The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-06-29

Birmingham, though in the few misses that
blended with the cheers one could see that
some still cherished bitterness toward the
latter place for having rejected Mr.. Bright,
when he was too i'll TO speak in his own de-
Tense, on account of his hostility to the Cri-
mean war. Mr.. Joseph Arch, president OF the
Agricultural Laborers' Union, who presented
an address in behalf of that organization,
received a regular ovation, and when, after
ward, his name was mentioned in eulogis-
tic terms by different speakers the audience
still showed its approval and seemed never
to grow tired of applauding him. private
interview with this robust and eloquent son
of the soil brought out the fact that he de-
sires to revisit the United States, and ELECTED
valuable information in regard to his work
which will, in due time, be given to your
readers.
From Mr. Bright's reply to these addresses
the thoughtful listener could readily infer
not only what in his judgment, is the most
important reform measure with which he
has been identified in the past, but what
also, he regards as the great question of the
present ard future. He launched out at
once in defence of free trade and his perora-
ton was a prediction of the final preva-
lence of the principles of peace,
prophesy, which, if industry
and commerce were universally free, would,
he contended, soon be fulfilled. These are
unquestionably Mr.. Bright's two pet ideas.
His advice to America to at once adopt the
former of the two has been received with
great favor on this side, and no doubt, if
Englishmen generally, or Mr.. Bright in par
ticular, had the settling of the matter, our
protective tariffs would go by the board on
short notice. He has great faith it what our
next presidential election will bring forth.
We must have something to fight about, he
says, and in the dearth of other issues, one of
| the parties he feels sure, will fight the battle
and win the victory on the platform of free
frD. Tic f<rt half Of %, hat in
| the language of a friend of his, 1.-The Ameri
| cans often talk wildly but they usually act
wisely" Protection, he said, was always de-
Tended by the same arguments and by the
same Misrepresentation. He would not
call the latter by any shorter name, though
| such a term would not be inapplicable.
The facts he adduced in proof of the benefits
| which free trade has brought to the working
classes of England will be read with interest;
even by those to whom they may fail to
| bring conviction. After thirty years of pro-
lection, a commission sent to Somerset
| shire and Dorsetshire in 1915, to inquire
| into the wages of farm laborers, re-
ported that in eighty families, con-
tanning 400 persons, the average weekly
stipend of the head of the house
was from seven to eight shilling, or between
81 rs and So In sixteen villages in the
county of Dorset the average wages of the
! laborers was 81 10 per week. while carpen-
| tiers, JoinerS and stone masons were receiv-
| ing in the same places but 80 week. As
showing the contrast between then and now,
| Mr. Bright stated that in travelling through
that part of the country last autumn he
| learned that at the present time farm labor
ers there were receiving $3.50 and 1915 a
| week, or nearly twice as much as under the
protective system A proportionate increase,
i he contended, had also taken place among the
| operatives in the great factories of Lancashire
| Form the books of his own firm Mr. Bright
| : n ypH hat thn n iUir
eight shillings a week in 1841 were receiving
| thirteen shillings in 1891 and that those
getting seven shilling and six pence in the
| year first named were now earning fifteen
shiilings week and working fewer hours.
| The wages paid TO domestic servants had he
said, doubled since that time, and this had
| been brought about, not by strikes, or by
| agitation, but in the natural course of events
because wealth had increased and the-coun-
| try at large become more prosperous. The
| tax on tea, he said, used to be two shilling
and two pence pound, more than the total
cost per pound of very fair article of that
commodity at the present time, while sugar
now costs less than one-half what it did
| formerly. These facts were stated by Mr..
| Bright with much force, and his appeal to
| the United States 10 wheel into line with
Great Britain on this subject that the two
great English speaking nations might set an
example to the rest of the world, was the most
| telling passage in the entire address. The os-
tensiole cause of this outburst for free trade
was feeble lament over the imagined de-
preston of the industries of the
| country i'll which the House of
Lords had recently INDUCED, but there are
those who think that the speaker had been
| specially prompted for the occasion from our
side OF the Atlantic and that his words will
| play a considerable part in the current agita-
| ton there
JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN.
When the Tribune Of the People sat down,
another arose, who was greeted by the vast
| audience with rounds of applause, no less
boisterous or protracted than those which the
presence of Mr.. Bright had evoked. 1t was
Mr.. Joseph Chamberlain, the junior NJ. P for
Birmingham, and a member of Mr. Glad
| stones cabinet He is quite young, looking
to be not more than thirty-five. His face is
almost beardless, but is not entirely destitute
of auornment, for he has a sharp and quite
| prominent nose, something like that of Will
| liam Pitt, and am sorry to observe that he
has solitary eye-glass stuck against it, la
| the conventional English SWELL His dress is
| in keeping with this feature being so stylish
and airy that in our OWL country he would
be taken for ''masher" rather than great
| statesman. But he is the latter, unquestion-
ably, and has a hopeful future before him.
Already it is whispered that he has execu-
tive ability equal to that of the Prime Minis
ter, and there is a pretty general expectation
that he will be Prime Minister himself
some day, and that before very
long. The rapidity with which
he has shot up from the position of an OBJ
scure iron manufacturer through the vari-
Gus grades of town councillor mayor NJ p
and cabinet minister, makes almost anything
possible in his career, and certainly he must
reach the top of the ladder if the achieve
ments Of his maturer years fulfill the prom
Use of his early manhood. Mr.. Chamberlain
is Radical and he believes the country is so
too. He scarcely ever speaks without get
ticle in his creed is the disestablishment of
the church. He is Unitarian, but stands
wei! with the evangelical non-conformists.