The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-05-03 00:00:00

CONSERVATIVE MEETING AT THE

ADDRESSES I3Y SIR R. TEMPLE AND MR.
BOSANQUE 1, Q.C.

A meeting in support of the two Conservative
candidates for East Worcestershire—Sir Richard
Temple and Mr. F. A. Bosanquet, Q.C.—was held
T mrsday night in the Temperance Hall, Lye. Tiv re
was a large attendance. Mr. IL T. Hickman pre-
si led, and amongst those present were Messrs. C.
P. Neel, Yardley, T. D. Thomas, Job Garrett, J.
Bird, A. P. Hickman, H. Collis, S.I Brooks, G.
R lodes, W. Perry, T. Rhodes, J. Parish, S.
Mobberley, R. M. Comley, H. Brooks, W. Fiddian,
R. Rhodes, Major Grazebrook, R. Deeley, F.
Mebberley,
The Chairman, in introducing the candidates,
said Sir Richard Temple—(applause) —was a gentle-
man whose name was well known to them. There
was no man isi the United Kingdom—he might say
in Europe—so well qualified to give an opinion
upon our Colonies, and more especially upon our
great Empire of India, than he was ; and such a
man vas one who ought to be in the House of
Comrnons—(cheers). The other gentleman, Mr.
Bosanquet— (cheers)—was as well known in lees
professional inc as Sir Richard Temple was. He,
like Sir Richard,alsohad connections with Worcester
shire. Ile was a gentleman of such extraordinary
integrity that he has been placed in the position
of Recorder for Worcester, an office which he had
filled in the most exemplary manner. He ref,-rred
to the election of ISSO and to trio promises then
made by the Libsrals to the effect that if they were
put in power tnere would be good trade. There
was good trade when they went in, but it had been
declining over since, and he would undertake to say
that trade was never worse than at the present time
—(hear, hear).
Sir Richard Temple, who was received with great
enthusiasm, said lee heartily rejoiced that, alter an
absence of some three years, he was able once
more to stand before them—(hear, hear). When
he first cause there he was, though a local man, yet
virtually a stranger. Still they must not apply to
themselves the words of the old song, "Strangers
yet"—(applause). He m:ght say now that they
were strangers no longer, and he hoped they might
be spared before long to meet again in the manner
foreshadowed by the Chairman. It was not his in-
tentien to address them on any political subject,
but upon matters affecting the social welfare of
the British people. The foundation of all national
prospsrity was princ:ple, and the best, if not the
only foundation of the prosperity was religeon, and
religion could be supported by maintaining in-
violate the ancient National Church ef this country;
,hat Church of the people, whose duty and acknow-
ledged ebligatiou was to look after the destitute,
the miserable, the neglected, and those who were
brought up in ignorance of religion—(applause).
He dared say there were few such persons in that
district, but he should be disguising the truth if he
refrained from telling them, and there were many
such persons in this country, and in the most busy
centres of our manufacturing community. it was
for the sake of these that the National Church was
wanted. The Established Church of the nation
undertook to guard these who were left unguarded
—(hear, hear). This was the greatest possible
reason for maintaining the National Church. Re-
specting other denominations, they should try to
live in brotherly amity with all sections of Noncon-
formists. They respected their status, they esteemed
most highly their ministers, they knew that in
excellence of conduct and religious zeal they were
inferior to none. Nonconformists had extensive
endowments and Church or religious property of
their own which had been bequeathed to them, and
that property they desired to preserve intact and
inviolate. On the other hand the church people
asked them to allow them to keep their Church
property equally intact and inviol-ae. They had
their churches, their endowments, their cathedrals,
and they asked their Nonconformist bretheren to
allow them t ) keep their property just as much as
they wished to keep their own, They contended
that the Church property was the property of the
Church as much as any private property belonged to
:en individual—(applause). Moreover it was a
property not depending upon legislation, upon any
Act of Parliament, nor upon any deed of the Execu-
tive Government, Religion was preserved by
sieing religious iostruction to the young, and in
order that this might be given - they were anxious
that the voluntary system should be well maintained.
