The Tenby Observer Weekly List of Visitors and Directory

THE REPRESENTATION OF THE PEM- BROKE BOROUGHS. LORD CHARLES BERESFORD BEFORE THE ELECTORS. MEETING AT PEMBROKE. Lord Charles Beresford, the Conservative candi- date for the Pembroke Boroughs, addressed a meeting at Pembroke on Monday evening. In the absence of Lord Emlyn who was an- nounced to preside, but who was prevented from doing so by the indisposition of Lady Emlyn, the chair was occupied by Colonel Leach. On entering the room, which was densely packed, his Lordship received quite an ovation. His Lordship said lie was very much obliged for the manner in which he had been received. He had heard mention of the little ship of which he had the honour to command, and he felt that the cheer which had been given was not so much in- tended for the Condor but for the service to which he belonged, for whenever the navy was mentioned their countrymen were always ready to give them a cheer. When he received the letter asking him to become the candidate for the Borough he de- murred for some time, because he thought a local gentleman would be best to represent them, as the interests were rather conflicting, not being alike throughout the Boroughs. However, he looked at the matter again, and seeing that their requisition was of so unanimous a character, he felt that he could not refuse, and determined to come down to see them. (A Voice: "We will elect you, too.") He was one of those men who did not believe in abuse of eithet a man or a party and he also ob- jected to such a man as Mr Bright using his splen- did abilities in merely attacking the House of Lords. A great many of the things which had been done by the present Administration were certainly not of a nature which they had been instructed to re- gard as Liberal. It was an experimental Govern- ment. Like all other experiments the experiments of the Government had cost a good deal of money; and, in addition, they had not been very satisfac- tory. Proceeding to speak of the Irish question his lordship said, as an Irishman, he had no little in- terest in the country where he was born; and with regard to the state of that country he felt that, apart from party matters, he was very much pained at the state of that country. (Cheers.) Having gone through the course which matters in that country had taken, his lordship said the circum- stances which led to the extreme coercive measures were undoubtedly the fault of the Government. The Government had given concessions and encour- agement to the agitators they had not repressed the men who were leading the agitation and the men who were advocating crime as the way of getting that agitation listened to. The agitatiou began with the cry for Home Rule, and he had never heard anyone yet who could tell him what Home Rule was, excepting a plough boy, who de- scribed it as being the abolition of everything, and 5s. a day. His Lordship then dealt with the leading questtons of the day, and concluded by making a strong protest against the way in which the Navy was managed. A hearty vote of approval in Lord Charles's candidature was passed, on the motion of Alderman George, seconded by Colonel Saurin, and supported by Mr Philipps. of Picton Castle. A vote of thanks to the chairman was passsd. and the meeting closed. MEETING AT TENBY. On Tuesday evening Lord Charles Beresford attended at the Royal Assembly Rooms, and delivered an address to the Conservative Electors of the Borough. There was a large attendance, the floor of the hall being quite filled, while the galleries were occupied with ladies. Sir Charles's appearance on the platform was the signal for loud and long-continued cheers, the audience rising I'li.-mansf. He was accompanied by Sir William Milman, Bart. the Rev. George Huntington, Rector; Mr C. E. G. Philipps, Picton Castle Mr R. Lock, Dr. Douglas Reid, Captain Westby, Dr. J. Griffith Lock, Mr R. Walcott, Mr Owen George, Plascrwn Mr D. 1. Ackland, Mr S. H. Owen, St. Mary's Hill General Graves, Mr T. H. Thomas, Mr Corke, Mr Jas. Morris, &c. Captain Brook occupied the chair, and stated that in the absence of Mr W. H. Richards and Mr Levett, the President and Vice-president of the Conservative Association, he had much pleasure in introducing Lord Charles to the electors. The meet- ing was one, however, for Conservatives, but Liberals were welcome upon the condition that by their conduct they gave no offence. If they did not observe that rule they must leave the room. (Cheers.) He then called upon Lord Charles Beres- ford to address the meeting. Lord C. Beresford, who was received with very great applause, said when he consented to be a candidate he was surprised at his own temerity, because he was going to try to take the seat from a gentleman whose named he heard on all hands mentioned with great respect. Yet however much they might admire the man, in politics personal feeling ought to have no weight. (Applause.) A great deal was said against sailors talking about the foreign policy of the Government, but he thought they were very good judges of the foreign policy. Abroad sailors often ran across the policy of the Government and saw its .effects. (Hear, hear.) Other remarks were made concerning him to which he did not object. He had been told that one man, when he saw him (Lord Charles) said he was a pretty fellow to be a candidate for he had ahead like that of a boiled bull-dog. (Laughter and ap- plause.) He did not object to that; in fact he agreed with him, but it would not prevent him saying what he thought. (Prolonged cheers.) In the remarks he was about to make he wished it to be understood that he believed, and always had believed, that abuse was ho argument. He liked to state his own opinion strongly, but he did not think it added to an argument to abuse the Govern- ment who carried out a policy in opposition to his