The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-12-27 00:00:00

GREAT CONSERVATIVE DEMONSTRA-
TION AT LEEDS.

On Saturday a great Conservative demonstratipn
was made at Leeds, which was attended by the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer. Mr. R. Bourke, M.P.,
(Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Mr. E. Stan-
hope, MY. (Un&r-Secretary for India), and Mr.
Ruwland Winn, M.P. The day's proceedings com-
menced with a luncheon at the Town-hall, which was pre-
sided over by Mr. George Lane Fox (Thairman of the
Conservative A-eociation for the E Astern Division of the
West Riding of Yorkshire). Among the principal guests
were the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Hon. R.
Burke, M.P., the Hon. E. S tanhope, M.P., the Earl of
11-Arewood, Viscount Lascelles, Mr. C. B. Mullson,
M.P., Mr. C. Sykes, M.P., Sir C. L.gsrd, M.P., Mr.
lA. R. Starkey MT., Mr. W. St. J. Wheelhouse, M.P.,
Mr. Basil Woodd, M.P., Mr. R. Tennant, MY., Mr.
T. K. S Anderson, M.P., Mr. W. Spencer•Stanhope,
MA', Bir W. Chaytor, the Hon. E. Laecelles, the
Hon. G. E. Lascelles. Str W. Worsley, Mr. Thomas
Collins, the Hon. F. Stuart Wortley, Mr. F. S.
Powell, and the Hon. C. Dunconibe. The guests
numbered about 5410, The large gallery was occupied
by ladies. Dr. Spark played the large organ in the hall
while the company were assembllng.
The Chairman, in proposing "The Health of the
Qileen." said one of tho priueipal objects of that meet-
iug was to impress, not only on their own minds, but
on the minds of others, the absolute necessity of
returning at the next general election loyal men (hear,
hear)—men who would support her Majesty's present
G)vernment, a Government consisting of sound.
headed statesmen, whose wise counsels would keep
Her Majesty, our much-loved Queen, firmly seated
upon the throne and in possession of all her dominions,
(Loud cheers.)

" The Prince and Princess of Wales and the rest of
the Royal Family " was also received with loud
cheers.

The Chairman next proposed " The Health of Her
Al;jesty's Government" in a brief speech, which he
concluded by exhorting his hearers to support the
present Government. The toast was drunk with great
enthusiasm.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, on rising, was re-
ceived with loud and prolonged
.cheering and Kentish
fire, the whole company rising, and the ladies in the
gallery waving their handkerchiefs for several minutes.
Silence having been restcrad, the right hon. baronet
proceeded to address the audience, and, in his opening
remarks, said
Now, Mr Gladstone is such a great authority on matters
of finance that people are disposed so take whatever he says
entirely upon trust. . . . But really it is Impossible for
you to accept in a blind way everything that Mr. Gladstone
has said. Why, you know that he himself has had to
correct some things. He told his audience that he referred
to Scotland as being the country indicated in the
beautiful song "The Land of the Leaf," which you know
means Heaven. (A laugh.) I must say that when I read
that I thought be must have had in his mind something
Ike the idea which we have heard—namely, that all good
Americans when they die go to Paris (A laugh.) So I
thought Mr. Gladstone meant that all good Liberals
when they die go to Scotland. (L aughter ) Then in
that sense Scotland may properly be called the land
of Heaven. (Renewed laughter.) But the real explana-
tion, it seems, is that he had so many things in his
mind that he made a mistake and could not help it. So he
has made many other mistakes—l have no doubt with the
same excuse. But it may be interesting to you to consider
a little what his oratory amounts to, because, as I under-
stand, you are Co have a special interest in him. He has
declared to win, I am tcld, with Midlothian; but he has
engaged in Leeds a sort of stable-companion to Midlothian,
whloh is to try its paces and, perhaps, provide him with a
safe seat in case the other should fail him (Laughter.)
Therefore, you are interested in considering what his state-
ments are worth and how they have to be examined.
