The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-14 00:00:00

Representation of Westminster.

In consequence of General Sir De Lacy Evans having
intimated that it is not his intention to ask for a renewal of
the trust reposed in him by his constituents, a meeting of
liberal electors and liberal members of the several vestries
in the City of Westminster took place yesterday at St.
James's-hall. The meeting was called at the invitation of
Dr. W. Brewer and Mr. Hugh Seymour, the churchwardens
of St. George's, Hanover-square. Among those present
were Messrs. Compton, James, Webber, Watkins, Gordon,
Cook, Hadfield, Waggett, Downes, T. W. Marshall, P.
Ogden, S. Smith, H. Ward, Westerton, Mantle,Beale,
Bid-
good, &c.

Dr. Wisl. BREWER, churchwarden of St. George's, Hano-
ver-square, having been called to the chair, opened the pro-
ceedings by observing that the object of the promoters of the
meeting in calling together the electors of Westminster and
the vestries of the various parishes was simply to give to the
electors of that great city a fair opportunity of expressing
their predilection for any particular candidate who might
present himself in the event of .a general election. It had
been felt that no organisation of any breadth of character
existed at present for that purpose, and in his opinion
there was room enough for such an organisation as might
have its branches in every district and ward of the city.
The increase of population in the city of Westminster and
the modification of opinion that had taken place among the
more thoughtful class of the population had hitherto pre-
rented any such organisation. That meeting was called
together, not to enunciate any political creed ; their inten-
tion was simply, from the largeness of the organisation, to
give a facility to candidates to present themselves to the
electors before an actual vacancy took place, so that .the
number of candidates not being limited to two or three, a
proper selection might be made by the voters, and through
the ramifications of the organisation the return of the
selected candidate might be secured. By means of such
an organisation they would, he was convinced, be able to
secure candidates of the highest, qualities, but who were
prevented from coming forward at present by the great
labour and fatigue of a personal canvas of the electors.

Major LYON then moved the following resolution
" That the persons present who are willing to form them-
selves into a committee to secure fit and proper candidates
to represent the liberal party in parliament do signify their
consent to act, and that such a committee be formed, with
power to add to their number." He said that the resolu-
tion, simple as it was in itself, involved important conse-
quences. The chairnfan had stated that there had been no
sort of organisation answering the purposes of such a
committee as this. 'Whether the Liberal Registration
'Society, or what was called derisively, " the old Rump of
Westminster," had acted hitherto, was not a matter of
great consequence. The present meeting was gigantic in
comparison with the meetings of the old Rump, and the
very person who belonged to it seemed to have forgotten
the purposes for which it was formed. The present asso-
ciation was not formed for the purpose of supporting any
candidate now in the field for Westminster. If, under these
circumstances, Sir J. Shelley, or Captain Grosvenor,
or any other gentleman who had put forth addresses,
were present, it would be unbecoming in them to make,
and unwise in this meeting to listen to, any expression of
their political creed. He hoped that they would form such
an association as should induce a higher class of men to come
forward as candidates for the metropolitan boroughs than
was now the case, for without mentioning names he did not
hesitate to say that there had been persons recently sent to
Parliament for certain boroughs who were no honour to
Parliament, and no credit to those who sent them there.
His view of a representative was that on local questions he
was bound to put himself in communication with and
ascertain the wishes of his constituents ; but on all great
imperial questions he should act entirely on his own views.
Had there been with the members for Westminster and
their constituents within the last 10 years that communica-
tion that there ought to have been ? (No, no.) Had the
members even addressed their constituents once a year as
other members did ? (No.) The electors of Westminster,
however, were now determined to have a more frequent
communication with their members. (Hear.) It was pro-
posed that in every district a sub-committee should be ap-
pointed, -which should be in constant communication with
the central committee, by which means all parts of the
borough would be .put into constant communication with
the member on all local questions. He wished it to be
understood that they did not desire to shut out any candi-
date, but it was their intention to do all they could to re-
turn good sound Liberals to Parliament. At tht same time,
if there were only two candidates, one a Liberal, but:who
(lid not go the full length to which it was desired he should
go, and the other a Conservative, then they ought to do
their best to return the Liberal, however moderate his libe-
ralism, in preference to the Conservative. Again; there
might be candidates, men of great talent, holding the prin-
ciples of Messrs. Cobden and Bright—principles which
might go beyond the views of many of the electors of West-
minster, yet if such a candidate and a Conservative candidate
were brought forward, it would be the duty of the Liberals
of Westminster to support an ultra-Liberal in preference to
a Tory. The Tories were already combining, and in the
forthcoming election neither talent, nor energy, nor money
would be wanting on the Tory side to procure a majority.
They must not despise their antagonists, and think that
they (the Liberals) were so strong that no Tory candidate
would venture to place himself before the electors, because
if they did, they might possibly at the last moment find that
in consequence of their want of energy they had a Tory
representative. He wished to see a strong liberal organisa-
tion in Westminster, and would devote all his energies to
the accomplishment of that object. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. MALLESON seconded the motion, observing that one
had not far to go to select a man who would be a fit man to
represent them. If, for instance, they could persuade to
come forward a young reformer of such strong and well-
defined principles as Viscount Amberley, or a philosopher
like Mr. J. Stuart Mill, an accomplished 'gentleman, or a
liberal like Mr. L. Stanley, the son of Lord Stanley of
Alderley, those would be men whose election they would be
proud to secure.

A lengthened conversation ensued, in which
Mr. WEBBER suggested that before they should be asked
to join a committee of this kind with an avowed object of
sending good liberals to Parliament, a proper definition of
liberalism should be given. He regretted the loss of Gen.