The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1885-05-26 00:00:00

ABBOTSBURy.
OPEN AIR LIBERAL MEETING.

Being tumble ts. obtain pertnimeion to hold their
meeting in the schoolroom, the Liberal. of .% blotabery
assembledm the open air in large number,. on Mon.
day evening for the intrpom of forming a Liberal
.Viemnation for Ahlwitebitry, Portexham and the
district ii, c nines:tem with the We'd ltons4 ta,ets-
tens. It may lie comideriel fortunate perinimion tll
we the ecleolnenei Wad denied, for that (mailing
would scarcely have held the crowd that then
round the xpeakere, Mr. Williams (Redden) wax voted'
t.. the "chair, which ci Demisted of standing on • rimed
lath, where he was joined by r Can. Batten
the candidate for the division, Mr..! T. Staple ;
(itridiort), Rev. Mr. Bain (liridlort) Rev VV
'Taylor (Portland), Mr. ti. Pike, u
and man.). .riherS
well known in Ableitelnir/ and the neighborhood
The Ceaddirie ollellll the tneeting with a few
reniarke. He lielieved the !sitters' Government to be
beneficial to the country at large. They would renient
her he newer' an amendment when the Conservative
ineeting wiiii.held at the eeleolnom, and he did ci in
the hrnt opinion that A Liberal candidate would la the
neet fitting ui represent them in Parliament. He
entertained this opinion levaune he helieved that the
Liberal l'arty had done toot. for the working man
And for the country at large than the Coniwrvativen
had while they were in power. (Applawie.)He did
not mean to say the Conservative Party had never
done any good, but he did mean to say that so far
as. he had read, and could think and imderetand the
Liberal Party had effected more —(hear, lwar)—and
more had been done by them in the last Parliament
than the "there had ever done. (Applause.)
He
expremed htx pleaiture st seeing much a large audience
and had not the slightest doubt the reeult would he.
issitiefactory. 11.. then called lapel Mr. Stephens to
edible. the meeting.
Mr. STRPHIC:Cs, whe was cordially received, said he
had Merely coine over as a matter 44 Inieitimw, for he
had been touring nnitel the Weetern Division
•of I ha-set trying t.. get as many imentatione
form.' throierlenit the district as he could. .thle.tx•
bury and Ilridseirt were moue' now ; they in Itridiort
were very plemiet to be hut with Ahleiteliiiry, And he
hailed they he as pleased tA, Ire pia with them
(Applause.) They had only ine. objeet ill View, and
that was the welfare of their fellow m.o. He
Incidentally mentioned his father took &great interest
in the al/oldie,' of the Corn Laws, and when lie (the
opeaker) saw Mr. Farquhanion was going niund the
country and advocating • duty on corm he thought
It wag time for his son to come to the front if there
was any of his father'. bloel in him. ([said
applause.) Sir. lartpahareen now went round telling
the people he did not te tax the loaf of the work-
Mg limn. Why •! he unit that cock would
not tight. (Iwiegliter and lima:owe.) It Was humbug
for Sir. Fanotharent to tell them that, when be lield
in his hand the nie.rt of his Newell delivered at the
Stelplaeli Agrictiltiand Show, when Ile distinctly
advocated a duty 'wing plat on corn, awl he woilld give
In to anybody who would disprove it. (Applauxe.)
The question was -whether they would have two
leaves or three for a ehilling. Mr. Fanitiliareon was
going round trying to istAke out how very fond he Was
of the working men. (Laughter.) Very likely he
was now he wanwil them, alai now they hail tile vote,
for which they hail to thank the Liberal party &hew.
Mr. Farisuhairwill WWI 111.1 wed to their having the vote,
and he quoted Mr. lianiiihareni'm own words, in
which he opmeed the exteneimi .4 the franchise, and
here ie Another fiver, said Sir. Stephens, to auyb.irly who
can dieprove theirtatrusent,for I heard hint say it myself.
(Applanwe.) (Mr. Carey Batten, at this Dlonlellt, nil.'
up, mil was received with enthusiastic ele.re.) -Mr.
Stephen, then proceeded tit explain the working of the
sesociation. It Was forlltrd Olt the basis id every
dietrict meociation having their %hare in the election
of a representative for the division, every single nan
having a vote. Ile trusted they would he
succrnefid in forming an association here, and
that they would elect a delegate to attend
the council at Ilriillpert ou the following
day. lie apologieed ti o them for not bring
ahle to get the lichiolnom. (Ilienes.) He
would not say anything about that. (.1 VOICK
Mort of us know all Atom it. (Laughter.) Lord
Ih:hotter Was a gelitlelnan, and be meleretoonl he had
lie et distinctly etated lw was not going to interfere
either out- way or the other. That he undenitmel
Was hie leirdshilie pwition. (Hear, hear.) He told
them when their secretary wrote, be never lent the
nous but at the request of • particular friend like
Mr.- Yaninhareni. (Iniughter.) lie Was therefore
sorry Mr. Stale, their eiseretary. Was not a "particular
friend." Still perhapa it was beet, fie the school
never liar,. held them, and that nom they were in
now was big enough. (Lesughter and applause.)
The Rev. Sir. BAIN next rlelivenet an effective
speech, in the colleen of which he wax loudly ap-
plauded. .tt the preeent time they were looking
forward, for they hail got the vote, and I tell pet,
lade, said the rev. gentleman, you have got A eplendist
opportunity put int.. your hands. (Alilibtitsr.) The
work lug man had got his right., now, and that Was a
grand thing. Their Tory friends Were always talking
