Star.
London, England, 1826-02-09 00:00:00

C 9 t, 01 COMMON COIINCLte.
-Vesteihif ti sped it' dettedn Clittniii
htfel, for the apeciitifflifpbOdftonsidering of a vote o
tt sum of money AC the ilsbneription for the Relief
of the Spitalfields Weav,eas. ,
A,Kequisition, signed by Mr. HICK and others, re-
questing the LORD MATOR to cunven! a Court, for the
purpose above stated, was then read.
Mr. Hint said, he had no connexion whatever with

any portion of the community in whose behalf he
thought it his duty to ask the aid of the Court ; but,
from the accounts which had appeared in the Public
Papers, from the musts which had been m ide from
the several parishes, by which it appeared that no less
than $O,OOO weavers were in a state of the greatest
' suffering, he thought there was a strong case made out
for the charitable aid of this Court. lie had, as one of

the Committee for the Mdnagement of the Fun is, sub-
scribed to the Relief of the Houseless Poor. He had

seen nearly 1,000 of the weavers who had applie.l for
rel ef, to whom a penny losf and a cup of water per
day was all they could give, and he co:114.1 declare that
their sufferings were extreme. It would be for the
Court to say what sum they would give, whilst th-ir
fiances were in so depressed a condition. He thought
of a'king them f about 3001.

Jr.ra Deputy Dow secondod a motion for giving this sem.
Mr. S. Dtx•nt was for giving a moderate sum. The
Court should not forget that they would have o her
claims upon them, and he was induced to recomm•-ni
this course because the ma-ter ■ilk-manntacturers, who
had the best knowledge of the circumstances, had not
subscribed by any means so 14rgely as they were bound
to do for their men, who had the strongest claims upon
them, if the distreises were so severe as had been
represented.
Mr. JUPP said, the extent and severity of the distress
was unquestionable. If these on whom the sufferers

has the strongest claims had not done so much as they
ought, that circumstance should be a stimulus to the
Corporation to make an additi inal exeition. The King
had set them a noble example of liberality. He moved,
AS an amendment, that the sum of 5001. should be given.
Mr. STEPHENS, of Wshopsgate-street, seconded the
motion. The Corporation that subscribed 2,0001. to the
suffering Russians; 1,0001. to the suffering Germans,
5004 to the poor Irish, and he thought they should not
give less to those who resided so much nearer home.
The Spitalfields poor had claims beyond any other
class. They mostly resided out of the City, and the

burden of maintaining their poor fell upOii the out-
parishes, whilst the profits derived from the sale of their
labour was received by the wholesale dealer, who re-
sided in the City, and paid no share of the poors rates
in the out•parishes. The appeal to the public had not,
in his opinion, been answered in a manner equal to the
fair expectations.
Alderman Tifostrient agreed that the appeal to the
public had fallen far short of the expectations formed.
from what bad been done in other cases. He did not
think it necessary to go into an it.quiry as to the causes
by which the distress had been produced ; it was quite
sufficient for him that it existed. But he might say
it was his opinion that the distress was occasioned by
the apprehension of competition; arising from the open-
ing of the foreign maiket—(Cries of .4 Ivo, no r) That
apprehension had been increased in various ways, yet
he believed it would be found that British skill aiio.

ingenuity, when fairly exercised, would ohm..
triumph. He supported the motion for the larger suer.
Mr. Alderman WAITHIIAS begged .so rewind the
Court, that some years ago, a very considerable sum
was raised for the relief of houseless poor, and that
a surplus of about 10,0001. remainett- ht the bands of
somebody after all disbursement. 'Now he it,ked why
et this time was this sum allowed to lie dormant ?
The master silk weavers were censured fir not hav-
ing been conspicuous on the list of subscribers; but
it was forgotten that the distress had fallen not
only on the journeymen, but on the masters, upwards
of one hundred of whom were, he believed, now in
a state of the greatest alarm and uncertainty.—
One cause had been ascribed to rash speculations; now
it was really astonishing to see the manner in which
men in the House of Commons, pretended to know
more of the nature of men's business than men knew
themselves. It was doubtless true that much distress
had been occasioned by rash schemes, and Joint Stock I
Cos:span:es, brought out with the names of Members *'
Parliament at the bead of them—but there had bensi
none of this in the silk trade. There had been specula-
tions which had drawn vast quar.tities of money out of
the country, for which paper had been substituted, and
they were now about to feel the consequences. He
apprehended that the distress would be permanent.—
The question was, whether the French silks were to be
allowed to be sold here? If they war, it must 1).-
evidently to the diminution of the consumption of Bri•
tish silks. He thought the Ministers should have corn
menced their new system by the repeal of the Corn
Laws, and the reduction of the Assessed Taxes. The
largest subscription would do lute to remedy the wide
spreading distress which the partial system had created.
Look at Manchester, Macclesfield, and the We t of
England, and the suffering that was spreading there.
He concluded by expressing his opinion, that the Court
ought to give the largest sum.
Mr. EWELL declared, that still more severe sufferings
were to be expected in the country. He commented on
the conduct of Alderman Thompson, who was an advo—
cate for tree trade, with respect to the Corn Laws.
Alderman Tisouesou most unequivocally declared
himself opposed to the principle of the Corn Laws, and
said, that the existence of such an impost was a disgrace
to a free country.
Mr. GALLOWAY was of opinion, that the low state of
the subscription was attributable to the general distress.
He contended that the Corn Laws crept Lust to have
been repealed. The Court were booed, in discussing
the question, to consider whether they were to aid in
sustaining men through temporary or lasting distress?
He was tur giving the larger sum.
Mr. 11. TAYLOR felt himself obliged to state his con.
viction that we distress of the Silk Trade arose not
from the Act alladagi to, but from other causes which
equally affected other trades, such as the stuff trade and
the woollen trade. The distress in the worsted trade
was nut affected by the Act; that there werelo,ooo hands
.but of employissent of the silk weavers, was most ap•
'parent; that griatest number were congregated in the
neighbourhood of the metropolis. it was the interest
of the silk masters, who had a. particular point to carry,
to make this distress most conspicuous.' He supported
the vote For the' sMallest sum.
Mr. Oicinag- lamented that 4siestiOns.4 this nature
*ere iterated as political. questm.s. He thought ;hey
ought nOt.RO enquire into the causes, Out to curitine
thernsolvas to a ettuaidgratiou-of the &Stiehl.