The Express.
London, England, 1866-12-04 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, -tru.ESDAT 13VENING, DECEMBER'

v 4
...,

THE WORKING-MEN'S REFORM

DEMONSTAATION.

Tin PROCEEDINGS AT BEAUFORT GROUNDS.
Beaufort-house and grounds are well known as
the headquarters of the South Middlesex Mike ;
and the history of the negotiations which ended in
their being placed at the disposal of the committee
by Lord Ranelagh has been already published.
Creature comforts were plentifully provided, and of
the accommodation at and every advantage was
taken. There were seven platforms erected in different
parts of the ground, from each of which speeches
were made, but the greatest crowd was assembled
round one called the first platform, which was
placed at the top of the ground, near the butts,
the
.programme stating that at that platform the
chair would be taken by Mr. George Potter, and
that Mr. Beales would be one of the speakers who
would address the people therefrom. Before the
close of the proceedings some sic or seven thousand
persons were congregated about that spot. Amongst
those on the platform were Mr. Beales, chair-
man of the Reform League ; Mr. Dresser Rogers,
Mr. G. Howell, Mr. George Ogden, Mr. J. B.
Leno, Mr. C. Bartlett, Mr. Alderman Cartier, of
Leeds ; Mr. Greening, of Manchester ; Mr. Bate-
son, of Birmingham ; and Mr. Holyoake. In front
of the platform a seat had been placed for the re-
porters, with a rail in front to keep a the
crowd, but of so unsubstantial a character
that it wasbroken by the pressure of the crowd some
time previous to the speaking commencing; before
this occurred, however, the reporters foreseeing the
danger, had mounted the platform, which was
crowded to exceds, and where they had to take
their notes as best they could. At twenty-minutes
past three, Mr. George Potter, the appointed
chairman, had not made his appearance, and the
crowd having become impatient,
Mr. BEALES came forward, and said he was unwilling to
interfere with the order of preosedings as arranged, but be
was not surprised at their impatience. As regarded num-
ben he congratulated them en the demonstration. It
was a demonstration worthy of the men of London. It
WWI a groat national protest and remonstrance against the
charge of indifference on the part of the working classes
to the franchise. (Cheers.) He should not value this de-
monstration did he not regard it as a national movement in
favour of manhood suffrage. Manhood suffrage protected
by the ballot was the only franchise commensurate with
the rights of the people—that national movement which
commenced in July last in Trafalgar/square and Hyde-
perk, and which had ainoe been spreading throughout the
length and breadth of England, Scotland and Ireland, and
bad been followed up with such enthusiasm. He congratu-
lated them upon this worthy continuance of the great
national protest and movement,which no government could
nafely or wisely resist or gainsay. (Hear, hear.) At all
the meetings and demonstrations that he had been present
at, many of them more multitudinous even than this,
there had been but one feeling of satisfaction that the
men of London were now in their right place—(cheers)—
in the place where they had never been before—in the
front of the constitutional battle for the people's rights.
He congratulated them upon this being a further advance
in the great political campaign. He congratulated
them also that the metropolitan police—a moat
worthy and useful body when employed in the dis-
charge of their proper duties, but most dangerous and mis-
chievous when employed unconstitutionally—he congratu-
lated them that a body like the provincial police at the
meetings which he had attended had been worthily as-
sisting instead of obstructing the peaceful and orderly
demonstration of to-day—a demonstration which by its
great reelect for law and order, like all those to which be
had referred, its total abstinence from everything in the
shape of riot or disturbance, tumult or violence, was an
honour to the men of London, and proved, further, their
fitness for the franchise. (Cheers.) Bat here he stopped
his congratulations. He did not and could not congratulate
them upon the place of the meeting. (Cheers, and cries of
" Hyde-park.") To him it was a powerful contrast with
the other meetings and demonstrations he had attended in
that respect, and it seemed to him little less than an in-
sult. (Cries of "So it is.") It was an insult to the inha-
bitants of the metropolis to be excluded from a park sup-
ported and maintained at the public expense—(cheers)—
and driven to be dependent upon the favour
of an individual for a place in which to as.
