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    Greenwich And Deptj-0rd: A General Meeti...

    jndas a most effectual chick on the other shop-The _Chautist Lasd Scheme occupies _theattention ofa considerable number of individuals in this place now , and bas done so for a considerable time past , and if any of the executive take a turn into Scotland this summer , and give a lecture on the _subject in this town , we have not the sraailcst hesitation in savins _tlwt a brancn of tbe _dssoeisiiiAU will be formed at once , as a number appear to be waiting in expectation of such a visit . Mhxocrats _ixo Lawyers . —Abont fourteen days ago , a weaver in _theempioy of the Messrs . Laidlows took a piece into the warehouse , which was pronounced fanltv , and his whole wanes were stopped . The man offered to refer the piece to two . mcm mutually chosen , but every com promise was inoi „ - nantly rejected by tbe masters ; tbey would not give lZIfarthin S dworMng she piece , _b"Jg

    circumstauees , the m _* in applied ' ° _™ _Xtad _£ m tote , who is al so a justice of thepeace jg _Wdh' » the lawyer ? , but tlie most-ue _g « i > * -, _•« . c . n _SSSGSSft _^ i . «» of / V _= h * z suited togeth er , and sen t a man to Jedburgh ten _inil _« to alawver there , who was supposed not lo be _Smuehunder - the influence of the manufacturers and wlio . on the case being stated to him , furnished _tte _men with an Act of Parliament , and gave them directions how to proceed . Accordingly the matter ¦ was again brought before our worilaj chief magisirate , who found ithis duty now to in t erfere . Ihe _Kferees appointed under tbe act decided that the Messrs . Laidlaws should pay tlie raan HI 2 a . Gd . for -weavin" the piece , and all expenses . Ibis case , anions many others , may show the men the necessity of uniting for mutual protection .

    LIMEHOUSE . Weunderetandth ailhenien oiLimGliouse desire io elect Mr . E . Joses , "the new Poet , " as their Delegate to the forthcoming Convention , and have convened a public Meeting at Brunswick-hall , "Ropemaker _' s-fields _, Limehouse , on Monday , May 25 tb , -at 8 o clock . Mr . Jonts is invited to be present .

    LEICESTER . At onr usual weekly meeting on Sunday last , aftei the usual business had been transacted , the conversation turned upon tbe recent conduct of Bairstow , and a general _fceliner of satisfaction was expressed tbatcireamstances had at last induced him to poll off the raa _* k _, which he had so long worn , and exhibit to the world the horns and cloven foot , and that we Sad obtained a fair chance of being rid of him altogether . The Mischief whicli he has perpetrated here is indescribable ; besides the divisions , _misunderstandings , public quarrels , and private bad feelings " between brethren which he has engendered and _fostered , and thc nubile odium which he has brought

    upon Chartism , we have not yet discovered the extent of monetary defalcation in which we are the sufferers . At the conclusion of the conversation _. It was moved bv Mr . S . White and seconded by Mr . "Whittington , " " That the best thanks of this meeting are due , and are hereby given to our gallant youths , Messrs . _Hargravcs , Nixon and Nuttall , fortheir bold and patriotic conduct at the Manchester humbug _meetins , in defence of onr immortal Charter , to the utter dfsconiirHre . eonfosion , and thorough rout of the _Tcnal , unprincipled , bribe-purchased knot of traitors , who have long been sowing dissensions in our camp under false colours , and have at _lensth exhibited themselves in their own nnmistakeable characters . "

    SOUTH LONDON CflARTIST HALL . Mr . Marriott on Sunday evening last , delivered a Tery excelhntlecture on "The Literature , Politics , and great uiili ty of the Northern Star" The worthy lecturer waa listened to throughout with marked attention , after which some little discussion ensued , in which the Dispatd , and other _retailing-of-horrorrass , receivd a castigation richly merited , all bearing teftimany to thevalue of our Star . A meeting ofthe Chartist * Co-operative Land Societies Shareholders residing in this district , took place on Sunday « venmg last , Mr . Droh in the chair : the following resolutions were after considerable discussion , carried- _^ That we deem ir advisable for the directors to purchase land , whenever eligible plots are for sale .

    That wc recommend tbe directors to issue a monthly magazine ( the price to he about threepence ) , containing _jiractical infornution on agriculture ; the proceedings of the society , and the monthly aud quarterly _accounts , and that wc particularly request our brothel shareholders in all other districts , to take this resolution into their consideration , aud forward their decisions to the directors . The meeting then adjourned until Sunday evening next , when a fresh committee will have to be chosen , and other important business transacted : it is hoped -that aU sharcholde-s bclonscing to this district will _-attend . The committee will meet at half-past five o ' clock precisely .

    KENSINGTON . The Lasd—Tlie Royal Kent Theatre , Kensington , was tiiied to overflowing on Monday evening , May IS , for the purpose of hearing thc principles of the Chartist Co-operative Land Society explained by the directors of that society . * Mr . Henry "* Ross was unanimously called to the chair , who said the meeting had been convened by the Chnrtist body , who had come to the conclusion "that the only mains of relitvins the now surfeited _rnanuiitcruring labour market was by giving the operatives an opportunity of employing themselves beneficially on tiie land . ( II-ar , hear . ) Everything sprung fr-m the land , the luxuries enjoyed by the rich , aud the coarser sort of food , " necessaries _cousunv-d by the working classes . lie would now cali en Mr . Staliwood to move the first resolution .

    Mr . otaHwood in a neat , brief speech , moved the resolution , as foilmvs" That tbis meeting is of opinicn , that it is highly ce ? 3 r . _ib ! e tbat a district of tlie Chartist Co-operative Laud-Society should be established for Kensington and lis viwnky , and this meetiug hereby pledges itself individually and collectively to support thesame when established . " Mr . Doyle , in seconding the motion , said he hoped Bone _lisd _c-imc there prejudiced against their _printit _. _kj , but tbat all would listen calmly , hear each sprakvr , and judge for themselves . At the present time , _ingenuity and industry was exercised by , but _iu ; tf < . r fne _advantage of the working classes , ( llear , _ioar . ) Lord J » hu Manners had deck-red in the

    il < _iu-= c of Commons the other night-, " that the industrious milii-ins did uot enjoy a fair share of that -weshb . v . _hie ' i their ingenuity and labour produced " _-dicir , iiearj ; whilst at tiie same . " time he declared " that th- * manufacturers had become merchant "princes , at the vxpence of the irksome toil of women a » d children , who they ( the masters ) demanded should _c-iaiinue their _twelve hours a day labour in thc i > e :: icJ atmosphere of a factory to increase those mountains » f wealth possessed by the merchant princes . '' Yes , and tliose masters bad jnst formed _thcnvelves into an unholy alliance , for ' the purpose

    of destroying the trades unions of the workmen , aud sti" ? _fnrisicr _reducing the miserable pktasce doled out io them as wages ; tbe best preventive he saw for t * iis was vise obtaining _^ of the land . The lands of _Snufruu were ins . _attvile , but _caa _*\ V * ie of producing more titan enough for all , and what wc require ist that the peapic should be put iii _possession of their rightful _iiihi' 4 _itai'te—theJ * oiJ . ( L'lad cheers . ) Sure he wa- - , _tl-yino mm desired to become an inmate of the _p'X-r h . _insiiio , to ba separated from his xrifn and laiuily , but they did desire and wore dcterniimd t- > have : hemenus ofiab : > uring , a _* _.: dalso of enjoying the fruit ? ' = f { heir labour . [ Loud chczri : !* )

