History of the Anti-Corn Law League/Chapter26
CHAPTER XXVI.
SOIREES IN OTHER PLACES.
At the successive weekly assemblages of the League, in Manchester, notice was made of numerous meetings in other parts of the kingdom during the last two months of 1842, some of which require to be recorded at rather greater length. On the 31st of October the Metropolitan Anti-Corn-Law Association met, Mr. P. A. Taylor in the chair, and resolved that the various associations in and around London should meet once a week, to promote the registration of members, and the enlightenment of the public mind on the subject of free trade. On the 14th of November the committee reported the division of the metropolis and its neighbourhood into fourteen districts, and that arrangements had been made for weekly meetings up to March, 1843, and for the printing of tracts for distribution. The meeting was addressed by Mr. P. A. Taylor, Mr. James Wilson, Colonel Thompson, Dr. Price, Mr. E. R. Moore, and others, and the proceedings gave proof that the arduous work of instructing the vast metropolis would be vigorously carried out.
On the 23rd November, the first of a series of deeply interesting soirés to take place in Yorkshire, in furtherance of the great object of Corn-Law repeal, was celebrated in the spacious saloon, beautifully decorated for the occasion, of the Philosophical Hall, Huddersfield. "The occasion," says the Leeds Mercury, "was one of high importance, not only for the dignity and benevolence of the object contemplated, but for the enthusiastic spirit manifested by the assembly of both sexes, of the first respectability, extensive in numbers, and intelligent and influential in its character." More than 600 persons sat down to tea, and more than double that number would have been present had it been possible to provide accommodation. William Brooks, Esq., was called to the chair. W. R. C. Stansfield, Esq., M.P., moved: "That this meeting regards the laws which prevent the free importation of corn as the chief cause of the deep, long-continued, and increasing distress under which the nation suffers, and looks to the total repeal of those laws as the safest, shortest, and most effectual remedy. The deputation from the League consisted of Mr. Cobden, Mr. Bright, and Mr. H. Ashworth, of Bolton, who successively addressed the meeting. J. T. Clay, Esq., of Eastrick, after moving a resolution pledging the meeting to promote the raising of £50,000, handed to the chairman, on behalf of his uncle, who was unable to attend, a cheque for £300. Mr. F. Schwann handed his cheque for £50, which he said he had saved by being a "teetotaler." A Voice—" I wonder if Mr. Wm. Brook will do the same." Mr. Brook "I will." Messrs. Geo. Mallinson & Son, and George Crossland & Son, followed with £50 each, and other contributions poured in till they amounted to nearly £1,000.
On the 28th November, a meeting of the Dundee Anti-Corn-Law Association was held, Mr. Edward Baxter in the chair, at which resolutions were passed, approving of the plans of the League. Lord Kinnaird said that the farmers had a good right to complain, for the present pernicious system held out a premium to the worst kind of cultivation, and a succession of white crops exhausted the land. His lordship proceeded to contrast the mode of farming in England with that universally, and with such good effects, adopted in Scotland, where, by proper management, a much less favourable soil was rendered much more productive. Were the English subjected to the same competition as the Scotch farmers were, and competition was all they wanted, their dormant energies would be roused, and the land would be doubled in value. All classes of the community would be benefited by an abolition of all restrictions on food and commerce but none more than the lords of the soil. Steady prices would thus be obtained by the farmer—that was all that was required.
