The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-01-20 00:00:00

these razes they will not have in contemplation the
giving of any relief to landlords or farmers, having suf•
fieently relieved them in the last Session of Parliament.
Such then were the intentions of Ministers; he would
now state the basis of the error on which Minsters prt
ceeded ; he did net mean to accuse them of the crime of
evil intention ; he was satisfied that those by whom they
were opposed in Parliament would do the same; the
• evil was occasioned by Mr. Ricardo and• some others,
who bad taken it into their heads, and nothing could
boat it out of them, that the landlords and the farmers
were doing very well: that matters would find their
level, and things would come about if left alone. "The
' • landlords and farmers are all wrong (said Mr. Courte
nay) io assuming that they pay all the taxes; they are
. not paid by them, but by the consumer." Now that ap-
Loared to him to be a fatal
rd Liverpool and of the Chancellor of the Exchequer ;
it was their postukttum, that every trade was carried on
with benefit to the persons engaged in it, otherwise it
would not be carried on at all. Such also was the notion
of Mr. Ricardo, Adam Smith, and the Scotch Philo-
sophers. It might be true with respect to trade and
, traffic, and the little concerns of life, but it was not
. true with respect to the great affairs of agriculture, and
to what related to real property. It was said that taxes
fell not upon thiagriculturist, bat upon the consumer ;
• be begged of them to mark the fallacy of that notion.
• laid down as it was as a general principle. He would
suppose himself to be a maker of candles, he sold them
a' 6d. per pound, but Government thought fit to put a
duty of Is. per pound on the article. Well, it said, you
are not worse off than before, because the consumers pay
the duty and all; bat world he sell as many candles
after the duty was put on as before? No, the con-
sumers would not buy so many, and he would he ttlti.
timately obliged to sell them at less than They cost him.
That was an exact illustration of the point id tinestion.
)(the landlord received a fair rent for his lind; and
the tenaat a fair profit on his capital, then 'the consumers
paid; but if the landlord received no rent, and the farmer
bad so profit. they pay, and not theconsunter.—(Applause.)
—Small as the point appeared, and gross as was the error
'when expose I. yet out of that very error sprang the ruin
which desolated the country. Slinisters had proceeded on
that error, and they appeared now resolved not to alter the
• currency—they were resolved not to make Bank Notes a
legal tender—they were determined to push the thing along
—they did not believe, he had no doubt that they
were bringing down ruin upon the landlords—they
did not think that their measures would ultimately bring
every landlord in the country to the work-house.
• Nevertheless, such would be the result of their measoree,
unless the Landholders and Farmers vindicated them-
selves. And here, lie could not help observing, that
what shore all astonished him in these astonishing
times, was the conduct of the Landholders. Hs would
• tot say that the Landholders of this Country were the
most ignorant of men, but they were the least informed
on questions deeply affecting their interests. He would
not call them the greatest cowards, but they were the
most submissive of mankind. Did anyone suppose that
if he had an estate from his ancestors, that he would
allow the Jews and Jobbers to take it away? The pro-
cess by which the mortgages took three times more
than be ought to take—by which the tax collector
carried away to the landholder three times more than
be ought, was acted on every hour; was it possible,
then, for the landholders, under such a state of things,
to preserve tl.eir estates? Well, then, what was to be
done ? Why, the evil must be put a stop to, and imme-
diately. It was not necessary to talk much abont it, it
nits necessary to act. One of the propositions of those
who prepared the Resolutions was an alteration in the
poor laws ; hut do what they would, the poor rates must
come out of the land. lithe poor werepaid by the monied
men,thechain that so long connected the poor and the rich
would be broken—the natural source for the poor was
the land—the number of the poor ought to be less, and
would be less, were it not for those measures which for
a number of years, and often under discouraging cir-
einnstances, he had opposed. To the land the poor
always looked for relief; it would be impossible to tura
their eves towards any other quarter ; the very attempt
would lead to cenfusioo. Hut, what was proposed to be
done ? Ile was sorry the Wort by Baronet was sot more
explicit ; it was his estate he wanted to preserve—he
wanted the Lamers to be able to pay the rent; for an
estate without rent was like an egg-shell after the meat
was taken out.—(A laugh.) The resolutions were not
explicit—they talked of p ing national faith. Mr.
Western very properly sail of Ministers, that they were
ready to preserve faith with every one save the Land-
lords and the Farmers. Only a year ago the Worthy
Gentleman who brought forward these Resolutions would
Lave been sorry to have proposed any thing like them—
they would he sorry to do any thing that might tend to
1: pset the system then going en ; he begged of the meet-
it g to mark the progress of information and the change
of opinion.
Mr. PaTsinne—Mr. Cobbett, I request you may say
rotting personal to me; recollect what lead passed last
right. —('vinch confusion, murmurs, and cheers.)
Al r.Conuerr.—l will not interrupt the business of the
steeling by telling what passed last night, after the
meeting is over we can talk of that--(Applause.) lie
etas not conscious of having said any thing to cause so
strong an interruption ; he had not used personal or of.
fensiee language; he had only said, that twelve months
a.:n, those worthy gentlemen would have advocated very
different measures front those of that day. Was not the
tferfitig convinced of that:—(Twelve months ago they
would have supported the system of finance and taxa-
tion ; again, he would say, mark the progress and the
cl.ange. He was not for delay, he was for taking time
by the forelock, and becould assure them, that if they
arted firmly, their voice would be heard ; the counties
should stand by each other, should clearly explain their
wants, and forcibly express their opinions. They should
hater themselves to no party, but adhere to principle.
The resolutions submitted to the meeting were tot
worthy of its adoption. they were not intelligible, they
were inconsistent. One part of them WAS so ridiculous,
sod another part so impracticable, that they .woald, if
adopted, only weaken their cause, and bring discredit
on their county. T hey should be explicit in their lan-
guage. and their objects should he defined. If they were
to act on such resolutions, what would be the answor of
Alinisters ? Would they not say, ‘. We cannot under-
stand the petitioners, they don't tell us all they want;
it is therefore likely that they really want nothing at
all ?" He (Mr. Cobbett) would tell them what the people
wanted, and lie would do so in very intelligible lan-
guage. He held ill his hand a petition, which he would
real to the meeting. It met with the approbati.to of a
gentleman of the county, who sat on his left, a gentle...l
man of blab respectability and intelligence. The peti-
tion was in substance the same as that recently adopted
by the county of Norfolk; aud here he would obsrrve,
that if the people wished to carry the point, they must
see the necessity of backing one another. If two per-
sons preferred the same claim, they would be
naturally doubted if they did not tell the same
story. T The Noble Lord in the Chair admonished
thent—he called for unanimity—nothing could be
more wise—nothing more wholesome, than this advice.
Let the counties work together and they would be sure
to prevail. Norfolk took the lead ;if Hereford followed
there would be two; the two would soon swell to two
sod twenty, and what they prayed for would be granted,
It bad been said that Mint/tors ought not to be atteckeeln
he did not attack them, be did not want to do wit • list,
was convinced that the Opposition. if they bad b4r
power, would have done the very same thing tiler et
tea bad done. It was not attackiog Ministeraii. '
their acts, their declared opinions and their tins. it


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