journals may urge to the
contrary, they are the best friends of the mo-
narchy—they are the only real supporters of
" existing institutions "—who recommend the
adoption, at this moment, of a policy of concilia-
tion. Let the people only be brought to regard
the police in the light of spies and informers, as
the Tory journals would make them, and there is
an end of the efficacy of that force. They will
become useless to a people whose confidence they
have lost, and in the large towns throughout
the. United Kingdom anti-police associations
will in time become as numerous and as for-
midable as the Trades' Unions were during the
Reform fever. Instead of sowing the seeds of
enmity between the people and the police, it
ought to be the study of the Secretary of State
to inspire in the fbrmer the utmost confidence
in the integrity, moderation, and protective
vigilance of a force constituted solely for_the
protection of the life and property of the com-
munity at large. Selected, as they necessarily
must be, from the least educated and intelligent
class of the community, it is an outrage upon'
common sense to suppose that they can decide.
at what point a public speaker exceeds the
limits of fair discussion. Neither are they able
to tell when the public peace is endangered in
cases where no attempt is made to commit a
breach of the peace. They ought, therefore,
never to be suffered to interfere without the
authority of a Magistrate in attendance, or the
written orders of two or more of the nearest
adjoining householders. As Sir ROBERT PEEL
can neither 'be ignorant of, nor indifferent
to, the strong spirit of , disaffection which
is spreading throughout the hind, he ayes
it to himself, to the Crown, and to the ,rational
safety to take the whole subject into immediate
consideration. Small as may be the confidence
reposed in him by the working classes, it is a
thousand times greater than any reposed in his
colleagues, Sir J. GRAHAM and Lord STANLEY.
The Home Secretary is universally distrusted,
and if anything could inspire confidence in the
Cabinet it would be his removal from it.

The accounts from the manufacturing districts
continue to represent matters as gradually im-
proving. The Liverpool Times, of yesterday,
states that the demand for cotton has greatly in-
creased, so many as 20,000 bales having been
takenlast week on speculation, being nearly half
the quantity sold. As there is now an abund--
:ince of food, and plenty. of capital seeking in-
vestment,
there is every prospect of a speedy re-
vival of trade, provided the Government will let
the working people alone. The sliding scale is,
as we predicted, playing -the deuce with the far-
mers. By throwing nearly two millions of guar-
ters of grain and flour into the market, just as they
were preparing to dispose of their crops, the corn-
jobbers have contrived to take as much money
out of their pockets as they put into the Trea-
Nury. Now, had Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S Bs. duty
been adopted, when first proposed, the present
influx of grain would have been prevented, inas-
much as it would have been eaten during the
sr.arcity of last year, and thus the farmers could
have made sure of fixed reasonable prices instead
of being left constantly at the mercy of the job-
bers. But as they supported the humbug of the
sliding scale, they will find few to sympathize
with them, whatever loss it maYinflict upon them.
Could the farmers be brought fully to com-
prehend their own interests, they would perceive
that no class of men are more interested than
'they are in the prosperity of the manufacturers.
But for the outlets afforded by cotton mills,
and woollen factories, and dye works, and similar
branches of industry, they would be devoured
by their surplus population, notwithstanding a
million of Malthusian regulations, such as Lord
F. EGERTON has recourse to for restricting the
growth of his collier colony. Some silly people
talk as if we could do very well without manu-
factures. Have these persons ever` considered,
as a writer in the Liverpool Times observes,
that " nothing is more certain, than that the
commerce of the country, its naval power, its
-ability to pay the public creditor, the very value
of the soil, and the means of subsisting the la-
bouring population," all depend upon the prospe-
rity 'of our Manufactories ? Not a bit of it. There
are villages the rental of which amounts to many
thousands of pounds, which but for manufactures
would be brakes of briars not worth as many
pence as they are now worth pounds. Nothing
displays greater ignorance than the assertion that
;he landlords are not more benefited than any
' chiSs of men by the growth of manufactures.
They risk nothing, and yet their property is sure
of being quadrupled in value by being made the
site of these hives of industry. Her commerce
is the right arm of the power, the wealth, and
the civilization of England; and that commerce
is based upon her manufacturing industry, and
command, in consequence, of the markets of the
world.