About th.• good old tile... What grand olil tines
they were when they had pay lid. fur a loaf.—
(" We dou't want that now."
.(Appbanee-) It was
grand eating and grand drinking for. the working
Mall in them days. Taken altogether it ins a grand
titue indeed I lien. was a emseinten, There was •
law, and he did not even know it was n.pealml new,
that if a young fellow merriest th,. girl 'if Ins choice,
the lord of the Manor could send his etewaril and take
the girl away u. serve hie purview's for a week in fort.
night if he clime, (.1. Voice: '' Prove it ! and
Another, "They tauten do it ierw," soil " Boob !"
" Never ! wove !-2 -(7llin interruption proceeded
from One or tWo T. wy gentlemen who Mel taken lip
mention. at the otitekirte ..f die meeting, hilt they
wars iw.altirtly Admixed hy Cries of SIMI pair
rattle, ' "Oyer the wall,- he.) When the interruption
had mewed Mr. Ilain xontimied that Was a specimen
of the spirit of the ..1.1 ind that spirit hail not
(tone out new. (Hear, hear.) But they hol their
rights, and the Tories Wen- leg ng to talk as if
they had given them to the tv.nking uu,au,! They
talked am if they himsi !well their friend., and had
given them every prit Urge ; they wreild gis e them
nothing till they were compelled. The
mwking man had lei., a right put il!ho his hands
is huh was abirist us. pieciens is thing as it Was 1...44r
for him I. has',' j and dint ism tle. right to parten-
pate in the leeinlature of this imindry. Ti,,' Torwe
Wen' now going use. s.,ving "Oh ! ilk, that."
(Laughter.) Then: lie innintaimel, hardly an
Act in the met for the goed awl weltheing of the
ii. irking cleanse that the Toriei luoul ien been hoetile
to, and, &a regarded tbe extension iif the (regicides.,
need anylenly them who gave theni that right
-.4" We know.") ( tpplauee.) --There was again
conniderable interruption tips ponst.—Mr. Bain
eontinued—it was sfr. Gladstone who was the tied to
hand' up in the llotwe of Commons awl maintain the
principle of the right of the working melt of England
to the vote. (Applaww.) The Torn. Made lIIIIeh of
the Howiehold Suffrage, but it WIN all record in
hietery that the Radical section 4if the Litteral
l'arty pindied the Government into a cerner until at
length they were compelled to give in, and it was
through them they had the household euffrage. (Ate
planer.) He challengiel anyoue who had read history
to show him where the (!iewervative• hail faro nind the
working Man ill any acte.l legislation. What, then,
should they do with their iota. ! They stood that
nenstent in • neat intiortaiat peeitioe, Un- there
.Werr
grea tII neeti. delnallding coneelerat ion which vitally
affected them, and in the eettlemeitt of which tlw vote
of each man had an unqueetionable part. Besides
great land queeti tttt , there were impeuent Novel
qui. and among them the great Pie of Local
(hit. ii, and he asked hiA total abetinence friends to
take notice that they had a gradd emortunity
making their opittionx felt and known. (Hear, hear.)
With regard to the question of county boards, if the
represelitatiVea were to Ise fairly and hometly
and they had the power in their own hande of electing
s6i9, thuy Orilla do a gn:At Work, but other.weie they
would be hound te temiet it. They lied a Parleinieutary
repreaentative before them at the present time—Mr.
Farquharson—bid he (the epeaker) really did. not
know what be believed itt or what he would do if he
pa into l'arliantent. He had a 'WWI eloudY and
emeure idea of hie opinione, and lin del not think
from the bottom of hie heart he (Mr. Farqultareon)
knew himself. (Loud applause.) And that, he con-
sidered, was a perilous thing iu a man
:who would
represent that,,, His impression about it was that
Sir. Farqiihariion simply wanted to get nit.. Parlia-
ment, rind thAt he would nay anything sand everything
in order to attract their influence and intereet. (Hear,
hear, And laughter.) They wanted • man who
.would
tell damn plainly what he meant, and would abide by
it, and wh.• would stand by the party who had
adv.cated the rights of the working men. ([sod
applause.) Be appealed to them to vote like honied
and true-hearted Englishmen, and not be led away
by tine Achenii'n and notions. Here was the old gtesit
of Protection walking shout =onset them pretending
it was Fair Trade--(latighter)—it was about the
big-pelt ehant he had ever heard. (Alilih!ww-1 TIWT
knew what it had been in the (met, and did 131.1 w"in
it to return ! (Ni., no.) Why did the young men Aro
"If to the miens! why was it? They could not sbide
thi: minima eerfdom of the country. (Hear, hear.) Let
thew do right, if only for right's eake—for the sake iuf
that young (elbow and that young girl, for the children
gn.wtng up about them ; let them 1.4 to
.the party
who had given thrill independent. in this matter.
("S., we will.") It was all honest, and true, and good
that he had Loki them he would not *AY it were it
not. (Hear, hear.) The motive power se the land
and in the legislatton lay in the heart of Engleilimen
its the principles that they held, and in the manner in
which they vindicated their independence and their
rights, (Applawie.) In this imminent time, cen•
hided the rev. gentleman, .10 your duty in thei matter,
And we shall hind our leaden, supported and ewitAined
'sir sympathy, and they will carry on the work
with larger heart(' And freer mope, and will de even
grander thiug* for thiss dear old country of nem, (4,,nd
Cheers.)

