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

AVERAGE OF THE ENTIRE OPERATION OF THE RELIEF

COMMITTEE.

Families relieved, 3,143 ; individuals, 73,314 ; average
weekly income per head, 9d. 2 -10ths ; relief given in provisions,
2081. Bs. 10d. ; average relief per family, Is. 3d. 2-3ds
average relief per head, 3d. 2-3ds; income and relief per head,
Is. 26-30ths.

That Committee have ceased their opera ions for want
of funds, and left their books 13,161 individuals
urgently requiring relief. Since 1836, our poor-rate
has gone on increasing to an alarming amount ; and, ex-
cept there be a speedy alteration in things, not only will
the working class be all paupers, but the middle class,
whom they are mainly dependent upon, will be paupers
also. The reduction of rents of all kinds of property is
very considerable. Public-house property was once
considered almost the best—if not the very best—

u person could have, but what is the case nuw :
Public-houses in the borough of Stockport, 136. Of this
number nine are at present empty, and many of the tenants
of those yet inhabited are offering their stocks and fixtures at
enormous losses, in order to free themselves from the rents and
taxes, which all the money they draw will not enable them to
pay ; and yet the rents of a great portion of inns and public-
houses in Stockport have been reduced in many instances
more than 30 per cent., in some instances 50 per
cent. ; but great as are the reductions above stated te-
nants cannot be procured. In 1839 there were in Stock-
port 233 beer-houses, and at present there are 104. Of pro-
vision, and other description of shops v‘ith:n the borough, there
are, untenanted, 149, and 14 closed as shops, though still in-
habited. It is supposed that there are nearly 300 houses and
shoi.s empty of one description or other.

In consequence of the distressed state of trade a
reduction of wages is taking place almost unparalleled,
and I fear must go on till the manufacturing population
in the cotton districts are reduced to a condition from
which they can never recover themselves. Gentle-
men, is this a state of things that ought to exist ?
I am sure yod will all say no. I thought it
my duty to come here and make these statements.
I wish the country to know, I wish Sir R. Peel to know,
I wish her Majesty's Ministers to know, that the inha-
bitants of our borough have endured their unparalleled
distress with unparalleled patience. Whether that
is to be attributed to a sense of the kindly
feelings which their fellow-citizens have mani-
fested toward them and to their efforts to miti-
gate their distress ; or whether it is to be attributed
to the interposition of Divine Providence ; or whether
it is to be attributed to the fact, that the poor are so de-
pressed physically that they have silently endured their
sufferings, it is not for me to say. There is, however, a
point beyond which human endurance cannot go ; and
unless some means are taken to relieve the dis-
tress of the poor of Stockport, I wish the
country to know, I wish Sir Robert Peel to know,
I wish the Government to know, that I cannot, and will
not, be responsible for the consequences which may
follow from the present state of things.—(Cheers.)
'e CHAIItMAN here recommended that gentlemen
who might address the meeting would point out, as
far as might be in their power, the beneficial re-
sults which they had reason to know would follow
from a repeal of the Corn-laws. He believed that im-
mense effect had been produced by the statement made
yesterday by Mr. Ibbotson, of Sheffield, that if the
Corn-laws were now repealed he would instantly take
on 500 new hands, and that he would pledge himself in
fourteen days there should not be a workman in Sheffield
out of employment. Such statements„. as these were
most valuable, because they intended to show that a
repeal of the Corn-laws would revive British industry.
Mr. FOSTER, the chairman of the Board of Guardians
of Stockport, then proceeded to address the meeting as
follows:—I have been fur some time the chairman of the
Board of Guardians in Stockport, and I have collected
certain facts in connection with the administration
of the relief of the poor . in that borough, a por-
tion of which I shall lay before the meeting
In 1839 a rate of ls. Bd. in the pound realized upwards
of 5,000/. In 1842 a rate of 2s. in the pound realised
only about 3,6001. If we say that in 1839 the rate had
been laid for 25., there would have been received 6,0001.
We at once perceive that there has been a defalcation in
2,4001. I have before stated
ono rate only of
that the average of the expenditure of the
poor for Stockport, ending March, 1841, was
3,1241. ; ;the deficiency of one rate only for the present
vear is equal to the whole expenditure, excepting 7241.
The amount of expenditure on behalf of the poor in 1841,
as before stated, was 3,124/. The amount expended in
the quarter ending March 25, 1842, was 2,4371. Os. sd. ;
this will, if that scale of expenditure continues, make an
expenditure equal to 9,748/. Is. Bd. ; being an increase
in one year of 6,624/. Is. Bd., besides the amount raised
by private subscription. In the year 1839 a rate of
ls. Bd. in the pound was sufficient to meet all the demands
on the overseers as regards the poor and other rates.
The expenditure of the present year will, if' the present
lamentable circumstances continue to prevail, re-
quire rates of Bs. in the pound, being nearly fivefold.
It has been pretty accurately ascertained that the amount
of reduction in wages has amounted to 6,000/ a week,
or a total of upwards of 312,0001. This effect alone is
sufficient to show the extreme depression that must exist
among the shopkeepers ; 6,000/. a week wholly with-
drawn from circulation. Building property. has fearfully
depreciated in value. A few instances may suffice :
A property which was sold a few years ago, say three or
four, for 2,400/., was resold a few weeks since for 1,0051.
Three shops, whose rents amounted together to 1451. with
au incumbrance of about 351.,, leaving nett rent 115/. per
ann. w as sold'fbr 1,305/. Icould multiply proofs of this de..
P*
reciation I have before stated that destitution and distress
, • ,
i$ exteriaing in Stockport at the present time. It 11,s
also

