The Express.
London, England, 1866-05-17 00:00:00

G, MAY 17, 1866.

ENFRANCHISEMENT Off CHELSEA AND
KENSINGTON.
••
A public meeting of the parishioners of Melees
and 'Leamington was held on Tuesday in the Vestry -hall,
Ring's-road, Chelsea, to consider the Redistribution el
Seats Bill. The attendance was pretty numerous. Letters
were received from Lord Enfield, 11. P., Mr. R. Hanbury,
M.P., and Mr. T. ki‘Cullagh Torrent, M.P., stating that
they fully concurred in the object of the meeting, and
rigtetted their inability to be resent.
Mr. JONES, solicitor, of Chancery-lane, a resident in
the district, who was called to the chair, congratulated
his fellow-pariahioners upon the prospect that their claims
were now likely to be conceded. The to some
might appear to be unnecessary, as Ch and
parsons
igton were included in the bill, but too muoh
n rap-
rt could not be given to the government at the present
juncture, and that was why it had been convened. (Hear.)
Mr. BABBITTS, of Chelseamoved—" That, the
opinion of this meeting, thelFiane.hise Bill and the Redis-
tribution of Bests Bill brought in by her Majesty's govern-
ment to the House of Commons, which are now understood
to be incorporated with each other, and together form one
bill, deserve the approval and earnest support of the labs-
bitant+ of this large and populous district, and also of the
nation at large, by reason, among other things, that
the provisions contained in such bills will put an end to
some of the anomalies at present existing in the electoral
system, and will tend to make the representation of the
people more just." The last election, he said, had proved
that the metropolitan boroughs could select good men to
represent them ; indeed, some of the best business mem-
bers had been sent to the house by the metropolis, and it
was, therefore, not true, as some persons had asserted,
that populous districts were too liable to make a bad
selection in the choice of a representative. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. FREEMAN, of Kensington, seconded the resolution,
and drew attention to the importance of the district, in-
dependent of the extent of its population.
Sir C. W. DILLE, H.P., wished the Reform Bill had
gone further, but still he believed it was a fair and honest
bill, and the meeting would be acting prudently in ac-
cepting it. (Cheers.) As a resident, however, in the dis-
trict, he wished to throw out the suggestion whether it
might not be advisable to have one member for
each parish instead of uniting them into one borough.
(Hear, hear.) For his own part he was not convinced of
the expediency of grouping small agricultural boroughs,
and, looking at the conflicting interests to be found here,
might it not bedesirableto dissever the two parishes? (Hear,
bear.) Elections for large districts involved great expense
and considerations of that nature had once deterred bin;
from accepting an invitation to contest Finsbury. (Hear,
bear.) He was afraid the creation of large districts would
have the effect of placing the representation in the hands
of wealthy men. Why, at Sir Morton Peto's election for
Finsbury the bill for public-house committees, ho was told,
exceeded 2,5001., and that fact alone was sufficient to
show the inexpediency of having such enormous
electoral districts. (Hear, hear.) He bad attended the
meeting without any intention of taking in its pro-
ceedings, but this matter of a separation ofpart the two seats
was a question for the parishioners themselves to deter-
mine, and he had therefore ventured to intrude it upon
them. (Cheer.)
A PARISHIONER of Chelsea, in the body of the meeting,
said he quite agreed with the hon. member, and he was
ready to move an amendment if necessary, to the effect
that the two parishes should remain separate in their par-
liamentary as their parochial representation.
Sir C. W. MILE deprecated any appearance of disunion
at the present moment, and said he had merely thrown
out for after-consideration the advisability of appointing a
committee to consider whether or no it would not be wise
to divide the two representations. (Hear, hear.) In the
meanwhile one course only was open to all who wished to
see the government bill carried, as he did, and that
would be expressed in a determination to sustain and
support the government. (Cheers.) The house was quite
disposed to give these parishes two members, and the
matter of separation might be safely left for future consi-
deration. (Hear, hear.)
The resolution was ultimately carried unanimously, and
a petition to parliament founded upon it having been
adopted, a vote of thanks was passed to the chairman, and
the meeting separated.

