The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-20 00:00:00

LON D 014 t,

THE

SUN,

it be inlB7C ? That was the point upon which he wanted
information, but the right hon. gentleman Would not

give it. Indeed, be had been langied at when he asked

what the effect of the bill would be in the future.

He hoped it would not be supposed that in voting against
this bill he was the enemy of the working classes. He only

voted against it because he saw danger in giving a pre-
ponderance of power to any class. Justice to all, prepon-
derance to none, was his motto. His noble friend who
moved the amendment did so in a manner so stralghtfor-

ward and manly that it was not necessary for those who
followed him to justify the course they were pursuing,
(Hear, hear.) His hon. friend the Under-Secretary for

Foreign Affairs told them the other night that he (Lord
Elcho) would not let him answer the speech of tho noble
lord the member for King's Lynn (Lord Stanley).
Mr. LAYARD—I said, gentlemen opposite will not
allow me.

Lord ELCHO—He would remind the house that his
honourable friend began by saying, with the utmost self-

complacency—(Opposition cheers and laughter)—that he
intended to answer the argument of the noble lord. (Op-

position ironical cheers.) However, he very soon left the

noble lord and took to Smith the plasterer—(great laugh
ter)—and the temptations to which he was exposed, pray-

' -
ng that Smith might be delivered from these temptations.

Well, he was sure there was scarce a single member pre-

sent listening to his hon. friend who did not earnestly pray
that he might be delivered from Smith the plasterer.
(Great laughter.) The truth was that valuable and useful

as were the services of his hon. friend in digging Assyrian
antiquities out of the mud—(cries of " Oh, oh," from the
Ministerial benches)—no one was more ready than he was
to do honour to his hon. friend for the signal services he
had rendered to the country in digging Assyrian antiquities
out of the mud—still, valuable as had been his services in
that respect, it mast be owned he was not exactly the per-

son to pick this proposal of the Government out of the
mud.. (Opposition cheers and laughter.) But, in default
of argument, the Government had resorted, first, to defa-
mation of their opponents—(loud cheers)—secondly, they

;hreatened them with the - fear of their constituents ;

;hirdly, they cried out for fealty to party. (Hear, hear.)

The opponents of the bill were said to be actuated by in:

- .
terested and sinister motives; and his right hon. friend
the member for Calne was especially charged. Now, he
might mention that about the time the bill of 1864 was in-
troduced, his right hon. friend and himself were in the habit

of walking home together from their respective offices. The
bill of 1854 proposed a £6 franchise, and upon that occasion
he remembered well his right hbn. friend and himself both
made up their minds to leave office rather than vote for a
proposal which, in their belief, might give a preponderance
to one class of the community. (Cheers.) The year before
the present he met his right hon. friend in the lobby on the
Franchise Bill division, and when he called upon him to
fight that bill, his right hon. friend replied at once, Al-
though it was contrary to his interests as a party man to do
so, yet he felt so strongly upon the question of a £6 fran-
chise that he would do his best to throw the bill out."
(Cheers.) The only thing against his right hon. friend was
that he had voted against the proposal of the Derby Go-
vernment. (Ironical cheers.) But his right hon. friend
frankly owned that upon that occasion he acted with his
party. (Loud ironical cheers on the Ministerial benches.)
Well, let those who found fault with his right hon. friend
for acting with his party on this occasion throw the first
stone. (Opposition cheers.) Let it not be forgotten that
although the Chancellor of the Exchequer opposed the pro-
posal of Lord Derby, he was himself now bringing forward
one of very much the same character. (Cries of "No, no,"
from the Ministerial benches, with Opposition cheers.)

Therefore, on the score of consistency, the two light hon.
gentlemen might pair off. But then some of them on that
side of the house were described as Adullamites because
they were discontented. Well, he might say they were dis-