views. They were the Government of the country, and they did what they believed to be best in the interests of the country; and although he would criticise most strongly what he did not agree with, he was of opinion that it was only fair to give his opponents credit for doing what they could for the country and not for themselves. He was going to talk of the foreign policy of the Government. That policy might not appear to be of local interest, but the foreign policy had a great deal to say to local interests, because the respect paid to the English flag was the measure of English trade, and every place was more or less affected by trade. (Cheers.) He proposed to lay before the meeting what had occurred during the last few years, and to state his view of it, and to let the opposition answer if they could. In the first place, a little before the year 1880, in what I may describe as the most magnifi- cent and successful raid on Midlothian, many promises were made which have not been carried out. In that year the Liberal party came into power resolved to undo the policy of the previous administration as much as possible, and as a com- mencement the British troops were ordered to leave Afghanistan. But before they did so the real justi- fication of the policy which had led to the war was made manifest by the discovery at Cabul of secret papers, showing that the Russian agents had been in treaty with the Afghans. Referring to Ireland. he said he did not think anybody--whether Con- servative, Liberal or Radical--considered that its condition was satisfactory; but he would show that the country got into the state it was in, and had to be coerced by the most violent bill which had ever been put into force in any country, entirely through the action of the Liberal Govern- ment. In 1880 the Peace Preservation Bill, which was to protect law and order, lapsed. Now a bill of that description is always necessary in Ireland, let it be as mild as it may. But the Act was allowed to lapse, and outrages increased enor- mously, until at last the country was thoroughly roused by the Phoenix Park murders. Then the Government introduced the Crimes Act—an Act, the stringency of which has never been equalled in any country not under martial law. He did not say it was not necessary to introduce that Act then, but he did say that the circumstances which brought it about were through the action of the Government. As to the Kilmainham Treaty, the speaker con- demned the arrangement in strong terms. Mr Gladstone declared that there was no treaty or agreement, and he believed him. If Mr Parnell had made an agreement with the Government, the Irish would not have had him as a leader but there was an understanding. That understanding had never been properly threshed out, for the Conservatives had not brought it before the coun- try, because it occurred just before the horrible double murder at Dublin. The Conservatives said, "We will not hamper the Government, but will assist them all we can to secure law and order in Ireland." (Applause.) He was not an advocate of coercion, because the Irish were a curious people, and he was one of them. (Laughter.) They wanted a very firm hand in the government, and a scheme to bring out the industries of the coun- try. (Cheers.) Quiet and order would never be restored to Ireland as long as sops were thrown out to them. (Applause.) Referring to the Suez Canal, the speaker commented upon the proposal of the Government to give eight millions of English money to a foreign company without English con- trol to make a canal for them. When that was proposed the people got up, and it was snuffed out in 24 hours. (Applause.) There was a difficulty in regard to the canal, because they had three eminent lawyers on one side, who said M. Lesseps had a monoply, and three other lawyers held a contrary view. His idea was that England should buy up the shares of the present company in the market before they became more valuable, obtain voting power, and by this means reduce the monstrous dues now levied or else they should propose a scheme to the French by which a new canal should be made, for passage through which English vessels should be charged the fair dues now charged to French vessels. (Applause.) Dealing with the Transvaal fiasco, the speaker said the transactions there made an Englishman blush. The Queen's speech had declared that there was a mutiny, and within eight weeks the troops were ordered out of the country, having sustained several defeats, and the last and worst defeat had actually been upon British territory. They were ordered out when they had actually surrounded the Boers, and could have wiped out the shame with a bloodless victory. Dealing with Egypt, he said that many Liberals had told him that they had to wipe their eyes and look at their creed when the Government started the Egyptian war, and that their views as to oppressed nationalities had been considerably dimmed since the Egyptian war. This war was with the oppressed people of Egypt, who were headed by peasants and fellaheen who had strong radical desires for reform of some kind. The re- forms asked for were so necessary that the British Minister looked upon them in a more or less favour- able light. Being an Englishman he hoped to get the reforms these men asked for. but the thing got too big, and it was telegraphed that there was a rising among the troops which amounted to a revo- lution. The British Government then sent a small squadron. Now people in the East do not believe in small squadrons, and they said England is governed by a Liberal Government, and the chief of the Cabinet is the champion of oppressed nationalities, and it includes men who will fight under no possible circumstances. This he knew as a fact was what they believed from conversations he himself had had with the people. They never believed