aemble where they could discuss their wrongs
and political rights. Hyde-park was a much more suitable
and convenient place for them to meet in. It was more
capacious, and if the meeting had been held there, it
would have saved the greater part of them from having to
walk several miles. The same class feeling which excluded
them from the park it was that excluded them unjustly
and unconstitutionally from the franchise. (Hear, hear.)
Now then, with regard to the work before them, for he did
not wish to speak long. Ho exhorted them to go on peace-
fully, orderly, and constitutionally in their agitation for
their just rights until they obtained them, until the
portals of the constitution were thrown open widely and
freely to all who were entitled to enter in thereat. He
exhorted them to go on, and not allow themselves to be
tampered with, but to claim and accept of no.
thing atczt Gi learivxml Indlirsge, rrhel mutt muon I
and hold to that. That had been the declara-
tion of meeting after meeting, of demonstration after
demonstration throughout the length and breadth of the
land. There had been but one feeling, one claim, one
demand. He stood there as the representative of millions
of their fellow-countrymen claiming the franchise, and
unless they bade him do it ho would never lower that flag.
(Great cheering.) He exhorted them not to be turned
oat of their way, but to go on orderly but firmly insisting
upon their rights, and, when they had got them, to show by
their exer‘ise of them, that as they were fully entitled
to, so they were deserving of them. (Cheers.)
Mr. Lta not 'r here stepped forward and requested those
who were of opinion that the next meeting should be
held in Hyde-park to hold up their hands.
All hands were held up in answer to this invitation.
Mr. GREENING, of Manchester, said that the men of
Manchester had at length raised the flag of the total en-
franchisement of the manhood of England, and did not
intend to lower it till it was crowned with victory.
(Cheers.) Some time ago they would have been content
with less, but they would not now be satisfied with bit by
bit reform, which they compared to picking peas with a
pin, which was a practice calculated to tire the mouth
before it filled the stomach. (Cheers and laughter.) They
held that the complete enfranchisement of the manhood
of England would take place as soon as the people willed
it ; and now they were beginning to be convinced that the
men of England were as capable of governing themselves
as those of America. (Hear, hear.) He did not say
that all men were of equal intellect, but from the mass of
the population they were sure to get a righteous verdict
upon any question at issue.
Colonel DICKSON followed, observing that this was a
demonstration got up, not by the Reform League, bet by
Mr. Potter arid the trades unions, but the Reform League
were glad to come there and aid them. Before the meet-
ing, of parliament, he hoped the railways would bring up
100,000 men from the provinces to augment their numbers,
and then they would meet in Park-lane, when he hoped
Park-lane would be broader. When the citizens of
France, of Switzerland, and of America were enfranchised,
that the men of England were not enfranchised should
make them blush. (Cheers.) Why at any moment the
electric telegraph might bring them the news that even
the negroes of America bad the franchise. (hear, hear.)
But if they held together they must succeed. By the
accounts in the newspapers that day, the government were
already at sixes and sevens on the subject of reform, and
Mr. Disraeli was about to leave them, and if he did,
he supposed Mr. Disraeli might fairly be entitled to the
appellation of the Wandering Jew. (Cheers and laugh-
ter.) Would any man after the proceedings of that day
say that the working men, the great mass of the people,
were not fit for the franchise These proceedings and
this meeting gave the lie to the calumnies of Mr. Lowe.
(Hisses and groans for Mr. Lowe). Mr. Cavendish Bentinck
the other day said that Colonel Dickson and Mr. Beales
had led the London pickpockets to pull down the railings
at Hyde-park. That was what Mr. Cavendish Bentinek
bad dared to say. (Shame and hisses.) He (Colonel
Dickson) had written a reply to Mr. Bentinck, and asked
him to publish it, but he had not done so. He (Colonel
Dickson) had also sent a copy of the letter to the
Standard, but that paper had not published it. But Mr.
Cavendish Bentinck was a sample of the majority of the
present House of Commons. There were not a dozen men
in the House of Commons, as at present constituted, who
eared for the people or the people's rights. (Cheers.)
There was Mr. Mill, Mr. Bright, Mr. Fawcett, Mr.

