The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-01 00:00:00

Cutting one another's throats ; and when the Tudor line
came in, the result of all the attempts and all the proceedings
of the kings of the Tudor line was to put down the power
of the great nobles of this country. When the Stuarts
came in, James 1., weak and imbecile as he was, saw what
a great change had been effected in the government of this
country ; and when waited upon by certain members of
the House of Commons, he ordered for them immediately
so many chairs, because, he said, " I am about to meet so
many kings." When the great dispute took place between
the House of Commons and Charles 1., the result was that
there appeared to be a perfect victory of what is called de -
mocracy. But the reign of the saints was a very sour reign.
(A laugh.) The people got tired of the saints; they
back to the old monarchy ; they called again for a king.
However, they very shortly got rid of the line of the Stuarts
—and then, from the revolution of 1688 down to 1831,
there was a continual increase of the power of the landed
proprietors of this country; until at that time, namely in
1831, this country was ruled by as absolute an aristocracy
as ever governed any country in the world. At that time,
a noble lord proposed in this house his celebrated Re-
form Bill ; and what did that Reform Act do ? Not what
the right hon. baronet the member for Carlisle says it did,
namely, transfer power from the aristocracy to the middle
classes of this country, but it shared the political power be-
tween the aristocracy and the middle classes. (Cheers-)
And what we seek now to do, sir, is not to transfer political
power to any class whatsoever, but to share the political
power with the mass of those who were, I say, wholly
omitted by the noble lord in 1831 and 1832, namely, the
working classes of this country. (Cheers.) Then, sir, I
have put my finger on the one great blemish of the noble
lord's Reform Act, namely, the exclusion from power of the
' working classes of this country. (Cheers.) Now from 1832
to the present hour those working classes have been going
on increasing in intelligence, and manifesting throughout
their conduct not only intelligence, but virtue—(cheers)—
and thereby showing that they are worthy of being, what I
hope they will be yet in my time, partakers of political
power. (Cheers.) The next great blemish of the noble
lord's Reform Act was, that although it went a great way
in the right direction, yet it did not go the whole way, and
it left in the electoral body a greater degree of inequality
than there ought to exist. Therefore I say that the two
great objects we ought to have are to extend the suffrage to
the working classes, and to regulate the distribution of the
electoral bodies throughout the kingdom. These are the
objects, or ought to be, of any Reform Bill that attempts to
reform the Reform Act of the noble lord. And now I have
to inquire whether the bill brought in by the right hon.
gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer attains either
of those two ends. Why, sir, I should waste the time of
the house if I said the right honourable gentleman's bill
extended the franchise to the working classes. (Hear,
hear.) It does a great thing, I believe, by proposing
to extend the. franchise in counties, but there it stops
short ; and I, sir, who represent the great body of the
working classes of this country—l, who virtually re-
present them--who represent a body living in the midst of
them, and who have been picked out by the noble lord as
representing them—l, who know something of the working
classes, tell this house at once that the bill will do anything
but give satisfaction to the working classes. (Cheers.) And
therefore I have only to consider what we are to do. Well,
from the beginning of the debate, I have heard this pro-
position advanced—that if you grant power to the working
classes, you swamp all other classes. Now, is this true ?
People do not make this important distinction—that the
majority of the country can have no interest inimical to the
interest of the country. (Cheers.) If you gave power to
a minority, that minority may have interests at variance
with the interests of the country ; but the moment you take
a majority, the majority cannot if they understand their
interest. (Ironical cheers.) That cheer shows me a very
great want of perspicacity. (Laughter.) I say that the
majority have no interest in opposition to that of the whole
country. It'is supposed that the working classes if endowed
with power would swamp all the other classes of the coun-
try. I will take one single subject—a subject which is in
the mind of the great body of the working classes—the
minimum of wages. Now, the minimum of wages would
be the moat powerful means of preventing the accumula-
tion of capital. The prevention of the accumulation of
capital would be more mischievous to the working classes
than to any other class. Then I say that the interests of
the working classes are not in opposition to those of the
great body of the community. They may not see their in-
terest—they may be misled, as I have seen parties misled
in this house—but their interests are identical with those of
the community. (Hear, hear.) Now, then, just see the
difference. There was a time when political power was in
the hands of a small class. That class had a distinct inte-
rest opposed to the interest of the community. And how
did they employ it ? In making dear bread all over the
country for their private interest ; and only since you ex-
tended political power to the middle classes have they been
able to beat down the aristocratic monopoly. (Hear, hear.)
