The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-28 00:00:00

EVENING MEETING.

In the evening a meeting was held in th
hall for the purpose of presenting addressese to irrown-
Scholefield and Mr. Bright, the representativesofthr.
borough in Parliament. Mr. Edwin Yates, ti
:
mayor, presided.
Both Mr. Bright and Mr. Scholefield were en-
thusiastically received by their constituents, who
filled every portion of the large hall for which this
town is celebrated. The whole of the audiencerose
as they entered, and cheered again and again for
several minutes.

The DlAvon, having briefly opened the proceed-
ings, congratulated the meeting on the success of
the open-air demonstration in the afternoon, which,
he hoped, would at last convince their opponents

that the people of England were in earnest on this
question of Reform.
Mr. GEORGE DICKSON moved, and Mr. LA3IPARD,
a non-elector, seconded the addresses to Mr Schole-
field. and Mr. Bright.
Mr. BEALES, who supported the motion, was
most warmly received. He cordially thanked them
for the manner in which he had been received. It
was a more than sufficient recompense for the in-
sults and calumnies with which he had been assailed
by the upholders of olass-legislation for maintaining
the rights of the people, for the Legislature as at
present constituted was a mockery of the rights of
the unrepresented millions. For having thus warmly
supported the rights of the people, and having taken
part in an agitation of no ordinary character, he was
no longer Revising Barrister for the county of
Middlesex. (Cries of " Shame.") His object was
to secure to the people the rights accorded to them
by the Constitution of their country, which in sta-
tute after statute ordained that no laws should be
passed, no taxation levied, without the assent of the
whole commonwealth. He bore strong testimony to
the qualities of Mr. Bright as a statesman and an
orator who had devoted his great talents and his
whole life to the service of his countrymen. If there
was one man more than another who had done his
best to maintain all that was valuable in the insti-
tutions of his country, that man was John Bright.
(Cheers.)
The addresses were carried by acclamation. Of
that to Mr. Bright the following are the more im-
portant passages
After repeated pledges made only to be broken, we have
witnessed the introduction into the House of Commons of
a moderate but honest measure for the extension of the
franchise. We have also witnessed the rejection of that
measure by the combination of the Tory party with certain
pretended Liberals; as the consequence of rejection we have
witnessed the fall of a Liberal Government, and the acces-
sion of a Conservative minority to office, but not to power;
therefore, in common with the Liberal party throughout
the country, we have felt ourselves compelled to recom-
mence a labour which we lately hoped had approached its
termination—the labour of obtaining from Parliament a
substantial measure of Reform in recognition of the just
rights of the unenfranchised classes. Tho whole tenour of
your public life inspires us with gratitude for what you
have done, and with perfect confidence in your future
course. Whoever else may prove false to the cause of
the people, you will always remain true. From the
moment you entered public life until now you have
been the advocate of all liberal measures. So far as these
have been accomplished we owe them greatly to your la-
bours. So far as they have yet to be achieved we look to you
as their most prominent and determined advocate. In com-
mon with millions of your countrymen we feel towards you
sentiments of gratitude and affection which can be but
faintly expressed in words. With eloquence unsurpassed,
with energy unrivalled, with devotion unyielding, at all
times and under all circumstances, undismayed by opposi-
tion, uninfluenced by calumny, you have nobly and con-
sistently advocated the principles of right and justice
towards all classes of your countrymen. Though unadorned
with titles, though neither endowed with nor seeking the
honours of office, you have reaped a reward higher and
richer than them; you have earnt the confidence of
millions of your fellow-citizens; you stand the trusted and
acknowledged representative of the people's cause, enshrined
in the gratitude and affection of your countrymen, for your
name will live as long as England shall endure, enrolled
with those of Cobden, of Russell, of Gladstone, and of
Peel."

