The Express.
London, England, 1859-01-18 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY XVRNING, JANUARY 18, 1859.

MR. BRIGHT AT BRADFORD.

(DT DIITLIN AND Tits= MAONNTTO T6DDILATN4

(PROM OUR OWN OORRISPONDENT.)
BRADFORD, MOADAT Mese.
This evening a mestiag of the inhabitants of
Braked was held is Vt. Oeggpite.ba. Is oniegosace of
its being pretty etearany oeismeset that the pelardpirs of
Mr. Bright's proposed Balms BM, which has bust at isagth

matured, wall be eupledaoil, the gnaw* biome Wee
ineadhatad, assd although the ollsdadou to the seeeliag wee
•_ _ _

by punks* ticks*, keg Win flee boar ilzd far the ;nest-
tag, the large kali, white Y cskialsted * hold between foes
sad five thousand parsoss, was direly etwashd.
Mr. Bright uttered the hall a few Mast* pat Ism
o'clock, and wee raised by the asmalislistshbade with'
load cheers The chair was takes by Mr. BROWN the
Maya of Bradford ; and on the platform were Mr.
M.P., Mr. R. Milligan, M.P., Mr. J. Crossley, M.P., Thai
Balt, M.P., K. Pc.reter, M.P., J. Priest:non, sad near•
cue other pattern* of Wino* i■ the Matti*.
The CHAIRMAN having crated the proecodiap, Mr.
Torus BALT mimed the following resolitticat That this

amain gradually rearciebug Mr. Bright'eembasst earvicies
to the gnat strode kr the Napa of the Qom-rws,
eor-
diany welcomes him to Bradford on this his drat visit since
the triumphant Woe of the late conflict, and remembering the
severe and painful Ithaca, which had recently compelled hint
to withdraw awhile from public life, airs him Its hearty
cisegmrdaticm cm his happy restorstion to health, and ex-
pense ma amid hops that his life may be keg spared—
that he ary be enabled to devote his rare &Wins' and
irrer fm which be is so distinguished to the promotion
at those objects which are moat closely identified with the
political and 'oda well-being of the great mar of the
•...
Mt. JOHN CROSSLEY seconded the resolution, which was
only* amidst loud acclamations.

lb. Samar, M.P., on thing, WI received with cathe-
dra* chewing, again end again renewed. Whes silence
wee restored, the hoe. member proceeded to refer to the
growing Meerut tekeo in Parliamentary Reform. Be ex-
pressed his dislike of what he termed "fancy franchieee,"
mob se to professional men, depositors in savings banks,
to. The object of the Reform Bill ems to eras& the wages
elms, and a rating suffrage would remove this enormous
grievance. Mr. Bright oontinued—l received s lettar the other
day, in whkh my oorreeptmelent said, " The people here are
afraid thell year exteeded suffrage would swamp the shop-
keepers, ea/ they as taming against you." Why, what did
the mesidesterers owe say, that the shopkeepers would

