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SIR 3. NORTHCOTE'S DEFENCE…

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SIR 3. NORTHCOTE'S DEFENCE OF THE C OYERN ME XT. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was the gnest co,, cl Norton at Hams Hall, on Saturday, -visited the Saltley lb format ory, bmall Heath, in company with Lord Norton, the president of the institutiov, on the occasion of tne hol of the annual meeting. In the evening, Sir Stafford Northcote addressed a public meeting in the Town Hall. Lord Norton presided. Addresses were, presented to the right hon. gentleman by the Stourbridge Constitutional Association, the King's Norton Conservative Association, and the Belmont Conservative Association. Sir STAFFORD NOIITHCOTE, who was "warmly re- ceived, said: —I do not for a moment desire to deir- thnt the c of this country a matter which i-ughcto give, "nJ does give, serious concern to those vC" are connect.d v.-itli the administration of our finances. And I wish to say generally, without; troubling to go i.'it-o li.c'iires, thrtt the large increase which of iaU- years has taken place in the ex- penditure of this country is to be divided into two or three heads. In the first place, there is that great head, i Le of education and other measures cf a cosmat-e character, which aie undertaken for the benefit of the people. Looking at what the total amount of the charge and the expenditure in the year 1856 was, and what the total amount was in Inc. present year, Mid I believe 1 am right, without goirg exactly into figures, in saying that the espenditiue m that year came to within one mill un ct the amount of the expenditure of the pie sent year. "Well, if that was so what has been tne increase in the population since then? hv it has been an increase of live or six millions. \hut has been the increase in your vieaivu.' Why, your weLth has, I will not say doubled, hut it has very no d' doubled since that time. Your imports and exports, at all events, have more than dm Wed since that tiiue. At the same time, while all that has been going en, while your p pulati.n and your wealth have teen"increasing so largely, you wili tind, when von look into it, that your tic.atieii has 110c been ice).easing in that time—not at ail—but largely d nihiish-.ng. The year IS60 was lemarkable for being the date of the conclusion of the Treatv of Paiis at the end of the Crimean War. This "year, 1878, has been the y<.ur oi the conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin. (Cheers. 1 Now, I know that there will be a great many people who will say, W ell, yuu are impudent enongu to compare the year 1856 with the present, but you altogether leave out of sight that that was an expendi- ture in a time of war. Weil, it was ai. cxpMiclit'cre that was justified by our iz.ra<>ns as to the grei-s Eastern Question as it stood at that time. We hope and believe—those who were in power at that time, and the people generally, believed—taut the peace made in 1356 would settle the Lastern Question: and we now hope and believe that the settlement arrived at by the Treaty uf -Berlin wid be at least as good, at least as perm a- nent, at least as satisfactory a settlement as that which was arrived at by means of the Crimean war. (Cheers.) And if it really should turn out to be the case that this country has been enabled to miji^ about a satisfactory settlement by that treatv without the expenditure of life which preceded the treaty of 1856- (cheers)—aud it, instead of having to raise the burdens of the people by large additions upon the duties on the necessaries of Lie and on the iucoiae-tax, we only have to trouble you with this little tax of M. on tobacco. I do not think a sufficient reason is afforded for declin- ing to compare the condition of the country now with its condition a few years ago. Compare the strength, the population, the power, the wealth of England, the power to bear taxation of England, with what it was at the end of the Crimean war, and the conclusion you will draw will be widely different. (Cheers.) Well, the condition of trade is not satisfactory, and it would be useless to deny it. It would be useless to conceal the fact that we are still suffering from those causes "which have depressed us so long, but my noble friend (Lord Norton) seemed to vtake too gloomy a view when he appeared to shadow forth the possibility of our hav- ing to call upon you in the present condition of affairs to submit to still greater burdens. (Hear, hear.) We have made our financial arrangements for the year, and up to the present time—although I am boucLd to say that there is not a spirit of elasticity in the re- venue, and there is much which is unsatisfactory, I see no reason yet to despair of our bringing our financial year to a satisfactory conclusion. (Cheers.) Within the last two or three years the condition of foreign affairs has engrossed to a much larger