Hughes, and a few others who represented tha people, but
the great reajority represented class interests. He trusted,
however, that in the ne s: parliament the peoide would
be properly represented in the House of Commons, which
they Were net now. The House of Commons now con-
sistedof a good many nomineesof the Housed Lords,a good
many railway directors, a great many bankers and lawyers,
and but very few who represented the working classes.
(Hear.) Those who now sat in the House of Commons
had got there for the most part by bribery and corrup-
tion ; but those days, he hoped, were now all but over, for
when the people had the franchise and the ballot,
bribery would be impracticable, for it was impossible to
bribe everybody. (Cheers.) Was it consistent that Mr.
Lowe, who represented some 15 or 20 people, he be-
lieved, should have the power, by his vote, to nullify
that of Mr. Bright, who represented the thousands of
the working-men of Birmingham. He believed there
was a good time coming—all they had to do was to hold
together. He invited them to stick to the Reform
League, and those who did not belong to it he invited to
come and join it, and insert their names in the books of
that body. They bad done that which would convince
the government that the working men of England could
meet together in their millions, and show by their con-
duct that they were fit to be trusted with the franchise.
He had not entered the cause without being thoroughly
satisfied that it was righteous and just, and he was
determined to stick to it till success crowned their
efforts. (Cheers.)
Mr. LEICESTER, glass-worker, said the question they
were met to discuss was an old question; there was
nothing new about it. It was 800 years old, and it dated
back from the time when William the Norman came and
plundered the nation, and divided the land among his
followers. From that hour to this there bad been nothing
but tyranny and oppression on the one side and suffering
on the other. Every age had bad its martyrs, and they
hail one present in Mr. Beater, who, because he advocated
the rights of the people, had been dismissed from a situa-
tion which he had always honoured. The whole question
was one of aristocratic domination and aristocratic impu-
dence. When the working men were asked whether they
were fit to exercise the franchise, they might well retort by
asking the aristocracy, " Are you fit to govern?" (Cheers.)
Let them tell Lord Derby that when he had got
their rights in his hands he bad got something
like a red-hot poker ; he must let go his bold or burn his
fingers. The question was, should those decrepid scoun-
drels who sat in the House of Lords withhold their rights
any longer—whether those men who had misgoverned
them for centuries, and had taken their bard cash, and
spent millions of the people's money, should continue to
rule over them. Freedom was spreading from land to
land and from sea to sea. Already the news had come
from Mexico that the Mexicans had driven an upstart king
from his throne; Venice no longer mourned in sadness, for
her oppressor bad been driven away ; Germany, with a
Bismarck at its head, had rejoiced in the prospect of free-
dom ; and even the deeply injured negroca had stood be-
fore God and man,and saying " We are menand brothers,"
had obtained their freedom. And in this country, from
one end of the land to the other, the fiat had gone forth
that the people should be free, and they meant to be free.
At this 'tags of the proceedings
Mr. GEORGE POTTER GERM upon the platform, and
was greeted with a round of cheers. He said he
had been unable to get there before ; but the pro-
ceedings had commenced, and several speakers had
already addressed them. That was where they were,
bat many of their friends were yet in Pic,olilly ; they
were moving up in masses, the ground was being com-
pletely filled, and he had great pleasure in stating that
the ground would not hold the numbers that had to come.
The working men of London had much to be proud of
with regard to that day's proceedings. He did not think
the government would want to trouble them much longer.
If this was not enough for them, why then they should
have something that was. (Cheers.) He knew that
the government liked to give them a good deal
of trouble ; they did not much mind a little
trouble, but they must be impressed with this important
conviction, that the working men of London were not
going to lose a day's wages, and be at the expense of a
demonstration like this, fur nothing. Lord Derby and the
tory government must make up their minds to give them
what they wanted, and that was a vote for every honest
working man, whether he lived in a house or part of a
house, because he contributed to the wealth of the nation,
and helped to make the country what it was, great and
influential. The working men of England, who looked
forward to her continued prosperity and influence, bad
taken the thing into their own hands. The people of this
country had never yet taken a case in hand but they had
succeeded in it, and although the reform question had
been many years in hand, it was at the end now. This
was the beginning of the end, and he could assure them that
there was every prospect of a great/and comprehenaive bill
being adopted, and that very speedily. He did not
think that such a procession as that of that day had ever
been witnessed before. Such a set of men, with their
tickets on their heads, with their hearts firmly knitted and
true, would give the opponents of reform an understanding
and a meaning which they had never had yet. (Cheers.)
lie rejoiced to think that the working men of London hail
been able to respond to the call which was made
upon them. They had left their work, sacrificed their
••••1 runny of t 116." bed 1.70.1,e4 15 r."ii thr.slh
Lunacy ,
the dirt to that place, to show their determination, and
that in their opinion the time had come when they should
be free. He would now put the first resolution, which
had already been spoken to :—" That this meeting enters
its solemn protest against, and its denial of, the charges of
venality, ignorance, drunkenness, and indifference to
reform, brought against the working classes during the
last session of parliament ; and hereby declares that no
reform bill falling short of the principles of registered resi-
dential manhood suffrage and the ballot will be satisfac-
tory to the people, or accepted as a final settlement of the
reform question."
The resolution was unanimously agreed to.
Mr. lima-row, mason, moved the second resolution:—
" That this meeting desires to acknowledge the services of
the Right lion. W. E. Gladstone, 111 r. Johnßright,Mr. John
Stuart Mill, and all those who have supported the people's
claim, and vindicated their character in parliament ; and
further expresses its confidence in Mr. John Bright as the
champion of the national cause in the House of Com-
mons." He said he was glad to see the numbers of working
men who were surrounding that platform to claim the r
constitutional right. He had seen great masses in lals
and 1833, but never such a mass as ho saw to day. lie
hoped and trusted they would be firm in their demands.
They built palaces for the nobility, and yet they were
told they were not intelligent enough to have the
franchise.
Mr. Mimeses, batter, seconded the resolution.
Mr. 14414,40 N, president of the Manchester Reform
League, followed. He congratulated the meeting on the
success of the demonstration. He admitted there was a
great responsibility resting on those who called such meet-
ings together, but the responsibility resting on those who
rendered such meetings necessary was infinitely greater.
(Cheers.) It was a disgrace to the country that they hail
to call together meetings such as that in order to insist on
the constitutional rights of the people instead of their
being settled on the floor of St. Stephens, which
would be the case if the people were properly
represented. Some time ago the people were ready to
accept a very moderate measure of reform at the hands of
the late government, but no such reform bill would now
satisfy them. (Cheers.) He was glad to hear that ringing
cheer, which would convince the government what the
determination of the people was. They would now be
satisfied with nothing less than manhood suffrage, sal let
that be their programme from that time forward, and let
them register their convictions that day that this meeting
should be thebeginning of the end, as Mr. Potterhad said,
and that end manhood suffrage.
The resolution was carried by acclamation.
Mr. Hof mea (bricklayer) moved the third resolution,
viz. :—" That the thanks of this meeting be given to the
chairman for his conduct in the chair, and to Lord Rene-
lagh for granting the use of these grounds for the service
of the working classes on the present occasion." He
urged upon the operative bricklayers still to stick to the
banner of Mr. Potter—(bear, hear)—the speaker
made some further remarks, but the pressure of the
crowd, which now became excessive, together with the
rain and fast approaching darkness, rendered it impossible
to take notes.

