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'" LIBERAL MEETING AT ABERSYCHAN.

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LIBERAL MEETING AT ABERSYCHAN. ADDEE-SF.S BY -AIR. T. P. PRICE, M.P., AND MR. A. J. WILLIAMS, M.P. A L'.heral meeting in connection with the local a f oliation, of which Mr. Wiiliai:-? Lewis is president, was held at the Board Schoolroom, Abersychan, on Thursday evening week, and proved to be a thorough success both as to the nuiibf present and the enthusiasm displayed. There wero quite tiuO persons present, and tht-I trrn >i !iiions which were submiue-? aaoptei with absolute unanimity. Mr. W. Lewis. who presided, was supported by Mr. T. P. Priev M.P. Mr. A. J. Williams, M.P., Alder- man J. W. Mulligan, J.P., the Rev. W. Edwards, D.D.. iV-ntypooi College the Revs. D. M. Dctvjos. Cole, D. Thomas, and D. Lewis (hon. sec.) Mr. W. J.P., Mr. W. L. Pratt, J P.. Yy- J. "Ind Mr. D. Jones (Belle uo). f ar. PrlGe and the other gentlemen were iouuly .^leered on taking their seats on the plat- T e (J!.airman commenccd the proceedings by N:1"di:J. letters of apology for abseuce iroin the liev. H. B. Robinson, F.E.G-.S., Pontypool, and -Air D. Williams, Osborne House, both of whom expressed their regret at their inability to attend, ••and their ""best wishes for the success of the JKeotinjj. The Chairman said he quite endorsed the observations he had read to them as e5nanating-from Messrs. Williams and Robinson.' He before him that night men full of pohticai enthusiasm, and men who were full of anxiety ,:r hear the latest phases of political thong ut. Might he hope, as the chairman of l;u^e and intelligent meeting, that they would i.'v.d"words addressed to them that night ooth oi a timely and forcible character, which would re-shape their judgment and to which they V'¡;2d give their best consideration, so that when tho poding day arrived they would have so •inSnenee• their minds as to enable them them to aguia i-.zzvxi their representative? (Cheers.) For live weary years the Gladsloaian party the cool shades of opposition in the i louse or Commons, but there was no lane ,wiit a turning, and they felt that the turn oi tiae tide had now set in. Witness that splendid .ind magnificent victory their friends haji the other day in South Molton. What the Giadstori: party had done there chey would do _lro"1. "£_- .¿l_ _.L! viae >v ti«. n. i or Y meant to sweep the con- stituencies before them, and give the Graucl Old Jlaa a sp^ndid majority to wo/k liia next aammis* ration. (Cheers.) Thev must have been st:v—* with one thing during the time the present Uorermaent had held sway, and that was tuv.were singularly deficient in men ot til'rate constructive ability. Take the measure giting them County Councils. It was only a of what it really ought to be, and "ùu jir. C lads tone and his deuteiiants came into power they would give them a better measure and one more acceptable to the people of the coantry. He had said they were gi Diz ti !,I deficient in power of the kind to which oe pad referred, and but for the renegade f-ioera:s L0y would be even still more deficient in that respoct. Mr. Chamberlain had recently crossed over to the Welsh border to do battle for the Conservatives. Mr. Chamberlain was a sort of rr*?10 i-?'11! t'.r Tory-Unionist party. VLkiug^.w.) He must be conscious by this time Jiuat ue wa.s leading a forlorn hope if he thought t/o detacn Welsnmen, and particularly Yvreish A. oncorii.onr.ists, from their allegiance to the uiberaj. cacse He might as well come to Aber- sychan and try to stem the Afon Lhvyd with a crowbar as to think of taking Welshmen away from tne SIde OL the Grand Old Mrin. (Laughter and Ciitc.-s.) They all knew that tne Tory ppr+T were identified with all that was great noblX and glorious in their history and the s'nokingr concert was one of their institutions. (Laughter.) He did not know much of the conduct' of those gatherings, but he knew that if those who attended could not get a skinful of good common sense, they could get a skinful of some- itang else. (Laughter.) Mr. Rolls at a smoking i concert at Pontypool late]v described Mr. G-lad- ^tofte as tlio^u Glrand Old llumbug." ("Shame.") i le man wno for eleven years of his honoured ate had been the Prime 3Iinister of the Queen, the man wno had three times been called upon to form administrations for conducting the affairs of this empire could not possibly be by any means a humbug. (Hear, hear.) A humbug ^as an impostor. The fact was that Mr. Roils Gimseir might be deseribed as the humbug. He had tried to impose upon the constituency in 2*8o but Mr. T. P. Price came upon the plat- form and they sent him rolling home to The lien are, and there he was to-dav chewing the cua of the defeat which was then inflicted upon him. .