The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-20 00:00:00

MR. ALDERMAN NALOMONS, ALP., AT

DEPTFORD.

Last night Mr. Alderman. Salomons, M.P., met
his constituents in the Lecture•room, Deptford, to
give au account of his Parliamentary conduct, and
to confer with them on the state of public affairs.
The room was crowded in every part, and on the
platform were several of Mr. Salomons' leading
supporters and friends.
Mr. L. Taylor was called to the chair, and intro-
duced the hon. gentleman to the meeting.
Mr. SALOMONS, having expressed the gratifica-
tion which he felt at- meeting so many of his con-
stituents, said, the report which every member of
Parliament had to make of the amount of business
done during the last session might almost, be sum-
med up in the little word nil. They did something
towards the national defences, and increased for
that purpose the income-tax, but they did little
more. The men in the'dockyards had been kept
well employed, and we had now as fine a fleet as
ever sailed ; but no one, he was sure, grudged the
heavy taxation which rad been imposed when it
was known that it went to maintain the national
honour. Another session of Parliament was now at

hand, which would probably be the busiest we had
seen for many years, and it was desirable that
members representing large constituencies should
take every opportunity of conferring with them on
public questions. He would very briefly allude to
three topics—foreign affairs, home affairs, and
local affairs. As to foreign questions, he might
observe that Europe was at this moment in a pecu•
liar position. They had seen an unexpected war
break out in Italy, from which this country had the
good sense to stand aloof. (Cheers.) They had also
seen an unexpected peace, and were surprised to
find that, after a vast expenditure of money and a
great waste of human life, the affairs of Italy seemed
to be left in a state of greater embarrassment than
they wore before the war. (Hear.) The great and
powerful empire of France played an important and
distinguished part in that war, and it was impossi-
ble not to admire the bravery of her troops, but
it was, after all, difficult to see what great and
wise object had been gained by it. (Hear, hear.)
He was not one of those who thought that this
country ought at all times to stand aloof from Con-
tinental politics. It was neither consistent with
the interests nor would it be agreeable to the wishes
of the great majority of the people of this country
that we should conduct ourselves in regard to foreign
affairs merely as weavers of calico and makers of
iron, and be utterly indifferent to all that concerned
other nations. (Hear, hear.) He thought we
might interfere on many occasions by advice and
counsel, and, accordingly, it was his opinion that if
a European Congress was to be held this country
should not stand aloof from it, but should take part
in it, with the view, if possible, of bringing about
a peaceable solution of the perplexities of Italy.
(Hear.) At the same time, looking at the peculiar
position of the Papacy, and considering that the
sympathies of a large portion of the people of this
country were with the Papacy, he thought it was
desirable that we should as far as possible abstain
from any interference with a question like that.
(Hear, hear.) It was not desirable to do anything
that would. excite religious antagonism, or to lead
any portion of our fellow subjects to think that we
were acting with unnecessary harshness upon a ques-

