The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-08 00:00:00

signed or agreed upon the night before that vote ler.") At this moment a carriage attempted to pass
was given upon the Reform Bill. Did Mr. Roebuck through the crowd, and the hon. member directed
indignantly repudiate the imputation ? Not a bit to have it stopped. He continued—That is a piece of
of it ; he was silent. (Hear, hear.) I take it there- the impertinence they have shown to us throughout.
fore that his silence was an admission that the con- They have no understanding what the majesty of
tract was signed on the night before that vote was the people means. (Cheers.) We will teach them.
given. What did that vote do ? The Galway Corn- They will then find that the man who has gone mad
pany asked for aid out of the public purse to enable upon water is not to dictate to this town of Sheffield,
them to do that which other companies do out of and that the bellows mender is not going to blow us
their profits. Mr. Roebuck was a director of that to the wind. (Cheers and laughter.) Let me also re-
company, and if it succeeded he was entitled to cer- mark that it will be of advantage that all friends of
twin dividends on shares which would ptit money Mr. Hadfield and myself should attend the ward
into his pocket. (Hear, hear.) The subsidy was meetings. (Hear, hear.) Depend upon it, our ene-
£l7,ooo a year, and it enabled the company to com- mies will be as active as they are malicious.
pete with others which carried the mails at their own (Laughter and cheers.) All that we can oppose to
cost, and thereby it interfered with that freedom of them is an honest and bold determination, and that
trade under which other companies have worked. I ask you to do by attending the ward meetings,
Was that subsidy a direct advantage to Mr. Roebuck and in every ward determine to vote according to
as a director? (" No, no.") If the company had your consciences. (Prolonged cheering.)
succeeded, if it had'hot been a rotten thing from the
first, it would have put money in his pocket. That
contract was signed on the night before the great
division which decided the fate of the Derby Minis-
try. (" You've said that 20 times.") Mr. Roebuck
voted for that Ministry when they had given him
a share of £17.,000 a year. (Applause and hisses.)
He says he never got a farthing, and I believe it ;
but it was no fault of his. (Loud cheers.) He did
not succeed, because he allied himself to a rotten,
protection-wanting company. He thought he was
all right, but he found himself all wrong. Am I
right ? (Hear, hear.) I don't flinch from saying
to Mr. Roebuck, when he imputes to me that my
only object is to win business, that I scorn the im-
putation. (Cheers, and a voice, " Speak summat
like truth."—Laughter.) He talks about jobs; let
him look at home. Mr. Foster then referred very
fully to the part taken in the Bill passed to regulate
the affairs of the Sheffield Water Company, after
the inundation caused by the bursting of the reser-
voir. He asserted that Mr. Roebuck had increased
the water rates of the city 25 per cent. for the next
25 years. At this point of his address the cries for
" Roebuck" increased in vehemence, until it became
impossible to hear what Mr. Foster was saying, and
the chairman interposed, and stated that when Mr.
Foster had finished he should be glad to hear Mr.
Roebuck or Mr. Hadfield. Mr. Foster then resumed
amid increasing disorder. He spoke of the import-
ance of the trades' unions in this town, and referred
to the state of the law affecting the relations between
master and servant, and declared that he would do
his best to abolish the power which the master alon e
possessed of proceeding criminally against his ser-
vant, and put both parties to their civil remedy in
the County Court. He taunted Mr. Roebuck for
never having taken any steps to remove that
anomaly in the law, although he was a great advo-
cate of the rights of the poor man. Mr. Foster then
said that one of the local journals had asserted that
he came there simply as the tool of the Permissive
Bill men. He was told that there was in Sheffield a
section of people who were called Teetotalers. He
was not a Teetotaler ; on the contrary, like Mr.
Roebuck, he could not do without his wine.
(Laughter.) But the Teetotalers were sincere
in their belief that their plan would avert
many mischiefs. They had seen respectable work-
men in the town wasting their money and their
energies in tippling in dram-shops and publichouses.
They thought that teetotalism was the way to remedy
that mischief. He did not agree with them. (Hear,
hear.) But when he saw a body of men who held
that belief he respected them ; he was always glad
to hear what they had got to say ; and he never was
capable of, or guilty of, the dirty proceeding of say-
ing, " I spit on your bill." (Cheers and laughter.)
He did not think that to use intemperate language
was the way to succeed. If he found a gentleman
using intemperate language upon one occasion, he
was apt to look and see in what company he found
him. If he found that a man who spoke of matters
of domestic policy in such terms as he had men-
tioned ventured, at a time of absolute disunion, a
