The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-06-11 00:00:00

alit LIYtitPOOL STANDARD.

cotton. From the earliest period of the cotton manufatture UP
tb 1820, it was protected by various duties from 50 to 75 per
cent., and in 1820. when Mr. Huskisson proposed a diminution
of those protective duties, and stated that the cotton manufac-
ture of England had become so great that it could compote with
the world—even then he felt it necessary to protect it by a 30
per cent. duty. (Hear, hear.) How has Birmingham grown
up? Under free trade? No. Up to 1820 the iron manufac-
ture of England was protected by a prohibitory duty, and from
that period to the last tariff hy a 30 per cent. duty. In the same
way, up to 1820. the woollen manufacture was protected by
prohibitory duties; and from that period to the last tariff by a
duty of 30 p.u* cent. Therefore, if I look back, I find that even
the manufacturing greatness of England is due to a system of
protection. (Cheers.) I take my stand upon this, and say that
the system cannot he bad under which these great and mighty
interests have groan up, especially when, as far as the experi-
ment has gone in the system of free trade, we find almost all
interests suffering from its operation. (Cheers.) Pardon me
if I speak of that country which, for better or worse, you have
taken into partnership with yours-1 mean Ireland—in whose
adversities you must share, and from whose prosperity, if you
can make her prosperous. you will derive the greatest advan-
tage. (Hear, hear.) I will not trouble you with statistics, but
I will bring before you in plain, palpable figures—in figures
which von cannot mistake—the condition into which Ireland
has fallen by the operation of free trade. You could not, per-
haps, take a better test of the state of a country than the
amount of its crime. Now, I find that in the year 1845 there
were ti Ireland in round numbers 7000 convictions for all kinds
of crime ; in 1846 there were 8,€39 ; in 1817 there were 15,233 ;
in 1848 there were 18,206; and, I believe, that if we had the
returns for 1849, which have not yet been presented to parlia-,
meld, we should find from them that the convictions in Ireland
during that year amounted more nearly to 30,000 than to 20,000.
Then again, let us take the higher class of offences—and,observe,
that this was not a period of agrarian outrage—l find that. in
1845 the number of persons transported from Ireland amounted
to 428; and in 1848 they swelled to the enormous amount of
2,675. (Hear, hear.) I know that when facts of this kind are
brought forward with respect to Ireland the answer that is
made is. " Oh. hut you forget the famine, which was the
cause of all." But the famine was more severely felt in Ire-
land in 1847 than now. 1 have another return which may
perhaps throw some light upon this subject. In the ear 1.845
there were in Ireland 1,000,000 acres under wheat cultivation ;
in 1847 there were 740,000 acres ; while in 1848 there were
only 565.000 acres. (Hear, hear.) Now, I confess I think that
this is a fact of some importance, because it is sometimes said
by those who deny the ruinous effects of the repeal of the corn
laws--,"‘but the land in England has not gone out of cultiva-
tion in consequence of that repeal." Now, why has that not been
the case? I believe the reason is, that the English farmer,
with his capital, can afford to cultivate his land at a loss; and
I believe he is now cultivating it at a loss—(hear, hear, and
cries of " yes"); while in Ireland, where the farmer had nut
'the same amount of capital to offer as a first sacrifice to free
trade, the effect has been what it will he here as soon as the
capita! of your farmers is exhausted. It may be well, perhaps,
that you should have in the effects thus directly and at once
produced on your weaker sister a warning of the effects that
will follow in a little time among yourselves—(hear, hear)—for
to nothing else but the operation of free trade can the ingenuity
of any man refer this fact, incontestibly proved by the returns
before parliament, that within three years after the adoption
of that policy the cultivation of wheat in Ireland had declined
by more than one-half. I shall refer to one other very re-
markable fact, which has also the advantAge of resting on evi-
dence about which there can be no mistake. In the month of
January, 1847, after the famine had begun to have its effect in
Ireland, let it be observed, the circulation of bank-notes in
that country had amounted to .61,500,000; and the bank-note
circulation affords a very fair test of the prosperity and corn-
aptivitv of a country. lint at the close of the last year

notes in Ire]

