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m— III ■ The General Election,…

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m— III ■ The General Election, MR. A. J. WILLIAMS'S CANDIDA TUBE. ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING OF LIBERALS' AT PENARTH. THE TORIES NONPLUSSED. PREPARATIONS FOR THE POLLING. Never m the history of Penarth has there been a more enthusiastic political meeting than that held at Andrews' Hall on Friday evening last, in support of Mr Arthur J. Williams the Liberal candidate. A little before eight o'clock, County Councillor W. B. Shepherd mounted the platform and he was sup- ported by Mr Morgan Thomas (Secretary of the South Wales Liberal Federation), Mr F. Fox (Secretary of the Boiler Makers' Union), Messrs. Pile. Batchelor, W Jones Thomas, Sam Thomas, Prosser, R Bevan, Pickford, Gibbon, T Bevan, D G Price, Morris, Corn- well, S Davies Revs W G Davies and S Robins. Among those in the body of the Hall we noticed Revs. W G Williams. I 0 Stalberg, Messrs. G S Stowe, J Llewellyn. R Guy, J Lace, T Emlyn Jones. G Pike, C W Williams, Paterson, &c. &c., and a good number of ladies occupied the balcony, including Mrs Pike, Mrs Pyne. Mrs Pickford, Mrs Stowe, Mrs Hur- ley, Mrs Shepherd, Mrs T Powel. Mrs Paterson, Miss Llewellyn, Miss Lloyd. &c. Councillor Shepherd, in opening the proceedings, said I am not ashamed to take the chair at a Liberal Meeting- I am not ashamed of my principles. I stand before you as a workiug man, and I have bad reason to look and see who have been my friends poilileally, and I find they have been the Liberals lof England (applause). Those who have been the enemies 0 of the working men ale the Tories. The Liberals have z- fought against those things which have been for the classes, and to-day we enjoy the blessings which have been handed down to us by the Liberals- We are here to-night to declare our allEgiance to Mr A. J. Williams, and I think it is a shame be should again be put to the trouble and expense of contesting the seat. ( A voice: Why not?) Because he is a man who has stuck to his guns ( hear, hear), and has never run away from his principles; he has been trud to his convictions (applause). A voice: YVhat did he do during the distress last year ? Another voice: It was through fellows of your sort that there was so much distress. The Chairman proceeding: The Liberals have a grand policy to place before their supporters, but the Tories are like the boy, who was asked to open his mouth and shut his eyes. They have to open their mouths and see what Lord Salisbury will send them. (laughter). Mr Morgan Thomas was the next speaker. He said the question before them was whether the Liberal party was to continue to have their confidence and support, or whether they were going to trust their affairs with Lord Salisbury. The Liberal Government had been defeated by a shameful piece of strategy and they had resigned in favour of the Tories, and they had accepted office- In the present Tory Government was a man named Chamberlain (loud booing). He -is linked with Lord Salisbury, but the time will soon come when Salisbury will either swallow up Chamber- lain, or Chamberlain will swallow up Salisbury. The speaker dwelt upon the Home Rule question, and the relations of Ireland with England the Tory 20 year Coercion Act, and compared the state of Ireland during Tory rule and Liberal rule. The principal fea- turesof Sir WtaHarcourt's Budget were explained and the notification of Accidents Bill. In reference to the "Church he said it reminded him of three boys. One of them was supposed to be ill. There being some sports in the neighbourhood be expressed a wish to see them, and so to please him the other two resolved to carry him. To go to the place it was necessary to go through some fields. As they got over a siiie, they saw a bull at the other end of the field. By and bye they noticed that the ball began to come toward y I tbem, and then to run. The one brother whispered to the other and said We must drop Jack and ruu; we can't carry him and save ourselves. And so they dropped him down and ran, and no sooner was Jack, dropped, than he scrambled to his feet and ran also, We have -been carrying the Church on our backs all this time; but now we mean to drop it. We want to put it on a respectable footing- We want to take it off the parish (laugkter). "Why is it what the Churches in Cardiff are so flourishing? Because they have adopted the Nonconformist principle) and support themselves. Mr Thomas then earnestly appealed to the electors to support Mr Arthur J Williams. In the course of Mr Thomas address, Mr Williams ;who had been speaking at Dinas Povvis, arrived, and was enthusiastically received, nearly the whole of the assembly rising to their feet and cheering. When Mr Williams was called upon to speak, upon rising, he was again vociferously cheered, amid wav- ing of hats and handketchiefs. He said I am here tor the fourth time at the request of the Liberal three- hundred to ask you to return me to Parliament. Our c-ontest will be short, but it will be decisive. Humble though my efforts may be, I have been a faithful member in the House of Commons. Although the late Government was of short duration, it will be one of the most memorable in the history of the Country. During the past six