The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1884-04-15 00:00:00

MEETING OF DORCHESTER LIBERAL WORKING

MEN.

Ousted and irritated by the inexplicable inactivity
of the Dorchester Liberal Amocietion, the Dorchester
Liberal working men have at last taken matters into
their own hands, end lent night (Wednesday) they
met in large numben at the North-square Assembly.
rooms, kindly granted by Mr. W. Tilley. Mr. H.
Groves was unanimously voted to the chair on the
motion of Mr. Barge, seconded by Mr. Stickland.
The audience Included a Isere number of well-known
locnl Liberals, and the peoceedinge throughout were
of the most orderly description.

The °MAMMAS first briefly introduced Mr. E. R.
Pg•zolt, of Dorchester, and Barrister II the Western
Circuit, who raid he had been asked to apsak
a few words to them upon the general p dee
of the present day. The two chief qmotions
before thole minds iist the present time were those of
Egypt sad this Franchise Bill. and another imp„t,g
messtion which was coming to the front though it
mamma these to • comparatively slight extant. was
the question of the Municipality of London. First
of nil alluding to the Egyptian question, he said than
were moot* who took differeot views of the position
of the Government in refinance to Egypt. Boat.
were of opinion that the Govern:Dont ought not to be
le Egypt at all. and ought not to haws mug .7
troops there; others were satisfied with what the
Government wore doing: while others wore wishing
that the Govitrnumat were doing mom than they
WWI doing But he would ask those who
'limed the Governenont ought not to have gone
vs at all to meollect if they had not
, some stops there the French would certainly
taken some steps there on their own account—
Irmari—end it would have been • very difficult
• for ne to have maintain/A SO uninterrupted
05 wititthe East— AnstraUte and India—if the

Chi!!!!

inist•ir

had osteblished thenneelves tbe NEL Tins,
to thole who were dissatisfied with the present
' of the Governsneet, bis would oak them tl
lit fa • country like Egypt the Government
work somewhat Ist the dark. They had to
-.teats with the Governments of Europe and
what Nth /*Wats was., for the meow
W 1 tembiles Manageable Is ralsresee to