half—had fallen down to £3,800,000. (Hear.) These are the
effects of free trade in my.country—l say deliberately the effects
of free trade; because,when I find this remarkable fact of a
diminution in our cultivation of wheat coupled with increase of
crime, showing the want and misery of the population, and
coupled also with this remarkable diminution in the
money circulation of the country—one of these facts, at
all events, can be referred to nothing but free trade, and
I think I am justified in referring the other facts to
the same cause. And what was the excuse for the adop-
tion of the policy of free trade ? Whit was the excuse for
the opening of the ports ? Why, it was to relieve the famine
in Ireland. Well, but surely I am entitled to use this argu-
ment—that the measures which your free-traders have brought
forward with the 'avowed purpose of relieving the famine in
Ireland have signally failed ; because I cannot conceive
sneAsures that could plunge Ireland into deeper misy and
destitution 'than this :policy has done (hear, hear.) lam, I
confess, an advocate for protection to all branches of native
industry from' deep and deliberate conviction ; I am an advo-
cate for protection, because I believe it is by a mutual system
of protection that the great British community can best supply
the wants, of all its people (hear.) 1 am not an advocate for
protection merely as an engine for obtaining a reciprocity of
free trade from other countries, although I can perfectly con-
ceive the folly and injustice of meeting hostile tariffs by free
importations. 1 am 'an advocate for protection, not for the
purpose 'merely of counterbalancing any peculiar burdens to
which any particular class or interest are subjected, although I
can well understand that the landed interest have burdens
which entitle them to that relief. I am an advocate for pro-
tection, because I believe the arguments of the free traders are
as false iwprinciple and as unsound in theory as the results of
those pririciplesbave proved ruinous in practice. I think we
can see one remarkable fallacy that nervades them all. It is
this :—the free-traders assume in every argument I have seen
that the productive power of the country is a constant quantity,
and therefore, they argue that the same production will go on,
while the owners are left to dispose of it as best they may.
Now, I deny that the productive power of the country is prac-
tically a constantunantity. I say that every man who has the
power of purchasing has the power of producing—that as
surely as It •demand creates a supply, every man who has the
power of purchasing has the means, not merely of rewarding,
but of calling into action industry that but for that power
would have been idle and unproductive. But ifthat be true
the whole argument of the free-traders is baseless; for I am
not to be told that it rests with the man who is about to pur-
chase whether he shall call into action the industry of his own
people or that of foreigners ; that the state is not bound by its
duty to its-own subjects to interpose so long as any of its -own
subjects are unemployed, and to say to the man who has the
power of calling industry into action, " Choose your own coun-
trymen in-preference toloreigners." But I am told that this is
but taxing every class in turn ; and the free-traders ask," How
can we, byplacingtheburden on every class, benefit them all ?"
•My lord, I mightjust as well be asked by a person ignorant of
mechanics, how it is that the pressure from above bears down
every portion of the materials of the arch; and yet it is 'that
very pressure that combines and harmonises all into a self-
sustaining fabric—because a fabric of which all the component
parts at once rest •npon and sustain each other. (Loud and
Continued cheering.) Anti, therefore, I say lam an advocate
for protection, satisfied as I feel that by uniting our own sub-
je:ts—the subjects of this great empire—in a league of mutual
protection and assistance, we derive from-their industry, and
from the resources at their command, the largest amount of
comfort it is possible for a community on-this earth to enjoy.
Two principles-are put before me—the principle of mutual as-
sistance and the principle of competition. By the hard condi-
tions of human existence, we have, we can have, but a limited
fund to distribute among our people. (Hear, hear.) The
-question is how best can we distribute it? Can we not better
distribute it, even if we cannot increase it, by a system of re-
gulated labour that will give to all their just proportion, than
by a system of competition, in which it is to be made a• matter
of scramble—(Cheeps)—a system •in which, in the struggle for
existence, much of it must inevitably be lost. (Continued
cheering.) I ask yen, do the labouring classes now receive
that share of that advancing prosperity of the country of-which
we hear so much, or that share, at all events, of its increase in
arts and knowledge to which they are entitled? (Hear, hear.)
Why, have we not read accounts the other day in London,' that
men have come 'forward and said that fora bare-subsistence
they have been compelled to toil in an unwholesome atmo-
sphere for eighteen hours out of the twenty-four? I ask you,
have those men derived their fair share of advantage from our
increased mechanical skill? And must there-not be something
wrong in that state of society in which airy human being. is
compelled, for his support and the support of his family, to
toil eighteen hours out of the twenty-four? I might go through
other branches of industry in the same way, and I might ask
to .whet is their present condition to be attributed if not to that
principle now put forward as the great principle that is to re-
gulate our commercial intercourse—the-principle of competi-
ti;.- n, under which every man, in order to liv.esenust undersell
or overwork his neighbour?—(hear, hear)—usider which, in-
stead of the good old English principle of " live and let live,"
—(clreere)—we have the new principle, not merely insinuated,
but openly avowed, of" every man for himself." But in a
Christian. country it may perhaps shake the implicit belief that
some persons are disposed to yield to this principle, to know
that it rests the foundations of national happiness on motives
directly opposed to everything that religion inculcates. It rests
it on selfiebness—on competition, a competition that must
always inioive snore or less of .a desire to injure others. lam
for protection, not for any particular class or interest. I be-
lieve the welfare of this country requires that every branch of
native industry should he protected. But at the same time I
am for protection to agriculture—and why ? Because agricul-
ture is the largest and the moatsiorportant branch Al British
industry—because it gives employment and support to more
persons than all the other interests of the country put together
(hear, hear). New I believe I may gssume- that with present
prices, or prices that they are likely to be under present cir-
cumstances, the:cultivation of the British soil cannot.be sus-
tained as it is at :present (cries of "certainly not.") Then, I
ask you, what are you to do with your agricultural population ?
.s 1 ask the tradesmen or the towns—l ask the manufacturers of
Manchester—what-will you do with the agricultural populotion?
(hear, bear.) The iulvocates of free trade tell us, indeed, what
the farmers are to dp. I have seen in ope•-of their Organs, the
following recommendation to our agsiculturists :—" Transfer
your•capital to Algeria, where you will:find farms epough for
the ..employment of four industry" Transfer your capital,
indeectl -Why, thank Heaven the capital of the British agri-
culturist is irrevocably. invested in the soil of his native land
(cheees). The capital 'of the British agriculturist consists its
the labour that he and his forefathers spent in the improve-
ment of his land. It is its the soil itself, and-cannot be taken
away, eats man takes-his ,cheque to a hank, and carries. away
gold to another country. -it is associated with-the destinies of
the country,and when the vriter who offers-this recommenda-
tion can take away the fields of our childhood.and the associa-
tions of home,..and plant them in some foreign soil, then, and
not till then, he may tell our agriculturists to .transfer their
capital; but if be should succeed he would leave England a
desert (loud. cheers). But what is to becomeof the agricultural
labourer? lie is now paid hi. a. out of thelard.earnings
of the farmer, who, rather then discharge his men and drive to
beggary those, whohave toiled with him for years, trenches.on
his own capital for the purpose &Affording them the means of
subsistence (bear,.bear). But this cannot last. The .capital
of time farmer cannot-stand this much longer; and what is then
to become of the agricultural labourers? If they do not perii
from off the face of the-earth—if theserlo not become characters
dangerous to eocietysthey must in-a short time be absorbed•in
the manufacturing districts; and must not the wages in 'those
districts then eveue down ; must not the manufacturing
labourer find that he has :been deluded by the cry of a "cheap
loaf;" and must he not-intim-end-find out the wisdom of the
old adage that "half a loafis betterthanno bread," and that
he might be better off with ;a dear loaf and Vents, of money In
his pocket to pay for it than .with a cheap loaf and nothing to
purchase it (loud cheers). Let no man, therefore, delude us
-by saying that this is exclusively.; landlord's question or a
farmer's question. It is no doubt their question; but it is
pre-eminently and above all a labourer's question. (Hear.)
The principle of competition mar, indeed, _Oestrus, the nobles
of time land ; it may sweep away for ever the stout yeomanry of
England—their country's pride ; but when the-principle of corn
petition is enforced against the labourers—l care not if they be
tillers of the fields or workers in iron--k will sink them into a
state of degradation as low as that of the lowest serfs on the
face of the earth, with whose labour they will have to compete.
(Hear, hear.) Boy your labour in the cheapest market, we are
told; it matters not at what sacrifice of human life—it matters
not with what infliction of cruelty to children and young
women; produce your manufactures cheap, and time end of
human existence is pined. Let the souls and bodies of men
be sacrificed to this principle. Such is the free-trade doctrine,
expressed without one particle of exaggeration ; and whether
that doctrine comes In the disguise of assailing the nobility,
time es*entry, and the shipping interest—or whether it more
plainly tells you that it is an unjustifiable interference with
the rights of capital to restrict time laws of labour in factories
for young women and children, it is time same doctrine that
reeks not and cares not for all that is great and good—that
cares not for the souls and bodies uf men, but regards them as
mere machines for producing, at the cheapest rate, marketable
commodities. (Cheers.) And let us, 1 say it respectfully—for
I know bow little right I have to offer advice to such a meeting
as this—let us meet this principle, wherever it is put forward,
in this way i let us not argue it ass class question, but let us
ask our opponents st once, "Are you far regulating laoeur, or
are you not?" This will bring out these men in their true
colours; and when Mr. Cobden threatens us with a rebellion of
manufacturers—(hear, hear)—let us just get him to gate his
principles fairly before any meeting of manufa.cturing opera-
tives in England and ask them whether they are for unlimited
competition and unregulated labour? (Hear, hear.) That is
the whole question of free trade. To be sure it is put in a very
imposing way, when it is said, " Will you tag bread, the staff
.of 4fef?" That )s n very haPestoj.cky.. Dot j joelieve (hgt in

