The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-02 00:00:00

REIGATE ELECTION:

-
A public meeting of the electors and non-electors
of Reigate was held last evening at the Town-hall,
for the purpose of hearing from Mr. W. A. Wilkin-
son, one of the candidates for the representation of

that borough, a statement of his political opinions.
The meeting, which was densely crowded, was
presided over by. Mr. Dann, who, after a few intro-
ductory observations,introduced the hon. candidate.

Mr. W. A. WILKINSON, after a passing reference
to the causes which led him to offer himself at a
time when Mr. E. James was also in the field, but
who had now retircdotated that h came favY-7-Q.0.---
to give the electoii-an opport-imity of selecting the
man whose opinions were most in unison with their
own. The issue at present- lay (Mr. James having
withdrawn) between the Hon, Major Monson and
himself (Mr. Wilkinson), and that issue would have
to be decided very shortly ; for he believed the
notification of the issue of the-writ would appear
in that night's Gazette. Upon political questions
his opinions _were well known, mid had been freely
stated, which was not exactlytho_case with his
opponent..(Hear.) With respect to the great
,ques-
tion of a Reform Bill, which must come before Par-
liament
BillV
must b
shortly,
et
heo extendbelieved
the franchise, e
the o
sof any
Reform ,
such extension
.he, firmly believed must take
place. (Hear, hear.) Then came the question,
upon what principles that extension should be
based. Ile conceived that every man of sufficient
intelligence, honesty, and station, should be placed
in the enjoyment Of the franchise. He would, in
fact, extend the fianchise to all - classes who were
capable of properly using it—to all honest,-intelli-
gent, and independent men. (Hear.) But, to se-
cure the voter in the honest exercise of the fran-
chise, it would be-necessary to have recourse to the
ballot, for he thought it would be a cruel mockery
to give a min a vote which would lead_to his ruin

if h& hoLeatLy and conscientiously exercised it. He
den'ed that the ballot was un-English, for it wai in
daily us amongst the most educated and honour-
able of Engishmen ; au(l, with respect to its lead-
ing to immorality, by inducing a man to promise
one thing and to vote another, he could not but

think that those who attempted to coerce him, and
thus lead to deceit, were more culpable than he who
deceived theme In fact, he believed that an exten-
sion of the suffrage without the ballot would be more
injurious than beneficial to the working-classes of
this country. The next great question of scei:il in-
terest was that of ehureh4ates. He was an advo-
cate of the total repeal of that impost. (Hear.)
Some persons advocated modification or adjustment
as they termed it; but, although half-measnres
might please them, they did not satisfy him. He
thought it was time to abolish a tax .which pressed
most unjustly upon those who were not members
of the Church of England; and that institution
itself would not, he believed, boat all permanently
injured by the change. In all cases where religious
feelings were concerned, he was of -opinion there
should be no legislation at all. His general opinions
upon.all main questions were known by his acts
when in the House of COmmons, and, if elected to
represent the borough of 'Reigate, he should not fail
to employ his be-it abilities for the benefit of his
constituents and the nation at large. (Cheers.)
Mr. C. Grr.rrx, M.P., then addressed the meeting
in favour of Mr. Wilkinson, whom he endorsed as
a sound, consistent, and independent Liberal. lie
had differed with that gentleman when in Par-
liament. Upon some occasions he had considered
Mr. Wilkinson as rather too Palmerstorian in his
notions, yet he was quite sure if that gentleman had
been in the house when the late Government were
defeated upon a bill which was understood to have
been introduced at the instigation of a foreign
Power, he was quite sure his independent spirit
would have led him to resist that measure. There
was no doubt that in the next session of Parliament
a Reform Bill would be introduced by the present
Government. The supporters of the late Govern-
ment would attempt to alter and to Modify that
bill, but thd independent members of the House of
Commons, without reference to one party or the
-other, would support that which provided the most
complete and thorcugh-going reform, heedless of
whether it were proposed by Lord Derby or Lord
Palmerston. (Hear, hear.) Th 2 hon. member then
proceeded to discuss the question of church-rates,
which, he said, had been decided by the House of
Commons, whose decision had been overrnled be the

House of Lords. Since then various propositions
had been made to get rid of the determination of a
majority of • the House of Commons, and one had
been suggested by the hen.
.member for liertfore-
shire (Mr. Puller), whereby the blister, which M.-
miters and Liberals sought to remove entirely, vat
to be made perpetual. Upon all the great questions
of a social and political nature it was necessary to
hate the aid and concurrence of able, independent,
and industrious members, and such a one, was to be
found in the person of Mr. Wilkinson,' who had
been mentioned by the chairman of committees in
the House of Commons (Mr. Fitzroy) as a mo6t
able, attentive, and valuable member. (Cheers.)
An invitation was given to the mating to put
any questions to the candidate which might be
deemed necessary, but none were offered.
A resolution, suggesting that Mr. W. A.
wasWilkin-
foiii.oligio
i tlfienmeoigstatefit, and pledging the meeting toting candidate to represent the
support his claims, was then put and unanimously
adopted. _

After tho usual vote of thanks to the chairman
the meeting separated.