much increased in other parts of oar Union. In Hyde
district, it has extended; in Hazelgrare district, where
the cases to the Board averaged about six or eight a-
week, in the freteiit week-it amounted to seventy cases, I
ow.ng to the depression of the silk trade. The send-
ments of the Board of Guardians may be gathered from
the following document—it is of a recent date:—
Ordered—That this Board has made provision to the utmost
of its power to meet the extraordinary pressure resulting from
the distressed state of the trade in this district.
That the Board can meet the caigencies of the next quarter,
but, unless some early and efficient relief be afforded, either by
the revival of trade, or the finding employment for able-bodied
paupers, or the removal of the surplus population from this
district, or by some other means, this Board will not
and cannot be answerable for the future raisieg of the
' rates necessary to meet the demands on the union. Every rate
reauces the number of rate. payers able to pay, and the pres-
sure on the employers of labour in the cotton trade continually
increasing, has a constant tendency, by breaking such em-
ployers, to lessen the employment in the market, and increase
the number of paupers. What the result may be this Board
cannot tell, but its anticipations of the future, should no early
relief be afforded, are anything but favourable.:
The sentiments of our Board as to the cause of distress
have been submitted to the Poor-law Commissioners.
They are attributed to the high price of food and the
growing decline in our manufactures. In that opinion I
entirely coincide ; and I believe that the only remedy
that can be suggested is a total repeal of
all laws of monopoly—of all class legislation.—s(Cheers.)
lie had heard it asked how long it would be, supposing
the Corn-laws to be repealed, before any relief would be
produced ? An intelligent individual of the borough to
which he belonged had said to him, " Repeal the Corn-
laws, and the town will be prosperous in a month."
Mr. L. HAYWARD (of Liverpool) said they had heard
many important statements of the distress prevailing in the
ma nulact tiring districts, and of the poverty, wretchedness,
and destitution which might be found there, arising
from the Corn-laws. They had also heard accounts of
similar distress from the agricultural districts ; but he
had to tell them that the same evils pervaded the largest
and most affluent commercial districts of the country.
Liverpool itself, wherever they might go, was full of evils,
which were identically the same. Mr. H. then read
extracts from letters on the subject, the first
being from a Mr. Benjamin Parry, residing, in
Liverpool, describing the dreadful want of employment
that prevailed in that town. Some had been out of work
ever since Christmas last, and had been compelled to
paWn and sell every thing, being now in a state of com-
plete destitution, hoping for and expecting a remedy.
This letter (continued Mr. H.) conveyed a correct idea of
the distress that prevailed—it was terrific. He had felt
it is his own bosom, and his own daughter had sympa-
thised and visited those who were in this state of suffer-
ing. She had visited one of the wards of Liverpool, con-
taining 20,000 inhabitants, and had seen greater misery
and destitution than had been here described. Another
letter was from a shopkeeper in the Vauxhall-
road, dated July Ist, and it stated that his
receipts were only one- third of what they were, while
the pour-rates were fast increasing. The effixt of this
distress among the people was, that as they could not
buy food it was impossible they could purchase much
clothing ; and he only wished that they would re-
flect on the importance of this fact. How much
must the sum thus withdrawn a nount to ?---(1-lear.)
Why, if each individual family among the poor—
and they amounted to five trillions—if each family only
expended 2s. a-week less in manufactured articles than
they usually did (and they must have withdrawn more
than this) it would amount to 25,000,0001. per annum.—
(Hear, hear.) 'That was the amount withdrawn from
the consumption of manufactured goody in England ;
And just let them reflect on this, for it refuted a fal-
lacy that had frequently been put forward by no less a
person than the Premier of England—the head of the
