The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-14 00:00:00

THE SECRETARY FOR WAR.

Yesterday the election of a member for the
borough of Droitwich, rendered necessary by the
removal of Sir J. S. Pakington from the Admiralty
to the War-office, was held at the Court-house,
Droitwich. The Court-room, which holds about
200 people, was, of course, filled. The proceedings
went off quietly.
After the reading of the writ and the usual pre-
liminaries, the MAYOR, Mr. Fardon, called upon the
electors to nominate their candidate, whereupon
Mr. E. BEARCROFT, of Mere-hall, proposed the
re-election of Sir John Pakington, and noticing
his promotion to the head of the War Department,
said he looked upon it as an acknowledgment of his
great administrative talents. As to the changes
that were impending over the country, he trusted
they would be for the benefit of all, and not in sub-
mission to any combination of parties.
Dr. RODEN, M.D., seconded the nomination, and
condemned the acts of the democracy that would
prevent the middle classes being properly repre-
sented. (Cheers and hisses.) In Sir John they
had a man not only of ability and experience, but
also of unquestionable honesty of purpose.

No other candidate being proposed,
Sir J. PAKINOTON said he now for the 11th time,
in the long period of 30 years, had to express his
deep and heartfelt gratitude to the two friends who
had proposed and seconded, and to them, his friends
and neighbours, for the unanimity with which they
had again done him the honour of electing him as
their representative. He appeared before them that
day under circumstances of greater embarrassment
than on any previous occasion. He then proceeded
to advert to the main political topic of the day. He
had observed in the newspapers that there had been
recently a meeting of the " Droitwich Branch of
the Reform League." (Laughter.) He heard
some of his friends laughing, but he begged to say
that he should always listen with respect to his
Droitwich neighbours, whether members of a Reform
League or not. He understood one of the objects
of the League to be " annual Parliaments," and,
if so, be must congratulate them on having attained
that object inDroitwich so far as he was concerned.
In the year 1865 the electors of Droitwich did him
the honour to return him as their representative at
the general election ; in 1866 he again came before
them on being appointed First Lord of the Alred-
ralty, and in 1867 (added Sir John) here I am
again. He was almost afraid that they would get
tired of these annual ceremonies. (No, no.) With
regard to the circumstances which had led to the
present election he entreated them to believe that
he had accepted the duties of that most difficult and
arduous office to which he had just been ap-
pointed in no spirit of presumption. Quite the re-
verse. He had undertaken it not from choice, but
from the paramount feeling of the duty which he
owed to his Queen and with the desire to support
Lord Derby's Administration. His friend, ➢ir.
Bearcroft, in seconding his nomination, had spoken
of it as a " promotion," but he regarded it as no
promotion whatever ; he consi&red the position
which he had just left as honourable as the new one
he had just undertaken. He had already expressed
his opinion that the head of the navy ought to be a
Secretary of State, and he trusted this would be so
ere long. But, nevertheless, he looked on the head
of the navy as equal in rank and dignity to the head
of the army. He had accepted his new charge with
feelings of great reluctance, having left an office in
which he had taken the greatest interest and col-
leagues with whom he had acted with the greatest
friendship and harmony. It was true that up to
this moment he had received the most kind and cor-
dial assistance from the staff at the War-office.
Nevertheleas,the change was one involving a sacrifice
of feeling and inolivation on his part, and he only
undertook it in the feeling which he had expressed
of the duty he owed to the Queen and Lord Derby's
Administration. He added that no one had ever
acted in a more honourable and consistent manner
than General Peel. He deeply deplored his loss,
and in taking his place it was with the strongest
feeling on his part of hie inadequacy to discharge the
duties of the War-office in the manner in which
General Peel had done. They were all aware that
these changes in the Government had been caused by
the resignation of three members of the Cabinet, of
whom General Peel was one. That was a question
which was so much mixed up with the position in
which he stood then that it was impossible for him
to avoid referring to the circumstances leading to
those resignations, and he was not betraying any
confidence, because the facts had become notorious

