The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-17 00:00:00

Reform Demonstration at Glasgow.

GLASGOW, Tuesday, Oct. 16.
The greatest public demonstration that has occurred
in Glaa'gow for a long series of years took place here
this morning. During the Reform agitation of 1832
a large assemblage of Reformers, numbering about
70,000, met together on Glasgow-green, and this
morning a similar meeting, only one of twice the
size, estimated to contain about 150,000 persons, as-
sembled on the same spot, under the auspices of the
Reform League, to pass resolutions in favour of an-
other Reform Bill. A large trade procession, con-
taining, according to the most accurate estimate,
from 28,000 to 30,000 persons, was formed on the
green at 11 o'clock, and from thence walked through
the principal streets of Glasgow and back again to
the starting-point, where, from various platforms,
meetings were held simultaneously and resolutions
in favour of Parliamentary Reform adopted. Some
better idea of the size of the procession than can be
obtained from any vague estimate of the numbers it
contained may be formed from the fact that, march-
ing four abreast, at a fair speed, it occupied two,
hours in passing any given spot, and although its
ranks were kept pretty close together it extended over
a length of from four to five miles. When the main
body of the procession was threading its way
through the principal streets of the town, and before
the tail end had left Glasgow-green, the head of the
line had actually completed its journey and returned
to its old place on the green. Fortunately the wea-
ther, upon which the success of out-door demonstra-
tions so much depends, was tolerably fine ; although
there was no sunshine until late in the afternoon
there was no rain, and a nice cool temperature, best
suited for large open-air gatherings, prevailed dur-
ing the morning.
Mr. John Bright, MX., who had accepted an in-
vitation to address the inhabitants of Glasgow upon
the subject of Reform at an evening meeting, wit-
nessed the progress of the procession from the win-
dow of the Cobden Hotel in Argyle-street. He was
accompanied by Mr. IPLaren,-M.P., Mr. Dalglish,
M.P., Mr. Graham, . M.P., and a number of
others, including among them a daughter of the late
Mr. Cobden. As the procession and the immense
crowd which accompanied it passed by the hotel re-
peated cheers were giveufor Mr. Bright, who bowed
his acknowledgments. The line of the procession
presented a very animated appearance. Many of the
houses within the route taken by the procession
seemed dressed for a holiday, and flags and banners
of the Glasgow colours floated from the windows on
every side, while at some points lineswere suspended
across the streets, and so thickly adorned with
flowers and. leaves that they assumed something of
the appearance of triumphal arches. Business in the
town was almost entirely suspended throughout the
day, and almost every shop was closed, either from
a wish to give greater impressiveness to the pro-
ceedings, or from a wholesome dread of smashed
windows—a dread which the size and densely packed
character of the gathering in the streets sufficiently
warranted. The procession itself was headed by a
large body of carters mounted on horseback, and
well adapted to clear the way. These were followed
by bodies of workmen from various trade establish-
ments in the town, and representing already every
branch of manufacturing industry carried on in
Glasgow. There were cabinetmakers, foundrymen,
coppersmiths, shoemakers, trunkmakers, builders,
pipemakers, goldsmiths, and shipwrights. There
were also ironmoulders, puddlers, tinplate-workers,
miners, potters, glassmakers, wireworkers, cloth-
lappers, and boilermakers. There were dyers,
ropemakers, engineers, warpers, handloom weavers,
factory operatives, coachmakers, tailors, and brass-
founders ; and there were printers, lithographers,
bookbinders, blacksmiths, bakers, edge-tool makers,
whitesmiths, irondressers, and nailmakers. Each
trade carried multitudinous flags and banners, and
was headed by a brass band, and each exhibited
specimens of the productions of its own particular
craft. The shipbuilders, for instance, carried a
variety of shipwrights' tools, and bore aloft on
high poles series of miniature ships in various
stages of construction. 'l'lle carpenters and
joiners carried models of all descriptions of
carpentering, among the rest a small pulpit, with
the orthodox crimson resting upon the desk, an ob-
ject which attracted considerable curiosity. In the
same way every trade represented in the procession
carried something or other indicating the peculiar
nature of its own work. Banners and mottoes were
distributed iu the greatest profusion along the whole
procession, most of the mottoes protesting against
the withholding of manhood suffrage and the ballot
from the working classes. One of the mottoes ex-
cited considerable amusement, the cabinetmakers of
Glasgow marching under the inscription, " The
people should be the Cabinet-makers." One of the