Mr. Pikg expressed his pleasure at seeing they
Were waking up in this matter. They repreiented
Liberalism that day; there might be one or two
Tories there-(" business here !") -he WA. glad
to see them, for they might be converted if they were
not too great political sinners. (Laughter.) He
Waved some 1.1 their Tory friends werenoll much
like the Prodigal-they were very nw o.
(Laughter.)-(A Vows " Soon come back.)
they would noon come back to the natural father of
England, Liberalism. But, although the House of
o"umenis was essentially Liberal, they had newer
Yet had a thoroughly free course for Liberal. legisda-
bon, there being always • permanent majority of
'Ninea ill the House of Lords. The quesiiiin, therefore,
tor Liberal working men was whether that Howie
should have se much power in the future as in the
tag. He particularly alluded to the action of the
ii"un". of Lords in their threatened intention to throw
.sit Mr. Davey'. clause m medical relief, so that if
they did no BUM would Ibe disfranchised if he had a
hot of pills from the larish (lector. (" Shame.") -(A
Vows : " If they strike that out we will turn them
) (Applause.)-A Toxv : " It not been sent
yet.")-A Voica : " Shut your th.-)-
: Ibi you think I am no foolish I don't know
t..nnt tell me something I know. (Laughter )
'uhng tdi to the land question, he maintained they
nhould let the people have • greater interest in the
1414 I thei clad us want to wroug aaybody, =Wan

