The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-13 00:00:00

Parliamentary Reform in Lambeth.

A meeting of the electors and non-electors of the
borough of Lambeth, convened under the auspices

of the National Reform League, was held last

night to consider the subject of Parliamentary
Reform. The meeting was held in the Lam-
beth Baths,Westminster-bridge-road. At 8 o'clock,
when the chairman, Mr. T. Hughes, M.P., took the
chair, the large area used as the plunging bath dur-
ing the summer months was about one-third filled.
A little later the audience had increased, and occu-
pied one half the place of meeting. Mr. Hughes,
who was warmly received, was accompanied by Mr.
E. Beale, Mr. E. D. Rogers, Mr. Bubb, Mr. Hart-
well, and other members of the Council of the League.
The Ch AIR3IAN said that, as their representative,
he was glad to assist at a Reform meeting. It was
highly desirable that such meetings should be held,
not only in the metropolis, but also in every other
part of the country, because he believed that the
people never had a better opportunity of carrying a
really good Reform Bill. (Cheers.) A new Parlia-
ment had just been elected. The country had sent
up a larger majority of really Liberal men than in
any previous Parliament, and they had a more
Liberal Government than they ever possessed at any
previous time. It was only requisite that the people
of this country should show themselves thoroughly
in earnest upon this question of Parliamentary Re-
form in order to make it certain that a good Reform
Bill would be carried. It was said in some quarters
that the unenfranchised members of the community
cared nothing about political and suffrage questions,
that they only wanted more beef and beer, and
thought of nothing but physical comforts. He be-
lieved that this was a libel upon the great body of
his fellow-countrymen. (Cheers.) No doubt when
the working classes witnessed the extraordinary
progress of wealth and luxury it was 'natural their
desires should turn towards the physical comforts
and the wealth so much respected and hungered
after by those who were called their betters. He did
not believe, however, that the great masses of the
people undervalued their rights of citizenship, and
he trusted that they would, by distinct manifesta-
tions in all parts of the country, convince Parlia-
ment and the Government that they were seri-
ously in earnest in demanding a good Reform
Bill from the coming Parliament. (Loud cheers.)
It was high time for England to make a move
in this direction, if she was to keep her place poli-
tically among the nations of the earth. She had for
centuries taken the lead, and for a long period stood
almost alone in Europe, in insisting that the people
should make their own laws. But how stood the
case at present ? It was positively more difficult to
obtain the full rights of citizenship in England than
in any other country where representative institu-
tions had been set up. Even in Italy, the last coun-
try that we had welcomed among the free nations of
the earth, the payment of a sum of 10f., or about
Bs. a year, in direct taxes, qualified a man for the
franchise. lle should be glad to see such a quali-
fication as that in England. (Cheers.) In Sweden,
Switzerland, and Belgium, not to mention the United
States and our own colonies, the franchise was easier
of attainment than in England. If, however, the
people would heartily back up the Government
during the coming Session of Parliament they would
soon have their representative Government a reality,
and not a sham as it was at present. No doubt,
there were a good many different opinions in the
bosom of the Liberal party, and it was even
difficult to define what was meant by the great
Liberal party of the country. For himself, he held
this to be a true test of a Liberal, whether he had
or had not a thorough sympathy with the people.
(Hear.) If he had—if he wished from the bottom
of his heart to see every man well educated, in corn-
' fortable circumstances, independent, and able not
only to support his family satisfactorily, but to have
proper time for recreation and the cultivation of his
mind—if, in short, he wished to see his fellow-coun-
trymen well educated, independent, and happy, then
such a man was a member of the Liberal party, and
would wish to see his fellow-countrymen enjoy the
full rights of citizenship. It might be said that if his
definition were correct every member of the Liberal
party must be in favour of universal suffrage. He
believed that every true member of that party was
favourable to universal suffrage, not at once, but
that he would be desirous to see all his fellow-sub-
jects fit for the suffrage. As soon as they were thus
fitted every real and thorough Liberal would be ready
to give them the suffrage. There were, however, many
true Liberals who were far from wishing to do this at
present. There were not only false Liberals, but also
honest Liberals, who believed that at present a great
majority of the unenfranchised classes were not fit to
enjoy the rights of full citizenship. He knew many
men holding this opinion to be real honest Liberals,
and to possess the sympathy of which he had spoken.
He believed the more such men got to know their
unenfranchised countrymen, the more they would
trust and the less they would fear them. He believed
that all these Liberals would in time recognise the
extraordinary advance in intelligence and civilisa-
tion that was taking place in this country, and
would come to the conclusion that it was not so
dangerous to admit the great bulk of the working-
classes to the rights of citizenship as they at present
supposed. (Cheers.) They had next to deal with
the great illiberal party. When he was much younger
he used to doubt whether the most bigoted Tory
wishedto exclude men who had become educated and
fit for the rights of citizenship. He was sorry to say
he had come to see he was wrong in this opinion, for
he knew by sad experience that there was a strong
party not only of the upper, but also of the middle
and working classes, who selfishly wished to keep
what they had got to themselves, and who did not
want any one to share it with them. That was the
illiberal party which the real Liberals had to fight,
and with which they could have no political truce.
His opinions on Parliamentary Reform were now
pretty well known to them. He held that what was
wanted was not a mere extension of the suffrage,
but that every man should vote for the member lie
preferred, in whatever part of the country he might
be a candidate. At the next election, for example,
it might happen that they might not have a candi-
date they cared to vote for, while, across the water
in Westminster, there might be a Mill, or some
one they would equally wish to see returned. If
they had manhood suffrage to-morrow, he did not
believe the great mass of the people now unre-
presented would be able to carry a single man
into the House of Commons by that means.
(Mr. Beales—" Yes.") Perhaps they might
in one or two northern boroughs. The plan pro-
posed by Mr. Hare had been accepted by the best
political thinkers, and he believed it would do more
for the working man than a system of manhood
suffrage. Sooner or later a more scientific scheme
of representation such as that to which he had al-
luded must be adopted. He advised them to ask for
a Parliamentary Reform Bill that was large
enough. Depend upon it they would not get any-
thing that would not be perfectly safe in the opi-
nion of the most timid fundholder. If they liked
to ask for manhood suffrage, they would be doing
a very wise thing. They might just as well ask for
the whole loaf, and they would be more likely toget
half of it than if they went for only two-thirds. He