There were propositions for allowins, voluntary
schools a share in the money obtained by the rates,
all of which now went to the Board schools—
(applause). He did not disparage these Board
schooLe which were doing a vast amount of good
work, but they asked that the voluntary schools
inight be put upon the same footing—(applause),
lle thought it would be allowed by every body
that it was in the voluntary schools that religious
instruction was best given—(hear, hear), But of
those who were neglec.€_, and d d who
were growing
up in vice and ignorance—he meant to the Import-
mice of reformatories and industrial schools. These
institutions might be greatly improved, They
heard much if what was called social wreckage,
that was to say, the condition of those who were
wrecked by the waves of this piti'ess world upon
t Se surf-beater and rock-bound shore of life ; and
he wished to impress upon them how important
it was that those who were educated, and
powerful, and lich, should put their shoulders
to the wheel, and work ,together, Another in-
portant matter for the moral welfare of
the people was the promotion of thrift—(hear,
hea ). He was not one of these who believed in
the possibility of what was called compulsory in-
surance, as some benevolent people recommended.
He did not believe it was possible to make everyone
insure his life, but we could do much to promote
thrift by encouraging the friendly societies. The
letter were probably the most extraordinary and
wonderful things of their kind in the world. Little
States in Europe like Switzerland, Norway, Sweden,
or Denmark might be more thrifty in the way of
putting more money into savings banks in propor-
tion to their wealth, but our friendly societies were
unrivalled in the world. He would have such
measures taken as would render all such societies
perfectly safe and reliable, so that those who put
their money into them should not be dis eppointed
when they needed their assistance. Temperance
should also be encouraged by ne ens of the promo-
tion of coffee shops and reading rooms, and by pro
mot ng couvictiors in the minds and hearts of
m, n, and above all by removing temptation from
the path of the workine men and giving them nom-
for able and happy homes—(hear, hear). The
dwellings of the people was a matter deserving of
the closest attention. When the Royal Comnission
which was inquiring into the matter presented its
repoit it would be necessary that something should
be done. Referring next to Egypt, Sir R.chard
said the reason we wished to retain our hold upon
Egypt was that we wished to keep the road to
India • free, and so that we should have perfect
liberty to trade upon the Congo. That was the
reason we were jealous of France. China, Madaeas-
ear, and other places. The'r interest in Egypt at
the present time centered mainly, he presume 1, in
General Gordon—(hear, hear, and applause). That
us et gallant and estimable efficer was sent upon a
mission that must be regarded as most' dangerous,
Wheteer it was wise for the Government to send
him unsupported into the heart of Africa, into the
midst of bloodthirsty barbarians, might 1 e
a question for the Government, and it might be a
eiL-Jstion for Gordon as to whether he olo•lit to
lave accepted such a mission. But he had accepted
it, a,ud bsen allowed to get into the Soudan, and
must be got out of it, or at a I events we must
make the vete, best exertions we could to res.cue
hiw--(cheers). But how lie could be rescued in
this summer season was more Iliac' he believed any-
one could tell thew. The theme for rescuing him,
he believed had passed. It was the old story of
too late. What was possible iu the winter season
was impossible in the summer season, The distance
from Cairo was many hundreds ri miles. Vast
distauces must be teaversed by boats rowing against
the swollen Nile, and it was probable the troops
would b , seized with sickness on the way, And
even after the long river passage had been passed,
there was a great deal of desei.t lobe traversed, so
that whet ter anyone could retch General Gordon
in time was more than anyone could say. They
could only hope that he might be preserved for a
few more months, and then in October a real
military expedition could be sent. There were two
ways of sending such an expedition—one from Cairo
by the Nile, and ti e other by the Red Sea from.
Saukim to Barber. The latter was the best that
could be adopted. A railway might be constructed
and a military road opened, and the men could he
disembarked from the ships on the Red Sea,
and in a few weeks they could reach Berber. Once
' at Berber, and then General Gordon at Khart um
would be morally safe. They would then have te
decide e !tether they should maintain our hold
upon or :es radon the Soudan. He (Sir Richard) did
not believe we could hold the whole of that country.
It was too vast; but we could keep Khartoum and
Berber. And why should we do so? Because we
should be striking a blow at slavery—(applauee).
