The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-22 00:00:00

MR. BAXTER, M.P., AT ARBROATH.

Mr. Baxter, M.P. for the Montrose burghs, com-
menced his annual tour among his constituents 'on
Tuesday, and on that evening addressed the electors
of Arbroath in the Corn Exchange. Bailie John-
ston, in the absence of the Provost of the burgh,
presided, and introduced Mr. Baxter to the meeting.
Mr. BAXTER then came forward, and commenced
by observing that at the close of a session of an un-
usually interesting and exciting nature, which had
witnessed the fall of a powerful Government and
the transference of its majority, without a dissolu-
tion, to its political opponents ; the abolition of the
East India Company ; and the apparent conversion
en masse of the Tories to the principles of progres-
sive reform, he could scarcely be at a loss for topics
upon which to address them. Not since he had been
elected as their representative had he witnessed
events so remarkable and so suggestive as those of
which London was the theatre in the early part of
1858. They indicated a new era in the history of
this country, which has hitherto been governed by
one or other of two great parties, with a compact
organisation and a well-understood system of disci-
pline. The theory of the constitution was that each
county should send to Parliament one of its own
resident gentlemen as a knight of the shire, and
each burgh a burgess acquainted with its interests;
but in recent times the towns especially had chosen
men not resident or identified with their interests,
but adherents of that party with whom they_agreed
in politics, and often sent down from the capital by
the clubs. These gentlemen were usually quite do-
cile and obedient to their respective whippers-in.
In all divisions affecting the existence of Adminis-
trations they could be relied upon with perfect con-
fidence, as they never dreamt of putsuing an inde-
pendent course. Many persons believed that the
Reform Bill would cause an immediate change in
this respect, and that after its passing a very diffe-
rent class of men would be sent to St. Stephen's.
But it has always been the habit of the people of
Great Britain to carry out political reforms gradu-
ally and with care. They have no desire for rash in-
novation either in social economy, Church or State,
preferring to proceed onwards by steps slow and Sure
rather than to grasp problematical advantages with
undue haste. Consequently, for years subsequent
to the alteration in our representative system, club-
men and aristocratic hangers-on were chosen M.P.'s
as before; but every election is now diminishing
their number, and in their stead we find wealthy
merchants, railway contractors, shipowners, manu-
facturers, and bankers,who, having no personal stake
in the game of politics, are much more unmanage-
able, and are'apparently determined to throw things
into confusion by voting according to their con- :
science. (A laugh.) The Reform Bill, in fact, is
only now coming into full play, and putting the
balance of power into the hands of men who care
very little for mere party names, and still less about
scrambles for office. The increase of middle-class
men in the House of Commons recently is quite
sufficient to account for the perplexity of whippers-
in and the insulation of their leaders. Most of these-
persons reside in the localities which they repre-
sent, possess independent fortunes, and attempt to
perform their duties faithfully as representatives,
without the slightest reference to who are the
" outs" and who the " ins." It is, however, difficult
for politicians who have been long accustomed to
manage in a particular way to realise, or at all
events to reconcile themselves to an alteration so
silently effected, but yet so influential as this. They
cling with naturUl pertinacity to the old-established
appliances of circulars, meetings, promises, and com-
placent looks, and turn up their eyes in amazement
when the usual results do not follow. Never were
their calculations, so mistaken as at the fall of Lord
Palmerston's Government, and during the futile
efforts made to restore it in the early part of this
year. Before reviewing the events of the past ses-
sion, or saying anything concerning general poli-
tics, Mr. Baxter said he would briefly advert to
one or two matters more particularly affecting that.
locality. He referred to the hardship of the billet-
ing system in Scotland, and said it had been his
intention, had the late Administration continued in
office, to move, ongoing into Committee of Supply
on the army estimates, an amendment, which
would have been equivalent to a vote of
censure upon them for neglecting to redress an evil
which had been so prominently, on various occa-
sion, brought under their notice ; but, seeing a dis-
position on the part of the present Secretary at
War to do them justice, he thought it better to
urge an inquiry, and they knew the readiness with
which it was granted. It might be fairly ques-
tioned whether the practice of billeting should be
permitted to exist at all ; indeed, he took the
liberty, in the House of Commons, of shocking the
military men by styling it a remnant of barbarism.
The report of the committee which sat on this sub-
ject was, he believed, as satisfactory as could be
desired. The Government, he had no doubt, would
act upon the recommendation of that committee ; if
not, he promised them the question should be re-
opened. Mr. Baxter next referred to the annuity-
tax, and said he did not entertain a doubt of its
eventual abolition. He next adverted to the ques-
tion of harbours of refuge, and advocated the pro- •
priety of improving existing ports rather than of
erecting new works at an enormous cost. He had
given evidence before the commission in Dundee in
favour of this view, and, in regard to the extrava-
gant expenditure on the great harbours now in
progress, had been contradicted by Capt. Washing-
ton, one of the commissioners. His (Mr. Baxter's)
view of improving existing harbours by means of
small and judiciously administered grants was dis-
liked by a certain class of authorities—naval men
and engineers—who are fond of planning, and had
no objection to carry out enormous works at the
country's expense. In giving evidence, he had re-
ferred to the great expenditure at Dover ; had men-
tioned £1,300,000 as spent at Alderney, and that
dues were charged at harbours of refuge. Captain
Washington, on the contrary, stated that not above
£350,000 had been spent at Dover, only £650,000
at Alderney, and that no harbour dues were
charged at harbours of refuge. Now the fact
was that the estimate for Alderney was £1,300,000,
se
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agastsmwotnaeoenrdinui;dlsltaeidnctwrgto(emark, however, was likely to induce the
belief that the cost at Alderney would only be
£600,000, and this would be incorrect. Capt. Clax-
ton, in his evidence before the select committee last
year, said the money at Alderney had been totally
thrown away, that nobody went there, and nobody
knew anything about it except the Lords of the Ad-
miralty ; there was not room for seven ships
bumpingwith-
out
in
against each other. Sir Charles Napier
the House that it was of no use, either
had
sua
sht
harbour of refuge or for defence. And the
Times had declared that the country had got into
the same predicament with Alderney and Dover
that bankers experience with a customer who has
borrowed so much money of them that they don't
know how to refuse him more. Of these great public
works, already costing hundreds of thousands of
pounds, nobody can tell either when the outlay will
end or how the return is to appear. The original
estimate for Dover was £650,000, but Col. Sykes
had calculated the cost would be nearer £9,4100,000,
and that the work would not be finished in the pre-
sent or even the next generation. Mr. Baxternext
quoted the evidence of Mr. Walker, civil engineer,
as to Dover harbour, to the effect that when the
works were begun it had not been known that it
would take half a century to complete them, and
that no correct idea was formed as to the mode in
which the work could be done. He also referred to
Sir C. Napier's statement, that Dover was utterly
useless for trading vessels going from east to west,