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The Fight in West Denbighshire…

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The Fight in West Denbighshire Begun. Great Liberal Demonstration at Colwyn Bay. The Issues before the Country: Who Shall Rule?" and « Making the Foreigner Pay Addresses by Sir Herbert Roberts, Mr. Herbert Lewis & Mr. Hemmerde. A great Liberal meeting, regarded as the most successful political demonstration ever witnessed at Colwyn Bay, was held in the Victoria Pavil- ion on Friday night, and was very largely at. tended. The large hall was practically crowded, and intense enthusiasm prevailed throng.1011 the proceedings. Mr John Crompton presided, and the princi- pal speakers were Sir J. Herbert Roberts, Bart., M.P., Mr. Herbert Lewis, M.P., Padiame.ntary c- 1 +-, ,nhp- local' Government Board, and Secretary -0 ™e Member for Mr. E. G. Hemmerde K.C toe ivie^ East Sd toe was a large right of the ,C^™1^,rm which included Mrs and representative p of the Colwyn 53S. Sj. rSSSL" wihom were Mr. Woodall, toe*Mr 0_ Llandudno Liberal Association, Isgoed Jones, J.P., of Llanrwst. COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY. The Chairman was given an enthusias^ ception on rising to speak.. reading letters of regret of The first was from Mr. Joseph s 1x1 rth, J Parciau Colwyn' (a former Mayor of who wrote to say that he- fully supported the Budget, and declared that it was only fair ifeat I millionaires should be taxed moreJ heavily than others and that they ought to consider tne selves lucky to have escaped! so long as they had dTr' upper Colwyn ST wiote :—"Dear Mr. Crompton, —I 'am truly .sorry that I cannot b^P^" sent at you;r_ meeting ton gh of indeed a critical time in rnnnitrv Iin Parliamentary Government m this country. Iin the early days of the present Go^rnment the Conservative majority in the Honse °f after rigorously denouncing the. Trades Uispumes Bill as iniquitous and a higto y measure, passed it on Lansdowne that its ration by woul^ seriously injure the party T act of political cowardice, a. the Peers have rejected the daises,' "because under its land an ff;en(j,s are property in which they and r +1. Siterested, would have to f proposed increased taxation. This u^onsti tiional act was committed to save their Sj-kets (" Shame.") It is clear, therefore, that SLTthei party or their pockets or their class interests are affected, the patriotism of the Peers gTs by the board. Had the Commoners behaved !o, 3 ^ure and swift retribution at the hands of the electors would have followed. With the House of Lords as at present constituted^he elec- tors are helDless. It is inconceivable how any self-respected elector who: believes m the prin- ciple of self-government can possibly uphold the existence of an irresponsible second chamber based upon heredity." (Loud applause.) Proceeding, the Chairman said they were met together at a very grave crisis in the history ot the country. The issues involved in^the election were of vital importance to the future welfare and1 the commercial prosperity of thib ^reat nation. They had been aware tor. some tinv that their opponents had been seeking to dazzle the electors with plaiusiible statements about protected industries, and finding work for ill and all' this had been launched upon the SiTy un dithe ridiculous pretenee ttothe foreigner would have to Pj^ -oiU thev veneer was too thin to hide ^he g^y P y were asked to swalllow. (Applause ) Altboug! Thev allowed that the Tones would not seek- nav dare—to attempt to withdraw the old-age pensions, vet he emphatically declared they would by their Protective policy reduce the pur- chasing power of an old-age pension from 5s to Is 6d. (Hear, hear.) The average wages paid in the cotton industry during the last thre Wb was /25,000,000 per annum and four- ffths of the total goodis manufactured had been ex^tnV V 'r^'him^lf^o^SThe cLttcra 'workers. He SS te>TtoTBColwyn Bay that when he Paid rent, rates, and taxes, and wnen his fel^" worke^ spent their holidays at Colwyn Bay, Tfic ni,+ of every A was furnished them by the in A gentleman thai he travelled with ,told him a few ago that in spite 0& the tariffs he had orders on his I bv CZciSing good workmen having good wages, and the efficiency of cheap £ oods J^d world-famed shdoning sup.rernaey fulleSlt extent. fflear hear.) What they asked for were not fflear hear.) What they asked for were not SSies Sr'bribes, but the and waterways in the colonies, so that the roods oouW get to the homes of their poor brother in India and