The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-06 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL REFORM ASSOCIATION.

. The annual meeting of the members of the Liverpool
Reform Association was-held at twelve o'clock yesterday,
In the large room of the Commercial Hotel, Dale street.
The chair was taken by Richard Shell, Esq., and among
the gentlemen present were—Messrs. W. F. Macgregor, T.
S. Raffles, barrister, T. W. Macrae, Henry Ferule, T.
Reason, S. Fraser, R. Johnson, Captain Johnson, 2nd
'Lancashire-Militia, George Maxwell, John Finch. junior,
C. E. Rawlins, C. J. Corbelly. C. J. Meade King, John
Aiken, junior, —'Haigh, &c., &c.
The Chairman called upon the secretary to read the
annual report.
The Secretary,.Mr. Brumatt, read the following
REPORT.

" The time has again arrived when it becomes the duty of
, the council of the Reform Association to call its members
• together to report to them the proceedings of the past year,
and to resigninto their hands the trust with which they invested
is.. Your council, in endeavouring faithfully and diligently to
perform their duty, have continued to keep in view the most
important objects of the association, namely, the purification of
the various lists, and the enrolment of all good reformers, who
had acquired the necessary qualification. It will be remem-
bered that in the commencement of last year a general
renumbering of the houses within the parliamentary boundaries
of the borough took place, which entailed upon the staff in
the office much additional labour, though it is hoped that in
future it will prevent many vexatious objections being made,
as well as enable the officers to ascertain with greater accuracy
and ease whether or not parties possess the qualification as
stated in the list. In consequence of the renumbering, every
name on the county list in the parishes of Liverpool, Evertou,
Eqkdale, West Derby, and Toxteth park, became liable to
obj,ction. Reclaims on the part of all the liberal voters were,
- however, sent to their respective places of abode, which,
although saving them the inconvenience of attending
in court to answer the objector, was the cause of
much labour and considerable expense. It became neces-
sary also to survey the boundaries of the wards,
as the numbers at the junction of the various streets
where the wards meet were all cleanged, and in some cases the
even numbers• placed on tha side where the odd numbers
formerly were. At the ontskirts of the town it was exceedingly
difficult to mike out the boundaries, many of the divisions as
• laid• down when the town was first divided into wards, such as
lines, gutters, and towers, having entirely disappeared, being
now covered over by houses, streets, and reads. Your council,
as in former years, gave instructions that no frivolous objections
should be made; consequently a greater number of objections
were made by the Tories than the Liberals, namely 1462 by
the former against 918 by the latter, notwithstanding which,
through the instrnmentaliey of the association and the zeal
and ability of the advocate in the revision court, there was h
nett gain to the Reformers on the Borough revieioa, as the
following analysis will show :—Objections grade by Tories,
1462; objections made by Liberals, 91F1-; unknown—struck off
by Tories, 437; nnknown—strue!: off by Liberals, 129 ; Tories
struck dry 553 ; Liberals 'struck off, 234 ; g in to Liberals on
objections, 361 ;cl~;ms made by Tories, BS--sustained, 9;
claims made by -Liberals, 183 —sustained, 30. This, however,
will not esiiaa.',y show the relative position of the two parties on
the rejg.,"ster, as the overseers each year leave off a large
number of old names as well as insert a number of new ones.
In the year just passed, 1070 names were left off the re4istor,
560 of which were unknown, 260 were Tories, and 250
Liberals; so that, so far as can be ascertained, the nett gain to
the cause of progress on the borough list last year, was as
follows :—Gain on objections, 382; gain on claims, 21-403;
loss by alteration of list by overseers, 10. Nett gain, 393
There is yet another important feature to be taken into
account, namely, the new blood annually imported into the
register. Last year, no less than 4,437 new names were added
to it. In the year 1855, at Mr. Ewart's election, there were
3,887 new names upon the list, as compared with the former
year, and it was predicted before the election, that a majority
of those votes would be given to the Liberal candidate, and
the result showed the prediction was founded on no idle data,
as 1,123 voted for Ewart, only 756 for Bonham, and 2,008 e
did not vote at all. In the Liverpool polling district for th ,
Southern Division of the county, 294 objections were manes
and the result was the Tories struck off 76; claims
made, 122—sustained, 119 ; nett gain to the Liberal
in the county, 160. The objections and results of the
municipal revision are as follows :-- St. Paul's Ward
Tories objected -to, 75 ; struck off, 61 ; Liberals ob-
'ected to, 14 ; struck off, 6. Exchange : Liberals
objected to, 142 ; struck off, 57. Castle street : Telles
ob-
jected to, 48; struck off 44 ; Liberals objec:ed to, 46 ; struck
off. 15. St. Peter's : Liberals objected to, 27 ; struck off,
15. Great George : Liberals objected to, 161; struck off, 54.
Abercromby : Tories objected to, 23 ; struck off, 22. St.
Anne's : Liberals objected t o, 1 ; struck off, 1. North Toxteth :
Liberals objected to, I. Claims made by Tories, 9 ; sus.
tained, 2. Claims made by Liberals, 14; sustained, 4. It
will be seen by the above statement, that whilst the Tories
made 392 objections, they sus'ained only 148 ; and tbe
Liberals out of 146 objections, sustained 127. It will also be
seen that in several of the wards no objections wore made.
This arose mainly from the secretary having, in accord-
'epee with his instructions, made arrangements wherever
be could that no objcctiens should be bade on either side.
This has been dons in some of the wards fur the last three
years, and the terms havo been faithfully observed; but
your council regret to state that last year there was a
shameful breach of faith on the part of a person who
pr .fe-ises to have the management of Great George
Ward, who caused objections to be served upon
every Liberal voter in that ward, whilst the. Liberals,
keeping to their agreement, did not make one. In
Exchange Ward, too, it will be seen that no less than 142
• persons were objected to, whilst the Liberals made not a
single objection. This, however, is annually 'the case in Ex-
change ward. In this way the leading merchants of the town,
against whom there cannot be the shadow of objection,
as well as many poor working men, are yearly dragged
into the revision court, or must submit to the loss of
their votes. These matters are mentioned with regret, as
conduct such as just now described frequently leads to
acts of retaliation the following year, and your council
would recommend to their successors the consideration
an application to Parliament to extend the law

