PUBLIC MEETING.—DISTRESS IN LANCASHIRE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1799, 2 December 1862, Page 3

PUBLIC MEETING.— DISTRESS IN LANCASHIRE.

The meeting in connection with the above called by his Honor the Superintendent at the request of a meeting of magistrates, took place on Friday evening last at the Odd Fellows' Hall ; and of which we gave an outline report in our Saturday morning's issue.

The Superintendent on taking the chair, expressed his deep regret that so much delay sbould have occurred in bringing the claims of our distressed countrymen in Lancashire before the public of Wellington, a regret so much the greater because the responsibility of the delay, in some measure rested with himself, being mainly owing toxins absence, with that of others, from Wellington. He regretted the delay also on their account, because, while other paits of the colony were so prompt and active, he felt annoyed that he should have been in any way the cause why this province, never backward in putting its hand to every object that appealed to its sympathy, should be the last to come forward to contribute its mite. He sincerely trusted that the past unavoidable delay would cause tbem to put forth more energetic efforts, and thus show that it was not apathy which caused them to be behind hand in a work, which our countrymen, injevery part of the Empire, were engaged in. He would not attempt to describe to them tha distress which existed. They were already familiar with it through the newspapers, and he could assure them, on the authority of letters received from a relative of hisown, aclergymanofa parish in Lancashire, that the heart-rending accounts which had been published, were, so far from being exaggerated, inadequate to enable them to realise the distress and suffering which really existed. It would not be necessary for him to go into the causes of that distress, but they would probably concur with him in the hope that the recent successes of the Confederates might prove a means of speedily concluding the war. There '[ might be some amongst our commnoily who considered the Imperial 'were jespou-