In another part of the paper will be found an inter-
estinu article on the American Steamers. Speedy
communication between this country and her colo-
nies, as well as the United States, is becoming every
day of more importance, and any plans, therefore, for
lessening the expense or removing the difficulties
which have hitherto attended steam navigation across
the Atlantic, deserve the serious consideration of the
,public. The expense, from all accounts, is enormous.
• That, indeed, is the great obstacle to complete suc-
cess, for an experience now of several years has
proved that steamers, even in the stormy Atlantic, are
as safe as the best sailing packets, and on an average
perform the voyage in little more than half the time.
It will be seen from the article referred to, that
though the North American Company's steamers are
customarily called " CUNARD'd line," that gentleman
is only one of thirty proprietors, and that Mr. BURNS,
of Glasgow, and Mr. D. M'lvxu, of Liverpool, are
the individuals recognised by the Government as the
contractors. To the great credit of these gentlemen,
the vessels under their management have surpassed
every other steamer in speed and punctuality, always
excepting that splendid safe, and well-conducted vessel,
the Great Western. The proprietors of both Com-
panies have spared no expense, but have generously
risked enormous sums in making this grand experi-
ment, and we therefore confidently trust they will be
heartily supported by the Government and the
country in bearing the heavy, expenses, till some new
discovery in steam or machinery shall enable them to
realise ample profits without any extraneous assistance.

Our readers will see in the police report from
Union Hall, a short history of the deeds per-
formed by the police at Kennington-common,
and of the credit which the worthy Magistrate,
Mr. TRAILL, gave to the evidence of two of the
constables employed on that occasion. We have
no reason to make any additional remarks as to
the credibility of such witnesses 3 and we only
regret that some of our Judges havo not the same
skill in sifting evidence, and pa rticularly in
sifting the evidence of interested witnesses, when
charges are brought by this new forge against
respectable people. Two of these men cwore to
statements which the Magistrate 'declared were
without foundation,and it is horribLe to reflect that
possibly on such evidence a respectable man has
been committed to the tread-mill, and probably'
ruined for life, by a sentence passed on him by
a Judge of the land. Mr. TRAILL was on the
Common when these furious as saults were
made on the people, and, as ben rune an up-
right Magistrate, stated that be :had also suf-
fered by the violence of the police:, and could
see no justification for their proceedEngs. What
a picture this gives of the arremge meats and
orders of the Police Commissionversi While a
Magistrate was thus attending to• his duty he
%vas rudely pushed about as if he had been, we
will not say a Chartist, but a pi.ekpar:ket, and
was glad to escape from the vc!r, tun who
are paid by the country for pres er% /lag order !
This is a disgrace to the Gevernroenl t ; and if a

full inquiry be not made into the new regulations
of Col. ROWAN and Mr. MAYNE, and ample mea
sures adopted for preventing the recurrence of
such illegal and dangerous practices, they will
find some difficulty in obtaining either respect
for the law or for those who administer it. The
policeman was properly fined for the outrage,
but as he may have obeyed the orders of his su-
periors he will probably be retained, and thanked
for his exertions.

The corn farmers have long been reckoned, the
greatest grumblers in the world. Mr. Huskisson
said they were never satisfied. If the crop was good
they had too much of it, for the prices became so low
that they could not pay their rents with a profit ; and
if from rain, or wind, or tempest, the corn was da
maged, there was no rise of price to remunerate
them, for foreign grain was imported, and kept the
prices low. But these gentlemen are the most ami-
able, contented beings that ever lived, compared
with the hop-growers. Though the crop exceeds all
expectation, they denounce it as the worst that ever
was seen. There is always some drawback—either
the " red rust," or the flea," or "the excessive
drought," or " foggy mornings," or " hot days,"
sorely trying the stamina of the tender plants ; and
the duty, of course, is always over-rated. There is
no intelligence we distrust so much as " Hop Intel-
ligence," but we are obliged to take it as it comes.
Our readers, of course, must do the same ; but 'we
advise them to keep this in mind, that when the hop-
growers say it is barely an average crop, it is the
best that has been known for half a century ; and
when they say there are no hops at all, it is, to a cer-
tainty, a fair average crop.

