The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-11-24 00:00:00

MESSRS. GLADSTONE AND HASTINGS AT

EIA.LESOWEN

On Monday night last, Messrs. W. H. Gladstone I
and 0 W. Hastings, the members of Parliament
for East Worcestershire, addressed their constituents
in the British Schools, Halesowen. Mr. B.
Hingley presided, and there was a large attendance,
including the Revs. A. Moon and G. Middleton,
Messrs. B. Parkes, T. Stocker, J. Eveson, J.
Whitley, B. Bird, G. Dunn, J. B. Shepherd, G.
Moyle, D. Hewitt, C. Bloomer, G. A. Bloomer, T.
Williarn4, G. Green. J. Siviter, G. B. Hingley,
H. M. Hingley, E. Collard, G. Somers, T.
Crampton, F. J. Turner, &c.
The Chairman said that the confidence reposed
in Messrs. Gladstone and Histi igs at the last
election had ben fully justified, and that confi-
dence was not diminished at the present time.
(Applause.)
Mr. W. H Gladstone, M.P. referred to the visit
of Sir Stafford Northcote to Ireland. and said he
did not say a single word on the subject of the
Irish Land Act. Therefore he thought they were
entitled to say that by his silence Sir Stafford gave
a tacit assent to the principles of the Act. (Hear,
hear.) He was at a loss to understand why their
opponents considered that this was a fitting moment
to make a crusade up and down the country,
because, as far as he could perceive, they had no
policy to place before the electors ; and the
criticisms they had passed upon the present
Government were, he thought, very small
criticisms indeed. It was a very different
matter when the Liberals carried on the crusade in
1879 and 1880, because they had impugned the
policy of the C. nservative Government, both at
home and abroad, within the walls (1 the Houses
of Parliament. and they were anxious and desirous
to appeal to the country upon that issue. They
attacked the Cons2rvative policy generally, but
now all the Conservatives did was to complain
that the pledges of the present Government had
been unfulfilled. That seemed as though the Con-
servatives were anxious that every item in the
Liberal programme should be carried out. It was,
however, the province of a statesman not so touch
to carry out any preconceived series of measures
as to be able to deal with exigencies as they arose
(Hear, hear.) The Irish difficulty was bequeathed
to the present Government by the Conservatives as
a burning question—(hear, hear)—and they might
fairly say that they had grappled with, and dealt
with the whole question. (11t ar, hear.) Two or
three sessions were occupied with it, and the result
was the passing of an A.ct which had la.-gely re-
duced the rents of the tenants of Ireland, amid had
secured the people in the possession of their homes,
which they had in almost every case reared with
their own hands. (Applau.e.) He believed every-
thing that had been done coull be defende I, and
Successfully defended, on the ground of justice.
(Ipplause ) Another difficulty Parliament had
bad to contend with was obstruction, and in dealing
with that Grand Committees were appointed, so
that the progress of the work might be faciii-ated.
It was to one of those Committees that they. owed
the pas drip., of that very valuable bill during the
late ses,iou—the Bankluptcy Bill. (Applause.)
That bill was passed almost amid a chorus of
approval in the House of Commons, and everybody
acknowledged that it reflected the greatest credit
upon Mr, Chamberlain. (Cheers.) He believed
that measure had rn.:t with the approval of the
commercial world, and he trusted that one of the
results chat would aeclui from it would be that
they w. uld s e fewer "successful bankruptcies,"
of which there had been far too msny in the past.
(Hear, hear.) There was also the Bra4laugh
difficulty, which led to protracted debates in the
House of Commons. It was true that the Govern-