nwri.;(l

!meth

did they want anybody to wrong them. Who had been their deadly enemies all through Toriee.") He showed how they had /ought every
inch .4 the Fnutchire, and their craft in saying thei gave them the Redistribution Bill. Alluding to the-
Tory candidate he said they had heard that vacill • IR'
young gentleman, who said one thing to-day4IZA
stood up and stoutly denied it On the morrow.
(Laughter.) They had heard him my positively he
advocated a ra,. tax on corn, and now Tie said he did
not believe in any such thing. (Laughter.) They
wanted the Western men to send him back to Gun-
wale again— that was the beet place for hini. (Hear,
hear.) They could tell him he said so if they liked.
They often met, and they did jaw one another. Ilemd
laughter.) Had the Tories ever come and asked them
who should represent them (No.) He could tell
them the day was gone by when they should try and
cram them an turkeys were ; they would never have
Farepaharson or any other man crammed down their
throat.. (Applause.) They, the Liberals, MAW to the
working men, invited them to form an &association,
let them pick out the man to act as their spoke...man
at the Council, oil that they should all have a voice in
the selection of their member. (Mar, hear.) When
they had selected their man then go in for him and
win. (Applause.) Don't abuse or touch anybody.
lie would not handle a Tory neigh for the life of
him ; but let the Tory keep straight, and lie. •
gemtlenison, and he would be a gentleman alongsideor
Inn., but he would try and keep him out of l'arlia-
anent though. (ls.ud laughter.) He and Mr. Fermi.
• harson were very good neighbouni at home, but if lie
, tried to tread on his toes, he should bring down his
I foot, and it was a pretty broad one. (Laughter.)
i They had • cheap loaf and they meant to keep it.
' N.. more "barley banniclue." They were masters .4
the situation. ..and they meant to keep three " Fair
. Trade chap., Ind if Parliament - lapplaused—and
they also ~want to have a stake in the soil. ((fear,
hear.) Mr. Farquhanion's last dodge was a duty on
boot. and bonnets, but they meant to keep their hands
off the Issas and bonnets as well as OW coni. (Laugh.
ter.) Ti. conclusion, he urged them to give in their
namea to the association, and he trusted Lib...lion in
this division would have a grand and noble future.
( )
The following resolution was then carried by
acclamati.m " That this meeting views with
hearty satisfaction the formation ..f the
Liberal Aaanciation for the Division, and of this
branch for Abbotsbury, l'ortesloun and district, and
promise* its assistance in the effort to return a
Liberal repereentative at the coining election.—
(Hearty cheers were given for the newly-fornied
association.)
Mr. CARKT Barret next delivered &short but telling
speech. He was delighted to be prnent and to we
they were hard at work at this end of the division, in
the same way aa. he had found them in the village* in
other parts of INwset. It looked aal if they were
taking a real and an honest interest in the vote that
had lomil given them. (Hear, hear.) They iinsl have
no fear in coining forward, for they hal the Ballot to
protect them, so that now no mortal Inas' onll.l tell
how they voted, and 111, one bail the slightest right to
dictate to them either • way or the other.
(Applause.) if they would take his advice
they would hear both sides, weigh the
argo-
n.ent,. earefully, and make %111 their minds
thoroughly before they went to the jall, They had
but little dmilit what the answer would be. They
were sure if men would only look heck to the
history .4 the country for the past half cen-
tury, and observe what the Liberal party
had given them, and also see how the
Conservative* had been all along oilseed to the
s
granting if freedom and liberty to the is-ple, th..y
would not hesitate what course they would take.
(A.pplaiise.) The Liberal Government had given
them an extended franchise and a true and honest
reforn,, the id which he believed would be that
they would we the c. try strengthened and
bemefitted, and instead of going back, as their Con-
servative friends seemed to hint, they would find it
going forward in the path .4 plowman. (Applause.)
He then subniitted the lollowing neolution :—'This
meeting desires to ',goreso.s its thorough confidence in
r. Gladatone and her Majesty's Government and
rejoices in the Lowrance that, by their moderation,
homesty, and courage, the questions at issue, Is•tween
this country and Roasia will be satisfactorily and
honourably settled without an appeal to arms."
Alluding to Mr. learephamon's statement that a
Liberal candidate could not lie found for West I/orset,
and that gentlemen had teen in the habit if showing
their nines one day and leaving the next, h. (the
speaker) believed Mr. Farquharson would find he was
mistaken, and that a Liberal would be found n•ruly to
fight this division--Mear, bear)- rexely to show his
Dime there and kept it there—lapplause)---and
believed before long they in that division would find
they were able to return a Liberal member to repro-
then,. (Cheers,) They had hoard what had
been said about Fair and Free Trade. He could
assure them this Fair Trade theory was nothing less
than sheer humbug ; became they might be perfectly
certain, put a duty on what they ',andel, somebody
would have to pay for it. (Hear, hear.) Mr.
Farquharson now denied IIS had advocated a
duty on cairn, but lie could, if needed, e
duce his words, chapter and verse. Wiwn he
bum, the ditty on con, wisild not d he
turned round fili barley, and then on manufactured
articles. Now, Mr. Farepihanein ilOthisw
would induce him to lilt is duty on corn. What,
then, could they say of this gentlenutn, and how
could they get on with him when he shifted round,
and said one thing one (lay, and another the next
(Hear, hear.) There were many others who ad v.icated
• return b. Pmt,cti.nt, lett who had hail h more
tact and disal-tion than Mr. lonnwhantnn Thry
were "sitting on the top of the fence," and were
careful Hot to) p down yet-A.0.1.W I—but unfor•
innatelv Mr. Farspiliitrson had :sits( to Jump down
Isith sides --Ilona laughter) - and now he was lip top
.4 the fence again. (Loud cheers.) Mr. Fanothar.
son now said he should advocate putting a duty on
what was most convenient, and what suited people
Is-at, hot what they 'mid was most convenient MSS
that they should put it on nothing. (Cheers.) lii
conclusion, ?.fr. Batten thanked them for their attem
tion, and expressed his pleasure to find they hs,k miek
an interest in the subject.
Nfr. VD:VENT seconded the motion, which was
!wried by acclamation.
Mr. tirgeittxis his, lug 1M1111N34.4 A RAN W.NNIA is, the
a vote .4 thanks to the chainrum MSS pr-
ass'.) by the Rev. Mr. Ram, and seconded by Mr.
PIK; and the. CHAIRMAN having acknowledged the
nompliment, the proceedings terminated in an orderly
manner.

.-ISe....ra•• were given for Mr. Gladxtene, Mr, [fatten,
and the airrakerri,