    . Mr . I . .. _rurittii suit :, it was the duty of the working _cii-ssi , L-. _iivldusI _' y aad collectively , to aid and assist in _working oat thoir own redemption . ( Hear , hear . ) _A-. _- . tl if thev did not move h ; their own behalf _, _whas r" * _r ' _ii hud they ta expect _oth-n- o to move for them . ( Hear , hear . ) The Land was the main flay of the ¦ vg : _* I _*"' : _i- _* man ' s hope ; it was £ ; ic gift of God to his _eroainivs ; and i ' . s blossin _^ s _sh-= u ' ii be _enjoyed by all , as _ihat « rent authority , " holy writ , " declared " Thc earth is the Lord's , " and the ' fulness _i " _iere _.-. f ; " and « e are tha Lord ' s people . ( Loud cis _. cr .-. ) Ho was V .=: p . 'y to know that a _giv-at movement was at this moment _giiing on in America , in favour of this great question , and whieh the " _landless men" had taken up with a spirit of iniciii _< ence

    an * _J zeal which must c- > usi- it to cr _& itnate in success . { Much cheering . ) Aud he fervently hu-iud that the American cry would be _ciken no nud _reiterated from one end of the globe to the other , until sueh time as a "landless" man was unknown . We iiad that the ingenuity _^ of -working men' constructs railways , invents machines , projects ne * / modes of transit , and brings distant countries nearer to each other ; yet , alas ! their own condition deterlor- stes _* - ( Hear , hear . ) We find that land is _monojmiisud ; that the fruits of your labour are monopolised ; that capital is monopolised ; tbat the i _' sh ef tbe sea , th" beast of the fields , and thc "birds of the air ave inonopoiisGd aye , and that even you , also , possess a monopoly of tbe woes , toils , miseries , and _wretchedness of this liie . ( Great applause . ) Trade , we are told , has improved ; yet , paradoxical as it may appear , your _condition has become worse . ( Hear , hear . ) Assured

    oi tins , tiie directors ot the Chartist Co-operative Land Society put forth their plan , as the only safe and effective remedy for alleviating the social condition of the masscs- ( hear , hear ) -tke principles of which I now proceed to explain . Mr . M'Grath then entered most lucidly into ihe matter , and was listened to with breathless attention . He next proceded with his wonted clearness and eloquence to demonstrate how easy was the attainment of the _ian-J , and what a _slight effort and small sacrifice _irouW produce the requisite capital to purchase an estate . He did not see when other parties co-operated for their advantage why the working classes diould not take a leaf out of their book , and also cooperate fer the advantage and benefit of their order ( Loud cheers . ) And their plan possessed a double advantage ; for not ; only would it confer social benefit- , but also pblitical power ; and he trusted the elective franchise would never be undervalued by the working millions . ( Loud cheers . ) Their society

    Greenwich And Deptj-0rd: A General Meeti...

    would enable the operatives who might feel _deposed to go on the land , and at the same t n _^ confer _ a benefit on those Who preferred _raMnuDE-at the loom , the anvil , the shuttle , or the last , by taking awavthe surplus handa , nnd consequently increasing the _LTandior their labour , and the wages of those left behind . ( Loud cheers . ) We are not asking you to join a miserable skeleton ol a society , but a thing nl * substance , possessing , as it does , ten thousand _nieniEs , and a _wpiwlV _^ 000 , - which is daily increasing . Mr . M'Grath resumed his seat _' amid the most rapturous applause . Mr . T . _CiARKtaid the Government of this country at present represented Land and Money , he hoped shortly to see it represent talent and honesty . ( Loud

    cheers . ) We found , at the present time , that a certain fat animal was struggling and obtaining a tenth ofall , ( laughter ) , whilst we were desirous of having a much _larger share of pigs for ourselves , ( Hear , hear ) , by _turning a certain portion of Tinkers and Tailors into Small Fanners . ( Laughter . ) He had recently had an opportunity of seeing what the Land would do , he had been in Worcestershire , where the people had pieces of Land allotted to them , and he found that in a parish where this was the case nob a single pauper was to be found who was able and willing to work—nay , there was but one , a man who was upwards of eighty years of age , and very decrcpid . ( Loud cheers . ) * At the present moment their appeared to be a surplus of labour in every species of

    handicraft , in this " Great Metropolis ;' . ' and whilst this was the ease labour would be cheap : ( Hear , hear ); hen _< e it was the duty of all to become their owu employers , and then wouid labour enhance its value , and every man enjoy the fruits of his own _industry . ( Great cheering . ) Those clever fellows the editors of newspapers , at the time our Society siarted , asked , who will sell those noisy Chartists Land * , but when George Robins put v . p Landed Estates he cared not who he knocked them down to . He did not ask who the bidders were , it might be Richard Cobden , Sir Robert Peel , or Feargus O'Connor , for aught he cared . Mr . Clark next ably described the factory system , and all its attendant horrors , and described the Capitalists as the Molochs who not only swallowed up men , but their wives and children also ; and said , we frequently hear of Missionaries going over to convert the blacks , but what a blessing would it be if they could convert

    the Factory Masters into the meek and mild practices ascribed to Jesus Christ . ( Great cheering . ) When he was in the agricultural districts he found persons who objected to their plan , because said they , it will make men too independent , " and fur . ther , »« that men who had allotments of Land , when they ( the employers ) asked them to go out and cultivate their land , or to get in their harvest , said , do it yourselves , we have our own crops to cultivate , or our own harvest to get in . " ( Loud laughter , and great applause . ) In order to show what the Land would produce , Mr . 0 . quoted from the "Small Farms " of Mr . O'Connor , and tbe works of the late William Cobbett ; and concluded his speech with a thrilling peroration , calling on the Working Millions , to emancipate themselves from misery and degradation , and work out their own salvation through thc means of the Chartist Co-operative Land Society ; and _re-sunied his seat amidst the loudest cheering .

    The resolution was then put and carried unanimously . Several shares were taken up ; a . vote of thanks , oh the motion of Mr . M'Grath , was given by acclamation to the Chairman , and the meeting dissolved .

    WESTMINSTER . A numerous and highly respectable meeting assembled in the theatre of the Teatotal Hall , York Street , on Tuesday evening , May the 19 th , to hear the principle of the Chartist Co-operative Land-Society expounded . Mr . C . Doyle was unanimously called to the chair , and said he had just returned from the Chartist Estate at Herringsgatc , and wa 9 happy to announce that the trees were being felled , and preparation made for the erection of the cottages . In a house at which he dined , he was informed by the landlord , that a gentleman who lived in the vicinity of their estate had said , had he been aware that Feargus O'Connor had intended to buy the estate with the view of locating working men thereon , he would have paid a £ 1 , 000 extra , rather than it should have been done . ( Hear , hear . ) He ( the

    chairman ) regretted to inform them , that it was utterly impossible that Mr . 0 ' Connor could be present that evening , as he was practically superintending affairs at Herringsgate Farm—and so imperative did Mr . O'Connor consider that duty to be , that to use his own words , " a forty horse power should Mot draw him hence- " however , Mr . O'Connor had desired him to state , that at an early day he would attend the hall , and endeavour to make up for the disappointment that higher duties , at the present time , compelled him to make . ( Hear , hear . ) Mr . Doyle then made an excellent speech , and illustrated the working of _tht _fLand Society , by the operation of tho " Workman ' s own shop , " so recently opened at 151 , Drury Lane , and said , that if a » y man did not go to that shop for his shoes , he was neither a good trades unionist , or a good Chanist . ( Greatcheering . ) He called on Mr . Clark to address thera .