inflicting fines upon any person making frivolous objec-
tions to the case of voters at municipal elections. In
addition to making and establishing the objections and claims
mentioned above, your council had to defend 1,462 persons
objected to byl the Tories, and oppose 88 claims. Feeling
the great. importance of good municipal government,
involving the comfort, health, and morals of this large
2 community, your council have great pleasure in referring to
the victories obtained at the last municipal election, making
an addition of eight votes on a division in the council, and
. they trust the time has now arrived when a class of men
will again be returned who, from their position, ability, and
integrity, are qualified to take part in the government of
this great commercial town. Your council would again
impress upon the wards the great necessity of organi-
action. They have reason to believe that gigantic
eff irts are being made by your opponents to swamp the
Liberal voters upon the forthcoming register, upon which
in all probability the next election will take place. Even
the orange lodg,s are called into requisition for that
purpose. It therefore behoves every • good Reformer to
attach himself to the committee in that ward in which his
services will be most useful. Great watchfulness, great
activity, energy, and zeal, will be necessary to thwart the
plans of your opponents. The committees should imme-
diately assemble and select proper persons as assessors for the
wards, the elections taking place on the lot of March. They
should also appoint three officers, as they are allowed by
rule 13, to represent them at the councils of the Reform
Association; and furnish their names to the secretary, that
they may be summoned to the meetings of the council, and
endeavour to extend and increase their power and influence
by inviting active, zealous, and energetic men in each ward
to join them, so that they may have all the benefits arising
from combination and prearrangement. The supine and
indifferent should be exhorted to pay their rates in proper
time, and every effort should be made to increase the
liberal strength at the next register, so as to be ready for
the struggle that awaits us at the next election. Ward books
are row in course of preparation, so arranged as to give
the committees and canvassers as little labour as possible,
Preparation fur the county and borough elections has been
annually made, and the machinery of the association kept
in such order as to ba available at any time circumstances
may call it into action. With proper attention to the
registration, aided by that assistanco and local knowledge
which the wards only can bestow, together with systematic
arrangement and united action on the part of the ward
committee, your council has no fear for the result, feeling
confident that in contending against ignorance and
partial interests in , opabsition to the general weal, public
opinion is becoming sufficientlyenlighteued, that if Reformers
are only true to themselves; and are ready at all- times to
support their principles by. correct-and honourable means,
those principles will, in defiance of transient discourage-
ment, ultimately prevail. In concluding this report, your
council would confidently urge on each member of this
association the necessity which exists, and which must be
-apparent to all, for individual effort. A large number of
subscribers is especially d.emaneded, not alone for the purpose
of aiding the association th prosecution cf the important
cods for which it wa
called into existence, and which
necessarily involves a i
large ecuniary outlay, but because
your council feel that each friend of the liberal cause
who enrolls
name in the list of members adds
interestedddstothe
stability of the association, and becomes personally
in. its efficiency. - The liberal patty has hitherto been too
much indebted to the munificence of a few individuals who,
when circumstances have demanded pecuniary support,
have freely given their aid. But it is a part of our creed
that the strength of the liberal party lies in the great body
of the people. To them, through the present members of
an
our association, your council earnestly appeals, d
ventures to anticipate that the coming year will not only
add largely to the list of subscribers, but that able