The address to Mr. Scholefield recognised the late
services which he had rendered to the town of Bir-
mingham in connection with the Liberal cause, and
the hereditary claim which he had upon the confi-
dence of the Liberals of Birmingham,.as the son of
Joshua Scholefield, the friend and associate of
Thomas Atwood, in founding the great political
union which virtually carried the old Reform Bill
of 1832. During the 20 years in which he had re-
presented the borough he had abundantly justified
the choice of his constituents by unvarying, earnest,
and consistent support of all Liberal measures.
The MAYOR having presented the addresses,

Mr. SCIIOLEFIELD thanked them from the bottom
of his heart for the unanimity with which they had
voted the address just presented to him. On such
occasions as these he deeply felt the want of words
to do justice to his feelings. On many occasions
he differed from many of them, not as regards prin-
ciples, but as regards the application of those prin-
ciples, and they had treated him not as a delegate,
but as a representative worthy of their conficience—
that confidence and that respect_and esteem he was
certain he should never lose. Two months ago every
town was as quiet as it could be; now, however,
every town and village was the centre of political
agitation. The people had been told they were
apathetic, but the magnificent demonstration of that
day would convince those who had thoughtlessly
uttered this statement how utterly baseless it was.
What was the cause of this change? Two months
ago they had a Government in power in which they
had confidence, now they had a Government in office
on which they placed no reliance ; two months ago
they had the prospect of a Reform Bill, which, how-
ever moderate, and falling far short of their wishes,
they were willing to accept as a substantial although
moderate concession. In accepting this bill with
all its shortcomings the people had been mainly in-
fluenced by the efforts of Mr. Bright. The conduct
of the Tories had defeated these statesmanlike
efforts, and he thanked God for it, for, as in 1830,
that conduct had insured the passing of the Reform
Bill in 1832, and as their conduct in 1846 made the
Repeal of the Corn Laws inevitable, he trusted that
they would now have a perfect Reform Bill. The
revolutionary policy of the Tories admitted of no
alternative, they must now have no tinkering, but
a complete and comprehensive measure of Reform.
without bluster, without undue vaunts : they must
proceed steadily and firmly under the guidance of
such men as Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Bright, and
their success was as certain as the rising of to-mor-
row's sun, their cause was unassailable, for it was
the cause of the Constitution, and may God defend
the right. (Cheers.)
Mr. BRIGHT, who was received with enthusiastic
cheers, which lasted several minutes, said—Mr.
Mayor and gentlemen,—I accept the address which
the Mayor has presented to me on your behalf with
feelings shall not attempt to express. I accept it
as an ample compensation for whatsoever labours 1
have expended in your service, and I shall take it
from this meeting and hold it as a constant stimulus
to whatsoever labours may lie in my power in your
service for the future. (Cheers.) There are times
when I feel no little despondency at the small result
of many years of public labour, but to look upon a
meeting like that assembled in this hall, and to look
upon that vast gathering which your town has
exhibited to the country and to the world to-day,
is enough to dispel every feeling of fear of despond- '
ency, and to fill the heart and nerve the mind to new
itah
the debate
Session
igerneaetferplaarbohathf
teDeaurtizge
reading
edliantge
of the Franchise Bill, I took the opportunity of
offering a word of warning
and of counsel to that
powerful party
in the house
Which opposed that
bill, and in those words of warning and of counsel I
asked them to remember that, if they should succeed
in the defeating of that bill, and in overthrowing the
remain the
Government, that there would still r •
a
people of England to be met, and the claim of the
great question of Reform for consideration and set-
tlement. We have not had to wait long before that
which I foretold has come to pass. In London we
have seen assemblies of people such as for a genera-
tion past have not been witnessed.
In many other
parts of the country there have been meetings
greater than there have been for 30 years, and
notably to-day there has been a voice given forth
from the very centre and heart of England which
will reach at last to the circumference of the three
kingdoms. There has been an attempt to measure
the numbers that were present. At this moment
there are probably in this hall 6,000 persons. I
ask any of you who are present to reckon how many
times this hall, with its 6,000 persons, could have
been filled from that multitudinous congregation
upon which our eyes rested, but upon the full ex-
tent of which our eyes will scarcely reach. I say it
is highly probable that this hall might have been
filled 40 times from that multitude. (A Voice—
" Look outside.") At this moment, I am told,
there is an audience far greater than that which I
au now addressing, and, what is more, to-morrow
morning there will be millions of an audience
through the whole of the United Kingdom
hasb
ea
ennx
soa
ds
to know what has been done and what
OD this 27th day of August in the great 'city of
Birmingham. But we are not here to-night to dis-