On the 8th December a numerous and highly respectable party of ladies and gentlemen took tea in the Assembly Room, and in the body of the Theatre, Rochdale, and afterwards congregated in the Theatre, the gallery being open to the public, and crammed with earnest listeners. John Fenton, Esq., late M.P. for the borough, was in the chair, and opened its proceedings by introducing Mr. Buckingham, who delivered an eloquent address on the general principles of free trade, proving their entire harmony with the evident designs of a wise and benevolent Providence. Dr. Bowring followed and spoke at some length on the influence of free-trade principles in the diffusion of knowledge, the spread of universal peace, and in the advancement of all that was worthy of the pursuit of a free and enlightened nation, reaping for it a renown far more lasting than the glories of conquest. The applause which Dr. Bowring's speech excited was renewed with the greatest enthusiasm when Mr. Cobden rose. He addressed himself to the large body of working men who were present, in a tone which produced a powerful effect. He placed before them in a most striking light the folly and injustice of allowing a small number of deluded and ignorant lads to prevent the expression of public opinion on the great question of the bread tax., by which the character of the masses of the people was in great danger of being ruined. Mr Bright had a reception, which, in his case, proved that the prophet was not without honour in his own country. He reminded his townsmen of their former service in this noble cause, of their having sent a staunch free trader to Parliament, and of the high character they had gained with their countrymen; and he assured them he should be ashamed of them if they came second to any town in the kingdom in the great contest now waging with the accursed monopoly, which was destroying their commerce. The subscriptions then commenced, and the following were announced: The Chairman gave £100 James King and Sons, £100; the workpeople employed by Bright and Brothers, £12 3s.; John Hoyle, £50; Thos. Booth, 50; John Petrie & Co., £50; James Midgley, 50; E. G. Kay, £50; Robt. Kelsall, £50; Leech, Tweedale, and Co., £50, and others raising the amount to £1,320 6s. 6d., in addition to £375 subscribed by five individuals at the Manchester meeting.
Two meetings were held, at Leeds, on the same week, the object of both being the promotion of the great fund. The first was preliminary and consisted of merchants, manufacturers, tradesmen, and other employers of labour. Mr. Baines, M.P., was in the chair; and Mr. Cobden, Dr. Bowring, Mr. Aldam, and Colonel Thompson, were present. The second and most important meeting was a soirée, held in the saloon of the Music Hall, its object being, to use the language of the Leeds Mercury, designed to promote the abolition of the Corn Law, and of all restrictions on the trade in food, in connection with the splendid and benevolent efforts then being put forth by the National Anti-Corn-Law League. The same organ goes on to say, that the demand for the tickets on and prior to the day of the festival was unprecedented the prudent issue previously determined upon,—which, however, was only limited by the accommodation of the spacious hall itself,—was consequently exhausted before the day of the soiree, and, of necessity, great numbers of applicants had to experience the disappointment of exclusion from one of the most pleasant and enthusiastic meetings ever witnessed. The important sanction of the ladies was especially vouchsafed to this renewed struggle in the cause of humanity and justice; many ladies, along with the speakers, and a number of the leading liberal gentlemen of the town, occupied the orchestra. The gallery was occupied by those who were admitted after tea. In the decorations of the room there was every variety consistent with moderation, good taste, and neatness. Elevated above the orchestra was the motto, "Free Trade best security for universal peace," beautifully painted on white drapery, and enclosed with a crimson wreath. In front of the orchestra was the motto, "Free Trade," tastefully designed of laurel leaves, and also on white ground and bordered by crimson drapery. On the right of the orchestra was a pendant banner, inscribed, in gold, "Agriculture and manufactures," with the appropriate emblematical attendants of the labourer in the harvest field, and the weaver at the loom. On the left of the orchestra was another pendant banner, with a beautiful design of "Britannia." In front of the gallery was the inscription, "No taxes on food or restrictions on labour." On the right was a richly gilt banner, inscribed, "The rights of the people cheap bread and unrestricted labour." On the left was another equally elegant banner, inscribed, "Cheap sugar you have made the negro happy; remember your needy operatives at home." The pillars supporting the gallery were gracefully encircled by wreaths of laurels, and other parts of the room partook of the same lively decorations. Among the gentlemen present at the meeting were William Aldam,M.P., Richard Cobden, M.P., Dr. Bowring, M.P., Wm. Busfield, M.P., Colonel Perronet Thompson, James G. Marshall, Alderman Stansfeld, Ald. Rawson, Alderman Gaunt, Alderman Bateson, Alderman Lupton, Alderman Luccock, Alderman Willans, Alderman Maclean, Rev. T. Scales, Rev. Mr. Crawford, Rev. J. E. Giles, Rev. C. Wicksteed, Rev. J. Cummins, and Rev. J. Fox. Mr. J. G. Marshall was called to the chair; and the meeting was addressed by Messrs. W. Aldam, Hamer Stansfeld, Dr. Bowring, Colonel Thompson, E. Birchall, R. Cobden, W. Busfield, E. Baines, jun., J. Bower, the Rev. J. E. Giles, and T. Flint. Before the meeting separated, subscriptions were announced to the amount of £765 amongst which were Messrs. Marshall & Co., £150, Brown & Co., £50, Maclean and March, £50, Wm. Pawson, Esq., £50, Edwin Birchall and Sons, £50, Wilkinson & Co., £50, Wm. Lupton & Co., £30.