(A-plause.) The Tories pretended tobt; the rnends of the working classes, but the -.va) uhev shewed it recently was by trying to eel, some 40 oi uheni struck oil the register for the Abcrsyclmnpolling district, which would have been the case but for the action of theii secretary, Mr. Lewis, and those associated with him. They might well say to the other side, It s all very well to pretend to make love, buT, ^wiiy uo you kick us downstairs?" (.Cheers.) Tine Chairman then called upon Alderman J. W. Mulligan. JJ> who moved the following resolution That we, at this public meeimg assembled, most emphatically express our hmabated confidence in the great historic Liberal party, asd in its. long-tried and trusted leader, the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone who, in addition to Home Rule for Ireland, haf given first rank in the Liberal programme t< ) tho policy of Disestablisement, both in Walet s fcTid keoUancf, and to the principle of 'orke mai i one vote,' as:well as other measures of socia 1 progress, embodied in the Newcastle programme b. are of the utmost importance to tl ,e Hrorking classes, and to the further expansic n and stability of the British constitution. V 'e also sincerely hope that Mr. Gladstone's calc u- I lations will be more than realised by the reta rn or an overwhelming majority of Liberals, at i he :xteit general election." (Cheers.) The speaJ :er thought that "what they had lately seen of ohe bye-election^ would prove- to be a forecast, of the general election. At South Molton they saw an overwhelming majority for tb em. (Cheers.) The tables had been turned U pon those who styled themselves Liberal Unionists. According to a calculation he had seen, Chere- were not 16 Dissentient Liberals voting .amsL them at the last election. He fancied thad: party had come to very nearly vanishing point;. ^Hear, hear.) Judging by that meeting, he hai no doubt they would see Mr. Price returned again at the next election by an overwhelming majority. (Applause.) There was no man in that constituency who would fail to find, on looking over Mr. Price's record, that he had ful- filled .ali iik pledges. He had voted in seaaon and out of reason for the principles he had advo- cated ai<d he was fully deserving of their confi- dence'. dUoar, hear.) By the resolution they saw that Home Rule still held the forefron t. It ■was the first plank in the Liberal platform.. On that question the Tory party were beginning to see that it was necessary to take a step baefcwaro. Mr. Balfour had advocated his 20 years c(«reioa, but where was he now? He had taken., a new office, so that he might retire with digndjy from the position he had taken up. He wfis. afraid that after the next general election that- party would be where they ought to be 3nd that -would be very low down indeed. (Cheers.) Mr. Thos. Screen, who seconded the Eeaolotion, said he claimed to speak on behalf of. the work- ing classes, who had benefitted groatly from liiberal measures, and who were itcue to th« Liberal party. They longed for the day to eor<3« when they would again hav$- the oppor- tunity of exercising the franchise, and thanked the Liberal party for giving them ihe power to vote at Ú1. (Cheers.) Mr. T. P. Price, M.P., who was received with J loud applause, supported the resolution. He said Ll the resolution referred to severa6l matters of im- portance which were before the country at the present time, and on account of their number and importance he found it difficult to know exactly upon which of those subjects to address them that evening. Some friends had occasion- ally found fault with him because he had not alluded to matters which they more particularly cared about. Should he omit any that night, he must ask their kind indulgence. (Hear, hear.) There W:A.. an immense oeal now before them. There we,") long arrears ot legislation, and a freat number of new questions now cropping up. >ut he woi Id like to say a word or two about the present' Government, which had been in office now for the past five years. Proceeding, the speaker said W ell, I should say shortly that it was an unprincipled Government. Now, what are principles? Principles are general funda- mental truths which govern and direct our par- ticular actions not lightly adopted, but after careful consideration and from conviction. I will give you an example. The doctrine of equality, religious as well as civil, is a Liberal principle that of inequality and privilege is a Tory principle. Conciliation is a Liberal, coercion a Tory principle. The Tories profess to be guided by principles; but our complaint is that they shuffle out of them and tlirow them overboard when it is a question of gaining votes. (Cheers.) Take as an instance the Free Education Act. This was a doctrine of the Liberal party, and the Tories expressed a holy horror of it, and said that it was a monstrous idea, and full of Social- istic danger. The Tory candidates in 1885 spoke against it in the strongest way. One of them, Sir Edward Hamley, said that it would tend to pauperise, degrade, and demoralise the people." j This was in 1885 but in 1891 what a change has come over them they have made a complete colufa-ce, they have turned right round. Surely i this is not abiding by the