Well, then, I say the great leading point must never be
left out of consideration—namely, that if power is given to
the majority of the country, the majority have no interest
in misusing that power ; that power conferred on the mino-
rity will be misused, because the minority have an interest
in misusing it. But are we to be told that the working
classes of this country will not follow the intelligent guid-
ing men of this country ? I want to know what it is that
has covered every sea with your ships, that has filled every
inert with your productions, that has made England what
she is ? It is the merchant and the intelligent body of the
working classes. It is those millions whom you have ex-
cluded from political power who have made you what you
are. Give them power, make them what they ought to be,
and they will exalt, not depress you, You will be greater
than ever. (Hear.) This is the reason why I desire poli-
tical power for the working classes of this country—not
that you will see any great alteration in the composition of
the house, but because you will take away from the working
classes their cause of discontent, the belief that they were
unjustly treated; and you will have a more contented, a
more united, and a more virtuous people. (Hear.) That
being the end, I have now to consider the means. And
here I am about to differ from many of my political friends,
and more especially am I about to differ from mhon.
friend the member for Birmingham. (Laughter.)
.Be be-
lieves that from this bill you can get no good. I elieve,
if the Government is wise, you can get great good from it.
And I would make a suggestion to my hon. friend, which
perhaps may not have struck his mind—that he has not a
monopoly either of political intelligence or political virtue.
(Laughter and cheers.) No man can have a higher esteem
for the wonderful abilities of my hon. friend than I have.
He is a great orator—l was going to say, the greatest orator
I have ever seen—but I do not consider him a great states-
man. (Laughter.) If he had combined the two qualifica-
tions, he might have ruled this country ; but the power of
speech which my hon. friend possesses is not aided and
guided by that political wisdom which alone can give power
in this country. (Hear.) I have to ask how can the pre-
sent bill be rendered most serviceable in attaining the end
of conferring power upon the great body of my country-
men ? Shall we be thrown on the mercy of the Govern-
ment ? Shall we be thrown on the tender mercies of the
noble lord the member for Tiverton, or the mercy of
the noble lord near me (Lord J. Russell) ? With regard to
the noble lord the member for Tiverton, I must say that I
do not believe in him as a reformer. (Cheers and laughter.)
Some years ago I had a much higher opinion of that noble
lord's abilities and power to do good than I have now.
And my reason was then, that when the noble lord was not
in power he manifested the most liberal intentions; but
when in power he became as great a monopolist as any
man that I ever saw ruling this country in my time.