    Mr . Clark said this was the first anniversary of their society , this day twelve months it was ushered into existence , and through it they had become a part and parcel of the landed aristocracy . ( _Laughter and cheers . ) Yes , indeed they were brother landowners with Lord John Russell and Sir Robert Peel —( renewed laughter and applause)—aud if this principle only extended itself , as it was doing , depend on it , the Weekly Dispatch would cease to issue diatribes against the trades unions of the country , and he really thought that trades unionistwho read thc leading article iu _tkeDisj-ajc / _i of Sunday last , would disgrace himself by longer supporting that paper , or

    indeed any house that would take it in . ( Great cheering . ) It appeared to him to be aiding and abetting the capitalists in their attempt to suppress trades unions , and reduce the workman ' s wages , ( Hear , bear ) , and when he was at Birmingham recently , he was informed that Mr . Muntz , M . P ., Mr . Brotherton , M . P ., and one of the members for Hull , bad formed a deputation to Sir James Graham , and asked him to procure the passing of a law for the abolition of trades unions . ( Hear , hear . ) But , my friends , when our land plan gets into full swing no masters will think it worth their while to undertake such dirty missions , as the men will then have something to fall back upon _.

    Mr . M'Grath ably addressed the meeting , after wliich A Gextleman , in thc body of the meeting , _suggested the propriety of displacing that opponent of Trade Unions and Working Men , " The Weekly Dispatch , " and putting in its place that supporter of Trades Unions and Working Men , " The Northern Star . " The _Cuairmax said , the suggestion just made was a very excellent one , and he hoped it would be attended to . ( Cheers . ) A Working Man , from the body of the meeting , said that there was a difficulty in petting the Star . and thought , if men were sent about with vans it would facilitate the matter .

    Mr . Stallwood said , if working men would only _callJoud enough for " The Northern Star , " and give their orders , the newsmen would supply it , as there was as much profit on the Star as on other journals , as much as there was on sixpenny papers . ( Hear , hear . ) A vote of thanks was given , by acclamation , to thc Chairman , and the meeting dissolved .

    DUMFRIES . J . fr . A . Wardrop , our able and indefatigable lecturer , has , ior want of nobler game , been flying at thc local authorities of late , in great style . Once a week , at least , he mounts the Chartist platform in Queensberry-squarc ; and , to monster audiences , for the size of the burgh , exposes the misdoings ofthe dirty little shopocratic vermin , who manage or rather mismanage our principal affairs . Nor is this all , the addresses so delivered , with suitable introductions , are in course of being published in pampli-I « t fashion . _ In this way the evils resulting from tho dishonest silence of the local press on these disclosures , are in a great measure obviated , and their moral effect mightily increased . No . 1 , of "Peeps behind tiie Curtain" has already appeared ; and

    No . 2 , is expected speedily to follow . Yesterni ght . , Mr . W . addressed a very large gathering in the Square . Subjects : " Thc Corn Bill ; the Irish Coercion Bill ; and the Short Time Measure" now before the Commons , followed by two petitions , both addressed totbc Coimnissioncv of police , on requesting them to dissolve , as an illegal body , and threateiihi _* every resistance to thc rate ; and the other demanding the instant dismissal of superintendant Jones , ofthe county rurals , from all connection of the Burgh force . Both petitions were passed by acclamation ; hut the topics being of a strictly local nature , thc details will hardly interest thc readers of a national newspaper , such as the Star . Suffice it to say , that Mr . Wardrop and the workies acting with him ,

    have brought the ignorant " educated and intelligent" blockheads in the council to tlieir wits end , into a complete fix . Through superior talent and information , coupled with an eight or nine years ' training in the Chartist camp , our friend , Wardrop , is fairly in for the office of tribunus plelis , and no mistake . Nor does he go unrewarded . This evening a committee meet in the Temperance Hotel to decide upon the time , plate , and manner of presenting him with a splendid watch and appendages , the _j-iftof hundreds of his townsmen , in testimonv of thc feelings with which they regard his successful exertions in protecting their pockets irom the rapacity of

    a crew who Heece instead of protecting tlio pubiie . Should the committee , as in all likelihood it will , fix upi _? n a soiree , such a course will be tho means of bringing the _movement partly among the working and the healthy part of the middle ehsg into contact ; and much good may result from an interchan ge of sentiment between them . Were it not for this sparring we would not know well what to do with ourselves ; and the public , general as well as democratic , talk as contemptuously of the battle going on in " the house on tlie corn question" as they would of an altercation between a couple of " tinklers ; " only they would he apt to regard the latter with more interest .

    Greenwich And Deptj-0rd: A General Meeti...

    SPEECH OF B . _D'ISRAELl , Esq . M . P ., AGAINST THE THIRD READING OF THE CORN IMPORTATION BILL . Mr . DTSRAEti . — Sir , the Secretary of State , In his _speech on the _first night of the discussion , reminded gentlemen sitting on these benches and professing opinionB farourable to tbo protection of native industry , that in the varied and prolonged discussions of this question whieh have taken place ol late years , We had abandoned many of ihe opinions we formerly professed , and given up many of the dogmas by which we were formerly actuated . I acknowledge tbat fact . I believe that to be tbe necessary result of all discussion . Nor can I understand what is the Ute of public discussion if , whatever the termination of it—whatever the changes in public opinion upon the matter discussed—both parties take refuge in the pride that they have not changed their opinion with reference to any single topic that had been under debate . ( Hear ,

    hear . ) I do not claim for myself , nor I believe need I claim for those around me , such a power of argument , such a force of conviction , that we have not felt it our duty to listen with attention to the arguments addressed to the house ; and , if . we have found that arguments have beed introduced that we could not satisfy ourselves we could answer , and of which we felt tbe force , we have not attempted to maintain the opinions that we could not preserve . But if this rule applies to us—if it applies to one party in the discussion—I think I can show tho Secretary of State that it is not peculiar to us . I fancy that some opinions have been held by leading advocfltOB of this measure and have boon maintained by lion , gentlemen opposite—Ispeaknowof hon gentlemen opposite because I wish that we may all remember who are the originators of theBe ideas—I think that opinions have

    been at different times ably maintained by gentlemen opposite which are no longer insisted on , and which are in that category of adandonment to which the Secretary of State referred . I might begin with the cry of cheap bread . ( Cheers from the Protectionists ) . We had a Minister ofthe Crown—a member of the Cabinet—even in this important session , when we might expect that the opinions of Ministers would be well matured and considered , seeing that we have at least four cabinets a week —a Cabinet minister told us that the clap-trap of cheap bread was universally abandoned by all parties . It seemed to be " the fugitive cry ofa dying taction . " The hon , member for Stockport lias also announced that that cry of " cheap bread" was never one of his . That , then , has been given up ; and I believe , also , other points with it . It is no longer maintained that the present Corn

    Law has been the cause of producing great fluctuations in price . ( Cheers . ) Yet that opinion had once great authority in tho country—has been brought into the discussion in tbis house , and if it had been alluded to as the existing opinion twelve months ago , it would have been admitted , and would certainly have been cheered . Yet it is now admitted that neither the present nor the late Corn Law , whieh is a stronger instance , Ims been productive of any great alteration In price , Well , than , we have been told that these Corn Laws are the bane of agriculture . ( A voice on the Opposition benches , " given up ! " ) Well , that is given up also , it seems . We have the evidence of the beat valuers of tithes under the Tithe Communication Act—the evidence of the most skilful land agents in the country—that an acre of land produces twenty-eight bushels of wheat . We have also reports on

    tbe table ofthe house from oftkial sources that in Russia the average produce of wheat per acre is sixteen bushels , and in France fifteen bushels per acre . ( Hear , hear . ) I have here , and it is at the service of any gentleman who may wish to peruse it , the statistical report of the Agricultural Society of New York , in which returns are prices ofthe produce of sixty-niue counties in the year 1845 , from which I find that the average produce is fourteen bushels of wheat per acre in that important state . It does not appear , therefore , that these laws have been "the banc of agriculture— ( cheers)—since England has produced more per acre than any other country . ( Cheers . ) Then that is the third opinion which has been given up . Another opinion has also prevailed , that our population has been increasing in a greater ratio than our production . That too has been given up . You