flags bore a huge coloured portrait of Gladstone,
with the words " Reform," " Retrenchment," in-
scribed beneath, and a sort of companion picture,
representing Mr. Bright, was shown on another flag,
with the curiously-worded motto, " Honour Bright,"
" Stick to your colours." Another banner told the
people, "Reform, if 'twere done, 'twere well it were
done quickly.' " Borne high upon a pole was a de-
vice emblematical of the Cave of Adullam, with a
figure, supposed to reptesent Mr. Lowe, sitting dis-
consolate at the entrance. Immediately behind came
another representation of the cave of more question-
able propriety in the shape of an inverted household
utensil. This gave rise to great merriment along the
whole line of the procession. Among the banners
there were several moth-eaten and battered, which
figured in the Reform agitation of 1832.
The following among other towns were represented
in the procession by deputation :—Paisley, Dum-
barton, Greenock, Brechin, Stirling, Govan, Ren-
frew, Kilmarnock, Rothesay, Rutherglen, and Port
Glasgow. The scene upon the green after the re-

turn of the procession was of a very animating de-
-- - -

scription. It was really impossible to form au-esti-
mate of the number present, but it far exceeded the
attendance of any previous demonstration of the
same character. Every portion of the green was
crowded, and flags and banners by thousands lent
an additional attraction to the scene. There were six
platforms, at each of which the following resolu-
tions, for the English of which the gentlemen of the
local committee are responsible, were adopted :
"Ist. That this meeting protests against the continuance
of the present system of representation, whereby the people
are compelled to obey the laws in the making of which they
have_no voice, which is opposed alike to the spirit of the
ancient Constitution and our sense of justice. This meeting
further pledges itself to support the Scotch National Reform
League in its efforts to obtain by all lawful means registered
residential manhood suffrage, as the only just basis of re-
presentation, and the protection of the ballot. 2d. That this
meeting tenders its most grateful thanks to the Right lion.
William Ewart Gladstone, John Bright, John Stuart Mill,
and all the other true friends of Reform, who throughout
the late discussions in Parliament vindicated the character
of the people and vindicated their cause. 3d. That this
resting also returns its thanks to Edmond Beales and the
other members of the Reform League in London, for their
deie—
of the right of public meeting and of the true prin-
ciples ot
!rage., Reform, residential and registered manhood suf-

Bef
-ore
leaving the subject of the morning demon-
stration, it is only
possible to conceive just to say it would be hardly
e more defective arrangements than
those made in
con
Reform demonstrations which with it. At all the great
which the present recess has
produced, the arrangonesni ents have been far better
planned and carried out than has been the case with
those organised in Glasgow
The evening meeting wa; held
in the City Hall,
Candleriggs, which was crowetl
pronihdalil
ence. Mr. Bright, on entering Zen to inconveni-
,lalnd among
cheered. Mr. Daiglish, AI.P., , was loudly
those on the platform, in addition to:
were Mr. Graham, M.P., Mr. T. B. Bright,
Potter,
Mr. Duncan .MI Laren, M.P., Mr. H. Er'e.ll.l,T" j
Ewing, M.P., Mr. J. Merry, M.P., Mr. E. Be-a Tel; 1
Provost Macfarlane (of Paisley), Provost Mackay'
.Bailie Hay (of Dundee), &c.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings,
briefly congratulated the city of Glasgow on the
demonstration that had lately taken place.
-Mr. PROUDFOOT moved the first resolution :--7
" That this meeting, while recording its indignation
at the resistance offered in Parliament to the work-
ing classes and their advooates, calls upon the peo-
ple of this country to insist that the question of
Reform be no longer trifled with, and to rally round
those
men who uphold their cause."
Mr. G. NEWTON seconded the resolution, which