Africa, and in return* they could, ac- ozTihe produce of his land and garden. (Ap- Sse ) It was his firm conviction tnat the House of Lords, by thenr action m regard to the Budget, were thwarting the will of the oecple. (Applause.) The reforms enumerated in it were the desires of a thinking and sym- pathetic portion of the electors for many years, and he was sure they would resent the action of the non-elective Chamber with no uncertain voice (Hear, hear.) The King had always iJen content to ask his faithful Commons for money for the services of the countrv, and so lone as he fulfilled his portion of the bargain they were all willing to pay their fair share. THE RIGHTS OF THE COMMONS. He had now pleasure in moving the following That this meeting- condemns the rejection of the Budget by the House of Lords as a breach of the Constitution and a-a invasion of the rights of the Commons, and believes that the time has now come when the veto of the House of Lords upon legislation should, be offectively restricted, and all interference by them in finance restricted by law, and further declares for the taxation of land values and against the taxing of food, and pledges itself to support the Government with wholehearted de- -termination, in this crisis of British democracy. (Applause.) THE GATHERING STORM. Sir Herbert Roberts, upon. rising to second the resolution, was given a tremendous reception, tha vast audience joining iin For he's a jolly good fellow." He said he had great pleasure in. seconding the resolution. He was sincerely pleased to find himself face to face once again with a Liberal audience in Colwyn Bay, which was the largest and most important centre of his constituency. (Applause.) The storm undoubt- edly was gathering and the bafitHe fla? was being unfurled, and he was glad to see them, to meet them, and to hear their voices, and he felt sure their hearts were beating in unwavering loyalty to the cause which they had come to support. (Applause.) He first of all wished to express his personal appreciation of Mr. Herbert Lewis, who visited Colwyn Bay for .the first time after I receiving his second important appointment in His Majesty's Government. (ILeiar, hear.) And there was his colleague, Mr. Hemmerde, who for the first time visited the constituency, and who, as th-ey all knew, was working day and night for the Liberal cause, and spreading by his eloquence the potency of Liberal principles throughout the Length and breadth of the United Kingdom. (Hear, hear.) He should like to im- press upon that vast audience the gravity of the present situation. There was one question which overshadowed all others. It was the question of the House of Lords. (A voice: Down with them.") At las(c-(I,oud, applause), —at last—'(continued applause),—this was to be the dominant issue of the election, and the settle- ment of all the questions in which they were dieeply interested depended upon, the settlement of the House off Lords. If they had asked him six months ago, whether he thought it was pos- eibile for the House of Lords to reject the Bud- get of Mr Lloyd George—(loud cheering)—he would have answered them frankl v in the nega- tive. He had been in Parliament for close upon eighteen years, and1 from the time he was a boy he had been acquainted with the House of Com- mons, land he had grown up in the idea that the people's House was supreme—supreme in the matters of finance of the country. (Hear, hear.) Everything he had read in history, and what he had had of public life showed that the develop- ment of democracy and the enfranchisement of the people must lead, step by step, to the strengthening of the People's Chamber, and how it came, at the beginning of the twentieth cen- tury, that the House of Lords had dared to do what they had done, passed his comprehension. The deed is done," continued Sir Herbert, and we have to face the consequences." A NEW CHAPTER OPENED. He asked all his supporters throughout the county to realise the gravity of the situation. The rejection of the great Finance Bill meant the beginning of a new chapter in, political his- tory. He had :sat imi the House off Commons day and night supporting each stage of the Bud- get. (Applause.) He believed that the Budget of Mr .Lloyd George was baised upon the prin- ciples of justice, and was designed to place the burden of the additional required taxation of the country upon the shoulders of those best able to pay. (Cheers.) He should like to lay before them the three clear issues of the com- ing contest. First of all, they