    came down and told up that our population was increasing at the rate of 1 , 000 per day , or 063 , 000 per year , and you immediately assumed that it was impossible with our present means of production to feed us . We bave shown you that the price of wheat has been regularly declining . The population has been increasing , and yet the price of food has gone on gradually becoming less . If you take the forty-five years previous to the current year , and divide them into three portions of fifteen years each , you will find the price much less in each than in the preceding return . ( Hear , hear . ) So that while your population has been increasing , your means of production have gone on increasing in a greater ratio . ( Cheers . ) Another puint I noticed which struck me also—and these opinions go to form the public sentiment—is , that our existing agricultural policy has been the occasion of the

    hostile tariffs of other nations . I believe that has been given up , because itis now totally clear that whatever policy we pursue , the great agricultural countries will notbe _. influencedbyit . ( Hear , hear . ) I don't say that is very important , because ths new l'oeiproeity is indepen . dent of all considerations of tariff . ( Cheers and laughter from the Protectionists . ) Another opinion that at public meetings and In debates of the house has acted a great part was , that freight itself Is a protection to the land of England . That opinion was prevalent for a long time , and the hon . memberfor Stockport , whose speeches I always read with great pleasure , when addressing an influential assembly out of doors , said , " "Why shovdd the farmers be afraid of competition ? Why , they are protected by an average freight of 10 s . Gd . " That sentiment was repeated in this house , and that also , if it had been repeated a year ago , everybody would have believed , and it would certainly have been cheered in this house . Sir , I " . doubt whether freight would he any protection

    whatever , even from Odessa . Why it is just as expensive to ship corn from one port in England to another , as from those foreign ports , the most contiguous to us , from which we shall recive our chief supplies . ( Cheers . ) Now as to the opinion I have expressed , that the present corn law has not caused the price to fluctuate . It is a happy way that , of clearing the course before we enter on the merits of the question . With regard to fluctuations of price , we maintain in answer to you , that the present , and even the late Corn Law did not occasion any fluctuation in price . On the contrary , we hare proved that tht- fluetuation in England has been less than in any country in the world . ( Cheers . ) I wish to speak on this point with brevity , but the tact is incontrovertible . In no country in Europe or America , in the richest or thc poorest , have the principal necessaries of life been subject to less fluctuation than in England . Now , Mr . Secretary Gladstone moved for returns which were important from their character , and still more from that of the person who introduced

    them to our notice . One of these is a return from the year 183 A to 18-10 inclusive , of the weekly prices of wheat in the principal capitals of the United States . Now I take thc one of those capitals which would toll most against us—Philadelphia . This is a capital which is one of the most opulent in the Atlantic states . I take it because that Stat * seldom grows sufficient for its own use , and cannot therefore be affected as a general rule by the English market . Itis a great mercantile and maritime state , and the trade in corn is free , being subject merely to an import duty of 8 s . 8 d . per quarter . In the first five years , from 1 S _3-1 to 1840 , wc had no importation of corn at alf from America . IVe had a gaeat importation in 183 ' ) and 18 i 0 , and though we had not much from Philadelphia , we had some , and that importation tended to diminish the limits ofthe fluctuation of prices . In those years , from _ISSi to 1810 , the average annual _dini'i-ence

    _between the highest and the lowest prices of wheat m Philadelphia was il per cent ., while , during the _corresponding period in _iE-jigJand , it was only 3 _& per cent . During thc septennial period the extreme difference between the highest and the ioivest prices of wheat wag 270 per cent , in l'liiladelphia , aud 227 per cent , in England . This return gives the weekly prices , and as it might be considered tliat local and particular circumstances might affect the weekly averages , we will apply the same comparison to the average annual prices . Prom 1830 to 1 S 38 the difference between the highest and lowest annual price of wheat nt Philadelphia amounted to lill par cent ., whilst in England the difference was only CD per cent . ( Hear , hear . ) There are analogous returns of every corn port and corn market , and the result is similar to that of Philadelphia , which , as I-have said , is the least favourable to our views of all the _American cites . I mil

    perlectly aware it may be said that these nwirkcts are disturbed by our Com Laws , but this cannot be Alleged ot the article of rye . My noblo friend the member for Lynn , lias shown that in the instance nf rye , which is the ordidary food ot tho cuutinent , and whicli is _eclflom imported into this country , similar fluctuations" occur , I have a return ofthe prices of rye at Warsaw an _dUast- 'ic . At Dantzic , the people , we are told , arc all in . favour of the fluctuating scale , but at Warsaw , they arc rvoted as being the advocates of free trade * Ihe pvico Or ' rye , in thi'se two markets , from 1831 to 1839 , is ,, 0 iv beli * e me , and I find that the difference in the uniiual nr ' ee iu Warsaw sometimes amounted to IM per cent — _thiiv was in the city devoted to free trade-, whereas in Dan tzic , _o-ztcd upon by all the agencies « f commerce , the differe uce was only 05 per cent . ( Hear . ) In all the great Prussi a " corn markets the difference between tho annual price of rye for the same period is 100 per cent . ; therefore w . e

    may fairly consider that what has been said against the Corn Law , as producing fluctuation in price , is no longer an argument for this house . ( Hear . ) But the infer- ] eiices I have deduced are inferences drawn from what ' took place under the influence of the late law—a law much more tending to fluctuation than the present , for the scale of Mr . Canning-, which was an excellent system , : was altered by the right hon . gentleman , the first Minister of the Crown ; and it was a si-ale wliich tended much more to fluctuation than the one wc now live under . ' If , therefore , I had taken the experience of the present ' scale the result would have beeu still more favourable ; but the result being quite favourable enough and as satis- ' tilCtory as I could well desire , 1 shall just rest upon it . I have shown the house that a great many arguments havo _betn abandoned by gentlemen opposite , as well ns by us . It is possible we may have abandoned many , and yet the _leading principles we maintain still remain intact ; bnt I defy _gotttleihcn opposito , with snob free warren of

    sarcasm upon Conservatives , to bring forward a category of abandoned opinions that can atall compare with those I have to-night laid before the house . ( Cheer . 1- . ) Now what are-we tu do with those opinions , those exhausted arguments those " exploded laliack-s ? " Our great national poet conceived ( lie existence of a limbo for exploded systems . I think we should invent a limbo for political econemists , where we should bind up all those arguments that have turned out to be sophistries . ( A

    Greenwich And Deptj-0rd: A General Meeti...