this verY session of parliament the sincerity of the free-trade
party in raising that cry was fairly brought to the test. An
hon, friend of mine brought forward is the House of Commons
a resolution by which he showed that there was at this moment
a tax on bread ; not, indeed, on the bread of Poland, not on the
bread that we import from the United States; but he showed
that no farmer in these kingdoms can raise one quarter of
wheat without the payment of a heavy tax. Where were then
the declaimers against the iniquity of a tax on bread? Surely
they were the first to rush forward and proclaim their abhor-
rence of such a tax! Why, every man of them voted on the
division for the principle that there ought to be a tax on bread,
provided only that bread was raised at home. (Hear,tear-) I
cannot at this moment undertake to state exactly what may
be the amount of that tax in this country; but I know that
in many districts in Ireland every quarter of wheat that is
.grown is subject to taxes—l do not include tithes—but
simply to taxes for public purposes, amounting to 10s. a Quar-
ter; and I am certain that in many parts of this country—in
Cheshire. for instance—the amount is much higher. Mr.
Cobden says there is a great principle at stake, and that manu-
facturers must eat their bread untaxed ; and some one greater
than Cobden tells us that the bread of the people is all the
sweeter, because they know it is untaxed. For this principle
parties have been broken up; for this principle the character of
public men has been shipwrecked—(hear, hear);—for this prin-
ciple parties and the public have been deceived. But if this
principle he good for anything—if the manufacturers of Man-
chester must eat their bread untaxed, then, I say, let them eat
the bread of Cheshire untaxed as well as the bread of Lithuania—
(hear, hear, and cheers). If the principle of our opponents
be the only right one when applied to foreigners, and yet, if
the abhorrence of bread taxation disappear when their own
countrymen are subject to the tax, then, although I do not
wish to use harsh language, I could not help saying to a Free-
trader, if he were here, " When you exclaimed against a bread
tax, you were a cheat, or else now, when you advocate a bread
tax, you are a tyrant."—(Loud cheers.) I w.,tild ask him if
the bread eaten by the working man in Birmingham be
sweetened by the consciousness that it is untaxed, how it is
that that same operative is allowed to eat the taxed bread of
this country without feeling any bitterness in it? The result
of the division on Mr. Disraeli's motion for the untaxed pro-
duction at home stamps the whole free-trade agitation with
hypocrisy.—(Cheers.) I believe that the wish of the free-trade
party to get rid of the tax on bread, as they term it, does not
proceed from any dislike to the principle of a tax on bread. I
recollect that Mr. Cobden threatened us with a rebellion if we
attempted to re-enact protection for agriculture ; he threatened
the House of Lords with the loss of their privileges, and the
gentry with the loss of their estates, if an attempt were made
to tax the bread of the people. But, after his vote on Mr.
Disraeli's motion, am I not justified in saying that the real
object which he and his party have in view is not to give the
operatives untaxed bread, but to destroy the landed interest—
(hear),—perhaps because the mild dignity of a hereditary peerage
rebuked the purse-proud insolence of men who cared not at
what national cost they might gratify their own reckless ambi-
tion, and because the yeomanry of England, ever loyal to the
Crown, stood between the ancient institutions of England
and the republic that is contemplated ?—(Cheers.) I test their
good faith, I again repeat, by this mark—" Remove the
tax from our home-grown produce, and then we may believe
in the sincerity of your attachment to the principles which
you profess; but if you tell us that you will rebel if we im-
pose a tax on foreign bread, and that you will continue the
tax on the bread of this country, then I say that you are actu•
a hat- to tr

