The Express.
London, England, 1848-05-18 00:00:00

THE REFORM MOVEMENT.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY MEETING.
Yesterday a °owl! y mewing of the inhabitants of
Middlesex was held at Mill's Riding-school, Albans-street.
Regent's park. for the purpose of taking into considera'ion
too mauifuld iv& on ler which many millions of her Ma-
jeuty's loyal subjects are stiff ring, and adopting such resolu-
tions as may be deemed expedient for the removal of thew
evils, and for the rotectiota of the throne from danger.
At one o'clock the sheriff., att laded by their under.
sheriffs, Messrs. France and D. W. Ware, came forward,
follovst dby Mr. Joseph Hume, M.P Mr. John William+,
M.P., Mr. William Williams, Mr. It. Taylor, and sevural
other utlemen connected with the liberal party in the me.
tropolitun districts. About 2,000 persons bad by this time
cosign gated.
Mr. Sheriff Cesar then briefly opened the business of
I the day by calling upon the meeting to assist his colleat ue
and hanself in pre serving order and in securing to eves,
ape iker who might present himself a full, fair, and impartial
hearing. (L cries of "We will.")
Letters were read froth the members for the borough of
Marylebene, stating that being obliged so be present in the
Rouse of Commons at to dive o'clock. on the second reading
of a bill introduced by Sir De Lucy Evans and Sir Benj min
flail. fur the amendment of the ratepaying claims of the
I Reform Act, they ware unable to anted. A similar letter
j woe reed from Sir D. L. Evans. _

Mr. W. WILLIAMS, late M.P. for Coventry, moved the
lien revolution. Ile believed it was now 16 years since e
meeting tA the county of Middlesex had been convened by
'h•• slerilbt. The last meeting was for the purpose of giving
the sopport of this county to the Reform Bill. From that
measure it had been expected that the grievatives which
had existed under en unreformed parli•tment would have
been remedied ; but greoc was the disappointment that, is-
'dead of carrying out those meatoires of reform which had
been promised by the government of the day, by the govern-
ment who brought forward the bill, it had in fact hot only
fall d to effect their promises but in every respect it bad
failed to realise those expectations which the people had en-
t,•rtawed. (Hear, hear.) It midht not, perhaps, be amiss
remind the meeting or the statements made by the two
noblemen—one who introduced the Reform Bill into the

Itnuse"...7o;rn onn,and the other who had brousttt forward
the 101 l in the Houseof Lo de—a• to the fruits to be expect. d
from that piece of leghlition. When Lord John Russell—
(llisow Sand groans) —introduced the bill, on the let of
March, 1t5.32, into the House of Commons, he used these
words:

I propose by the Reform Act that the people should send to their
house their real reprerntativee. to tisbn:rate on their wants and to
cooe•dt on their filtered. —to consider their gricvnimee—to attend to
their desiros—to lay the foundation for the most salutary changes ht
the well-brieg and ournf,ta of the people, and that taws should not
be pawed for the benefit of classes, by men roused from their. SUM-
bers at 12 o'clock at night t, vote for what they knew net.

Now ho (Mr. W. William.) would ask the meeting if all
xperienc.• had not proved that none of these great and im-
portant national ohjocts had been worked out by the Reform
Act 7 (Cheers, and cries of "No, it was never meant they
should.") He tell veil the negative sinewy; which he hat
just rest iv. d would be responded to and acquiesced in by
the whole population of this island. (Cheers.) Well, thee,
est sin in the House of Lords Earl Grey said, "The gran.
object of the bill was to secure to the people of this country
cheap and good government." (Ilisais, and lauglitir.)
Now, it was important on this occasion particularly to in-
quira into this particular promise made by Earl Grey. He
(Mr. W. Williams) need not tell the meeting that »o
toundetions had Inuin laid for salu'ary changes in the well-
being and ramie% of the people; on the contrary, he
believed that at tho present moment the condition of
Vie working claws was worse than it was before the
poising of the Reform Act. (Cries of "We are starving.")
When he showed the meeting tne ell'e of that act they
would find deep end solid reasons 'or that state of things. In
the first pl lee, bow had the cheap government promised by
Earl they been worked out ? The meeting must bear in
mind that in 1830 (the last year of the existence of the
old boroughmoneering parliament) t e Duke of Wellington
was the mimic minister of this country, with the last unre-
formed parliament to work with. Let him, then, compare
the expenditure of the public money in that year with the
',roomed expenditur.. for the present year. The Duke of
Wellington with a boroagninongering parliament, con-
ducted the ;Hairs of this country in a manner as efficient
as ever had been done at any period of the history of this
country with an expenditure of 52,018,000/. What
did the meeting euppos., the expenditure for the present year
e as proposed to a reformed parliament b 7 &popular minis er
--(crier of " no, no," "out with him)—to conduct the
affairs of this c 'wary ?It was in round numbers 59,3.50,0001.,
being an Mere :ins over the expenditure of the government of
the Duke of Wellington of 7,350,0001. (Shame, shame.)
In addition to this, toe present government had reduced the
interest on the notional debt, by a reduction of the Three
aid a Half per Cents., to the amount of 6.50.0001., making
tl,c expenditure of Lord John Russell 8,000,0001. more than
that of the Duke of Wellington with an unreformed
parliament to back him. (Cries of "Shame," and
"turn the whip out.") This, then, was one of the
benefits conferred on tho country by the Reform '
Act! (Hews and groans.) But bow had that measure
worked ? For the first three years of its existence there had
been some reduction. made in the public exp. nditare, and
up to the close of the first reformed parliament the reduction
amounted to 3,200.0001. Sir Robert Peel then canoe into
office, and at the end of the year 1834 dissolved the parlia-
ment, and he met the new parliament with estimates of ex-
penditure lower then any which had been presented since.
'L'ney were less than the wowed expenditure for the present
year by the sum of 10,500,0001. The present governme
told parliament and the nation that at present this
country was cut male, and that they must have en increase in
the army and the navy. Now in 1830, the last year Ma
tory ministry, the expenditure for the army and navy wars
3,900,000/. less than that for the present year.
Aud then there was a further increase in that
item known as the miscellaneous estimates. These