    laug h . ) Ye » _j sophistries ; but these called argument ! are the things that have agitated nations and converted a Ministry . ( Hear , hear . ) It is all very well to say , that after six or seven years of discussion , we have found them to be fallacies ; still they aro the agencies by whieh a certain amount of public opinion has b _« en broug ht io bear on a great economical question . That public opinion has changed the policy of government , and , according to our belief , is perilling the destiny of a great kingdom . ( Cheers . ) I must freely acknowledge that one of these fallacies is resuscitated by myself . Notwithstanding the high authority of the _Secretary-at-War , and notwithstanding tbe inferential adhesion to his opinion , and the still higher authority ofthe hon . member for Stockport , I must rise on this ocoasion and Otjf out cheap bread . I do believe that the effect of the

    present Corn Laws is to raise Ihe price of the _nscessaries of lite upon the community ( hear ); but I believe I can show that they increase in au infinitely grcaterratio the purchasing powers of that community . ( Cheers . ) How _ehalll prove this proposition ? The first witness I call in court is a great authority , it is a work circulated under the influence of that great commercial confederation , the power of which is knowledge , written by a gentleman who was once a member of this house , and I believe would have been so now , if I had not had the pleasure of beating him at the first election I won—I mean Colonel Thompson . ( Hear , hear . ) It ia proved in his Catechism that tho corn law is a tax on the community because it acts artificially , on an average raising the price of wheat 10 s . a quarter , and thus is equal to a tax 6 f 20 , 000 , 000 . Another economist , equally celebrated , and

    more successful , a free trader , has fallen foul of tho autho _. rity of this work , and has shown the gallant calculator that be bas omitted the number of quarters that go to sea , and those consumed by the agricultural body and their horses , & c , all which may be looked upon as deducting from the amount to whieh the people are taxed , and that , therefore , the burden is only 9 , 000 , 0001 . or 10 , 000 , 0001 . but I will adhere to the first calculation . Now , what is the conclusion to which this school of economists , who have exercised a great influential opinion in the country , have come , and which they have avowed ? They say it is better for England not to raise a single quarter of grain , and theu this tax will be saved . This is , I admit , an extreme case ; but that is the only true . way of testing the truth of a thing . Suppose England imports 50 , 000 , 000 quarters , and that that saTes 10 , 000 , 000 or 20 , 000 . 000 of

    taxation , —you cannot deny that England in such a case has also lost the amount of the wages of labour that would have produced this quantity , ( hear ) t that she would alsohave Inst the profits of the capital that would have been invested in producing - it , and likewise tie ' rent that would accrue , after paying the " wage of labour and other items of necessary expenditure . ( Hear . ) I know you will say I am quoting a case in an extreme point of view , but you cannot test a principle without taking an extreme point of view . . Tbe hon . member for Stockport did hot , in his address , press the views laid down in the Corn Law Catechism , lie is a practical man , and he knows very well that there is no chance of changing any law in England if you were to come forward with those extreme applications . He says ¦ ' I do not admit your conclusion ;—no land shall be thrown out of cultivation ;

    but what we say is this , you are creating an artificial price for the benefit of a class . " Now I see no difference between a territorial class and the bandloom . weavers . If you say there is a corn law kept up to give revenue to any class in this country , ' and that by putting an end to that law the people will be better fed and better employed then that law cannot be maintained . But there is an element of calculation which we call in here ; and that is that there will in such a case be a great displacement of labour . We can show that then the [ price of corn must necessarily be such as to render it impossible in the greater part of this country to cultivate wheat , or other grains , with a profit . ( Hear , hear , ) You must acknowledge that such a result will cause a great displacement of labour . ( Hear . ) "We will meets you with fact . I protest against your answering us with assumption . ( Hear ,

    _lieur . ) I am not going to trouble the house with visiting all those _perts we are familiar with , and all those countries from whicli we may belikely to draw com . The hon . member for Somersetshire said there would bn , in Russia , an annual surplus of 28 , 000 , 000 , and the information was received with a sympathetic cheer from the other sidejof the heuse , while the right hon . gentleman ( Sir J . Graham ) heard it with a doubt . New the only authority for that calculation is an officer employed by government to analyse and' draw up the tariffs . I believe the right hon . gentleman himself laid these tariffs on the table of tbe house . ( Hear . ) The information in thi « case is supplied by your own blue-books , and from these and other sources much was to be learned ou this important question . ( Hear . ) I will not direct the attention of the house to the great resources of the

    area of the Volga , nor to the valley of the Mississippi , though I have evidence to show that it is calculated to produce an indefinite quantity of grain—all this has been already repeatedly stated ; but what I want to bring before the house are the markets that are never mentioned , but which are markets that I believe would greatly influence prices in this country . There is one market that has never been mentioned in these debates , and that is Hun . gtiry , ( Hear . ) I shall be excused , perhaps , forentering here upon matters known to the house , but which it is of importance to . have clearly before us . Hungary is a plain that consists of 36 , 000 square miles ofthe richest soil in the world— -the soil of a garden which you may go over for hundreds of miles and not find a stone in It from one foot to seven in depth . There are considerable morasses , no doubt , and you may , perhaps , take off one-third for the

    area of those morasses ; this would leave 34 , 000 square miles of thc most fertile soil in the world , under thc influence ofa elimato most admirably adapted to the growth of corn , I have had returns sent me of the quantity of grain grown in Hungary the year before last ; and I may mention that in Croatia there were raised a million and a half of quarters . Then , it may be said , how are tve to get corn from Ilungary ? Why , Sir , I received a letter , not long ago , from one of thc greatest corn merchants at Sissok , the first corn market iu Hungary , and lie says , that on an average of the last five years , the price of the finest Hungarian corn , which I must remind you is the finest in the world , which in the Dantzic market ranks with Ihe finest "Dantzic wheat , was 18 g . Gd ., and tliat you may send ft from this town of _Sissc ' c to Cnr _' stadf , by the river Save , at a cost of 4 d . the English quarter , and from

    _Carlstadt to the port of Fiume for ls . 8 d , a quarter . The person who gives me this information is a practical man at Sissek , and he is ready to prove the accuracy of liis opinions by acting upon them . He says , " Only give me a regular trade with England , and I will send you , from Sissek , 500 , 000 quarters the first year . " That is the report ofa merchant of Hungary . But do you mean to say that that would not exercise the greatest influence on your market 1 When the demand is steady thc market is steady ; but I can show you what tho effect would be with an increased demand and an increased supply . Now , I would take the markets of Hungary . The corn might he sent from the two chief ports of the Danube , and hero I might observe that it is a verycurious circumstanco that in the year 1812 , as appears by a return 1 hold in my hand , there were . 1 , 850 vessels

    laden in those two ports with thc produce of the Danubiau provinces , but only eight of them were English . It is a remarkable fact that while commerce was thriving and free trade was advocated , this , the greatest commercial country in the world , hud only eight vessels laden nt those ports . Uut a gentleman writing to a house in England , —I will give his name to the right hou . gentleman , and I think it will astound him , for it is Mr . Sanders , of Liverpool ( hear ) , says , — "I will undertake , by my correspondents , to secure wheat from Ilungary at the price of 18 s . a-quarter , free on board ; and I will lay down this year , in an English port , 200 , 000 quarters , at 28 s . to _SOs . ; and If you wil secure me a eel'tain , a SUV _8 market , I will double that quantity next year . " That same gentleman , that same Mr . Sanders , who has given in his adhesion to the right hon . baronet , to-night , in the

    manuscript letter _tvliicli I have read—but which I trust thc right lion , baronet has not reiid , _beciiuse , immediately after he gives in his adhesion to . the policy of the light hon . baronet , I find he says that the banking bill of last year must ruin the country —( hear , hear )—tbat same Mr . Sanders thon oliers to enter into a contract to supply 1 , 000 , 000 quarters of wheat at 28 s . a-quarter , and if the measures of the Government pass , he will undertake at the end of this year that that 1 , 000 , 000 of quarters shall he doubled and sent to England at reduced prices . ( Heai ' . ) Now , under tho head of " unehumerntcd markets , *) that do not form a subject of discussion in this house , I will mention Spain , which I am sure would act greatly on this country—I will mention Egypt , and I will mention Sicily . ISy opinion is , that in exact proportion as your demtinfl for wheat and tho various kinds , of

    grain increases , in the same proportion prices will diminish . This is thc opinion I entertain , I believe it may be laid down as a principle of commerce that where an article can be progressively produced to an indefinite extent , precisely as the demand increases the price diminishes _, ( llear . ) I am perfectly aware that that is exactly contrary to the opinions professed by hon . gentlemen opposite , aud to the opinions taken up by her llnjeity ' s ministers as the basis of their present policy . We had it announced from thc hustings , that exactly as you import 1 , 000 , 000 quarters from the continental markets prices abroad will raise 10 s . a-quarter . That was announced by a great authority—it was the echo of members of her Majesty's government ; and then the hon . member for Montrose very frankly stated the other night , that the result ofall these changes was to equalize prices ; _i ' . hat we should equalize pi-ices by our demand ; that we _s . Hould not lower prices , but by equalizing them we should pi . it the people of the continental countries on the same ibo _ting as ourselves . Certainly Ihc principal ( .-round

