The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-14 00:00:00

Kingdom, wipe out the hypocrisy—the lie of the
thing you call an Act of Union, and tell Europe, if
you dare, that you do not know how to govern a
country within four hours' sail of your shores,
speaking your own language, subjected to your own
laws for generations, and represented in your House
of Commons." (Loud cheers.) Do not tell him
that the masses of an intelligent and educated popu-
lation, numbering millions in the ranks of the dis-
affected, had become disaffected without a cause.
Was there not a cause ? (Cheers.) Did ever the
world see a people living from father to son for
generations hesitating between the pains of exile
and the perils of sedition without reason. Twenty-
three years ago he sat under the gallery of thellouse
of Commons in an hour of anxiety like the present.
Ireland was said to be ou the brink of revolt. A
Conservative Government was then in power, and
he heard the great head of the Whig party tell the
executive they ought to be ashamed of the existing
state of things in Ireland, and that Ireland was oc-
cupied, not governed. At the present time Ireland
was occupied—was she governed? (No, no.) Why
not, then? The first vote asked of the house of
Commons last session was to suspend the habeas
corpus ; and its last act was to renew the suspen-
sioia. The late Mr, Cobden said, " Judging of the
Irish by ourselves, Englishmen, peace and prosperity
never should be hoped for, and never ought to be
hoped for in Ireland, while the present system of law
remains unaltered." (Cheers.) The late Viceroy of
Ireland, Lord Kimberley, declared in the House of
Lords that danger and trouble would never abate
in Ireland until the essential laws of land and creed
were fundamentally settled. (Hear.) If these
things were to be trusted, the electors of Finsbury
would authorise their members to go back to the
House of Commons, not to grant favours or gratui-
ties, or to do anything for Ireland but what they
would wish Ireland to do for us if she were the
stronger country—namely, justice. (Cheers.) The
hon. member then reviewed the business of the last
session, commenting upon the questions of interna-
tional law and extradition treaties, arguing respect-
ing the latter that the action taken by himself and
others when the matter came before the house,
although reproached at the time, was justified within
six weeks by the well-known case of Lamirande.
Referring to his bill to improve the dwellings of the
working classes, Mr. Torrens entreated the electors
to give their support to that measure, the third read-
ing of which he feared would not be passed without
a struggle. He was surprised to find that at the Man-
chester Social Science Congress it was argued that
the promoters of the bill had no right to ask the
Treasury for money at 31 per cent. to rebuild the
homes of the working classes. Those classes had,
by their savings up to the end of the past year,
banked with the Treasury no less than £47,000,000,
and out of those balances the Chancellor of the
Exchequer had granted thousands and tens of thou-
sands of pounds to the country gentlemen to drain
their estates. (Shame.) In applying for loans at 31
per cent., the working classes were only asking for
their own. The question of the day was Parliamen-
tary Reform. (Cheers.) In former Parliaments he
had under all circumstances voted for household
suffrage. He believed a rate-paying suffrage might
be made almost co-equal with household suffrage,
but the latter would be simpler and more just. At
present 200 shillings rent entitled a man to vote, and
the best mechanic that ever lived was disfranchisel
if he only paid 195 shillings of rent, whereas the
most disreputable beer-seller in Totnes, if he paid
the 200 shillings, had &Vote to sell. (Laughter and
cheers.) The fate of Mr. Gladstone's bill was well
known. They now wanted to see what the new Go-
vernment would do. (Hisses.) It was said that they
were about to propose a measure more liberal than
their predecessors. (" Walker," and laughter.) He
sincerely hoped it might turn out so. He should take
it for what it was worth. If it enfranchised any
great class of the community without taking away
with the other hand, he should think it a pleasure and
duty to support it ; if, on the other hand, it should
turn out to be what the opponents of the present
Government suspected, it was probable that the ad-
judication of the affair would be thrown back to the
electors. For himself he believed nothing short of
household suffrage would be satisfactory to the com-
munity. (Loud cheers.) The hon. gentleman, after
a few more remarks, thanking the electors for their
kindness, and assuring them of his attention to the:r
interests in the future, resumed his seat amidst loud
applause.
Alderman Lusx, M.P., next a ldressel the meet-
ing. Before their scats in the House of Commons
were warm the members, he said, were occupied
with the interminable subject of the cattle plague,
and night after night they heard of nothing but
hides, horns, and hoofs. (Laughter.) The end
of it was the house legislated upon the subject
in a panic, and the Government were left by
the country gentlemen in a minority. This was
his first experience of the landed interest, and it
convinced him that a preponderance of that class
was not desirable. (Cheers.) As to the Irish ques-
tion, there was one irritating sore that ought to be
cured at once—viz., the Irish Church. Mr. White's
motion on the reduction of expenditure, though very
important, fell on the house flat, stale, and unpro-
fitable, and nobody seemed to care anything about
expenditure, which was one of those matters to which
members should pay special attention. Legislation
should look after the outgoings as well as the incom-
ings. (Cheers.) On the principle that a felonyought
not to be compounded, the attempted compromise
on church rates met with his strenuous opposition.
It was absolutely necessary, now that Churchmen
were teaching things popular in the dark ages, and
making our salvation depend on rihands, that
the power held by the country over the Church
should not be given up. (Cheers.) If Church cler-
gymen, who were in the pay of the State, and there-
fore of the people, wished to act contrary to law and
custom, they must leave the Church. (Cheers.) A
great deal of good was done by the discussions on
reform, in bringing to the surface principles and
facts not before popularly known. The Liberals in
the late reform debates failed a little perhaps in over
estimating their own strength, and underrating that
of their opponents; in fact they were rather " bump-
tious." (Laughter.) The loss of the bill was not so
great as it was considered to be at the time, because
probably a little more would be asked for now.
(Cheers.) A lesson should be learnt from the past,
and an additional pressure should at once be put
upon the constituencies to send right men to Parlia-
ment. Believing that men grew more by industry
than violence, he had given particular attention to
questions affecting trade and commerce. Our bank-
ruptcy laws were a disgrace to the country, and en-
couraged fraud. (Hear, hear.) He took considerable
interest in the bill respecting reformatory and in-
dustrial schools, his wish being to get children sent
to school before committting crime, instead
of afterwards. The religious element in the
house was very troublesome, and the passing
of the measure was much hindered by sectarianism.
He, with his hon. colleague, voted for the ballot,
although, owing to a variety of circumstances, they
were beaten. After referring to the supply of gas
and water in the metropolis, the hon. member in-
sisted that the first question to be considered next
session was reform, and he was ready to support a
reform bill, as he did last session. •
A VOICE—How far will you go ?
Alderman LUSK-01), as far as you like, pretty
well. (Loud laughter and cheers.) He then pro-
mised to oppose a large expenditure, to promote a
compulsory system of education, and to do all he
could to improve our good institutions and destroy
the bad.

Speeches were then made by Dr. Bruce, Mr. An-
son, Mr. A. Walker, Mr. R. N. Philips, Mr. J.
Baxter Lang!ey, Mr. G. Brook, and others.
A resolution was then unanimously passed ex-
pressing entire approval of and confidence in the
hon. members. A second was submitted, assert-
ing that our representative system imperatively
demanded the immediate action of Parliament, and
hoping that a measure would be passed in the en-
suing session that would meet the just expectations
of the people. To this motion an amendment was
proposed, urging manhood suffrage and . the ballot.
The amendment was carried by a large majority.
After Mqssrs. Torrens and Lusk had acknowledged
the vote of thanks the business terminated with for-
mal votes of thanks.
The meeting separated after 11 o'clock.