was supported by Mr. E. BEALES, and unanimously
adopted.
Mr. G. Ross then read the following address to
Mr. Bright :
"Honourable Sir,—Those who have invited you to Scot-
land on this occasion may venture to assure you that the
great mass of her people are not wanting in gratitude to
those who have toiled and suffered in their cause ; they re-
joice at your presence amongst them, having earnestly
marked your lifelong labours for the good of the entire
nation. They have heartfelt pleasure in knowing that the
genius and eloquence conferred on you by nature—first em-
ployed by you in teaching to prize virtue, knowledge, and
temperance, and in raising the moral standard and material
prosperity of those among whom your lot was more imme-
diately cast—have been exercised in later years in the wider
sphere of statesmanship, till your name and influence have
become appreciated and honoured throughout the world.
We honour your incorruptible integrity, and recognise in
you a statesman wise to foresee dangers, and capable of
discerning the benefit to be gained by doing justly to all,
and speaking the truth without fear of man or desire
of earthly regard. We shall never forget your free-
trade labours in fellowship with one whose memory is
embalmed on our hearts as your friend and ours. While we
receive our daily bread for ourselves and our children, we
remember those who secured to us that the bounty of God
should be freed from the tax of men. We are thankful
that while others have been taken to their great re ward,
you have still been spared to be the advocate of those
among your countrymen who, unjustly deprived of politi-
cal liberty, have no voice in the council of the nation.
Your presence in Glasgow to-day inspires us with profound
gratitude. We are here to give expression to that gratitude,
to offer you our heartiest thanks ; but also thanks for some-
thing more. We are alive to the crisis in our affairs. The
wrongs you have so long denounced must needs be re-
dressed. We again point the opponents of Reform to the
great evils in our midst, imperilling society, for the removal
of which the present system has been tried and found want-
ing. We dread that gulf, pauperism, the scandal of the
world, amid unparalleled wealth, which is swallowing up
our aged and infirm, and in which so many of our youth
are abandoned to misery and crime. We protest against
the domination of sectional parties, who, professing to go-
vern for the people, have failed to provide education for
the nation, which popular Governments in other lands
have secured, leaving us far behind. - We point to the
wasteful expenditure which has produced and fosters our
dangerous national debt, sapping the energies of the coun-
try, and burdening it in the race of nations. In the city
from which Smith taught, we point to the unsatisfactory
laws of banking, and the attendant paralysing of our trade.
We denounce that system of misgoverment in certain colo-
nies, where different races come into close contact, which
has culminated in the recent vindictive punishment of a
political opponent under the plea of necessity. We protest
against the present sectional representation, its restricted
basis, its gross inequalities, audthe interference with tenant
voters and the shameful bribery and corruption. Through
ng
ysoupe,nwtheecseallsantdteentthioenr tmoatthteerus
nwrligthhitrtuhsepoSltiacyte,parnd eoni-
evaili
pelling the flower of our population to seek freeholds
and freedom where entail and primogeniture are un-
known. We seek not to retaliate, as an injured
class, by desiring special privileges for ourselves, or
by imposing restraints on others. We seek rather,
by asserting our rights as men, to assist in the solu-
tion of those great problems on which the future of our
country depends. Freedom and union are to-day the ideas
which inspire and control the peoples of the world. The
Great Ruler among the nations has been overturning the
I barriers in the way of these ideas, and has signally frowned
' on those, both in Europe and America, who sought empire
with division and slavery. We seek union for all classes,
on the broad basis of political liberty. What has been ac-
complished in other lands by means of war we fervently
pray may be accomplished here by means of peace ; but we
warn our rulers against tile continued breach of the greet
charter, wrung from reluctant hands at Runnymede, which
provides that the rulers "shall not deny nor delay justice
to any one." We, the sons of Wallace and Knox, join the
men of England and Ireland in taking up the• words of
Richard Cobden, addressed to you at the outset of your
former victorious struggle—" Come with us, and we will
never rest till we have abolished monopoly." Signed in
the name and by appointment of the Scottish National
Reform League."

