The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 19, 18606

ELECTION INTELLIGEA CR.

at the time. It was opposed by many simply
because Mr. Disraeli had brought it in. It was
rejected by the House of Commons, and Lord
Derby's Government was turned out; but what had
been the result ? They had got nothing at all.
(Hear.) He did not think it would be to the advan-
tage of this country to put the franchise into the
hands of people who had no great stake in this
country. (Cheers and disapprobation.) The gallant
captain went •n to observe that he could not pro-
mise to oppose the grant to Maynooth, because he
did not think it would be fair to the people of Ire-
land that it should be withrawn without some corm
pensation being made to them. (Hear.) As to the
expenditure of the country, he thought there was
room for the exercise of economy, and that taxa-
tion ought to be reduced. He had no more pleasure
in paying taxes than any of them. It was necessary
that the defences of the country should be main-
tained, and now that we had 150,000 Volunteers
raised without expense to the country he thought
that England was in a position to bid defiance to
any part of the world which might come against
her. (Cheers.) He was an opponent of vote by
ballot, because a suffrage being a public trust, the
non-electors had a right to know how it was exer-
cised. The experience of the ballet in France,
America, New South Wales, and other places, was
not so satisfactory as to justify its adoption here.
In addition to this, the power and influence of
electioneering attorneys would be much increased
by any system in which secrecy formed the chief
element. These persons already knew too much of
their neighbours' private affairs, and, in common
with most Englishmen, :he was averse from any
measure which might increase their power. Al-
though intimidation still existed in some places,
the force of public opinion had largely reduced it,
and he thought the ultimate cure for this disease
would not be effected by any measure which tended
to diminish this open and wholesome influence. He
was an advocate for extending the blessings of edu-
cation among the masses of the people, and was in
favour of public grants being made for that pur-
pose. The gallant captain entered at length into
the latter question, and when he closed his address
he resumed his seat amid rounds of cheers.

READING.

The meeting was then addressed at great length
by Mr. WILSON, a working man, who, while an-
nouncing himself rs a Chartist, declaimed in no
measured terms on the conduct of the Liberal
Association in imposing their candidate on the town
without taking sufficient time to consult the wishes
of the electors. Certain questions put by him to
Capt. Walter as to his intentions in regard to the
working classes were answered in so satisfactory a
manner as to elicit the loudest approbation of the
meeting.

A non-elector here got upon the platform and
asked Capt. Walter to state his opinion as to the
propriety of abolishing the paper duties and flog-
ging in the army.
Capt. WALTER, in reply, stated that he would be
glad to remove all taxes if it were possible ; but to
the first remission of taxation the poor man's tea
and sugar held, in his opinion, a preferential claim.
As to the abolition of flogging in the army, he could
see no possibility of providing a substitute. Bad
soldiers, if imprisoned, threw their werk on the
good, who thus had a double share of labour to per-
form, and were, although innocent of any offence,
punished for the misdeeds of their comrades. For
a confirmation of his views he appealed to any sol-
dier in the room.

Sergeant BERRYMAN, whose breast was covered
with medals, and who, we learnt, had lost his arm
in the quelling of the Indian mutiny, here stepped
forward and entirely corroborated the views of the
gallant captain as to the opinions of the well-
behaved soldiers on flogging in the army. He took
this occasion of saying that he and his comrades
had come down for the purpose of supporting a man
by whose disinterested and unsought assistance
soldiers wounded in the service of their country had
been enabled to obtain an honourable and indepen-
dent livelihood, and whose energy and ability
would, he had no doubt, be equally devoted to the
good of his country in any public capacity to which
they might, and to which he hoped they would,
elect him. (Loud cheers.)