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London, England, 1859-03-15 00:00:00

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THE GOVERNMENT REFORM BILL.

MARYLEBONE.

Last night a public meetinc, of the inhabitants
of Marylebone, convened by the local Parliamentary
and Financir.l Reform Association, was held in the
Court-house, Marylebone-lane, for the purpose of
considering the Government measure of reform.
The attendance was numerous and respectable ;
Mr. T. K. Pritchard, surgeon, was called to the

chair
The CHAIRMAN observed, the-question of Par
lia
mentary Reform was at length in the hands of the
people ; and his own opinion was that if they
backed up that tried reformer, Mr. John Bright,
the time was not far distant when a comprehensive
and satisfactory measure would be obtained frOm
the Legislature.
Mr. R. MICHELL moved the first resolution
" That, in the opinion of this meeting, the bill en-
titled the Representative Bill of 1859,' introduced
by the Government, is an insult to the represented
and unrepresented reformers of this country,
and ought to be rejected ; inasmuch as it destroys
one-fifth of the county voters—studiously excludes
the working classes—legalises votes by proxy, and
leaves almost untouched the glaring anomaly
whereby a majority of the members of the House
of Commons is elected by little more than O. fifth
part of the electoral body." He stigmatised the
Government bill, and declared his belief that the
so-called leading journal of the day had fallen into
a marvellous error in supposing that the country
was not alive to the importance of the franchise.
The people, he was firmly convinced, valued it
.beyond all price ; *and, as a man who was daily en-
gaged in trade and commerce, he could bear testi-
mony to. the anxiety that was felt amongst that in-
terest for a speedy and permanent settlement of
this great question of Parliamentary reform.
(Cheers.)
Mr. J. A. NICIIOLAY seconded the resolution, and
said that he had never expected to see the day
when a Conservative Administration would bring
in a bill for extending the representation of the
people. True, like an orange it was a squeezable
administration, but he was very much afraid thf
people must bring about a change of Government
before justice would be done to their fair and
reasonable demands. (Hear, hear.) But the Con-
servatives must not be replaced by the cold and
equally illiberal Whigs. who were democrats out
of office and aristocrats when in. (Hear, hear.)
Lord John Russell had condemned himself by his
own acts. His Durham letter was only a flash in
the pan; while his Vienna mission had shattered
his reputation for ever. (No, no.) Well, let those
who said so remember that Lord John Russell was
opposed to the ballot ; and surely no measure of
reform could be satisfactory which did not include
that protection for the voter. (Hear, hear.) Then,
again, there was Lord Palmerston ; he, too, had
been tried and found wanting. Both noble lords
cared more for place than advancing the interest of
the people ; and the question then arose to
whom should they look ? (Hear, hear.) He
thought John Bright was the man. (" Hear,
hear," and "No, no.") At all events, he
felt that as the Whigs could not be trusted, the
better plan would be to allow the Government to
carry the second reading of their bill, and leave it to
such men as Mr. Bright to amend it in committee.
(" No, no," and cheers.)
The resolution was then put and carried.
B. HALL next addressed the meeting, and said
that he intended to vote against the second reading
of the Government bill. e had no wish to see it
put into committee, because, while the good which
it contained was compressed within a single clause,
its.evil pervaded the whole bill, and he was there-
fore anxious to see its promoters ejected from office,
with the view of having them succeeded by men
who, backed by the support of the people, were
ready to bring in a comprehensive measure. Ile
did not credit the declaration of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer that the Government bill was not
brought forward with party motives. It was clear
that the proposed disfranchisement of the 40s. free-
holders was intended to advance the interest and
influence of the country or Tory party. Directly,
however, an outcry was raised against it, the Go-
vernment tried to back out of the difficulty by
visiting the sins of the father upon the son ; but
here again the proposal could not be sustained. As
Ito the savings bank clause, he disposed of that the
other evening when he stated that in the town
which he represented before he was returned for
Maiylebone, not one out of every 100 depositors in
a savings bank would come within the limits fixed
by the bill. Again, the bill proposed to disfran-
chise dockyard employes. On Friday night the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, in answer to a ques-
tion, said it would only " disqualify " them ; but
surely that was a distinction without a difference;
and such an answer was nothing more than triflins,
with the House of Commons and the country. The
fancy franchises of the bill might be disposed of by
a simple idea, which he would suggest to the
designers of Punch, or any other kindred publica-
tion. They should draw a cartoon representing
Lord Derby on one side and the Chancellor of the
Exchequer on the other, listributing the franchise to
the three black graces—Law, Physic, and Divinity.
(Cheers and laughter.) In conclusion he would only
say that any bill for a reform of the representation of
the people must be placed upon a different basis than
the present measure. (Hear, hear.) It must in some
way or the other deal with the nomination boroughs,
and make a considerable reduction in the franchise,
not merely of counties but of towns also, and if it
could be made to include the ballot, so much the
better. (Cheers.) At the same time, if the good bill
to be hereafter prepared did not include the ballot,
he would not on that account vote against it, but
whatever might come of it, he had resolved to
negative the second reading of the Government
bill. (Cheers.)
Mr. EDWIN JAMES, M.P., was next introduced
to the meeting, and he commenced his address by
announcing that all difference between him and his
right lion. colleague arising out of the late contest
forsthe borough was now at an end, and they were
now repared to work cordially and amicably to-
tocsether for the local and political interests of their
constituents. The Government Reform Bill was
not only an insult to the people, who were demand-
ing an extension of the franchise, but had been so
slovenly drawn up as to make some parts of it a
disgrace to an attorney's office boy. (A laugh.)
There were only two ways by which it would con-
fer the franchise upon the working classes; the
first was contained in the £6O savings bank clause,
and the second in the £2O a year lodgers' clause.
Now, mark—under the first of these clauses it would
take a man years to get his name on the register ;
the law would not allow hint to deposit more than
£3O a year in a savings bank ; it would thus require
two years to make up £6O, one year to get on the
register, and it would be only in the fourth year
that lie could vote. So much for that clause. As
regarded the lodger's clause, why a man who could
pay £2O a year for lodgings could assuredly afford
£lO a year for a house. Where then, was the
concession in this clause ? (Hear, TIIP pro-
posal to sanction voting by rating papers was op-
posed to the genius of the constitution ; while the
scheme for transferring the forty-shilling freeholders
to the towns and cities was proposed fin, no ether
urpose than to enable the landowners or con-
federations like the Carlton Club to manufacture
votes, and swamp the residential or rating voters
within the small boroughs, where fifty or sixty
votes were often more than sufficient to