(Cheers.) Let me avoid as far as I can plunging you none-
cessarily into a great wilderness of lizures, and let me
disentangle from his statements the principal charges which
I tlnderitand him to make against Us.
Sir Stafford then proceeded to examine at some
length Mr. Gladstone's indictment against the Go-
vernment, referring especially to the subject of finance.
In the comparison which had been drawn between the
expenditure under Liberal and Conservative Adminis-
trations, the unfair course had been adopted, he said,
of deducting all war and extraordinary expenditure in
the former case and refusing to deduct it in the latter.
The deduction must be allowed in both cases if allowed
in one. Many charges which the Government had had
to meet had been thrown on them by the Liberals.
More money was spent on the army than before,
whilst an increase which had taken place in civil ex-
penditure was due to a great extent to the charges
which had been taken off the ratepayers, and the
money advatced to local bodies on loan.

to our rulers as they pass through the doorway of the
unpretending building to their deliberations.
The summoning of Parliament for the sth February
Is the call for the meeting of an assembly which
it may safely be assumed will, when once pro.
roguecl, never meet again. It will be its seventh
session; and in modern times no Parliament
has gone beyond that number, Indeed it is very
seldom that it is reached, The Parliament imme-
diately preceding that now in existence sat only fere
sessions, and was dissolved after a life of five years, one
month, and sixteen days. Its predecessor eat only At the subsequent mass meeting, which was held
three sessions. But before that came a very long in the drill shed of the Artillery Volunteers, (which
Parliament, one lasting six years, one month, and a is computed to be capable of containing 10,C00 persons),
the
Chancellor of the Exchequer made a long speech in
week, but the one prior lasted less than two years. e course of which he raid :
It is very seldom that a Parliament runs out its .. . . Now let me say one word with regard to that great la
full term. The accidents of Public life, and political dictment which has lately been brought against us in the
fgrolo: of the Liberal party. There is an old story, told, I
vicissitudes of various kinds often terminate its eprreianeentiteleonlasatgaicensntturay,eewrthacii;a having
career ia a sudden and unexpected manner. The de- to conduct go" etrosooti,
noise of the Crown, a defeat of the Government, the for some political offence as the Attorney-General,
two or three h days to state the case; and when that had
retirement of the Prime Minister, a secession from
Attorney
-General
jury s wtohoexsaildaiothwatbal
the Cabinet—either of these has in times past it took the Astfos
surely
offence was they must find the poor man innocent, for he
' necessitated an appeal to the constituencies. So far as
can be gathered from current events, such as the in- ottlfreen)Ce at all.nearungshstserkannorivnchtenearst.lie was
ll',l3smommeithinrigg lake
'Unctions issued to the great spending departments ' that has been the feeling produced in my mind by the very
e
pleonifothetnoeadhintborate, and profuse denunciations of our
to be ready early with their estimates, there would we
myself,h iv ealnacte lately
keneoewn listening;
a
many and
others I
matt
appear to be indications of a dissolution in the summer say gat I have
hore, been considerably bewPdered by finding that every sort
of next year, By that time this Parliament will be
one of the oldest, if not the very oldest of the century. andcoemel
ve4yamokennicealtlhaaVeagnre::e!' conceivedheti i
sh
chargedheaped together.
againstete
It will :lave seen as much as it has fallen to the lot the lief irtunate men who now hold the position of
of most Parliaments to witness. One of the incidents withrenuyatts'ln'ed Ministers.
sour cpchpeonereantajiad uloaturhtteiri .2
imNproews:
sion that from the moment you wake in the morning until
of its existence has been a greet European war, of
yeu go to sleep at night, and perhaps also in your dreams—
which no one could possibly have dreamt at the time (taughter)—you are occupied In nothing but devising
of the general election at the beginning of 1874. evil and mischief against your country, you cannot but
think it is just possible that he may prejudiced
When, a few months ago the last vestiges of Temple I (renewed laughter and cheers), and Ihenreeaolitrilosetiletsairaegawmii,ht
Bar were removed from the south side of Fleets some little allowance the charges whlchthree
street, it was hoped that London was done with that yoousitiotuotflestiimoietpointiolutbthis great difference between the
ancient and not very elegant structure, And yet on country and that or Ministers
criticsay t oao d conductoppootehoet
ea!! aVI
:—The critic
theiti o
thlitiigsto do but to find fault; the Government have to
the scere of antiquity it had not many claims, for it hdascirr
mils nct more than 200 years old, quite a child in age question w there n ';'svearyfanuniPtioenbtehLyuwniellwna aenodndite ht
h%trethoer
when compared with the venerable abbey at West- with conduct there, but what would the other alternative
have been?