    upo u which tins measure was recommended to the great _bsdy ' ofthe people entirely depended upon this question , whet . * ier England would maintain its character as an ngricu Itural country—whether the population employed in agn'culture would still be employed ; tho question whether ' there would be a great displacement of labour entirely ,. _lupBiiuud upon that _uh'eumstiiuGQ . ( Hoar-, hoar . ) I mention _«"¦ . incidentally on a former occasion the article of tea . Hi - « 'y one knows that there has been a great increase in th . * demaud ; and every one knows that there lias been a gi * eat decrease in the price . But tta is produced iii onl _. v ono _country—tliBi-a ig no competition . However that ; vuggestion wns received in rather an incredulous man . _TJer ; and , although it was not met by any decisive argufuei 1 (; or fact , it was subsequently oontradictedin a inanm 'r very unsatisfactory . I will do it very shortly , but I will , , llow the house how far I was justified in thu statement I n . 'ude . I thought it best to _rcft-r to a mercantile house wb ich , I believe , has the greatest transactions with China of » uy house in this country . I fairly _expressed to ilnm the a 'mwtion I made , and thc sort of

    Greenwich And Deptj-0rd: A General Meeti...

    contradiction which I received . Now , what WM . tjie answer I received ? "I hand you enclosed the prices of sound congou tea , the kind most consumed in this country , from which you will observe there bas been a great fall in price since 1831 . " "What has been the fall % Why , in 1831 , it was 2 s . 2 d . a pound , and in 1816 it is 9 d . ( Hear , hear . ) But I know very well that it may bo said the price of 1831 was , to a certain degree , artificial . The mercantile power of the East India Company kept the supply limited ; but I find that the declension of price was from 1831 to 1832 and 1833 , and then it was influenced by the new system . In 1831 it was 2 s . 2 d . per lb . ; in IS _' it was 2 s . _ljd . ; in 1833 , ls . ll'Jd . ; in 1834 , Is . M ; and in the following year it was Is . 4 d . Then it came down to ls . Id ., ls . lOd ., andl . 2 _Jd . Then came the disordered

    state of China , which is interesting , because it shows the artificlalprlces it produced : —First , it was 2 s . 5 d „ then 2 s , 6 d ., then 2 s . Id . That was in 1839 and 1840 ; and _. iu the following year , it was Is- _OJd ., then Is . 3 jd ., then 10 d ., 9 jd _., and , in 1846 , it is Od . ; and , during that time , the importation of tea has increased by millions upon millions 6 f pounds . ( Hear , hear . ) The next instanee I shall take is one which would be favourable to our cause , —& most legitimate one _. —a production which bears more analogy to tbat of coin than any other—and that is cotton . I must remind the house that the right hon . baronet ought to know something of the subject . He contradicted my _statement _j-especiing tea , and said upon a _- subsequent night that , by the _accorotoW-wdl from Canton , the price was rising , as if that had anything to undulation of

    do with the argument . There must be an prices . But here is the article of cotton . The price of cotton per lb . was , in 1836 , 10 § d . j in 1837 , _sja . ; in mm , 8 id . ; in 1839 , _« Jd . ; in 1810 , 6 _£ d . ; in 1841 ; _Sgd . ; in 1842 , 5 _{ d . ; * in 1843 , 5 | d . ; in 1844 , 4 _Jd . ; in 1845 , 4 £ d . ( Hear , hear . ) But let me remind the house , that during those 10 years , in which I have traced this progressive fall of priceB tbe importation of cotton into England has risen from 350 , 000 , 0001 b . to 597 , 000 , 0001 b . —( loud cheers ) —while during the same time all other manufacturing countries , including the United States , have increased their consumption from 282 , 000 , 000 lb . to 432 , 000 , 0001 b . Well , now , Sir , it appears to me a perfect demonstration as regards the prmeiplo that while there is no natural or artificial course to check the preduction of an article , that

    exactly in proportion to the demand will the price of the article diminish . I know very well that the article I am now going to call attention to is one extremely difficult to deal with , and I might have evaded the difficulty because there is such irregularity , such an anomaly with regard to sugar , that 1 might fairly havei omitted it , and have said that sugar' dosB riot prove the case , and may fairly be left out of the catalogue . But it occurred to me to see what has been the price of sugar since the East Indian trade was put on an equality with the other , aud the demand has _incrensed for that article . Now , this is the price of _Bentral sugar at the end of the year 1841 : —brown Bengal sugar Was 47 s . to 52 s . ; in 1842 it was 45 s . to 57 s . J in 1843 , 47 s . to 55 s . ; in 1844 , 39 s . to 49 s . ; in 1845 , 88 s . to 42 s . ; and in 1846 , 378 . to 428 . It commenced , in 1811 , to

    be 49 s . to 52 s ., and at the end , in 1846 , _^ hadf ' _allen to 3 ft . i to 42 s . ( Hear , hear . ) Again , in 1841 , there were imported into England 24 , 000 tons of this sugar , and that bas increased to 62 , 000 tons . ( Hear . ) I might observe that the case would have been much better if I bad taken the best kind , for in the first year the price was from 69 s . to 74 s ., and it has progressively fallen in the last year of importatation to 52 s . and 5 Gs . ( Hear , hear . ) Therefore the case of _gugar is'in perfect harmony with the ruling principle I have mentioned . What is the case with coffee t I must apply my rule again . I will take the East India coffee . The state of onr relations with our West India colonies is of so anomalous a character as to commerce that it is parfeetly impossibly toforman opinion upon that part of our trade . Now let us take Ceylon coffee , the importa .

    tion of which has immensely increased . I will only take the first and last year . In 1840 Ceylon coffee , per bag , was 90 s . to 91 s . In 184 G it is 44 s . to 47 * . ( Hear , hear . ) In the first year there were imported 33 , 000 bags , Last year the number imported was 133 , 000 . ( Hear , hear . ) Then , take the case ef Mysore coffee , not grown in our own possessions . In the first year the price was 77 s . to 82 s . per cask ; last year it was 3 fis . to 48 s . "Whilst in the first year there were imported only 48 , 000 casks , and in the last year it has increased to 63 , 350 casks . I am sorry to trouble the house with these details . I refer to them that hon , gentlemen may have the opportunity of investigating this important principle . Look to tbe case of iudigo , _oft-alt _, of iron , of coals , and even to the _caBe of fruits , sinee the alteration of the law , and this-principle

    may be clearly observed and invariably demonstrated in every one of them . Is it then unreasonable to a _« k what tbere is in corn to make it an exception to the general rule ! ( Hear , hear . ) I want that question to be answered . ( Hear , hear . ) I think it as fair & question to ask in debate a 9 can be conceived . Why is corn an exception to this principle _I Is it because corn is produced in every country and under every climate of the world ? What is the country which cannot produce corn ! In _Tersia , as has been found very recently , corn is produced at present at 5 s . a quarter . Then with respect to the price at which it could be sold here , the question is merely one of locomotion ; but , taking the best opinions , I consider that from 10 s . to 20 s . is the price per quarter at which it could be sold here . At any rate , the cost of the _carrlaee hither