settled rules of notion which they have so stoutly proclaimed Surely we are justified in describing such conduct as unprincipled. (Hear, hear.) It was the same with the Land Purchase (Ireland) Bill. In 1886 nothing was too bad for Mr. Gladstone's measure in that behalf. Scores of Tory candidates de- nounced it. Lord Salisbury said of it—"I have no doubt emigration is superior to the very con- temptible process of buying out the landlords* and this very contemptible process" has been going on for years under the Ashbourne Acts, and now un ler Mr. Balfour's Laud Act. The guarantees are no better now than they were in 188G. Bit it is an old story. What (lid Mr. Chamberlain say at Hackney in 1885 ? That was bel.ore the duchesses began to fondle and caress him, and before he yielded to their blandish- ments. (Laughter.) He said The consis- tencyof our public life, the honour of political controversj. the patriotism of statesmen, which should be vSet above all party considera- tions-these are things winch have been pro- faned and trampled in the mire by this crowd of hungry omce-seekcrs (the Tory party) who are now doing Radical vork m the uniform of Tory ministers." There codd be no better condemna- tion of the Tories ti;au this. Yes but in con- demning others he condemned himself. Joseph has put on the same co.1t, he has donned the same uniform. He himself stands convicted in 1891 of the very same crime that he denounced in 1885. (Cheers.) The Tories have been adopting Liberal measures. And why ? Because this is generally done by Tory administrations. When first they come into office the v do nothing (laughter)—and when a general electron is com- ing near they clothe themselves in LÜ,r3.. gar- ments, in order to be thought Liberal at the polls. They play up to the Liberal gallezy. It is to gain votes. That is what the educated, the high-minded party, "the gentlemen of England." do at the approach of a general election. Even their own paper, the Standard, admits it. They wrote in June of this year as follows :—"We all regret that the necessity has arisen, but such necessities will arise very frequently. The work- Ing- man is not only onr master but our idol, and principles count very little when votes have to be secured." So that all the Tories care for are votes, not principles they leave principles to the abandoned Radicals. And these are the sen- timents of "the gentlemen of England." votes, not principles they leave principles to the abandoned Radicals. And these are the sen- timents of "the gentlemen of England." (Cheers,) Well, we are quite contented with our share. And after all, does this unprincipled mode of behaviour pay? Look at the bye- elections. Look at South Molton the other day. Do we not see the handwriting upon the wall ? Is not the ground crumbling away be- neath their feet ? But what about the future ? Surely for us the future is fitil of hope. Our party was never more unitedT never fuller of enthusiasm, and we have the greatest statesman, the most commanding figure, of this century at our head. We are ready for battle, we are sure of victory, and there is much to be done. (Cheers.) First, we must do justice to Ireland— jastiee long delayed, oftentimes thjrarted, often- times moribund, but never actualJy dead-jus- tice for the Irish people, tied and bound down by a perpetual Coercion Act. The su-bjeet has long since been exhausted the arguments are known by heart. We only have now to- act. It really is a simple matter. Crack the shell, and what is the kernel ? Simply this, that the Irish are to have the management of their own domes- tic affairs, and that Imperial matters are to be dealt with by the Imperial Parliament. There is nothing fantastic, nothing extraordinary,, no- thing unreasonable in all. this. I contend that it is the very least, the irre-ducibie minimum,, that a people calling: itself a fiee people should limit itself to in demanding. No nation should be content with le And next to the Irish (ques- tion is- the-Welsi qxnestion—the disestablishment of the Church in Wales. (Appiause.) This, too, is a question on, which everything that can be- said has- been said. The subject is worn threadbare. The moment for action is at hand. 1 We have only to apply to it Lord HartingtoiVs j celebrated dictum, that when a. nation by amaj-fl- jj nty erf its Parliamantary reprssenta feves has dÛ" Gided in favc-ur of iiseatablisbment, then it be comes the daty of the country to aoncede to them what they bavœconstltutronally'd.manded- (Cheei'S.) And then* we must jass a measure to* f've what is now universally demanded by the iberal party—" One man one vote. That is to jay, that no man shall have more than one vote tnd so to put an end the iniqaitous system of Maggot voting. In a democracy a very man is as gpod a citizen as ever? other t.5at is t^aay, in theory he is bat- in England to-day that is not i s" On'e man's vote may de by torenty slimes of greater valuo than another's. Mr. Cains at the Tottenham elecdion is a case in point- "What happened ?