-- ---
Mr. HOLTOAKE seeondedthe motion in a short speech.
The resolution was put and carried, and the immense
numbers congregated round the platform gradually dis-
persed.
There were six other platforms erected on the ground, at
each of which similar resolutions were proposed had car-

rind, the arrangements, acconling to the printed pro-

gramme, being as follows :
Ptxrrom: No. 2.—Chairman : Mr. Wynne, plasterer.
Speakers, First Resolution : Mr. Hughes, seaman, and
Mr. Isaacs, Old Friends. Second Resolution : Mr. Calla-
ghan, cooper, and Mr. Wolfe, farrier. Third Resolution :
Mr. Boulton, tallow chandler, and Mr. Barfoot, smith.
PLATFORM NO. 3.--Chairman : Mr. F. G. Davis ,
painter. Speakers, First Resolution : Mr. Miami, tailor,
and Mr. Jethies, Forester. Second Resolution : Mr.
Hornsby, joiner, and Mr. Sweating, boiler-maker. Third
Resolution: Mr. Hemmings, wheelwright, and Mr. Fisher,

brass finisher.
PLarroam No. 4.--Chairman : Mr. Lawrenoe, tailor•
Speakers, First Resolution : Mr. Guile, ironfounder,
and Mr. Reece, stationer. Second Resolution : Mr. Fal*
sham, paperhanger, and Mr. Sanders, Oddfellows. Third
Resolution : Mr. Bawden, tinplate worker, Mr. Phillips,
horse collar maker. -

................... --- .
PLATFORM No. s.—Chairman : Mr. Dyer, mason,
Speakers, First Resolution : Mr. Osborne, plasterer, and
Mr. Howe, French polisher. Second Resolution : Mr.
Meadee, cabinetmaker, and Mr. Holt, packing-case maker.
Third Resolution : Mr. Hanley, paper-stainer, and Mr.