swamp them. Bat that was not the case. I do not
believe that the working others wish to conspire to swamp
wen of larger capital. You mutt remember that these men
as of the ease flesh and blood, having the same hops sad
fears, reeding the same newspapers, and having the seam mo-
tives as those above them. You ere probably nit swam that
nearly one-third of the oonatitosnalas inningintad by like
Rik= Act have qualifloalloas between 105. mid 255., end
they have never done anything to swamp those having a
qualification above 251. • year, and it would be as illogical to
suppre that an extrudes of the franchise would swamp the
present electors as it would be false to say that it took piece
in carequence of the passing of the last Edon' Bill. Now
the county franchise has always been considered tars asap
servatlv• tier the borough. The landlord pry Too
anted by tits establishing of the 601. qualificatios,
and It la now proposed to reduce that franchise
to the same level se that which has hitherto existed
is towns. That is the opinion of the majority
of the House of Common, end acting in harmony with
that opinion 1 shell be perfectly satietied with the era-
' idlehimat of the 10k medlideMlen Ise the county franchise.
Then mimeo the Inalisn brow it Is eascuted. In my
*is. with ei ostoodon of the flookis the voters must
Moo milers otooser. odtioloom &As boot lafinenosead
mom ee Novi= of do polodpb dolls by ballot can
osollte. (Chew.) In Anal army. anky the world
wham the repressaketive ayelma mists the last le the or
argnimad mode of voting. I recollect reedbig Is the works
of sum historians of the United States (I hope nobody will
be lammed at say quotiog the United states)—(cheers sod
laughter)—that freedom depends upon representative ineti.
Ultima, and the freedom of representative institutions depends
upon the ballot. The rich, though some of them ere not
very courageous, do not ask for the ballot, but those who are
sot rich deem it essential to enable them to perform their
duty of voting, end I would rather take the opinion of those
who deem the ballot essentiri than of the rich who
do not. A perliseneetary experience of twenty yews
proves to me that I should be comforting no advantages on
the country by extending the franchise without the protec-
tion of the ballot. I have not the smallest doubt that within
a short period the ballot will par 230 members have
already voted for it. Every election, without • reform bill,
will add to that number. Even if it were possible for parlia-
ment to.me • reform bill without it, lam satisfied—(end
I believe I speak the opinion of everyone in the Hots* of
Coesaseres)—that the ballot is almost, if not entirely, within
mock tithe constituencies of the United Kingdom. Now,
with respect to the question of the distribution of members,
which is a point on which, lon may have observed, I never
have as yet expressed myself in more then general terms in
my recent speeches. Until the list of boroughs has been
gone over sod the consul and taxation has been consulted,
and an investigation toads of the population of the
particular boroughs now enfranchised, as the towns
ought to be, it would be impossible to say any-
thing in detail. Since I have been in Bradford I was
asked If I knew what the government bill was to be. Be
was rather • young politician who put that question.
(Laughter.) lam not in the secrets of the government; but
I take this opportunity of stating, with perfect honesty, that
the course I have taken has not bees inithenced in the
slightest degree by say hostility to the government or any
other party proposing to deal with ibis question. (Cheers.)
I know that one party wishes another party to be damaged,
but my experience teaches me that, if this question is to be
canied—lf these great principles are to be passed into law—
it must he dans by the people. It la necessary that the
blurt .d einalldemoe of the people should be concurrent in
the work, and that, bidding both parties to stand aside, you
should 'drams straight on to the accomplishment of the
great public °Niel you have in view. (Cheers) There are
several ways in which the question of the distribution of
members may be treated. It is possible for government to
morales that all the little boroughs, which everybody admits
ought not to return menthere, should retain their teteolles,
with the addition of two or three country perishes, so
as to make • constituaecy sufficient to entitle them
to return • member to parliament. You have had experience
of that in the boroughs of New Shoreham, Cricklede, Bast
Belford, and soma adhere—little towns with the geese grow-
ing in every steel-planes that can hardly be celled villager,
extending eve or six miles in one direction end as many in
the other—a IMF farm labourers' cottages hors and wheel-
wright.' shops thme—and all there are to be put Into ase
parliamentary borough, Lord Somebody or Mr. Somebody
owning ell the land, sad being, la fact, the whole coustl-
loamy of the berough. If that is to be the sort of bill which
which we an to be asked t• he anlened with I my It is better
to remain when wo raw (dear, bear.) There Is another
mode, sad that is to fuse two or three boroughs within rea-
sonable distance together, mike a more amorous consti-
tuency than at present, and thus gain a few .embers to dis-
tribute In more large towns. This plan has got Its advan-
tages. There wee% he a committee in every town, and as
at menet lawyers won employed, there mould be lawyers
In every town. The espens• to each comlldsbe would be
trebled; and, in point of fact, you wadi only ha adding
three deed bodies together in the helped mils sem living
one. These Is another ocures—dbeefromble• • mnsiderable
number of small boroughs and distributer as among
small ormstituencke, you may distribute ersoffrarth, or
thres.harthe, or I 1 , to Mamas fits own, mentinea Dat
that I should take to be • mode of pariliamanbery Wan ask
astlefactory to the body of the refornsere. (Charm) We
all know what giving additional members to counties
Inman Sock aa arrangement would disable the per-
limed trete giving members to the yogi Woo
mimeo ropreasalatkia is now so noterierady inderialle
thelr pepalatioa, peeperty, taxatioa, seed vomit
Wow, is the kingdom. Tha Reform 11111 el nil
gave 63 seats to the borough. and 66 to theorised's, aid ems
boo bow from that time a feeling that It gave too boo ea
talluence to the counties end the landed interest in Its dlr
6 lettootkot of ormbors. I wish toy oeuotryous to watch tub

point vitli ur Itioust go, aid to repudiate the goworwat
whitest =Noy VII am sot distriboto do auto obtains* is
• ' -- •

eivosolidalion ef will borough, tinkly moss the real
eine sad lowan The propoillou of nests to popula-
tion Y the very mil of mina. U.l you watch
thin you will be deceived, asd ww the bill haa
pork you may Wean you are sot In your roast
pukka. I have osdertakau to whin ea the preoeut
. _

