The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-12-28 00:00:00

THE MEMBERS FOR EDINBURGH AND
THEIR CONSTITUENTS.

The! Members for Edinburgh—Mr. Adam Black and
Mr. MoneVeff, toed-Advocate—met their constituents
in the Music-ind thdre. on' Monday,. and, the meeting
being one of unusual inteleS't„.oWing to' the keen contro-
versy that divides the city on the subject of the Annuity
Tax Act passed last session, whereby, tliOtt,sh the tax
is reduced one-half, the voluntary dissenters vrilY net. be
able to Fade it as hitherto, the hall was crammed to excess
within ten or fifteen minutes after the doors were opened.
The nt'inher present was probably from 2,200 to 2,400.
The members Were &flowed to the platform by a large
number of leading eitiZens; including Sir W. Gibson
Craig, Sir William I)inibet,. -.1‘1.11., Sir W. Johnston,
Mr. ',lteriaySs, M.P.; Afr..Maitland; golieitor-General of
Scalar :4i W. Chamber's; - Mr. It GI/ambers, Pro-
fessors Pilla&c. Chrilsti'soti;- and' Blitekie, Caplain Sir
William Hamilton, gs:C.- The Lord ProVvst occupied
the chair. Both the hononYthiVgentlonert experienced
the greatest difficulty in obtaini a' bearing, the per-
sons composing the large meeting apparently
about equally divided between friends and foe:; and the
latter demonstrating their dissatisfaction with the coVse
which had been taken by bath their liberal represen-
tatives with respect to the bill for the abolition of the
annuity tax, and by Mr. Black with respect to the
goVernment Reform hill of last year, with all sorts of
noises, gassings; and groans. A -rote of thanks to Messrs.
Black and :litoterP.igt was ca'r'ried by the prominent
majority.
Mr. Black, in the' course' of h'i's a4dress (which was
ceneiantlY interrupted), gaVe' the foiloeving most sen-
sible eipet'lliOn' of the grounds on. Which fie opposed
the Government Measure of reform :•—Like
other men, I have felrr,dl a' notion of the manner
in which Parliament should be feiThifeti. This theory I
have repeatedly propounded to my angtitatits .; and
when the question was before the House of Cesnmons I
felt that I should be guilty of unfaithfulness if, when Ilse
Ministry appeared to be venturing on a dangerous course
("Oh; oh!" hisses and cheers)—l would have considered
myself unworthy of being your representative (a voice,
"So you ate°) if I bad refrained from publicly giving my
reasons for differing horn a material part of the bill then
under consideration. (Cheer's and hisses, and a voice,
"Treacherous Adam." Laughter,) My lord and gen-
tlemen, I can assure you that I felt it zo easy task to
screw up my courage to sacrifice the good opinion of
states/kit Whom I had admired and followed, and the 1
approbation of &inlets whom I highly valued. The
theory I then Maintained Wets the same as I have again
arid again propednded in public Wettings at home, that the
systend of P'arliarnentary representation 11 a mere machine
—an instruniea f. for the' promotion of good goternment,
and that if it get out of fear Or defective; it she old lie
repaired and improved, but thdt ibe proposed alteration
must first be proved to be necess-‘/I. to the well-
working of the machine. ("Oh, oh," ettl a' voice,
"You're a high Tory.") I hold that the franchise
is not a right, but a trust. I maintain that it is a sacred
trust to be exercised for the benefit of the community,
and that the only claim that any class can have
for being invested with this trust must be founded
on their qualifications to exercise it; and before any
change should be made it should first be proved that the
community Will be benefitted by it. Now, here let me
observe that I distinctly and decidedly again and again
declared that I would not pledge myself to any plan of
Parliamentary Reform, but would leave, myself free to
be guided by circumstances. (Hear, hear, and hisses.)
At that tint, raid in the circumstances we were then
placed, I was dispostal to recommend £6. And why ?
Because, in the first place, Lord. J. Russell had moved
and carried a resolution against lir. :Disraeli proposing,
among other things, £6 as the limit of the franchise,
and on that occasion I voted with my party itt what
was really a party motion (yells and hisses), and
thus got in sonic degree committed, although if I
had voted on the other side I should have been
worse committed still, for then Mr. Disraeli, for the
Protectionist party, showed their willingness to
offer the same bribe to the Radicals, or to come even
lower ; and Mr. Bright, besides many of those who
glory in the name of Advanced Liberals--(cheers and
laughter)—would hardly be content with a £.5 franchise,
and would only take it as an instalment. (Hear, and a
voice, " Quite right, too.") All parties in the House of
Commons appeared to me to be committed to the lower-
ing of the franchise, and in these circumstances I was
disposed to recommend the highest limit that was likely
to be got; but when the question came to be looked
at by the members more carefully, they found that the
numbers of the new constituency would be so great that
they would give an undue preponderance to one class,
and that class the lowest—(cries of "tab, oh l")—and
surely he would be a bold man who would maintain
that, for the purpose of improving the machine, the
inhabitants of houses between £lO and £6 rent would
infuse into it more intelligence and independence than
the inhabitants of houses at £lO and upwards. (A voice,
"So they would.") If they are no more than equal to
those already intrusted with the franchise, they would
not improve, but would most probably encumber the
machine (cries of " Oh, oh !") ; and if they are not equal
in qualifications, then they will infuse a deteriorating
principle into it. (Hisses, and a voice in the gallery,
"We are the people.") About this time that very class
of men—the skilled workmen—indicated the use to
which they would put political power if intrusted to
their hands, by entering into one of the most dangerous
and suicidal combinations (" hear," and hisses) ; for a
mere delusion they sacrificed the interests of the public,
their own comfort, and the health and happiness of their
wives and children. (Cheers, and a void, " Mind the
Queen's Park meeting.") At the same time, Mr. Potter,
the leader of the London strike, in his evidence before a
committee of the House of Commons, testified that the
London Secret Committee of the Trades' Union could
influence 600,000 workmen in all parts of the kingdom.
(A voice, "Prove it," and "That is false.") When all
these circumstances were fairly brought to light and
considered, many of the members, and even some of those
who rejoice in the name of Advanced Liberals, were
staggered, and coincided in my views. (Hisses.) I will
only say that I was convinced then, and am convinced still,
that what I stated in the House of Commons was the truth
(hisses and cheers), and I considered it a sacred duty
to declare it, whatever might be the consequence. (Pro-
longed cheers.) Ido not object to a fair proportion of
the working classes being admitted to the franchise, but
don't let us be swamped by them. (Hisses, and a voice,
"Resign.") I am not unwilling to admit a large propor-
tion of the working classes. (Impatience.) What I say
is this—l consider that a safe plan would be to give
votes to holders of property yielding 40s. a year, whe-
ther a freehold or not; and I would reduce the county
franchise from £5O to £lO. (Cheers and hisses.) From
what I have seen of the House of Commons, I doubt if
any party will be able to construct a spick-and-span new
Reform Bill. Although the bit-by-bit procedure has
been ridiculed, I am convinced that it is the only one!
that will succeed ; and if Ministers would adopt Mr.
Locke King's measure for reducing the county franchise,
I have little doubt that it would be carried. (Hear.)