Smith, Sons of the Phcenix.
PLATFORM No. 6.—Chairman: Mr. Bonny, joiner.
Speakers, First Resolution : Mr. Bolt, shipwright, and
Mr. Holt, engineer. Second Resolution : Mr. Curry, ship-
rigger, and Mr. Hanley, temperance societies. Third
Resolution : Mr. Benny, musical instrument maker, and
Mr. West, leather dresser.
PLATFORM No. 7.—Chairman : Mr. Shanks, eorkcutter.
Speaker, First Resolution : Mr. Delatorce, silk weaver,
and Mr. Smith, bootmaker. Second Resolution : Mr.
Blackmore, baker, Mr. Murray, bootcloser. Third Reso-
lution : Mr. Snuggs, wire weaver, and Mr. Dodd, wire
worker.

Long before the speaking had finished at any one
of the platforms the people had begun to move off,
and about dunk there were only a few thousands
congregated round the various platforms, which
were situated a considerable distance from each
other. In consequence, we are informed, of the
judicious arrangements made by some of the ma-
nagers, and in part no doubt owing to an impres-
sion which prevailed that there would not be any-
thing like sufficient space in the rifle grounds, they
were by no means crowded at any period of the
afternoon. We were told that the marshals who
were stationed at the entrance, in accordance with
a previous resolution, directed the second and
third divisions to pass by and debouch and
disperse on the adjoining roads. It was stated
that the arrangements for the supply of the magne-
sium light had failed, but whether it had or not,
there was evidently no necessity for it, for as the
speaking came to an end at each platform, with
the usual vote of thanks to the chairman, and in
most cases cheers for Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Bright,
Mr. Stuart Mill, and Reform, the various bands
struck up, the marshals got their different classes of
men in order, and each party left the ground in the
most peaceable and orderly manner. Once out in
the open streets the various processions became
dispersed among the general mass of pedes-
trians, and, with the exception that the streets
appeared rather more crowded than usual, and
that the crowd appeared to be all moving one way,
nothing very extraordinary was observable.
Shortly after four even the refreshment booths
became deserted, and, with the exception of a few
people in the immediate vicinity of the canteen,
which was lighted up, hardly a straggler remained
in the ground. Indeed, nothing more remarkable
occurred in the dispersion of this enormous mass
of people than in the breaking up of an ordi-
nary crowd, and certainly nothing at all like the
confusion that generally occurs on the dispersion of
the spectators of a review, a race, or any other
public spectacle. A few policemen in knots here
and there were observed in Brompton, but in no
one case was their services required to quell any
disturbance, and in the whole of the distance ,
walked by our reporter, after the breaking up of
the meeting, namely, from Beaufort grounds to the
middle of Piccadilly, not a single man the worse
for drink could be seen. In fact the proceedings
altogether were conducted in the most perfect
order, and the conduct of the people, both those
who took part in the demonstration and the
spectators, was beyond all praise.
We are informed that during the assembling and
formation of the procession, telegrams with refer-
ence to the aspect of affairs were despatched at
intervals from the authorities in the metropolis to
the Queen at Windsor Castle.

keeping time to their several bands, nearly all of which
played with marked excellence, until they were opposite
the Reform cpb, when caps and hats were lifted, and a
hearty round of cheering given.
" I saw a young lady," writes a comspondent of the
Piece, " on a white palfrey, pacing up Regent-street, and
followed by a sober-looking, unexceptionable groom at a
few paces' distance. As the mass stood compact in her
way, the fair rider looked somewhat dismayed, and fell
back upon her trusty attendant ; but at one word from
the latter, the docile crowd fell asunder as if by magic,
and the damsel rode away safe and secure, a kind of Una
trusting herself to the tender mercies of the British Lion
—an animal which, with all its rough mane and deep roar,
is not, after all, a less courteous or chivalrous lion than'
any other In the European menagerie."
The procession had passed along Piccadilly as far as
Cambridge House in admirable order, when on reaching
the house of Miss Burdett Coutta, that benevolent lady,
who was standing at one of the windows with a few
friends, was recognised by one of the first sections of the
leading division. As if by one common impulse, the whole
body uncovered, cheered, waved their hats, and bowed
as they leased the residence. Each section, as it came up,
followed the example of those who had preceded ; and for
something like an hour anti a half that noble-hearted
lady was the object of an ovation almost royal in its cha-
racter. Miss Coutts, who was evidently taken by sur-
prise, made the most cordial acknowledgment of the spon-
taneous homage.