The soirée, at Bradford, had a like animated character, notwithstanding the absence of some of the leading free traders, and the Temperance Hall was quite filled. The Bradford Observer, in reporting the proceedings, characterised Dr. Bowring's speech as sufficient of itself to give eclát to the meeting, and says that the Rev. J. Ackworth laid bare the sophistry which would throw discredit upon a minister for appearing in such assemblages. He was followed by Mr. Thomas Plint, of Leeds, who made a vigorous onslaught upon the fallacies of the protectionists. The other speakers were Messrs. R. Milligan, now (1852) member for the borough, W. Byles, proprietor of The Observer, William Busfield, M.P., Mr. Ackroyd, of Otley, Hamer Stansfeld, of Leeds, R. R. Moore, Rev. Walter Scott, and J. Russell. Amongst the subscription were H. Leah, £100, Milligan, Forbes & Co.,£100; R. and J. Garnett, £50, Titus Salt, £50, and Rennie, Tetley, & Co.,£50.
On the 6th December, a numerous meeting was held in the school room of the Independent Chapel, James-street, Blackburn, which was handsomely decorated for the occasion, After tea, Mr. William Eccles was called to the chair, and the company, including many ladies, was addressed by Mr. Edmund Ashworth, of Turton, Mr. John Brooks, Mr. Cobden, and myself, forming the deputation from the League, and Mr. Potter, of Darwen, who led the way to the subscription, by putting his own name down for £50; and then followed Mr. W. Eccles, for £50, J. and W. Pilkington, for £50, Joseph Eccles, for £50, T. and B. Eccles, for £50, other smaller sums swelling the amount to upwards of £400.
On the 12th December, Colonel Thompson and Mr. Paulton, attended a numerous meeting, at Accrington, the Rev. J. Harbottle, in the chair, and subscriptions were made to the amount of £350. On the 14th, Mr. Bright and Mr. Moore visited Belper, in Derbyshire, and resolutions were passed, approving of the plans of the League. Messrs. W. G. and J. Strutt had previously subscribed £300, at the Midland Counties' meeting, and Messrs. Geo. Brittle Co. had paid 100 to the Metropolitan Association. On the 12th a meeting, called by the Lord Provost, was held in Glasgow, James Oswald, Esq., in the chair. The O'Connorites endeavoured by clamour and great violence of language to disturb the meeting, but some of the most riotous having been removed by the police, the resolutions in favour of the plans of the League were carried almost unanimously. A similar disturbance was attempted, at Preston, on the same week, on the occasion of a visit from Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright, but it only delayed the subscription for a few days without diminishing its amount.
On the 19th December there was a tea party at Bury, attended by 800 persons, E. Ashton, Esq., of Lime-field, in the chair. It was addressed by Dr. Bowring, Mr. Brotherton, Mr. John Brooks, Mr. Cobden, Mr. Edmund Ashworth, and Mr. R. R. Moore. Amongst the subscribers to the £50,000 fund were Mr. R. Walker, M.P, £50, R. Ashton, £100, Walker, Smith & Co., £100, Thomas and James Wrigley, £50, Edmund Grundy, £50, J Grundy, jun., £50. When the subscriptions had got down to 5s., a working man rose, and said such as he could not give half-crowns, but if a box were sent round they would give what they could. "Take that," said the chairman, and threw his hat towards the speaker, amid great laughter and cheers. "And take that," said Mr. Brooks, throwing his hat in another direction; "and that," shouted other gentlemen, and a dozen of hats were flying towards various parts of the rooms, returning loaded with coppers to the amount of £6 or £7. Mr Cobden said that he would rather see these spontaneous, though humble contributions, than if there had been as many sovereigns as pence. The contributions in the room amounted to £796.