sible for the distress by its policy of non inter- ! ference between tie belligerent states, but if it were so, we were not thereby relieved from our present duty. Others might appeal to the conduct of the cottou lords some of whom it was said hud realised large sums by the exportation of cotton from Liverpool, since the truth began. Whatever might have been the conduct of the cotton lords in that respect or however lax they might have been in tendering their assistance towards the relief of their operatives, we could find therein no reason for witholding the helping hand to those who so much needed it. It was not fov us to visit the sins of the masters upon the people, it was not for us to punish the laborer because of the charges we brought against his employer. There were also, perhaps, those amongst us who deemed it to be the duty of the Imperial Government to have provided sufficient aid, just as in our own Assembly aid for Taranaki hud been voted ; but all such excuses for refusing to mitigate tbe distress j which existed, would, he was sure, find no favor with them. He felt assured that after the manner in which they had responded to the patriotic fund, and every other good svork which had been brought before them, they would all contribute according to their ability, and prove that although among the last in taking up the good work which their present meeting had in view, they had not read of the manly endurance of suffering by so many thousands, without desiring to do all they could towards relieving it. Mr Justice Johnston on being called upon to propose the first resolution, said that he esteemed it a privilege to be permitted to introduce to that meeting the resolution he was aloul to move, because he was thereby enabled to take a part in expressing, in common with ail clashes of his fellow colonists in this province, not only the intense sympathy which we all felt for our fellow subjects in England who were now suffering very deeply, but the respect which we mingle dwith our sympathy in consequence of the miinner in which they ware bearing their sufferings. Although he did not feel competent to answer to the appeal made to him by His Honor the Superintendent, and set before them in telling language the character and extent of the sufferings in the cotton districts ; although he was uo master of that eloquence which might excite men's feelings by harrowing details, he did not feel at all abashed by that consideration, because he kuew that he need do nothing more, for the purpose of arousing their sympathy into action, than merely state that by the last accounts more than 100,000 of the operatives iv the cotton districts were obliged to accept relief, rendered necessary by the depression of the trade. The circumstance connected with this painful fact which most strongly affected his own mind and made him feel it an honor to bo allowed thus publicly to express his admiration and respect for the sufferers as well as his sympathy, was this, — that whereas in former times commercial depression and popular distress had led to acts of turbulence, lawlessness, and violence, those sufferers had born their burden without any disturbance of the public psace or any unmanly grumbling. Such obedience and respect for the lawsas they had manifested during their troubles seemed to him to afford one of the most pregnant proofs of the high civilisation at which our dear, mother country had arrived. To see classes of the people — who in other times would have been almost expected under such distressing circumstances, to set law at defiance,—conducting themselves with such noble and manly patience in the midst of their afflictions, ought to make us proud that such men were our countrymen. And, poor as might be the amount of the offeriug which we might be able to make towards the relief of their necessities, we could at all events give value to it by shewing that it emanated from a very large proportion of our whole community, and was not like the " morsel, tossed by law-forced charity," but the spontaneous good will offering of men to their brethren, — as blessed to them who give, as to them who receive. One of our gieat modern poets (Coleridge) had s^id, Sweet are the tears that from a Howard's eye Drop on the cheek of one he lifts from earth ; And he that does me good with unmoved face, Does it but half; he chills me, while he aids — My benefactor, not my brother man. We did not wish, on such an occasion as this, to play the part of benefactors, but to shew that we were brother men, and brethren too, having a common mother whom we equally esteemed and respected. He felt sure that, however small our tribute might be, yet. if it be known to have emanated from a large proportion of our whole population, it would be acceptable as un cvi dence that we were still thoroughly Englishmen at heart, and although we might have burdens of our own to bear, and troubles of our own to be anxious about, we would never cease to sympathise with our brethren at home. And although we hear now-a-days of philosophers and politicians who talk of the separation of England from her colonies as a nearly approaching event, he could not help believing, that while that kind of interchange of feeling ! and|action continued, such separation was next to impossible — that nature won Id prove too strong for political theory — that while we felt and expressed by word aud action how the suffering of our brethren at home affected us, in this distant land, and show that we deemed ourselves bound to contribute to the alleviation of theii distress, the facts that such meetings as that bad been held, that such resolutions as he was about to propose had been carried, and that subscriptions, even though comparatively insignificant iv amount, had been offered by a large proportion of our whole population, would have their due effect in England, among the people, in the legislature, and in the council, and would help to ensure us, in return for our loyalty, good will and kind action towards our suffering- brethren at home, a continuance on the part of the great mother country of that fostering aud protecting care which she undoubtedly owed, and had hitherto so amply bestowed upon us. The Judge concluded an eloquently worded, and effectively delivered speech, by moving the following resolution : — That this meeting, being assured of the anxiety of all classes of the community within this Province to manifest a hearty sympathy -with their follow subjects in Lancashire, who are now enduring acute suffering with fortitude and patience, is (if opinion, that steps should be immediately taken for enabling the inhabitants to join in offerring to the Ralief Fund, which even ifinsignificant in amount, may nevertheless be accepted ?-s an indication of the common feeling of regret, good will, and respect for the sufferers, entertained by the fellow countrymen, in the most remote portion of the British Empire. The Bishop of Wellington in rising to second the resolution, thought this was an occasion, why for obvious reasons any man should feel it to be a pleasure to be able to address his fellow men. Although the distress existed so far off as England was, the extremeties must sympathise with ihe heart, and at a time when amongst certain classes, there was a disposition in the heart to cast off the extreraeties, we should endeavour to show that we were one with the people of the mother country. Nothing could be more painful to an honest mind than forced idleness, and he was, therefore, the more pleased with the resolution because it asserted we were not attempting to bestow charity, but rather desirous of exhibiting our sympathy and respect. If we thought that we were going topatronise these Lancashire work men by our charity, they would rebuke us ; we rather wished to tell them of our respect for their noble endurance of a calamity which came upon them through no

