Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-10-17
Views Of an English Republican.

5 last:
! HOW An ELECTIVE MONARCHY MAY De cHANGED
e Our movement seeks to make republic
G in our own land, and how we seek to MAKE
i it'll will tell YOU in 4 moment. Before
o doing that, permit me to urge upon You on, tht
C perfect legality of the movement " aen
$ first ventured to urge in England tha'
= the republican movement was legal wa
5 laughed at The lawyers said l was
: ridiculous, and asked me, "llow can a
. monarchy be possibly educated to overthrow
0 lawfully a monarchy" Ny answer was a
! simple one. In England we have no written
r Constitution. The Constitution OF England
: is simply made up Of the statutes passed by
C the Parliament of England from day to day.
5 No statute can be unlawful with us !; no
Q statute can infringe upon our Constitution
as with YOU. Whatever the country votes
for-although. to my regret, the Parliament
does not represent the country, that Is
our own fault and should not be 50 in
: country with parliamentary government
we are bound to take that Parliament's
actions as if it represented that country.
Every act OF Parliament is making the
Constitution of the country and varies
from day to day, session to session. deny
that our monarchy is what IS termed
hereditary monarchy. There Is no sueh
monarchy in the country By the law OF
I
monarchy. Our monarchy stands by the
will of the people as expressed through
their representatives in Parliament, and by
no right of heirship other than that. There
are Enclishmen here tonight who may tell
Won differently; but it is not my opinion
alone if it were | should express It with
equal frmness. My view is substantiated
by the best of our legislators. Judges and
statesmen. Our history speaks for itsell.
ha lnpnuarnr assembled
the throne in England we have had
thirty six monarchs. Of there, twenty
monarchs assembled the throne, not by heir
shin. but by election more or less regular
IL. bv vote more or less accurately, OF the
Parliaments representing the people. Only
sixteen have assembled the throne with any
claim of hcirship or hereditary right. Now.
propose to deal with this question as II
affects the family now sitting on the throne.
They and their supporters certainly cannot
contend that they are there by right OF
heirship, for they were seated on the throne
/ bv Statutes MI. and NH. William III.
| which, following the Westminster COnyen-
/ ton of 1858, deprived james II. Of the
/ throne and treated his son a if lie was not
| existing and gave the throne to his family ;
| so that the claim Of heirship of this family
can be entirely excluded, and people who
respect the law, as | do, arc bound TO sec
that the present family are seated on the
throne BY virtue Of an act of Parliament,
and that without that act of Parliament
they would have no other right than their !
unexampled virtues, their great herOism, /
their known generosity and high courage, /
their wonderful abilities as statesmen and /
statcswOmen.
plead for the legality Of our movement, /
because we seek to make 1t a parliamentary I
movement. We do not seek to make our .
Republic by force, we do not seek to make
our Republic BY arms, We do not seek TO
make our Republic by vIolence-we do seek
to make our Republic at the hastings. Our
weapon Is the ballot, not the bullet; oar
weapon is reason and not force, and we de
sire to Argue our cause in St. Stephens, and
If we cannot win the majority We viii be
content to fail, having done our best.
Republican as an, hoping for it a do.
working for it as | Will, fear the republic
will come in our land quicker than | wish
it. And | will tell You what viii bring it
the misery, the degrade kOn. the poverty.
the wretchedness Of our agricultural and
some Of our laboring classes on the one
hand, and the obstinacy and folly Of cur
ruling classes on the other
AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS.
You who have not looked at it from our
point, hear nc state one view which to YOU /
here, with your acres Of land ready to be
given to the first conner who viii till them,
may seem mOckery. We have no land
there TO till | do not mean We have no
land there We have Is fertile land-land
which has borne corn, land which would I 1
bear 1t again, land which the September q
wind has famed when it has had a very
ocean Of golden, rudy grain there-and !
yet Today 1t bears no corn. And DO You '
know why? Well, | will tell You why On /
our land 100 families own one-half Of Eng q
land, one-half Of Wales, and more than one C
half Of Ireland, and fOur-ffths Of Scotland {
Do you wonder that paupers are increasing
IN Scotland? They are. The statistics tell c
you, the blue-bOoks tell yOu-not a rabid. C
demagOgic speaker like myself; but Par a
llamentary returns laid on the tables of the T
House Of Lords and the House of Commons
they Will tell You that where the Lords of T.