ment had not bucceeded in providing for Mr.
Bradlaugh the power to take that seat to which by
his election as member for Northampton he was
entitled. (Hear, hear.) But they had, at all
events, the consolation of knowing that they had
striven their best to do so and if they did fail by a
small majority of three, when the matter was looked
back upon as a matter of history, he th ught the
Liberal Government would have no cause to be
ashamed that they were faithful to those principh
of civil right which it had always been their glory
to uphold, (Applause.) Their opponents were
unable to say that the past session had been a
barren one. (Hear, hear.) Of the thirteen bills
which were promised in the Queen's Speech, five—
and those the most important—were during the
session carried into law. (Applause.) The Agricul-
tural Holdings Bill was a very moderate measure.
It was not intended to revolutionise the system of
land tenure in England, and indeed he did not
think the time was ripe for doing so, but it was a
bill which intervened between the landlord and
tenant, and he thought it would be effectual f. r
securing to a tenant the capital which he might
invest in the cultivation of his farm. (Applause.)
The Corrupt Practices Bill was a lasting credit to
the distinguished gentleman who had charge of it,
Sir Henry James. (Applause.) The expenses of
elections would now be considerably curtailed. At
the last general election two millions of money
were spent throughout the country, and that he
contended was a perfect disgrace. (Hear, hear.)
In the division he represent..d the amount of
money expended came to about 10s. for every
voter in the constituency. (Shame.) That, how-
ever, was a moderate amount comparcd with what
it was in some plaets. For instance, in South
Essex, the money expended on the election came to
255, for every voter. (hame.) It. was a shame,
and he hoped the effect of the Corrupt Practices
Act wouli be to do away with a great many of the
demoralising concomitants to an election to which
they had been in times past accustomed ; and also
that it would open the doors of _ the House of

Commons tostnen who were not able to command
large sums of money, but who were well fitted to
take a seat in the House of Commons and repre
seet their fellow-countrymen. (Applause.) With
regard to the extentiou of the county franchise, he
remarked that their opponents had said that the
county was apathetic in reference to the questioa.
bu he was of opinion that that was a measure on
which the country had set its heart. (Hear, hear.)
The question was a very serious and formidable
one for the Government to grapple with. It was
sure to be opposed, although he did not lay much
stress upon that, because he was perfectly certain
that whatever opposition might be offered it would
speedily be overcome. (Applause.) The addition
1 of an enormous number of electors in the counties
must of course entail a general revision of the
whole system of I.:presentation. It was in the re-
distribuion of seats that he thought they would
meet with the greatest opposition, The Govern-
ment would not only have the opposition of the
Tories, but probably of some members of their own
party who might think their seats were in danger.
A host of difficult questions would be raised, such
as the retention of the minority vote, and whether
the franchise s'iould be purely a residentiary or a
proprietary one. The question of Parliamentary
reform was no doubt a dangerous one for any
Ministry to grapple with, and when it was before
the country in its entirety he did not think it would
be possible for any other first-class measure to
receive consideration. That must be borne in
mind, and he hoped the matter would not be un-
duly precipitated, but he also hoped it would rot
be long delayed. (Hear, hear,) There were other
measures of a very pressing ohmmeter, and among
them was the question of the Government of Lou-
don, a subject which must be taken in hand before
long. (Hear, hear.) The foreign policy of the
Government, he thought, had been worthy of
commendation. (Applause.) The English troops
were to be withdrawn from Egypt—(applause)—
and he believed the country would be disposed to
give credit to the home Government for the manner
in which they had supported Lord Ripon in his
endeavour to carry out the principles of the Ilbert
Bill in India. (Applause) In conclusion he ex-
pressed a hope that the electors would continue
to remain stedfast to their Liberal principles,
believing, from their experience of the past, that
those principles were the best for the prosperity of
the country. (Loud applause.)
Mr. G. W. Hastings, M.P., said that there were
two estimable gentlemen who were desirous of
taking the places occupied by his colleague and
himself in Parliament, but ha hoped that at the
next election it would be found that they had done
nothing to forfeit the confidence that had been re-
posed in them. (Applause) Some of the leaders
of the Conservative party had of late been ad-
dressing meetings in various parts of the country;
but he would like to know, hoking at the asser-
tions some of them had made, whether the electors
were prepared to place confidence in such men,
and withdraw it from the present Government?
(No, no.) One of those leaders—Mr. Lowther
said the other day that the present Ministry had
first of all robbed the people of Ireland of their
property, and had then handed theta over to the
knife and the bullet of the assassin. ("Shame." 1
and a Voice; "He told lies." Laughter.) He
thought one was fairly entitled to ask, after read-
ing such words, whether Mr. Lowther believed
what he said (Not he.) If he did not believe it, all
thas coul4 be *4 a him was that he Vialius