time of war, when men ought to ,weigh carefully
their language, and even refrain from expressing
their honest opinion if it was offensive, in order that
peace might be kept—if he found that man using
language which was calculated to provoke a sensi-
tive nation, he said that that man was not fit to re-
present either their domestic or their foreign in-
terests. (Cheers and hooting.) Amid increasing
disorder Mr. Foator wont on to allude to the
speeches of Mr. Roebuck in reference to the Em-
peror of the French, and concluded by saying, " if
they approved his views, they would not think it an
impertinent interference on his part if he asked them
to give him their support."
Mr. ROEBUCK rose to address the meeting from
the carriage in which he had been sitting, and was
received with cheers. A cry was raised of " The
steps." Mr. Roebuck said to those about him, " I
cannot get there ; they must hear me here." Un-
fortunately, Mr. Roebuck could not be seen from
many parts of the square, and as soon as it became
known that he was on his feet to speak there was a
great crush from the centre of the square towards
his carriage. He stood for some time motioning
the crowd to be quiet, but they swayed fiercely to
and fro. Though there was not a persistent attempt
to shout Mr. Roebuck down, there was so much
tumult that it was quite impossible to hear him, and
after a short time he resumed his seat until , order
should be restored. The crowd shortly afterwards
becanie more quiet, and Mr. Roebuck again rose to
speak. He said :—I want you to hear what I have
got to say. Give me fair play ; that is all I ask.
You have heard the accusations against me; hear
my reply. I know that in this assembly there are
ten to one in my favour, but the one can make a
noise, and the ten cannot keep him quiet. These
few sentences were uttered amid great confusion
from the swaying about of the crowd in their at-
tempts to get within sight of the hon. gentleman,
and the " manirestations" of a few noisy opponents,
and after waiting for some time Mr. Roebuck gave
up as hopeless the attempt to get a hearing. After
the uproar had somewhat abated,
Mr. HADFIELD rose to address the meeting, and
he also was received with cheers. He said—Gentle-
men, give me a hearing. A few weeks ago a vote
was taken of a meeting in this square—. The con-
clusion of the sentence was inaudible even to those
around Mr. Hadfield from the uproar in the meet-
ing, caused by the swaying of the crowd and the
discordant cries of opponents, and after waiting for
some time Mr. Hadfield also was compelled to give
up the attempt to address the meeting.
A resolution declaring Mr. Foster a fit and
proper person to represent the bon:nigh of Sheffield
was then moved, with an amendment, proposed by
the party of Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Hadfield, thank-
ing Mr. Foster for his attendance and his offer to be-
come a candidate, but pledging the electors to sup-
port their old members. The confusion was so great
that it could not be decided which proposition was
carried. Both sides claimed the majority, and the
proceedings terminated.
Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Hadfield afterwards briefly
addressed their friends from the windows of the
George Hotel.
Mr. ROEBUCK said—Gentlemen, will you now
allow me to say one word to you? Although they
would not hear us we heard them. Now, I have only
to say to you that I am exceedingly obliged for the
kind manner in which you have expressed your opi-
nions concerning me. I have served you faithfully
for 16 years. (Hear, hear.) I have received no
earthly benefit from that representation. I have not
received one farthing benefit by representing you.
(Hear, hear.) And I have my character before the
world. That is not to be destroyed by any foul-
mouthed lawyer in this town. (Cheers.) A certain
manwithout a shadow of truth has stated that which
when stating he knew to be a falsehood, and I say
it is a shame to him, but not disgraceful to .me.
(Cheers.) 1 have nothing to explain--nothing to
retract. (Hear, hear.) I have acted fairly and
honestly on your behalf. (Hear, hear.) If you re-
elect me I will do the same—the same as I have
hitherto done. There will be no change in my con-
duct--(hear, hear)—none in my opinions. I have
advocated faithfully Liberal ideas, and to them I
mean to adhere as long as my memory and mind
remain to me. (Prolonged cheering.) Well, then,
gentlemen, I bid S, ou farewell. We shall know how
to answer them at the poll—(cheers)—and the man
whose mind is gone mad upon water. (A voice—
• Stop that.") (Laughter.) (" It is Only a teetotal

ST. IVES (CORNWALL.

In the event of the anticipated retirement of Mr.
Vivian, the Liberal candidate, Mr. Donald Nicoll,
formerly M.P. for Frome, and chairman of the St.
Neots Railway Junction Company, will contest the
representation with Mr. Paul, the Conservative
member.

SUFFOLK (EAST).
Col. S. Adair, who on four occasions hag contested
this division of the county in the Liberal interest,
but who is now a candidate for the representation of
Canterbury, yesterday issued a kind of farewell ad-
dress to the electors of East Suffolk.