„....
estimates consisted of various items, including the
salaries of public officers, the maintenance of the royal
palaces, and other matters of that description. The ,
exp inliture under this head was 1,0.50,0001. in the time of
the ;Juke of Wellington, while :or thin year the estimate.
was 4,111,0001.—m0re than double. (Groans and hi•ses.)
Btfi a this, there was another item in which there had been
an ineresse—he mear,t in the charges upon the consolidated
' fund. This was au item which related to the payment of
another class of p:acemen arid pensioner of all sorts, and
some other queer things which would not bear being sub.
mi.ted annually to the public eye, and therefore had been
popped into an act of parliament, and made chargeable upon
the consolidated fund. The amount under this head was, in

the lout year of the Duke of Wellington's adminis
tendon, 2,1600001 ; this year it amounted to 2,780,0001,, or
about 590,000/. more. (Hear, hear.) He could go through
other items to show a similar Increase of expenditure, but
these were the leading points, and it was unnecessary for him
to go into fur:her di tails. Those he had mentioned were
sufficient to give the meeting a notion of the advantages
the Reform Act bad given to the country, (Cheers.) I.
the government of the present day would conduct the &d-
-m:rusts:ilea of affairs for the same amount of charge, as
the Duke of Wellington had done in 1830, he (Mr. W.
Williams) could tell the meeting that the country might be
coy d the es: m nt of the income tax. the soap tax, and the
window tax. (Loud cheers.) But, in addition to the in-
crease of e xpenditure, the meeting would hardly believe
that since 1834 the present government had added
35,000,0001. to the national debt And what was one
item of that increase? Some time ago it would be
remembered, the Irish people could not pay 'he
Irish parsons their arrears of tithes amounting to 1,000,0001.
sterling. The liberal government of this country brought
in a bill to give them power to borrow money to pay that
million sterling. They undertook to get every shilling bock.
The money woo paid to the Irish parsons, but the government
very soon found that it would cost more than 1,000,0001. for
' the employment of cavalry, infantry, and artillery to collect
the money paid, and, therefore, they added the loan ta the
mows' at' the national debt. This, then, was a short out-
line of the chi ap government which the Raform Act had
effected. (Laughter, and hisses.) lie now proposed to fur-
nish the meeting with a specimsn of the good government
which had been promised as the result of the name measure.
Now, one of the first acts of the reformed parliament was to
pass an atrocious Coercion Act for Ireland, and the
meeting must have a vivid recollection that their
last me inure was a gagging hilt for Ireland. (Groans, and
loud cries of " &tame," "Turn the Whigs out.") Now,
what did the meeting sit pose to have been the strength at
the army under the government of the Duke of Wellington,
and its oar, oath this a, ar ? In 1830 the whole army and
artillery amounted to 1.49,000 men; this year it was to be
196,000 mo n, or 46,400 more cavalry, infancy, sod artillery
than in 1830. But this was not the only increase. Singe
the Duke of Wellington's time the government had embodied
the old pensioners, to the numbs'. of 15,000 men,
who were paid, accoutred, and cloth, d. They had also
trained the dockyard battalions to the use of musketry and
ry, to the amount of 9,800 men, and also in the same
way they had trainel the Coast guard, a body consisting of
8,000 men; Pali they had added to that military Mre, , known
so the Irish police, 6,000 men. These items made 38,800 men,
hich, added to the 46,400, the increase he had
already stated, gave an addition to the military forces of this
c gantry since 1330, of 8.5,200 men, ti wnich might also be
added 8,500 men more belonging to the county and borough
coa.tahulary of the counny.. When they looked at these
/acts he called upon the meeting to say wt ether or not the
Reform Act had curled out the great expectations of the
people. (Loud and general cries of " Ni,o no ! We have
been humbugged !") lie asked them whether the country
was not called on to make an exertion for obtaining such a
reform bill as wool,: carry out the great objects which had
been promised by two noblemen of such high charm ter and
standing as the late Earl Grey and Lord John Russell.
They would not have made those promises in 1811 unless
they had wondered the measures c xpected would be for the
politic good. All the people wanted was such ala form bid
as would.carry out what these two statesmen thought to be
essentially necessary for the well-bong of the people of this
country. The question now to be decided was this—
' how was that must deeirble obji et to be effected ? (Loud
cries of " By the people'a charter.") This was the important
question this clay to be decided. He heard a cry raised in
favour of a documen: called the people's charter. But the
real difference which existed was as to the franchise. Some
contended for the charter, others for air. raid suffrage,
w:ile a third numerate and powerful body of their
fellow countrymen were anxious to stop at house-
hold suffrage. Now, he was anxious to are whether
it woutd not be possible fur all parties to agree on
this important part of the subject. (Cheers.) Both the
both these
universal pliffrepet4 and he usehuld suffragists had prided)
the same object in view• lie was convinced, however, that
pus,es might agree, sod he woold tell the et-
ing why he though
c so. In the first place, they must look
u the present stale 0' the rerel9PlMital. Lest year the