ques•ionab!y unworthy to occupy the position h
d-d bcc th trbl.e. (Applause.) No publi
ut w!ie wo 1 e ;awr..t ly. when speaking or
Zt 81.: a (iu ostioo, s y t iiat which he did not believ
to be true could be deiervieg of the confidence 0
the people of the country. (Hear, hear.) He d.
not wish to impute that to Mr. Lowther, as he ha
no doubt that he sincerely believed—at any rate, a
the moment—what he said to be true ; but 11.
(Mr. Hastings) would ask what confidence o
reliance could be placed in a man who would mak
such a statement as that ? (Hear, hear.) Wh
could seriously believe that some or the highet
statesmen of this country, men of the highet
character, who had proved by years of unselfis
work their d( sire to serve their Queen and countr,
ever possessed such a diabolical idea as to first re
the people of their property, and then hand the!
over to b 3 murdered by the assassin? (Shame
And yet those were the words of a leader of ti
Conservative party when addressing a public mee
ing a few days ego. (Shame) The CTiservativ,
had been trying their utmost to discredit ti
Government in the eyes of the people ; and 111
Gibson, speaking in Scotland, said that the preset
Administration when in Opposition eharged ti
late G.,v r..met.t with extravagance, but that durin
the yea- 1862 he Liberals had expended upwarc
of ninety millions of money. Well, that was quit
true, but Mr Gibson forgot to add that that
mense sum included the whole cost of the Egyptia
expe itio.m. (Applause.) If the Conservativ
had lell in power the Chancellor of the Exchequ,
inst ad of paying the cost of the expedition out
the revenue of the country during the year, woul
by means of the floating debt, have:causedo toll
a burden for some time to come. Mr. Gladstone-
(cheers)—however, throughout his political life ha
always maintained that the only sound financi
principle:for a Ministry to follow was that the a:
penses of every year should be paid out of ti
revenue of that year. (Applause.) By that gre.
principle the Government had, to their etern
honour, unflinchingly abided, and every year aim
they had been in power the expenditure had be
balanced by the revenue. (Applause.) With r..
gard to Ireland, he expressed an opinion th:
what had been done for that country would in t}'
future lay the seeds not only of good governmet
but that which wa; even more important, of a goc
understaniing between the Irish people and the
fellow-subjects in this country. (Applause • 1
Turning next to the question of extending t
franch se to the counties, he said the people d
manded that that measure should be passed in
law. (Applause) There was no question whh
was more prominently before the country in 181
than that—(hear, hear)--and the present Minist
were consequently bound during their term .
office to submit a bill to the House of Commons f
the extension of the franchise. (Applause
Whether the Government could succeed in carryir
that measure through Parliament was not for hi
to say. He felt sure they would carry it in t
House of Commons, but there was another place-
(laughter)—on whi .11 they were accustomed to loc
with great veneration, but at the same time with
small expectations that their desires would
refused. It was quite possible the House of Lor
would reject the bill, but if they did, he was qui
certain of the response that would be made at t
polls by the people of this country when that iss.
was submitted. (Loud applause.)
Mr. Thomas Williams proposed, "That tl A
meeting desires to express its full confidence
Messrs. Gladstone and Hastings, and thanks tru
for their assiduous attention to their Parliaments
duties, and fo: the steady, constant, and lo 5:1
support thr7 have rendered the Government on 1:
occasions."—Mr. F. J. Turner seconded the resol
tion, which was cirried amid applause ; and t
meeting then terminved with a -rote of thanks
the chairman for presiding.