ated by a hatred t, ne landed interest—from the peer. at the
head of that interest, to the humblest labourer, by whom the

son is cuitivaten— tnear. near.) But I have trespassed too
long on your patience (cries of " no, no," and loud cheers).
I feel, notwithstanding this manifestation of your kindness,
that I ought not to occupy much more of your attention (a cry
apparently from some uns
till morning," followed by

some laughter

and the most N,:ehe:

ment cheering.) I confess I have thought, since the period of
the introduction of that motion .of Mr. Disraeli, that it was
the most judicious and the most complete test that could be
applied of the sincerity of those agitators against a bread
tax; and that, like the touch of Ithiniel's spear, it makes them
when tested by it, stand before us convicted, and thoroughly
exposes their hypocrisy. But we are told that a return to pro-
tection is impossible. Impossible! I irk, why? The policy
that England pursued for .centuries was abandoned, and let us
see how it was reversed. That was the work of a few men—l
do not wish to say of a knot of conspirators, but of a few men
without rank, although possessed of money, certainly—bold
and unscrupulous, who in a few years revolutionised the policy
of this country, and against the wishes of the people of this
United Kingdom, forced on the country the policy of free
trade. Had they the people with them ? (cries of " no.")
What popular demonstration, such as that which prec,e,,ded the
Reform called fora-repeal of the corn laws? An appeal
was made to the county, and made on this very question of
protection, and by an overwhelming majority the country de-
clared in favour of protection. But a knot of a few bold, un-
scrupulous, and active men, overpowered the voice of the
country, and forced on us free trade, in opposition to our
wishes. Well, that is a very discouraging circumstance, no
doubt ; it is certainly a matter to alarm one for the institutions
of England to see that a few men can thus force on great
changes in opposition to the will of the nation. But, at
the same time, I see in the history of the agitation for

