The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-02 00:00:00

MR. MORRITT AND HIS CONSTITUENTS.

Mr. W. J. S. Morritt, M.P. for the North Riding, ad-
dressed a portion of his constituency in the Odd Fellows'
Hall, Middlesborough, on Wednesday evening. The hall
was crowded,between 2,000 and 3,000 electors and non-elec-
tors being present. The Mayor, Mr. T. Brentnall, pre-
sided. Mr. Morritt, in order to show that he was not wedded
to the Conservatives, stated that he had voted with Mr.
Walter, who was supposed to be a very strong Liberal, when
the latter moved an amendment to the effect that
it was inexpedient to confine all Government grants to
certified masters. Regarding the Highway Bill, he consi-
dered that, where roads had been perfectly well kept for
many years, no such evil as that for which a remedy was
sought to be applied existed. Therefore the remedy should
not be compulsorily enforced. The Night Poaching Bill,
he thought, was a misnomer. It was merely an extension
to the rural districts of what had always existed in the me-
tropolis, where a policeman, if he happened to meet any
suspicious-looking person with a sack upou his back during
the small hours had it in his p Aver to tap him on the
shoulder and say, " My friend, what have you got in that
sack ?" and search it. With regard to the Lancashire dis-
tress, it was not for him to say whether the calamity had
been brought about by misrule or not. Dreadful as it was,
there were points in it at which they could look with the
greatest satisfaction and pleasure. We had discovered that
among the aristocracy of the land the operatives had their
truest friends, and the aristocracy had been taught to know
that a nobler and finer set of fellows than the Lancashire
operatives did not exist. It was such a reciprocity of feel-
ing as this that bound rich and poor together and made
England what it was. With regard to the ticket-of-leave
system, he approved it, if only convicts were transported
and not kept at home. The only way of curing the evil of
which all England was at the present moment complaining
was again to have recourse to transportation. Respecting
the American war, he knew that non-intervention was our
proper policy in general, but still, when he thought of what
was going on, he could not help thinking that, for the sake
of humanity, we ought to interfere. In reference to the
coming session of rarliament, there was one question that
interested everybody and that.would come before the house;
he meant taxation. It was reported that there would be a
surplus of revenue, so carefully had the expenditure been
watched. He only hoped it might prove to be so. He
knew that with many it was thought we should
have a very Utopia if only extension of the suffrage
and the ballot could be achieved, but, as he had
done before, he referred them to the experience of other
countries, which proved the opposite to be the case. In
reply to questions put to him, Mr. Morritt said he voted
against church rates being abolished, and should do the
same in the next session unless some satisfactory way of
settling the question was proposed. He should have no
objection whatever to supporting a bill relieving all Dis-
senters from the payment of church rates. If a measure
were brought forward in the forthcoming session for the re-
cognition of the Southern Confederacy he would support it.
He believed it to be perfectly impossible, after what had
happened, for North and Sou h ever to amalgamate. As to
closing of publichouses on Sunday, he considered it one of
the greatest evils that workingmen should stroll on the
Sunday, when they had nothing else to do, into the public-
houses and come out drunk, although perhaps it was never
their intention to become so. Any measure that checked
that he should most thoroughly approve. He firmly believed
that the French treaty had been a very great blessing to
this country, and those persons who thought it would be
the reverse have found themselves greatly mistaken. He

would support any measure that rendered the transfer of
land perfectly safe and at the same time lessened its ex-

pence.
After a vote of thanks to the Mayor, the meeting dis-
persed.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

v-
YORK- SATURDAY.

At to-day's corn market the supply of farmers' wheat was
pretty fair, and prices about the same as last week, with a
steady trade.
Wheat, red 42s to 46s 1 s
Oats.... 2os to 249
White do .50s to 56s Bean 4O: to 429
Barley .28s to 368 Peas ....-8 to —9
Malt, 64s to 66s per qr. ; rye, 34s per qr ; flour, 36s
to 38s per sack.