extent than for- merly the attention of Englishmen. Though it is hoped that arrangements have been made which will lead to a much more satisfactory condition of those affaire, yet there is still reason for some anxiety, rea son for some ■watchfulness, lest the work which we hoped and believed and trusted had been completed by the Treaty of Berlin should prove not to have been so completely finished as we at all events honed. But if you look at the matter quietly and calmly, if you examine point by point the different heads of the settlement made at Berlin, if you .take into account the time ■winch was allotted for the completion of those various arrangements, von will find that, if matters have not Rone fully as quickly as you could have wished, they have not gone so slowly as is represented. (Hear, hear.) Xn point of fact, I believe that, with the ex- ception of some points that have to be settled on the frontier of Montenegro, there is no point about which we can absolutely say that the provisions of the treaty Meinarrear. (Cheers.) Undouotedly there are many things that have to be settled, and they have to be settled before the beginning of next May. Yon have to look for the important time when the Russian army has to evacuate the territory from which Russia has engaged to withdraw her troops. (Cheers.) I must say you ought not to be taken in by every rumour you may hear, whether from the boastful or the idle, on that subject. We shall firmly and carefully, and with determination, watch -events. (Loud cheers.) I be- lieve, not merely the Government of England, but of the other Powers that took part in the Treaty of Iicr lin, would not consent to let the provisions of that treaty, which caused so much trouble, so much energy, so much skill, to bring about-I say they Would not suffer its provisions to be set aside. (Loud cheers.) All that we desire .is to do our duty to the empire with which we are charged. (Cheers.) When I look to the position of affairs, and consider especially that subject in connection with the Eastern question, I am sure you will think that we have not done wrong When I tell you that the Government have conscien- tiously, laboriously, and, after full consideration, arrived at the conviction that the only true way—and that, at all events, by far the best way—to proceed is to maintain, if possible, the Turkish empire. (Cheers.) If the Turkish Government is to be maintained, it can only be maintained upon two conditions, and that is that it should have fair play from the outside—(cheers)— and that there should be a serious attempt at the j improvement of its administration from within. (Cheers.) Now, the Treaty of Beilin was in. tended to effect the first—to give it fair play from the outside; and the Anglo-Turkish Conven- tion, which has been so much abused, was intended to wrest it from the second danger; and it is one of the iwhieh the Government have undertaken and in- v ..ngland to attempt to discharge—to attempt, by influence, supported by that Conven- tion, to bring about a material improvement in the l>!?cV at xleast Asiatic Turkey. You may say that this is an absurd attempt I am not going to ell you it is an easy thing, because it is not. I am not going to tell you it is a task we can expect completely to perform because I very much doubt whether we can, but it is a task we shall undertake hopefully. While it is impossible to predict what will be the result of the endeavours to secure the better administration of Tur- key, it is hoped that serious and real and important improvements will be made in the country. Then, I say, that if we do that, we shall not only be advancing and safeguarding the interests of England, which some people think sucn a shocking thing to do, but we shall also be taiung part m a movement which will be for the advantage of a considerable portion of humanitv. Well, now we have something Said to us about the Island of Cyprus. We believe In undertaking this possession we should have a leverage, a -poillt"of de- parture which would materially assist in what we were about to do for the reforms in Turkey. We are there brought face to face in a practical manner with the abuses going 011 elsewhere. For instance officers come to us, and they say:—"We are quite ready to serve you as we have served the Turkish Government, but our pay has been exceptionally moderate, but it was sufficient for us, because we had advantages; now, however, you are coming, and Yuu tell us not to take these advantages. We are not to take more than our due from the taxpayers, we are not to take more than our fees from those who come before us as suitors at courts of justice. If this is necessary, yon must put us on a different footing." Therefore' We see where tbe shoe pinches, and where the difticul. ties are and we learn how to improve some of these things a larger and more practical scale. (Cheers. ) 1 c°uld say the same about the revenue system of Cyprus ?nd the way in which the tithe system works, to show at a!Wese matters may be improved I see no reason of dill9 esPair of satisfactory results from that mode +v,» -i?S- We hear a great stir about Cyprus, and the millions which it is said it will cost heaven only accoiaing to the r«tnms which are made out of the estimated revenue anTexpenditure for the current year, a million a year wilTbe sufficient for the years which are to come. I will not say absolutely in the present year, though possTblylt may be so in the pre- sent year but m future years it will entirely cover this expenditure, after pay^tbe am0unt of surplus Tsi £ Wf f!1 bound to pay the Porte, setting Se,°C 7 charges whieh arc 011 a sepa- be?in i1'??