contented, and they were discontented because they dreaded
the tyranny of the Saul on the Treasury bench, backed by
bis armour-bearer behind him. (Laughter and Opposition
cheers.) That was the improper motive which had driven
them into that Cave of Adullam, where they were a happy
family, daily, nay, hourly increasing in numbers, and
where they would remain until they went forth to de-
liver Israel from tyranny and oppression. (Renewed
cheers.) But the Treasury screw had been also brought
to bear, and recalcitrant members were threatened with
the fear of their constituents. That had been applied, in
some cases, with great severity ; and he must say he did
not know a more pitiable spectacle than that presented by
the right hon. member for Gateshead (Sir W. Hutt)—
(great laughter and cheers on the Opposition benches)—
who, having been submitted to this torturing process, now
lay upon the floor of the house a crumpled mass of
withered lags and dislocated joints. (Prolonged laughter.)
Valuing as he did the privilege of a seat in that house, he
would ask where was the honour conferred thereby if
thoso two letters which were appended to their names be-
came only symbols of moral degradation ? (Cheers.)
Well, then, in respect of the fear of their constituents, it
was evident their choice lay between a cave and a hut
(great laughter)—between Adullam and Gateshead. (Re-
newed laughter.) He could not doubt the alternative
which all independent men would adopt if this screw were
turned on. (Cheers.) At the same time, if he were
pledged up to the eyes on the question of Reform, he
should have no fear of his constituents in giving his vote
upon the amendment. (Hear, hear.) That amendment
was a protest against the rash and fragmentary manner in
which the Government proposed to deal with the question
of Reform ; but it was something more : it was also a pro-
test against the Government asking for confidence from
followers in whom they showed no confidence. (Hear,
hear.) Then with respect to the cry of "fealty to party."
His right hon. friend told the country that he brought
forward his proposals in a fragmentary manner, because
he knew the people he had to deal with. (Ironical cries
of "Hear, hear.") It seemed to hitn his right hon. friend
had made a great mistake. The very way lie brought
in that bill, and the language of the press, showed
very clearly that ho did not know the people
some on that
shiode horitheto housedeal fewltiththat Isnodesetd;ongly that at any
risk they felt called upon to vote for the amendment—
(eheers)—and let not his right hon. friend think that they
were a mere fraction of the party. On the contrary, he
fearlessly asserted that if the majority of the members on
that side of the house only spoke as they felt they would
speak as he had done. (Opposition cheers.) And though
they might follow the right hon. gentleman into the lobby,
there would be a grudging, a hesitating, and a sulky alle-
giance ; while he might rest assured they would not forget
what he had done. (Renewed cheers.) He protested
against the attempt to coerce them. (Cheers.) In con-
cluding, he wished to say a few words with reference to
the position of the Moderate Liberals upon this question.
Last year he had ventured to point out that he believed
the time must come when the moderate men on the Liberal
side of the house could no longer act cordially with the
extreme section of the Liberal party. There was a small
section of most honest and sincere and able men, who
honestly held extreme opinions, which they took every
opportunity of pressing upon the house and the country.
They heard a talk of conspiracies; bat the greatest rebel
he knew—the greatest conspirator since the days of Cati-
line—was the hon. member for Brighton (Mr. White).
What was the policy of this extreme section, so far as
could be gathered from their speeches ? It was this. To
establish in this country so powerful a House of Commons
—a house so democratic in its nature that he believed the
balance of the constitution would be upset. As regarded
questions of property, the policy of this party was the
abolition of the law of primogeniture—(hear, hear, from
the Opposition)—and the breaking-up and division of large
estates. (Mr. Bright—No, no.) He could not, of course,
quote exact passages, but a pamphlet had lately been
printed by the hon. member for Birmingham containing an
authorised revision of his speeehes. These, however, it
would seem the bon. member did not like when he saw
them altogether, so he bought them up. (Loud laughter.)
Mr. BRIGHT—I may, perhaps, sir, be allowed to say
that there is not a word of truth in what the hon. member
has said. (Renewed laughter.)
Lord ELCHO was glad the hon. member had given this
the most direct contradiction. All he (Lord Elcho) knew,
however, was that he had tried to get a copy—(Mr. Bright
—So have I) - but have not been able to do so. However, if
the speeches were so popular, and were so eagerly bought
up, there was great necessity that such dangerous opinions
should be met. To continue what he was on the point of
saying when he was interrupted. The policy of the ex-
treme Liberal section as regarded the Church was a com-
plete severance of Church and State—(Hear, hear, from
Opposition)—and as respected taxation they desired to put
it all upon realised property, and relieve all other descrip-
tions. Now, if that was the programme of this extreme
section, he should like to know whether it was also the
programme of the large majority of the Liberal party. He
believed the policy of the Government tended in this direc-
tion. (Cheers from the Opposition.) His noble friend
(Earl Grosvenor) had raised a standard in order to rally
those who felt that this was not a policy which would con-
duce to the permanent prosperity of this country, but that
it was rather subversive of the present state of things. He
had raised his standard, and by so doing he had laid himself
open to much obloquy and abuse. Should he succeed, as
he (Lord Elcho) conscientiously believed he would do, in
carrying his amendment—(loud cheers from the Opposi-
tion) —he was certain of this, that a very short time would
elapse after his success before those very men who were
giving a faltering support to the Government would thank
him for what he had done. (Oh, ob, and cheers.) He had
been the means of saving what was necessary and desirable
in that house—the existence of the Moderate Liberals. He
would, therefore, make an appeal to those gentlemen on the
opposite side - he would paraphrase words which he had
heard in that house—he would appeal to them not to sup-
port a policy which tended to Americanise our institutions
—(cries of Oh, oh)—and to change our kingly common-
wealth with all its liberties into a democratic tyranny--
(loud cheers from the Oppositiou)—he would appeal to them
not by their hands—for by their hands alone could it be
done—to help to unmoor the constitution of these lands
from its strong fastenings in the past, from its safe ancho-
rage in the present, and let it drift at least two thousand
miles towards the west. (Opposition cheers.)
Sir W. HUTT replied to various criticisms and unjust
misrepresentations to which he had been exposed. He ac-
cused Lopil Elcho of having given way to the cry of fana-
tical partisanship. He maintained that the position he had