free trade, and in its success, much to encourage us. And
why? Because the very point in that retrospect that is
most disheartening is that which gives me confidence for
the future, and it is this that those few bold adven-
turers succeeded in revolutionising our policy, because
you and the people of England remained inactive. If
you had been active—if you had vigorously - struggled—if
you had met their falsehoods by facts —if you had taken
pains to instruct the public mind, their puny efforts
would have been as ridiculous in the results as they
were base and contemptible in the motives.—(Hear, hear.)
Had you, indeed, done your duty and been defeated by the
Anti-Corn-law League, I should then despair of the safety of
my country. And, when I say my country, I know of no dis-
tinction between England and Ireland. (Cheers.) I glory in
being a citizen of the United Kingdom. (Hear.) I say had
you done your duty, and been overpowered by a small and in-
significant knot of conspirators, I should despair of my coun-
try. But you were indolent, you had no combination, you had
no activity. Now this is very discouraging in the retrospect,
but it is encouraging for the future. lie now active, he ener-
getic, be combined, hold public meetings like this; and where
will the Anti-Corn-law League be? (Hear, hear.) It is just
because all those things happened while you were inactive, that
I tell you now to have hope and confidence. I believe that the
agricultural mind of England is roused, I believe the commer-
cial mind of England is roused, I believe that the popular mind
of England is roused, I believe that the tradesmen of England
arebeg,inning to know who are their real friends. Let them
be roused ; and let us all take our stand for England, Scotland,
'and Ireland. I Hear.) Let us assert our claim to that magnifi-
cent colonial empire which, if free trade be persevered in, e
cannot much longer continue to hold. (Hear, hear.) Let w
us
use all our resources for the benefit of all ; let us raise the cry
"England and protection ;" and believe me the day of triumph
cannot be faros. (Cheers.) This is the 'cause of England ; it
is a cause in comparison with whose momentous interests party
combinations sink into insignificance; forthe question at issue
is not whether the policy which we advocate shall be carried
into effect by the present administration, or by lionester and
abler men; but whether or not we shall transmit unimpaired
to our children the great inheritance of English glory, power,
and prosperity. (Hear, hear.) Let the voice of this-country
once proclaim that we must return to the good old principle of
protection to native industry, and no matter who may be the
men in office the voice of a great nation must be obeyed. I
said-the working classes were beginning to know their true
friends. Pardon me for making here an observation which -I
had intended to make its the earlier portion of my address. The
other night a relative of our noble chairman—one'who differs
from us unfortunately on-the question of protection, but whose
name cannot be mentioned without resoect by all who feel .a
regard for the rights dr the poor—brought-under the attention
of House of Commons the case of the working bakers of
the metropolis, some of whom are obliged to work eighteen
hours out of the twenty,four ; and that -case was met by an
honourable member svith what, if he were not a member of the
Society of Friends, I should call an unmanly sneer. The hon.
gentleman wasno hard hearted landed aristocrat—no supporter
of what is called the bread tax, but the lion. member for Man.
cheater, Mr. Bright,—(marks of disapprobation,)—who, when
he was told that some of his fellow Christians were toiling 18
hours out of the 24 fur the few years that their unhealthy occu-
pation permitted them to live, ridiculed them as "brawny
Scotchmen, who were very well able totake care of themselvecc'
(Hear, hear.) I say—and this is the principle of protection—that
oar operatives are not to be left to take care of themselves ; I
say that no man wbo depends on his work for his livelihood is
able to take care of himself when he comes to make a bargain
with an unscrupulous and hard-hearted employer—(hear,
hear)—and therefore it is that protection must step in. And
let us, whenever we have to argue this question of protection,
not meet it on isolated details, but at once grapple boldly with
that monstrous doctrine of the freetraders, that you canno t
and ought not to regulate the course of industry and capital,
but leave everything to itself, and that everything would then
come right. Meet them upon that point ; tell them that you
are for protection to every one—protection to the factory npe-
rative, protection to the poor baker, protection to the shipping
interest, protection to4he landed interest; and that wherever
there is a Briton who is willing to work you will give him pro-
tection, and will take eare that his just demands are not tram-
pled ender foot. (Cheers.) We will not send him to coin pete
with the lowest class of-Labourers which the habitable world
can produce, whether freemen or slaves, but so protect 'hint
that, as-far as the resources of the country cats go, he shall
have a fair day's wages for a fair day's work. (Hear, hear.)
Talk of leaving. matters entirely to themselves ! Why, the
thing is utterly impossib!e. There is not a labourer in the
empire withwhose naturahrights you do not interfere. The
moment you prevent him :front passing .across the ground
appropriated to another, you acknowledge him as a member of
a society that has entered into a compact for the regula-
tion of property. Then give (him the-benefit of that compact,
and say that those who possess that property shall not be per-
mitted to find out the most degraded and vvvetched labourers
the world can furnish to bid against him. (Hear, hear.) It is
perfectly absurd to talk .of leaving matters to their natural
course. In what are matters Jeff to their natural course?
Is money, whichanay be considered the foundation of all com-
mercial intercourse, left wholly free ? (Heat,* hear.) Recollect
by how many regulations you control men in their dealings
with the currency. Your currency measures have, within a
not very distant period, increased the value of money by at
least 10 per cent. I -believe that 'in making that statement I
Am far below the truth. (A voice.—Far below it; they have
increased it by one-half 40) Supposewe take a meats, and say
one-third. (A 'Rue].) 'Every man who had any fixed charges
in this country suffered in,proportion ; anti we owe -e809,000,000
of-a national debt to the (uudholders. Those measures must
have greatly added to the; ational debt—the free-trade mea-
sureahave greatly added to because there is no better test
of value than the price of corn; and ,it is manifest that any
law which depreciates the price of corn must, in effect, add
to the national debt. Would it not take more quarters of
corn at present than it would formerly have taken to pay the
national debt? You have, therefore, added to the wealth
of the fundholder at the expense of the landed interest by
every step you have taken in free trade. Under these circtun-
stancesais manifestly absurd in a country like this to talk
of leaving matters to take their natural -course. I have endea-
voured to form upon this subject the best audgnient which I could.
-I believe that in no state of society that ever existed upon earth, or
-that ever will exist, can there be a time when it will not be the
.duty and the interest of a nation to protect its own industry. It
:does very, well to talk about the prosperity of the world at large ;
but I believe that that Providence which pointed out to all the
families of the ear* their respective abodes, and which divided 1
countries by natural barriers, also intended that there should he a
commercial superintendence in each of the districts into which,
whether we will or -not, communities are divided. I confess I
could not hat feel that strongly on reading a statement made by Sir
Robert Peel, when, in the course of last autumn, I believe, he was
presented with the freedom of the city of Aberdeen. I remember
the time when a British statesman, in acknowledging such a com-
pliment, would have spoken of the successful industry of the peo-
ple from whom it came and of that national prosperity which such
industry has contributed to create ; and I felt how free trade
and its principles had deteriorated the character of British states-
men when I found Sir Robert Peel telling his auditors to proceed
in their enterprise, and that they would have the satisfaction of
'knowing, not that they bad added to the happiness of their coun-
try, but that they had contributed to the enjoyment of the whole
human race (hear, hear.) Wow, I believe, that that charity which
would embrace the whole human race within its limits is but a ape•
elous pretence for neglecting that charity that would attend to our
own people(cbeers); and exactly as I should think that man hypo-
critical and heartless -who should say he had a great regard for the
whole human race, and yet left his own wife and children at home
to starve so should I distrust the plttriotism and the philanthropy
of that statesman who should turn his regards mainly to the inter-
eats of the inhabitants of distant lands
.(hear, hear.) And why is
that? Just, because, as I said before, in the same way in which
the Maker of this world has divided men into families, he has left
to each society the superintendence bf its own members, and to
each state the superinierelencelof its own subjects, and, believe me,
if we were in this great British empire to take care that every cue
of our people was employed, that every branch of British industry
was protected from foreign competition, end that every British
labourer bad a fair day's wages for a fair day's work, we should
do more to promote the happiness of the human race than if, in
the wild attempt to extend our philanthropy over the globe, we
were to forliit those advantages which God bits given us at home
(loud and long-continued cheering.)
Pie applause was renewetton the announcement of

kith/911x eILVNEAIS, and it weS SOW time bt fore be could

proceed with his address. He said he was sure that thou
gentlemen in that vast assembly, who were not particularly con-
nected with Liverpool, would pardon him if, after the extraor-
dinary reception which had been given to his name, he should
interpose for a minute, in order, in a few and feeble words, to
give utterance to that gratitude which he must say overpowered
him.—(Hear, and cheers.)—Those cheers, that applause, inevi-
tably recalled to his mind those days when, souse three years
ago, he was permitted in this magnificent town to raise the torn
and tattered banner which now, in all the conscious pride of
coming victory, floated proudly o'er them; and when defeated
and ritliculel, as they were, in that vain attempt, he yet, in
the name of the meeting, ventured to assure their uoastful op-
ponents that they were not vanquished.—(Cheers.)—That pro-
phecy, he thought, was now on the eve of accomplishment.
When lie saw, that morning' as he camealong our,line of docks,
every British ship decorated gaily with flags, that told him what
the feelings of their owners were; and when he saw assembled
in that vast hall, the merchants, the shipowners, the bankers,
the tradesmen, and the artizans of Liverpool, he could not for
a moment doubt that they had at last broken the net of that
which Mr. Butt, in his eloquent speech, had rightly called "a
conspiracy against therights of English labour."—(Hear; hear.)
They all had learned from longconviction,others,perhaps, front
a more recent and bitter experience—they all had learned
to test, at their true vale, the theories and the systems'which
now for three or four years had been carrying ruin and distress
through every corner of the British empire. When they saw
that on no great branch of industry had a compensating ad-
vantage been gained—when they knew that in every; great town
in the kingdom our working people were toiling longer hours,
for less wages, than they had done before—when we read, in the
free importing organs of the metropolis the most harrowing
accounts of the sufferings of those working people—he said,
they would not only refuse to retire from the struggle, but
e-
would renter upon it with a thousand times increased con-
viction of the justice of their claim and the urgency of a
victory. He would say no more. Every point of that high
argument had been illustrated by the speakers who
.had pre-
ceded him. He would detain the meeting no longer ; 'but per-
mit him to assure his kind. his too kind Liverpool friend. that
the way in which they had received him now, recalling as it
did the way in which they had received him when, an almost
untried man, he had tried, inadequately, to flght, not foe him-
self, but for them, that great battle in 1847, which bad filled his
heart with sensations of gratitude which lie then feebly had
attempted to express. (Loud and reiterated cheering, waving
of hats, &c.)

