The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-07-06 00:00:00

Mr. PEACOcic moved the next resolution, and congratulated
the meeting upon their prospects of success. He had no he-
sitation in stating that, if the electors of South Cheshire ful-
filled the promises they hail made, the conservative candidates
would he returned to parliament by a triumphant majority.
• (Cheers.) Knowing as he did the character of the electors,
that when they made promises they were prepared to fulfil
' them, he had no hesitation in saying that Sir P. Egerton and
Mr. Tollemache would be returned in the most triumphant
manner. lie had canvassed the greater part of this division
' with Mr. Tollemache, and found that wherever that gentle-
man went he had been received in the most enthusiastic
. manner. Indeed, he could have scarcely conceived such an
alterationin the political opinions of the electors. He had
been asked why object to Mr. Wilbraham ? why not have one
reformer and one conservative? Now that would not do.
, (Cheers.) Mr. Wilbraham had deceived them. (Hear.)
When he solicited • their Buff; ages before, he said,he should
go into the House of Commons as an independent man ; but
he (Mr. Peacock) would appeal to the meeting to say whe-
ther the honourable gentleman had acted the part of an
independent man. (Cries of " no.") Had he not voted
with ministers on every measure proposed by them, whether
it struck at the foundations of the constitution, the integrity
of the church, or lowered the national dignity ? (Cheers,
and cries of " yes.") He had gone the whole hog with
them. (Hear, bear, hear.) Was he the man, then, to re-
ceive the support of this constituency ? (Cries of " no.")
They did not oppose Mr. Wilbraham on light grounds. If
he had acted the part of an independent man, and had aban-
doned the so-called reform ministry when it was left by Lord
Stanley, Sir James Graham, the Earl of Ripon, and Sir
George Sinclair, they should have respected his character,
and have returned him again; but he had, chosen to go with
the ministry through thick and thin, therefore the electors
withdrew their confidence from him. (Hear, and cheers.)
For instance, on the subject of 'Prince Albert's allowance
although our expenditure was exceeding our income, he
voted for the larger sum of £50,000 per annum, which the
whig administration proposed to give ; but Sir Philip Egerton
and his party said they would only give £30,000. Mr. Wil-
braham voted for £50,000: now, in the situation the country
was placed in, was that a vote which would have been given
by any bonest, independent man ? (Hear.) When the Chan
cellor of the Exchequer, finding his expenditure more than-
his receipts, and he began to mistify his accounts; Mr. Her-
ries brought forward a motion for returns which would ex-
hibit a bona fide state of those accounts. Every independent
man in the house voted with Mr. Herries : but Mr. Wilbra-
ham opposed the motion, thus concealing 'from the public
the real state of our finances. (Hear, hear, hear.) He
(Mr. Peacock) did not despair of seeing Mr. Wilbraham in
the house after all. (Hear.) His friends might probably
have the satisfaction of seeing him there under the fostering
patronage of Mr. Daniel O'Connell. (Hear, hear.) Indeed,
if Mr. O'Connell did not return him for one of his indepen-
dent boroughs in Ireland, he would prove himself one of the
most ungrateful of men ; for, in nineteen cases out of twenty
—aye, in ninety-nine out of every hundred—Mr. Wilbraham
had voted for Mr. Daniel O'Connell. (Hear, hear.) They
had all along expected that Mr. 'Wilbraham would not have
gone to the poll for South Cheshire, but- that he would have
gone over to Ireland, where, for £l,OOO, £1,500, or " say
£2,ooo"—(laughter)—he might be returned for some snug
place, which would be better for him, for here he would cer-
tainly be defeated. (Cheers.) Mr. Peacock concluded by
repeating his conviction, that, by zeal and energy a triumphant
victory would result, which would have the effect of prevent-
ing a contest in this county for many years to come.
Mr. RoaiN seconded the resolution, which was unani-
mously carried.