miieter. But the Court of Common Council has withoutCponrollutcliney hmadvoebdonreeatoetrher
ithonft,heyNtviave
decided that Temple Bar, although vanished from now I have referred to the speeches mwhich have beeeln
mortal ken, shall be perpetuated by a memorial erected mad
mortal
w thieanntaornreef of the Liberal party by its great
eroago b
for a momentyanother
great t anothero
ornament
in the centre of the roadway near its former site. Now made but a day or tw
the chief reason for the destruction of the Bar was to that party (laughter), and I use the word with all sincerity,
gain more room for the enormous traffic con- Irtllamdmniertealeyrettitltall
athme abilitiesore
f extraordinary3r Bright.
tAPaeneetbh'is(tCohwrehelrnsc.ll)
etantly flowing east and west through Fleet-street and containing more extraordinary doctrines than
ha then
irldeoistitrluema has been my lot to hear from a
o isiroyt sayo t that
i,e
the Strand. Where it stood, to mark the boundary oni4atitir bear)
n
between the cities of London and Westminster, he advocated a I this I will
the roadway is very narrow, and the building took up went uncommonly near it. (Laughter and cheers.) I will
yoltpirsaey;
but
would
eouladdvpoorsteodot throwing o our i Colonial
no inconsiderable part of very valuable room. Mr. h did say, nhcaovme ptabre-
Bright's famous metaphor, that it was impossible to tug this country with the United States, that we
drive half n-dozen omnibuses abreast through Temple ripe o
restle )stor;stngethrrottftettltel country in these islands, and that
ou
sr
.c eNvoefl l
,s strength,
ae riilf
the
last3ut
Bar will be well remembered. The model approved a source of weakness and of rdeanhigenroteon
person to deny that the position of this country at the head
by the Court of Common Council is intended as anneeonmopwiunsg empireant such o r
,reataofdGireat Insini is a post-
s " rest " for pedestrians seeking its shelter amid It
the rush of the traffic; but hitherto it has been courage. But I think tYhat we ought to tglewaasamfner of oa(nr4-
aeslvaessoiforwoe speak tof the great colonial empire of England
customary to erect these rests in wide roadways,
such as that at the entrance to the Thames I maintainetllina et
rif yw of
do our dutyand nit
f wtraktneeniss. t PT's.)
use aright that influence which we by
to Phraeve, and
Embankment at Blackfriars, or at the junction those
tna
globe,
l ogoraeawt
ecoagsaTlunoittles which
warheicshprwinegtgpoospseas
'I
i over the of Queen Victoria-street and Cannon-street in the
. City. At such places the bewildered foot pas- occupying a proud position for ourselves, but ° one ythbat
eenger has time to look about bine. He has reached will hoof the greatest 0:;,; te adozolotangeoffoL the civilised world.