Egypt. As to those who thought we ought to do
more, he would .ay it warn very Imp-,,-
tent the Government should not an to fast
In the matter, and for this reason—:f they went too
fast they were likely to hurt tips ewe-wit:OßO:a of the
other nati-ne of Europe, ensl Ii thy becoue xi, sitive
a. to whet En(land was doing, it wool I nod them in
' very considerable diMcoltiee. If on the other ban
tLey acquiesced in what England enei doing, they
might feel sure tents Cooing would be • firm one.
(Hear, bear.) The Try Party, so they knew, had
done their very utmost to bring albe ipieetim to the
ft...doer.' they had lately spent no le.. than 18 ni.shts in
Parliament, dragging Ii quteti.n up os:ain and lonia.
They all knew how they wastosl the time f the
GovertimeLt, not only on the Exyptian goes' .n. but
other matter,. They all knew why they raised
these olestions simply for obstruction. He
martionol a g0...D0n pot the other night—arid put
to a Moister. lie wao asked if he know that to toe
of the metropoleau wo:kh ,oses the master had Pent
up 12 ouncen of suet poldine t • a pimps( wino dies'
two hours site ward.. (hoot Issight-rd N or, that
mgbt be a vi' r excellent question for the most sr or
the Board of Guardians who looked after the union
workhouse ;Pout it was not exactly the Portia questioo
that should oe put in tho 11. ruse of Common orb. re the
great biotin.. of the realm wee coo loosed. (lOeer,
beer.) Mr. Pearce thin peasid on to speak of the
important manors kW-Aimed to the House of Coni-
ne ins on the previous night—the London Municipal
Bill. Though it di I not much concern them, be thought
they should extend their sympathies to Londoners.
TOON, present lived in a B rough which had had a re-
formed municipality Bill sine, 18.16. and at this time
the Metropolis was the only °it, or town In England
which had It. municipality unreformed. 'rids Bill
affeoserl I, sioloneri very seriously. There were only
160.000 In the city of London out of four milli .na who
compeer' thee ()spoliation, who hal any voice in the
Government, or in tbo electioo of the sari sus unuob see
rd the Comm in C roiled, which indirectly and
directly take I every one within 20 mile.
of the city of L ,orlon—which imp ose.l • t
of Is. • ton on their coal, which taxed their
re on and their wine. sal which had absolute con-
trol over the wicket., the result of the latter being that
there wee. • " ring " I a the ritnithfiAlti meat mark. t,
and a " dog" in the BIllinosgao) fish market. I'be
people of hoodoo were pot to an enormous expense
In wool ling themselves with food, owing to the mis-
management of the Loodou markets especially.
Therefore people in towns lake D ochester ought t
extend their sympathies to Londoners, who hod no
control over those who administered their off sire.
(lien, hear.) Referring to the Franchise Bill, he
asked them to recellect this groat end important
measure eras not the god of all thing.. There was
another Bill which, is his opinion, was even more
important, which would ooze later on, and
that was the Redistribution Bill. (Hear, bear.)
Now the Conservative Party bad been doing their
very utmost to hive the two measure. toothier. Toll
said "Lot us have the Franchise Bill if we must, but
let us have re-diatributinn at the same time." Why
wars they so very aoxions for this ReKlistrlbution
Bill! Did they not suppose the Liberals were lust
as anxious for re-distribution an they wen (Hear,
hear.) They also knew perfectly well the Liberals
wanted a rather more satisfactory re-distribution than
the Tories would like. (Hear, hear.) The lie-clletri-
heti.' Bill was simply • nol herring to draw
acres the scent, become there were lots of people in
the House of Commons who heel got very
nice snug seat. who did not like the bill
at all. (Applause.) The Franchhe Bill.
as they knew, would enfranchise about two millions of
new electors. Of those they knew perfectly wall what
threenuerters of • million at least of them were made
up of. They were made up of electors precisely like
thee who alrealy exercised the franchise. (Hem,
beer.) Let them remember who gave the present
householders their votes. It was not a Liberal Govern-
ment, but a Conservative under Lord Beaconsfield and
his admlttletratlon ;so that as far, threcquarters of
a million of those new electors were concerned, surely
they could fairly ask the Conservatives to come for war.l
and vote for them, because they ware precisely like
the very electors to whom they themselves
gave the Franchise (Hear, hear, and applause.)
They knew there were several towns in this
county' which had not got any members, but they
slid not differ in the lean from those that bad.
She/bora...lad Ltiandfosti di-I not differ in the least
from the other towns, be thought. (Hear, bear.) If
they went up to the great towne—Lonsion fir in-
stance—they bound member. for Lasubeth and South-
wark, but when they walked into Batterees, and they
came t house, street., and people, in no respect
different, yet they found themselves soddenly in the
"country" where the people load no hosimhol.l franchise.
Three quarters of a milli in a. he said, then, were
precisely the names it s I men as tOe elect as who ha I
exercised the franchise, and exercised it very well.
(lteer, hear.) Then, as to another large body of the
new elector., shot were they made up of ?—the
agricultural labourers. (Lou I applause.) It sseouri
to him toler ibly obvious that the C sunned," party
were not very anxious to give thesis the vote. Look at
the voters of Wilton an I Wareham fir instance; they
were mainly agricultoral lebouren—anri, why then,
obould they not have a sole is other parts as well?
(Hear, hear.) lie was inclined ii think they were
not only well qualified to hare a vote, but he thought
it wag • great pity they hal not had it long ago. (Ap-
plause.) Those men were quite ae capable of cresols-
ng the franchise as three who were employed in
drilling the eyes of needle soil making the heads of
pins in the large manufecturiag towns. (Hine,
hear.) Moreover, if the siirioultural labourer
had had • note in timea that were pest, th."
would have found many things would not have been