Wolverhampton, like Manchester, had made its first election of representatives in 1832, and every subsequent election,a free-trade demonstration—an emphatic protest against the landowners' monopoly. To visit this borough, so distinguished, the League deputed Mr. Bright and Mr. Moore. The chair was taken by Mr. John Barker, a county magistrate, and he was supported by Messrs. Joseph Walker, William Walker, Benjamin Walton, J. Bradshaw, S. Cartwright, H. Walton, Alex. Walton, and other influential gentlemen of the town. Mr. Villiers, one of the members, the leader of the anti-corn-law movement in the Commons, had written that he could not leave London at that time, much to his regret. Mr. Thornely, the other member, gave an exceedingly interesting account of his observations in the United States, where he had recently been and of the mutual advantages the two countries would derive from mutual exchanges. Mr. Bright and Mr. Moore followed in speeches which excited great enthusiasm. Similar meetings, attended by Mr. Bright, were held at Stourbridge and Dudley. On the 99th December, Mr. Cobden, Mr. Brooks, and Mr. Moore, visited Warrington. The venerable and firm-minded John Rylands, was in the chair, and introduced the deputation to the meeting. In the course of Mr. Cobden's speech, he said:—
Previous to the breaking up of the meeting, it was announced that the subscription to the League fund was £320, and that it would probably amount to £600 in a few days.
While the leading members of the League were thus indoctrinating the country—for the press was spreading every where the truths they uttered, and giving prompt answer to every fallacy that was, from time to time, advanced; and while hundreds of less prominent voluntary labourers in the cause were working hard in all the business details of the agitation, the lecturers were, at some forty meetings a week, giving effective instructions to the people. Even the working men of their number were a match in argument to the few educated persons who, here and there, attempted to defend monopoly. But two or three of them had encountered a fierce physical opposition, from their pressing, perhaps a little too vehemently, the injustice of sacrificing the manufacturing to the agricultural interest, so as to give farmers some suspicion that the demand for the repeal of the Corn Laws was only that the burthen might be shifted from the shoulders of the former to those of the latter. Thinking that farmers and farm labourers would be more easily convinced if they heard less of injustice to manufacturers and weavers, than of injustice and injury to themselves, I accepted an invitation to address the farmers at Over, in Cheshire, on their market day, and proceeded there alone on October 12th, to make the experiment. A clergyman, seeing the announcement of the lecture, had gone amongst the farmers in the Market Hall, and told them that they ought not to attend, on the ground that the teachings of the League were highly immoral and irreligious, and, in the then circumstances of the country, seditious. This rather excited the curiosity to hear, and the hall was well filled. Mr. Slater, of Woodford Hall, a farmer of 300 acres of land, took the chair, and introduced me to the meeting. I met the charge of irreligion by reading a portion of a speech which had been delivered by the Rev. Gilbert Elliot, of Kirby Thorpe, who had quoted Archbishop Cranmer as an authority against the deep sin of artificially raising the price of food. Having thus cleared the way, I argued:
1. That so far from the Corn Laws having secured steadiness of prices, they have caused extraordinary fluctuations, and make farming a matter of dangerous gambling and speculation.
2. That the sliding scale has caused a fall of prices at the very period when the farmer had a right to expect a fair remuneration for his capital and industry.
3. That the prices promised by the laws of 1815, 1822, and 1828, and on which promised prices the farmer had made his contracts, have not been realized, and that consequently his progress has been constantly downward.
4. That legislation may raise the rent of land where the number of acres is limited, but cannot sustain, beyond the level of other businesses, the profits of farmers whose number is not limited.
5. That the farmer had been injured by the depression of trade and manufactures, which has greatly lessened the market for his produce, and, consequently, greatly reduced it in price.
