low price of food caused low wages; and Mr. Cobden was quite of opinion that the questions of free trade and the Corn Laws had made more progress during the last two years than they had during the whole seventy years after the publication of Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations," and proceeded to give a history of the progress of the United States, and to argue the mutual advantages that would result from the establishment of free commercial intercourse between the producers of food there and the manufacturers, employers, and employed, of our own country.
The Mayor of Manchester (Mr. W. Nield), in compliance with a requisition very numerously signed, had called a public meeting to be held in the Town Hall, on Friday, March 19th. The chartists—rather perhaps men professing to be chartists—had the walls covered with placards, not issued until the evening before the day of meeting,asking, "Why do these liberal manufacturers bawl so lustily for the repeal of the Corn Laws," and answering, "because, with the reduced price of corn, they will be enabled to reduce the wages of the working men, in order that they may compete with foreigners who live upon potatoes." To support this landlord fallacy, strangely and suspiciously re-echoed from Manchester, the working men were urged to "go in thousands" and "expose the cantting hypocrites." In obedience to this call, a crowd of who were persons, recognised as belonging to the class "physical-force" of chartists, assembled considerably before the time appointed, who, the moment the doors were open, rushed into the hall, and on the motion of Mr. Elijah Dixon, seconded by Mr. E. Nightingale, resolved that the Rev. Mr. Scholefield should take the chair. The Mayor arriving immediately afterwards took the chair as a matter of course, and great confusion ensued. The mayor persisted firmly in keeping his place, and Mr. Scholefield having a chair placed for him on the reporters table, also
