The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-06-14 00:00:00

BRIERLEY HILL CONSERVATIVE
ASSOCIATION.

A meeting under the auspices of the above
association was held at Brierley Hill on Wednesday
evening, the attendance of the working classes
being especially requested, to hear an address from
Mr. F. H. Thomas, of Birmingham, on "The reason
why I, a working man, am a Conservative." The
chair was taken by Mr. W. McMillan, president of
the association, and notwithstanding the inclemency
of the weather there was a good attendance.
The Chairman, in introducing the lecturer, ex-
prefsecl his belief that after hearing the remarks
about to be delivered they would come to the con-
clusion that the views of the Conservative party
were more beneficial than those of the Liberal party
to his auditors as a class, as well as to the country
at large.
Mr. F. 11. Thomas, in the cour-e of a lengthy
address, reviewed the legislation of the past thirty
or forty years, especially that portion which affected
the interests of the working classes. He showed
by the addresses (extracts from which he rea 1) uf
the late Earl of Derby delivered at Manchester and
Edinburgh, the deep interest taken by those
statesmen in the condition of the artisan class, and
elicited loud applause when qnoting from the
speech at Edinburgh, in which Mr. Disraeli stated
that during his Parliamentary career thirty-two
measures directly affecting the interests of the
wage-paid classes had been passed by the Legisla-
ture, all of which had received his cordial support.
He referred to the opposition of Mr. John Bright
and other prominent Liberals to the Factory Act
and other kindred legislation, and, contrasting
such conduct with that of the Conservative leaders,
demonstrated that the interest of the Liberal party
in the working man was confined to words, whereas
that of the Conservative party manifested itself in
deeds —(hear, hear). Referring to the question of
the Church, he quoted from a work of the late Rev.
J. Angell James, a man whom he stated all classes
and creeds in Birmingham had deeply loved and
respected, and in which the Church of England.
her clergy and their wolk, were spoken of in the
highest terms, and held up to the admiration and
emulation of all Nonconforming bodies. He con-
trasted the charitable views of the late respected
pastor of Carr's Lane Chapel with the narrow-
minded and bigoted opinions of his successor in
that pulpit—(hear, hear). In conclusion, he urged
his hearers to be prepared for a general election,
and to support thereat those Conservative views
which he believed were conducive to their best
interests—(loud applause).
Mr. W. Barton (sec. Birmingham Conservative
Association) at the request of the chairman rose to
propose a vote of thanks to the lecturer. He said
they had heard an address from a genuine Bir-
mingham Conservative working man. A prominent
Liberal politician in that town had once, in the
exuberance of his generosity, offered to provide a
glass case for every Conservative working man
that Qould be found therein. He (Mr. Barton)
ventured to believe that great as that gentleman's
income was, a very considerable hole would be