recruits for the good cause we all have at heart will come
forward to the help of the association, ani by their perional
services aid those, who have long been in the field,: in. the
conflict which yet remains to be waged, to secure the final
triumph of civil and religious liberty."
Mr. Macrae said, .he had great pleasure in Moving that
the report and the treasurer's statement just read be.
adopted. In offering that motion to the gentlemen now
presentf he should take leave to press upon them a crotchet
of his, or, at least, what might be considered a crotchet
by some, although. it was not so, in his opinion. He
believed that the liberal party, to which he was attached,
would do itself: great credit if,-by the representations of
their members in the House of Commons, or any other
means, they, could, secure to- every man in the
borough of Liverpool the privilege of exercising
his vote if he were entitled to it—he meant
that no objection should be taken to any man's vote who
really was entitled to a vote. (Heel-, hear.) Whether
Whig, Tory, or Radical, let every man who was entitled
to a vote, be by some legislative means secured the
privilege of exercising it. He thoUght it most unjust that
a respectable man should be dragged to a court of law to
establish a claim of which nobody had the slightest doubt.
It was a course unworthy of any party whatever ; and
those who represented the liberal party, ought to enlea-
your to secure to every► man, no matter what the character
of his politics might be, the vote to which he was entitled.

Mr. - Maxwell had great pleasure in seconding the
report, and expressed his entire concurrence in the
observations which had fallen from Mr. Macrae. He
could' speak personally of the inconvenience to which
voters were sometimes scbj'eted• He had lived in the
same house for the last 25 years, and he had been objected
to on almost every occasion. He thought it a disgrace to
the community that such a system should be allowed.
There was a feeling abroad on the part of some liberals
that there was not much to agitate about' just now. He
entirely dissented from that opinion. An immense amount
of power was yet necessary to secure to the people of
Great Britain a fair share in the legislation of the country.
(Hear, hear.) It was still a class legislation. (Hear,
hear.) When one looked around him and saw how the
House of Commons was constituted,• he would see
that extensive and sweeping reforms .were still required.
(Hear, hear.) In his own country the Duke of Buccleuch
nominated one county member for Edinburgh, and was
attempting to nominate a boy just out of Eton for the
county of Dumfries. The people were not, however, so
abject as to allow this. (Hear, hear.) That was the way
in which the House of Commons was filled up. A full and
fair ;representation in the House of Commons must yet
be maintained before the communities would become what
they ought to be. He would not attempt to contend, as
some milk-and-water liberals end, that there was nothing
to agitate for just now, and that they ought to be all
satisfied. He tints not satisfied, and he hoped for further
and snabay reforms. (Hear, hear.)
The Chairman called attention to the consequences
which seemed to result, as shown in the report, from an
understanding with the Tory party in reference to objec-
tions. He was himself entirely opposed to objections, and
wished to see the system entirely abolished. This, how
ever, he knew was for the present impracticable. He had
some reason to believe that he was himself objected to the
year before last, by a person who kne w as well, as he did
himself that the house in which he lived belonged to him,
and that there could be no possible objection to his vote.
The party objected because he said the househad had some
name previously, and therefore was not properly described,
whereas he (the chairman) never heard of any name to it.
The objection was so frivolous, that the party was obliged
to withdraw it. That just showed the animus by which
persons were moved, and the necessity of not entering
into any arrangement which might cause such inconveni-
ence as had been described. His own principle was, that
every man in the community should have a vote, under
whatever restrictions the legislature might impose, and
these restrictions, he thought, should be very limited.
The resolution was then carried.

Mr. Raft moved the appointment of president, vice_
presidents, committee, and officers for the ensuing year.
He expressed a concurrence in the remarks which had
been made with respect to the system of objections, and
observed that there was even somewhat more protection
afforded for parliamentary voters, who could recover
their costs in case of a frivolous objection, than for
municipal voters, who had no such privilege. He also
urged the necessity of obtaining increased funds, and/
urged that the members who were present, and others
outside, should exert themselves to obtain additional
subscribers. Mr. Raffles then moved the following resolu.
tion:—" That the following gentlemen be appointed office
bearers for the ensuing twelve months—Thomas Brockle-
bank, president. Vice-presidents : James Aikin, Thomas
Bolton, William Earle, Eyre Evans, Robertson Gladstone,
R. E. Harvey, T. Robinson, jun.; George Holt, Thomas
A. Hope, Hugh Hornby, C. J. Corbally, B. Heywood
Jones, Thomas Lloyd, W. Rathbone, jun. ; George Max-
well, George Wily, James 'Mellor, William Rathbone, C.
Rawdon, C. Robertson, J. H. Macrae, R. W. Ronald,
James nYIeY, James Stitt. Samuel Thornely, Thomas
Thornely, M P.; Thomas Urquhart, and Richard Sheil.
Executive Committee : Walter F. Macgregor, chairman ;
T.M. H. Fernie, J. Finch, jun ; J. R. Jeffery, J
Robinson, J. B. Spence, S. B. Jackson, T. Stamford
Raffles, J. Crosfield, C. E. Rawlins, jim. ; T. D. Hornby,
and W. Langton; A. Holt, treasurer; E, Harvey, solicitor;
S. T. Hobson and D. Fernie, auditors; W. Brumfitt,
secretary.'
Mr. Richard Johnson seconded the motion, which was
unanimously adopted.