- (CheeV Tha^ sTery satisfactory to that^o esPecially when you bear m mind that vators wmnnoEionTrMBPtiT that the unfortunate culti- that they are as the? have from them at such periods of + £ Ve their tltheS £ stalmeuts as shall render it yca^ ?nd m S?C 7" secure their harvest, or sbalffiS8lbhi, 1 ? their crop until it is snoiled /rip nt them real)11" possible,PI am convineed by fci » « P«fecfl, we can get tlie chance nf' ITL 1 ^R ^^NISTRATION, li ViUgo»tofaI«rkisUco^^tyaS"Sht^hicS ¥ shall BE at once advantageous to the cultivator AND remunerative to the revenue. (Cheers.) Do not un- derstand me to say that what we are doing in Cyprus can be done at once, or, perhaps, at all in Asia Minor. We undertake the task with the full confideece that it is worth trying, but we cannot pledge our- selves to success. NOW I have one other tonic, upon which I know you are expecting a few worns. I mean the position of affairs in india. Well, India is a very important and very peculiar part of the Brutish Crown. Our relations with India are such as I sup- pose never existed between any two countries in the history of the world before. I mean on such a scale- It is most important and most essential that we should rcrulate those relations aright. Now, you know very well with regard to the grca* bocty of India we are free from aggression, because it is on most sides surrounded by the sea, or it is cut off from the other countries of Asia by an impassable chain of mountains; but there is a part in the north-west where that is not I the case, and it is a, portion which is of the greatest importance to us, and where our relations are neces- I sarily of the greatest delicacy. Our own proviyces in that neighbourhood are inhabited by the most spirited and most warlike of our subjects. And on the other side of the mountains and in the mountains there are troops and people who are brave and ready warriors -men who are at any moment ready to take their lives in their hands and engage in wariare for any cause diiat may move them. Well, we have, and for a con- siderable time, done what we could to keep in check the encroachment of anv of these troops that might give trouble onour frontier; but we have laid down that principle that we would not cross the frontier and meddle with their disputes: that as long as they kept out of our way we were not disposed to meddle with their affairs. That is the policy which England has desired to pursue for many years past with regard to Afghanistan. (Cheers.) W e have seen that Hussia has been advancing in Central Asia we have seen that Russia I doubt not through the ne- cessity of her position, I doubt not impelled by circumstances alike to those which have from time to time impelled us to move-has been advancing towards the South, but we have felt it our policy not to interfere with llussia at that great distance from our boundaries, but peremptorily to object to her ob- taining a footing in the great country of Afghanistan, in which her influence might lead to material injury to us. (Cheers.) It was said the other day by Mr. Cross, with whom I think that many of you agree, that it had been, and still was, our policy to keep Af- ghanistan independent, strong, and friendly. (Cheers.) Well, I entirely ccbo those words, provided it is un- derstood that Afghanistan is to be truly indepen- dent, truly strong, and truly friendly—(renewed chters)—and it has been in the hope that those might be the relations that we might maintain between our- selves and Afghanistan, that we have abstained as iar as possible from taking any measures that might give umbrage or oii'ence to the Afghans. We have from time to time desired to establish more inti- mate relations with the ruler of Cabul. We have from time to time felt it would be to our advantage that there should be more friendly re- lations with the Ameer, but he has expressed objection to that, and has said that our sending an envoy to Cabal would lead to difficulties and danger that it viOuJd be beyond his power to control. We have respected his scruples, and have not attempted to do that to which he has objected; but that has always been on the understanding that there v,as to IK1 an utter and impartial objection to envoys from every nation, and when we heard, as was saId some time ago, that Itussia was advancing, and was threatening the acquisition of new territory in Central Asia, and at the same time Russia was sending an envoy to the great ni capital of Cabul, who was to establish relations with the Ameer, which were to be more intimate than those which we were to be allowed to establish, we could not but feel that it was necessarv that that matter should BE cleared up; at least, that we should en- I deavour to discover what the i))e.