peace,
,i s t
o such
promotethat
a kind of half-way house, a haven of refuge from she mast naturally desire to promoteg
ally desire. the perils reprecented by t6o 0ia.....xx of ,41„,1.1.0 Itiale:,ilrp.lo,Er:l ttiite owornogrit7 d tahla mus:. naturally
good government. (Cheeors j .;7.oewp,aft maintain,iur 'n
°Wallet--
incessantly flowing past him, and seizing a favourable of
opportunity he makes the remainder of his journey tvoenri a
rmayo'inbtes Tteliatdig,ereiftces existing among us on par-
14'inen&onnaertvhis across the crowded street in safety. Eat until this question). I points,
ethaetag is f nLoCgOsn7yd is
Live rants, but in the great body of the nation, that you
. proposal came before the Court of Common Council,
will find sunceharseynotnimetentjeeas these to prevail. You have
no one ever suggested that a rest was required in each d a notable instance of the
a narrow thoroughfare as Fleet-street. manner in which such sentiments as these have swayed
nlieptaossfead
y f
distinguished
m us—one
man. I refer to one
u
The extension of municipal institutions to the the
haspublic
recentlyc
metropolis is a matter of very slow progress, and member of the Conservative party, one
ownie who
ulwhom wasmatl,
edifferencesrssii lissclotein prevailed, and who never shrank from
tho3e who wou'd welcome it rejoice at any sign
that tLeir lee es are to be realized. The appear- GxoPvernmegnt Was in oetrinece ;
boldly
worillotlLdeanductillf ;tvh;ttever
the estimation of his countrymen, by ther7n;i'oanestgy aPnednetliine
fined of the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs as well
' as fef course,allesne s
mean
with
the
clhatheealways stated his °pin i,nis. I,
the Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of olieb of iic
a k.ma(o3hwee who, b s.) I say
Works at tee banquet inaugurating the openieg of tha that you have there an exam. pabilities, perhaps, took a more prominent podtion, buy i)
t who
Holborn Town Hall was a eatifactory feature of the 11,11,3pol:ha:see awsounder or a truer position than large num-
bers ilulborn is in the bolough of Finsb who do not reckon themselves
and therefore outside the civic boundaries. Finsbnr nriiYi Ceonservatives (Cheers.) I say that there are lanathTsel'e party
kingdom
Y—m large numbers' ot men who when the qiiestion arisesbetween
a population quite as larvae Manchester, and it seems their t
momenpart y
to giveandth theeir country will not fail or hesitate for a
strange to read that it only now peezeszes a town.hallpreference to the higher duty.
(Cheers )
worthy of the name ; while the town-halls of such great Sir Stafford Northcoto then proceeded to deal with
pibvincial towns as Birmingham, Manchester, or Leeds the foreign policy of the Government. He enlarged on
have for years been the pride and ornament of these the importance - f ZgabLsttrong Indian frontier,
important borough?. London, howeeer, is such a vast repeated the desire oer the Cabinet to maintain Afghan-
place, and-its people combine so many conflicting late. : istan as an independent Power,e
interposing between
India and any other Power, end said re
rests, that it is very seldom it can be affected by con- cent events
wmoutdn ot al t alter the principles of the Treaty of Genda
sideratioun such as those which influence the inhabit- There was nothing in the presentposition f •_ . , o our
ants of other large towns. , forces to cause any uneasiness,
and the affair would be
settled in a brief eri ci F 1., to • Everything was being done
'he Sheffield election is the last for the rear, and it that could be ' , me. and Indian Govern-
iris rtmarkable fact that it has succeeded is time ot , menus. He denied ?I:at:level-1r
of breaking up the Euroorperahn policy had had the
Aires:al. quietude -in England which has had no l e ffeet
• "
and
said
1 he firmly believed that the heart of England,
parallel for many years. It i 3 an extraordinary as a whole
, was with the present Ministry in their forei npolicy,'
circumstance fir: more than coven months to elapse Sir Steil rrei then proceeded to allude to Horns1
affairs,
without fin election either contested or uncontested, and said a—
•
throughout the length and breath of England and I will not detain you now upon
finance. I have already spoken at considerable great question of
Vales; yet between that at Canterbury early
number
bsenrbjoefctyoinu
are
eis
rceiatiyiertse. do ity ,thaen d as I know f large
in in May, and that at Sheffield, within three
favour if perhaps I
days of Christmas, not a single vacancy occurred i am not asking an unreasonable
at what will be reported oittiloansdaby. (Hear, he..• (pi:ova%
in_an English or Welsh seat. There were one or two in been the
teerarigest endea-
Sootlafid, and one or two in ;Ireland, but none on this vonalyr nilithle say—that
so to
side the border or of St. George's Channel, There is io; the country as to accomplish the objects which finances
were
scarcely a parallel for this in modern political hhtory, i necessary, to improve osuraralsleersysicesos where improvementGosi
necessarily andcaus etg
and it may not be witnessed again in the experience ' lavdajsustretqhe burden of the expenditure
of a lifetime. There is now one vacancy existing— 1 In a manner that should be least oppressive to the
i people. You know very well that thoimas taropah
tbat.fccr the borough a Barnstable; but aa It in caused
which We have been passing bare been 03201 of great

depression. You know very well that the consumption
, of those articles which bring in revenue to the Ex-
chequer has fallen off, and you know that, accordingly,
the revenue has not been in a flourishing condition for
the last three or four years. At the same time, we have
had to provide for extra and peculiar expenditure. Well,
we have been told that we ought to have done that entirely
by putting on taxes. At the time Mr. Gladstone had
to make provision for the large sum paid to America for
what was known as the Alabama Indemnity, he did not
propose originally to provide for it entirely out of taxes.