■ Mr,.Caine polled a majority ->f resi- dent votes-a majority of 700—but he was beaten by 800. And why ?. Because there-were a gseat number of freeholders living in every part oi the kingdom,. and they floc&efd in and swamped the vote of t^« residents and-so the people of Tottenham were deprived of their proper representative. This is what may happen any day in any constituency but this is r.ot de- mocratic Igovernment. Then there is the great and important topic of Temperance reform. (Cheers-.) This is a great and burn- irg-q)aestion-a question that is advancing by leaps and bounds,, and of which it may be said that it aifects the real life of the nation more than almost any other question. I was reading the other day a life- of Mr. Montague Williams, the well-known stipendiary magistrate, and was much struck by what he said once about it. He said. There is no mistake about what is the cause of nearly all the- crime of the East End of London—the curse of all is drink." Anl which of the two great parties is most likely to deal with this terrible curse. There is: no doubt it, will be Mr. Gladstone's party. (Cheers.) Mr;. T. W. Russell admitted this the other day, and he admitted it regretfully r There are 7,000,0C1) ceetotailers in Great Britain, and of thesa, according to Mr. Caine, 6-,500,000. are Liberal. The question is one for the people* to decide, and it is they who are chiefly interested. You allow,. as it is, the great landowners to settle the matter as they like- Lord Carlisle has not a single public-house on his estate, and the Duke of Westminster has hardly »ne on Ms great London property, and that being so we must agree with Mr. Gladstone when he arid the other day, that the rights of local population rest rrpon a basis as sound and solid, at least, as that now possessed by owners of the soil." The Liberal party are pledged to take up this. question, and they have Mr. Gladstone,. Mr.. John Moritiey, aaad Sir- Wil- | liam Harcourt to, lead, them. (Cheers.) There is onlyione otherjmatter that I shall refer to, and that is thd Eight-Hoinrs BiB-the limitation of the working hours of miners. There are those who advocate a universal eight hours dal- for all I don't ihink this comes within the Jaa&ifcs of what is possible. But an eight hours, day for miners—well,. Mr. Burt is against it, anil he gives his reasons. He says, you cannot fix the hours of adult meia by Act of rliamn;" because you cannot absolutely prohibit overtime, and that it will cause a diminution of wages, which men will aot stind. I support an eiglit hoars day for miners, on these grounds: First, the hazardous nature of the work, and of that iro have had recently only too terrible an example in this neighbourhood; and secondly, I consider that the miners- themselves know what is best for themselves, and tliit, if after careful cousidera- tion, the great majority of thean are of this opinion, I for one should be disposed to grant them their request. But I would first ask them t this, Is it absolutely certain that you cannot obtain this boon by combination, because in some parts of the country this has been actually done, and if it can be done in one part it ought to be able to succeed in another part ? (Cheers). I was asked the other day what I thought about the taxation of royalties and ground rents. The writer thought, I suppose, he had me there. (Laughter.) I am, I dare say, a very peculiar person; but I thiiikas a matter of justice that both those kinds of property ought not to be exempted from taxation. (Cheers.) It may affect me, and it will affect me, but I can't help that. I think, as a matter of fairness and justice that those kinds of property ought to be taxed like others. (Cheers/) Well, then, the last word I wish to say is about a question—1 don't know whether you thmk much about it, but we shall have to think about It-and that is the position of the House of Lords. (Cheers.) This really is an important matter, because measures passed by a Liberal Government are most un- fairly dealt with by the House of Lords. When the Tories are in power any Bill they like to send up is passed at once as a matter of course by the House of Lords but measures the Liberals send up to the House of Lords are mutilated, or damaged, or thrown out altogether. I say it is unfair, and that the Liberals suffer a great injustice in that matter. Mr. Goschen, in his better moments, once said of the House of Lords, It's a per- manent high Tory committee." (Laughter). I cannot better that expression. I know if you studied the history of what the House of Lords have done for the country during the last 50 years, it will be very good reading for some of you during the long winter nights. (Laughter and applause.) But why I mention the question is this, that Lord Salisbury threatens us with the House of Lords. He says^ "You may pass a Home Rule Bill for Ireland next session, it you come in, but then we must look out for the House of Lords." I hope we shall look out for the House of Lords. (Applause.) I hope you will take up that challenge. The question will have to be gone into, and the sooner it is gone into perhaps the better, and then we shall see what the House of Lords will be in future- whether we shall mend them or end them. (Cheers, and a voiee," End them.") I am rather 4 disposed to agree with you. I think it would be a very difficult job indeed to mend them (Laughter.) Of course this question will come before us duly, and we shall have to look into the matter from ali aspects, but I think if they throw out the Home Rule Bill after it has been passed by a large majority of the House of Commons, it will go very hardly with the House of Lords. (Cheers.) 