turn an election. (Hear, hear.) How, then, was
this objectionable measure to be dealt with ? He
had been trying to find out in Parliament, but he
had not yet made himself master of the ins and outs,
the ups and downs, and the tricks of the House of
Commons. (Laughter.) Now he hedrd that Lord
J. Russell and Lord Palmerston had agreed to
co-operate together in opposition to the bill ; and
anon, that Lord Palmerston was going to, support
the second reading. The tale varied from day to
day, and it was difficult to determine what either
noble lord would be at. He did not like Lord John
Russell's amendment, it looked so much like what
in sporting parlance was called a "cross.." (A laugh.)
To carry on the metaphor, he wanted to see the
battle fought on the " square"—(renewed laughter)
—and acting upon what he believed to be the wishes
of the people, he should vote against the second
reading. (Cheers.) He had heard a good deal of
stuff talked about the working classes being of a
revolutionary turn, and unfit to exercise the suffrage.
He believed nothing of the sort, and he could speak
with authority in the matter, because during his
recent contest for the borough he came into contact
with vast numbers of the working classes, and the
questions they put to him displayed as much
thought, judgment, and intelligence as could be
found either in Portland-place or Eaton-square.
(" Hear, hear," and laughter.) He warned, then,
the Government and the Legislature to be cautious
how they trifled with the just rights and demands
of a laborious and intelligent people. We were
now in times of prosperity, money and employment
were plentiful, and the poor were easily provided
for ; but 'the time might come when adversity would
extend throughout the land, and then it would not
be quite so easy for the' governing powers to dis-
pose of this question with calm and dispassionate
deliberation. (Hear, hear.) Talk of the absence
of all excitement ! Why, did the opponents of popu-
lar rights wish for a revival of the agitation which
the country witnessed during the last Reform Bill
contest, when Lord Stanley, now -die Earl of Derby,
jumped upon a table at Brooks' Club, and said there
should be reform or revolution, and Earl Fitzwilliam
from his place in the House of Lords, threatened he
would refuse to pay taxes as long as reform was
refused ? (Cheers.) Did they want to see the
people of Birmingham marching upon London, and
the sky illumined again by the fires of Bristol and
Nottingham ? (Cheers.) If they did not, and
God torbid they should, let them no longer stand
up in opposition to the wisdom of the people, who.
in their advanced intelligence, wanted to revive no
such angry agitation. (Hear, hear.) He had no
wish to see the House of LordsC disturbed, or the
principles of the constitution disturbed ; he only
desired to see the people brought more closely
within its limits. He believed that they could be
admitted to their fair share of power without dan-
ger to the throne or the state, and convinced that
such a measure' would rather tend to the security of
the crown and the stability of the constitution, he
would not rest until he saw it passed into a law.
The two honourable representatives of the bo-
rough, who met with an enthusiastic reception,
shortly afterwards withdrew amidst renewed de.
monstrations of approval.
Mr. DIFFANGER, jun., moved the second resolu-
tion, as follows :—" That no reform bill is entitled
to support which does not extend the franchise at
least to those who are rated or claim to be rated to
the relief of the poor ; its free exercise by the
ballot ; triennial parliaments ; and a more equal
apportionment of members to population and pro-
perty," which was seconded by Mr. Poland, jun.,
who advocated a residential manhood suffrage, and
regretted that the resolution did not go so far. He
thought they could not do better than employ Mr.
Edwin James to draw up a people's reform bill. It
was measures, not men, they wanted.
Mr. PHILLIPS moved and Mr. VERY seconded as
an amendment—" That in the opinion of this meet-
ing no reform bill brought forward in the British.
House of Commons can be satisfactory to the body
of the people unless it gives the right of voting to
every man with a six or seven months' fixed resi-
dence, and is of sound mind and unstained by
crime."
This amendment led to a boisterous discussion,
and eventually, upon a show of hands, it was de-
clared to be carried by a narrow majority.
Thanks were then voted to the vestry for the use
cif the hall and to the chairman for his impartiality
.1 in the chair, and the meeting dispersed.