SWEARING IN SPECIAL
CONSTABLES. '
.TH.g EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sitt,.=--thave taken the liberty of sending you the
following important statement :
Mr. Thomas,Clatton Salt, a large and influential
manufacturer, and one-of the leading members of the
late Birmingham Political, Union, in common with a
great number of other respectable inhabitants, were
summoned to attend the Committee-room of the
Town-hall, at nine o'clock on, Monday morning last,
for the purpose of allowing theinselves to be sworn
as special constables. Mr. Salt immediately made
known his intentions to the whole of the workmen
in. his employ, and likewise to as many of his politi-
cal friends as time would allow, and it was arranged
- tizt the parties should assemble at eight o'clock, on a
piece of waste land adjoining the residence of Mr.
Salt. At half-past eight the assemblage became
numerous, and Mr. Salt..submitted to those pre-
sent the propriety of being sworn in as ; spe-
cial: constables, on condition that the Magistrates
would agree to memorialise the Queen on the distress
of the people, and praying for the adoption of instant
measures to remedy the same ; and also claiming for
the people their just political rights and privileges.
To these . conditions the meeting unanimously con-
sented, and at nine o'clock Mr. Salt, his workmen,
and his friends, marched in extremely good order to
the Town-hall. On the oath of special constable being
tendered, Mr. Salt, in conformity with the previous
resolution, said, before he took that oath, he wished to
state that, in obedience to the summons he had re-
, eeived from the Mayor, he had not only attended
himself, but had brought with him all his workmen and
a numerous party of friends, and on his own and their
behalf, he wished. to state that they were desirous of
giving their best assistance to the Magistrates in the
measures they deemed necessary for the promotion of
-the public peace; but he held in his hand an official
&Cement, to which many of those Magistrates were
nttrties, in which they affirm " that the legislative
itieaStires passed and persisted in by the Government
must be the production of a general state of suffering,
whiCh Would cause a general alienation of the public
mind,- Of which revolution must. be the inevitable
result..". These were the very words adopted by those
Magistrates. Now he did not feel justified in taking
up the constable's staff to repress the wrong doings
of the people, so driven. to despair, unless he received
a pledge that the Magistrates and special constables
would take., up the just and lawful weapon
of remonstrance, to stay the wrong doings
of the Government also. There was no attempt
to disguise the fact, that the present general excite-
ment arose froM the intolerable wrongs and suffer•
ing-s of the people. Her Majesty's Ministers had
acknowledged the full extent of those sufferings,
and they had been equally acknowledged in ,the
Speech from the ..Throne, as well as the exemplary
patience with Which they were borne ; and dealing
with such a people as this, he would pt it to the
Magistrates whether, while all measures were being
taken to restrain by force any violence on the part of
the people, justice andhumanity, and sound policy,did
not require ' that sympathy should be
,shown'them,
and that they should besmade fully aware that every
effort was being made to do them justice, and to re••
store to industry its due reward.
Francis Clark, Esq., the Magistrate in attendance,
stated that the Magistrates could not be expected at
' that time to enter into any pledge whatever, and that
if they objected to be sworn in, Mr. Salt. and his
friends might retire, and they retired accordingly.
I am now enabled to inform you, on good authority,
that the Magistrates of this; borough have come to the
determination of adopting the excellent suggestion of
Mr. Salt, and that a memorial is already prepared
fur transmission to the Queen, with a prayer, similar
to the one Suggested by that gentleman, on Monday
last.—l am, Sir, yours very obediently,
JOSEPH A. LANDER.
Birmingham, Aug. 29, 1842.

POLICE OUTRAGES.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Siu,—l beg permission for the insertion of the fol-
lowing statement in your journal, relative to the
meeting held near the Pin factory, London-road,
the said meeting having for its object the considera-
tion of the present awful state of the country. I al-
lude to the conduct of policeman 85 M division,
which I think was calculated to disturb the harmony
and good order of those assembled, inasmuch as he,
with an air of self-importance, pretended to be taking
notes of the speeches of the various speakers. Ido
not complain of his doing so, but the objectionable
manner in which he acted, by sneering at, and de-
riding the objects of the meeting. At the conclusion
of the proceedings the people departed peaceably, but
as he made himself so foolishly conspicuous, he was
followed by a few boys ; on arriving at the .corner of
Westminster-road, he began to beat them ; one
of them he cruelly ustd, and caused a. crowd
to assemble whereupon several respectable in-
habitants of the place remonstrated with him ;
one and all declared he was far from being
sober, and not fit to be entrusted with; the pre-
servation of the peace, among whom was Mr. Buck,
No. 4, Johnson's-buildings Westminster-road, who
considered his conduct highly reprehensible, and
ought to be reported. Myself and others who took
part in the meeting have no desire to incur the re-
sponsibility of a breach of the peace, brought about
by. the officious conduct of ignorant policemen; it is
quite sufficient to be held responsible for our own
acts. We .have every desire to enforce our opinions
in a legal and peaceable manner, being fully con-
vinced that our own views are founded on truth and
justice, and therefore do not require their dissemina-
tion by riots, tumults, &c., but by endeavouring to
create an enlightened public opinion, with a view to
their adoption.
I should not have troubled you with this, but I
think the conduct of these officers ought to be exposed.
I am, Sir, yours, &c.
86, Waterloo-road. J. W. PARKER,