The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-28 00:00:00

ALDERMAN SALOMONS AT

DEPTFO.R.D.

Last night Mr. Alderman Salomons addressed a
portion of his constituents at Deptford. The hall
in which the meeting took place was crowded. Mr.
Duvall was called to the chair.

Mr. Alderman SALOMONS began by expressing
his belief that when the feeling excited by the
budget had subsided the last session of Parliament
would be classed among those which had been most
useful to the country. The budget, no doubt, dis-
turbed many large and important interests while
I the French treaty was always open to the objection
that it gave a great deal to France and secured com-
paratively little to England in exchange. But the
testing time was near at hand. All the negotiations
which were left unsettled when Parliament was
prorogued had now been brought to a conclusion,
and we should soon see whether 1861 was destined
to realise the anticipations of those who supported.
the financial measures of Mr. Gladstone. France
was our nearest neighbour, and contained an inge-
nious and gifted population, and it would be very
strange if, when we had arranged a tariff by which
the productions of France could be freely received
in this country, and those of England be sent to
France at moderate duties, there should not be a
large extension of trade to the benefit of both nu.-
, tions. (Hear.) As the budget was the chief measure,
so the Reform- Bill might be called the great mis-
carriage of the last session. He believed that the
' passing of a Reform Bill in the sense of a whole-
' sale amendment of the constitution did not so much
depend upon the state of opinion within Parliament
as upon the state of opinion without. (Hear.) It
was for those who felt that they were deprived of
privileges which they thought they ought to possess
to call for a Reform Bill, to urge on the Govern-
ment of the country, and to act by every means in
their power upon the members of the House of Com-
mons. He was afraid, however, after the experience
of the last few years, that a thorough amendment
of the constitution in one session was impossible
without such a combination of parties, both in
Parliament and in the country, as existed in 1832.
Reformers, therefore, should make up their minds
to get that by pietemeal which they could not
expect to secure as a whole. An extension of the,
borough and county franchise, together with a
more equal distribution of seats, could never be
carried in one session without such a tumult in the
country as few would wish to see. In 1832 almost
all classes of the community were determined that
the old state of things should be changed ; but now
there were great differences of cpinion on the sub-
. ject of Reform, and the existence of those differences
made it very difficult, if not impossible, to pass a
comprehensive measure without Governments being
overthrown and Parliaments dissolved. But Go-
vernments disliked being overthrown, and Parlia-
ments had a great aversion to dissolution, and hence
the necessity of accepting what was called bit-by-
bit Reform. His own opinion was that Reformers
should abandon reconstruction and confine them-
selves to reparation. The edifice of the constitu-
tion was reconstructed in 1832 • it now only re-
quired to be repaired and improved. (Hear, hear.)
The last session was further distinguished by the
labours of numerous committees appointed to con-
sider local and social questions. Among the sub-
jects thus dealt with were the affairs of gas com-
panies, the Local Management Act, drainage, and
the embankment of the Thames: There was also a
committee on merchant shipping, and he believed
one of the results of its labours would be the abo-
lition of compulsory pilotage, so that henceforth
any competent person would be allowed to pilot
any ship up and down the river without the neces-
sity of becoming connected with Trinity-house.
That would be a great advantage to the watermen
of the. Thames. (Hear, hear.) In the last session,
unfortunately, Parliament was obliged to impose
very heavy taxes in order to meet the expenditure
of the country. Some people were for direct, others
for indirect taxation. We had got abundance of
both, so that all parties ought to be satisfied. (A
laugh.; For his part, he hoped that taxation had
d atai;its culminating point. (Hear, hear.)
awrrrei
wereve
I:),:ace, but we had a war expenditure.
He was afraid a good deal of it was inevitable.
We had a very powerful neighbour, who had a
large army, and wanted to have a large navy. All
the other Continental States had large armies, and
Europe was very unsettled. No one could wish a
great country like England to depend upon the for-
bearance ofits neighbours. We always liked to have
the last word, and we sometimes said a saucy word
Hence it was necessary that we should be prepared
to defend ourselves. But our interest was to be at
peace with all other nations, for we were the great
buyers and sellers of the world. In J 859 the total
value of our imports amounted to the Astonishing
SUM of £179,000,000 while our exports reached the
enormous figure of £130,000,000. England was a
great trading country, with an immense productive
and purchasing power, and it was therefore her in-
terest that large standing armies, which wasted the
substance of nations, should not be maintained.
But at the same time, he did not mean to say that
we should disband our army, dismantle our fleet,
and discourage our Volunteers. No; let Englishmen
show that they were patriotic, and in proportion as
they proved themselves capable of defending their
own they would be treated with respect by sur-
rounding nations, and be quoted as an example of
how a people could be at once free, powerful, and
independent. (Hear.) The hon. gentleman next re-
ferred to the coming session, stating his belief that
Parliament would be caik'd upon to deal chiefly
with social questions. One of the first measures in-
troduced, he said, would be a bill to amend the
bankruptcy and insolvency laws, which were at
present in a very unsatisfactory state. The subject
was not a very easy one; it would be difficult to
frame a bill to please all the interests represented
in Parliament, but he trusted something would be
done to remedy an acknowledged evil. Some attempt
would doubtless be made to deal with the city of
London. Old lines of communication must be im-
proved, and new streets must be opened. The Me-
tropolitan Board of Works would also come again
befcre Parliament. Hitherto they had done nothing
but raise money and burrow in the ground. Their
tax papers were everywhere, but the ratepayers
knew nothing of their performances. He had no
doubt that any bill which they might lay before
Parliament would be well and carefully considered,
and he, for one, would make it his duty to
watch over the interests of his constituents.
Hitherto he had striven to redeem the
pledge which he had given at his election,
and he hoped not altogether without success.
In the future he should act upon the same principles
as in the past. He was opposed to church rates,
and he trusted that during the coming session some
means would be found for bringing that vexed
question to a happy and satisfactory settlement.
He should continue to vote for non-intervention,
economy, and the Ballot. The Chinese war was
very expensive; it did not seem likely to add to our
glory, and he trusted it would be terminated as
soon as possible. (Hear.) The hon. gentleman then
adverted to some local topics, upon which his state-
ments and explanations seemed to give unqualified
satisfaction, and he concluded amid loud cheers by
thanking the meeting for the attention paid to his
address. _