6. That this reduction has not been occasioned by Sir Robert Peel's tariff, inasmuch as it has fallen heavily on cheese and butter, the import duties on which have not been touched.
7. That farmers suffer from the depression of trade by the increase of poor rates, occasioned by the return to agricultural districts of labourers who had previously found profitable employment in towns.
8. That farmers further suffer from the difficulty of finding suitable employment for such of their sons daughters as are not needed upon the farm.
9. That labourers suffer alike from the latter cause, that their wages do not rise and fall with the rise and fall of provisions.
10. That the land-tax is not an exclusive burthen requiring an equivalent, but a commutation, which, in common justice, ought to have advanced with the advance of the rent of land, and the increase of other public burthens.
11. That tithes are not an exclusive burthen on the land, tithes being a property held by an older tenure than the tenure of land and that their abolition would only tend to raise rents.
12. That poor rates are not an exclusive burthen upon land, all trading and manufacturing property being equally liable.
13. That landowners not only bear no exclusive burthens, but are favoured with numerous exemptions, in probate and legacy duties, on auction duties, insurance duties, taxes on farm horses, &c.
14. That they have already a great natural protection in the cost of import, ranging from 9s. to 20s. per quarter, equal to from 27s. to 60s. on the acre of wheat crop. 15. That they have a natural protection in the attachment of farmers to the soil, and their inability to turn to other pursuits, and consequently their eager competition for farms.
16. That this competition, accompanied by the distress of their customers, has brought them into a state of destitution, from which nothing can release them but free trade, not merely in corn, but in all the articles which they consume; and
17. That landowners themselves, by painful experience, must soon find that agriculture and trade are twins, waxing and waning together.
I had earned a goodly number of tracts with me, and the demand for them at the close of the meeting showed that the farmers were eager for information when offered to them in a friendly spirit. The publication of my address led to other invitations, and I subsequently visited, in succession, Macclesfield, Congleton, Sandbach, Middlewich, Northwich, Nantwich, Audlem, and Chester, choosing market days, when farmers could attend, and having always deeply attentive audiences, without experiencing the slightest interruption, the only attempt at opposition being at Nantwich, where a chartist, a stranger, got up and said the manufacturers were agitating for the repeal of the Corn Laws only that they might sell more goods. This notable discovery excited a burst of laughter, everybody seeing that if more goods were wanted, more persons would be employed to produce them. The man, nettled at the laugh, challenged me to meet him, at Nantwich, at some future day, and discuss the whole question. I told him that I would not go an inch out of my way to argue with one who could meet his match in any working man there, upon which an old man in the gallery of the chapel called out to him: "I'll meet thee, man and though I am nowt but an old shoemaker I'll soon do for thee." The challenge was not accepted.
I went to Audlem, because I wished to be at a place which had no dependence on Manchester. That was just the very place, I was told, because, although there had been ten families there employed in shoemaking, the distress in the manufacturing districts, where their shoes had found a market, had thrown them out of employment, and they were all either supported by the parish, or wandering about seeking for work. A very pretty independence it was, I said to the people there. At Chester I had engaged the Theatre for my lecture but it was the property of the Dean and Chapter, and had formed part of the Convent of St. Werburg, and I had speedy notice from their lessee, that the place was licensed for plays and interludes, and that the manager would not be permitted to let it for a lecture on the Corn Laws. Punch might squeak, and beat Judy there—licentious plays and broad farces might be performed there—but the ancient walls of St. Werburgh would be profaned if any voice was heard there denouncing the landlord laws! The news of the refusal soon spread through the ancient city, and I had a numerous meeting including a goodly attendance of farmers, in one of the Old Cloth Halls, erected when Chester fair was the great mart for manufacturers supplying the Principality of Wales. My Nantwich chartist friend followed me there, but did not venture to say anything, for the meeting went thoroughly with me. The same man appeared at a great meeting addressed by me, a few days afterwards, at Liverpool, but there the audience went so enthusiastically with me, that he could not muster courage to address it. The question arose, by whom were the men paid who thus "dodged" the movements of the League members and the lecturers, and attempted to disturb their meetings, whenever they saw, or thought they saw, any chance of success?
