Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-08-18 00:00:00

NORTHERN DAILY TIMES.

tected, the House of Commons would order, in country was becoming more potent and powerful; ment as that; and it was, therefore, no use saying
every such case of bribery, that the party should He had seen that-public opinion in this country was all- !what she ought to do with the remainder of her
be prosecuted criminally .by • the Attorney-General— powerful on the. question of the interference of this territory. (Hear, hear.) But, he said, he did not
he • would venture to say that such a course would country in the late. Continental .war. • He was not in blame Louis Napol6n for going to Italy, - and he
have the effoct of putting down bribery sooner than England at the time, but he was glad to see public did+ not presume to judge . his motives for going
anything else which the House- of Commons could opinion raised against such an interference, and he con- there ; and he did not blame him for coming away from
resort to. Formerly the system of bribery, undue gratulated the country on the fact. He was glad to know Italy, because he did not go there to do his (fir. Cob-
quences and corruption, was confined in the counties that • they saw great _ and gigantic armies marching den') business, and he had no right '

to find fault with
to a few individuals. One noble family and another together,'withotd Eirand baN;ing been called upon to him 'for coming away again.- He thought that
noble family spent hundreds of pounds each in bribing, interfere in the conflict. (Hear, hear.) And now let Englishmen had a due notion of their own importance
corrupting, and influencing the electors. Every one us take stock, and- ask ourselves whether all the old and their own powers for interfering with other people
knew it, and it was considered a legitimate expenditure traditions had been proved to be true ? We had been in what they do, without any reference to our rights or
of their wealth, and exercise of
.their power. In the told that if we did not interfere in an European war pretensions in the matter. (Hear, hear.) They had an
same way, if a contest took place in a -bporough, it was we should lose our- poWer. Well, now, he would ask interest apart from the question of Italy in this ques-
some leading landed proprielor against another similarly them had we lost prestige or power by havirg abstained tion of foreign policy. He might say that every
situated with himself, who fought for some twenty days from joining in the struggle ? Did we not know, on the buctmet was framed with reference to their foreign

hand, that England was more powerful than ever,
and even that her peoptawere clamorous against our takinc,
part in the conference which was now about to take
We had had public opinion exercised against
)art in a war, and now he trusted that

•
in succession corrupting the electors. Elections were ' otl.
notoriously fought in this manner, but only by the
great. We read of them in history. and saw that ir„
those times no notice at all was taken of them. But place
now we had another class of corruptionists. We saw our takim

corruption,

mother element introduced into our 'system of electoral public Opinion would keep us from interfering in
We had a certain class of people coming diplomacy, unless it should be on a question of which
rrom Australia with :heir £5O nuggets, now going down England could fairly approve. But do not let us have
to the different boroughs and corrupting the electors. lie rin
ventured to say that where such a system of bribery was n
carried on by some of those parties he had named, who ;a
had not the prestige of nobility about them, the system Is
would -" lheld so cl Iy, and efforts might 7

aot, be up►.
uccessfully made to put it down, for it woutu

common

It would be remembered that it was -so i.

Le amongst this class of society, that when one party

lie must

him in deadly conflict, or otherwise he was banished
from society: Well, they wi-,uld perhaps remember
that two linen draper's assistants, having had a serious
quarrel, went one morning down to Wormwood-scrubs
to settle their differences by a duel ; and, on its being
known that the linen drapers' assistants had become
AnnlEn bnor", vnrtr frIC11;111,11.11p in 1111,1,17 PR flf

thenobility, for some of the &Hers were sent to Neu gate,
and now people had begun to think that nothing could
he more ridiculous, as well as criminal, than two gen-

tlemen going out to fight a duel. (Hear, and laughier.)
And so he thought it would be with our electoral sys-
tem : for he believed it would be found that when those

,ts, and att

;mpted to bribe some dirty little borough

in the West of • England with £5,060, the system
would not be considered so fashionable as formerly.

ex-11.F., and wear the prison (tress, ne nau no uouou
that it would do a great deal to put an end to this