    is the only barrier that we have as to the price at which it could be sold for when the corn laws are repealed . Before , however , I venture to enter upon an estimate ofthe consequences of abolishing the present system , I will say that 1 know it has _beon urged that with respect to the importation of foreign cattle the agriculturists had all this fear of being overwhelmed with the increased supply from the continent , and their fears have not been realized ; and why , therefore , should they fear an enormous importation of corn from the continent ? But , I should say , there is as slight an analogy between the cases as can easily be conceived . In the first place , the continent of Europe is a corn-growing country , and was a corngrowing country long before England was a corn-growing country . In the next place , the continent of Europe never

    was a _oattle-raising country , The very circumstance of the prevalence in those countries of the Itoinan Catholic religion , which interferes so much with the consumption ot _' mcat , has operated to discourage the rearing of cattle . No person pretends that there is any part of the continent where the p « stures are equal to those of England . The _expense of transporting articles so heavy as cattle is another point of distinction ; and altogether I think the analogy is as imperfect as it can be . The conclusion , then , to which I arrive is , that by this measure you are displacing the labour of England that producus corn only in order to admit into the consumption of this country , on a large scale , foreign corn , the produce cf forcigu labour . What will be the consequence _? As 1 _bulieve the prices after the change will range from 30 s to 35 s . a

    quarter , having always , as now , a tendency to fall , I believe that the consequence will be what I shall proceed to explain . I believe that an imaginary line may be drawn , as was dene by the right hou . baronet at the head of the Government , but that it will apply not merely to England . Then the light hon . Home Secretary gets up and says that England is not au agricultural country , but has become a manufacturing and commercial country ; aud when the right hon . gentleman is reminded of his words , he replies , "I said not exclusively . " But surely the commerce of England is not of yesterday . The commerce of England is much more ancient than time of any other country in Europe , It is perfectly new to tell us that England has been a strictly agricultural country hitherto , but that now there is to be a change , and she is to be

    a manufacturing country . I believe that England is not as gsent a couiuiui'eiul country at present as she . has been at a previous period of our history , ( Hear , hear , and a laugh , ) I do net of course mean that England does not conduct at present a greater amount of commercial transactions than at auy former period , but my meaning is , that in proportion . to Im' population and capital , and iu proportion to tlte population of tlie world , her com . merce is not so important as it was at former periods ; those periods , I mean , when we had all the commerce of tho Levant and the Turkey trade , and when we had the commerce of the Spanish Main , I believe that at these periods the profits of commerce were greater -, and with reference to the existing capital of the country , that the capital employed iu commerce bore a larger proportion

    than at present . But England is henceforth t » be a manufacturing country , we are told . Let us test this assertion . It is said that we have been every day becoming moro and moro of a _nianulactiug country ; but if you look to the general arrangement of labour in England , you will find that England is less of a manufacturing country than it lias been . ( Alaugh . ) Isay that , without doubt , iiie manufacturing industry of this country was more scattered ( a laugh)—over tho country 100 years ago than at present . The hon . gentleman takes up a word ; oue cannot always _select one ' s words ; I mean to _t-ay th : it the maiiutueturitijy industry of the country was moro dispersed ; that there were more couuties iu which manufactures nourished 100 years ago than at this moment , _ForiusUiice _, throughout the West of England wc had manufactures , and very

    flourishing manufactures , aud I say that the woollen manufactures of Hiiscountry bore _thenftgi'eatorpvopovtion to the manufacturing industry ofthe rest uf Europe than it does novv _. aiid that it bore n greater importance in Europe than it does now . Why you had many manufactures 100 years ago , which arc now obsolete in many counties--, or only most partially pursued . But you have had , unquestionably , a gigantic developement of manufacturing _^ _jh m a particular county . It is unprecedented , and I shall always speak of it , as a thing which confers the greatest honour on this country , which has been the _neatest source of its wealth , and of which every _EuglUlunmi should be _mostpiM-ud ; but generally speaking that , _' erelopementof industry has been confined to oue county ; but then the Minister comes and tells us that England is to bo a manufacturing and commercial countrv in ° fuluro _' that is to say , " I would change the whole system _t . f the country for one county , " ( Hear , hear . ) I hear ol" a

    repeal of the union , but I think it not wholly impossible wc may havo a revival of the heptarchy— ( a laugh )—if wo are to tell the counties that arc purely agricultural that they are to have a starving population , _1-evause in OllC COUllty tiiere has been a peculiar developement iu quo kind of industry ; for that is the argument of the Minister . But then what _ara the resources to support the _ptoplo which this branch of industry can afford ? Supposing this depreciation of agricultural produce effected . _Supposing this great revolution , as you admit it is , cawird , ami that we eease to he an agricultural population , and that we become the workshop of the world—that it to sn \ = , u » posing wo try to maintain-our people , and supp _^' _mir _pi-osent finaiical arrangements , on the cotton trade what w « Ubetheelb .. ct . Why th 0 fi » tmuIt « fthoch . « _s _^ . ; U bc found to be tins , that it affects directly or indirectly three or four millions of our people . But what will be the _etfect on the cotton . trade , - whieh is met by hostile taufis in every part of tIle , vorld ? Suppnge

    Greenwich And Deptj-0rd: A General Meeti...

    it , what will be the result I " That you will and employ . y ment for some 300 , 000 persons by so doing , But if if machinery improves at the rate it has done , the _changaja will probably employ only 150 , 000 additional haudi . Th _»* tendency of this measure , therefore , is inevitable , and tb » i _» result will be r that an extensive displacement of labour ir will take place , and that misery , and ultimatel y , _politicalil disaster will take place . , lam told that immense thing * _; _j may be done by the agriculturist , by the employment ot > t capital and skill ; and that the progress of . events ought it not to dispirit him , because he has capital to support him i and skill to enrich him . Now let us test that When a * man lends capital to another he naturally , I believe , looks . S to the return he is likely to obtain fer it . The mortgagee e looks to the margin beyond the rent ofthe estate on _wlj _' eh _^

    he lends his money . "Well then , now I suppose it will be- _ssaid men will be more ready to lend tbeir money to the V landowners of this country than they were before thiB . * measure . But observe , you are not only by this measure V diminishing the probability of the landowners effecting j loans on their estates , but you are giving the capitalistt the means of making secure investment of his capital in t other countries . Look at the relation which will subsist : under this measure , between him and his _foreign corre- - _spondentat Hamburgh , He has no longer to fear th » V operation of the sliding scale ; he goes at once to his t London banker , and he gets his capital to leud to ths * foreigner . In fact , you will at the same time , by this law ! | be diminishing the security which the landowner has h > ' offer the capitalist : and offering to the English capitalist a- .

    better investment for bis money abroad . So much for the- ? capital : then we are told about skill ; but tha t is so iade- - finite a thing that it is almost impossible to enter on a . discussion upon it . But the agriculturist , I thiuk I can i show , far from being backward in this respect , is more ; * advanced than the manufacturer ; that he produces- smore , wastes less , and that he is more industrious tbanu any manufacturer . Generally speaking , I think I can i show , that there is every reason for considering the- ! - English agriculturist to be more intelligent and _moreH effective than the English manufacturer , and I mean t © . _* . prove that by the evidence of a member of the Anti-Corn t Law League , What is the evidence of Mr . Greg—that- ; evidence Which most hon . members " aire , aware of , ancUU which all have heard of ? He say * , speaking ofthe

    manufacturers , '' Competition is so severe that I almost doubt ? - - the possibility of the : English manufacturer maintaining his ground against the foreign manufacturer . " But no one- can say that of _the'English agriculturist . : ( " Hear , hear , and a laugh ;) He ' _produceB in some cases double , and in . others treble , the amount that any-foreign agriculturist ; produces from the same breadth of land . Therefore _,, with respect to the _* £ ngush . fanner , as compared with the English manufacturer , ¦ ¦' I lean absolutely provethat he wastes less and produces with more effect . ( Hear , hear . ) Well , I know there is an argument , or rather an appeal , which teUs . much in these discussions , and which influences opinions both out of this house and in this house , when you bring forward the condition of the English labourer in particular localities .