Mr. Fraser moved that the thanks of the association be
given to the president, vice-presidents, and executive
committee, for their zeal during the past year. He felt
sure that those. who witnessed the exertions of the
executive committee at the last municipal elections, but
would feel that they were entitled to an expression of
approval on the part of the association—(hear, hear)—
and that so long as they continued in the same course,
and obtained the same results, they might depend on the
sympathy and support of its members.
Mr. Corbally seconded the -motion, which was nnani-
m ously adopted. •
Mr. C. E. Riwlins said, that without knowing whether
his motion would meet with a seconder, and without any
previous arrangement wi;h any member of the associ-
ation, he should like to make one or two"observations
on what had fallen from Mr. Macrae. It was useless for
them to express dissent from the system of frivolous
objections, unless they followed it up with something
else, and he would therefore take the liberty of moving,
" that it be an instruction to the new committee to
prepare a petition to the House of Commons on the
subject." It struck him, that inasmuch as the list of
voters was taken from the collectors' rate books, the very
simple mode of remedying the defect would be to make
the collectors' books the final appeal in all cases, and to
make the rate collector responsible if he neglected to put
down any voter who was entitled to be on the list. He
differed with Mr. Raffles as to the protection given
in the case of the parliamentary franchise. (Hear,.
hear.) In every other department the law sup-
posed a man was innocent until he was proved to be
guilty; but in the revision of voters, the reverse was the
case. A person made an objection, which might to his
knowledge be frivolous, but unless the party objected to
appeared and proved his qualification, he would be shuck
off the list.- Now the onus of proof ought always to rest
on the ohj'ction.
Mr. Raffles observed that Mr. Rawlins must have
misunderstood him. He did not approve of the system
of the parliamentary revision, but he said that while it
allowed costs for frivilous objections, the municipal
revision allowed no such remedy:
Mr. Rawlins : Then you mean that one is bad, and
the other worse ?

.....„....
Mr. Raffles : Precisely so.
Mr. R. Johnson seconded the resolution, observing that
his v lte for the county had been objected to six times
successively for the same property. The Sooner such.a
vexatious system could be got rid of the better ; but he
would also wish that the executive committee, if they
could, would adopt some plan to induce the people to
take a greater interest in the exercise of their political
privileges. There were 2,000 or 3,000 persons on the
register in Liverpool who were nominally of the liberal
party, and who yet never exercised their political privilege
either on one side or the other. That was a sad thing,
and he thought some means should be taken to rouse into
activity so inert and so large a body. (Hear) . .
Mr. Maxwell thought the subject of Mr. Rawlins'
motion, though important in itself, yet too small to
formally, petition for. He dissented from the present
system altogether ; and he feared that by petitioning for
a partial remedy it would be taken that they approved
as a whole, of the existing system. He thought it would
be better to press the matter on their representatives
than to present a formal petition which might tend to
_check any system of a more extended reform. As to the
number of persons who did not exercise their political
privileges, it was not to be wondered at when they con
sidered that many of the parties who signed the requisi-
tion to Mr. Jeffrey either by intimidation or some other
means, were induced some of them not to vote at all, and
others to vote against him. Nothing but protection to the
voter would ever secure t.e exercise of the franchise
as it ought to be.
Mr. Raffles expressed his intention as a member of
the Committee to support the motion, on the principle
that "half a loaf was betteri than no bread."
Mr. John Aiken saidt let he was sorry he could not
fmroamttetrheofasgsorceiaattioimn
agree with Mr. Maxwell
i)or‘‘ariinlnctel:inking that this was, not a
and worthy of a petition
teirer might be the extension
of the franchise, it seemed 't.
those
that it was a principle
of the first importance that°
vete, whatever their number might who were entitled to
eibe, should be insured
that right. The rightmwr.asifloarwienrsy. based on taxation,
seticiuinrekintghetharitghitt
and he agreed with
was the duty of the country tom
of vote to those who paid tax
• es, and that the onus
of proving the disqualification, should be thrown on the
party objecting. A difference of opinion might
exist
between some of them as to the action which association
having great national objects in view, should take with
reference to municipal matters, He was not then &Gilts