The Express.
London, England, 1849-08-29 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 29, 1849.

THE KIDDERMINSTER ELECTION.

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KIDDERMINSTER, MONDVI.
The dingy red-brink town of Kidderminster exhi-
bits, I assure you, an unwonted gaiety. As I descended
into it this afternoon, the sun slunir g cheerily for the
first time these three weeks, brightened up
flap and banners of every variety of form and
dimension, which were flying from the summits
of tall chimneys and the roofs of giant factories, with
all the glory of the newest calico. It did not take
long to discover that the tory colours were blue, and
the liberal pink and white. The latter beat the for-
mer hollow, not only numerically, but in gaiety of
appearance. If I may draw inferences from httle mat-
ters, I would observe that the inscriptions on the pink
and white flags, went to show the advanced principles
and feelings of reformers. From one small house in
the outskirts of the town; the occunicr —probably a t
non-elector—displayed a banner with the legend,
" Oisborre and the Suflrager "lie who has tot •
vote is a slave." From the roof of a very large
carpet factory, employing I understand several hun-
dred hands, there are two emmmous flags bearing
very remarkable insignia. Ono expresses both the
loyalty and the liberal feeling of the firm, for
on one aide is the crown with her Majesty'.
initials, on the other the inscription "For Gisborne
and the rights of the people." The second banner
has on one aide a wreath entwining a globe, with the
motto "Free trade with all the world;" on the re-
verse a scriptural quotation—" The earth is the Lord's,
and the fulness thereof." Upon the blue Minas
there arc few icyriptions. Tue only observable one
I have seen has on It " Bele' and the land, boys, we
live in"— a tout which the hon. candidate seems to

have mai, popular.
Kidderminster, ss you are doubtless aware, has
heretofore been most corrupt. I have seen here re-
spectable men of every see ion of every, rArty, and not
one of them but has avowed and deplored the fact. Still
more singular, I baronet found thateitherside isinclined
to blame the opposite party more than they blame
their own for participaturg in these disgraceful e'ec-
tioneering practices. It appears to be admitted here
on all hands that corruption commenced with
the party who origirally supported Mr. God-
son. That gentleman was introduced to the town
under verr peculiar circumstarc, s. Mr. Godson was
the son of a solicitor at Tenbury, in this county, and
after being called to the bar he went the Oxford cir-
cuit. He entered parliament in 1831 as member for
the notorious borough of St. Alban's, where he bought
himself a seat sea radical, under circumstances which,
I believe, the Daily News some Cane since narrated.
It happened a short time before the passing
of the Mom Bill that there was a serious

