The Brecon County Times Neath Gazette and General Advertiser for the Counties of Brecon Carmarthen Radnor Monmouth Glamorgan Cardigan Montgomery Hereford

BRECON BOROUGH ELECTION. ME. WALTON'S RESIGNATION. On Monday evening a meeting of Mr. Walton's friends and supporters was held at tbe Town-hall. G. Overton, Esq., presided, and on the platform was also Dr. J tines, of Merthyr, while amongst those present in the room were the Revds. Professor Morris, Professor Roberts, H. Griffiths, and Wil- liams, Messrs. J. Davies (ex-Mayor), W. Games, J. Jones, J. Griffiths, &c. The Chairman briefly opened the proceedings, remarking that he bad been asked to take the chair, and he did so with great pleasure. The object of the meeting was to give the han. gentleman an opportunity of stating his political opinions. Mr. )ul) Walton was a town councillor, and was elected by a considerable number of the inhabitants, and had lately offered himself as a representative for Parlia- ment-an honour to which every man had a right to aspire. It was but right that all opinions should be heard, because it was only by discussion that the truth could be elicited. He was sure they were all anxious to discharge the duty devolving on them firinly and honestly. He was not prepared to endorse all the opinions of his friend, but he had read with a good deal of pleasure his address, and it certainly waa a very able one, and contained nothing the most fastidious could object to. He would not detain them further, but call on Mr. Walton to address them. (Applause.) Mr. Walton, on rising, said he must tell them, in the first place, that he should not have appeared before them that night as a candidate in the Liberal interest for Brecon if he could have prevailed upon those gentlemen who assumed or arrogated—which- ever they pleased—the right to dictate to the town as to who should be their representative, to bring forward a candidate. He urged them, time after time, to bring forward a competent, well-known politician, in the Liberal interest, in order that they might stand better before the country as a con- stituency of intelligent men, having a correct appre- ciation of the great principles which were before the country-of progress, rather than of retrogres- sion. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) He failed in his efforts; his house was besieged by many whom he saw that night, asking him what was to be done with regard to a Liberal candidate for Brecon, and he referred them back to the gentlemen who led them. No answer of a satisfactory nature was given, and matters arrived at such a standing that a tradesman in the town brought him the Standard, and showed him a paragraph stating that the electors of Brecon were satisfied with Mr. Gwyn, and that he was about to be returned without opposition. He told this tradesman that he should now have no hesitation what he should do-he would endeavour once more to persuade them to unite amongst themselves, and to bring forward the right man at the proper time. He again failed in his efforts, and he said if they did not find a candidate by the next Friday he would issue an address, and contest the borough inch by inch, rather than allow a man to go to Parliament who did not represent the feelings of the town. (Hear, hear.) And, inasmuch as he had a remarkable knack of doing what he said, he fulfilled his promise and he was before them, having canvassed the borough for a week, and having found a majorit3 of the ejectors were in favour of a Liberal candidate, and were Liberally inclined. He had no hesitation in saying that if the electors of the town were left free he could have polled two to one against the sitting member. (Hear, hear, and interruption.) The Chairman requested silence, and in a short time Mr. Walton proceeded by remarking that the first question in his address was the disestablishment of the Irish church. All of those who had read anything of that establishment must know that it was a great grievance in Ireland. It was established by the power of the sword, by corruption, and by all the means the invaders of the country could bring to bear upon it; and when they remembered that from eight to nine-tenths of the population was totally opposed to it, and that 98(40,000 were expended annually to support the police from the consolidated fund, and to assist in collecting X400,000, the revenue of the church,—when they saw this injustice, this gross imposition, they would be less than men if they did not raise their voices against it throughout the length and breadth of the land, and demand religious justice and equality for the people of Ireland. (Cheers.) The present tflvernment endeavoured to escape the difficulty by doing an act of injustice to all other religious denominations,—by levelling upwards,—that was to say, they would have given to the Presbyterians another grant they would have increased, probably doubled, the RegiumDonum; they would have given to the Roman Catholics a university at Dublin, and three millions of money as a bribe to the landowners of Ireland, under the pretence of improving the farms of the tenantry, but in reality to give to the landlords thems'ves. It was well known that in 1845 or 1846 some three millions of money had been granted to the Irish landlords in the shape of a loan, and never yet accounted for, which came out of the pockets of the people of this country. He asked them, as thinking men, whether they would not take these questions into their consideration, nnd declare that justice should be done to Ireland in reference to a perfect religious equality. (Applause.) There was another important matter connected with the Irish church, to which he wished to direct their attention and he would