1 must apologise to Mr. Williams for standing before him so long, and I thank you all for listening to me as you have done.. (Cheers.) The resolution was further supported by Mr. A. J. Williams, M.P., who was enthusias- tically received. He said they belonged to the one country and to the same race, with the same language, and having the same traditions and the same aspirations for the future, just as they had shoulder to shoulder worked together in the past. Apart from the absence of any necessity for his being there, it was a great pleasure to address such an audience, an-audience representing a constituency which bad the discrimination and the sense to return "his friend Mr. Price. (Cheers.) They had found him out. the Tories had round him outr--(laughter)—and he had found out the Tories. Why on earth he wanted him (the speaker) to come down to support him there was something, he must say, that filled him with amazement. (Laughter.) He did not want any support, at least not the feeble support which he could give him. (No, no.) He confeed his appreciation of the states- manlike speech to which they had just listened. It was not a gracious thing to compliment a man in his presence. Mr. Price and himself had now got to know each other well.' He (Mr. Williams) knew him as well as thoy knew him, and there- fore he would not pay him mere compliments, but he thought that he might serve a useful public purpose if he dwelt for a moment or two upon some of the qualifications which Mr. Price po ssessed, and he must ask them to forgive him, for ;n doing so it would be. he thought, in some ways .!1TI indirect compliment to himself. (Laugh- ter.) Ji5r* Price, like himself, was a man of means ait d a man of leisure. He occupied a position i-L, which there were a great many temptations to take life pleasantly and easily, and to enjoy the goods provided him. A man who was place d in that position had a great many temptations to forego irksome public duties, and to rest contented with the satisfaction that wealth and leisure and culture could give. (Applause.) How sad it was to think that now, when Democracy was entering upon her great course, that those who had been blessed in that way—the great lords and squires and land- lords, the great owners of land and wealth, those who had inherited it, those who had accu- I mulated it-should too of ten forget the great and first (luty all of them should sustain towards the great empire. (Applause.) All honour to Mr. Price,, for he had stood by the people, and he thought that he might compliment himself I that to the best of his humble ability he had done likewise. He had not shrunk from standing apart from the squire, from the landlord, andtiie great person in his native country. He had stood by the traditions of hi& family, as those who had preceded him stood by them in worse times.—(hear, hear)—and he hoped that the humble example which he and their respected member affordedmight be followed by others in the future. (Applause.) As his friend had said, there were a great many subjects of interest whico. were before them at the present time. Attention had been called to some of them already. There were so many that one scarcely knew what to deal with. He must deal with one at all events, one important question which had its bearing upon the future of Wales. Mi-. Chamberlain—he was almost sorry to have to refer to Mr, ChambrrlaÜl-it was a cfistasteful subject f That reminded him that a few weeks ago the life of one ().f their pnblic intended uiHler tra-gic conditions, a mm who if he had died nine months sooner would have left the nMac of ojse of the greatest oatriote ever rtwoi?dc;d on the pagBs of history. gu-, he had gone; down into death, as he- said, i iL m most, tiagic mwnei?v and at that moment he questioued, w nether there wUs- more that was sad and tragk in the fate of ■ Parnell than there was. in the fate of Mr. Chamberlain, whose name, when he the gpeaioer) first, stood for his division, in his native county, was m all men's months. There was not a Radical meeting throughout the length ;uid breadth of this country where he was-not looked upon and called for with acclaim ag.a coming leader in the councils-of the Queen,, of the great Liber*! party; and he had spialifieatrens whisk justified tnat feeling. There- was no. man now in the Bouse of Commons who