The Sun.
London, England, 1835-07-27 00:00:00

CORPORATION REFORM.

( From the .Leicester Chronicle of Saturday.)
PUBLIC MEETING AT LEICESTER.

A large meeting of the inhabitants of this town was held at
the New Hall yesterday, in compliance with a requisition nu-
merously and respectably signed, to petition the House of
Lords to pass the Municipal Corporation Bill. Upon the
hustings were T. Paget, Isaac Hodgson, and M. Babington,
Esqrs. ; Reverends G. Holt, C. Berry, J. Goadby, and E.
Mialt ; Dr. Noble, and Messrs. Coltman, Whetstone, T. T.
Paget, Hutchinson, R. Harris, Drayton, W. Biggs, R. J.
Smith, J. Fielding, Stone, &c. &c. At about half-past
twelve o'clock T. PAGET, Esq., was voted into the Chair, and
spoke at great length, in explanation of the measure now be-
fore Parliament, especially as respected freemen, whose pecu-
niary and political privileges, he said, were preserved to them
for life, but which would not be perpetuated after the de-
cease of the present possessors. Mr. Paget also pointed out
the inconsistency of the Tories, especially such as Sir Robert
Peel, in pretending so much compassion for this class of voters,
when in 1829 they manifested not the least repugnance to
wholly disfranchise the forty-shilling freeholders of Ireland.—
( Hear, hear.) Nothing (said Mr. Paget) was then said' of
inchoate rights of these voters, nor would there be now the
least sympathy for freemen, were not the Tories fully aware
that there were amongst them a considerable number who
would barter their franchise for personal and pecuniary grati-
fication.—(True, true, and cheers.)
ISAAC HODGSON, Esq., in proposing the first resolution (for
which, and the others, see our advertising columns), said that
he considered the Ministers deserved the thanks of the country
for the manly way in which they had maintained the principle
of the Bill, and he doubted not that so long as they continued
to act with the same firmness in adhering to principle in all
future measures which they might introduce, and by refusing
their assent to details inconsistent with such principle, they
would deserve and receive the support of the Reformers of
Leicester, and the country at large.—(Cheers.)
Mr. ALFRED PAGET having seconded the motion, it was
carried unanimously.
The Rev. C. BERRY next rose, and said,—Mr. Chairman,
I have been requested to move the resolutions which I am
about to read to you ; but before I do this, I must take the
liberty of saying one or two words. They shall not be
many, because the subject has been universally canvassed ;
and speeches delivered in this town have put you in pos-
session of all that can be said, if anything were wanting to the
melancholy experience which the public have had of the effects
of self-elected Corporations. Gentlemen, let me remind you
that I am, on this occasion, a speaker quite disinterested. I
have for many years been exempt from the payment of bo-
rough rates. Now this Bill will draw me within the limits
of the borough, and subject me to its taxation ; and I am
not sure that these gentlemen around me have not a
lurking satisfaction with the measure, because it will enlarge
the circumference of the net of the borough-rates, and enable
them to catch more fish.—( Laughter.) But let this pass : let
me leave it to the Tories only to forget the public liberties in
the pursuit of their own interests ; for what is a man worth,
as a patriot, as a Christian, if he is not willing to make a per-
sonal sacrifice, when the good of his country is concerned?
—( Applause.) Gentlemen, let me tell you the manner in
which I have been accustomed to reason on these subjects.
I consult the principles of justice: justice is my polar star
in politics. I think of the theory first, and then of the
practice. Apply this to the measure before us. Is it just
that in towns containing 30, 40, or 100 thousand inhabitants,
a self-elected body should possess all the power, and wealth,
and influence? If there is a candid and sensible Tory in
this hall, I ask him that question. lam sure his answer
must be No ! Is it equitable that a few irresponsible indi-
viduals should have the right of taxing and governing all
the rest?—(Hear, hear.) Again—ls it constitutional? We
have all been brought up with a high idea of the British
Constitution. It is lauded as "the envy and admiration of
surrounding nations." In principle it is good. The
theory of it is, that the King is limited by the laws, the
Ministers responsible to the Parliament chosen by the
People, and representation co-extensive with taxation.
I will not stop to ask how all this has been in
practice—but apply it to the Corporations. Is the Town Par-