Sir PiiiLie EGEnToN then rose to address the meeting,
and was received with tremendous enthusiasm. The hop.
baronet spoke nearly as folloWs :—You have already heard
read by our worthy chairman a letter from Mr. Tollemache,
expressing his anxious wish to be present upon this occasion,
and assuring you that he would use every endeavour in his
power to be here this evening. (Hear.) In corroboration
of that letter I have to inform you, that Mr. Tollemache
left my roof this morning to fulfil his engagement with the -
electors of Audlen3, and reiterated to me last night, as well
as this morning, the same expressions, namely, that it was
his anxious desire, if he could possibly complete the canvass
of the district which lie had assigned to this day, to come by
railway and be present on this occasion. I know those ex-
pressions were sincere ; I know no word Mr. Tollemache
ever uttered in his life was otherwise ; and therefore I call
upon you to believe that he is actually herein heart, although
not bodily. (Hear, hear, hear.) For myself, gentlemen, I
must beg, in the first instance, to thank you for the very
flattering reception you have given to me this day. I must
also beg to thank those very able orators who have proposed
and seconded the resolutions which have been unanimously
carried by this meeting ; and I must further express my
deep gratitude for the contents of those resolutions. (Hear,
hear.) It was my anxious desire to have quitted the metro-
polis as soon as I ascertained that a dissolution of parliament
was at hand : but from certain proceedings that we saw upon
the part of her majesty's ministers, we were convinced that
their conduct was not sincere. (Hear.) We were assured,
that so soon as the conservative members should rush out of
London to call upon their constituents, that some dirty work
or other would be done—(hear)—and, therefore, a large
body of us determined to risk the censure of our constitu-
ents, rather than forfeit those interests which they had com-
mitted to our keeping. (Hear.) Gentlemen, what was the
result ? The pledge given by Lord John Russell, that no mea-
sure of importance should be brought before the House of
Commons, save and except the money votes for the public ser-
vice,had scarcely been uttered when a bill was brought forward
by which it was intended actually to create two new judge-
ships, and to establish two new courts, with all their subor-
dinate officers, just in order to place these valuable appoint-
ments in the hands of those very ministers who were then
under the ban of a resolution of the House of Commons,
declaring that they did not possess the confidence of that
house. (Hear.) We were resolved that so disgraceful a job
as this *should not be perpretrated ; we resisted it to the ut-
most, and the house rejected the bill by a majority of 18.
(Great cheering.) This is the reason which delayed my ap-
nearing among you; and this is the cause whith kept me in
London when I should have been much more agreeably em-
ployed in calling upon you, and which 1 trust will form a
good and sufficient excuse for my tardy appearance among
you. I am not about to trouble you with any detail upon
the various measures which have been brought before the
house, or of those very important discussions which have
taken place durinc, the last session. (Hear.) More espe-
cially, I am not about' to dilate upon the subjects more re-
cently placed before you—for this plain, simple, and satis-
factory reason, that they have nothing to do with the issue
between the contending parties throughout these realms.
(Hear, hear.) I have certainly followed the fashion, and in
issuing my address I have alluded to these matters. I have
expressed as concisely as possible the views I entertain upon
the corn-laws, and therefore I feel it is scarcely necessary
for me to enlarge upon them at this moment. I consider
these questions as set before the country as a stalking-horse
of the party ; I look upon them as mere clap traps designed
to deceive the unthinking ; I look upon them as so much
dust thrown in the eyes of the electors ; and therefore I
think it would be more profitable to direct oar attention to
the condition of her majesty's ministers, who are now ap-
pearing before the tribunal of the country, than lose our time
I
in discussing mere isolated matters of commercial policy.
may, however, shortly recapitulate what I have already put
forward in my address, namely, that upon the subject of the
corn-laws, I consider it, in a national point of view, of the
utmost importance that we should be able to supply our popu-
lation with food without being beggars upon foreign countries
—because occasions may arise that may cut off foreign supplies
—because we, at all times, may be dependent upon their
mercy—and because whatever price they may choose to de-
mand it is very certain we should not be long able to resist.
(Hear, hear.) The other point I have also insisted upon .is
this, that the great object of all corn laws must be to protect
the producer, and to provide that, in years of scarcity, the
consumer shall not .be liable to pay extravagant prices.
(Cheers.) With these views it is that I support the sliding
scale in preference to a fixed duty. (Hear, hear.) I think
if any one fact would prove the falsehood of the cry of mono-
poly which is raised against the agriculturists, it is this, that
in advocating a sliding scale they are the opponents of mo-
nopoly; because, when years of scarcity arrive, their protec-
• tion ceases, foreign corn is brought into the markets, and
the lower orders are enabled to purchase it at a price cer-
tainly not ruinous. (Hear.) But the question of the corn
laws is totally and entirely distinct from the question of cheap
bread. (Hear.) When the question was brought before the
Country, Mr. Muntz, the gentlemanwho represents the great
constituency—l hope he may never again—of Birmingham,
told her majesty's ministers, that the effect of the repeal of
the corn laws would be to the ruin of the. agricultural inter-
est, and to throw poor land out of cultivation. (Hear, hear.)