cuss the question of Reform, because that is a ques-
tion whichwe have already settled. (Cheers.) What
we have to do is to discuss carefully our present po-
sition and our future work in reference to that
great qaestion. My hon. colleague has said that the
Bill of the late Government was a Bill of singular
moderation ; it was also a Billr—l speak now only
of the Franchise Bill—it was a Bill of singular and
most honest simplicty ; and that was the great reason
that I felt it my duty and that you felt it your duty

to 'give that Bill an honest support. Now, I will
just tell you how much and how little that Franchise

Bill proposed to give and what it would have given
to the working classes of this country, and I
think it necessary to state that because of the argu-
ment which I intend to raise upon it. The Go-
vernment produced to the House of Commons a
Blue-book, most elaborately got together, and, so
far as I know, with the exception of one point, accu-
rate. But they proposed to inform the House of
the number of working men who are now upon the
register, and the addition of working men which
would be made if that Bill should pass. I differed
entirely from their estimate. I believed it to have
been to a great extent erroneous, and I think I pro-
duced facts to the House of Commons which sus-
tained my opinion ; but Mr. Gladstone told us that
at present there were on the borough register in
England and_Wales working men to the number of
126,000. He showed further that even if there
were no alteration in the £lO franchise, there would
be an addition to the electors to the amount of
60,000, and he reckoned that these would all be
working men, and then he said that if the franchise
was reduced from 210 to £7, there would be a further
addition of 144,000, all of whom he estimated as
working men, and therefore he said there would be
on the borough registers of England and Wales
330,000 working men, of whom 204,000 would be
new voters added by th is Bill. Well, I believe that
estimate was made with honesty by Mr. Gladstone,
but that it was to a very large extent erroneous. I
showed several boroughs—and I believe I might
have gone through almost every borough in the king-
dom—l showed that the number of working men in
the return was at least double, and in many cases
more than double, the actual number on the regis-
ter. I estimated also that although the abolition of
the ratepaying clauses might add 60,000 new voters,
yet it would be very unfair to consider more than
one-third, or 20,000 of them, being ten-pounders
and upwards, would be of the class of working
men : and I said, furthez, that of the class between
ten-pounders and seven-pounders not more than-
thirds of them could be reckoned as of the working
class. I do not think that more than one-half of
them could be reckoned as of that class. Instead
of 60,000 which would be enfranchised by the
abolition of the rate-paying clauses, I believed that
not more than 20,000 would obtain votes by that
change, and that, instead of 144,00 Q working men
being admitted by the reduction of the franchise
from £lO to £7, it was a fair estimate to take two-
thirds of that number, or 90,000 ; and, therefore,
my opinion was this, that if the bill passed there
would be on the borough register of England and
Wales not 330,000 working men, but 179,000, and
that there would not be admitted of working men
by that bill 204,000, but only 116,000. And now,
if you like, we will take either my estimate of
116,000, or Mr. Gladstone's estimate of 204,000,-as
the number of working men who were to be added
by the late bill to the present register throughout
all the boroughs of England and Wales, and I
would ask what, after all, does it all come to ?
204,000, according to the Government estimate,
116,000, according to my estimate, and in addition
about 200,000 added to the counties under a £l4
franchise for the counties, who must of necessity be
almost altogether outside the class which we under-
stand when we are speaking of the working classes.
(Hear, hear.) Now this was a bill which my hon.
colleague has described as a bill of singular modera-
tion. Out of five or six millions of men in the United
Kingdom who are not enfranchised, the whole num-
ber it admitted of working men in England and
Wales in the boroughs was only 201,000. Now this
bill, so moderate that I confess that at first I gave
the hope that it would pass through Parliament
without great difficulty, was resisted as if it had
been charged with all the dangerous matter which
the Tory party actually attributed to it ; it was in-
trigued against in a manner, I had almost said more
base, but I will say more hateful, than I have seen
during the 23 years that I have sat in the House of
Commons—(shame)—and finally, under every kind
of false pretence, it was rejected by a small majo-
rity, fell, and the Government which had proposed
it fell with it. Now, the reason that I have given
you these figures is that I want to show you the
desperate resolution of the present Government and
party which represents the Tory party in Parlia-
ment to deny to the working classes of this coun-