months, the Liberal party has had to fight a contiflual method of obstruction. No one who has not sat th:re can form any idea of the patience required or of the terrible feeling of depression, to sit for over one hundred nights listening to words with- out meaning. Can you wonder we got a little out of order ? (No). The whole country got sick and tired of those debates in the House of Commons- We said we were thankful when the end came, although we resented the method. We were thankful to be free from the restraint, when the other party took power for a short time, so that we might go forth into the provinces and tell our tales of what we had had to pass through. We are in Wales, I know, going to be true. It is now said the one party has absorded the other party. It is difficult to know which snake has absorded the other snake. I hope it is the Birming- ham snake, for I should feel very sorry if the Salisbury snake had swallowed the other. They would have a very uncomfortable time of it. This is a Liberal seat and cannot be wrested from us, and I firmly believe my majority will be larger than last time. The gentleman opposing me, Major Whyndbam Quin is a nice, amiable, thoroughly straightforward opponent. He is a good honest Tory. He makes a point in his address that he and his family have lived in the County for generations, and also that some of his family bad represented Glamorganshire in Parliament, I he believed to the entire satisfaction of the electorate, but that was at a time when there was no secrecy of the ballot. But, said Mr Williams, I have also some- thing to say about my humble self and family. In the town of Bridgend my family lived when, to be true to your convictions, meant social ostracism, but they never failed to bold up the banner of Liberalism and religious equality. Waltar Coffin (applause) fought for Cardiff and won the seat, and it is the greatest pride to me that my near relative was the first Non- conformist Member in Wales (applause). The speaker then dwelt upon the great political questions of the day, including justice to Ireland, Disestablish ment, the Employers' Liability Bill, &c., and pointed out the fallacy of the Tories bemg the friends of the working classes. He condemned the House of Lords and gave quotations from Chamberlain's earlier Speeches, saying the recreant lips that uttered them cannot erase them (Applause). In conclusion Mr Williams appealed for unity in the Liberal ranks, and said see thatlgoback with an overwhelming majority, (cheers). A number of questions were then submitted by Mr George Carslake Thompson, Mr Boyer, Mr Lloyd, and Mr .Shaw, all of which were satisfactorily an- swered, the replies bringing shame and confusion to the propouiiders. Mr Sam Thomas in moving the vote of confidence in Mr Williams said in my honestopinion Mr Williams has carried his principles faithfully and unsullied for the whole of the time he has represented this Division, and 1 ask you to show your allegiance to him at the Board Schools next Friday. The resolution was as follows:—That this meeting having heard the views of Mr Arthur J. Williams on the leading political questions of the day, expresses its unabated confidence in him a3 the Parliamentary representative for South Glamorgan, and also desires to thank him most cordially for his past services, and pledges itself to do all in its power to secure his triumphant return." The resolution was seconded by Mr Gibbon, and carried with only six dissentients- My Williams briefly thanked the assembly for their confidence, and then whilst the company wt re lustily singing li For he's a jolly good fellow," left to catch the train for Bridgend. Mr Fox was next called upon to address the meet- ing. and as a working man, he confined himself almost entirely, to questions affecting the industrial classes. He compared twelve years, or two administrations of Liberal rule under Mr G- Avitti a like period of Tory rule under Lord Disraeli and Lord Salisbury, and showed that during the former the coal turned out from South Wales and Monmouthshire was nearly six million tons more than during the latter. He also quoted statistics relating to his own society- He concluded his very telling address by saying if you want good trade, if you want Home Rule, if you want Disestablisment, if you desire your home made happier, don t fail in your duty, but go the poll aDd vote steadily and solidly for Arthur J. Williams. I A vote of thanks to the speakers and chairman brought to a c'ose one of the most successful and entiiuinstic meeting ever held in Penarth. MEETING AT COG AN. On Monday evening, under the presidency of Mr Robert Bovau, a meeting in support of Mr Williams, was held in the methodist Schoolroom, Cogan. The room was crammed to excess, and many were unable I to obtain admission. The speakers were Mr T. J. Hughes (Bridgend) I and Mr Fox (Cardifi). The proceedings were enli\ened by Mr Boyer, who I received a very warm reception. When one of the I I audience proposed that-he be shown the door, because I he had trespassed by distributing leaflets, he declared 3 he hud not given any away any. He however, had a large number in his hand. He essayed to ask one 1 or two questions but was met with too much chaff, j ] and as soon as possible he made good his escape.

[ Penarth Election Notes.