The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-13 00:00:00

ELECTIOII, INTELLIGENCE.

SOUTHWARK.

The result of the polling was officially declared
yesterday forenoon at the Horse Repository. The
attendance of electors and non-electors at this
closing ceremony of a lengthened and exciting con-
test, though numeric-illy very large, comprising, as
it must have done, several thousands of persons,
yet presented a considerable falling-off compared
with the vast concourse present at the nomination.
What, however, the audience wanted in point of
numbers it more than made up in respectability,
and the proceedings consequently offered the most
marked contrast to the incessant din and confusion
of Monday. The speakers were all listened to with
exemplary patience and attention; no lively pan-
tomime, and only one slight personal scuffle or two,
occurring to disturb the order of the meeting. Mr.
Layard, the successful candidate, on entering the
building, was received with tremendous and pro-
longed
cheering. He was accompanied by his
mover and seconder, by many other leading mem-
bers of his committee, and also by Mr. B. Williams,
Dr. Brady, M.P., Mr. G. Leeman, mayor of York, j
Mr. Hector, formerly of Bagdad, ece. On his ap-
pearance upon the platform the enthusiasm of the
assemblage burst forth afresh. Mr. Scovell, the
defeated candidate, did not attend in person, but
he was represented by Major Beresford and one or
two other of his principal supporters.
The business was opened by Mr. GRESUAIf , the
High Bailiff, who said,—Electors of the borough
of Southwark,—it is now my duty to declare to
you the state of the poll as the result of this elec-
tion. I shall be able to give you the numbers with,
I believe, considerable accuracy ; and, seeing that
they accord very much with the statements made
by the check-clerks on behalf of both candidates,l
that circumstance is a satisfaction to myself and
also to them. (Hear, hear.) I beg to announce to
you that the numbers were—
For Mr. Layard
For Mr. Scovell

Leaving a majority in favour
of Mr. Layard of 1,195
(Loud cheers.) It is therefore my duty to announce
to you here that Mr. Austen Henry Layard is duly
elected a member of Parliament for the borough of
Southwark, and I shall return him in my writ
accordingly. (Renewed cheers.)
Mr. LAYARD then stood forward, amid deafening
hurrahs, to address the assemblage. He said,—
Electors and non-electors of this great borough
you have nobly redeemed the pledge which was
given to me on your behalf by those gentlemen who
invited me to stand for this constituency ; and I
hope that I also have on my part redeemed the
pledge which I gave to them on that occasion.
The pledge they gave to me was this,—that a large
and influential portion of the electors of Southwark
were determined to wage battle on principle alone;
that they would support me gratuitously—(cheers)
giving me aid and assistance by day and by night
also, to the best of their ability and power, in order
Worthily to return me to represent you in Parlia-
ment. The pledge which I gave them was this,—
that I would come down here, not to appeal to you
on any other than public grounds, not to have
recourse to any unworthy means, but to fight this
battle in a manner honourable to an English gen-
tleman, and to a great and enlightened consti-
tuency. I believe I may say conscientiously that
those gentlemen and myself have mutually kept
these pledges, (Cheers.) At one time it appeared
as if this contest was to turn en other than
public grounds. A great deal was said about local
interests, and men who did not reflect much sup-
posed that local interests represented merely a
personal question. But I have looked upon local
interests in a different manner, viewing them
as representing a great principle. I have been
taunted with undervaluing those interests,
and have been told that I sneered at vestries.
Gentlemen, I don't sneer at vestries ; on the con-
trary, I regard them with unfeigned respect. I
may almost say I have an admiration for the Lord
Mayor's show—(laughter)—and never without a
feeling of awe eat turtle at the Lord Mayor's feast.
(Renewed laughter.) And I will tell you why.
These things may be barbarous relics of ancient
times, but they remind us of this great fact—that
the municipalities of England were the preservers
of English freedom, and that we owe our liberties
to our local institutions and local self-government.
(Cheers.) No man living prizes more highly than
I do the great principle of self-government ; and
I believe that any country which adopts it, and
where each citizen takes an interest in the conduct
of public affairs, is likely to become a free, prospe-
rous, and happy State. On the other hand, I be-
lieve that where municipal institutions are neglected
or crushed a nation is likely to sink under tyranny
and oppression. I hate centralisation. Where-
ever I have set my foot I have ever seen that
where centralisation reigned the liberty of the sub-
ject decreased. Therefore, don't think for a
moment that I despise local interests or local self-
government. In me you will always find their
most ardent supporter. But, gentlemen, there are
even greater questions than local interests. If it
were once admitted that these interests are to be
the principal basis of a candidate's claims, you
would run the risk of making the House of Com-
mons not what it is now, the great interpreter and
exponent of the wishes of the nation, but—e. very
secondary tribunal in the estimation of Europe and
in the eyes of the country. Every true English-
man would be sufficiently unselfish to abandon any
private interest if he thought by doing so he would
contribute to the public good ; and, as I said on
Monday, Mr. Scovell's argument as to the repre-
sentation of the city of London or of the metropolis
at large tells rather against himself, because there
are already men enough in the House of Commons
who represent localinterests. I hold that that great
legislative assembly should contain men who repre-
sent every interest in the State. You now have
represented there the navy, the army, the law,
and the mercantile body ; in the House of Lords
the Church is represented ; in fact, every class of
the community is represented in Parliament ex-
cept one, and that one, perhaps, the most import-
ant, as it certainly is the most numerous. I ask,
then, is it not time that you should do something
towards having that class represented ? (Cheers.)
On that ground I have fought this battle, and
incurred all that abuse and calumny for which I
'was prepared, but which has exceeded my most
sanguine anticipations. (A laugh.) I felt that if
the narrow plea of local interests prevailed, the
working
man would be entirely excluded from
any chance
of
being represented in Parliament.
To sum up
those interests in a few words, they
mean, if they mean anything, that in the House of
Commons capital shall be represented and not
labour.
'who are the men cited by Mr.
Scovell as represent
lag iocalinterests ? Why,
men of great wealth and large employers of
labour; and that gentleman's
reasoning would con-
vert the House of Commons int, ,
pleasant
local interests" mean the
for superannuated eaapiPtattrisetso.r
retirement
(Laugh-
ter and cheers.) But,.if "
of capital, how is the working man
representation
If they mean
money, to get into Parliament ?
they may also be taken to mean that by spend'
that money you can win an election. I dowt
preg
tend to say that a man can come down to such a
constituency as this and hand sovereigns over the
counter, or, as a friend of mine said the other day,
send a£s note by mistake in a letter. (A laugh.)
But I will tell you how the thing may he done--
by hiring public-houses by hundreds, and men by
thousands, by messengers and clerks, and
ail the paraphernalia of elections. (Hear,
hear,) That is what local interests amount
to in a borough like Southwark. I wish to
know the sum spent on the other side. Every man
shall have an opportunity in a few days of knowing
every farthing spent on mine. (Cheers.) Gentle-
men, I haven't had a single lawyer. (Cheers and
laughter.) You won't, I am sure, think any the
worse of me for that. I mean no disrespect to my
excellent friend on my right—the High Bailiff.
(Laughter, amidst which Mr. Gresham bowed to the
speaker and smiled.) Gentlemen, not one single
shilling has been paid by us for advertisements_
by no means an insignificant fact. The greater num-
ber of the men who hare worked for me as canvas-