refer them to the division which took place in the House of Lords, where there was a majority of 95 against the disestablishment of the Irish church. He had taken a considerable deal of trouble to go through Dod's Parliamentary Com- panion, and he found that those 95 peers who vo ed against the disestablishment of the Irish church held no less than 1475 livings. They might therefore expect these 1475 ministers to assist them in main- taining this monopoly. At this stage, in consequence of the room being full, the Chairman invited persons to come on the platform. Mr. Walton backed up the invitation by saying, Come on to the platform, and never mind the colour of your coats." (Laughter.) He then said he came to the second question in his address-that of the universities. At the time these were endowed it was by national property, and they were intended for national purposes and for the instruction of the people. In the time of Charles II religious tests were imposed, but these had failed entirely in their purpose. What did they see when they looked at the present state and discipline of the univer- sities ? They beheld such men as Dr. Pusey, Professor Jowett, and a number of others, who had no sympathy with each other ill a religious point of view, and whose views on educational matters were widely at difference. These men had all sworn to the same formula; but there could not be the slightest doubt that there had been a complete violation of the regulations of the Universities, and that these men had committed something very like perjury. The time had arrived when the intelli- gence of the age and the march of education which had been given to the people through the cheap press, and various other sources, demanded that these tests should be abolished, and that the Universities should be open to men of all grades and denominations—that all who wished to obtain the higher branches of learning should have every facility afforded them in these Government seats of learning, on terms ef the most perfect religious and educational equality. (Hear, hear.) He next came to the question of education and this was a most important question, even more so than the disestahiishment of the Irish Church, or the opening of the Universities, because it was clearly indicated by the Standard and other Tory newspapers that the Conservatives would be glad if they could make terms with the country so as to go back to the Treasury benches, even by disestablishing the Irish Church. But the time had gone past for that the people of this country had made up their minds that men of progress and advancement, both with regard to educational, industrial, and University arrangements, should be sent to represent them in the House of Commons. The difference between the friends of education was that one class was in favour of compulsory education and the other in favour of voluntaryism. The only difference they had to reconcile was to unite upon one broad and comprehensive principle of national unsectarian education, by which every youth should be able to receive the blessings of education to guide him in this world. (Applause.) He was happy to say the friends of education had so far agreed that they had sunk their differences, and had arranged that a broad and comprehensive system of education should be given to the people, without any sectarian teaching or any doctrinal tenets being thrown in. The voluntary system had been tested in many ways, and found wanting, and there was no doubt that in the end compulsory education was the system that would be brought to bear, as it was in Prussia, Switzerland, and America, and all other countries which were in advance of England with regard to the question of national education. Education was too precious a thing to be tampered with by those poor farthing rushlights. Every man ought to use his exertions to endeavour to give the blessings of education to his fellow man, because without education man was little better than the brute creation. Education gave them a knowledge of the laws which governed the universe, as well as the great moral and physical laws which ought to guide their nainds and regulate their bodies, and which gave them a knowledge of the arts and sciences, and literature and learning, and all that was calculated to dignify and ennoble the human mind. (Applause.) In fine education may be said to be the light, from heaven falling on the mind of man, and teaching him his duty to God and his fellow man. (Cheers.) Therefore, those who had charge of the education of their youth had a duty to per- form, and it was the duty of the Legislature of that country, as well as of the people, to assist them in performing those most important duties. He now came to another subject, and that was their national expenditure. He did not believe in being penny wise and pound foolish. At the same time there was a great necessity for- curtailing the expenditure of the country, especially when a great proportion of the money was drawn from the great mass of the people. During the time the Government had been in office they had increased the expenditure by three millions of money-he said nothing of the cost of the Abyssinian war, because they were all agreed that I that money was well expended, but spoke of that increased expenditure which was a permanent expense the Government bad entailed on the people of this country. Therefore it was absolutely necessary for the people to take this question into their hands, and insist on their representatives using the pruning knife, which Mr. Gwyn had for- gotten to use since he went to Parliament. (Cheers and laughter.) He might trouble them with an enormous row of figures, and he held in his hand a pamphlet—containing most