The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-09 00:00:00

REPRESEN2A7ION OF 711 E CM' OF
LONDON.

A meeting of the Central and Ward Electors'
Committee of the City of London was held at the
Terminus Hotel, Cannon-street, yesterday, to con-
sider the altered circumstances of the City election,
as affected by the restriction of the franchise to
three votes. Although the meeting was convened
at half-past two o'clock in the afternoon there
were between two and three hundred members, of
the committees present. The City members—
Baron Rothschild, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Goschen,
and Mr. Lawrence—attended, and with them were
Mr. Locke, M.P., Mr. Ayrton, 11LP., Mr. J. C.
Lawrence, Mr. Sergeant Tyndal Atkinson, Mr. S.
Morley, Mr. Gassiot, and others. On the motion
of Mr. Crawford, Sir Benjamin Phillips was voted
to the chair.
The CHAIRMAN commenced by saying that this
was a preliminary business meeting to discuss the
most important subjects which they had in hand.
By a recent act of Parliament the great City of
London was placed in the peculiar position of having
I three votes only instead of four, but he doubted not
that by combined action the electors would, as in
times gone by, return four Liberals to represent
them. (Hear, hear.) They would, however, pro-
ceed to consider the matter.
Mr. SAMUEL MORLEY rose to propose, " That
this meeting desires to enter its emphatic protest
against that act of disfranchisement which deprives
the citizens of London of one of the four votes they
have exercised for upwards of 600 years ; and, as
the most practical method of giving effect to their
objections to being made the victims of a partial
experiment of the representation of minorities, the
electors present pledge themselves to use their best
exertions to secure the return of the four sitting
members, who have served their constituents faith-
fully and consistently, and with whose opinions the
great body of the electors are entirely identified."
If the country, he said, were free from the exist-
ence of nomination boroughs, or had, he would not
say equal electoral districts, but something like
them, he would consider the state of things favour-
able for the representation of minorities. There
was, no doubt, a minority of Conservatives in the
City of London, who thought they were practically
disfranchised ; but he maintained that they, as well
as the Conservatives throughout the country at
large, were represented through those elective places
where the dictum of an individual settles the ques-
tion of representation. Ile objected to the represen-
tation of minorities as an artificial system of repre-
sentation, and for his own part he was bound to
say that under existing circumstances he should
obey orders how to vote. At Birmingham they
had established a " Vote as you like Commit-
tee ;" that is, an elector would go up and say, " I
will vote as you like." He did not like to give up
his power to choose, but he would do it to meet a
great emergency. He strongly objected to bring-
ing in canvassing agents or anybody not parties to
the issue ; but these being forced upon them, and
as the constituency was not able to help itself, the
electors would be bound to do anything they could
to meet the great danger. Objecting as he did to
the removal of a right which had belonged to the
City of London for the last 600 years, he trusted
they would be able again to return the four gentle-
men who had represented them before, and with
whom he believed they were thoroughly satisfied.
(Cheers.)
Mr. GASSIOT, in seconding the motion, reminded
the citizens of London that they had been the
great pioneers of reform throughout the country.
It was felt that the return for the City of London
was the decision of men of thought, who are above
the excitement of the moment, and whose judg-
ment has generally had an effect on the nation at
large. The Liberals frequently had peculiar
scruples for or against one man. That was not
the way with their opponents, who, being told they
must vote for the man with the white waistcoat,
were content to do just as they were told. (Laugh-
ter.) They would, however, on this occasion be
obliged to throw over their feelings in favour of in-
dividual candidates, and unite to do their best to
return the four Liberals who had represented them
so well. (Cheers.)
The resolution was carried unanimously.
The CHAIRMAN then stated that the members
would address the meeting.
Baron ROTHSCHILD, who was received with loud
cheers, said that as senior member he had the
honour of presenting himself before them first.
When he remembered how many years it was since
he had the privilege of becoming their representa-
tive he could hardly express the feelings of grati-
tude which he felt towards them for the confidence
they had placed in him. (Cheers.) On the great
question of religious freedom they knew he was in
favour of the views of the Liberal electors of the
City. He would not, however, enter at length on
the topics of the day on this occasion. This was
his first appearance in public for the last five years
to address them ; but he was now, he was happy to
say, recovering from his illness, and he hoped, if
again favoured with their confidence, to be able
diligently to attend to his duties as their represen-
tative. The one sentiment which ought to prevail

among them now was that of union. If they were
united and determined they would return the four

members. He felt that the candidates as well as

the electors met that day with peculiar feelings.
The electors ought to have the opportunity of
voting for their favourite candidates, but as both
parties were in the hands of those who would ma-
nage the elections both had the same feelings, and
would act as they were told. For his own part, he
should place himself in the hands of those who
would manage the election, and he should be satis-
fied with the result. (Hear, hear.) It was a
question whether that great City was to have two
votes or four votes, because if they returned
a Conservative the vote of their third member
would be neutralised by his. Now the Reform Bill
would be followed by Liberal measures, for the
carrying of which all the assistance that could be
given would be required. The Tories would always
vote as they were told. Among the Liberals there
were always great divisions, some being inclined to
go further, or not so far as others. The Liberal
party would therefore require great force to fight
against the Conservatives, backed by the House of
Lords. If they wished the Reform Bill to be fol-
lowed by good measures, they must send a compact
Liberal party to the House of Commons. He
thanked them for the confidence they had placed
in him, and could only say that his services would
he entirely at their disposal.

Mr. CRAWFORD remarked that this meeting was
not so much for the purpose of hearing statements
from members as to consider the best methods of

insuring the return of the same four gentlemen to
the House of Commons in the ensuing Parliament.
On his part he might say that when he undertook
his public duties in connection with the Bank of
England, bis desire was to have asked them to place
in his position some younger and less engaged man
than himself. (No, no.) That was his desire;
but it was felt that, under the circumstances of the
case, he could hold the entrenched position
better than a less known man, and could in
the present contest better strengthen the hands
of ,the Liberal party. In 1833 the electors of
the City of London returned his father; and
from time to time, in the eight contests that
had taken place, either his father or himself
had been one of the Liberal candidates. He said
this to prove to them the principles by which he
was governed. During those thirty-five years the
slave trade had been abolished, free trade estab-
lished on the principle that the interest of the con-
sumer is paramount over that of the producer, and
civil and religious liberty had been established as
one of the fundamental rights of the country.
Church rates had been abolished, Parliament re-
formed ; and when he said these things he gave no
credit to the Tory party for doing them. (Hear,
hear.) Whatever was good in the Reform Bill was
done by the Liberal party ; whatever was bad was
done by the Conservative party. Indeed, one of
their first duties would be the reform of the Reform
Bill. The ratepaying clauses must be removed,and
more of the small boroughs must be abolished. He
would, however, refer with some confidence to the
principles by which he had been guided in times