, 1866-05-03

@ b. c,sesed, e.cer. that Of representing the
rum the 7er5 class viii! Hhoso mcre class In.
crest those IL. the working men came Of .enest
INTO collision. LsTtn il the franchise werc
,o much c,ia1tr.:,.. taat tta wo-kpg II en-
by polling their who'll strcE1th. could return
6y small maiuritlss eco Of tho 6.S membcrs OF
Ibis House, there woustts not ac t!hy or that
nnmber who represent the distinctive feelings
anytfass sense, their rsPErsec ctatiYes. Hear
hear,1 And what If they had IT. whole 10:
Even then. on any sahject IN which thsJ
were concerned as class, :thers would DC
more than two 10 ono aga!ns. them Whnu
they were in the wrong They could not
succeed in anything cyen Whsn unanimous:
Of the representatives Of the other classes
ard If they did that, there would be, I think,
a very strong pres umption OF their being iD
The tight. "HearI hear" and cheers
As matter OF principle, then, and
not cnly On Liberal' principles, but On
those OF the Conservative paSty, the case
f1-ond cheers.l But it Il asked by my right
honorsSie friend the II membeE for Ca1ne, what
practical good do We expects What pa1ticu-
lar measures do VIC hope to see carried IN
reformed House y whfeh cannot bic carried In
the present. III understand my right honot-
able friend correctly, he thinks We ought to
come 10 the House with bill Of Indictment
asaiEst iiseH-an inventory Of wIon. things
WHICH the House does, and right things which
1t cannot be induced to do-and when con-
yfctetl ny our arguments, the House pleads
guilty and cries seeeari, we have his peEmls-
sion TO bring in q Reform Ball. l''HenS,
hear" md laughter Sr, my right honora-
BILE friend says we should rot proceed On q
prieri reasoning, but should be practical.
1want to know whether this is his idca Of be-
Ing practical. For my part, an only sorry It
Is not possible that In the discussion Of this
question spccinl applications should be Kept
entirely ont Of view Tor II we descend to par
ticulars, and point out this or that IN the
10 see altered, but which the House, BY the
very fact that 1t does not alter them.
does not think require alteration. how
Gun We expect the House to take this a.
proof that It's constitution needs reform
We should not all advance our cause, while
we should stir up all tic most Irritating topics
in the domain of politics. LHear. hear.l sup
pose, now-nnd pnrposely choose small
Instance to give the less o1cnce-suppose we
were TO soy, that it the working classes had
been represented, It would not have been
found so easy for honorable gentlemen whose
cattle were slaughtered By Act Of Parliament
to get compensated twice over (c1eers md
lauEhterI-once by rate. and aeain By rise
Of price use the case only for Illustration /
lay no stress on il; but ask, ought the de-
ltate on Reform Bill to consist Of series Of
discussions on points similar to this, and
hundred times more irritating than thlss
tho points in which any ono may think that
the rights OF interests Of labor are moi, suE-
ifciently regarded BY the House. I will ask
another question. If the authors Of the Re-
form Bill Of 1852 had Iorctold (Which they
themselves know it)En they had predicted
that through 1t We should abolish the corn
laws, that we should abolish the navigation
laws {ehecrs)- that TIE should grant free
trade to all foreigners without reciprocity
land postage to n pen.y-that We should sc-
nounce the exercise Of my authority
over our co1onIes-al1 which things
have really haprened-do the House
think that these announcements would have
greatly inclined the Parliament Of that day
Whether The practical Improvement that will
follow further Parliamentary Reform will
be equal to these the future must disclose
hut whatever they may be they ART not ut the
present time regnrdcd Us improvements by
The House, for i the House thoueht so there
Is nothing to hinder them from adopting
them. sir, there Is q better way Of persuad-
Ing possessors Of power to give up a part of
it-not By telling them that they make bad
use Of their power-which, If 1t were true,
they could not be expected to be aware Of
hrt by reminding them Of what thcS are
aware of-their own inIal1ibility, as we
a1l Of Us know that we hold many erroneous
opinions, but we do not know which of our
opinions these arc, for If VIC did they wonld
not be our opinions. Therefore. rejecting
men tnkc precautions beforehand ngulnst
their own erzors, without waiting till they
aud au other people are agreed about tho paE-
ticular Instances; md Il there are things
which frnut Their mental hohfta nr thar NJ
billion In life. are In danger Of escaping their
notice, they arc glad to aasociate themselves
with others whose habits and position pecu-
liarly qualify them to sec the precise things
which they themselves do not sec. Belie7-
Ing the House to be composed OK reasonable
men, this Is what We ask them to do. Hear,
hear- Every class knows some things not
so well known to other people, and every
class has interests more or iess special to IT.