could holu that critical audience so completely spellbound as he Gould-even though they did not agree with him—with his wonderful p«>wer of iaiaguager with his clear, mcisive;. lucid intellect, with his grasp .)f all the principles which had feailt up their great party.. But what- was the future of that mrai 2 Dijomed t: Be said he was dsomed to disappear fr»m the stage ot polities, although at one rime it was feit that he might have- been Prime Minister. He did not think there had ever been a more complete iastance of the way in which, a man with the greatest intellect and power, when hit" forgot real prmciples. which were underlying conduct, cauld fall so low. It was a 3ad and woefal exhibition for a once Badical statesman. What 1110d thew seen him doing lately ? Comiag down to try and win the Welsh people over to his views on the sabject of Disfsstablisfiment. For generations the Welsh people had been loaging for religious equalit?. Almost all the misery, wretchedness, social *flequaiity, bitterness, and differences of social lnequtd-liy, bitterness, and differences of opinion^, between class and class in the Welsh social body had been 4ue to he want of religious equality. The great overwhelming, majcnty of them were aeligious; people who had had to build their swn places of worship, and; out of their own scanty means to support their ministers, They had stood by their own rel gious convic- tions, and had brought up their children in their own way of thinking. For generations they had panted *nd longed for justice., and yet this, man came <$»mn in the centre of Wales, and told them that bhey were goiag iiii far Hoaae Rule. because thsy thought tkey woald bcibe Mr. Gladstone to give them the Disestablishment o5 the Church m Wales. (*Shame,") Could they conceive o:f any man. beiag so infatuated as to tell Welsh people that lhy wece selling their birthright Sor a mess of pottage ? It was an in- sult to th Welsh people it was untrue and un- founded. (Cheers.), There was nothing more ridiculous than such a statement. They knew that in 1885, at ery Liberal meeting, the ques- tion of disestablishment was brought forward by the ministers of the Gospel. and other strong Radicals. Thore was a protest, and a just pre- test, that Mr Gladstone had aot then expressed his intention of dealing with the question of disestablishing the Church in Wales. He, (the speaker) stood upon platform after platform upon that occasion, and he conscientiously stated that they ought not to be unreasonable with that wonderful old man, and he told them now that there was nothing to his; mind so remarkable than that that old statesman, nurtured as he had been in the bosom of the Establishment, with his deep and profound sentiments of affection for the Anglican Church,, with all his religious associations wrapped up in that Hierarchy, that he in this stage in his great career should have made up hIS mind that the Welsh claim was a 3Uft claim, (Applause). Mr. Gladstone, in I880, baldly proclaimed that he had come to the conclusion that the first thing to be done was to deal justice out to Ireland, and then he (the speaker) felt that after the Home Rule Bill had been carried, the question of Welsh disestablish- ment would be attended to. (Applause.) Now, about this government of beer and bunkum, of hrag and bluster. (Laughter.) He was tired, and he supposed they were tired of hearing about it, although he confessed it gave him constant pleasure to expose the unprincipled attempts that were being made to impose upon the intellect and conscience of the nation. It amused him, for instance, to see a man like Sir Edward Clarke attempting, as he did in Cardiff, to prove that the Tory Government had passed measures which would never have been adopted by the Liberal party. He talked about Local Government, but where did they get it from ? He (the speaker) knew where the Bill was before it was brought in by the Tory Government. It was taken out of a pigeon hole in the Home Office, in which it was left by Sir Charles Dilke, but it was a much better Bill than the Bill they brought in. (Cheers.) That was always the case with any ill which the Tories took out of a Liberal pigeon hole. They immediately set a clever draughtsman tomanipu- lete it, 30 that it might appear to be Liberal, but when they came to examine it, they were able to trace the deception. That ingenious financier, Mr. Goschen, would have yielded to the intimi- dation of the publicans for compensation if the Liberal members had not stood, day by day, watching with lynx eyes to see that the English public were not tricked. (Cheers.) As to Free Education, they knew what the Tories once thought of that. A Mr. Hickson, a fine old crusted Tory in the House of Commons — (laughter)—got up in his place and blurted out the truth. He said the Bill was founded on a Bill the Liberals had always maintained, but which the Conservatives had always repudiated. There they had the truth in a nutshell. These were two essential ineradicable defects in the