;Wei= the mod. 111 which I pacer to diatrebahlse,

. .
' the Weak to which I propose to do It, awl what I intend to
de with the mats to be obtained (root extinguiehod boroughs.
The bal of 1333 laid its hand upon 66 boroughs cud totally
rottkpiwialead them. They returned 111 or 112 members. It
kid ti hand on 30 boroughasorne of which you would not find
aardsere if you travelled through the country for that purpose.
sad took one member from each. It pined a few mutton
. .

by theusion TitWOas:lo; boroughs, wend altogether it °D-
iebold 134. Now I propose to Footed oa the Name principle
es Its bill of 1832, sad to travels Hide farther ; but 1 be-
lieve tot kraur then is required by the tiseenlities and the
whir of the county. Is the ltekeut BM of 1832 every
borough with • population under 2,000 wee latterly satin-
gabbed, sad every boroash under 4,000 lost coe member.
Is lir WI winch Lord J. Ewan lanoduced fa 1864, but

whisk di Mot pre, he pentad to sattaplak ell boroughs
mist 4000, art le eels essoloss too dl these wader
lOW I elservoll IMeI, k a arreprgar of great 'rhino*
cod of peat imilemoss, ma sedate maggot* whet shoot be
done to this matter. The wripapit to whit& I Mee la one
that has not been vary cOB to nee of lato—(a busgbj—and it
bee not ben very far shirr—(bws, hear)—for I ask to
but fairness. (Chan.) I allude to the Twos, which
suggested we might toy well go up to the line of
10,000, sad disfreaohise all the boroughs with a
populadon below that—has obtained a large lumbar
of seats to distribute amongst towns of larger populatko.
Now, I thought the measure of Lord J. Rummell was sot
aufilet ; I thought, further, it was not naosessey to draw
the line to high as that which was proposed by the Timm;
and looking over the list of the boroughs, beginning with
, the smalket—which la the town of Arundel, having a pope.