fault. of their own. He could not forbear advertng to the change that had come over the operatives of England during the last thirty j years. Within the experience of many present, i panics, strikes, the destruction of machinery, j were at one time the ordinary results of desti- J tution. He could not help contrasting what used to take place with the example (if suffering patience, with the noble instance of fortitude they were called upon to sympathise with and which be could only attribute to the spread of educatiou. Not only did the distressed not charge the Government with being the cause as was formerly the case, but if it were true that injustice had been done them by capitalists, and even by their employers, from whom they bad a right to expect better things ; yet when these facts had been brought before the pnblic mind, it did not shake their patience — they bore calmly the supposed or the real wrong. A writer bad asserted that it was an honor to live in age that had produced a Garibaldi, but he thought this to be an age of heroic deeds ; not only were there isolated individuals whose heroism the world admired, but whole masses of men were every now and then giving instances of the noblest heroisru. The loss of jjthe Birkenhead was a case in point, in which after putting the women and children into the boats, the large number of soldiers on board fell into their ranks as if they were on parade, and, with their officers at] their head, calmly awaited the sinking of the ship. Most men were workers, some with their brains and others wjlh their hands, and on such occassions as these all classes delighted to show how common was the bond that bound them together. Man's need was not unfreqnently God's opportunity, aii'l he wondered that Australia did not take advantage of the path which Providence was now pointing ont, and by the importation of operatives and the growth of cotton, lay the foundation for becoming a manufacturing country. He hoped that the Judge's recommendation, that every man should do hisjduty would not be forgotten; our duty was to show not merely by our words, but by our deeds, the sympathy which we felt four our suffering fellow countrymeu at home-. After the resolution had been carried Theßev J. ALDRED,said hehad eomesimply as a listener, and, if otherwise, there was no need to remind the meeting further of the claims which the object of their gathering had upon them. That had already been done so ably that he would content himself with merely moving tbe second resolution, viz. That the following be a Committee to carry out the objects of the foregoing resoluton, viz The Bishop of Wellington, Bishop Viard, his Honor the Judge, Mr St. Hill, R. M., Revs Messrs Thatcher, Stock, Aldred. Moir, Scott. Smith, O'Reilly, and Messrs G. Allen, Stokes, J. Carter, C. R. Carter, Lyon, Holdsworth, J. F. E- Wright, L. Levy, Moss, G. Hart, Burne, Spinks, G. Moore, Smith, Rhode 3, with power to add tc their number, and to nominate committees for the Country Districts, Mr G, Hunter, General Treasurer. Mr. Woodward seconded the resolution, and feared lest they might be iu|danger of supposing from the gigantic nature of the distress to be relieved, that anything they could do would be utterly insignificant, and thus feel discouraged at making the attempt. If a whole city .were on fire, and anyone of them could cheek the fire in, or prevent it from laying hold of, a single building in the outskirts, was there one present who would not'do it ;]and so if they could not do much towards the relief of the great distress which existed, still whatever they did do, would be felt more or less in some way or other, by a portion of the sufferers. The delay in opening up a subscription had only made the neocessity the more urgeutj and if they each did what they could.in.'theirmeasurc'theydid as much as though their\vere a portion ofja large community. After reading extracts from a London paper, sho.ving how fearfully the distress had increased, the speaker pointed out that while not {infrequently distress in England and elsewhere often resulted from causes which] thej country had had some share iv bringing about, yet in this case no such excuse could be pleaded by any, they had uot brought it upon themselves, but it had arisen from causes with which they had had nothing whatever to do. The resolution was put and carried. The Chairman called the attention of the meeting to a letter which he had received from Mrs Foley, offering a dramatic entertainment in aid of the funds. Mr G. Moore thought that the letter just read pointed out how each one should work ; it was an illustration of each one working in his own particular sphere. He felt that as a Colony we were bound to help the people of England ; over-taxed as they were they had been helping as from the commencement of the Colony uutil now. He was aware how much their success depended on having a good and efficient working Secretary, and before he moved the. acceptance of Mrs Foley 's offer, he would propose that Mr Woodward be asked to act as Secretary, which proposition being seconded by Mr J. F. E Wright, was unanimously adopted. After which Mr Moore moved, and Mr Hunter seconded, — That the offer of Mrs Foley to give a dramatic entertainment be cordially and thankfully accepted. After tbe resolution had been put, the Rev J. Moir expressed his inability to serve on the committee, if the dramatic entertain treut was to be under the management and patronage of the Committee. He considered the theatre a curse, and could not as a minister of the Gospel consent to act upon a committee which were to \ pationise it. After a lengthened discussion, or rather c<mj versation, on the subject, ihe Bishop, Judge, Messrs W. Allen, Moore, Holdsworth, and others took part, in which it was pointed out that the entertainment so handsomely offered, would not be under the management of the Committee, but an independent effort of the lady who offered it, and the Rev J. Moir said he would withdraw an amendment he had proposed* it being fully understood that he had cleared himself as a" minister from acting inconsistently, in doing which, he expressed his conviction that the same feeling of sympathy towards suffering humanity which had prompted themselves to endeavor to raise aid, had induced tbe tady to make the offer which had caused the discussion. A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings. In seconding the vote, the Rev A. Stock mentioned that the soldiers of the 14th Regt, stationed here, had agreed to subscribe a day's pay towards the object. They did so, as he was told by one of their number, on the principle that during the Crimean war, the civilians had done all in their power to relieve the distress that existed both in the army abroad and amongst their families at home, and now that the civilians were iv distress, they •were glad to be able to help them in the only way they had it in their power. He thought such a contribution was most creditable, and if known woulJ stimulate others.