done that, unfortunately, had been carried out. They
knew full well how in all directions commons had
been enclosed. He did not any they ought not to
enclose commons, but he ilia think more regard ought
to he shown for those who were in the habit of
running their boast, and gee's on thins. (liein,
hear.) He considered the c induct of the agricultural
lab Hirer had been most exemplary in this matter.
lie was a very Intelligent man, but be ha-1 carried on
lii. work In one of the great, if not the greaten
indestry In the world—the production of food—
with a patience that was sluqly surprising. He
was reminded very forcibly of the eon in the
parable of the Prodigal Son, who paid "All these
years have I served thee, neither have I transgressed
any of thy commandment., yet thou lent not given
thy t even a kid." (Applause.) H s had thus
spoken of two claims who were to be enfranchised
under this Bill ; be now came to o the lan class—the
Irish Labourer. It wag estimated that about half a
milli in of new voter, would be added to the Fran-
chise in Ireland. Now they were met here by a
variety of arguments. They were toll in
the first piaci they elp•ul I not enfranchise
such people become they wore said to live
In mud buts. (Laughter.) lie was inclined to
say that probably the quicken way to got them out
of those buto Was t i glee them a vote. (Applause.)
Why should they ohjict to the enfran.hieement of
the Irish labourer' They were toll it would
strengthen the hands of Mr. Parnell in Parliament.
Now, he was very doubtful about that. He had con-
versed with Irish Conservatives on the matter, and
they thought it extremely doubtful whether Mr.
Parnell would be really strengthened, for be had •
strong following among the femme, and many of the
labourers did not exactly follow the lead of the
farmer,, so it was very doubtful whether they
would fall into Mr. Parnell's net. (Hear bear.)
If tbey did not treat Ireland as they
did Englani and Scotland, they would be only
adding to the list of grievances Ireland already had
against this country. Let them treat Ireland as they
treated thennelve., and be believed there would be no
danger; let them give them the franchise as they gave
It to their own people In England, anti he believed
they would get their reward. ( Appleuse,) Sir
Stafford Northoote had applied to this the old phrase
that It was a leap in the dark. He (the speaker) did
not think it was, but that It was only another step
made upon the path of try* justice, and
that it wee not • isep in the dark but
Into the light. (Applause.) They had taken a
nest many leap. in times put, and they too
had been celled leaps in the dark, but he thought
they would aoree with him that every " leap" in the
matter of extending the franchise hart resulted In
legislation of a better and more satisfactory clam,
(Flew, bear.) Then It won said they were going to
meet with • lot of oppoeiti in In the II nos of Lorrle;
perhaps they might, but the bark of the Howe of
horde we, very often worm than in hit.. (Applause.
They had the honour a short time afro of having line
Salisbury at Dorchester, and the noble lord mole •
groat speech in the Corn Exchange. He said the
Liberal Party were extremely anxious to peso this
Bill. Why Because they want-d t manipullote the
constituents'se that they Should remain in office. Now he
ventured to Pay that was altogether a mis•st itemosit.
They were not in the lewd anainne t remain in °Mc,
when they Were in a minority, but thee certainly di•l
disapprove of being put out of office when they were
in • lire. undority in the c 'mosey. (Gull sipplaue.)
He mentioned sever.,l striking anomalies of tbe pre-
sent franchise, and added that, so far from i.ord
Salisbury's statement being true, he ventu-ol to
say it wee simply extraordlnory to notice the patience
with which the Liberals of this country had submitted
to the present unfair state of things. (Hear,
hear.) What then was the Horne of Lode
going to do ? As he Rai said, their bark
was very often worse than their bite, and he thought
It would vary likely turn not that moot of their
opposition to the Franchise Bill wont' end in barking
only. They bad only to look back and see how they
sled fu tie. pee. and hoe they had barked
without really biting. He mertioneel partirollrly
the emancipation of the Catholics Bill. Me. Pearce
then concluded an exoellent speech as folhows :
And, sow, if I may use a metaohnr, I would ray th it
the good alp " The Extension of the reanoblee," which
ham been long upon the stocks, has at last been well
Istundnd ; and we are here met together, not only to
establish a Working Men's Liberal Areociatioo, but
ago to help to fan the breeze which are to fill the good
ishiple sail", azol carry her on • prosper,,us voyage.
There are breakers abeirl In the shape of a hostile and
somewhat 'elfish lions' of Lordo—(hear. hear)—and
there are political wreckers on shore, exhibleing the
false Sohn of immediate redistribution and propor-
tional representation. But, with the Ancient
Mariam at the helm (applause' who knows
the course so well, all the difficulties will be
overcome, and In a safe haven she will draw alongside
the quays -laden well nigh to the water line—to
disclusg• the privileges of t'e franchise and the
indepsoOrran it brings amongot two mill" as of the
grown manhood cd tease realms. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. DAVIS rose to propose the first resolution. It •
was high time they met to form a Working Men II
Liberal Association for Dorchester. Tiny wanted to
show that they as working men bail hone and snow,
and common-seine enough to work the neociation, so
that when the great oriole came they would be able to
"end their man to Parliament. He boned to move
" That it is desirable to form a Liberal Association
• for Dorchester, to work in harmony with the Liberals
of Reis town and neighbourhood," (Applause.) He
trusted when the franchise was given to tbe counties,
they would be able to extend their borders, and that
they should slip away to Pldriletnentbide, Broadmayne,
Stafford, and other village., sod try and educate the
working met in the (mad principles of Liberalism.