Mr. BRIGHT, who was received with enthusiastic
cheering, said—Mr. Chairman and citizens of no
mean city, I accept this address, which has been
read in your hearing, and presented to me, with the
feeling of deep gratitude to those who have expressed
such friendly feelings towards me, but with a deep
anxiety when I consider the intent and purport of
the document.
.I am consoled by regarding it as,
in some degree, a compact or covenant entered into
to-night by you and those whom you represent, with
me and those whom I may be supposed in some de-
gree to represent, and that we covenant together
that whatsbever is moral for us to do we engage to
do in the prosecution of that great cause which has
stirred the hearts of Glasgow to-day.
_(Cheers.) I
can do but little—any one man can do but little,
but you, in your vast numbers, can do much, and,
uniting with numbers not smaller in other parts
of the kingdom, I have a strong sense that
the day is fast approaching which will see the
triumph of our cause— (cheers)---and I think he
must be blind and fooliSh indeed who is not willing
to admit that it is a great issue which is now sub-
mitted to the people of the United Kingdom.
(Hear, hear.) Gatherings of scores of thousands
of men, extending from south to north, must have
some great cause. Men do not leave their daily
labour, the necessary occupations of their lives, thus
to meet, unless they believe there is some great
question submitted to them in which they have a
deep and an overpowering interest. (Hear and
cheers.) And the question is this—whether, in
future, the Government and the legislation of this
country shall be conducted by a privileged class in
a sham Parliament, or on the principles of the Con-
stitution, by the nation, through its representatives,
fairly and freely chosen. (Cheers.) Now, there
are persons who will think that I am speaking
harshly of the existing Pvrliament ; some, probably,
in this meeting might think that Mr. Beales was
indiscrimiaate in the term which he used when he
spoke of our representation being steeped in cor-
ruption ; but I am certain that if the representation
of this country existed in any other country, and
that its details were explained to Englishmen, there
are not five Englishmen within the boundaries, or
i five Britons within the bounds of this island—

(hear, hear, and cheers)—who would not:admit that
the language we applied to the Parliament was cor-
rect. (Cheers.) Now, what we charge against
Parliament is this, that it is chosen from constitu-
encies not only so small that they do not and can-
not adequately represent the nation, but from con-
-1 stituencies so small as to be influenced by corruption
i and by all kinds of motives that are neither national
nor patriotic. (Hear, hear.) In our boroughs, for
example, the numbers, for the most part, are very
small. There are, I think, 254 boroughs in the
United Kingdom, but there are only 54 of them that
possess a constituency of 2,000 electors and upwards;
and large and fair constituencies are indeed
the exception. In Scotland your borough consti-
tuencies, though not generally very large, are larger
than those in England ; and to your honour it must
be said they are far more incorrupt than English
constituencies. (Cheers.) In the counties the free-
holders—those who own land for cultivation—are
constantly diminishing in numbers ; and that por-
tion of the constituencies which is not composed of
freeholders is composed of tenant farmers—the most
dependent class of occupiers probably in the nation.
(Cheers.) But now let me point to one or two facts
)d— King_
t„seh iJamniet,e,
which should sink deep in the minds of all men.
dom 84 have no votes
Out of every 100
grown—
(cries m e
of men
in the
84 might just as well, for all purposes of constitu-
tional government, so far as they are directly con-
cerned—those 84 might as well live in Russia, where
there is no electoral system of government, or in
•
those other countries, now very few indeed, iu which
parliaments and representation are unknown. If it
be the fact that only 16 men out of every 100 have
votes, it is also the factthat those 16 are so arranged
and so placed that the representation is in reality
almost entirely destroyed. (llear, hear.) If the
electors were fairly divided amongst all the mem-
i bers there would be nearly 2,000 electors to every
1 member, but what is the state of things ? Why,
I that one-third of the House of Cominons, or 220
members of the House of Commons, are chosen by
a number of men scattered over the country who
are fewer by almost one-half than the numbers of
grown men in this city of Glasgow alone. (Cries
of ,‘ Shaine.")
And further, one-half of the house
of Commons is chosen by ' about 180,000 electors,
being
only one-seventh of the whole number of elec-
t
tors, and very much below the number of men who
are to be found in the cities of
gow. (Cries of " Shame.") A Edinburgh and Glas-
nd if we come to that
great event which excites go
much interest, but
which is generally of so little value,
a general elec-
tion —(laughter) —we find and believe that not more
than ten in a hundred—not more than 10 per cent.
1