The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-09 00:00:00

Lord Teynham on Reform.

A meeting convened by the members of the Ro-
therham and Masbro' Branch of the Reform League
was held in the large hall of the Mechanics' Institute,
Rotherham, a few nights since, under the presidency
of the Rev. W. Blazeby. It was announced that
Lord Teynham, Mr. Plimsoll, Mr. Edwards, and
others would address the meeting, but the two
latter gentlemen were prevented attending from
sickness, and his lordship did not arrive until an
hour after the proceedings had commenced. The
room was not more than two-thirds filled.
The CHAIRMAN proposed, in suitable terms,
" That this meeting expresses its gratitude to the
Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, John Bright, John
Stuart Mill, E. Beales, and others for their honest
and noble advocacy of the rights of the industrial
classes of this country." (Cheers.)
Mr. GEORGE NEWSOME seconded the proposition
with very greatpleasure, because those four gentle-
mea were no lukewarm friends, but had always
proved themselves the champions of the people.
(Cheers.)
The resolution was adopted unanimously.
Mr. J. WRIGHT proposed, "-That this meeting
protests against the perpetuation of class govern-
ment by the exclusion of the great majority of the
people from the franchise, and pledges itself to sup-
port the present movement for a very liberal exten-
sion of the suffrage with the protection of vote by
ballot."

Mr. THOMAS NEWSOME seconded the proposition,
which was then carried.
Lord TEYNHA3I, on rising, was received with vo-
ciferous cheering. lie commenced by accounting
for the absence of his friend Mr. Plimsoll. That
gentleman, he said, went to London by the night
train on Thursday, and got such a severe cold that
he dared not venture to Rotherham that night. His
lordship was with them, however, heart and soul.
(Cheers.) Be then wished every person present a
happy new year—the poorest among them, as well
those who were in better circumstances and paid the
highest rent. (Applause.) They had wished one
another " A happy New Year," and he would ven-
ture to say there was not one of them when be gave

hat greeting to his neighbour had paid any respect
whatever to the amount of money he possessed, or
what was the rent he paid. (Hear, hear.) And
when their little children went forth singing their
carols—" Glory togrod in the highest, and on earth
peace and goodwill towards men"—they meant
peace and goodwill to the poor as well as to the
rich. (Cheers.) Not indeed peace to men in doing
ill ; not peace to the stepfather in cruelly using
his step-children ; not peace to the drunken
man who robbed his home of all comfort ; but
peace to men of probity, and to those whom they
esteemed as men until they were proved guilty of
crime before their neighbours. (Hear, hear.) In
pleading for manhood suffrage, then, did they plead
against the well-being of man or religion ? God
forbid. (Applause.) They pleaded for religion,
but they did not plead for taking away a poor
man's goods under pretence of religion. (Applause.)
They ask for manhood suffrage that men in matters
of religion might be treated as men. (Ilear, hear.)
It had been tried in the House of Commons over
and over again, but it had failed, and would fail,
and therefore the people must stand forward and
say it should not be so any longer. (Cheers.)
Neither were they pleading against the laws when
they asked for manhood suffrage. (Hear, hear.)
On the contrary, they were pleading for the law,
for the principle of English law was that there was
the same law for the rich as for the poor. (Hear,
hear.) If two men, one rich and the other poor,
were drowned, they . were treated alike at the
coroner's inquest, and the same inquiries were made
as to the cause of their death. But were the living
bodies of the rich and the poor treated alike ? As
the law at present stood they were not, and they
asked for manhood suffrage that the poor should be
dealt with the same as their rich neighbours.
(Applause.) They had laws with reference to
debtor and creditor ; but let the debtor have been
worth his thousands he would obtain what was
called protection, and never see the inside of
a prison ; but the case was very different
with a poor man. While he was absent at
his work his wife might have run him into
debt, and he is brought into the county court, and
perhaps imprisoned because he is unable to meet the
claim. They asked for manhood suffrage that the
rich and the poor in the matter of debt and credit
may be treated alike. (Cheers.) If the poor man
has his cherries eaten by blackbirds he may shoot
them ; but if he destroyse would the hares
hrese ieandearraebebriatstetd in
get to his cabbages, he
prison. The rich man, however, was treated very
differently, and they wanted manhood suffrage in
order that the poor man may shoot that which de-
stroys the produce of his garden, for which he paid
rent, and on which he had bestowed his labour, and
still have his liberty the same as the rich man who
did the same thing, and went home to enjoy his
port and eat his game. (Applause.) Then there
was the farmer who had corn in stack. If he found
that rats were consuming it he was at liberty to
destroy them ; but if he attempted to shoot the
pheasants which destroyed his corn while it was
growing, he would be imprisoned. They wanted
manhood suffrage, so that an Englishman, if he
found the fruits of his industry, and for which he
had paid the labourer's wages, was being ruined, he
might shoot the destroyers, and still be accounted
an honest man the same as the rich. (Applause.)
And had this nothing to do with the food of the
people ? If they read the newspapers they
would find there was a small supply of corn at
the market. Corn had risen, and their wives
would see when they purchased their flour that
it had risen also. If the farmer was asked how it
was he had brought so little to market they would
receive for answer that he could have had 100
quarters more had it not been for the pheasants.
But it was not the farmer alone that was robbed ;
the men of Itotherhaui were also robbed, and they