Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-08-29
John Bright on American Affairs.

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John Bright on American Affairs.
On the lst inst. John Bright made II
speech to the electors of Rechdale in sup
port of Mr. Chectham as candidate for
parliament. He devoted portion Of his
time to the consideration of American af-
fairs, and evinced the warmest and most
intelligent sympathy with our government,
as will be seen by the following passage:
"Now, is this cotton question Il great
question or not? ! met spinner to-day
he does not live in Rochdale, though l
met him hcre-and asked him what he
thought about this cotton, and he said, i
think cotton will come somehow (langh-
ter:) and / find that there is that kind OF
answer to be had from every three out OF
every four of all the spinnerS you ask -
They know that when in times past cotton
has risen fifty or eighty per cent. that
something has come, or the rate of inter-
est has risen, or there has been II CONNER
cial panic from some cause, and down the
price has come and when every body had
been saying therc would be no cotton at
Christmas, it has turned ont that there WAS
Il considerable stock at Christmas. So
they say now. | don't deny it will be so.
All say is this, that the particular cause
is new ; that we have never had war in
the United States between different sec
tions of that country, affecting the pro-
iuction of cotton, before; and it is not
fair or WISE but rather childish than 9TH
erwsc, to argue from last events which
were not bit like this event now passing
before us. They say, 1T isquite true there
is civil war in America, hut it will blow
over, there will be com u omisr, or the
English government will break the clock
ade' Now. recollect what breaking the
blockade means. 1t means war with the
United States and do not think myself
that it would be cheap to break the block
ade at a cost of war with the United
States. think myself that the cost II of war
with the United States would give proba-
bly, half wages for IL very considerable time
| to those persons in Lancashire who would
| be out OF work if there was no cotton; to
| say nothing ut all of the manifest Injustice
aud wrong against all international law If
legal and effective blockade should he
inter!cred with by any other country. Now
it is not exactly the business of this meet
ing, but my opimien is that the safety of
the product on which this country depends,
depends far more upon the success Of the
Washington government than upon its fail
urc. and believe that nothing could be
more monstrous than for us, who are not
very avcrsc TO war ourselves, to set up
for critics-carping critics, cnvilling crit
cts-ot what The government ut Wash
ing is doing. IIear, hear.) sawa letter
the other day from an EngliShman. resident
% years as prosperous merchant i'll Phil
adgphin, and lie said prefer the insti-
tutions of this country (the States) very
much to those in your country (Engl"nd(,
! but if it be once admitted that here we
have no country, and no government, but
that any portion of these United States can
break off from the central government
whenever it pleaSes, then it is time for me
to pack up what have and go somewhere
where there is country and Il government.
| (Hear, hcar.) Now, that is the Pith OF this
question. Do you suppose that if Lanca-
shire and Yorkshire were to break oil
from the United Kingdom, chat those news
papers who are now preaching moderation
ut Washington would advise the govern
ment in London to let Lancashire and
| Yorkshire set up a special government of
their own2 (Hear, hear, and cheers. y
When the people of Ireland asked to Sc
cede did they propose in London that they
| should Sccedc peaceablY? | am not gong
to defend what is taking place in coun-
try able to defend itself. but | only advise
! you ana luc people OI IHHS'''l" ~ 'OS'''"
| from applying to the United States doc
trincs and principles which we have never
applied to our own case. At all events
thew never fought for the balance of power
| in Europe, or the keeping up of Il decAyed
empire like Turkey; they have never eX-
pended the money of their people on phan-
tom expeditions such rs as we have been
engaged in; and when they tell You they
are going to be ruined by this disaster,
they are only going to raise in this great
emergency not more than you raise every
year during a time ofpcace. (Cheers.) They
snv it is not question of the libety of the
slaves: the object of the Washington gov
crnment is to maintain their own cons;itu
ton and TO act legally in this tremendous
crisis. No man is more in favor Of peace
than am; no man has denounced war
more than have probably in this coun-
try, few men in their public life have Suf-
fcrcd more obloquy or more OF indignity
in consequence of it; but cannot for the
life of me see how, upon any of those
principles upon which States are governed
-(now. I say nothing of the literal word
of the New Testamcnt)-l cannot see how
the state of affairs in America, with re.
gard to the United States government,
could have been different from what it is
at this moment (Applause) We had
Heptarchy in this country, and 1T was
thought "A good thing to get rid OF 1t and
to have united nation. Ii the 80 or 81
States in the Union can separate whenever
they like, cannot see anything but dis
aster and confusion throughout the whole
that ihe yylr hn