LEAGUE, ANTI-CORN LAW, an association the object of which was to ob tain by constitutional means the abolition of the duty on the importation of foreign corn.
The Anti-Corn Law League originated at a public dinner given to Dr. Bowring, at Manchester, 18th September, 1838, when it was proposed that the company present, between fifty and sixty in num ber, should form themselves into an asso ciation for promoting the principles of' free trade. On the 24th of September, seven persons met to settle preliminary arrangements, and on the 4th of October about a hundred persons were enrolled as members of the Manchester Anti-Corn Law Association. On the 25th of the same month Mr. Paulton delivered, at Manchester, the first lecture on the corn laws, and on the 26th of November he lectured at Birmingham. In December, the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, after an adjourned debate, declared by a majority of six to one that " the great and peaceful principle of free trade on the broadest scale is the only security for our manufacturing prosperity, and the welfare of every portion of the community." Manchester now became the centre of a great movement in favour of free trade, and measures were at once adopted for giving to this movement a national cha racter. On the 8th of December, 1838, the Manchester Association issued an ad dress which was extensively circulated throughout the United Kingdom, recom mending the establishment of similar as sociations and a complete organization of all who held views favourable to free trade. Early in 1839, the question of the corn laws and protective duties generally was agitated in most of the large towns. The operations contemplated by the Man chester Association were—the circulation of tracts and pamphlets, the employment of paid lecturers, and petitions to parlia ment. On the 10th of January, 1839, the sum of 2000/. was subscribed at Man chester to defray expenses, and by the end of the month the fund raised amounted to nearly 60001. On the 22nd of January the Manchester Association convened a meeting of persons who were opposed to the corn laws, aid a public dtuner took place which at tended by nearly eight hundred persons, many of whom were delegates from the large towns in England and Scotland ; and about a dozen members of Parlia ment were present. A few days later, on the opening of the session of parlia ment, three hundred delegates from nearly all the large towns assembled in London for the purpose of discussing the operation of the corn laws and bringing the subject more immediately under the notice of the legislature. At this convention the name of the League was first adopted as a more correct designation of a body which com prehended members living in every part of the United Kingdom. A weekly periodical, entitled the Anti-Bread Tax Circular,' was commenced at Manchester under the auspices of the League. A more numerous staff of lecturers was en gaged, and greater activity took place in the circulation of tracts and pamphlets.
These labours were continued in 1839, 1840, and 1841, and great progress was made in enlightening and maturing pub lic opinion. The distress which pre vailed at this time in all the great branches of commercial and manufactur ing industry exposed the policy of pro tective duties to a severe scrutiny. The lecturers employed by the League were everywhere, and the attention of the public was aroused even in quarters where it was most difficult to excite an interest in economical questions. Con ventions, and conferences, and great pub lic meetings were held in the large towns, and pamphlets and tracts were circulated in villages and hamlets. The press, whether favourable or not to the princi ples of the League, was compelled to discuss them. In May, 1841, Lord John Russell brought forward the government plan of a fixed duty, which was at once repudiated by the League as unsatisfac tory. An appeal was made to the country, and in the new parliament a large majority of members was returned who were adverse to the commercial principles advocated by the League. The League prepared to meet this state of things by greater boldness and activity in all their operations. No more petitions were sent to parliament. In 1842-43 funds were raised to the amount of 50,2901., and in the course of the twelve months nearly 10,000,000 tracts, weigh ing above 100 tons, were placed in the hands of 496,226 electors (237,000 in twenty-four counties, and 259,226 in one hundred and eighty seven boroughs). Deputations from the League visited be tween twenty and thirty counties, and addressed the agricultural classes at great meetings. Weekly meetings were held at Covent Garden Theatre, at which the most able members of the League were the speakers. These meetings were always well attended, and produced an effect which it is very difficult to produce in the metropolis—the concentration of public opinion. The 'Anti-Bread Tax Circular,' published at Manchester, was discontinued, and a new paper with the title of the League' was commenced in London, which soon obtained a weekly circulation of twenty thousand copies. London instead of Manchester now be came the centre of operations. This gave to the League, as a body, a more deci dedly national character ; but its oppo nents for a short time continued to repre sent its metropolitan advent as the intru sion of "strangers from Manchester." A few months afterwards, notwithstanding the strenuous opposition of many of the wealthy city houses, the election of one of the members for the city of London was carried by the enthusiasm which the League had created. In 1843 the Council of the League proposed to raise funds to the amount of 100,000/. A bazaar on a large scale, which was held at Covent Garden, in June, 1845, and re alized 30,678/., raised the fund proposed to 116,6871. Two years before a bazaar had been held at Manchester, which re alized 10,000/.