Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-01-21 00:00:00

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE LANCASHIRE

REFORM UNION.

Yesterday afternoon, the annual meeting of the Lan-
cashire Reformers' Union was held in the Free-Trade-_
hall Assembly-rootn, Manchester. There was a good
attendance of Members. George Wilson, Esq., the
president of the union, presided ; and amongst those
present on the platform were--Mr. John Bright, M.P. ;
T. Baxley, M.P., &c.
The report which was presented stated what the
union had done since its formation in December, 1858.
Forty-nine meetings had been held at various places,
and the receipts from all sources amounted to
£942 6s. 9d.., the expenditure being £B2O 9s. 7d.,
leaving a balance of £l2l 17s. 2d., when the existing
debts are paid of £l7 4s. 7d. Referring to the chance
of a free trade with France, it went on to say—The
council cannot conclude their report without offering,
to the members of the union their warmest congratula-
tions on the auspicious circumstances under which
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oo
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Ind e on nt
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declare
luration of a policy of free trade ; a resolution
which cannot- fail to dispel whatever painful apprehen-
saniodnsthme a have been
my
ost lastingexcited itthe de ;
future and a
peaceful policy
which must, in its results, prove the best, the surest,
relations of England and France. The Council do not
doubt that the nation will render due honour to those
who have contributed to bring about so cheering an
event. (Loud applause.)
The Chairman moved the adoption of the report, and
it having been seconded by Alderman Sir E. Armitage,
it was carried with acclamation. •
Mr. Bazley, M.P., movedthat certain gentlemen should
be the officers for the union during the ensuing year.
Mr. Thomas B. Potter seconded the motion, and it
was carried unanimously. .
Mr. R. N. Phillips proposed a resolution, thanking .
Mr. Bright, M.P., for exertions on behalf of Par-
liUmentary reform.
Alderman P. Rylands, of Warrington, seconded the
resolution, which was carried amid loud applause.
Mr. Bright then rose, and was loudly cheered, many
of those present rising to cheer. He saidle was much
obliged for the honour done him by the mention of his
name by the gentlemen who had preceded him. It
was about twelve months since that they met in that
same room to discuss the question of Reform.
Since that time they had made considerable pro-
gress, notwithstanding what might be said to the con-
trary'. Twelve months ago Lord Derby's government
was in power, but it had not the freedom in it to give
any real parliamentary reform, nor had it the moral
courage to oppose that which it really hated. The real
character of that government was .shown by its
so-called reform bill. Its pretensions were ex-
posed, and it fell under the exposure. We
now had a government that had gone into
office with the understanding that they wo 4
give to the country a better bill, and he hoped tuey
would keep their promise, or the same fate would befall
them as that which befell Lord Derby's Government.
If the bill of Lord John Russell which he brought
forward in 1832 were now carried, it would not
be all that ought to be done. It would only add
some 500,000 to the present million of voters. It
Lord John's bill were carried, there would still be six
millions of adult men in the United Kingdom unrepre-
sented. The bill of 1832 excluded tke working men, and
Lord John Russell's bill—provided it was the same as
that he brought forward in 1832—Lord J. Russell's
bill of 1860, would exclude the great body of working
men, for it would only take in the more respectable of
that class. This he (Mr. Bright) regretted, for all
ought to be represented in some way or other. How-
ever, Lord John Russell's proposal would be something
gained, and there was no going back on the question of
reform. There was the ballot, and the re-distribution of
seat; they must come eventually, for soon there would
be public opinion brought to bear upon these
questions to compel the change. Some
people thought that Parliamentary reform was
not wanted, because people were not excited
to break windows, and get themselves into the police-
office. That was not so. The people sought to have
their grievances redressed as became them—quietly and
peacefully. He was personally charged with being a
disturber of the peace, because he had stimulated and
aroused the proper instincts of his countrymen. Why,
it .was something to be proud of, that this great question
had gone .on in its grand march till. at length, their
opponents came and asked if it should be settled.
He hoped the time had gone by when the people
of this country would attempt, as they did in 1793, to
excite the French nation to feelings of animosity. At
that time it was said French emissaries had been
sent over to London to poison the river. Wars only
drew the life's blood and wealth of a nation. Nothing
more. We had recently got up an invasion cry ; but
before that, when Lord Derby's Government was in
power, through that noble lord's insulting speeches, we
were in imminent danger of a war with France. We
were now no longer so. The Emperor ofthe French, and
the mode in which he had governed France, he (Mr.
Bright) had never spoken of
_publicly, for he really
had nothing to do with it. Some people blamed the
Emperor for going to war with Austria, and then those
very people blame him for not carrying out the war
longer. ,The Emperor of the French—nobody, no
Cabinet Minister of any Government could say to the
contrary—had always been faithful as the ally of Eng-
land; and, what was more, he had always endeavoured
to square his foreign policy in accordance with the feel-
ings of England. (Loud applause.) With regard to
the despatch of Persigny and the Conspiracy Bill, the
first-named, at the least, might have been expected; for
what should we say if some man were to come over frOm
France and attempt to blow up the carriage, as it was
passing along a street, with the Queen, Prince, &c., inside ?
We should not have used any drawing-room style of
speech to the French people. But Louis Napoleon, by
his new policy of free trade, had settled the question of
invasion. He wished to know what was meant by the
arming of the people of this country. If it did not mean
war, it meant something else ; all such movements had a
specific purpose. Mr. Brightthen went on to say that what
Richard Cobden had done recently in France was more
than all the cabinet ministers of all the cabinets that
ever existed could have succeeded in doing together.
(Loud cheers.) That letter of the Emperor's ought to
be written in letters of gold ; and if its principles were
only carried ant by the Emperor, it would do more
to hand down his name to posterity, as more blessed
and glorious than any of the sanguinary dynasty
to which he belongs. (Loud applause.) After some
other remarks on the question of parliamentary reform,
Mr. Bright concluded by saying that he believed if the
people of England were fairly represented in the House
of Commons, such was the intelligence, virtue, and
goodwill of the people of this kingdom, that we and
America should no longer be two nations, the privileged
few, and the excluded many, but should become greater
far in everything which constitutes the true grandeur
of a-nation. (Loud cheers.)