At the close of December I visited Chesterfield, and delivered an address in the large assembly-room, which was filled with an audience almost exclusively tenant farmers, or landlords cultivating their own land; and from the conversation held afterwards, for many of them remained to talk, it appeared that there was a pretty wide conviction that protection had been injurious, rather than beneficial, to all but the landowners; that the only protection that could be given was equitable leases, with corn rents; that under either a fixed duty, or any modification of the sliding scale, the farmer would always be liable to uncertainty, and that his safety would be in total repeal, which would enable him to make a fresh bargain with his landlord, and start upon a sure foundation. One old farmer said to me, "Sir, I came into the room determined not to believe a word you said." I told him he had made an honest confession, if he had not made a wise resolution, and asked him if he had stood fast by his determination? Yes," he said, "I did until you paused and said, Now, farmers, what are you going to do with your sons,' and 'told us about the farm being but the nest where the birds were to fly from; and then I thought of my two sons, and what I would do with them. I have been trying for two of the manufacturing years to get them situations in some towns, but nobody will have them, because trade is so bad; and I can't make them farmers, for that business is as bad as trade. When I thought on them I listened with both ears, and I think you are about right."
After all the agitation of this eventful year, and after the almost universal acknowledgment that the principle of protection was indefensible, the belief began to grow that when Parliament met again further changes would be proposed, of sufficient width to satisfy a portion of the public supposed to be ready for compromise. In reference to this expectation, in my paper of December 31st, I said:—
"The year of unsettlement has almost past; will that which approaches be productive of any measure that, so founded on justice, can be called a settlement? It depends upon the people. They have the means in their own hands,if they but use them; if they would but exercise self-reliance, and not look to ministers to do that for them which they ought to do for themselves. At the beginning of a year it is natural to speculate on what events that year may produce, but speculation does not influence the event. The farmer may make shrewd conjectures as to the next summer's weather; but he goes on preparing his ground, laying down his manure, and putting in his seed. The politician may make shrewd conjectures as to the probable course of next session's legislation; but he ought not to satisfy himself with curious speculation, and abstain from influencing that course to the utmost extent in his power. The people should not stand idly looking for favourable circumstances; they ought to endeavour to create them. They ought, like the farmer, to prepare their ground, and put in their seed, that whether there be bright sunshine, or clouds and rain, there may be a good return. Looking to what Peel will do, without any effort to direct what Peel shall do, is as absurd as it would be of the farmer to expect all from the genial warmth of spring and the ripening heat of summer, without doing anything himself. "What will Peel do?' 'What will the agricultural interest do?' 'What will the tories do?' What will the whigs do?' These are all foolish questions. The only question ought to be. What shall we make them do?'
"All governments are conservative; all resistive, rather than impulsive; all either obstructive of popular opinion, or its unwilling followers. The best yield only when they can no longer resist. Their maxim is, that what has been ought to be. Even in republican America a wrong when vested becomes a right. The rule of Bentham, that the suffering many can obtain justice only by making the ruling few uneasy, though seemingly harsh, is of universal application. Governments will not effect reforms until they are compelled; and it is the same with party factions. Our tories resist till they can resist no longer; and when any little thing is done, that little becomes a settlement, a part of venerable institutions; a finality, to be zealously protected from enlargement, till something better is extorted. Such being our opinion, we are impatient at the constant iteration of the question, 'What will Peel do?' A people determined on achieving their rights would not waste their time on such idle speculations. 'What will the emperor do?' may be an appropriate question in Russia or Austria, but we have a public opinion here that is not uninfluential, and we have a sort of representation that might be made to be beneficially influential; to be to make both and our business ought to be to make both operative upon legislation.
"But though it is idle to be always asking what Peel will do, we may profitably employ ourselves in considering his position, for there are many who will not agitate for the removal of a wrong unless they are assured of favouring circumstances; and we think that ministers are in a position as obstructives which they cannot sustain, if the people, acting on Bentham's rule, only do their duty.