The resolution was then put to the meeting, and unanimously
carried amid loud acclamation.

The Lion. H. W. WILSON, of Edeisten-hall, Leicestershire,
moved the next resilu:ion.

Mr. TORK, a tenant farmer from Lincolnshire, seconded the
motion. He knew a certain farm of 540 acres, whieli became
occupied in 1847, and was resold this May-day, after two years
'occupancy. .t5OOO, which had been invested in its cultivation,
dwindled down in that short period to £3050 (hear.) The loss
of farming did not cot,sist so much of rental. From May-day,
1848, to 1849, the bulk of the rents of North Lincolnshire were
lost to the proprietors, but the absence of rent did not make
up for the loss which was incurred. The distress amongst the
agriculturists was not confined tethe tenant farrier; but he
was sorry to stand there and to have to give evidence that the
distress was fast overtaking the agricultural labourers.

The resolution was then put anii carried.
Mr. From UND AIOLVNEUX proposed a vote of thanks to the
chair; and, being seconded by Mr. Talbot Clifton, and carried

Three cheers were given for the Marquis of GRANBY, and
ere were loud calls for his lordship. He stood forward, and

said a few words, amidst great applause.
The meeting then broke up at half-past six o'clock, the pro-
ceeding having thus occupied nearly seven hours.

fWeiltgairr

TUESDAY; JUNE 4.—Wind S. light.
ARRlVED.—Blarney, (screw steamer,) Lyall, from Rotterdam
—Ocean, —, tu Coqmbo—Margaret, —, Patagonia—Rival,
Crumb, Porto Rico—Mary Glover, Clare, New York— Mattea,
—, Alexandria.

SAlLED.—Swithamley, Jennings, for Bombay—lsabel, Grif-
fiths, Antigua—Helene, Zellein, Ostend—Martha, Collis. Rot-
terdam—Hoop en Verwachting, Fybes, Narva—Flora Bella,
APKay, St. Petersburg—Stamboul. Wryford, Zante—Emilie,
Sanerbier, Hamburg—Trader, Buck, Rotterdam—Lady Con-
stable, Dawson, Richibucto.

Niagara, (steamer,) Ryrie, from New York at this port ; sailed
on the 22(1 of May and from Halifax on the 25th. Has brought
50,000-ddllarsla spectral freight. - ' ' -
Fanny, Kite, arrived at Gonaives on the 22d of April, reports
having passed a schooner on the 18th, in lat. 19 42 N. long.
45 14 W. ; ascertained her name to be the Peter Foulks;hence
for Port-au-Prince, Hayti.
Alexander. Jack, from Trinidad ; Freeland, M`Kenzie, from
Laguna ; Highlander, Couter, from Barbados ; Hermann,
Oudin, from Cuba ; Von Brock, Jacobson, from Patagonia, all
off Queenstown. _ _ _

Caillarina, Brown, and Triad, Bullock, hence for St. Peters-
burgh off Pentland Frith.

Iris, from St. Domingo off the Start.
Sabina, Tadd, hence for Rotterdam at Forsey.
Syren, Watersen, and Ellen, Hindell, hence at Riga.
Urgent, Pollock, hence at Grosse Island.
Rowena, Dixon, hence at Alexandretta, and sailed for Jaffa.
Tallyho, Wilson, and Maria, Green, hence at ditto.

Peter Hermann, Kruzer, sailed from ditto for this port Bth
May; Edith, on the 10th; Mountain Maid, on the 11th; and
Napan Belle, on the 17th.
Horsburgh, Carr, sailed from Callao for England 14th March ;
Abel Gower, on the 18th; Alert, on the 19th; and Windsor
Castle, on the 23d.
Jessie, Mitchell, and Maxim, Lindsay, sailed from Valpa.
raiso for this port 25th March.
Elizabeth Hastings, hence off Tampico.
Horatio, Tiffin, and Lucknow, Fawcett, hence at Demerara.
Peru, Tyrrell, and Ringdove, -, sailed from Barbados for
this port 30th April ; the Nestor and John Kitson, on the 3d
May; and the Victoria, on_ the 10th.

Phienix, Al`Knight:sailed from Antigua for this port sth
May.

Catherine, Fenwick, sailed from Porto Rico for this port 9th
May.
Susan Lord, Curtis, hence at New Orleans
Robina, Lane, hence at Baltimore.
Robert Parker, Parsons; Euxine, Living
Julius, hence at Philadelphia

;ston; and Saranak,

J. fi. Shepherd, AinsWorth ; Western World, Weare; West
Point, Allen ; George, Simpson ; Forest Queen, Lovett ; Mary
Ward, Little; Abeona, Poole ; Annandale, Wilkes, hence at
New York.
Letitia Heyn, from Belfast at ditto.
Thomas, Betts, hence at ditto.
Caronelln, Dobson, hence at Halifax.
Ann Clark, hence at Richibucto.
Reindeer, Lynn, hence at Montreal.