What was the answer to him ? That the impulse given to
foreign trade would be such, that the price of corn would rise
in foreign markets, and this would enable the English agri-
culturist to compete with the foreign grower. (Hear, hear.)
Then here is a dilemma. What became of the cheap bread ?
(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") It is a dilemma from which
there is no possibility of finding an escape, and it proves
to me that the ministerial cry of cheap bread is got up
merely to throw dust into the eyes of the electors. (Cheers.)
The same is the case with regard to the cry of "cheap sugar.'
1 have recorded my opinions upon that subject, by my vote
Upon the motion of Lord Sandon ; and I say that ministers
had no intention of carrying that measure, as is proved by
these facts. Last year, when the price of sugar was exorbi-
tant, and,such as if it had continued so something must have
been done, a motion was brought forward for an. alteration
of the duties, and her majesty's ministers opposed it. (Loud
cheers.) But now, when we had every prospect of a good
supply, when the West India proprietors are just beginning
to rise from that depression which they experienced upon the
first introduction of free labour, this is the period which is
chosen by the government to introduce a radical alteration in
our financial constitution. (Hear, hear.) I have heard, and
no doubt many of you have heard, that on the other side of
the Atlantic there is an animal called the scunk, which has
the extraordinary faculty of tainting the atmospheric air, and
rendering it foetid and offensive to the sense. Now really I
can liken her majesty's ministers to nothing more appropri-
ate. (Cheers.) They have tainted and infected the political
atmosphere to such an extent that they are attempting to
hide themselves under their own filth. (Loud and continued
cheering.) It will not be necessary for me to dilate further
upon these questions of the corn laws and the sugar duties :
but I think it will not be lost time to consider what faith you
Can place in the promises of her majesty's ministers. That
is the question : will you trust them ? (Loud cries of "no.")
What more sure proof that they themselves know you can-
not trust them than this—that they would not appeal to the
country upon the other side, but that they were obliged to
remain in porer, in Lord Melbourne's own words, " until
they had thrown the apple of discord among the different
classes, and shook the social fabric to its foundations." and
having raised a tumult in the country, then dissolving in the
hope of gaining some support from the highly heated and
fevered imaginations of the constituency ! (Loud cheers.)
That is sufficient proof to me that they are perfectly cogni-
sant they have not with them the wishes of the constituency
of this country. (Renewed cheering.) But, let me ask,
• what have they done for us ? They certainly carried the re-
form bill by the assistance of those parties in this country
who supported them anon the express condition that that
should be a final measure. (Cheers.) I make this assertion
readily, for every borough and county presents appearances
of relapsing into their former politics, and the re-action can
I
Only be attributable to that. (Hear, hear.) find that all
by whom the reform bill was carried believed that the reform
bill was to be a final measure ; but when they found her Ma-
jesty's ministers the advocates of an extension of the fran-
chise, of household suffrage, and of a measure in Ireland
which amounts to universal suffrage, they saw it was no lon-
ger time for them to help her Majesty's ministers, and
throughout the whole country, those who had the moral cou-
• rage to do so, had relinquished her Majesty's ministers,
whom they had hitherto supported, and joined the ranks of
the conservatives. (Hear, hear, hear.) So much for their
reform. (Hear, hear, hear.) We were.then told that they
were to be a most pacific government. Peace was in their
mouth--peace is still in their mouth. (Hear, bear. We
have been at war in Syria, in Affghanistan ; war was threat-
. cued with France; we have war impending, I may say, with
America ; and we are now at war with China. What is there
• very pacific in this ? The pledge has been violated fifty times;
• yet these are the ministers that appeal to as the most pacific
administration that ever held the reigns of office ! (Hear,
hear.) Then they are very proud of whig economy—they are
very proud of that; but look at the state of our finances.
Look at the expenditure. The return to which Mr. Peacock
has alluded, that for which Mr. Herries moved, was the first
means of enabling us to ascertain the real state of affairs :
we then ascertained that they had been falsifying their esti-
mates—that they bad been applying to the House of Com-
mons for grants, with estimates which they knew were con-
siderably below the amount of money which would be
expended. (Hear, hear.) We found worse. Sir Robert
Peel, when be resigned office, left an excess of two millions
over the expenditure ; but the Whigs have inverted the order
of things, for they have obtained two millions of expendi-