- -
system of bribery. But there was a much wider cues-
tion than that in connection with it. lie did not mean to
say that it was the only way in which our electoral system

was to he reformed. lie should have something more to
say on that to-morrow night, when he had to meet the
whole body of his constituents; and therefore on that
point at present he would not touch. But this he would
say, that he looked upon all the present attempts and pre-
tended measures for putting an end to this system of cor-

ruption as sincere on the part of the House of Commons.
There had been a rule acted upon in the House to a
great extent when bribery had been proved in
_certain

cases, of ordering. cpmmis.sioners to proceed to the par-
ticular towns and enquire into the proceedings. Now,
he would tell f

hem- what that amount&

my more

'ongresses

T .19. e op

were partitioned air to different rulers just with ihe
same indifference to their instincts and wishes
as thonah they were so many flocks of sheep.

mse of

'n order to arran,7,

ition on which

and perpetuate terms of

Peace. Lord John Russell had made conditions which
he (Mr. Cobden) thought wire not likely to be acted

But what he wished to express was, that their object
should be, and the sole condition should be for which
_ should go into that Congress, that the Italians
should be left free to manage their own affairs. (Ap-
rhat they should be secure from intervention
that they should enjoy the privilege of non-interven-
i in the management of their own affairs, just as

sacredly and as securely as any great power oii earth
enjoyed it. lie knc the excuse which these great

:il.vers had for interfering in

the inferior states, under a pretence of preserving order;
a hypocritical pretence, he had no hesitation in calling

the French empire for the last thir

years ?

bid they

preserve the earth from bloodshed? Did not they
Austrian and the French empires shed more blood by

preserving order and preventing bloodshed. - He should
face the chance of disorder. He said if the Italians

could not

settle their own affairs, without fall

why

they not

D carry on

any other pow& taking the advantage and entering their
(Hear, hear.) How did England act in
when she fell into almost a red
Instead of their going at once
it was agreed that

0
- policy, not .to their domestic policy. It was not
what they wanted to spend at home that formed
the basis of public tamition. It w: is ‘That- they
wanted to spend with reference to their proceed-

ing-s, abro:

and it was, unm

Es-that ht

tallied to them of forelgg policy; because he saw no
chame of progress in those physical reforms of which
the resolution which w read referred, unless they

brought their relations with foreign countries into a
different position than they were at present. He did
not come to advocate; and he never aivocatod, the
)le of defencelesanc3s or disarmament, and

fe•preparod to

power, anc

lefend thems-lv- es against any possibl
ba ctanil /in fnr wraQ t111.2_,n,

Ire would quote the words of Sir Robert Peel—that
England should talte care that precaution should*be
taken, so that every mile of our coasts and our colonies

zgresszon ; t

a ruinous policy ; ten-ci he used these words

must be prepared

peless and

man is lie i'vho will take some risks." Rather than
take such precautions; that was his (Mr. Cobdeies)
principle with regard to their foreign policy. (Ap-
plause.) What would they think if he told them—and
he did so as the result

of a little calculation—it took
the amount of money which they annually spent in
that country, as a means of defence' and precaution

against the possible warlike agression of France. If
they took that suns of money, as he would do, at the
very. lowest possible amount, six millions and a-half
it was nearer twelve millions ;
pent six millions 'sterling per
arotecting themselves against

TlOUnced the greatest and most desirable means.of de- I free and magnanimous offer was made to him. lie was
fence for the country of any they could possess ; and bound to say, at the same time, that whilst his own
with the present improvements in the cannons and feelings and convictions prevented him from taking that.
the deadly -nature of the missiles which now could step which many of them there; and many of his
be projected from their cannon, and the enormous friends in Liverpool and Manchester pressed on him, he
distance at which they could strike an object, that the wasvcrvgladthat his friend Mr. Gibson felt hirwelf reatly
most scientific men said that with 1,000 men i.e a line- and at liberty to take office in Lord Palmerston's govern-
of-battle ship, with twenty or thirty tons of gunpowder, meat, and he was also glad teat his friend Mr. Gilpin did
they could saiver a vessel to atoms. These boats were so, for there was plenty to do in the office which he
called "slaughter-houses" in America. (Laughter.) had accepted. He liked to see a man step into govern-
-1
the French were said to be overwhelming' meat from the ranki of the people, as it were, and thus
us 34, h
withB nwayeanl preparations, England had 200 steam to show that they need not be holy in a cat-tent
vessels of all sizes, and it was shown that England had region in order to le able to serve the Qum/_
increased tenfold in sailing andmre ste
hst am vesselssince 1852.- Now, he said he need not regret the course which he took
~‘ n onn.nn n I n