Government. He had told them that the repeal of the
Corn-laws would not remedy • the evil—that the Corn-
laws were not the cause of the evil. But if those laws
caused a decrease in the consumption of manufactures
to the amount of 25,000,00 t 1. a year, let him ask
them if they were not a sufficient and adequate cause
of the distress.— (Cheers.) He wanted these plain facts
to go forth to the public. Some might say that he had
assumed the sum of 2s. for each family as the amount
they had ceased to expend, but he would
ask their common sense, whether it was not
clear as the snn at noon-day, that they could
not have withdrawn a less sum than that
for consumption. He would appeal to the shop-
keepers throughout England, whether in the agricultu-
ral or manufacturing districts, and the reports they
would give in, all over the kingdom, would be that their
business had fallen off in some cases one-third, in many
one-half, and in some two-thirds.(Hear, hear.) Was not
this a sufficient proof that the consumption that went on
when they were in a flourishing condition, no longer con-
tinued. Surely it was. He would now allude to another
fallacy which had been put forth by Sir R. Peel—he might
almost call it the base assertion—that the Curn-laws were
not the cause of the distress and depression. He says
that there are other causes at work, and that machinery
was among them. In asserting this, he believed Sir R.
Peel was stating what he knew to be false.—(Cheers.)
He knew it to bo a perfect fallacy which the public at
large had given in to ; if the facts of the case were pro-
perly stated, it was impossible to say that machi-
nery was the cause of the evils. Let them
fairly grapple with this fallacy, for it was time to dissi.
pate it. Lancashire in 1801, contained only 600,000
inhabitants ; by the ordinary increase of 14 per cent. it
would now have been 1,100,000, but it was actually
1,600,000. To what could be ascribed this
accession of 500,000 inhabitants, but to the
fact that wages had been higher in Lancashire
than in any other part of the kingdom. They found in
Lancashire, inhabitants from Scotland, Ireland, and the
most fruitful counties of England. Why have they come
from distant parts of the kingdom to sojourn in Lanca-
shire—was it not the greater amount of wages that
were given there?—(Hear, hear.) And how
had they been enabled to give these higher
wages, simply from the amount of employment afforded,
for that was the question.—(Hear, hear.) The increase
of the inhabitants could only be ascribed to their having
the best machinery in the world. To say that ma-
chinery was the cause of distress was a libel on
the benevolence of Providence, who had given
man the power to clothe the people at the
cheapest rate. Machinery nut only increased em-
ployment in the immediate locality where it was si-
tuated, it gave every man something to spare to
expend in something else ; and, if he could state
the amount of this indirect increase of employ-
ment arising from this cause, he believed it
would be greater than the direct amount he had
alluded to. No longer, then, let this fallacy, which Sir
R. Peel, in his abominable wickedness, had set forth,
deceive mankind. Let us assert, and let it go forth, that
machinery is one of the greatest blessings that God
Almighty ever vouchsafed to the world.—(Loud cheers.)
He wished particularly to impress these views on
their minds, because he knew that the aristocracy had
sent out emissaries from one part of the kingdom to the
other to denounce machinery. He knew they had not
spared their purses in this respect ; they said, " let us
divide the workmen from their employers, and then
we shall come off victorious." But as it had
been said, even " the wrath of God shall
praise him," so would the wicked dealings of these
malignant men bring destruction upon their own heads.
—(ilear, hear.) They had sent out their emissaries 'to
denounce machinery, to speak against capital, to
endeavour to encourage the labourer against the
employer ; but, in doing so, they had also
countenanced them in promulgating the principle
that every man had a right to the suffrage, and that was
a truth which would never die.—(Loud cheers.) They
would find this, that it would strike at the very rout of
class legislation, which was the misery of the country.
[The meeting had not concluded when we went to
press.]