| SELF and for which no protection is
priori doctrines, but SO is the doctrine that
\ q straight line Is the shortest distance be-
tween two points; they arc as much truths
o. common sense and COMMON observation AZ
\ this Is, and persons Of common sense act upon
| them with the same perfect confidence. ]
claim the benefit Of these principles for the
working classes. They require 1t more thau
\ ary Other class. The class Of lawyers, or the
class OF merchants Is amply represented
| though there are NO constituents In which
lawyers or merchants form the majority but
successful lawyer or merchant easily get!
into Pa1GcDent By his wealth or social 20
sltion, and once there is rs good representa-
! been elected on purpose hut no constituency
/ elects working man, or man who look.
I at questions With working mems eyes
[Cleers,l Is there, I wonder G tingts
mt n1ber Of thia House, who thorous6l,
krows The workfDsmen's views Of, tradgt
n - ~ q VII nvE Hvsn r. Nc
tore the House In q manner satisfactory te
wcrk1ngmcn. Hear, hear-l My honorable
| friend, ifany oLe perhnps not cye1 he. Are
therc many Of us who SO perfectly understand
the subject Of aapRren:iceships, let Us say, OF
of the hours Of labor, as % hive nothing to
that, along With many fust Ideas aud most
valuable knowledge, you would sometimes
ind pressed upon you erroneous opinions
mistaken views Of what is tor the interest OF
labor: and an not prepared to say that II
the labotins clases were predominant In the
some Of these wrong notions INTO prac-
tlce. Bnt there ls no question at
present about making the working classes
predominant. What Is asked y u sufficient
representation to ensure that their opinions
IRE fairly placed before the House. and are
met By arguments, addressed to their own
reason, by people who can enter into their
wny Of looking at the subjects in which they
nrs concerned. [Cheersl In general, those
who attempt to correct TIC errors Of the
working classes do 1t Us II they were talking
lies Sufficient; il they condcsccnd 10 to s a1sue,
1t Is iron premises which hardly any working
man would admit; they xpect that tha
things which appear salt-cvfdcnt TO them will
appear self-eyldent to the working classes
their arguments never reach the mark, never
come near what a working man has in his
mind. because they do not know whnt is in
hts mind: Consequently, when tic qucs-
ttops which are ueaz the heAtts OF tho
workfngmeu arc talked about In this House.
there IS no want Of good will to them-that
sary to prove to them is taken for granted.
Do not suppose thai working men would nj.
ways be rcconcilahle to such arguments Us
might satlsfy them: It Is not one Of the faults
Of democracy to be obstinate In error. An
Englishman who bad ligedsome years In the |
Of The Americans BY saylne sthcy afe the |
most tsactablo people Or the earth" Old
countries arc not 80 tractablc Us young conn-
tries, but believe Il Will be found thut the |
eaueatea artisans-those especially who take |
all classes. They have much to make them |
so;. they. are, rs rule, more ID
earnest lthan any !other 'class; their |
opinions arc more genuine, less Influenced by
What 50 greatly influences some of the |
olAEl HAA&St6s lu6 ueSlfE- OF EeIt4OT on their
social position Is not such IS to breed self.
coneeit above all there 1s one thing TO which
I believe almost every ono will testify who |
has had much TO do with them. and OF which |
my own experience supplies striking cxam-
pies; there Is no class which bears so well to |
be told Of Its faults-to be told Of them eyen
IN harsh terms, If they believe that the per
son so speaking to them says what he thinks, |
md has no ends Of his own to serve by saying
IT, 'lCheers. can hardly conceive. nol1er /
course Of national education than the debates
Of this House would become Ii tho notions.
right and wrong, which are fern e1ting in the
minds the working classes many oi whom 70
down very deep into the foundations ofsociely