Anne, IWG)irrry; Jane Brown, Leitch; China, Cummings;
Lord Wellington, Winsled ; Margaret, DoVe ; Caledonia,
Gourley; Clara Symes; and Amy Ann, Thompson, hence at
Quebec.
The Duke, Welsh, from Port Glasgow at ditto.'
David Cannon, and Harmony, Jamieson, from Mobile at do.
Hibernia, (steamer,) hence at Boston, 17th May.
Europa, (steamer,) Lott, hence at New York, 22d May.
A large steamer off Halifax, 25th May.

Feroiepore, Grant ; Edmonstone, Sayers; Eliza and Hester,
'Kruger ; Alan Ker, Grey; and Lady Rowena, M'Donald, hence
et Bombay.
Ganges, Cornfertb, from Aden at ditto.
India, Campbell, sailed from ditto 19th April, and Jane,
Birnie, 2iith, both for this port.
Llewellyn, Jones, from Colombo, at Madras.
Princess Royal, Adamson, 10th April ; Jaeger, Bartlett, 110;
and Wuzeer, Sutherland, 12th, all hence at Calcutta.

Ardencraig, and Socrates, cleared at ditto for this port 95th
April.
Patriot King, sailed from Sanger Ith April ; Harvest Home,
Sth ; Tamerlane, 10th ; and Endymion, 16t1, all:for this port ;
and Emperor, Day, 13th April, for London.
Duncan, sailed from Saugor 11th April, for London,tut put
back on the ;nth for additional hands.

Hereford, Reaburn, and Lalla, Woolley, from Puenta Arenas
at Panama. _

'En, Williams, from Chincha at,Callao, and sailed 4th April
for this port.
Mary Seaton, Stewart ; Lucy Wright, Hamilton ; and Peru-
vian, Brewer, from Chinclia ; and 'Kestrel, Wise, from Islay—
all at Callao, and sailed for England.

Robert Whiteway, Whitewit, from Pisco at ditto, and sailed
for Huanchaco.
Commerce, Jones, from Panama-at ditto.
Sarah, Wilson, from Sydney at ditto, and sailed for Chincha.
Harbinger, Candlish, from Valparaiso at ditto.
Mary Holland. Tranack, and Deborah, Pearson, hence; Har-
binger, Candlish, from Buenos-Ayres; Tyrer, Gardner, from
Islay; and*Pandora, Cobb, from Coquimbo aValparaiso.
BARRANIMJILLA, APRIL 26.—The Hebe, Thompson, which,
sailed heneetfor London 21st instant, sprung a leak the same
night, and was run on shore to leeward of Savanilla : crew
saved. It is feared the vessel will be a wreck.
Quii.exc, MAY 18.—The Ostensible, Dunn, from Liverpool
for Quebec, was lost in the ice : crew saved by the Duke,
arrived here.

MAZATLAN, APRIL I.—The Conrad, 111'Nei1, hence for Li-
verpool, touched on the .bar during a gale at S.E., but was
assisted off with much damage, and making an inch of water
per minute,•and must come into the harbour to repair.

WEDNESDAY. JUNE 6.—Wind N.W., moderate.
A aalvEn.-7..etland, Brown.; Pollock, M'lntire; and .Boa-
dices, Leavitt,:from New Orleans—Sultan, Brown, and Colum-,
bus, Potts, Mobile—Montezuma, Kendall, Charleston—Garrick,
Adam. and America. Lawrence, New York—Talisman, Nuske,
Stettin—Achilles, Bankowski, Memel—Vesta, Phelp, Rouen.
SAILED.—Orian, .Connor, for .Charleston—Norfolk Hero,
Holmes, Constantinople—Albertina, Deddes, Cronstadt---Ju-
liane, Holm, Icelasid—Bonita, Killey, Pernambuco—Oxonian,
Wilkinson, Riga—Florist, Sanders, Rio Janeiro—Gem, Dawson,
Rotterdam—Gulnare, Nosworthy, San Francisco.

Volt), hence at Buenos Ayres.
Henry Ismay, sailed from Jamaica for this port 3d ult.
Pasha, Kay, sailed from Savanilla for this port.26th April.
Secret, Hilton, sailed from Punta Arenas for Sonsonatti 4th
March.
Penelope, Teodoro, sailed from Trieste for this port 18th ult.
Propontis, (screw steatner,) Brennan, hence at Malta, anti
sailed for Constantinople.
Stephen Savin, Holstein, hence at ditto.
Gem, Kennard, end Annie Marrice, Russell, hence at Genoa.
Hazard, Lee, sailed from Bordeaux for this port Ist instant.
Penelope, Renwick, hence at Aux Cayes.
William Allen, Oliver, hence at Hopewell, N.B.
Admiral, Young, hence at Pernau.
Soren, Watersen, hence at Riga.
Milton, from St. John, N. 8., off Queenstown.
Washington, (steamer,) from New York at Cowes 3d June,
and sailed for Bremen.

Whitehaven, Higginson; Killermont, Robinson; and Peter
Foulkes, Carter, hence at Port-au-Prince.
Tigre, Zash, sailed from Malta 22d ult., and Acaetris, 23d,
both for this port.
Francis and Ann. cleared at Gibraltar 18th ult., Nautilus,
10th, and Agnes, Vat, all for this port.
Gagner, Peltier, and Themis, Chameleon, sailed from St. Na-
zairee, for this port 30th ult.
Magician, Steele, from Puerto Cabello at La Guayra, and
would sail Bth ult. for Falmouth.
GinuALTAR, MAv 26.—The Lord Strangford, Abell, from
Smyrna for Liverpool, went on shore to the eastward of the
rock, 24th May, but got off the same day without damage, and
is waiting a fair wind to pass the Straits.