that force was intended, or that we should fire upon Alexandria. If a big fleet instead of a small squadron had been sent they would have believed in our earnestness, and war would have been avoided. The small squadron only irritated them, and people were then beaten to death with sticks and shillelaghs in Alexandria. The fleet was then sent,, and the bombardment commenced. If the fleet had gone there before, there would have been no war, but after the Bulgarian atrocity agitation, he could not see how the Government could go to war with the Egyptians, who were the acme of an oppressed nationality. But notwith- standing the extraordinary luck which attended the political adventure of the Government, and their having started the very reforms which Arabi aimed at, the Cabinet were going to throw all the advantages to the dogs, call the troops out of Egypt, leave it to be a school for intrigue, and thus the results of all the force and blood and money which had been spent would not be worth a duck's egg. (Applause.) The Cete- wayo incident having been noticed, the noble lord referred to the army, which, he said, was not at all in a satisfactory condition. That was a result of the measures of the Liberal Government. The Liberals had introduced changes, and the Conservatives had carried them out, because they were not like their opponents, and did not aim to undo all that their predecessors had done. (Hear hear.) The navy was certainly not in the position which he would like to see it. He had been blamed for saying that this was the fault of both governments, and had been told he should blame the Liberals for it; but he repeated what he had said, that both Governments, or rather ths country, were to blame for the state of the navy, If they wanted to keep the navy in the condition it should be—to protect and feed the country in time of war-it should be double what it was. He had said that for a great many years, and he repeated it, and as far as his humble en- deavours- went he would strive to increase it. England lived by the navy; the whole wealth, honour, and safety of the nation depended upon it. The French vessels lay off Sfax, in Tunis, the other day, and took it at a distance of five miles. English vessels had no guns to carry five miles. The French navy was better; ship for ship it was more numerous; and class for class if was infinitely superior. It was no use disguising those things, because they were perfectly true. (Cheers.) In these days naval war became to a very great extent a question of electricity, and the man who could get his ship out of Portsmouth harbour ten minutes earlier than another would perhaps save the country three millions. He would give his ideas as to its improvement at the Pembroke-Dock meeting to-morrow night. (Applause.) Affairs in India threatened a white mutiny. They knew what a black mutiny was, and he did not expect a white one would be much better. The question of finance was one of great difficulty, and he would not indulge in figures because he might make a mistake. But one of the great levers which the Liberals used at the last Election was the cry of extravagance in the money affairs of the country. What has been the result of the Liberals' professed economy? They find it takes them more money than the Conservatives. Where is the "Retrenchment" of their great motto—"Peace, Retrenchment, and Reform?" The actual facts are more money. He did not say that in this great country the expenditure should not increase. It must do so as we go on. But it is hard, and not fair, that the Liberals should charge the Conserva- tives with extravagance and when they come into power spend more money than they did. He held that the Liberal watchword of "Peace, Retrench- ment, and Reform," was one more applicable to the Conservative party. Take "Peace" first of all. Europe knows that when a Conservative Govern- ment is in power they will insist on having the British flag respected. Then if a small dinghy carries the British flag at the masthead, it is known that the power of England lies behind it. It is not so when a Liberal Administration is at the helm. They think, as the Egyptians did, that they do not mean to fight. Now look at the other policy as exemplified by Mr Disraeli in 1878. (Loud cheers.) His message to the country was correctly under stood when it was said— "We don't want to fight, But by jingo if we do," for England took a determined stand, and said she would fight, and when she says so she will. That line of policy saves England many a million. It is a strong, honest line, and although our opponents said the Conservatives were full of bounce it saved the country from a terrible war. This is how Russia was going to fight. She was going to send off ships that could go Hi knots, and would sink our commerce. The insurance would then become enormous, and as we are dependent to a great extent upon foreign countries for our bread the price would have risen to starving point. But the war was avoided through the Conservative Government taking a firm stand, and that is the true policy which results in Peace," and not the policy of the present Government which leads to "War." So much for the first two articles of the "Peace Retrenchment and Reform." motto. As to the third it is a great mistake to suppose that u Conservatives are opposed to all extension of the franchise when they can see that by so doing intelligent and responsible voters will be added, and voters who will regard their votes as a trust. They do object to an extension of the franchise for the purpose of admitting incompetent persons to swamp the intelligence of the country. In conclusion he would say that whenever the present Government had interferred, whether in foreign countries or in Ireland, there has been anarchy and confusion, and a loss of respect for the English flag and English