The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-20 00:00:00

ELECT.,

GRA CE.

READING.

READING, Nov. 19.
The nomination of candidates for the seat vacant
by the. resignation of Mr. Francis Pigott, who now
holds the office of Governor of the Isle of Man,
took place to-day in the Town-hall. There was a
numerous attendance of both electors and non-
electors, but the proceedings were conducted in the
most orderly manner, and the various speakers had
net to contend with the usual unseemly interrup-
tions. Every word they uttered was heard in the
farthermost corner of the hall, and beyond a few
hisses, cock-crows, and shouts of laughter, there
was nothing to distinguish the assemblage from an
ordinary meeting of respectable burghers. Shortly
after eleven o'clock Mr. Boorne, the Mayor, and
returning officer, entered the hall, and took his
seat in the chair. lie was followed by the two
candidates, Mr. Sergeant Pigott and Capt. Walter,
each of whom was accompanied by a select body of
his friends and supporters. The cheers which
greeted the entrance of Mr. sergeant Pigott were
mingled with some hisses, but the reception of
Capt. Walter was all he could have desired.
After the usual preliminaries,
Mr. Alderman PALMER proposed Mr. Sergeant
Pigott as a fit and proper person to represent the
borough in Parliament, and the nomination was
seconded by Mr. Alderman EXALL.
Capt. Walter was proposed by Mr. Sims, and
seconded by Mr. TOMPKINS.
Mr. Sergeant PIGOTT, on coming forward to ad-
dress the electors, was received with mingled cheers
and hisses. He reminded them of the important
duty they were met to discharge, and trusted they
would give him a patient and attentive hearing.
The seconder of his hon. and gallant opponent, he
said, had alluded to the rapacity of lawyers. But
it was a fact that for every farthing the lawyers
bad taken out of the pockets of the nation the sol-
diers had drawn millions. During the last 60 years
£3,000,000,000 had been expended in war and on
the army. One of his objects in wishing to get into
Parliament was to assist in putting an end to such
reckless and wasteful expenditure. He proclaimed
himself to be a Liberal in politics, and expressed
his belief that if the Toryism of Lord Eldon, instead
of the Liberalism of Grey and Russell, had been in
vogue in 1848, when every despotic throne in Eu-
rope was shaken to its base, England would proba-
bly have been the scene of revolution, rebellion,
and bloodshed, all ending, perhaps, in the establish-
ment of a Republic, which was sometimes worse
than an absolute monarchy. If the King of Naples
had listened to the advice of Liberal statesmen he
would not now be struggling for his Crown in a
corner of his dominions, but would be supported on
his throne by the acclamations and love of his peo-
ple, instead of flying a disgraced monarch from his
kingdom. The learned sergeant next proceeded
to defend the ballot as the best practical remedy for
an acknowledged evil. It would prevent intimi-
dation and undue influence of every kind, and go
far to secure freedom and purity of election. He
denied that it was un-English in its character, and
was persuaded that a system which was pursued
with advantage by all the aristocratic clubs in Lon-
don could never lead to deceit and falsehood. Turn-
ing to the question of Parliamentary reform, he
said he was in favour of an extension of the fran-
chise, believing the time had gone by when pro-
perty could be taken as a test of either respecta-
bility or intelligence. The schoolmaster had been
abroad, education had been widely diffused, the
freedom of the press had been firmly established,
and the better portion of the working classes had
been prepared for an enlightened enjoyment and
exercise of political rights. He was not prepared
to go as far as universal suffrage or anything like
it, nor did he agree with Mr. Bright that the fran-
chise was the best cure for every evil. Some gua-
rantee of independence and intelligence must be
secured, but that was a question of degree, to be
determined in Parliament, and not in that hall.
The learned gentleman then expressed his opinion
that the theory of direct Jtaxation was a sound
one, though it might in practice be carried too far,
as, perhaps, in the case of the income tax. Direct
taxation made those pay who could afford to pay,
which was a great and manifest advantage, while
by indirect taxation the country was apt to raise
and to spend more money than it was aware of. He
believed that in the matter of expenditure the people
had been as much to blame as Parliament or the
Government. They had been too prone at every
little offence put upon them to call upon the Go-
vernment to draw the sword and vindicate the
honour of the country in open war. For his own
part, he strongly objected to the proposed expendi-
ture for fortifications. It was worse than nonsense.
With a good militia, a good yeomanry corps, a
good volunteer force, and an efficient navy, he saw
no necessity for fortifications composed of stone,
brick, and mortar. Our real defences were our own
stalwart forms, our stout hearts, and our well-filled
purses. It was awful to think that our yearly ex-
penditure now amounted to upwards of £70,000,000.
The time for economy had arrived, and he for one
would never cease to cry for judicious retrench-
ment. The learned sergeant concluded a very long
speech, which, towards the close, elicited some un-
mistakeable marks of impatience, by expressing his
conviction that he would be returned by a large
majority.
Capt. WALTER was received with loud and pro-
longed cheering. He said—Gentlemen, after the
eloquent harangue which has been addressed to you
by my hon. and learned opponent I think it will
be unnecessary to detain you any length of time. I
shall confine myself as much as possible to the
points of difference between us. The present is not
a fitting time for entering into the question of the
manner in which my hon. and learned opponent
liar been brought forward. We have discussed that
point quite enough already. Suffice it to say,
therefore, that the conduct which has been pursued
by a portion of tue Liberal party on the present
occasion is not that which is generally followed in
other boroughs. For example, in Southwark,
which contains something like 20,000 electors, there
is no association to bring candidates forward with-
out note or warning. No—gentlemen present
themselves, as they should in a free country, to the
general body of the constituency. The same course
ought to have been followed here. It is deeply to be
regretted that a different line of conduct has been
pursued, and in that opinion, I may state, Mr. Shaw
Lefevre, whose family is well known and highly
respected among you, fully concurs, (Hear.) My
Lon. and learned opponent says he is an enemy of
nomination boroughs. So am I. Nobody could have
a, greater dislike to nomination boroughs than I
liwahre, but let us recollect that the evil may exist
ernomination is placed in the hands of
three or the
orf
the han men as well as where it is lodged in
between
ds:or ef one only. There is little difference
latter has thetw
o
cases. I think, indeed, that the
advantage, for where the nomination
li
is in the
ch han
odu , of
Oneot
man you have a responsibi-
ty whi y
shared by severalcann persoers,expect where the power is
(1-lear, hear.) My hon.
and learned opponent saysuhte declines to go into
is in favour of an ex-
tension of the franchise, b
details. He thinks that the ballot
I-,
he
the only re-
medy for the acknowledged evil of undue influence
and interference brought to bear upon the humbler
classes of voters." Such are the words of his ad-
dress ; but when I turn to his speech before the
Liberal Association, at its first meeting
at the
George, I find he said that " although the ballot
would not be a perfect remedy, it would prove
a small one in palliation of the evil," m
Y own
opinion is that the ballot would be no palliation
of the evil at all. Every voter must give
an answer of some sort to any candidate
who solicits his support. He must either say
"Yes' or "No;" or else ho must reply, " I would
rather net tell you." If the answer is " Yes" or
" No," there can, of course, be no secret about the
matter ; while, if the elector refuses to speak, the
candidate must conclude at once that he intends to
vote against him. There is a third case. A man
may say he will support you, and then go and vote
against you. Such persons, however, cannot be
numerous in any constituency ; they are the hypo-
crites of the community, and certainly do not de-
serve protection. (Cheers.) I do not believe the
ballot is wanted in Rending. I here
been canvases