:o their tax

Ice had no

a regard

hesitaTtioninsayin7 that this bad been a perfect waste.
-They were as safe' before from any aggression, as they
were now, with all the additional expenditure.. 'What

.ord l'alrne‘)j-ston's offer

If he had ever

!lad auy personal feelings..Tgainst him, which he never had,
..-for Lord Palmerston wasa man of that kind of pleasing
lisposition, and one would scarcely feel any personal
)pposition to him. If he ever said one word against
.-m. respecting • -

Inds of the Chaszi cellor of the Exchequer ? dive him
£5,000,000 of revenue to deal with, and see what he
with it, instead of voting that meaty away
with aeclammatioa, as they gene ally did, fu-or these

uis fiweign 'olicy whiight be
considered personally. hurtfulp, he feltch excmeedinglr
sorry for it ; but he never intended to do so. lie could. onlyjustify hiwself by Pilling back on his own stronr,
feelings on the matter: :Via nn,,

senseless preparations. eriv"e him the money
.to
deal with, and he would apply it to the• mod&
cntion cf taxes, in the reduction of customs'
duties, in the releasing of -vexatious ineumbcances, in

°my nope ior
kindness and indulgence, in theyouiu course which he their
had
thought it his duty to take. The hon. gentleman re—
sumed his seat amidst much cheering.
The following r4solution was then proposed by
Thomas Ashworth Esq., seconded by Jacob Bright, Esq,:
"That this meeting having heard from Mr. Cobden;
the reasons which induced him to decline the office
which was offered him in the present cabinet, expresses
its entire satisfaction with the course he has pursued,,
and sees in it another proof of the clear
.judginent andthe perfect honour and disinterestedness by which his
public life has been distinguished."
The resolution was carried unanimouly:

removing obstructions on their commerce, and reducing
those high duties which checked their intencourse with

France. Give him that money to deal with, in reducing
the duties on French commodities, and they would do
far more to effect peace with that country than ever
they_ would do by any preparations for- war. They
raise the country by any attempt at great
They should let France hear as they

ußeriority

nau. beard from France ; but he did not
know what truth there was in the proposal
to reduce the navy ; their trusty advisers, no
doubt, would tell them they must. Rot reduce
their navy, no matter what Franco did. The
effect of that would be, if they showed themselves
in the Mediterranean with an immense line-of-battle
ships, no French Government would try to
reduce their navy while England kept such a force.
y `The must bear in mind that France had a commerce
only- second to ours, and that the French had a
pride equal to our own, and would not bear to
have a naval force. inferior in any great degree
to ours. It was said that England was not likely to
go to take France; but, by theirleave, gentlemen, when-
ever there had been an invasion it had always.been an
invasion by England and not by France. When they
bore in mind that the French read in their schools

ba6ks of the English descents on their coast, the Kings
of -England taking their boats, they had a different
opinion to that of the English people, and they did not
believe in the opinion of an incroase. (Laughter.)
Whatever some of them might' think the experience

The next resolution was proposed by WILLIAM
SHARMAN CRAWFORD, Esq., and seconded by FRANK
CROSSLEY, Esq., M.P.,—" That in the opinion of this
meeting, the question of Parliamentary Reform presses
for immediate. settlement. That without Reform,
elections will continue to be corrupt, and Par-
liament will be unfaithful in its trust. That,
so long as that one-sixth only of the adult
male population of the kingdom is entrusted with the
franchise; that a small minority, probably net more
than one-sixth of the existing electors, returns a majo-
rity of the members of Parliament ; that the coercion o.
electors is the rule in counties, and the corruption of
them, through a profligate expenditure of money, the
practice in boroughs ; a truly liberal and honest
administration is impossible. That this meeting recom-
mends all liberal and free constituencies to support the
present Government, through their representatives. only