must vindicate absolutely the right of the House of Commons to control the taxation off the country. (Hear, hear.) If they went down the roadway Off his- tory they would find that almost every great monument of freedom around therm in the soc- ial, civil, and religious life of the nation was based upon the right of the Commons to con- trol the purse Off the nation. (Hear, hear.) The first thing they had to do was to make it per- fectly clear that in future no finance bill passed by the House of Cbmimons should be rejected by the House of Lords. (Loud cheers). But they must go a step further, and they must make it plain, and also must secure, that in future the House of Commons shall be supreme in regard to the legislation of the country. All they wanted for both political parties was an equal' chaiice-(he,ar, hear),—that when the elec- torate of the country constitutionally expressed its opinion upon any great question, the House of Commons should have the right, whichever party was in power, to, carry that measure into law. (Applause.) Another clear issue was the life or 'the dieath of Liberalism. Now he was one of those, for whom Liberalism, and Liberal principles was something more than a political creed. To him Liberalism was the insftruanemt by which all the real progress of the past in the life of the nation had been accomplished. To him Liberalism was the road which led to every kind of freedom, political, social, and re- ligions, and upon the effective strength, of Lib- eral principles depended the settlement of every question d-e-ar to the heart of every one present. He had no time to go into details, but did they want the Education Bill? (Chorus of voices: We do.") Did they want real effective tem- perance reform? (Hear. hear.) Did they want religious equality in Wales? (.Hear, hear.) Did they want just and effective land reform? (Cheers.) They did, and he said that the settle- ment of all those questions. depended u-non the result of the next General; Election. Speaking next in Welsh, the change into the <\ernacular being warmly cheered, Sir Herbert asked: What is Wales?" It was the home of Liberalism, and election after election they had sent up a large majority of Liberals to fight for the rights of the country. (Hear, hear.) FREE TRADE. Again speaking in English, Sir Herbert said there was another great issuie before the elector- ate, and that waisi the maintenance of Free Trade. (Applause.) 'He would only say that he adhered firmly to. Free: Trade as the founda- tion of their commercial prosperity, as a safe- guard of the integrity of their puiblie life. In conclusion, he should like to say that the methods which were being adopted by the Tariff Reform organisations in many parts of the coun- try in order to win their political end, ought to be a grave warning to. them all of what would follow if Tariff Reform ever became substituted for Free Trade. (Hear, hear.) He could not but think that this power of wealth, which was concentrated to-day by certain, great monopolies in the land, and which was being brought to bear upon the public political life of the coun- try, was discreditable to a free country. (Hear, hear.) Those were the issues, and with the .memory of a great and noble past behind them, and with the star of new and brighter hope shininfg upon the horizon of the future, they in Colwyn Bay, anlcfi he would go onward to certain victory. (Loud .and continued cheering.) THE HOUSE OF LORDS. Mr J. Herbert Lewis, M.P.. Parliamentary Secretary off the Local Government Board, was also given, a rousing reception. He said that the Chairman commenced by saying that this was one of the greatest political crises in the history of the country. He was, not quite sure whether they agreed in all things with Lord Roseb,ery-(sho,uts of No, no. "),—but in this respect, Lord Rosebery entirely agreed with the Chairman. (Laughter.) Lord Rosebery said they were in the midst of the greatest political crisis that the country had seen since. 183:2, and so alarmed was he at the probable action of his brother Peers that he, told the House quite plainly that there were only 150 of them at the outside who had any business to be there at all. (Laughter, and applause.) He practically said that the rest ought to be at home shooting pheasants. (Laughter.) And yet it was these backwoodsmen," as they had been rightly ^all,ed, who had come in to; upset the balance of the Constitution and to, reverse the practice

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The Fight in West Denbighshire…