He proposed to raise a sum by borrowing on Ex-chequer
bonds; but it so happened in that year the receipts from
Customs and Excise were so enormously large thst they
covered the whole of that charge, and consequently a very
shrewd observer, a friend of ours—Lord Derby—made this
remark :—He said, with reference to the fact that the whole
of the Alabama Indemnity had covered by the
Excise, "We have drank ourselves out of the Ameri-
can difficulty. (Cheers and laughter.) Well, we are
not able at the present moment to drink ourselves out of any
difficulty at all, and let M 3 point out to you that the
Government of that day in a time of great prosperity did
not think it necessary to lay on taxes because the revenue
was abundant; and they ask us at a time of depression to lay
on taxes because the revenue is not so abundant. I think
that is a rather hard measure, and wiles* circirnstauces
render it absolutely necessary we should be carefol how we
kept back the reviving orosperily of the country by adding
unnecessarily to the tsx-stion. (Hear, hear ) Bear in mind,
we are not increasing, but reduclrg the other debt
(A Voice: "What about the income-tax?") Ti is not what
Mr G adstone said it was. (Cicero.) He told you that it
had slot up to 61. in the pound. It is nothing of the sort,
it is 51, and I think a large number of those who used to
pay income-tax under Mr. Gladstone do not know very well
what the figure of the income-tax is now. (Hear, hear.) I
was asked to answer a question which, I am told, will
interest a good many working psople. Tne question
Is this: Suppose a working man (with a wife and
four children), who does not smoke or drink excisable
liquors—what is the amount of duly he will have to
pay to the revenue—what will be the amount of his taxes?
And I was given these quantities which it was supposed he
would consume— 31b. of sugar a week, floz. of tea, 2oz. of
cocoa, and 2,z of cAfee. (Laughter.) lam not respon-
sible for the question, but I must say, it these things are
properly given, the amount which that man would
have to pay to the revenue would be 21d. a week.
(Laughter and cheers.) 01 course, he would hive had
more to pay under the former Administration because
he wouli have to pay something upon his sugar. We have
taken off the duty on sugar. (Hear, hear.) Well, gentle-
men' with regard to other domestic matters I say that we
are doing what we can to improve the condition of the
working classes, and we are doing what we can to induce the
working classes to improve their own condition; and I am
satisfied that the courage and patience with which they have
borne the long period of depression through which we have
been passing will have their reward.. . .

- - The meeting was also addressed by Mr. 0. B. Deni-
son, M.P., Mr. B. Tennant, M.P., Mr. Bourke,
MP., Mr. E. Stanhope, M.P., and other gentlemen,
after which the following resolution was carried :
" That this meeting pledges itself to use every effort
to return to Parliament candidates who will support
her Majesty's Government and prevent the guidance
of the destinies of this great Empire falling into the
hands of those who would reverse the pulicy of which
the country has so frequently expressed its unequivo-
cal approval."
The proceedings then closed with a vote of thanks
to the chairman, and cheers for the Queen and her
Majesty's Ministers.