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

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 9, 1868.

REPRESENIA7ION OF 711 E Clll' 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, M.P., 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
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 AIORLEY 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. He 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 be 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 bad 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, his 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, oue 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. lie
would, however, refer with some confidence to the
principles by which he had been guided in times

past, and asked them to be assured that his politi-
cal conduct in the past was an index of the present,
and should be his guide for the future. He would
only'mention the subject of the day—the Irish
Church question. They should not be led away
by the stupid argument of those who professed to
represent the opinions of the Tory party, and who
said that, after the extinguishing of the Irish
Church, the next thing would be an attack on other
corporate property throughout the country. That
was an argument put forward on behalf of those
three gentlemen whom the present members were
to meet as their competitors. The electors
should not believe that argument. He regard-
ed the great measure of the disestablishment of the
Irish Church as a measure of absolute justice to
the Irish people. He reminded the electors that
unanimity must be their watchword. He would
like a man to give his vote where he had given it
before ; but necessity had arisen. They had a
difficult task before them, and that task must be
met. Therefore he would ask his supporters not to
regard him if he should by accident be in a better
position on the poll than his present colleagues. It
had been his pleasure to act for many years with
Baron Rothschild, not so many with Mr. Goschen,
and fewer still with Mr. Lawrence; but during that
time, whenever his judgment was at fault, he
always had the benefit of their advice and co-ope-
ration. (Hear, hear.) People were in the habit of
estimating the value of their representatives by dif-
fereut standards. Some thought the value of a re-
presentative consisted in his sitting at the head of
the table at a charity dinner for benevolent tinkers ;
some thought he ought to be in the lobby of the
House of Commons, some in the divisions on a
Welsh Turnpike Bill, or an Irish Road Bill ; but
his own practice, if he saw fifty Irishmen on one
side with daggers drawn against fifty Irishmen on
the other, was to leave them to fight it out them-
selves. Therefore he did not value a member's ser-
vices by the number of times his name appeared in
the division list. There were many ways in which
a member could be of use to his constituents. Baron
Rothschild had recorded his vote on all questions in
which great principles were at stake, while, in the
position he held as the head of one of the greatest
firms in the country, his influence was felt, although
his name might not be seen in the division lists.
(Hear, hear.) He would only say, in concluding,
that better colleagues he could not wish to have.
Mr. GOSCREN rejoiced that the time had come
when those who had the honour to represent the City
were once more about to meet a goodly number of
those whom they represent upon one of the political
questions of the day. City members were rather
badly off in that respect. They had not the same
opportunities as those who sit for provincial towns.
Therefore it was always a great satisfaction to them
when they were able to meet their constituents in
a body. True, they often enjoyed the hospitality
of the Mansion House, or those large City com-
panies that formed so large a body in London ;
but, on those occasions, they met Conservatives and
Liberals together, and could not in courtesy allude
to vexed political questions. They did not meet
that day, he was sorry to say, in the usual way in
which members came before their constituents,
simply to give a statement of their political opinions;
but they were obliged to come to consider what
course to pursue in an emergency forced by a most
obnoxious clause in an Act of Parliament on the
citizens of London. They were called upon to solve
an arithmetical puzzle. They were obliged to go
into abstruse calculations to see what verdict should
be given on the questions of the day. That was a
great hardship. They were told this minority
clause was an experiment. Why had the City of
London and four or five of the largest towns in the
kingdom been selected? Why was it to be tried
just at that critical time in the history of England,
when the country was about to test the results of
the great Reform Bill? Why, it was done in order
that London might give a verdict which it would
not otherwise have given on one of the greatest
questions of the day. In other parts of the country,
while the struggle would lie between the two great
parties, they in London would have to sit down and
make all kinds of calculations. They were to be
experimentalised upon. He protested against it in
the House of Commons. It was not right that this
experiment should be tried in the City of London.
Why was it tried ? The Conservatives felt that the
nomination boroughs were in danger ; and, in order
to counterpoise that, they got the representation of
minorities. It would rest with the City of London
to say whether that should succeed. Would the
Conservatives think it successful if the Liberal
party were to abandon one of the four seats ?
Would they stand out in Parliament and say they
were glad there had not been a contest ? They
could not say that the representation of great
cities is to be put into the hands of election com-
mittees, and that while a contest is going on
throughout the country it is to be a matter of ar-
rangement by election committees in great towns.
He did not think the Conservatives would say it
had been successful, because where minorities had
been introduced there had been no contest. What
would they think of a minority returning more
members than even their own theory leads them to
expect ? It was alleged that the Conservatives said
it was possible that, by a mistake in the polling-
two members out of
get
tere stronger than they
polling-
book,
hoeo kf
0,
ut they e; ynmo
not
might
because actually
theyally
were before, but because they know how to manage
an election. He maintained that the Conservative
minority of the City of London had got three of
the best men in Parliament to be beaten. They had
Mr. Baring, Mr. Hubbard, and Mr. Barnett, the
banker. The large cities were not fairly represented
in Parliament at the present moment. When they
looked at the great power of the landed interest,
and saw how few mercantile men there were in
Parliament, they would be astonished at the result.
But let London and the four other large towns re-
turn Liberal members, and they would hear no more
of minorities after that. (A laugh.) If England
were to retain her present Constitution they must
repeal that minority clause. If it led to personal
rather than local representation it would lead to
equal electoral districts if it led to anything, and the
Conservatives would beresponsible for that. In their
general address the present members for the City
had put before them the fact that it would be their
duty to fight it out. It would be cowardly to sur-
render one seat. Supposing there was a small
minority, were they to give up then ? What
Parliament intended was that if there were three-
sevenths of Conservatives they should have a seat ;
but it could not be contended that if there were
only two•sevenths they were to have a seat. That
clause was slipped into the Reform Bill at the end
of a session. It was adopted in deference to the
House of Lords, and to them was due the position
the constituencies are placed in at present. By
sinking all personal considerations, however, this
great battle in the city might possibly be won. He
trusted the Conservatives would find that a wrong
principle had been adopted, and that the clause
would be forthwith repealed. If he had the honour
to be returned he should do all in his power to re-
store the franchise to its old footing.