the land are rich, the people are very, very o
poor. We have 1900, 900 acres Of waste 4
land-waste land capable of cultivation a
which l. left untitled. | do nOt mean our o.
rocks; | do not mean our mines | do not 81
mean our quarries; do not mean our 2
roads; DO not mean land 50 far above the Is
level OF the sea that 1t cannot be titled but / Il
N the admission of The Western lf1rniqg / Ii
NelrS "a liberal conservative organ) discus 70
sing this question, with no sympathy for p,
ny point OF view, however, repeat that | Fl
'ut OF the 3, goo 900 acres Of waste land in "
'ur country, $4,000. 600 are capable of be- Il
ng cultivated with profit which are not n,
low cultivated. Why? Our lords own ar
hem for life they pass from father to son: 70
I goes through and through and through
ne eldest OF the family Is very rich the
est are left to be rich paupers at the ex- 81
ense OF the State. 1Ou, when YOU arc rep re
esented abroad, mostly have men remark +,
Die for their wit, for their intelligence, for Et
heir ability. We have them remarkable l.
Or their titles, and these are gener- lv
lily their grandest. prOudest qualifications hi
'ur agricultural population-Iam stating ts-
that Parliamentary Blue Books prove - an
re IN worse state than the agricultural tw
opulatlon OF any country in Europe ex- lal
ept, perhaps, Russia. Should that be 50 I'M
d that country which processes to stand. ryi
nd which once did stand, in the vanguard ne
the nations of the world ard which. | Oh,
ope anu DeIIeye, one day may stand again, an
you will, when a federation of the Eng he
sh-speaking races through the world shall (w
gain rule and teach their mighty lessons ha
'e have agricultural laborers who have ma
cen existing on eight shillings 4 week. | ret
ave heard, since | have been here. that On
nsllsh agricultural labOrerS cat heafsteaks TN
here Is no greater delusi0n. There are enc
any agricultural hbOrers who never taste rer
eat from the beginning Of the year to the swi
ID of it. r.,
Do You want the evidence ofit2 We have
le which cannot lie. In every county the T.,
ahaeSt palace You VIII ind is the pauper me
matte asylum. Do YOU know what makes 70
-uDers lunatics? The mothers who have w.,
Il the Likelihood in their veins and the ~
Tiers who have not the virile energy ~
ese MI pauper lunatlc asylumS Take our -
xes-hOw they swell When Her Majesty -
eended the throne 81 900 900 wear wa H.
taxation OF our country. To-day il Is ~
er t'o,OOO, 900, including the cost Of col. and
'uOn. lake the rents. Seventy Years yvo,
o the landed proprietors Of England and Ms.
ales received E22. 500, 900 a wear. To-day -,
-, ', rIoo noo properly they receive more the
IN 100000, 600 sterling. On the E22.- oDI
1000 year they paid then - 200. 900 baj
d upward OF land tax, and on the cIOO.- ~
J,OOO they pay less than Il COO 600 of nj,
Id tax. Two hundred years aro. land ~"
our country paid two-ffths Of all tho -
Ies, and to-day 1t pays less than one. cio.
enty-sixth part of it. You ask me. IN
hat has that to do with the Republican 80
| will tell YOU. Land * Tho -
ritorlal aristocracy. 1t owns the House M,
Lords; 1t stops every measure Of redenn -
n 1t hindered the Reform bill as LONG IA
1t dared it kept the Irish Church estab- - -
ied, although 1t was curse to the cOun- o,,l
where it obtained, as long As it could. 'nN'
las locked our school doors by its opposi-
? to education. 1t prevented the masses Is
he people from becoming instructed by rooo
taxes 1t kept upon knowledge. until
d fighting on our side dragged them off rAG'
by one. And this is the power which slau
tiers itself by the throne, and which may in
g the throne down with it in the struggle -.
ch is yet to come. STATE
som
rench fashions have come over hitber Ara
d with French piety and the pilgrimage Vail
"a raV- t. Monial ic rr..;,,.