A vote of thanks to Mr. SalomQns for his ser-
vices in Parliament terminated the pNceedings.

TILE PRESS IN FRANCE.

A letter
been fromalled t' PaiiS:Sa;S The editors of the
tr
c
tain whether the
Opposition—that is to say, the independent papers
—have
y porge togetherhbey
sauuptphroersistiyo
nt o
oafs ctehre-
. system of avertissenzents, or, whenever they com-
mit a mistake as to fact or opinion, being handed
, over to be tried by the Police Correctionnelle. After
some consultation, I hear, they thought perhaps
that of two evils it were better to choose the less.
They considered probably that if they were offered
a choice between strangling by the bowstring and
roasting at a slow fire, the latter was preferable.
Of their fate by the former there could be no doubt;
out the latter process was slow, and before the flames
attacked the nobler parts a shower of rain might
come to put it out, and give them a respite. The
unfortunate writer who has so far committed him-
self as to have announced that M. Pesigny, for
instance, arrived in Paris at 3 o'clock p.m. on any
given day, whereas he really did not arrive till 6,
is liable to be proceeded against for the dissemina-
tion of false news, and summoned before the
Pollee Correctionizelle, where he meets with no
mercy. No journalist who enters the doors of that
tribunal hopes to escape. A jury might take the
intention of the accused into consideration ; but
the stern, inflexible, and aspiring Police Judge
takes nothing into account but the fact of publica-
tion, and he punishes accordingly. Then the sys-
tem of avertissements has been carried to such a
pitch, through the zeal of the functionaries charged
with administering them, that it has inflicted seve-
ral severe blows on itself. Unfortunately it has
not fallen into disuse, but has fallen into contempt.
Moreover, we have seen that, as a Minister may,
when in a pleasant temper, or through caprice,
undo what a Prefect, or even a predecessor, has
done, there is now and then a chance for escape
from ruin. On the whole, between the bow-string
of the Police Correctionnelle and the slow fire of
the arertissement, the journalists seem to prefer
remaining under the regime of the avertissenzent.

The Bishop of London has conferred the Hono-
lary Canonry in St. Paul's Cathedral, vacant by the resig-
nation of the Rev. Robert William Browne, M A.,
preferred to the Archdeaconry of Bath, upon the Rev.
William J. Irons, D D., incumbent of the Church of th
Holy Trinity, Brompton,

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