THURSDAY, Juan 6. Wind S.S.W.
ARRIVED.—Sea, Lawson, from Callao—Express, Anderson,
Savannah—Darlings, Hayes, Galatz—Hope, Tozer, Palermo—
Schofield, Walker, and Carl Richard, Kraft, Danzig—Robert,
--, Stettin—Art-ow, Wolter, Hamburgh—Mary Hartley. Do-
novan, and Sir Robert Peel, M`Ewing, Callao—Templeman,
Matthews, Valparaiso—Samuel, Leighton, St. John, N.B.
SA r Le D.—Trewartha, Harris, for Rotterdam—Gezina H elena,
Albers, Narva—Frances Yates, Paynter, Jamaica—Camilla,(s,)
Little, and Alida, Agnes, Havre—William Punton, Sharp,
Harbor Grace—lris, .Backe, Drammen—Nuevo Rosario, Goico-
echea, Santa Cruz—Belle, Hicks, Malaga—Cockburn, Young,
Cape of Good Rope—Pomona, Mollenhaur, Cronstadt—John
Robinson, Barns, Buenos Ayres—Snowdrop, Zelean, Dordt—
Gnisachan, Jeffreys, Calcutta—Swordfish, Green, Pernambuco
—Jcbn, Ockendon, and Edward, Lincoln, St. Petersburgh—
Marniton, Freeman, New York.

Templetnan, Ellis, from Callao, at this port, sailed 23(1 Feb.
From the Equator to 25 N. had light variable winds. On the
29th May, in hit. 49, long. 22, encountered a severe gale from
the westward, with violent squalls, accompanied with hail and
lightning; lost foreail and foretopsail ; saw several outward-
beund vessels lying to.
Mars, Small ; Concordia, Don ; Clarinda, Finchett ; and
Soph
vyni Adams, hence tehrße;tet clAierzaeariyHcoanrdo
IC;
nr aes; Delany; John S. de Wolf,
PhLenix, Gray, hence at Havannah.
Roberts;Anio
Kirk
anti tfarriet, Dyer, hence at .Et. John) N.B.
GOokrat, Edmondson, hence at Pictou.
Pink, Cunningham, and Hornet, Ruttee, •Peilee at Prim
Edward Island.

Ferdinando, Caffiero, hence at Naples.
Hebe, Mien, from Port-au-Prince, and Sceptre, 'M'Queen,
from Virginia, at Queenstown. ,
Wanderer, Cunningham, from St. Domingo; Star, from Cal-
lao, and proceeded for London ; Adamant, hence for California;
and Firefly, hence for Africa, all off Queenstown.
Jenny Jones, hence for Leghorn; Arid Roseland, from Trini-
dad, oft the Land's End.

FRIDAY, JUNE 7.—Wind West

ARRlVED.—Wanderer, and Honor, from St. Domingo—Mil-
ton, Little, Matanzas—Caroline Ne,inith, Eaton, Apalachic, la
—Hortensia, Shopper, Rabat—Danzic, Shiel. Memel—Pacific:
(steamer,) Nye, New Yolk, sailed May 25—Alfred, and Water
Witch, Buenos Ayres—Ann Dingwall, Laguna—Avon, Porto
Rico—Ceres, John Kitson, and Maria, Barbados—Charlotte,
and Clemence, Antwerp—Chantal, Rio de to Hache—Express,
Gapote—Eln, and Mary, Havre-I,:gidius, Union, and Eclipse,

Mend—Elphinstone, Sierra Leone—Flint, Para—Good Design,
Rotterdam—Glencairn, and 'Joseph Brindley, Dunkirk—Jules
Emilie, Caen—Juilus, Stettin—Jane Anderson, Cienfue,r°os—
Lady Mona, Saldanha Bay—Mercur, Stettin—Margaret and
Ann, Abbeville—Napoleon, Rcuen—Sceptre, Virginia—Prince
of Wales, and William, Gallipoli—Richard Cobden, Wilming-
ton—Stolpe, Danzic—Salopian, Rio de la Bache—William West,
Rouen.

SAILED.—Join Wesley, for Nassau

Frederick, (barque,) from St. John, N. 8., is on shore near
Crosby, but is expected to get off next tide.
Witham Peile, hence, was ashore on the English Bank, River
Plate, previous to March 2'
Letitia Heyn, Whim 'ns;
Rollins ; Hercules, Nee Cro,
Naomi, Wright, all hence _
Pirate, (screw steamer,) IWO ugh
after being ashore near Ga..- ent
Bezaliel, Tan, hence at ditto.
Forget-me-not, Dillon, & Dauntless, Jone hence at Smyrn

Scotland, Hawkins; Mary Hall,
1 ; Isaac Webb, Cropper ; and

It Co nsta

poll, but without apparent damage

Nail, SandersOn, sailed from ditto for~this port May
Petrel, Humphreys, from Corfu; Clara, Morton, fit
)1i: Shannon, Davies, from Alexandria, (and all thre,

for this port,) s.
Dahlia, Boju, hence at
Deux Freres, Allaire, uence at Cronstadt.
Spy, Blampied, from Buenos Ayres; Lochinvar, Westco
from New Orleans; and Coaxer, Dunn, hence for New or
leaky, and with loss of cap of mainmast. Allantmast, &c
bore up from long. 20, all at Queenstown.
General Washington, Graham, hence at
Bess, Grant, hence at Maranham.
George W. Bourne, Mason, hence at New Orleans

Gibraltar

Ingleborough. Rea, hence at Havana
Alert, Canning, for
son, and Paragon, Nicl
WNabb, for Narva, al.
QUEENSTOWN, JUNI
.for the Clad

The Gratitude, from the Maurit
Lt to-day, took the ground at St