Tory party. They never could go straight, and they entirely wanted administrative ability. The present administration would have come to an end long ago, owing to the utter in-, capacity of the leaders of the Tory party they not been assisted by one who was a renegade Liberal, but who was really R fcham Liberal, like Mr. Goschen, who betrayed his party and took service under their coloan. (Cheers.) He urght say a word about the Mines Bill. Sir Edward Clarke at Cardiff claimed, as the Tories always did, that the Liberal Mines Bill was a bad Bill, but that the Bill passed by the present Government had been 1 a great blessing to the collier. He could speak with some little experience about the Mines Bill, because he happened, possibly as they knew, for nine years to have served on a Royal Commission on Accidents in Mines, as its secre- tary. He took his commission into almost, every colliery in England, Wales, and Scotland in which a great explosion had taken place and he did not think that that commission had ever had the credit paid to it to which it was entitled. When his friend Mr. Thomas Burt, than whom there-was no finer representative working man, and no nobler man in the House of Commons— (cheers)-rea.d that preposterous statement, he characterised it as nonsense, and said it was the Bill which had been prepared for the Tories by thejr Liberal predecessors. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Burt and other Liberals, the Bill was greatly improved in committee. (Cheers.) There was another amusing thing in Sir Edward Clarke's speech at Cardiff. Turning to Lord Tredegar, who was in the chair, he asked, vVouid the Gladstonians have passed the Tithes Bill at all, my lord ? "—(laughter)—and Lord Tredegar said, "Xo, no." (Laughter.) The Welsh members spent two sessions in turning out two Tithes Bills, and they did their best to turn out this one. (Cheers.) They did not want a Tithes Bill in this country. They wanted another Bill, a Bill which would release the pro- psrty held by them from one sect, which would devote it to public purposes for the benefit of the people. (Cheers.) As to the future, the outlook was most. hopeful and they looked for- ward with confidence to the time when that great man, who stood above all statesmen, would be returned to power by an overwhelming majority. (Loud applause.) Councillor J. Daniel next moved "That this meeting desires to place on record its deep appre- ciation of the invaluable services rendered to this constituency and the Liberal party generally by our able and faifhful representative, Mr. T. P. Price, and we hope that at the next general election he will be returned unopposed, but snould he be called upon to fight again the battle of freedom, we pledge ourselves to use every legitimate means still further to increase the •splendid majority which he has in the past secured on his side. And further, we cordially thank him and his able colleague, Mr. A. J. Williams, M.P., for their excellent addresses to us at this public meeting." (Cheers.) Mr. Morgan Lewis. Tarteg, seconded the reso- lution in a speech which was frequently ap- plaudsd. An amendment was invited, but there was no response, and the resolution was unanimously carried. Mr. W. B. Witch-ell, who supported the reso- lution, said that, politically considered, they would no doubt agree that hitherto he had been a very modest young- man. That was the fir.3t political meeting he had. attended in his life.. The experience they had had of the Conserva- tive Government for the last year or so had caused him to consider a good deal as to what should be his duty in future. He had never had an ambition to ks a public politician but he had strong convictions, and he had taken a little trouble to inform himself as to matters to which reference had been made. He must say that he never felt so outraged at the conduct of the Con- servative- Govermient- as he had is connection with a mister to which allusion had been made that eveiilmg. He referred to the compensation classes of the Bill which had already been dealt with. (9hrs), The consequence was, that he did not feel it in his heart to trust the Conserva- tive Government ;n future-in such a tre-mendcxas Dond aii-imponant matter as that relating to the liosition of tha clri1 traffic in this country. (Cheers.) He was there that nigbt making his maiden political speech with the utmost plea- sure.. He had listened with interest to the addresses wiiich had besn delivered by the mem- ber. of parliament and. others and should have no hesitation in attending, a Liberal meetiag in future. (Cheers..); Ed-wards, Kontypcol College, frather rap- j ported the resolution, which WAS carried unani- mously, amid appiause Mr, A. J, Williams tnd: Mr. T. P. Price re- sponded, and propssed and seccaded a vote of thanks to, the chairman Sor presiding, and, the CJompliment having been duly paid, the groceei- iags terminated.

CONCERT AT PQdSTYPOOL. ---

TAFF VALE RAILWAY.

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