liament chosen by the people ? No ! Are the town servants
and officers responsible to the people ? No ! Is taxation co-
ordinate with the representation ? No ! There is heavy
taxation, and no representation at all.--( Hear, hear.) What
is the use of a Constitution which thus abandons so large a
part of the population to a state so unjust and so unconstitu-
tional ? The fact is, the present state of our Corporate towns
is a violation of all the principles of good government, and a
departure from the early and best periods of our history. Un-
der the Saxons, and in the middle ages, the people chose
their own officers; till on some frivolous pretence, the tyran-
nical Tudors introduced their self-embodied despotism, those
outworks and fortresses of tyranny, which the present Bill will
level with the ground.—(Cheers,) Let me only ask you
again, whether the present state of things, which is so unjust
and unconstitutional, is better in practice ? I am sure you
answer no ! It is as mischievous in operation as it is bad in
theory. Look at all the Corporate towns : taxation aug--
mented—public revenues abused—local charities perverted—
general accommodation neglected ; and, worst of all, a spirit
of factious virulence and discord produced, which obstructs
the improvement, and disturbs the peace of these communities.
—( Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, this is the actual state of
things. By infinite exertion we have obtained a Reform in
the Commons House of Parliament, and that Parliament
has sanctioned the present measure. It is almost the first,
I am certain it is the most important, result of this
Reform Bill ; it will diffuse general peace and prosperity in
our town ; it will establish the liberties of this country upon a
firm basis for many generations : it will plant deep and strong
the roots of the tree of liberty, and cause it to brave all
future storms.—(Cheers.) The historian tells us that the
free principles of municipal government which the Romans
granted to the towns in Italy, were the chief cause of our
modern liberties. The branches were broken and trodden
down by the Goths and Vandals, but after a while the
roots of freedom which the Romans had planted put forth
fresh shoots, and produced the republics of Amalphi, Sa-
lerno, and Naples, and the still more illustrious states of
Genoa, Pisa, Florence, and Venice : hence are derived the
arts and sciences, the learning and taste, the knowledge and
freedom of our times. Can it be supposed that the House
of Lords will oppose this Bill? Let it not be. We have
petitioned them respectfully ; if that fail, we must knock
louder at their door ; if they are still obstinate, we must re-
mind them of times past, when the Bishops were confined to
their dioceses, and the door of the House of Lords was
locked, and the people legislated for themselves perhaps as
wisely and as well.—( Hear, hear.) But I forbear; I will
not anticipate evils, however I may fear them. I will only
say to you, as Hannibal said to his army when they entered
Italy, " Be valiant, united, and peaceful, and once again I say,
you are conquerors."—( Loud cheers.)
The resolution was then seconded by Mr. WHETSTONE, and
adopted.
Mr. W. Blow, in moving the third resolution, said that the
principal points to which the petition referred, and which were
of the first importance, and without which the Bill itself would
be of no value to the people, were that it proposed to break up
for ever the system of self-election ; that it established a very
general and very extended franchise ; that it dispensed alto-
gether with the principle of a property qualification both on
the part of the electors and the elected ; and that by the
frequency of elections to the Municipal Council it ensured to
the people a very sufficient and salutary popular control over
those men whom they elected to offices of trust and responsi-
bility. These were the points which the Tories had so stea-
dily opposed in the House of Commons, and to which they
had such serious and numerous objections. Mr. Biggs then
referred to the speeches of Mr. Praed, Mr. Hughes Hughes,
Mr. Borthwick, Sir R. Peel, Lord Stanley, Sir James
Graham, Sir R. Vyvyan, Mr. Scarlett, &c., and after replying
to their objections and illustrating his remarks by two anecdotes
in reference to Dr. Franklin and Mr. Pitt, concluded by say-
ing that whatever impression such arguments made in the
House of Commons they produced nothing but disgust and
contempt out of it ; that to Sir R. Peel's proposed property
qualification the people would reply that property and intelli-
gence do not always go together; that ability is not confined
to the King upon the Throne, but that nature is like provi-
dence no respecter of persons, and that she deals out intellect
alike in every grade of society, and every walk of life—to
Mr. Praed that the freemen do not want the continuance of
any invidious privileges at the expense of every other member
of the community—and to Lord Stanley that we prefer liberty
with agitation to slavery without, and that if the frequency of
elections in towns annoys, or excites him, he must adopt the
sentiment of Burke, and pardon something to the spirit of
liberty. But there was no fear of undue agitation or excite-
ment, or that improper men would be placed upon the Town
Council. The English people were essentially and suffici-
ently aristocratic, the feeling pervaded every grade of English
society. This being the case, if the Lords were wise enough
to concede a few popular measures, they might remain in their
present position for centuries to come ; but if they steadily
and steadfastly resisted every improvement, if they once con-
vinced the people that they were the determined enemies of
all Reform, the time was not far distant when the mitre of the
Bishop, and the coronet of the Aristocrat, would be alike mat-
ters of historic recollection ; and when the power of the House
of Lords, like that of Bounaparte, who rose upon public opi-
nion, and fell when he deserted his principles, would be
swept away far ever, and " like the baseless fabric of a vision,
leave not a wreck behind."
Dr. NOBLE seconded the resolution, and it was agreed to

unanimously.
Mr. W. E. HuTcruNsois proposed the fourth resolution.
Having so recently, said he, expressed to you the opinion
which I hold upon the subject of the existing Corporations,
and with respect to the Municipal Corporations Bill, I shall
not detain you upon this occasion with any lengthened obser-
vations, but I wish to congratulate you upon the firmness with
which the Ministers of the Crown, backed by the Representa-
tives of the people, have resisted the attempts of the Tories
to impair the efficiency of the Bill.—( Cheers.) I wish to con-
gratulate you upon its triumphant progress through the House
of Commons. How extraordinary has been the conduct of Sir
Robert Peel with respect to this Bill ! In the year 1826,
the Right Hon. Robert Peel, then Secretary of State for the
Home Department, defended in Parliament the glaring and
unjust public conduct of the Corporation of Leicester in refe-
rence to the events of the election of 1826 ; he has proved
himself the zealous defender of what we consider gross abuses
in other Corporations ; and when the opportunity was afforded
him of assisting in the suppression of some of the most flagrant
of abuses, by aiding our highly respected friend W. Evans,
Esq., the then Member for this, Borough, who introduced the
Corporate Funds Bill, he not only did not give his opinion,
but he gave to that measure his strenuous opposition ' • but in
the year 1835, Sir R. Peel, Bart. the leader of the Opposi-
oti 'll to the King's Ministers, appeared in his place in Pulls,