CORN AVERA WE:3
GENERAL AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN,
For the Week ended July; 2, 1842, made up from the Returns of
the Inspectors in the different Cities and Towns in England and
Wales, per Imperial Quarter.
VVheat. ...... 645. 3d. Oats r2s. 4d. Beans 14s. lid.
Barley 27s. I 7d. Rye

LLOYD'S SHIPPING—(T HIS DAY.)
LONDON, JULY 7.—Wind this :lay at Noon, S.
DEAL, JULY 6.—Wind W. N. W. to IN.W.. 7 r.m.—Aord.
Lord &almond], Payne, Hobart Town, sailed March' 6;
lombia, Hudson's Bay ; Hoper, Jamaica ; OCiert, narrate..
Dominica. Arrd. from the River, Adius, BerbiCe;
Sierra Leone ; Florence, Madeira.
Orr DOVER, JULY 6.—Gustave, Ruivers, Baltimore ; ' ,
Bremen, Powhatterry ; Tiger, New Orleans, for Antwerp.'
OFF ROMNEY, JULY 6.—London, Jamaica, in 46,days•
PORTSMOUTH, JULY 6.—Wind N.W. to W., fresh breese.
—Arrd. Her Majesty's ship Talbot, Eastward.
Cowzs, JULY 6.—Arrd. Guiza, Reside, Mauritius ; Amelia, '
Havannah.
DARTMOUTH, JULY 6.—Arrd. off, Emma, London,. 6ir
Van Dieman's Land, for provisions and water. •
PLYMOUTH, JULY 6.—Wind W. —Arrd. Royalist, auer-
cott, Demerara.
FA LMOUTH, JULY 5. —WindW. S.W. ,fresh gales and squally
—Arrd. Blementina, Symons, Newfoundland.
PENZANCE, JULY s.—Part of the bottom of a vessel about
.40 feet in length, apparently of a steamer, of American wo°4
with birch flooring of about 16 inches, pine plank, tbfee he
sons of 18 to I 9 inches, and fastened partly with iron and pot I
with copper, was washed ashore near here 29th ult. t
BOSC A STLE, JULY s.—The Canadian, Dark!, in going_a_t
got ashore to the E. of King Arthur's Castle, lst inst., a°'
went to pieces (luring a gale last night. Sierra
LIVERPOOL, JULY 6.—Wind W.N. W.—Arrd. Baby,
Leone ; Delia, Walker, Matanzas ; Mersey, Edward?, APl's'
chiola ; Nonantum and Octorara, New Orleans.

SHIELDS JULY s.—Sld. Cato, Quebec
CLYDE, SHIELDS,
s.—Arrd. Albion, Campbell, Barbadoes;
Retrench, ill'Coag, Demerara; Ann Johnson, MqViel,llol4"
does and St. Kitt's; Caroni, Gray, Trinidad. e, Di Is
DUBLIN, JuLy_4.—Arid. Planet, Boston, St. John ss
Brunswick.
Coax, JULY 4.—Arrd. Glanmire, Bartley, Barbako2
Mayflower, Aberdeen for Valparaiso, with loss of fore torsi"'