The Express.
London, England, 1867-01-23 00:00:00

[STAMPED, id. ADDITIONAL.]

THE MEMBER FOR CHATHAM AND HIS
CONSTITUENTS.

On Monday night Mr. J. Otway, the member
for Chatham, addressed a meeting of his constituents in
the lecture-hall, the large area of which was crowded to
excess, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather.
The chair wasoccupied by Mr. JOHN .TRIDE, who, in in-
troducing Mr. Otway to the meeting, alluded to the active
part that gentleman had taken to obtain a settlement of
the reform question, which was the one great question of the
de y, and called fora
.prompt settlement. (Lund cheers.)
Mr. °TWAY, on rising, was loudy cheered. He said—
Since they had last assembled in that hell great events
had transpired. A war had occurred in Central Europe,
which, if measured by its results, must be considered equal
in importance to any of which history gave am account.
(Hear, hear.) Italy was now free from the Alps to the
Adriatic. (Cheers.) In northern Germany, Prussia, that
great protestant power, hell acquired Ole t punkin which the
genius of her people and the organisation and valour of
her army led her to aspire to. They in England bad
reason to rejoice iu those events, as it was well for Europe
that a great naval and military lower should be placed
between France and Russia. (Cheers.) Never in the
history of any great war had they found results so great
achieved with so little of excess or crime. (Hear, hear.)
In England events of great importance had taken
place. The bill for the extension of the franchise, as
brought in by the late euvertuuent, had been rejected
by the House of Commons, and the government of
this country had passed from the hands of a liberal
administration into that of their opponents. Among
the reasons assigned for the defeat of the late govern.
remit was alleged the temper shown by Mr. Gladstone.
egad nbassel. That eminent etaissera might
euelbetrrinuitted mistakes—but if he did it was
not for him (Mr. Otway) to point them out. During
all those fierce and protracted debates on the reform ques-
tion he had never once seen Mr. o:millstone's temper fail,
although probably no man in his position ever bail his
temper so sorely tried. (Cheers.) Day after day he was
called upon to resist attacks from the front, the rear, and
from the flank, and more of ten had to contend not so much
against argument as :lemur. (Cheer's.) So far from its
being Mr. Gladstose'e temper, it was his earnestness which
displeased a certain section of the House of Commons, and
though he had lost office he Lad gained by it the confidence
of the people of this country. (Loud cheers.) The meson
the late Reform Bill was defeated was because
it was a real honest measure, framed with a
view of improving, in however small a degree, the
representation of the people, whilst its defeat was brought
about by a dishonest combination of the enemies of reform
with those who professed reform with their lips but not in
their hearts. (Cheers.) He did not believe the late hill
was by any means a perfect measure—(hear, hear)—never-
theless ho gave it, so far as it went, his wannest support.
His own conviction had long been that the only abiding
place for the suffrage, so far as boroughs went, was to be
found in household voting, supplemented by an extended
residential lodger franchise. (Cheers.) There was now a
powerful movement being made in favour of manhood
sultrier's, but he would honestly my be was not in favour
of that measure. (Hear, hear.) In England the House
of Commons was supreme, and had long possessed power,
and it was therefore of the unmet importance that they
should well consider the results likely to follow before they
finally decided by what suffrage they would elect their repre-
sentatives. (Hear, hear.) He Led lung been of the
opinion that all reform must proceed gradually, and there-
fore he would candidly say he was not in favour of man-
hood suffrage, although be was most anxious that all
classes should be represented in parliament, no one class
preponderating over another. In the House of Commons
they found the army, the navy, law commerce, manufac-
turers, and a new clans called • financiers "—(laughter)—
all represented, but the working classes were without a
representative or spokesman of their own. (Hear, hear.)
Were manhood suffrage to exist in this country, an im-
-11101118 preponderance would be given to that class over all
the others. (Hear, hear.) That being the case, he was in
favour of a scheme of reform which, while moderately ex-
tending the franchise in all boroughs, would give to cer-
tain large cities and towns a suffrage of en exceptional
character, and allow every working man resident therein
to vote. Before he left the subject of the late Reform
Bill he would allude to that important clause which
deprived the artisans employed in her Majesty's
dockyards of their votes. (Hear, hear.) He be-
lieved that Mr. Gladstone, although he might not have
been influenced by pressure, would have been amenable
to argument, and he had reason to know that the mem-
bers for the dockyard towns would have been successful
in getting that clause expunged from the bill. (Cheers.)
He could not help expressing his regret that Lord Russell
bad not attempted a settlement of the awkward questions
arising out of the Alabama claims. (Hear, hear.)
Although that demand on the part of our cousins, or rather
blethers—(hen, hear)—in America, was one rather for
statesmen, it had been handed by Lord Russell over to
the crown lawyers, and with what results they had all
seen. Precedents appeared to be more considered than
policy, and • golden opportunity to settle the question had
been let slip, when the government of the United
States, in strict conformity with its neutrality
laws, took action against the Fenian marauders
in Canada. (Cheers.) Common sense told them that re-
