The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-21 00:00:00

REF 01W CONFEREN CE.

LEEDS, WEDNESDAY.
Confereliec of Del ,_gates on Parliamentary
Reform, which held sittings here on Monday and
Tuesday, brought their proceedings to a close by
what they termed a " demonstrative meeting,"
which was held in the Victoria-hall, and was well

attended, there being from 1,800 to 2,000 persons
present.
Mr. E. BAINES, M.P., took the chair amid very
loud manifestations of approbation. lie said they

were then met together at the close of a Conference
of Delegates on the question of Reform—a Confer-
ence which he boldly pronounced to have been one
of the ablest in the way in which it was conducted,
one of the calmest, and at the same time one of the
fairest in the tone of its discussion that he ever at-
tended in his life. (Applause.) He did not think
it was possible that there could be any subject of
greater weight and dignity than that whieh had
called together that assemblage that evening.
(Hear.) There had been in this country during the
last 30 years an unparalleled progress by the people
in prosperity and in a great many things of which
they had cause to be very proud ; but, unhappily,
there was one thing in which there had been no
progress whatever—nay, there had been actually a
retrograde movement, and that was in the less share
which the great body of the working classes of Eng-
land, the representatives of labour, three-fourths of
the people of England at least, and those upon whose
labour the prosperity of the community defended, had
in the representation of the people than they had
0 years ago. (Hear.) Before the Reform Act a much
larger proportion of the working classes possessed
the franchise than possessed it at this moment.
Even after the Reform Act was passed there still
wore left such a number of the working classes
as freemen, burgesses, scot and lot voters, and
other forms or classes of old voters, that there
were no less than 100,000 out of 400,000 of the
borough voters under these varied classes, a greater
part of whom belonged also to the working classes.
When the last Parliamentary return was made the
Lumber had dwindled down from 100,000 to less

than 50,000; every year it was growing less. He

believed there were very few large towns in this
county in which the working classes formed any
appreciable element in the Parliamentary constitu-
encies ; and as to their share in tke county fran-
chise, why the number was certainly infinitesimally

E mall. When he took upon him, at the instance o:

many friends in and out of Parliament, in the
course of last session to introduce a bill for the ex-
tension of the borough franchise, there wore two
main points that he was anxious especially to meet.
The first was to prove that the number of the
working classes which would be admitted by a £6
rental franchise—which was the same proposal as
was introduced by Earl Russell in his bill—would
etill leave in the hands of the upper and higher

classes of society, a considerable numerical majority,
so that they had no reason to be afraid, or to make
that a bugbear to frighten the country. (Cheers.)
The second object he had in view was to prove that
the prodigious advancement made by the unen-
franchised classes in intellectual and moral quali-
fications entitled them to receive the franchise. The
increase of the population since the passing of the
Reform Bill in 1832 had been 40 per cent. During
the same time the number of day scholars had in-
creased 68 per cent., the members of mechanics'
institutes had increased from 7,000 in 1831 to 200,000
in 1860—(cheers)—the number of newspapers had
increased 273 per cent., while there was a cheap
literature—scientific, literary, religious, and moral
.—which had been created during the same time,
and was read almost wholly by the working
classes. The issues of Bibles and religious publica-
tions had increased fourfold ; the number of letters

sent by post had increased sixfold; the quantity of
paper—the raw material of the literature of the
country—had increased 256 per cent. ; the number
of depositors in savings-bank had increased 250 per
cent.; and they had now £40,000,000 sterling in
'those banks. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) The number
of members of friendly and provident societies had
risen to the enormous amount of £3,000,000, having
it capital of £12,000,000, and paying £5,000,000
sterling every year for mutual insurance. (Cheers.)
The members of temperance societies, including
members of Bands of Hope, might be put down at
3,000,000. There had also been a vast increase in
the general prosperity of the country, and in the
comforts of the working classes. The amount of
pauperism had been reduced to one-half of what it
was, and crime had been very greatly diminished.
(Loud cheers.) He did not know how any candid

or honest man could hesitate or affect to despise or
fail to see how overwhelming these statements were
to prove that the classes interested were qualified
to exercise the franchise. (Hear, hear.) But they
were met with two excuses. It was said, " This is
not the time." Another excuse was that the work-
ing classes did not want the franchise, and upon
this the whole question at present hinged in this
country. If the working classes did not want the
elective franchise most assuredly they never would
get it, most assuredly the time for getting it never
would come, however high their qualifications
might be. If they did want Reform they must say
so, loudly, distinctly, perseveringly, and earnestly,
and depend upon it the time would come, and very
speedily, when they would get their rights. (Loud
cheers.) It .was the fashion before the passing of
the Reform Bill to say that the abuses in the repre-
• sentative system were so gross and so scandalous
that Reform was absolutely necessary. He held that
the shutting out the mass of those who represented
thelabour of the country was a much greater evil, a
far more grievous injustice, than the exclusion of the
large towns before ;1831. (Cheers.) What was
implied in the exclusion of the working classes ?
They had in England and Wales a population of
20,000,000 souls. Of that 20,000,000, 5,090,000
were men of adult years ; but less than 1,000,000
of them had the elective franchise, leaving 4,000,000
entirely excluded. Now, those 4,000,000 unrepre-
sented, unenfranchised men, represented the whole
of the labour of the country—that labour which
gave vitality and prosperity to all the capital and
all the ingenuity of the land. (Cheers.) The
1,000,000 were connected with property, and it was
assumed that they alone were the holders of pro-
perty. He denied the assertion. (Hear, hear.)
He said the working classes had property, and he
would prove that they had millions and hundreds
of millions. (Cheers.) They had 4,000,000 work-
ing men in England and -Wales, and, taking them
and their families together,. he thought they might
fairly take their average earnings at L 1 per week,
which would give no less than £208,000,000 per
annum. (Cheers.) Had they any other property ?
Yeob. They had furniture, and clothing, and orna-
ments, and he thought they could not value these
at less than £lO per household, which, if multi-
plied by
four millions, would give forty millions of
property thus belonging to the working classes.
(Cheers.) That was, not all. In the savings-banks
of the United Rinadoin
they had forty millions
sterling, of which thirty-six millions belonged to
the people of England, and in a a great measure to
the working classes. (Hear, hear.)
But that was
not all. He had told them that they had three
million members of provident and friendly societies
in the country, having an accumulated capital of
twelve millions, and paying annually five
millions. There were, in addition 100,000 mem_
bers of benefit building and land societies, some
of the largest of which they had in Leeds,
and he was informed by Mr. Taylor, of
Birmingham, that they had a capital of six
millions sterling, and were paying yearly
£1,270,000. They had also a number of co-opera-
tiveetrading societies—(cheers)—societies admirably
conducted by the working classes, and having an
estimated capital of one million sterling. (Hear.)
Then there were a considerable number of working
men who did not possess the franchise, but had
made themselves owners of their own cottages, and
he did not think they ought to put down the aggre-
gate value of those cottages at less than six millions
sterling. (TlPar, hear.) There was one other fact.
Of the unenfranehised millions he had referred to,
it was estimated that there were about 400,000'
,
7_1,0 were not working for others„-but were obtain-
ing a living either as small shopkeepers, handicafts-
men, or' nialstersvand each of these men would have
a stock of tools oe materials, and certain debti rit-