"In the first place we have a declining revenue, and the necessities of ministers will compel them again to revise their tariff and to lower the duties on sugar, coffee, and timber. These changes may be reasonably looked for. But there will be some juggle attempted, which the people must be prepared to defeat. There is a talk that the duty on foreign sugar is to be reduced to 30s., and on colonial to 16s.; and some of the whig journalists are prepared to support such change, notwithstanding the fact that the whole of the 14s. of difference will go into the pockets of the West India planters, and that the duty on Brazilian sugar will still keep it out of the reach of the working classes, who, at lower prices, would be great consumers. It may be pretty nearly conjectured, "What Peel will do." The pressure from without, must be directed, so that the half measure may be deprived of its most objectionable characteristic,— discriminating duties, that take from the public what does not find its way into the exchequer, but into the pockets of the colonists.
We may also reasonably anticipate some change in the Corn Law, which, while it has been as effective as that which preceded it in repressing our trade with corn growing countries, has been ineffective in protecting the farmer, by throwing in all the foreign supply at the only time of the year when he has corn to sell. But here again we must beware of a juggle. The attempt will either be to gain over the half-thinkers, who talk of "reciprocity" by different scales of duty, from countries, according to their tariffs, or to detach from the anti-corn-law agitation the half-free-trade men, by the adoption of what is called a " moderate " fixed duty. Here again the public must be on its guard; and the pressure from without must compel the only measure that can be beneficial to all, total repeal.
"Commercial reforms we shall have; the poverty within, and the pressure from without, will bring them. Shall we have any Parliamentary reform? The answer is a reference to the proceedings at Birmingham, where the chartists have declared, that the middle classes shall not aid them in procuring an extension of the suffrage. The O'Connors and the Coopers have thrown the cause of reform back ten years."
The League was not disposed to wait and see what Peel would do. It was building a great Free Trade Hall, in Manchester, and contemplated the holding of meetings in one of the principal theatres in London, and a movement to enlist the whole population of the metropolis on its side.
With these views published the following address to the citizens:—
"Fellow-Countrymen,—The Anti-Corn-Law League has awakened the practical attention of our country to the unhappy condition of the middle and working classes engaged in manufactures, commerce, and agriculture. The League has declared the remedy to be, the abolition of the Corn Laws and all other monopolies.
"The League gratefully sees that the inhabitants of the metropolis entertain, in common with all other classes of their countrymen, an anxious desire to aid our common object.
"Your fellow-citizens of the Common Council of London, almost unanimously, and in a language too emphatic and impressive to be misunderstood, have denounced the Corn Laws in the following resolution:
"'HUMPHREY, Mayor.
A common council holden in the chamber of the Guildhall of the city of London, on Thursday, the 8th day of December, 1842,—
"'Resolved: That the continued and increasing depression of the manufacturing, commercial, and agricultural interests of this country, and the wide-spreading distress of the working classes, are most alarming:—manufacturers without a market, and shipping without freight; capital without investment, trade without profit; and farmers struggling under a system of high rents, with prices falling, as the means of consumption by the people fail; a working population rapidly increasing, and a daily decreasing demand for its labour; union houses overflowing as workshops are deserted; Corn Laws to restrain importation, and inducing a starving people to regard the laws of their country with a deep sense of their injustice. These facts call for the immediate application of adequate remedies. That this court anxiously appeals to the first minister of the crown to give practical effect to his declarations in favour of free trade, by bringing forward at the earliest possible period in the ensuing session of Parliament, such measures, for securing the unrestricted supply of food, and the employment of the people, as may effectually remove a condition of depression and distress too widely prevailing, and too rapidly increasing, to consist with the safety of the community, and the preservation of our social and political institutions.
"'Merewether.'
The Council of the National Anti-Corn-Law League concurs in this faithful and humiliating description of the state of our beloved country, and it also cordially and fully approves this rightful course suggested for the restoration of our national prosperity. The League earnestly seeks to become, immediately and ardently, united with you in the national contest for the repeal of the bread tax.