paration was undoubteilly due to the Americans, and a
groit country like Reiland ought not to refuse making it.
(Loud cheers.) With regard to the question of reform
during the coining session of parliament various rumours
were afloat. He did not venture to prophesy, but his own
opinion was that the present government would decline to
bring in a measure of reform. (" Then they must go out,"
and cheers.) That opinion was grounded on the belief that
the members of the present cabinet can never agree among
themselves on the question. There were men of greet abi-
lity in the cabinet, foremost among whom were Lord ('ran-
borne, General Feel, and others' who were decidedly
opposed to any reform, as by their recent speeches
in parlianient and elsewhere they had testified.
It was not, therefore, to be supposed. that Mr.
Disraeli, bring in what measure he might, could
hope to satisfy them, and if it did satisfy
them, did they think for one moment it would be
satisfactory to the country? (Cheers.) He would not
dishonour those members of the cabinet by believing that
they were political tricksters, and that they would con-
sent to eat the very words delivered by them a few months
back. (Hear, hear.) Neither could he suppose that Mr.
Disraeli would again attempt to propose such • measure
as that brought forward by him iu I .8.59 in the face of
certain defeat, and, therefore, he inclined to the belief
that there would be no immure of reform brought forward
this year, while it was probable the bounce would be invited
to proceed by resolution. (Hear, hear.) But there were
some persons who, although they admitted there were
great anomalies iu the constitution of the present House
of Commons, yet !bought that, on the whole, it worked well
—the House of Commons, they asserted, fairly rere-
senting all opinions and classes in the nation. Now,
he altogether denied that such was the eau and bad only
to call their attention to some of the mast glaring in.
stances in which parliament had altogether failed to re-
move existing grievances to prove his assertion. (Hear.)
Let them, for instance, look to the composition of the
House of Commons heat. (Hear, hear.) At Yarmouth,
Tenses, Reigate, and Lancaster, shieh was the greatest
sinner of them all, they found thei electors wallowing in
corruption and bribery, which was dispensed by those who
sought to represent them in parliament. (Cheers.) Could
the secrets of many other boroughs be brought to light,
they would probably find • precisely similar state of things
existing. Nothing had however been done by the house
to arrest this demoralisation of the electors by those who
offered bribes, and they could come to no other con-
clusion but that the House of Commons could not or
would not put down bribery." (Cheers.) As Lord
Brougham bad said, " the House of Commons has
the remedy in its own bends." (Cheers.) Well, had par-
liament pacified Ireland? (No.) Was it not a scandal to
this country that one part of the United Kingdom should
always be in a chronic state of rebellion? Would any one
undertake to say that the present state of that unhappy
country was not caused by the treatment of our govern.
went? (Cheers.) In the last session of parliament a
measure which was accepted by the Irish menwers for the
improvement of Ireland was rejected by a parliament of
landowners. (Shame.) Then, as to the subject of educa-
tion. Why should not an Englishman be educated as
highly as a Sootehman ?—and yet, while they were fighting
over the " conscience clauses " and other equally unim-
portant points, thousands of children were growing up
in ignorance and its accompaniment, crime. (Hear,
hear.) From that Ostrom, therefore, he advo-
cated compulsory education by the state of thou
children whew parents were too poor or too apathetic
to have theist educated. (Loud cheers.) Then they had
only to look to the present state of the church of Eng-
land to see that parliament, in this instance, had also
failed. Under the present system a man, simply by the
payment of a sum of money could be saddled on a rish
and congregetiou—one of thou silly creatures, for in-
stance, who by millinery and antis seek to patter away
the great truths of Christianity. (Loud cheers.) Perlis-
ment had also moat signally failed in the organisation of
the army, and the result was seen in their moldier* teet-
h. away from the army immediately they had completed
their period of service. A commeocement ou"ht to be
mule inworresoergcoannifsohumndea the
was iuDepLiart.nem (Laughter
,wwilhterd
ere con-
fusionzcheers.) They heard a great deal of the difficulty of
obtaining recruits and inducing men to remain in the
sney. But if they gees • soldier the chance
of rising in his profession and did away with
the brutal lash, which was to be found only
in the British army, they would find no difficulty
in obtaining recruits, and keeping them when they had
obtained them. (Hear.) After alluding to the question
of providing suitable dwellings for the labouring classes in
our large towns when evicted by railway companies, Mr.
Otway alluded to the influence exercised by Hr. Bright,
with whom he could not altogether agree, but who,
nevertheless, had the good of his country at heart. (Loud

(TWOPENCE

cheers.) In conclusion, he firmly believed that with a
reformed parliament all the subjects to which he had
alluded would be grappled with, in order to arrive at a
settlement of the same, and the House of Commor.s, invi-
gorated by a large dr.aight of the popular element, would
make England—" Mother of Parliamenta"—an example
for her children of prosperity, happiness, and liberty, tor
agueto come. (Loud and prolonged cheering.)
A vote of confidence in Mr. Otway, proposed by Mr. J.
WATCHU64T, end seconded by Mr. I.ot 14 WHITEHEAI),
was unanimously agreed to, and the proceedings tv r-
minded.