Mr. Roans, wh enioraixt Mr. DATied
rentyke, srcoode,l the mothet.

Mr. B. Fosarrr.l.org, who was warmly received,
supported the motion. There was, he said,
oi,thing in the cause of Libelsliem in Dorchwer
which he more hese tily j los ho eupoortioir than this
ri s dation for the formation of this Ass iciation.
The, was every reason why such an A. iation
ohoold be formed. and he agree I with Mr. D•oio they
w.. 311 I be doing sr II in ssteniiing th-jr
elf 'rt. beyond the bou'..lari.e of D .rchester.
He whaled t ask them to coneiii.r what w •
the ol.j.ct fof such an as...dation as this, which he
hoped they w old work wib energy and vigour. He
t 'oh it the trot ot.j•ct wee t crab!e members of
the party, sod member. of ther pertieo if they woold,
ton .me together as often AS they could an I oiccerely
an I openly disease together what were Liberal
' Principle and what was to be the spplicatiou of them.
Tole woe a matter which could n. t be done on the eve
of • General Election. It was no tone at all for an
esociati on of this sort to be formed unless it intended
to m 'et with tolerable regulailty, and disciple matters
1 ,4 this sort born year to year, aod from month to
month, as they were raked. In the worry awl bustle
incidental to the excitable time such aa they
rec illiseted a few years ego, it was impossible for
Liberal. themselves to meet clobetly together and
discuss the application of their principles to the great
questions of the dee. Mr. Pearce had spoken to
deem on three Pesci.) subjcts, and they were all
questions on which Liberal. th -133 sires differed more
or leas. and they were queeti as upon which, long
bef i.e the General Electi in, they ought to have made
up their minds as to vrh it was the line they were
Rola' t • take, red on what grounds, they were going
to take it. Mr. Pearce bad alluded to the
ptomain of Egypt, seri he IMO golte satiofied
•oparenlly with the work of the a >Teri:moat.
Now, he wished to speak his min I openly and
pl iinly, because he believed not only in Dorchester,
hut everywhere else, so far as his experience went, the
working m n had more respect for • man who spoke
hi. mind, -yen thoush his opinions might differ from
theirs. (Hear, hear.) Hs did not hesita's to say, and
It will perfectly well koown here an I elsewhere, he
diff 'red from Mr. Peace on the subject of the
Ersptian qn-stion. He Was one of those who thought
the Goverom•nt ought never to have cone Into E.ypt.
--(hear, hear, and a Voice : The bondholders
ought to have gone out and done the job
and psi I for it.) He should like when this
association woe estsblished for Mr Pearce coos. night
t addre s them in favour of the Government
Egyptian p illey, and for him on another night to
oppose it. (Hear, hear.) In his mind it was not a
questi mof turning out the Government. With the
new Francois* they could Gerry • sew Liberal
Government in. and the question eras—What is to be
the policy of the Liberal Government when it Is
carried in (Hear, 1144+.) IS was only • question to
he 000sidersi quietly arid calmly and before the
election. They were met there that night
to strengthen the hands of the Liberal
Party. (Applause.) The Government had upon
the stocks yet another ship, which, ti his mind, was
even more imoortsot than the Franchise Bill, via.,
the County Governor nt Bill. Now, that Bill was •
miter of very great imp dance to the agricultural
population. ad they wool I Sod whatever county
government was passed by the present Parliament in
the uarepr.senteil state of the rural population, it was
• Bill which would have to be amended to • very
coosi lerahle extent in after year., when the rural
popule' ion were represented. (Hear, hear.) It was a
queetioi, of extreme complic,ti in and difficulty. He
took the trouble the other day to frame • map of the
boundaries of the different j oriedictions of the different
bodies which made up the government of the county
of Dorset—local b oards, union., eaaitary authorties,
highway howdy, hmadredo, and • greet number of
