The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-09 00:00:00

SCARBOROUGH.

The following address has been issued by Mr. G.
J. Cayley to the electors :
"Eight years ago I first aspired to represent you in Par-
liament. I was then, as lam now, a Conservative Re-
former. I earned my first defeat by resisting the then
popular outcry for a£6 franchise. I then declared, and I
still stick to my text, that the £lO limit is low enough in
the scale of rental qualification, and I will go no lower.
But, though I will not lower, I have always been in favour
of extending and improving the franchise by an infusion of
new blood. The real aristocracy of labour, in modern num-
bers (as a justly proportionedbalancing influence, not as an
overwhelming despotism of democratic dictation) would
bring fresh independence and intelligence into the electoral
body. When this new element of voting power is admitted
to the privilege of imposing, it should (to harmonise
itself with the constitutional system of which it becmes a
part) accept the responsibility of sustaining direct taxation.
On the members you now elect will depend the maintenance
undepreciated, nay the virtual existence of your electoral pri-
vilege. That privilege is menaced by what I hold a highly-
exaggerated and artificial agitation on the part of prominent
but dissatisfied members of the Liberal party. The first
word, therefore, of a candidate for a seat in this Parliament
is properly and naturally a frank avowal of his convictions
on the question of Parliamentary •Reform. I have never
truckled to popular clamour, and I never will. The exagge-
rated and inflated grievances of unrepresented millions Will
be most safely disposed of by spontaneously doing substan-
tial justice to such picked men of the working classes asare
fit for the privilege, and will accept the responsibilities of
the franchise. When we have garnered the solid grain we
may let the whirlwind of agitation amuse itself harmlessly
with the empty husks. Political chaff is their natural ele-
ment. So far on the general topic of the day. But a Par-
liamentary representative has local as well as national in-
terests to consider. Local ties and local affections are the
trusses and girders of our national edifice. Scarborough,
the first town I ever beheld, the nearest to lily birth-place,
and still—after long and wide travel—to my eyes the most
beautiful of towns, is the town of all others I have desired
to represent. I have had offers of influential support in
other constituencies, but I have remained faithful to my
first political love. I proposed myself to you for the first
time in a sudden emergency; for the second time, as a
means of better acquaintance, and of informing you of my
more matured political sentiments. I said, If not then the
time would come when we should be of one mind.' I had
resolved to wed my political destinies to Scarborough. I
think the time I foresaw has come, and this is my third time
of asking. If you accept me, I will not only to the best of my
abilities staunchly uphold your national and imperial privi-
leges, but I will also devote my most strenuous effort to in-
sure that your noble borough, pre-eminent in its attractions
among seaside cities of the world, shall have fair scope for
the full development of all its rich and manifold resources.
lam for free trade in all the facilities of locomotion, and
for an open competitive scale of prices in the transport of
commodities. The legitimate growth of prosperity in a
place so singled out and marked A 1 by Nature's own libe-
ral hand, should be crippled and retarded by no monopoly,
rates of passenger traffic, building material, and the sup-
plies of trade. In a town which is destined to attract, and
may well become a permanent summer sojourn to the
highest personages of the realm, local enterprise should be
met on the part of the Government by the most liberal ad-
ministrative arrangements. Postal communication, the
speedy transmission of supplies for the mind as well as the
body, are demanded by a locality which gathers to its
focus the highest and noblest of the land. The aristocrat'
of wealth, fashion, and intellect are alike attracted by
beauty, but retained by the amenities which spring from
accomplished development of all the
,myriad appliances of
nineteenth century civilisation. As far as strenuous effort
and steady fidelity to my bounden duty (thus faintly and
hastily sketched out, though most legibly and indelibly
engrained on my inmost heart and conscience) can com-
mand success in human enterprise, you may depend on me
to stand boldly and unflinchingly by Scarborough's inte-
rests, national and local, conferring on me the proud posi-
tion of advocating, upholding, and defending those inte-
rests in the High Court of Parliament."