valuable information— issued by the Liverpool Reform Association, of which Mr. Robertson Gladstone, the brother of the great Liberal leader, was the president. He found from it that the Lord Chamberlain had £2000 a year, and all he had got to do was to look round about the royal house occasionally, and grant licenses to the theatres, to look after the morality of the actors and actresses, and take care there was no more oranges and ginger beer sold than would bring grist to the mill. (Laughter.) The vice-Chamber- lain had £ 924, and the Comptroller—these were men nearly related to each other, and he would pass by a lot, and come to the Master of the Horse-he wondered what his duty was. [A voice Is it Rarey ?] (laughter.) The Master of the Horse was a good sort of man, and against him personally he bad nothing to say,-the Duke of Beaufort got X2,500 a year—he wondered what in the world for. There were about a thousand other placemen kept in luxury at the expense of the public, who had nothing to do, or who got someone else to do their dirty work for them. (Laughter.) The people of this country, the Finance Reform Association, and every sensible man wanted to know how long this state of things was going on. Men would tell them fine things in their addresses and speeches-if they ever made any. Some of them never did do so. If they bad any ability it was of the silent class. No idea could b" formed of what amount of latent abiiity they might have—they might be the best orators and the best statesmen in the world, if it were only known. But if so they kept it from others, and put their light under a bushel. These were not the sort of men to go to Parliament; they wanted men ot thorough, sound information upon all the subjects of. the day, men who had thought out the great subjects, and who were really practical men. (Hear, hear, cries of go on," and laughter.) Uuless this were done their expense would go on continually increasing until it would acquire an enormous magnitude. He now came to another question, which concerned them all materially—a question upon which both the sitting member, Mr. Gwyn, an 1 Mr. Hugh Powel Price, were agreed- -he meant the ratepaying clauses of the Reform Bill, and which was nothing less than a great robbery of the occupiers of small houses. (Hear, hear.) Such being the case, the first thing he should have done, if he had gone to Parliament, would have been to get those clauses struck out which made the tenant pay the taxes instead of the landlord. He would give them the arithmetic of the matter, which Disraeli and Company knew well. It would give one and three-quarter millions to the owners of property, at the expense of those who occupied small tenements. That was a gross imposi- tion on the people, and ought to be immediately removed. Now he wanted to know from his oppo- nent, Mr. H. P. Price, on what principles of justice and equity, by what rule of logic, it could be shown that a local taxation had anything to do with the national right of representation. He said, on the principle that taxation and representation go together. He replied; that was all very well, but he must be careful, or he would make a rope to strangle himself and his principles. If they took that doctrine it would lead to manhood suffrage, and to woman- hood suffrage too. (Laughter, and cheers.) Black- stone, the great commentator, had said that tax- ation and representation ought to be co-extensive." Earl Chatham, one of the first statesmen of his time, said, Taxation without representation is tyranny." Another eminent authority, Jeremy Bentham, asserted that Indirect taxation should be invested with representative rights, as well as direct tax- ation." Where was the man who could stand up and say that the present system ot rating to the poor, and making that a condition for the franchise, ought not to be immediately abolished as a gross oppression of the working classes ? That question had been ventilated on various occasions by the leading statesmen of the day, and by the Press, and the argument torn to rags and tatters and he wanted to know what politicians were going to do. He now came to the question of the ballot, and many would tell them that this was-r A voice The most important of i he lot.] His friend was right—he was a philosopher, whoever he was. (Laughter.) From what he had seen in the town he was more and more convinced of the necessity of the ballot. He knew that both candidates had been taken into workshops to the men, either by the foreman or the employer, who told the men he hoped they would vote for the candidate. [A voice I'm if I do ] (Laughter.) They all knew the condition a man was placed in when before the man who could withhold the bread from his wif^ and family. He might rebel in his heart against such a system, but coulfnot speak, and was obliged, as best he could, to say, "Yes I will." (Hear, hear.) It had been stated on that platform that the having the franchise was a right and privi- lege but when a man had the screw put upon him, and was obliged to vote against his conscience lest his wife and little ones Lave to go without bread, where was the trust and privilege of the franchise ? Why, it vanished into thin air. The other day he had sent him by Lord Alfred Churchill a pictorial illustration. Their late candidate had come there as an anti-ballot-man but he (the speaker) had said to him, "Before you leave this town you will be thoroughly convinced of the necessity of the ballot." Before he left the town, Lord Churchill told him he was convinced, and when he had called upon him, which he had done at his reques:, he had also told him so. Mr. Cave, in the course of his speech, told them they would have to spur their candidate if