might which we have a right to expect. No French Admiral would have dared to have treated a German or American in the way Mr Shaw had been treated. England lives by prestige and respect for contracts, and when one or the other is lost he would not describe where England would go to. He understood their local interests were dependent upon the development of Milford and Pembroke Dock, but he hoped they would excuse his speaking on that point that evening. If they were satisfied with the present condition of the country they would vote for the present amiable and excellent member, but if not, he hoped they would'return a Conservative member at the next election. (Loud applause.) The Rev. Geo. Huntington then rose to move a resolution to the effect that Lord Charles Beresford was a fit and proper person to represent the Pem- broke Boroughs, and in doing so stated that if it was not his firm conviction that great principles were at stake he would not have been upon the platform. The principles in question were no less than the maintenance of the constitution of England, which had been the result of the united wisdom of generation after generation of sensible Englishmen. It was represented by the three Estates of the Realm, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, under Her Majesty, who is over all causes supreme. He then spoke of the agitation to abolish the House of Lords, and complained that that body was not fairly treated in the way in which Bills were sent up to them so late in the Session as to tender a full consideration of them impossible, and he said that thus a great deal of useless and inferior legislation became law. He also referred to the attacks made upon the estab- lishment of the Church of England, and said that whilst the harm which would result in populous centres would be comparatively trifling, as the people would have no difficulty in maintaining their services as they now had them, yet that in small country places where the clergyman was too often the only man to stand between the oppressed and the oppressor, and where he was pre-eminently the friend of the poor, the loss to the people would be disastrous. In conclusion he urged the meeting to accept the candidature of the noble and gallant lord, who he was sure would maintain the integrity of the Constitution, and who by his bravery in saving three lives, and by his well-known conduct in the recent Fg/ptian war, had proved himself possessed of courage and ability, and by his speech that evening had shown that he took a just and true grasp of the political situation. (Applause.) Mr Thomas H. Thomas briefly seconded the resolution, stating that he had been requested to do so as a representative of the trade of Tenby. The motion was therefore put to the meeting, and the Chairman declared that it was perfectly unanimous. Mr. C. E. G. Phillips moved a vote of thanks to the chairman, and in doing so remarked, as an old campaigner in the County, and as a supporter of former Conservative Candidates in the Boroughs, that he never before witnessed a more enthusiastic and unanimous meeting. He looked upon it as a good omen for the principles they had at heart, and hoped that when the time came for them to fight the battle the noble lord who had just addressed them would be at the head of the poll. (Cheers.) Dr. Douglas A. Reid in seconding the vote of thanks to the chairman, said he had heard it often remarked it was no use for a Conservative to con- test these Boroughs-they were Liberal-and to do so was only to court defeat. He denied this, and from statistics he had looked up before coming to the meeting, he thought he should not only be able to show that a Conservative had a chance of carrying the seat, but that with preparation and energy, they would be able to return their candidate. In the General Election of 1857 Sir John Owen -a gentleman highly esteemed by both parties- walked over and he did the same thing at the General Election of 1859. In the following year Sir John died, and his son (Sir Hugh Owen) came forward. He was opposed by Mr -Meyrick, then a very young man, who had recently come into the neighbourhood. But Sir Hugh only beat Mr Meyrick by 85 votes. In the General Election of 1866, a Mr Hardwick came down to contest the seat against Sir Hugh. But before the day of election he issued a retiring address, yet at the poll he secured a large number of votes, although he had retired from the contest. In 1868 Mr Meyrick again contested the seat, and beat Sir Hugh Owen by 270 votes. At the General Election of 18/4 Mr Reed came forward and op- posed Mr Meyrick. That election however was not fought on political grounds. Mr Reed made promises to the electors in the shape of new docks and higher wages, in fact quite a golden age for the artizan and labouring classes was to follow if he was returned to. Parliament. They now knew what those promises amounted to. Yet he only beat Mr Meyrick by' 29 votes. Then came the General Election of 1880. There was considerable hesitation on the part of the Conservatives in bring- ing out a candidate at this election. First of all a certain Captain Field came down, looked around, and retired. Then Mr Puxley was spoken about and came down here. Last of all Mr Meyrick was induced to come forward. But what was the use then after their opponents had canvassed the districts. Yet with all these very great draw- backs Mr Meyrick was beaten by only 33 votes. He (the speaker) declined to believe there was not a good prospect of returning their candidate, but to make that return certain it rested with the Conservative party, by organising themselves in time and being prepared for the contest. He con- cluded by seconding the vote of thanks to the Chairman. (Cheers.) The Chairman briefly replied, and the proceed- ings terminated with three cheers for Lord Charles Beresford.