The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-30 00:00:00

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any special charm in that amonnti .44116.:14146&-4.,
it would be right and wise on the pirrpt
latur to widen the sphere of the franclia6 in' you
of many at present excluded. Mr. Childers has also
addressed-the electors. As Civil Lord of the Admi-
ralty, Mr. Childers adverted at some length to the
conduct of the Government of which he is a mem-
ber. " The acts of this Parliament now coming to
an end, the acts which have been promoted by the
Government of Lord Palmerston (said the hon.
member) are such as fairly entitle every member of
that Government to consideration and support from
a constituency such as this. Take, in the first in-
stance, the difficult and troublesome conduct of
foreign affairs during the last six years, and the posi-
tion of the country now. Some years ago there was
great danger, or at least great fear, of war with a
neighbouring Power. We have had during the last
four years the most intricate and delicate negotia-
tions with the American States. We had last year
the gravest apprehension of being involved in the
wax, the end of which no man could foresee, in con- -
flexion with the most difficult question of the
Duchies, and looking back on these matters, I have
to ask you whether in the conduct of our foreign
relations, and in securing of the great result, peace,
her Majesty's Government has not earned the sup-
port of all who think that the maintenance of peace
is one of the greatest objects of Government in these
days. (Cheers.) I myself ventured nearly three
years ago, and again a year later, to say that in
my opinion the policy of strict neutrality in the
unhappy contest raging in America was peen_

I liarly the duty of this country. I ventured
also, in the teeth of a very considerable differ-
ence of opinion on the part of many of you, to say
. that the termination of the quarrel in favour of the
Southern States was by no means so certain as
people prophesied ; and on that ground, if on that
ground alone, it was most important...44p ingoaeu-
' trality should be strict and stedfast. (Cheers.) In
spite of these prophecies, in spite of the sympathies
of a great body of Englishmen, the event has not
been that which was generally anticipated. And if
you will but think what would have been the con-
sequence if the Government of England had acted
on the assumption that the Confederates would suc-
ceed, you will see that it would have been that of
involving us in a most disastrous war with our
brethren in America. (Applause.) I think on that
ground, as well as on the others I have stated, the
policy of her Majesty's Government is one which
commends itself to your support. (Cheers.) But let
me come to other questions and remind you of the
acts of the Government during the last six years in
relation to them. What have been the great finan-
cial considerations which have distracted parties in
Parliament? How do we find ourselves with respect
to the finance and taxation of the country? What
has been the successful policy of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer in those matters as compared with
the position in which we previously stood? What
has been the effect of the French treaty, of the re-
duction of the income tax from 10d. to 4d. in the
pound, of the reduction of your sugar duties to one
third, and of your tea duties to two-thirds ; of the
reduction of the insurance duty, of the abolition of
the hop duty, of the simplification of our whole
system of fiscal taxation ? I appeal to every one
of you who purchase the necessaries of life to
say whether the relief which you have received in
these last six years is not tangibly and substantially
very different from what it used to be when it was
a mere shifting from one system of taxation to
another. (Cheers.) And what shall I say of the
last Budget ? Is it not a good end to the acts of
the present Parliament that in its last year, with a
surplus revenue of £4,000,000, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer has been able at one blow to take 6d. off
the pound of tea, and 2d. off the income-tax, and
to reduce by one-half those duties on insurance
which are so objectionable to every man of prudence
who wishes to see his property preserved from de-
struction? This last Budget would alone justify
me in asking your confidence in the fiscal system
which has been promoted by her Majesty's Govern-
ment, and which parliament, by a very large 'ma-
jority, has endorsed. What have we done withre-
spect to the expenditure of the country ? Can any -
one say that our army and navy are inefficient, that
we have fallen behind in that necessary process of
reconstruction both of ships and guns? And yet
the total change ftom one system to another has
gone on concurrently with a steady economy in our
finance and a steady reduction of public burdens.
(Applause.) What has been done for the shipping
interest? When I had the honour of being returned
by you to Parliament there were complaints on all
hands of the grievances to which the British ship-
owners was subjected, of the difficulties he had to
encounter with respect to pilotage, and of the unfair
competition he had to carry on with British ship-
owners. Who hears of these complaints now ? The
grievances which called them forth have, I must say, -
been wholly removed by the policy of the last five
years. (Hear.) Then take the Poor-laws. I appeal
to you whether the course taken by her Majesty's Go-
vernment in the introduction this year of the Union
Chargeability Bill is not one which meets with
your approval. (Cheers.) It is good for those upon
whom the tax falls, good for the landowners, good
for the farmers, and, above all, good for the poor for
whom the Poor Laws were made. (Cheers.) These
are not the only questions which must in future, as
-in past Parliaments, receive the consideration of
your representatives. I avow I am one of those who
believe that in our public affairs a policy of pro-
gress is the sound one—that we must never rest
easy with the idea that we have reformed every-
thing—and that we should constantly endeavour to
apply principles of reform and progress to all ques-
tions of administration. (Cheers.) It is as an advo-
cate of progress that I appear before • you. I be-
lieve that in regard both to Church and State there
is much to which proper Conservative progress
should be applied. By Conservative progress I
mean not the destruction of our institutions—not
the falling away from the basis of the Constitution
of England, but the reformation and improvement
from time to time of all patent grievances. It is not
many months ago since I told you that I did not in
the slightest degree depart from the general prin-
ciples as to Parliamentary reform which I advocated
when you did me the honour of returning me to
Parliament. It is for you and the country to say
when and to what extent those principles should be
applied with the strict maintenance of the great fea-
tures of our Constitution. I hope that the time
will come when all parties will be what they were
not many years ago, satisfied that it was proper to
make progress and advancement in that systeth of
representation which at present, as I firmly believe,
does not admit to the suffrage many who are en-
titled to that suffrage, and who are capable of wor-
thily exercising it. (Cheers.) I believe that the
events of the last six years have shown, in spite of
great distress in some districts, in spite of great
difficulties in questions of capital and labour in
others, that the labouring classes of this country,
the great mechanic and artisan classes, are entitled
not to an overwhelming share of the representation,
but to a proper and advancing share in proportion
to the fitness which they show for the exercise of
it. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I think it would
be very much to be regretted that, because
the circumstances of the last few years have been
such as not to render it necessary to make
great Constitutional changes, that, therefore, for ever
and aye, no Constitutional change should take place.
(Hear, and applause.) On the contrary, when you
show your desire to admit to the suffrage those who
show themselves fit for the exercise of the suffrage,
I should be the first to advocate that that desire
should be gratified--(renewed cheers)—but, and I
say this emphatically—l should be very sorry to seo
such an inordinate extension of the franchise as
would throw the power into the hands of any section
of the community whatever. I should be sorry to
see the working man having the whole power, or
anything like the whole power, c,f the country ; but,
at the same time, I do say he is entitled to a share
of it on account of his industry, his intelligence, and
his capacity. (Applause.) Mr. Childers concluded
by some remarks on clrurch:rates, the retention of
which he did not believe was to the advantage of the
Church of England, of which he was a member.-

MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.—A sad accident has
occurred in Ireland. On Saturday evening Mr. Andrew
Gilmore, a gentleman of /Belfast, who has lately come into
possession of a splendid fortune, invited a few friends to a
trial sail on the Lough on board a yacht helaci lately pur-
chased. By some means not clearly known the yacht sank
and all on board, six in number, were drowned.