riot at Kidderminster, originating in a dis-
pute respecting wages. A number of operatives were
arrested, and scat for trial at Worcester mixes.
Mr. Godson, then one of the loudest spoken stuff
msmen on the circuit, was retained to defend
He was fortunate in the judge and in the
jury. For many of them he got an acquittal, for the
rest lighter punishments than they at all anti-
cipated. When the borough was enfranchised
by the Reform Act, the minufnetuers of the
town selected as a candidate the present Sir
George Phillips, himself a member of a ma-
nufacturing family at Manchester. Many of those
voters, however, who were opposed to the masters
about the riots, determined on bringing forward Mr.
Godson, who Lad so ably defended the indicted
rioters. That gentleman, relying on the extreme
class of voters, would have stood but a peer chance of
success had there not been jealousies and differences
in the other camp. A party of persons, who after-
wards celled themselves conservatives, went over, is
consequence of those diffesences, from the whig can-
didate to the radical. Mr. Godson's party, thus'
strengther el, was still in a minority. But
an expenditure of some three thousand pounds
enabled him to secure the teat by a make ity of 12;
and by peculiar management beheld it for his life,
with the exception of a atingle parliament.
I should state that bribery and treating, which
have been practised so generally in Kidderminster,
have net been the only bad means resorted to, to
influence the voters. Mr. Godson, on account
of the Worcester trials, was the popular can-
didate for the borough in le:12. His friends
oommenced a system of intimidation, which
it is to be hoped is unknown in any other constituency.
This system has obtained the name of " blocking.'
Mobs of men from the mat distticts, armed with
bludgeons, were in the habit of surrounding the shop
doors of the voters known to be opposed to Mr. God-
son, end of threatening, hustling, and ill-troa•lng any
persons who attempted to enter in order to make
purchases. The canvasses at Kidderminster have at
every election been remarkab:e ter their duraion, and
this system carried on for sere ral weeks both before
and atter the poll has been known to be the ruin of
many a poorer voter.
Not only hes Kidderminster been succkingly de-
moralised by its election system, but I am assured
that there are few towns in England where so much
ill-blood has beau engendered by the exercise of the
franchise. For this also Mr. Godson was to a
very great extent responsible. Nothing could
exceed the coarseness of the late member's
hustings speeches, whether in matter or in
manner. lie cared not whom he personally
assailed, and as a natural consequence he mate a host
of the most bitter personal enemies. A paper which
wan published here some years since, under tory
auspices, but which is now happily defunct, fostered
all these local and private animoeties. Of this print,
which was called the Ten Tuiena Messenger, it is not
too much to say that it woe a disgrace
to the British press. Its parallel for virulence
and disgusting slang was not to be found in the pro-
vinces, and if the Satirist, wiai which it alone was
comparable, was a nuisance to London, it may easily
be imagined what a pest inch a publication as the
Ten Towns Messenger must have been in so small a
society as that of Kidderminster. There is, however,
always retribution in the affairs of this life. The
paper during its existence nearly ruined two or three
proprietors in pocket, and certsioly it cannot have
tailed to have ruined certain of them in character and
reptilian.
The attempt which is now teing made to introduce
a purer and better electioneering system into Kidder-
minster can scarcely fail to excite a rublio interest.
What may be the upshot of that attempt I will not in
this letter venture to predict. Mr. Thes.Gisborne has
told the electors frankly. that "if they expect
to receive from him a single shilling eater in
money or in money's worth, they will be woefully
disappointed." I have very little doubt of this gen-
tleman keeping to his word. He has a public repea-
-1 Con to lose, and he would be a much weaker minded
man than he is known tobe to hazard that reputation
for the sake of representing Kiddetminster. The
other candidate has not spoken out in quite such
strong language, sod i•, possibly, not precisely in such
good hands. But there is a securi.y in regard to
this gentleman's neoceedinga arising from the ca.-
cumstance that neither he nor his family can spare
much money. To this it is replied that thekCarlton
Club perhaps may send the needful down. "I do not
know what the finances of the Carlton are, but I
should think it extremely unlikely, even if they have
any funds to spare, that they would assist &perfectly
unknown candidate, and one who cannot possibly do
their party any good, even should his election be ob-
tained.
31eanwhile the town hue been canvassed, and as
far as can be ascertained the contest will be very
close. Both parties at present boast of having a
imajerity of " expressed" votes. The word "expressed"
is Mr. Gieberne'r. I dare say you will understand its

mport.
If I construe the experstien tightly, it means this :
There ere some 30 or 40 iudividuels, mostly publicans,
hanging. back for bribes. 35!. and 40/. a piece hes
been flaw usual price though stories are afloat of
men who received 100/. and 1201. at the election here
in 1841. That any one may have these men who
pays them is quite certain ; whether any one will pay
them is another question. That they will vote with-
out being paid is not very likely. They have never
done so yet, and there are no signs at present that
their old rule will be infringed.

Taff Pot cz rrt rm iII(PLAWBS.—HaIf a dozen
metropolitan policemen have ben conveyed to Balmoral,
and me dirributed &boat the ;die- with instructions to war]
off intruder•. The fares certelaly is nee a great one, but it
is more than sufficient for the purpose. Their duty, though
not arduous, is deplorably wearisome. It consists in ching
nothing. l:nitss the knowledge that they are tbere of itself
operates as a restraint on the inquisitive ;lemons against
whom they are to guard, their presence is ►ltogether super-
fluous. They may remain on the lookout the whole day,
" from morn till dewy em"—they sot unfrefluently do so
remain—without decrying a solitary individual.