-tning,of this was. The mission of Sir Neville Chamberlain has been represented as if it were a mission of threat. Nothing ot the sort. He had a considerable escort it is true, but it was for the double purposs of preventing collision with the border troops, and for the purpose of giving the mission the character of honour and respect. He was refused admission, and there for the moment the matter rests, and in whatever further may take place I hope the people of England will be content to trust to tne Government. (Cheers.) The people may be sure or. the one hand that we were desirous and deter- mined to preserve England from affront, which might be detrimental to our prestige. On.the other hand we were not disposed to pick a quarrebunnecessarily; we were not disposed to go in for an extension of our Empire for tbe sake of extending that which is large enough already. That any measures which we take will be merely for the preservation of our frontier which is committed to us, and they may be sure also of thisjthat the present is the momentwhich requires great coolness, great firmness, because it is quite possible that if we allow ourselves to be much excited Ly what takes place here or there, and our attention may be distracted, for there are those whose interest it may-be to distract it from that which is our main object at the present moment—attention to the fair and complete execution of the treatv of Berlin., (LOU*1 cheers, long continued.) The Chancellor of the Exchequer visited Bir- mingham again on Monday, and was entertained by the Conservative Club at a banquet in the Town Hall. The Marquis of Hertford presided, and I Lord Norton and Lord Hampton, two former official colleagues of the right hon. gentleman, were among the guests. In replying to the toasts of Her Majesty's Ministers, Sir S. Northcote ex- pressed his acknowledgments far the warmth of the reception he had met with from all classes in Birmingham. He regarded it as a proof that however much the people of Birmingham might differ from the policy of the Government and the course they had pursued, at any rate they recognise that, under difficult circumstances, her Majesty's Ministers had endeavoured to do their duty, and had upheld the honour and interest of the country. Adverting at length to the financial position ^SF the country, he repudiated the responsibility for the annual in- crease of expenditure, and pointed out that it was the necessary result of legislation for education, the abolition of purchase, ana. grants in aid of local rates. At the close of the luncheon, Sir Stafford North- cote proceeded to Wolverhamptsn, where he was entertained by the Conservative Club of the town at a,banquet in I.he Agricultural Hall. Replying to the toast of "Her Majesty's Ministers, Sir S. NORTHCOTE vigorously defended the foreign policy of the Government, and said the manner in which he had been received on Ins present visits showed that it niet .witli the general approval of the people. The Government had never flinched from their duty; but it would have been disastrous to the interests -of Europe, and the general peace of tbe world, if she had con- sented to all}' herself with llussia on the side of order. It would be a sad day for England when she changed her position of the great civilising and peace-promoting empire of the world for that of a mere sanguinary, invading, and ambitious State. He denied that the foreign policy cf England could be described as a selfish policy, and said it was the duty of a Minister to maintain THE position of England in the' Council of nations. Whatever opinions the public entertained of the wisdom of the policy Lord Beaconsfield pursued, even his enemies gave him credit for the great courage and indomitable perseverance which he showed lncarrying out, under great diffi- culties, the policy he believed to 'be for the interest of the empire. He (Sir Stafford) lamented the unprecedentedly long chock which the commercial prosperity of the country had re- ceived, but promised that no effort should be wanting on the part of her Majesty's Government to lighten as far as possible the burdens ot the people. They were anxious to promote ALL measures that woulcx advance the social condition of the people, and to knit together in eVill'Y pos- sible way all classes of the community.

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