(Cheers and laughter.) He would have been thought
worthy of power if he had never attained it ; but by the
exercise of dominion he has entirely, in my mind, unfitted
himself from ever being returned to power again. (Cheers
and laughter.) I now come to the noble lord the member for
the City, who puts me in mind of a Chinese lady's foot—
(laughter)—which has been so swathed and bound that al-
though it is to her a thing beautiful and admirable, it does
not help her on. The noble lord's mind has been so
swathed and bound by party considerations that it is unfit
for the government of this great country. (Cheers and
laughter.) I gather from the noble lord's career this opinion
—that England is an appanage for Whig politicians—that
good government cannot be expected from any class but the
Whigs—(laughter)—and he hopes, I believe I do not un-
fairly state it, that in our time, and in his time, he will see
them again in power. I believe that although great ad-
vances were made by the noble lord, more particularly in
1831 and 1832, yet in the present state of things we can get a
better Government than any that can be formed by either the
noble lord the member for Tiverton, or the noble lord the
mem •er for the City. (Cheers) And until we can bring
together the united forces of the great Liberal party, I would
rather have weakness on that bench (pointing to the Minis-
terial bench)—weakness is there-- (laughter)—l am speaking
politically, I say I would rather see weakness there than
have the noble lord the member for Tiverton back, with all
his arrogance and insolence. (Cheers and laughter, and
Oh, oh.") The right hon. baronet the member for Carlisle
said that great advantages had been derived from the
Reform Bill, and more particularly in the year succeeding
the passing of that act. Now, Iso far differ from that right
hon. gentleman that I believe that during the year imme-
diately succeeding the passing of the Reform Act the old habits
of this country, and the constant deference to aristocratic
olitical dominion rendered the middle class unfit for the
overnment of themselves. But day by day and year by
ear the middle class are beginning to feel themselves inde-
endent, and the present House of Commons is more tho-
roughly independent of any party influence than any I have
ever known. That I attribute to the great change made by
the noble lord. I don't know whether he foresaw that—(a
laugh)—but the result has been that at the present time the
middle classes of the country are beginning to perceive that
they have a right to a great share of political power, and they
are educating themselves up to the point required for its
government. (Hear.) Allow the working classes to come
in, and you will bring hard-handed, hard-headed men, with
all their intelligence and perseverance, to bear on the govern-
ment of the country; you will break down more and more
—and that is my object—the aristocratical dominion of the
country, and the people will govern themselves. (Hear.) I
will now put a question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in
as definite a form as I can, and I expect from him a definite
answer. I want to know, if the bill is read a second time,
and we are allowed to go into committee, whether, if that
committee shall decide that the borough franchise shall be
£6, and the county franchise £lO, with no transfer of votes,
the Government would think that a cause for their resigna-
tion ? (Hear, hear.) If they say, "We should do so," I
will vote against the second reading, because I think it
would be more humane to put them out of their agony than
to allow them to go into committee and find ourselves as far
from our object as ever. But if he tells me that no such
alteration will lead to such a result--that the Administration
are quite ready to receive such an alteration—it will be my
duty to vote for the second reading. (Hear, hear.) 1 ask
the noble lord the member for the city how he will vote
under these circumstances ? I have no doubt that he wants
a Reform Bill. But does he hope to be able to can y one?
The noble lord in 1831-32 saw the country ou the
brink of a revolution before the House of Lords could b e
forced to pass the Reform Bill. Are we now in a posi-
tion to coerce the House of Lords ? Does the noble lord
believe that he will ever get the House of Lords to give his
bill a second reading. (Hear, hear.) I say that if hon.
gentlemen opposite alter the bill in the manner I have sug
gested they will be much more likely to carry a measure
through the House of Lords than the noble lord would be.
I believe that in the hands of the right hen. gentleman (the
Chancellor of the Exchequer) the cause of reform is more
likely to be advanced than in any other hands. I would
entreat the house for a moment to put aside party considera-
tions, and to look the matter fairly in the face. The noble
lord tells me that hon. gentlemen opposite will not alter the
bill in the manner I have suggested. But if they do accept
these alterations why should not the noble lord accept them ?
(Hear, hear.) No doubt the noble lord thinks he can govern
the country better than they can. I have no doubt that is
the noble lord's view. It is very natural for him to think so,
and I dare say the noble lord might retort on me and say
that I think I could govern the country. I at once acknow-
ledge that Ido think so. (Loud laughter.) I have a doubt,
however. that I shall ever be tried, and that my estimation
of myself in this-rtarticular will never be fulfilled. (Laugh--
ter.) I trust we shall so conduct ourselves as to bring this
great question to an issue now—that we shall advance the
great question of reform at least one step—and bring about