Cm condition that the question of Parliamentary Reform
shall be dealt with in an earnest and generous spirit, at
the cpening of the next session of parliament.
.The resolution was supported by E. A. Leathanr,
Esq., M.P., and John Bright, Esq., 111.1'
The resolution was then put, and carried with accla—
mation.

the last six months must have shown flu
military powers of the continent, and that war was a
source of pastime in our days to be resorted
to very little, and at short intervals, it was
a very serious thing, with their means of
recrimination, and their tremendous preparation,
and the means Of destruction, and the means
of transport. It was a very serious thing to
bring 690,000 men in the way against each other,
for a few days would now do what it would
have taken months to do at the beginning of the
last century; and they brought these mighty hosts
into instant collision, and with a means of destruction
such as the imagination of our forefathers could not
conceive. 'Well, that had been found out, and some-
thing more had been found out, The public opinion
of Europe was not in favour of these wars. Now
he never presumed, since he spoke in public on the ques-
tion of the ruler of France, to offer one word of censure
or of praise on that individual, and for this reason—
the Emperor of the French was elected by the
whole people of France, and, he believed, freely
elected, inasmuch as he received more than two-thirds
of the whole votes of the country for the Presidency,
and that when the ballot-box was in the hands of his
rival Cavaignac. He took it as a proof that, when the
people were in favour of Louis Napoleon, having voted
for him as Emperor, they voted for him as President;
such being the case, what may have been the motives of
36,000,000 of people in the election of their chief?
It was not his business, and he had no right
to inquire. He bowed to their decision, sup-
posing they had been actuated by impulses which
might have been right in them, but would not be
probably right in us ; and lie had always this impres-
k: mon, for the last seven or eight years had a per-

A vote of thank

honoured_the meeting

De the career of one who bore ni
And this he would
whether he or any other rder on the continent

career was not to

that evening

as passed to the gentlemen whco
with their presence and assistance:

A vote of thanks to the Mayor, moved by Richard
Cobden, Esq., M.P., and seconded by Thomas Bazley,
Esq., M.P., concluded the business of the evening, and
the meeting broke up at about half-past ten o'clock.

An attempt is about to be made on a scale of some
importance, to introduce thegrowth of silk into Holsteiri
as a staple article of commerce. The mulberry trees;
which have been, planted for some time on the shores of
the Baltic, near lieilegenhafen, have thriven well, amt
an abundant supply of cocoons has been received, to the
future produce of which those who aro engaged in the
enterprise look forward with confidence for a profitable
result.

ay, that

OFFICES Anor.rslrEn.-The offices of inspector or
customs in Upper and Lower Canada have been abolished:.
Mr. Matthew Ryan, who held the latter, retires on n.
year's pay, and intends devoting himself to the practicer
of the law. Mr. T. Worthington, the Upper Canada.'
inspector, has been appointed assistant commissioner oil
customs under • Mr. Bouchette, who has so long anct
efficiently presided at the head of this department.
FRIGHTFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT IIUDDERBFIELD.A
—On Tuesday, a porter united Alfred Iloyle, employes/
in the goods department at the Huddersfield railway
station, was thawing a handbarrow full of goods across

of the _ age, as to dream 'of a career of war_and

the barrow,

the line, when a tram came up, ca
twisted it_ round, and threw Hoyle down,

engine and two or three

taken to the infirmary, Nihon it was found that the right
thigh was torn through, and the left leg below the knee
was shattered to pieces. He expired in ten minutes.
A BLUNT INVITATION.—A popular clergyman, from
Paisley, was preaching lately at Dunoon. At the close

annexation, Such as commenced by Napoleon the First,
then he would find that public opinion, which was
impotent sixty years ago, would be sufficiently powerful

of the-service, an Irish gentleman one of the audience,who resides near Innellan, and who' is remarkable for
his plain, blunt hospitality,_ waited on him, and, slapping

to avenge agalist the man, whoever he mi,
would attempt to trample on the interests
meree of the present world, and deprive the
of Europe of their just expectations of
benefits of those improvements and inveu

hinifamiliarly on the shoulder, said, "Bedad; sirryoii
are the finest specimen of the Presbyterian clergyman
'ou must come and dine wid me ; that

charade