The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-13 00:00:00

. —
have given the thing a new name, and they think you will
like it the better. It is what they call "a lateral extension
of the franchise"—(laughter)—that is, an extension side-
ways, and not the least downwards. Now bear in mind
that the class who, would be included in the lateral exten-
sion of the franchise is the class who are the best able to
qualify themselves at present, and who do not make any
complaint. Those who do complain are the great mass of
the working people, who were by the Reform Bill of 1832
purposely excluded. If in this borough and other boroughs
of the kingdom there were none but the middle class, they
would have no ground of complaint for exclusion from the
franchise. They would have a ground of complaint as to
the mode of distribution of members, but not of exclusion
from the franchise, for so many are enrolled that it may be
said they are adequately represented. But as to the
working classes, there are fewer represented now than
forty years ago, and this is the class absolutely shut out.
The complaint and the danger is this, that in the whole
nation there are twenty millions of persons—men, women,
and children—who have no direct representation in the
House of Commons of the country, which is the great foun-
dation of government as a representative system and repre-
sentative principle. Well, what is the answer made to
this claim ? It is this : The Prime Minister offers it con-
temptuous silence. He has not referred to it in the long
and carefully written address which he has not only ad-
dressed to the electors of Tiverton, but the electors of the
United Kingdom. But what says Lord Derby, speaking
by the mouth of his prophet Disraeli? (Laughter.) Why,
he says "lateral extension." Ho says to the great body of
working men—the five millions—" It is true you are shut
out, the Reform Bill is not satisfactory, the representation
must be mended, your complaint is just, and we admit
everybody else." Now Mr. Disraeli is the man who does
what maybe called the conjuring for his party. (Laughter.)
He is what among a tribe of Indians would be called the
"mystery man ;" he invents phrases for them, and one of
his latest and newest is " lateral extension of the fran-
chise." Well, Mr. Disraeli is a man of brains, of genius, of
great capacity for action, of wonderful tenacity of purpose,
and of rare courage. He would be a statesman if his powers
of mind were directed by an ennobling principle or idea ;
but, unhappily, he prefers the temporary and worthless
distinction as head of a decaying party fighting for impos-
sible ends to the priceless memories of services rendered to
his country and freedom, and upon which only in our age
can an enduring name be built up. (Great cheering.)
What is meant by lateral extension ? It means this, that
all who are below £lO householders shall not be admitted.
The present law admits all above it, and, therefore, to the
class already included it would only add a few men, incon-
siderable inthe whole number, as lodgers, or the brothers
or sons of housekeepers who are already on the register.
Therefore it is quite clear that the lateral extension of the
franchise him, miserable pretence and delusion, and an insult
of a most glaring kind to the great body of the people. (Loud
cheers.) But they have another word. They say they are
for a liberal extension of the franchise, but not for the " de-
gradation of the suffrage." lam not sure whether Mr. Dis-
raeli has used the word "degradation," but it has been used
by his followers, and by the Quarterly Review. I ask you what
is meant by degradation of the suffrage ? You_pre the
working men of England, who have built our towns and
cities, who have furnished our houses, who fill our ware-
houses-with the products of every clime, who build our
ships, steam-engine; and machinery, who have filled the
land with industry and wealth, and without whom there
would be no English nation. They tell you—men high in
the ranks of the Tory party tell you—that to extend the
franchise even from a £lO renter to a £6 renter would be
a degradation of the suffrage. I hope the country will
never forget the party who offer this insult to the great
mass of the people, and contemptuously deny them any
share of political power. But the fancy franchises have
failed, and lateral extension will also fail. We, who ad-
vocate honest opinions, and clearly understood and de-
finite measures, shall succeed. We stand in this matter
upon the practice of the ancient times ; we stand upon
sound precedents ; we stand upon reasons which no man
can contradict. Why, if it would not delay you too long,
I could give you proofs 200 years old that the franchise
was then held to be a common right, and, where there was
no specific restriction or law to the contrary, that the suf-
frage was vested in the whole people—inhabitants and
householders of towns. But look to the Reform Bill—
the greatest measure which was passed by Parliament
during the last hundred years—and you will find the test
of the franchise which it gives is rental ; and rental is the
condition and test of the qualities of the people. I will
undertake to say that if you depart from the principle of
universal manhood suffrage, there is no test equal to the
rental of houses, whatever may he the class or sort of
people you may wish to reach. If you go to the part of
the town where I came from this morning, you will
find some good houses. If you go to another part of
the town you will see some poor houses, and there are
fewer in Birmingham than in any town of its size. You
will find wherever you go, by the house—its size, appear-
ance, the mode in which it is kept, the expenditure for
goods, for clothes, books, for education—of what class the
owner is, and whether he has what is called a stake in the
country. And just as you lower the franchise in amount
of rent from £lO to £9, £B, £7, or £6, you include as
many of the working classes as you want to include ;
because those who live in the poorest houses are the poor-
est people ; they have tho poorest food, the fewest books,
they give their children the smallest education, and they
have the fewest comforts; and, therefore, there never was
a test so complete as the test of the houses in which the
people live. If anybody objects to it you rely upon it thht
he wishes to preserve the monopoly of a class. They ob-
ject because they fear the number to be admitted would be
too great to be bribed or coerced. They do not object to
the freemen in the old boroughs, because they think they
can be got by corrupt means ; and they do not object to
the £5O tenant fanner, although his profit is not more than
20s. or 30s. a week, I ask them, whence comes the free-
dom that we now enjoy ? It does not come from the mo-
narch, nor from the House of Peers. It comes from the
House of Commons. From what side of the House of Com-
mons does it come ? It does not come from the Tory side:
it comes from the side on which my hon. friend and my-
self are, by your favour, permitted to sit ; and if you ask
me from what section of the Liberal side it comes, I say it
comes from that section which sits below the gangway,
rather than from that which sits close to the Ministers of
the day. Reform was gained by the action of the great
towns of the kingdom. I speak this to the middle classes,
to have confidence in their fellow citizens the working
classes. You may relyupon it that when we admit another