Mr. LAWRENCE briefly addressed the meeting,
observing that by returning four Liberal members
to Parliament the City of London would strike a
blow at a system which is contrary to the principles
of the Constitution.

Mr. LOCKE, M.P., having, as an elector, ex-
pressed his confidence in the present members,
moved : " That, in pursuance of the foregoing
resolution, an address be issued to the citizens
of London in the name of that meeting,
and that the electors be respectfully invited to
become members of the committees of their re-
spective wards ; and that a central committee be
authorised and appointed to take all steps neces-
sary to secure the return of the sitting mem-
bers, who have already recorded their votes against
the act of disfranchisement, and are pledged to the
restoration of the ancient rights of their con-
stituents."

Mr. CHARLES REED, Seconding, pointed out the
necessity for free communication between the cen-
tral and working committees.

The resolution was carried.

Mr. AYRTON, M.P., trusted the three Conserva-
tive candidates would furnish an illustration of the
representation of minorities by representing a mino-

rity at the poll. He moved, "That the central and
ward committees do forthwith declare their sittings
permanent, and public meetings be addressed by
the sitting members in each ward, and that a
diligent canvass of the citizens be forthwith com-
menced.

Mr. Sergeant TIDAL ATKINSON seconded.

On the motion of Mr. CRAWFORD, seconded by
Mr. GOSCIIEN, a vote of thanks was given to the
chairman.

The proceedings then concluded.

RAIL IPA Y IN7 ELLIGENCE.

GREAT NORTH OF SCOTLAND.

ABERDEEN, Oct. 8.

At the meeting held here to-day the chairman
gave a statement of the company's affairs, showing
that they were progressing in the right direction.
The statement was favourably received, and the
report unanimously adopted.