"The League congratulates you on the adoption of the above metropolitan resolution, and recognizes the same enlightened object, so forcibly advocated in a memorable petition of your citizens, on a similar occasion, in the year 1820. A quarter of a century since, it was the proud distinction of the merchant citizens of London to lead the way in the path of free trade. We recal to your minds the following imperishable principles of that petition,—the goodly seed which has since yielded invaluable fruit:
"'That foreign commerce is eminently conducive to the wealth and prosperity of a country, by enabling it to import the commodities for the production of which the soil, climate, capital, and industry of other countries are best calculated, and to export, in payment, those articles for which its own situation is better adapted.
"'That the maxim of buying in the cheapest market and selling in the dearest, which regulates every merchant in his individual dealings, is strictly applicable as the best rule for the trade of the whole nation.
"'That, unfortunately, a policy the very reverse of this, has been, and is,more or less adopted and acted upon by the government of this and every other country, each trying to exclude the productions of other countries, with the specious and well-meant design of encouraging its own productions; thus inflicting on the bulk of its subjects, who are consumers, the necessity of submitting to privations in the quantity or quality of commodities, and thus rendering what ought to be the source of mutual benefit and of harmony amongst states, a constantly recurring occasion of jealousy and hostility.
"' That an investigation of the effects of the restrictive system at this time, is peculiarly called for, as it may, in the opinion of the petitioners, lead to a strong presumption that the distress which now so generally prevails is considerably aggravated by that system.
"'That in declaring, as your petitioners do, their conviction of the impolicy and injustice of the restrictive system, and in desiring every practicable relaxation of it, they have in view only such parts of it as are not connected, or are only subordinately so, with the public revenue. It is against every restrictive regulation of trade not essential to the revenue; against all duties merely protective from foreign competition; and against the excess of such duties as are partly for the purpose of revenue, and partly for that of protection, that the prayer of the present petition is respectfully submitted to the wisdom of Parliament.'"Fellow-Countrymen!—This was your declaration in 1820.
"We have only followed in the wake of your own prophetic memorial we are acting on its instruction. Aid us in our labours to give full effect to its indisputable truths. If, in 1820, the pressure on our population was deemed grievous, is it not now almost intolerable? The Council of the League seeks a union with you. The League has already enlisted in the common cause the great majority of their fellow-countrymen, in almost every town, village, and hamlet of Great Britain.
"The provinces of England, Wales, and Scotland, have responded to our call they have united with the League for the abolition of the Corn Laws, and for the concurrent abolition of all monopolies. The immediate efforts of the whole community are needed to rescue the people, our institutions, and our country from impending calamities.
"You will necessarily inquire of us, how is our great object to be accomplished? Our answer is, by enlightening our fellow-countrymen of all classes on our right to the privileges claimed in your own petition of 1820.
"The National Anti-Corn-Law League has undertaken to obtain justice for the people. The League deemed it a necessary duty to instruct their fellow-countrymen by lectures and by other means, and to place in the hands of every Parliamentary elector in the kingdom a library of knowledge on this vital subject. This preliminary action on public opinion was indispensable; and to effect our ultimate success the sum of 50,000 is proposed to be raised. This large sum is now in course of contribution.
"The merchants and manufacturers of Manchester have given effect to our appeal; they have not only placed in our hands munificent donations, but also promised to increase their subscription, if necessary. Liverpool, Bolton, Preston, Blackburn, Rochdale, Bury, Stockport, Oldham, and all the large communities of Lancashire; the boroughs of Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Sheffield, and the other towns of Yorkshire have supplied large contributions.
"The cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow have already made arrangements to promote by public meetings our holy alliance.
"Inhabitants and citizens of London, and fellow-countrymen! We address you collectively and individually. Weare daily gaining the co-operation of men of wealth, intelligence, and influence, who are fast swelling our ranks; men who have only lately known the peril of their country and the justice of our cause.
"To the metropolis of Great Britain the country now looks. Place yourselves at the head of this movement. Union is power. Organise; assemble in public meetings; subscribe; aid us.
(Signed)"G. WILSON,
"Chairman of the National Anti-Corn-Law League."
END OF VOLUME I.