The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-04 00:00:00

MR. ROUPELL, M.P., AND BIS CON-
STITUENTS.

Last night a public meeting of the inhabitants
of Lambeth was held at the Horns Tavern,
Kennington, for the purpose of receiving from
Mr. Roupell, one of their representatives, an
account of his stewardship in the past session.
The meeting was very numerously attended. Mr.
Robert Taylor, member of the Metropolitan Board
of Works, was called to the chair.

Mr, ROUPELL, on coming forward, was loudly
cheered. He said that, although some present
might differ from him in opinion, yet he believed all
would give him credit for an earnest desire to do
his duty. In 1861 the session was of an anti-poli-
tical nature, and the great question of reform, from
theindifference displayed out of doors, met with
but a cold reception, and the only thing done upon
the subject was to appropriate four seats to four
great constituencies. It was desired to give a re-
presentative to another metropolitan borough, but
the county influence was too strong for them, and
the vote was conferred upon a county constituency.
Mr. Locke King, it was true, brought forward his
annual motion to increase the county constituency,
but that was got rid of by the moving of the pre-
vious question. Mr. Berkeley had also brought for-
ward his motion to confer on voters the protection
of secrecy in the exercise of their franchise, but he
regretted to say that the motion was rejected by a
larger majority than had ever attended it before,
and on both these questions there was an amount
of apathy and indifference which to true Reformers
was utterly incomprehensible. Having glanced at
the Bankruptcy Bill, he said one session they dis-
cussed the subject but passed no bill, and the next
session they passed a bill, without discussion, which
be believed was of an unsatisfactory nature on ac-
count of the way in which it was hurried through
committee, and he doubted not that at an early
date that bill would require amendment. He con-
gratulated the country on the fact that they had
at last got rid of the paper duties, and Mr. Glad-
stone was entitled to the greatest praise for having
vindicated the principle that the House of Commons
should tax the people only, and he was really sur-
prised at how much could be said in favour of a tax
when it was sought to have that tax repealed. He
next referred to the establishment of the post-office
savings-bank, which gave a facility to the poor man
to invest his savings which he did not possess to a suf-
ficient degree under the former system. Another ques-
tion had arisen of great importance, especially to his
constituents, and that was the embankment of the
Thames. He had the honour of being a member of
the select committee of the House of Commons in
1860 which sat to investigate the subject of the
embankment of the north side of the river, when
the subject was very fully gone into, and during
the proceedings he strongly impressed upon the
house the necessity of embanking both sides of the
river. Ho was not then listened to, but since then a
deputation had waited upon Lord Palmerston, and
he (Mr. Roupell) had reason to know that his lord-
ship had used his influence to bring about an em-
bankment on both sides of the river. He then ad-
verted to the Dover-road Toll Bill, which had been
most improperly introduced, but had been got rid
of in a most signal manner, and therefore those
tolls no longer existed. Going from home to foreign
topics, he said they still found the. Pope at Rome,
supported by French bayonets, and the civil war
still raged in the United States ; but with respect
to the Trent, for the courage and ability with which
Lord Palmerston and Earl Russell had dealt with
that question, and upheld the dignity of their
country, they were entitled to the respect of their
countrymen. It would be idle on his part to die-
cuss the Trent question, as it had been most ably
discussed by the press, and by every public speaker
throughout the country. Mr. Roupell then glanced
at the prospect of a new confederacy among
the Conservative party, and it was said that there
was to be a re-action, but he placed no faith in such
predictions, believing that there could be no per-
manent re-action in favour of Conservatism, espe-
cially as the Conservative of the present day was
altogether unlike the Tory of former times, who was
opposed to all change, let it be good or bad. Hay-
ing alluded to the death of the Prince Consort and
to the other losses which the country had recently
sustained, he said he had only to ask them for a
continued expression of their support, which was
all the reward he sought for the labour and sacri-
fices he had made in their behalf.