try any share in its government. (Hear.) lam not
confined to the facts of the votes of the house and
destruction of the bill, but I am able to show you
by the arguments upon which the Tory party pro-
ceeded that such is their distinct, and, it may be,
their unchangeable resolution. Several of the
speakers to-night, at least more than one of them,
have referred to the slanders and calumnies heaped
on the great body of the people during the discus-
sions of the last session ; and although they named
no one, no doubt the speakers had in their minds
one member of the house who virtually has no con-
stituency—(laughter)—whose sole constituency, at
any rate at that time, is now no longer here to par-
take of the strife and contests of politics—although
I presume another constituency now reigns in his
stead. If I quote anything that Mr. Lowe—(hisses)
—said, understand me, that I wish to bring no
charge against him whatsoever. (A Voice—" We
do!") He has spent some years in Australia, and
probably has voyaged round the world, and I do
not deny to him the right to voyage round the world
of politics. (Laughter.) I do not deny him the right
to cast his anchor in any port that may be open to
him. I merely intend to quote something that he
said, because when it was said it was received
with rapturous enthusiasm by a great party in
the House, who are the supporters of Lord Derby
and Mr. Disraeli. (Hisses and groans.) I must
ask you to listen for a moment to this extract from
the Times newspaper—(hisses)—a paper of which,
as is well known, the speaker has been for many
years an eminent writer, and of which, unless re-
port speaks untruly, he has no small degree of con-
trol. He said on the 13th of March last, " You
have-had the opportunity of knowing some of the
constituencies of this country, and 1 ask if you want
venality, ignorance, drunkenness, and the means of
intimidation—if you want impulsive, unreflecting,
and violent people, where will you go to look for
them—to the top or to the bottom ? It is ridiculous
to blink the fact that since the Reform Act great
corruption has prevailed among the voters of be-
tween £2O and £lO 'rental, the £lO lodging and
beerhouse keepers, but it is said, Only give the
franchise to the artisan and then seethe difference."'
He goes on ; passing over a sentence which was a
classical illustration, which amused the House won-
derfully, :0;1
al I
houses"—that
oy,ubisu7es,,_h we
but
; it,,iwtsntho iats;e necessary here. Mr. Lowe
said, " We know what sort of persons live in those
of
alciohuardsee,
xtpheervieoutecresobfettwheemen,
under the name of freemen,' and it would be a good
thing if they were disfranchised altogether. They
were dying out, but the Government proposed to
bring them back again under another name. From
what you all see, it were well that all these persons
of this class who are to be brought back under
another name --that is, all the persons between £lO
and £7—should be disfranchised altogether." What,
he asked, would be the consequence of passing the
bill ? He said the first stage would be increase of
corruption, intimidation, disorder, and all the evils
which usually happen at elections. What will be the
second? It will be this. The working men of England,
finding themselves in a full majority of the whole
will awaketotle
whatfull sense
wnsee can d
of their
power.cons t i t u eTheyncy,
will
say,
"We
knowr
for
rcotiuorsns ; ourselves.
sei uPsosentoutplesthuops be any
ourselves.an We havey longer cajoled at
our own objects to carry as well as others, and let
haveus u n lot eu
rt o c
tradea rzy tuhueimo
u. Ts
uedh awvee thhaeveourmachinery—we
leaders."
(At this there were loud Opposition cheers.) "We
ade r s.' '
have the power of combination, as we have shown
over and over again, and when we have the privilege
to vote we will bring it to bear with tenfold more