The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-09-24
WORkMEN IN PARLIAMENT.

The Great Changes In British Politics
Wrought During the Past Twenty
Years.
'No one can have watched the leaders
of the workingmen for the last ten years
without finding among them men cap.
able of commanding the attention and
respect of the House of Commons. not
merely for their eloquence. surprising
as that is. but for their good sense, good
feeling and good breeding" Such
were the words of the late Charles
Kingsley twenty years ago.
The prophecy has been abundantly
verified. Nearly ten years, however.
elapsed after these words were uttered
ere working-man member was found
in the House of Commons, though sew
eral determined attempts had been
made. Mr.. Burt, who has occupied a
place in the Parliaments of 1874 and
1880, the late Mr.. Alexander Macdonald,
who was in the House from 1874 until
his death in 1881, and MIR. Broadhurst,
who was elected in 1880, were the first
to wear the honor. and each has ..com-
manded the attention and respect of the
House of Commons" so much so that
MIR. BrOadhurst was a member of MIR.
GladstOne's cabinet. Now that several
colleagues have been given to them by
the recent elections. the influence of the
working-man member may be expected
to increase rather than diminish.
The advent of bona fde working-me
to seats in the British Legislature only
marks phase in that vast, though, as
far as England is concerned, pcaceable
revolution which will ever be regarded
as one of the Distinguishing features of
the nineteenth century. During the
early decades of the century the labor
ing classes were politically, and in many
respects socially. under the heavy heel
of tyrannical or indifferent aristoc-
racy; their voice was unheard or TN
needed, ave when, as in 1882, their voice
was mingled with the stern rumbling Is
of revolution. Intellectually the work
ing classes then were far behind the
standard of to-day; socially they had
no influence; politically they were re-
gardcd as outside the pale, and untitled
to exercise even the power contained in
vote. The time was weary one for
the labOring man, and justice was APP
parently slow to make its advent But
delay had its advantages. The work.
ing men of Great Britain received a
much-needed education in the manage
ment of their trades-unions and in many
other directions-a training that ma
tured the judgment and self-control of
those whose vote in future days will be
SO powerful for good or i'll.
The social and political improvement
in the industrial population has been
most clearly discernible during the last
twenty or thirty years. Fifty years ago
a working-m would have been ostra-
cised even if he had obtained election to
Parliament; now he is received there as
an equal. Before the reform bill Of
1867 the voting power of workmen was
comparatively small. and few of the
middle classes would have listened to
request for workmen's representative,
had there been no property qualification
to stand in the way of an election. With
the passage of that act the condition of
things was changed in the great centers
of population. 1t is not, therefore.
matter of surprise that there should
be a wish on the part of those to whom
political power has been committed to
have a direct voice in the making of
the laws in which, As citizens, they are
so deeply interested. Ardently, how
ever. as working-men members might be
wished for by their class, greater diff
Guilty still blocked the way-the want of
money to sustain them in Parliamentary
life. This difficulty has, however. been
overcome by the nominations to Parlia-
ment of the men who are leaders in the
unions, and who are being maintained
by the funds of these societies.-EdUGrd
Broom, in Harper's Magazine.
"A singular, fatal accident is record.