    My hon , friend the member for Shaftesbury ( Mr , Sheridan ) , who has done himself great credit for the energy which he has devoted to this subject , bas introduced tbe state of the Dorsetshire labourer into this debate : now , the condition of the Dorsetshire labourer is one of the reasons why I give my support to theBe laws . ( Hear , hear . ) It is very easy to say , "Here is a man who ; compared with the generality of the civilized world , is in a depressed and miserable condition , and protection has produced tbis condition . " But if I am not able to show that protection has bad nothing to do with that condition _> I shall be ready this night to go into the same lobby with her Majesty ' s government . I have asked the house be * fore , and I repeat , if protection has produced the Dorset _, shire labourer with his Ts . a week , how is it _thpt

    protection has not also produced the Lincolnshire labourer with double the wages ? I do not say that this is an argument , but it is a suggestive question , which I will followup , and will explain . Mr , Husldsson forcibly illustratedtit . When Mr . Huskisson first settled in Sussex his attention was necessarily drawn to the extreme _pauperism of that county ; _: and , after giving to the subject the great * est possible consideration , Mr . Huskisson said that he traced this pauperism to the fact , that Sussex was formerly the seat Of tbe groat Iron manufacture , and that the agricultural population had never absorbed the manu . facturing . This appears to have been the case with the western counties of England , and do net therefore accuse protection of being the cause . The western counties have been the seats of manufactures , and the manufacturing

    population has never been absorbed in the agricultural . But go at once into Lincolnshire , a protected county ; Lincolnshire is to agriculture what . Lancashire is to manufactures—( cheers )—and I will rest our case on the State of Lincolnshire . Lincolnshire is a new county ; there were no ancient manufactures there ; the popula _. tion of Lincolnshire has been produced and is supported by the land , as . the population of Lancashire has been produced and is supported by manufactures . ( Hear . ) I have often thought of that celebrated tower whieh looks over Liaco ' _nshtre , that if my gallant friend , whose family have represented fhe city of Lincoln almost since the days of _the'Stuarts , would take the arch-fiend of political economy and put him in that celebrated niche , he would gee , looking towards the north , those interminable wolds

    stretching almost to the Huinber , which within the memory of man was the domain of the rabbit , and wliich is now producing exuberant crops ; or , looking over Lincoln-heath , he would see land where , within the memory of living man , there was a lighthouse to guide the traveller on his path—( cheers )—and whieh—my gallant friend will bear witness to the truth of what I am saying —( "hear , hear , " from Colonel Sibthorp)—was let to a warrener , at 2 s . Cd , an acre , and on which now the finest corn is produced ; or he might look towards tho east , and , averting his eyes from the wolds and the heath , view the fens down to the sea , an immense number of small fens , all drained by the steam engine . ( Cheers . ) Looking towards the east and the west , and over the

    Wildmere-marsh , he would see great tracts , one of 00 , 000 acres in extent , and another of 90 , 000 acres iu extent , all creating and sustaining a numerous and prosperous and a contented population . ( Cheers . ) But then I nm told that it is the contiguity of manufactures which makes Lincolnshire so productive , and that it is not protection ; but the frontiers of Wiltshire arc nearer to the great manufacturing town of Birmingham , the capital of the iron manufacture , than Lincoln is to Lancashire or to Yorkshire . See , then , what Lincolnshire has produced under protection—protection tested under the most auspicious circumstances , as iu Lancashire manufactures are under the most auspicious circumstances . And when you find that the inhabitants of the western

    counties are in a state of misery and depression , do not say that their misery is owing to protection , which is , perhaps , the only reason why they exist at all . Nothing astounded me more tftan a speech of the noble lord the member for Falkirk ( Lord-Lincoln ) , which he recently made at Newark-market , where he asked , " What has protection done for you ? " Why , the market of Newark is supplied with the corn of Lincoln-heath , which can only be raised by the annual application of artificial manures , though it is the finest corn in the world , and is sent from Newark into the markets of all the great towns . ( Hear , hear . ) What , then , has protection done ? If your protection had never existed , you would have yet left to you those wild wolds , those heathy fens , and those plashy marshes . ( Cheers . ) You cannot , however , decide this-question without looking at the colonies . It is idle to talk of Canada , and to speak with levity and with in . difference

    whether it is annexed to the American States , or remains as a possession of England . Canada has all the elements of a great country aud of a great trade . She is calculated to be the Russia of the Korth American continent if sins be not annexed to states the ties of whieh are far from indissoluble . The lion , _gentleman last night , answering my noble friend ( Lord G . lkiittnck ) , talked of the commerce of Canada as nothing hut the means of smu ' gglins into the United States . My argument is that we ought to keep Canada ; not that I want to encourage a smuggling trade even if we could get no other ; but I want to kiww what will be the condition of England if all the transatlantic consilient shall belong to one power ? ( I will not , however , dwell upon the case of the colonies ; neither will I touch upon the case of Ireland : it is too terrible a subject , even upon the showing of the noble lord whose conversion has

    been so much a mutter of triumph to the . Ministerial benches ; be has announced this measure as _fat-il to the small farmers— ( hear , hear )—and , when we know tliat Ireland is a nation of small farmers —( hear , hem- )—we may fairly nuticipate the result . But , thero is one reason with respect to Ireland given by the hon . member for Stockport ( Mr . Cobden ) in a speech recently made in this house , and in other places , with considerable effect , which I cannot help i » ot _* c _* i . . as it comes from a _quavter so influential . Ue s :, yS t | lat << in argumeut in favour of tlie corn laws , of all H , o countries I should never have thought that Ireland would have _bcim brought forward in rapport | of protection . '' Why , Shy this is a saucy and gallant sally but is it any argument 1 Does it cany with lt any pi'Oot ? Doss the hon . member mean to say , « ' Here is driven to

    a population the Inst resource of human subsistence , and living on potatoes i" Theu how aro they to get even the potatoes without cultivating the land and producing the wheat and the oats which they send to England \ ( " llear , hear , '" and some interruption . ) I want to kuow what will be the state of Ireland if thiB measure have the effect on the markets wVich I anticipate ? If I am wrong in my supposition as to tliat eft _' _eot —there ave a thousand arguments jou may use against me—there are a thousand assumptions you can make , and you may indulge in all the vagaries of political economy ; but if I ani right in my idea of the effect these measures will have ou labour in the united kingdom of England and Ireland , I want to know in what state Ireland will be when you have prevented her people from _miinutactiiriiig the wheat and tho oats ? You ttdl us that cnpital will enter [ _rehiud , and that _wiiimvfncUvres will be established

    there . Hon- long will it be first * ( Loud cheers . ) How long a time will pass before these manufactures are _est . _iblisb . ed ? Peih ! ips in tbo interval the won _mnuuinctarc may be revived iu Susso _** the droop i « * energies of the Dorsetshire labourers mav be raised by the high wages given by the hon . members for Stockport and for Rochdale . ( Cheers . ) I cannot help saying thnt this measure will change the character ot the country so far as it relates to agriculture j and , believing that its _teudviu-y is to sap tbe elements and springs of manuhictunng industry and commercial ' prosperity , and believing , also , tVom its effects on the precious metals , which 1 will not now notice further , that it will injure all i nterests , anil bring about it domestic and social convulsion , I am ob ! iu : ed to ask myself , if indeed the measure be so perilous , why is it produced i ( Cheers . ) I need not ask what so many ask , aud what so many ask in vaiu—I need not ask what is the state of the circumstances of

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• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), May 23, 1846, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_23051846/page/6/