ration of 2,748-1 Bad that, if I come down to the line of
8,000, I should Jaded', the borough of Woodstock, and I
should include altogether 58 boroughs, the precise number
Included in Schedule Aof the original Reform Act. Of
those boroughs, 25 return one member, sod 31 return two
members, and the whole schedule of the 56 boroughs in-
cludes 87 seats or members. There than was "editor point
to consider. II all boroughs were dbfranchised under
8,000, where should be the point below which you would
allow boroughs to return more than one member? If
I am not mistaken, the same article In the 2isses
recommended that no borough with lees thee 26,000
population should return more than one member
to parliament. I have not taken exactly that comes; but
you must bear in mind that every proposidom that I have
now explained has been decided without reference to tel of
the 'agitations, for I did not happen to see them, mr did
I know of them at the time when they were published. I
propose to disfranchlas all boroughs ander 8,000 population.
I than come to the population of 16,000 i. and say that all the
boroughs under 16,000 shall het:odor* retain only one
member. This will give 34 seats to the 87 places I have re-
ferred to ; and if we have four seats for the corrupt boroughs
of St. Albano, Sudbury—some years ego disfranchised—we
shall have the grind result, as far ea England and Wales
only Sr. °mooned, of 125 seats to dispose of. (Chases.) I
now propose to ocotillo to you how the se to should be die.
posed of, which, after all, le the pith of the whole question.
Than me • number of boroughs with a population of between
16,000 and 25,100, some of which have one memistr, and I '
think about • dorm or thirteen of which have tee members,
and without wishing to make mon chow than is neremary,
I propose to leave these boringhs moody ea they are. Begin,
then at 24,000, sad I give to .any borough above 26,000
now having only one weber, ram pal I men up to a pa-
p•lation of 54,000. I will read le you the named of the
boroughs included in that Yet. They axe 16 in number, mei
are Gateshead, Walsall, Mommoath, Chatham, Om*
Shield', Ashtm-under-Lyne, Leith, Bary, Chelienkem
Greenock, Dudley, Swansea, Paisley, and I Wien. silks*
I do not see it in the list, that the borough of Betehildos Is
included. All these towns world return two members, but
when I Teeth a population of 51,000, I come M • list of
boroughs which henceforth would ratarn three members:
those boroughs are Bath, Nottingham, Leicester, Bolton,
Sunderland, Norwich, Preston, Brighten, Portsmouth,
Burke-upon-Trent, Hull, NeweiselemparTme, Bradford.
Greenwich, and Wolverhampton--milleg $Y amber, all
of which would undo, this schedule tentiMMMemembins mak
to parliament. There are der four harem& milli ought to
be included in that list which at present return call 1 member,
Merthyr Tydvill, Salford, sad the dam of Aberdeen and
Dundee, in Scotland. In drawing up this scheme, I have
known nothing of the rim Tweed, end nothing of St.
George's Channel ; but I wish to treat Scotland and Ireland
he precisely the sane m•aw es I wish to treat England.
(Mere) The boroughs I have jog road bring us up from
• meiotic& of 54,000 to 136,000; all the o•lon4tiom made
en the emus of 1851. I find from the returns that there
moo eight boroughs which begin with a population of 135,000,
sad go up le • population of nearly 200,000. I propose that
these bovembe should hereafter return four members, and
may are Sheffield, Bristol, Leeds, Southwark, London,
Lombeth, Birmingham, Westminster, and the Tower Hain-
Ira s. I propose to divide each corporation which le enormous
Faso two complete boroughs, to each of which four members
would be given. I now come to a vary select, but very large
nil most important list, which comprises but five cities
or boroughs, but °outat• the very largest boroughs in the
kingdom, entitled, I think, to auroras a powerful inflame,
Y the government of the country. The boroughs I refer to
me Manchester, Finsbury, Merylebone, Liverpool, and
fliragow, each of them had a population, at the last census,
of 316,000, end which now, doubtless, have a population of
400,000 ; 1 propoee to give to each of those eve boroughs six
members of parliament. The then cocoas the quatitios of
the boroughs. I ought, however, to say Ido not consider
this list absolutely complete, because there an some pimps of
which I have not information enflident to enable motojedge;
but if ever this bill or any similar bill (end you have only to
will itto make it so) poems thesecood reeding in the HOW* of
Commons, there will be no difficulty in edam to this list
three or four or half a doom others, if • good ease could be
made out farthest', for changes of that ordure were made
during the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832. With
regard to new boroughs I propose that five towns should
return me member each, namely, Gravesend, Leamington,
Sudayteidge, Burnley, and Birkenhead. Om of these
boroughs puts in a claim for two tosembtes; but this is •
point to be considered. I have put It down for one because
my information did not lead me to Wok that I could st this
stage take any other mores. Theo there are two other
place", which Lord J. Rumen, in 1864, pooped to units and
make one, namely, the parishes of Chelsea and Kensington,
in the West of London. Their populations, however, are se
large that I think they ought to form two boroughs, and
that they ought to have two members each. We have thus
seven new borough., absorbing nine members. I have reed
over some of the Scotch boroughs which are to have addi-
tional numbera, but there are four others which are to have
new members. In Scotland, the plan of grouping boroughs
has been followed. Several of them groups are so lame that
I shoats have been compelled to have given them two mam-
bas If they had been kept together, but I have
thought It much better that four or Ws places joining to
return one member, and haring populations large enough
for two, ought rather to be sepsrated into two boroughs than
continuo grouped and have one additional member. I there-
fore propose to take from the Stirling group the boroughs of
Dunfermline and Inverbeithing ; from the Falkirk group,
the boroughs of Hamilton. Lanark, and Linlithgow; from
the Kilmarnock boroughs, the toms of Dumbarton, Port-
Olsegow, Renfrew, and Rutherglen ; end from the Montrose
borough', the towns of Arbroath and Beaks. With repel
to the counties otEngland, I propose to take a mares nearly
like that adopt 4 by Lord John Rummell In his last bill, when
he proposed to divide the West Ridtag and the East Riding
of Yorkshire—to give two members to each new division. I
propose to divide the West Riding and Son& Lamming into
two divisions each, giving four oddities"' membere•—two to
the West Riding and two to Beath IMINSIMMII• I sloe pro-
pose to give two additional makes to the Nora Mug of
Yorkshire, North Lancsahlre, West 11Coa% led Sitarog,
West Cornwall, North Ere:, South imett. LarieSnabfele
pare of Lindsay, West Norfolk, Hot 01111101111 k Illg WWI
Somerset. Thera counties have been 'Meted ea raceme
of their great population, and lesenes they have
grows up Is the my large interests not mat-