Slavery in South Africa had been at the bcttom of
all the trouble, it was for the sake of slavery the
rebellioe under the False Prophet was started, and
it was for the sake of slavery the Arabs under
()setae Digua fought against the troops of General
Graham. And it was slavery of the most cruel and
dreadful character. Yet Englanri had become ,
iLai.:e:-2 of Egypt. He concluded by referring to
to the Russian advance in Central Asia and the
annexation a Merv.
Mr. Bosanquet, who next spoke, said there were
some principles which were common to them all, A
and they et-re principles which no Englishman I
should hesitate to declare, and the first was, "Neve i
desert your friends"—applause, The other day ho

was looking up in a shop window in London. It
was a map of Egypt and the Soudan. The position
of the Egyptian troops was marked by little yellow
flags, that of what were called the rebel troops with
black flags, and the position of the English troops
were red ones, Ile saw one spot low in the no
where there was a solitary red flag. On that one
spot, it strack him, there was an Englishman who
car, hd w.th him the affection, the esteem, and
the interest of Englishmen all over the world, and
that red flag was surrounded on all sides with the
black flags ; and this represented the position of
their countryman. of their delegate, General Gordon, '
surrounded by foes, and, alas abandoned by friends
—("Shame"). He did not want to attack one
person or anether, he would not at present say
whose fault it was that General Gordon got there.
He wes sent to do our work by our Government
into a hostile land, and he was sent alone. There
had been Ministers in power, Liberals and Con-
servatives, who had held different views, but it had
been the pride of Englishmen that all the States-
men who had guided the nation had never deserted
a man who had gone out for his country, and that
the Queen had never deserted her allies—(applause).
Font; years ago, when the present Government
came into office, we had, by the invitation of the in-
habitants of part of the South African country
called the Transvaal, annexed it. It was inhabited
by 40,000 Boers and by 700,000 blacks, whom it was
their delight toLenslave. A number of people of
different European nations settled in that country,
and the Queen's Government was established
there ; but the present Government came i Ito
power and the Beers revolted. When this happened
the English residents there were &cod in a very
dangerous position. A war began. At that time
a number of native chiefs stood by us, and applied
to our Government for protection, which was
promised to them. Fifteen thousand British troops
were there to hold our dominions, whilst the Beers
at the utmost had but 7,000. Yet we surrendered
to these 1,000 Boers, and called our 15,000 men
home—("Shame !"). What had happened? It was
a very sad tale, but it was a true one. Of the
people who settled there under the protection of our
flag some were driven out and some were murdered,
and s'avery was now established in that land as it
was before, Two years ago Aribi rose, and the old
Egyptian Government was in danger of being
destroyed. We brought the whole of the Egyptian
army down and brought it to an end. Now in the
Soudan ad Kartourn there were a number of
Egyptians who were servants of their former
Sovereian, and a number of Europeans who de-
pended entirely upon us, The Government, how-
ever, settled that we should evacuate the Soudan,
and we did by s..mdine• out one Englishman who
went out to do our work, and he (Ur. Bosanquet)
fears to sacrifice his life. It might be even too late
to save him now, but before it was not. There
were plenty of people who knew the Soudan well,
and Sir Samuel Baker long before advised the Gov-
ernment to use our Indian troops—who were waiting
for something to do, we had employed them before,
and lonic' stand the climate—and march jthem up
with English officers and the thing would be done
—(applause). As soon as it was known in any
country that the English nation had made up their
mind to stand by any friend or fallen foe, it was a
very far cry to the country where they would find
people who would not yield to the name of England
—(applause). It was important for every one in
the country to know • what principles were to guide
them when they came to take part in any political
contest, becau,e he believed that every Englishman
wished to d., right what was right It was the
custom of those who came before a body of electors
to praise them to the skies, and to tell them that
they were all so wise and independent, and much
better than anybody else, and that they did not
want any instructions at all. But he could not
believe that this had much effect —(hear, hear).
It behoved them all, of whatever patty they be-
longed, to consider this. They could not learn all
'about the English Empire, but they could learn
what were the general principles which ought to
guide any Government for which they voted, and
thoses who supported the Government in the
House of Commons and those who sent them there
ooeld express to them a guiding wish how they
should ae.fiThey should remember that tiny were
first for the nation, and, whatever their party
might be, the cause of England was the cause of
them all—(loud applause). Mr, A. Freer and Mr
S. A. Brooks also spoke, and the meeting concluded
with a vote of thanks to the chairman.