tion in which it was really unnecessary for us to
interfere. (Hear, hear.) If, however, the Catho-
lic Powers of Europe asked us to join them in de-
liberating upon the existing state of affairs in Italy
it would unquestionably be our duty to do so, and
to endeavour to bring them to a harmonious con-
clusion. He deprecated foreign intervention in the
affairs of other nations such as they had too often
witnessed ; but if we were able by our counsels, by
co-operation with France or any other Power, to
produce some new combinations by which Italy
might be set free, we should act wisely in doing so.
(Hear, hear.) There was no other foreign question
of any importance except the hositilities with China.
They could not but regret the war with that ancient
empire ; and he thought that the unhappy affair of
the Peiho might kave been avoided had there been
a little more sagacity and forbearance shown by our
ambassador. He would say nothing of the course
taken by the Admiral, who undoubtedly had shown
very great gallantry. When this question came be-
fore Parliament, as no doubt it would, he should feel
himself obliged to vote in favour of those hostilities
which the Government had advised the Queen to
commence. (Hoar.) With regard to the rifle
volunteer movement, he thought that whatever
!night have been the cause of it was of very little
moment. The experience we had acquired in the
Crimea and what had occurred in the late Italian
war led us to consider our position and in what our
defences ought to be. The policy of this country
was peace, and, above all, it was our interest to be
at peace with France. We ought rather to be ex-
changing commercial products with that country
than exchanging threats and blows, and they would
all be glad to see that the French Emperor had de-
clared in favour of a policy which was likely to pro-
mote the trade of both countries. (Hear.) If he
succeeded in establishing that policy he would be
considered not only a great Sovereign but a great
benefactor to mankind, and would do much to give
men confidence in the peace of the world. (Hoar.)
At the same time, experience had taught us the ne-
cessity of looking to our defences ; and the first and
foremost of those was the navy. General Codring-
ton, he remembered, once said that they ought to
look upon the Channel as the ditch of a fortifica-
tion, and if they took care to have the ditch well
defended no enemy could come near us. (Hear.)
He trusted, therefore, they would always have a
fleet powerful enough to guard the Channel, but
that should not prevent them having also their rifle
corps. As Germany had its landwehr and America
its militia—where every second or third man was a
captain or colonel—(a laugh)--so we should have
our rifle corps. This would not make us more war-
like, but it would make us more confident when we
knew that we were always ready to defend our
homes and our firesides. (Hear, hear.) The rifle
movement was essentially a peace movement, and
he was sure Parliament would be ready to give it
the fullest recognition. He was afraid that our
national defences would have the effect of running
up a considerable bill ; but our trade was good,
employment was increasing, and nobody would
grudge the expense. On the subject of home
affairs he would first mention church-rates. He
had already voted, and would again vote for Sir
J. Trelawny's Bill, believing that it would be for
the interest of the church itself to have those
rates abolished. Ho had also voted for the ballot
and would do so again whenever the opportunity
occurred. On the question of the Reform Bill
Ministers had kept very close. There were no
whispers, and members of the Cabinet could not be
got to talk about it. He believed, however, that
Lord John Russell would not bring forward any
bill that would not greatly enlarge the franchise
and redistribute seats, probably annulling some of
the very small boroughs. There would probably
be a great struggle between the Liberal and Con-
servative parties on some points. The former
would endeavour to extend the franchise as much
as possible, and the latter to prevent it. It would
be a matter very much to be deplored if the Reform
Bill were again checkmated, and he believed it
would cause great disappointment among the work-
ing classes. Whether the franchise would be
lowered to £6, £7, or .£B, he did not know, but he
trusted that a good bill would be passed, and that
Lord J. Russell would take care to insert many of
the smaller boroughs in Schedule A. He thought
it desirable to take what they could get in the way
of reform, and he thought the moderate men of all
parties would agree in thinking that a bill of some
sort should be passed this year. (Hear.) Ile would
not be disposed to vote for a mere sham, but he
hoped an improved bill would be passed, such as
would save the country from the scandals that had
occurred at Wakefield and Gloucester. (Hear,
hear.) The hon. gentleman then referred to local
affairs, referring in the first place to the non-rating
of the Government establishments, an evil which
was strongly felt in the borough of Greenwich.
No doubt the Government manufactories carried on

there were a great advantage to the district ; but
what would they say if such men as Penn and
Maudslay were to establish great works in a dis-
trict, and then plead exemption from rates on the
ground that they conferred great benefits on it by
employing the people? (Hear, hear.) He would
endeavour to correct this evil, and would support
any bill that was brought in for the purpose.
The next local matter to which he would rarer
was that of the Metropolitan Board of Works.
This body meant to promote a bill in Parliament
for extending their powers, and he believed it
was intended to apply, among other things, for
the removal of the coal-tax. The Board would
have the power of taxing the inhabitants of
the metropolis to an enormous extent, and would
be able to send their own c')llectors for that pur-
pose to all parts of London. He had nothing to say
against the members of the Metropolitan Board of
Works, of whom their chairman was one, but he
contended that a body which had the power of tax-
ing the people to so great an extent ought to be
elected directly by the rate-payers, and not through