million of them to exercise the franchise, you yourselves
will have greater power, and you will do for freedom in

future as great things as have been done in the past.
(Cheers.) To the working men one word only before I sit
down. Do not in the least despair of your cause ; it is not
dead, and I maintain is nit sleeping, for in every constitu-
ency and on every platform friend and opponent alike are
discussing it during this great week. For my-
self, .1 never at any period—during the last fif-
teen years, certainly—l never looked with more hopeful
eye or encouraged heart upon the prospects of this great

question. I believe the time is coming, nay, that we are

on the very threshold of it, when a great number of those
excluded shall be admitted to the franchise, and when we

shall feel more than ever that we are one nation and one

people. (Cheers.)' Many of you, I doubt not, have stood:
as I have often stood—upon the seashore in an hour o

quiet and calm ; no tempest drives the waves, and the
wind appears as if it were a whisper ; and yet you see the
tide coming in, urged as it were by some latent mysterious
power ; you see the loiterers upon the beach driven from
point to point by the advancing waves; and by-and-bye,
and finally, the whole vast basin of the ocean seems filled
to the very brim. (Loud cheers.) Well, take your cause.
There is no violence, not a menace of force, but all feel the
opinion that the.tide is coming on ; we feel, too, that those
who are our opponents, ignorant as some -of them may be,
insolent as others of them may be, are gradually driven
back ; and by-and-bye the banners will be thrown down,
privilege and monopoly will be swept away, the people will
be enfranchised, the measure of their freedom will be full.
(Immense cheering.) You have honoured me this morning
by confiding to me in part the maintenance of this great
cause. I cannot enough tell you how I estimate the honour
you have conferred upon me. I shall probably have to de-
fend the cause on many occasions with a feebleness which
I shall regret as much as you. I may even fall from the
ranks before it is won ; but of one thing you may roe
assured that I never shall betray it. (Great cheering.)
Some questions were then put to the hon. members, and
answered. To that put by Mr. Sebastian Evans, Mr. Bright
stated that ho had for some time back declined to have any
altercation with the Prime Minister, who was an octoge-
narian. He was not desirous of entering the lists with a
man 80 years of ago. He wished him many years of leisure
in the retirement which was now so suited to him.
(Laughter.)

After a vote of thanks to the Mayor, the proceedings
were brought to a close.

A FORTUNATE LOTTERY SPECULATOR.—M. Gigre,
the winner of the 500,000 fr. prize of the Mexican
Loan, left his house with the intention of subscribing at the
Comptoir d'Escompte. On arriving at the office he found it
so crowded thathe leisurely returned by the Rue Vivienne
to the Boulevards, and happening to pass M. Monteaux's
well-known exchange office, recollected that he could pur-
chase the scrip there, and walked in, but found that a well-
known physician had followed him, and, being better known
than himself, insisted on being attended to first. M. Gigre,
amazed at this second delay, asserted that he had come into
the office before the doctor, but in vain. While he remon-
strated the clerk banded the ill-mannered son of iEsculapius
ten shares. M. Gigro had nothing for it but to accept the
two next, which he purchased in no very amiable mood.
Thanks, however, to the doctor's rudeness, M. Gigre is
revelling at this moment in the luxury of clear £l,OOO a-
year.

[ADVERTISEMENT.] —Holloway'sOin tment.—T urn which
way yOu will, go where you please, persons will be found
who have a ready word of praise for this Ointment. For
chaps, chafes, scalds, bruises, and sprains, it is an invalu-
able remedy; for bad legs, caused by accident or cold, it
may be confidently relied upon for effecting a sound and
permanent cure. In cases of swelled ankles, erysipelas,
gout, and rheumatism, Holloway's Ointment gives the
greatest comfort, by reducing the inflammation, cooling
the blood, soothing the nerves, adjusting the circulation,
and expelling the impurities. This Ointment should have
aAolace in every nursery. It will cure the long list of skin
alTections that originate in childhood, and gain strength
with the child's growth.