he went to Parliament, so a to bring him up to the mark. He had no faith in men who wanted to be con- tinually spurred he wanted them to have sufficient blood and metal in themselves to do the work. On the question of the ballot, they might rest assured they could never have anything in the shape of purity of election until the people of this country were protected from coercion. Talk about the ballot being un-English Was it not more un-English for a landlord to give a man notice to quit, or with- draw his custom, or for an employer to discharge his workmen for not voting as he wished ? Was not that more un-English than going to the ballot-box and depositing his ticket there for the man of his choice, according to his light ? (Applause.) The moral effect of the ballot was also great. And what was more than all, no man had a right to enquire how he voted any more than he had a right to enquire about his private correspondence. The meeting was here interrupted by a man named Price, who was apparently intoxicated. He got up from his seat, and made a move, making observations which did not reach us. There were loud cries of "Turn him out," and the Chairman requested silence. After some time order was restored, and Mr. Walton continued by observing that he had been told he had omitted from his address any mention of the ballot or the land. Everybody, how- ever, knew his opinion on those points, from the fact of his having spoken half-a-dozen times, there and elsewhere, upon them, and from his having written a book on the land question, which had had a large circulation in England. Therefore his opinions could not be misunderstood. He would, however, make some observations upon the question. Mr. Price in his address mentioned the land, but did so in the most delicate and careful manner. He was prepared to grant tenant right, under certain stipu- lations. At their municipal banquets, or at the High Sheriff's dinner, he had heard the toast of the trade and town of Brecon" given, and it had often been a matter of consideration with him as to what the trade of Brecon consisted of. When he had fairly thought on the matter he had come to the conclusion that there was no trade in the town of Brecon, and there could not be so long as two or three landlords every six months swept out the whole wealth of the district without spending any- thing where it was created. There was, and there must be, a difference of opinion on all subjects but the great and broad basis upon which they were prepared to unite was this-that the laws of primo- geniture and entail be abolished, that they should have free trade in land, that it should be freely bought and sold in the market, and be as easy of con- veyance and transfer as any other kind of property. (Hear, hear, and cries of "Live and let live.") The great hereditary proprietors could not do that-all these entailed estates were as fat by the law as they possibly could be made. They could not sell without breaking the entail; and experience told them that they were as likely to do this as to sign their own death warrants or commit double suicide. But all who were in favour of reform had united on the broad principle that they must have free trade in land, as in corn. That brought him back to the point with regard to the 9o peers who held 1475 livings, and the influence they exerted on all elections and every social and political movement that took place in that country. The result of the laws of primogeniture and eatall was that the younger sons had to have places provided for them out of these 1475 livings, or fba dlPjoraatic service, or in any places into which ney could possibly stick their heads. The younger sons of the aristocracy were thus kept at the public expense. This was a matter the people ought to think deeply about, and when they had thought carefully about it they would be careful how they sent members to Parliament who would maintain this huge monopoly in land that now existed. While staying in Switzerland, twelve months ago, he ascertained that in one canton there were more landed proprietors than in all England put together and they would find in that country greater prosperity amongst the peasantry and tenant farmers than amongst the same class in this country. Mr. Grant Duff the other day came out in the character and dignity of a man, and proposed that there should be a complete alteration in the laws relating to land, having due regard to the com- pensation of the present owners. The plan by which this would be done was a simple one. A farmer who at the present time was occupying a farm for which he paid £100 a year, should have its value certified by commissioners appointed for the pur- pose, and then be taken at 25 or 30 years' purchase, which would be 93,000. At the end of that period the farm would be his own. With such an arrange- ment as this improvements woul 1 be made, know- ing that it would continue in the occupier's hands, or his son's. What would be the result of this ? Why, that the wealth, which is now swept out of Brecon and its neighbourhood, would be spent amongst th"m, and thus increase the trade of the town. l'heu, and not till then, might they drink at their municipal and other banquets "the town and trade of Brecon." He thought he had occupied their atten- tion for some time, and with a few more remarks he would close his address. He was perfectly satisfied that the men he saw before him were desirous of doing that which was right, provided they had it pointed out to them. And inasmuch as he had had to come before them in the character he had had that night forced upon him, in consequence of the unfortunate position they were placed in through the inactivity of those who ought to have advised