other authorities, all interlaciog, crossing, and inter-
crossing one another. This apparent chaos would
have to be arranged in each • way that everybody
who paid his rates eboul.l have a voice in the manage-
ment of the county affairs. (Hear, hear.) Pealing
lin, Mr. Lock said he was glad to see they were not
the first to take up this matter, and that room hail been
Inaugurated for political purpose. by • person
more distinguished than any of them—Mr. Joseph
Arch—a man who had done • very great WO3 k in push.
ing forward the franchise and other important
questions, and he was a man many of them had long
wis'asi to see representing some constituency in
Padiament. (Hear, hear.) There would be • cool
opportunity for the rural lab' arers and the working
men of the small boroughs of Dorsetehare if they were
thrown together, to put their shoulders tithe wheel,
and return as member for the c 'Linty of Dorset some
such man as Mr. Arch. Another question upon
which he felt very strongly, and upon which
Liberal opinion waa very much divided, but which,
sooner or later, they would have to make up their
min& upon, was Home Rule in Ireland. Thera
was a bone to pick. (Laughter.) Mr. Pearce had put
before them reasons to suppose that the extension of
the franchise to Ireland would not strengthen Mr.
Parnell's hands. He did not know whether he was
right or wrong ; but, so far as he himself hat an
opinion, he must sty he should be sorry to believe
that was true. Ile believed Mr. Purcell was a
man whom the greater part of the Irish
people thronghout the world looked upon as •
leader. Whether his hands would be strengthened
or not was a Tecotion of small importance, but what
was of Importance was whether ty Mr. Parnell, or the
Liberal Parte. or any other party, Ireland wee to he
freed from the injustice she bad hitherto suffered.
Whether it was Mr. Arch, Mr. Parnell, Mr. Glad-
stone, or seen lord Randolph Churchill, or any other
man, he would be d leg the gratitude and the
oupp..rt of every Liberal Association, and especially of
every working meters association throughout the
country,' who would see the Irish people in the
inters liberated from the injustice they
bail hitherto suffered in the past. (Appian's.)
For his own part, he would simply say,
as Mr. Parnell had borne the burden and hest of the
day, and befog as he WOA within • short distance of
stows% he would rather it Was Mr. Parnell who should
bear the honour. He believed the Franchise Bill
would be settled before they came to the General
El-ction, but there were two qiiestions that would not
he settled for • very long time afterwards, and they
were the Egyptian question and Home Rule for
Irelapd. Another Bill, worthy their attention, was
. the Ilbert Bill, and they should also direct their
thoushts to the general treatment of the native races,
1 and their treatment of India. When they
considers I the burden of this enormous Empire,
which they loon i in every corner of the world, really
rested upon the conscience and the priociples of every
one of them, whether they were rural labourers or
mechanic., or whatever they might be, every one of
them had the duty forced upon them—to make up
their minds on the different questions •ffec,ing the
welfare of the country, and they should make up their
minds on those questions before the turmoil of the
General Election prevented their speaking and ca-
suiting with any pract'cal result. (Loud applause.)
M. LoVILACK, f 0 a capital speech, props:peed • vote
of thanks to Mr. lock and Mr. Pearce.
Mr. STICKLAND moonded the motion, which was
carried by acclamation.
Both gentlemen briefly responded.
Mr. FOBll7 LOCK then proposed a vote of thanks
to the CHAIKMAN, who, in reply, said they ought t 3
he very thankful to Mr. Tilley for kranting them the
WO Of that room. (Applause.)
Before the meeting closed, Mr. BMWS announced
he had received a letter from Lord °Torino, stating
be should be very pleased to come down and airings
them a little farther on in the summer. (Lou I
cheers.)
The prooeedings then terminated.