through speeches in Parliament and the press. On
Saturday the 23d of February a Cabinet Council
came to conclusions in respect of the Reform Bill,
which the Government intended to propose to Parlia-
ment. Monday, the 25th, at 2 o'clock, Lord Derby,
as Prime Minister,was to address the whole Conser-
vative party in Downing-street, and at half-past 4
the Chancellor of the Exchequer was to explain the
Reform Bill to the House of Commons. As soon as
the Cabinet Council of Saturday (23d) had been
concluded, it was a notorious fact that Lord Derby
left London for Windsor, to communicate with her
Majesty on the subject that had been discussed that
day by the Cabinet. He (Sir John) heard nothing
until Monday morning, when he received an urgent
summons to Lord Derby's house at half-past 12.
When he got there he found three or four members
of the Cabinet assembled, but as they had antici-
pated no such summons tha messengers could not
find all the members of the Cabinet, and it was more
than half-past I—Lord Derby having to meet the
Conservative party at 2—before the Cabinet could
be brought together, and as each one dropped in
the first question was, " What is the matter ?"
Then every one in succession was informed of the
fact that Lord Cranborne and Lord Carnarvon had
seceded from the adoption of the bill which the
Cabinet had adopted on the preceding Saturday. He
had the greatest respect and regard for his noble
friends, but he could not help thinking that in so
acting they were precipitate. They might imagine,
therefore, the extraordinary difficulty and embar-
rassment which must have attended a Minister of
the Crown placed in this position. Lord Derby had
to address the Conservative party at 2 o'clock. He
did not think they had more than 10 minutes in
which to make up their minds. They knew the
result. It was determined by a majority of the
Cabinet to propose—not the bill which had been
agreed to on the Saturday, but an alternative mea-
sure in place of the larger and bolder scheme. Now
there was no wisdom so easy, nowisdom socommon,
as to be wise after the event. They were told by
their critics that their conduct was vacillating
and unworthy, that they ought not to
have made that hopeless attempt to keep.
the Cabinet together, and so on. But, be that
as it might, that was done ; they were driven to a
decision which they really had hardly 10 minutes
to think of, and if they did make a mistake, and he
was not prepared to say that they did not—he
thought that those who criticised their actions, be-
fore they were so severe upon them, should consider
what they themselves would have done under cir-
cumstances of such difficulty and embarrassment.
They all knew what was the honourable and manly
course to take when one had made a mistake, viz.,
to retrieve your steps, and that was the course which
the Cabinet soon found that they must take. For
myself I deeply felt that the course taken had been
a mistake, and that was the unanimous feeling of
the Cabinet after they had met together. They felt
that however painful it might be, they must part
with those of their colleagues who had taken a less
liberal view than themselves of the matter, and that
they must bring in the measure which they had pre-
viously matured. (Hear, hear.) They knew what
change followed in the Cabinet. He had been called
upoft to take the administration of the War Depart-
ment, and being so called upon he felt that he had no
alternative but to accept it. On Monday next it
would be the duty of the Government to submit to
Parliament their Reform Bill. He stood before them
as one of the members of that Government, and as
the measure had not yet been submitted, he should
be guilty of a breach of duty if he entered into de-
tails respecting it. Its general outlines they were
already acquainted with, but he was free to say that
the main principles of the bill would be a large and
bold concession of the franchise to the working
classes. (Applause.)
Mr. SMITH (a magistrate)—Don't clog it with
any impossible conditions, Sir John.
Sir JOHN PAKINGTON resumed—They would dis-
cuss the conditions at their next meeting—(a laugh)
—but those would be the main principles of the bill.
They had a most difficult task to perform, and they
were willing to take a lesson from the past. In the
great Act of 1832 a £lO rental was decided to be
the right test as to who should have a vote. That
served its purpose for a time, but, as they all knew,
the men who were living in houses below £lO rental
complained very much of their being shut out, and
asked what was the principle in £lO. Was there
any principle in £lO ? No, undoubtedly there was
not. There was no principle in any figure. Then
a few years ago a rental of £8 was proposed as the
right sum to fix for a qualification for the franchise,
and the late Government brought in a bill for a £7
franchise. The other day, in that short-lived bill
of theirs—(a laugh)—£6 was to be the mark, and
then somebody got up and said he would prefer £5.
(Renewed laughter.) He repeated, there was no
principle in any figure, and whatever figure they
might adopt they might be sure some persons would
be discontented with it. (Hear.) The Government,
therefore, had asked themselves whether it would
not be safer to rest on a principle instead of resting
on a figure ; whether it would not be a safe way,
as well as a test of respectability, if you did not give
the vote to a man merely as a householder of £6 or
£7 rental or rating, but because, whether an occu-
pier or ratepayer, he was in such a position as en-
abled him to pay the burdens that attached to pro-
perty. If that was the principle to be carried out
in a Reform Bill, there could be no doubt that it
would be in point of numbers an enormous conces-
sion to the working classes. (A Voice—" It's more
Radical than Bright.") It could not be denied that
great difficulties attached to public men iu endea-
vouring to arrange matters of this kind. He could
hardly imagine a deeper responsibility than attached
to any Government charged with the decision of
such a matter as this, and he would tell them that
the Ministry with whom he had the honour to act
felt that, whatever arrangements were to be made,
it must be for the general interest of England
that no one should exercise a predominant
power. (Hear, hear.) He cared not whether it
was the working class or the class above them ;
but all classes should have a fair share in the
representation. (Hear, hear.) His friend Mr.
Smith had said, " Don't clog the bill with con-
ditions." That might be a very plausible doctrine,
but in dealing with the question they must consider
whether this principle was not sound—that no one
class should predominate, whether high or low.
He did not believe that the working classes desired
to monopolise the electoral power of the country.
They had shown they were not indifferent to the
franchise, and he was glad of it, because he believed
that every elector who took an interest in the fran-
chise took a corresponding interest in the welfare of
his country. (Hear, hear.) But if they made great
concessions to numbers it would be desirable to con-
sider in what way they could avoid placing a dis-
proportionate power in the hands of a class. They
had heard of plurality of votes, of duality of
votes, and of cumulative votes. The late Mr.
Cobden suggested a plan of dividing a town which
returned more than one member into wards, and
of giving one member to each ward. As he had
said, he could not enter further into details
with regard to the Government plan, but he
thought it probable that they would find that some
such plan as this would be proposed to a limited
extent by the exercise of a second vote. There must
be new franchises, the object being still to extend the
franchise, to increase the electoral body, but in such
a way as would give the right of voting to persons
who, though not householders, were by education
and position in life as well calculated as others to
take part iu the election of representatives. The
Government felt that the matter now before the
country must be disposed of. It stood in the way.
It prevented the attainment of useful legislation, it
impeded measures which were intended for
to create
the good
of the country, and it would be a bad
a feeling of divisicn among the people. They never
could at any time afford to divide the people against
each other, and leastofall
tchoeueildattehreyeoantnttrhy. this time,
when they saw rebellion in
desire of the Government
exmnentt winfasramingteh the billo to be
P hoa d th
eelectors
presented on Mon d
epnl ek.e to
(C s
e h
ee r s.)y
for
The
united, and a contentaeidn
right hon. baronet ag
the honour done him, and proposed the usual vote
of thanks to the Mayor.
This brought the proceedings to a close.