ABSTRACT
A meeting for the purpose of considering the question of reciprocal free trade was held in the area of the Corn Exchange. The principal speakers at the meeting were Mr. Charles Chapman, Mr. John Hawkins, and Mr. J. Roberts, chairman of the “Association of Revivers of British Industry.” Mr. Chapman made a graphic speech, in which were well condensed many facts and figures of vital importance to Englishmen. England has been too large a buyer and too small a seller; has offered a free market for the goods of all countries, but has found none for her own. As a principle, free trade is fundamentally correct. It is essential for the people that they should have cheap bread; and if the country cannot produce what is required in this respect, then a free trade measure, by which the supply becomes augmented and the price correspondingly reduced, is not only wise, but imperative.