THE REDISTRIBUTION or SEATS BILL.-011 TUBS-
day night a reform meeting was held in the Public Hall,
Rochdale. Mr. W. Fenton was voted into the chair, and
in opening the proceedings he said the promoters of that
meeting had not called them together to ascertain their
opinion on reform, as they had often given it by no un-
certain sound. That meeting had been called to back up
the government and the liberal party in the house
at the present crisis. Three months had elapsed since
the government had devoted their attention to reform,
they had waited quietly for the result, and they now
found that both bills had passed the second reading.
The Seats Bill was not exactly what they could
wish, and, although it gave eight new members to this
country, some gentlemen regretted that Smallbridge,
Milnrow, and the other villages round Rochdale, had not
been grouped, and Rochdale given another member. Mr.
Freestone moved the following resolution, and it was
seconded by Mr. T. Cheetham :—" That this meeting,
whilst viewing with deep regret the great number of the men
elected to represent the people in the Commons' House of
Parliament, who have by their votes refused to acknow-
ledge the right of the great muses of the people, and
especially of the working classes, to share in the election
of representatives, yet desires to express its sincere and
heartfelt thanks to the government and to those members
of the liberal party who have supported the government,
for their noble and generous acknowledgment of the rights
of the people, and the energetic and determined manner in
which they have carried on the proposed measure for the
extension of the franchise." Mr. J. L. Ashworth, in sup-
porting it, said it was indeed most refreshing to he able
to speak in reference to the government measure in tonna
of approbation and confidence. They had now a ministry
who had an interest in the welfare of the people, and at a
meeting like the present they could not do less than sup-
port that ministry for such conduct. The resolution was
unanimously adopted, as were others approving of the
policy and measures of the government.
The inhabitants of Liskeard met in considerable
force on Tuesday evening to protest against the contem-
plated amalgamation of that borough with Launceston and
Bodmin. It was contended that were the bounds of the
parliamentary borough extended so far as to include the
portions of the town which lay outside it, the number of
electors would be so largely increased as to place it on an
equality in that respect with many other places which are,
according to the government scheme, to retain two members.
Tavistock, which it still to have two representatives, will,
with the 71. franchise, have a less number of electors than
Liskeard, which is to have only two-thirds of a member.
The principle of apportioning representatives solely ac-
cording to population, also, was severely condemned, it
being pointed out that Holston with its 8,497 population,
which is to retain its member, has 722 occupiers of
houses of an annual value of 4/. or less, while Liskeard,
with a total population somewhat less, has only 314
houses under ed. value, and only 95 under 4/. Which
town, it was pertinently asked, ta entitled to have most
weight in parliament The meeting cordially condemned
the operation of the Redistribution Bill as far as the
Liskeard idiatrict is concerned, and certainly a case was
made out for depriving Tavistock of one of its members, if
not for allowing Liskeard to retain the one-third of a repre-
sentative of which it is intended to dock the borough. The
members for Devon and Cornwall will have a fine scope
' for their abilities in committee on the Redistribution Bill,
in pointing out and obtaining a remedy for the glaring
inconsistencies and omissions which the bill contains as it
affects the two counties.

THE CATASTROPHE TO THE EUROPEAN STEAMER.
—The survivors of the West India and Pacific Company's
steamer European, which was totally destroyed by explo-
sion at Colon, have arrived at Liverpool, where the receiver
of wreck has taken the official deposition of the third
officer, William Henry James, respecting the calamity, and
forwarded it to the Board of Trade. The deposition is as
follows. Mr. William Henry James on oath states—" I
was third officer of the European steamship. She was 1,351
tons register, built of iron, with four bulkheads, and be-
longed to the West India and Pacific Steam Navigation
Company. She was brig rigged, with a crew of 40
hands. Sailed from Liverpool on the Ist of March,
with a cargo of dry goods and goods in cases, and
ites shipped at Liverpool for parties at Port-au-
naCge, Jamaica, and six passengers. We had ar-
rived at Colon on the lit of April, a portion of the
cargo having previously been discharged at Port-au-Prince,
Jamaica, and Carthagena, without accident. On the 3rd,
at 6.55 a.m., the weather fine, and the wind N.E., blowing
a fresh breeze, lying alongside the Panama Railway whsrf,
discharging cargo, the cargo being hoisted out of the hold
, by the steam winches and derrick, and then lowered on to
a stage communicating with the wharf, launched ashore.
The cases were being slung in the hold with rope slings,
one of these slings being made up on the lower 'tween
deck, when an explosion took place which blew up the
deck, skylight, companion, and 14 or 15 feet of plating
on port side, and set the after part of the ship on fire, and
destroyed the cabins and berths on port side, killed the
captain, chief and second, doctor, second engineer, carpenter,
and eight of the crew ; the explosion and fire also did much
damage to the buildings on shore, and several persons on
the shore were killed and injured. After the explosion the
ship was taken in tow by the steamer Tamar, and towed
to the opposite side of the harbour, where she sunk in
about 5 fathoms water, and remains a total wreck. The
remaining crew were saved by the boats in the harbour,
and the injured of the crew, 11 in number, were sent to
the hospital." The loss of the ship is about 45,000/., and
that of the cargo 50,000/. It should be observed, in re-
ference to the cases—nitro glycerine, or glonoin oil, the
cause of the explosion—the bill of lading sets forth that
they, along with some percussion caps were to be kept on
deck ; but by the above statement of Mr. James it appears
that the cases (72 in number) were all stowed below.

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