The Glamorgan Gazette

CONSERVATIVE MASS MEETING AT BRIDGEND. — SPEECH BY LORD DUNRAVEN. THE LORDS AND THE PEOPLE. MUMMIFIED MINISTERS." The Bridgend Town-hall was crowded with an enthusiastic audience on Saturday afternoon on the occasion of a Conservative mass meeting. There were those of the opinion that an afternoon meeting would ensure a small attendance, but such was not the case, as the hall was crowded to its utmost limit, and there were several of the opposite party present. Prior to the meeting, Lord Dunraven was entertained at luncheon by the members of the Conservative Club, Mr F. W. Nicholls, of Wyndham-street, catering in an admirable manner. Lord Dunraven, who is president of the Club, presided, and he was supported by the Rev C. R. Knight, Mr J. Edwards Vaughan, Mr W. Riley, Mr John Nicholl, &c. At the con- clusion of the repast, his Lordship proposed the toast "Our Queen and Church," which was loyally drunk. Mr W. McGaul proposed the health of Lord Dunraven. He was one of the representatives of the House of Lords, that Chamber which the Radicals threatened to abolish. He (the speaker) believed that event to be a long way off, and, if it was attempted, they would find an army of brave helpers rise up and help to keep the slates on. (Applause.) He asked them to drink most enthusiastically the health of Lord Dunraven. their president, and he hoped he would live long to occupy a seat in that Chamber, which they, as Conservatives, would always help to sustain. (Cheers.) The toast was drunk with much cheering and the singing of He's a jolly good fellow." Lord Dunraven returned thanks, and alluded to the remarks of Mr McGaul with reference to the abolition of the House of Lords. He said, far from its being in a dying condition or even weak and sickly, it had taken a fresh lease of life since the agitation made against it. (Cheers.) If the Radicals decided to abolish the House of Lords they might find themselves in a difficulty, as they could not create any peers. (Laughter and applause.) A baronetcy was very well in its way, or even a knighthood, but the promise of a peerage was more likely to open the hearts and the pursestrings, and the probability was that the Radical leaders would re-consider their opinions on the subject. (Hear, hear.) In conclusion, he proposed "Success to the Bridgend Conservative Club." He was glad to find the club was such a great success, that it was in a sound financial position, and that it was increasing in member- ship. (Cheers.) It was growing and becoming of considerable power, and he hoped it would become a still greater power for good. (Hear, hear.) It was difficult to over-estimate the value of clubs of that kind. They were institutions where politics and social life and intercourse were intermixed, and a very good thing that was. He believed and hoped that they exercised a large and beneficial influence, not only in that district, but throughout the country generally. (Hear, hear.) He wished he could have seen a gentleman present that day as candidate for South Glamorgan, and he hoped that the deficiency which existed would soon be remedied. tChecrs.) The toast was cordially drunk. Mr R. C. Griffiths responded, and said on behalf of the committee and members he begged to thank them most sincerely for the way they had received the toast. The committee had done what they could to spread the light of Conservatism in Bridgend and district, and it was pleasant to think that their efforts bad been appreciated. There were gentlemen present that day whom they would be glad to see oftener, and who would be welcomed at their political and social gatherings. Every facility would be afforded for the convenience and accommodation of members, and the committee were at present considering a scheme for the extension of the club premises by the taking in of the ground floor. -He was proud to think the club was composed mainly of the Conservative working men of Bridgend. (Applause). After making a reference to the formation of a library, Mr Griffiths said he hoped they would one and all work shoulder to shoulder for the extension of .the influence of the club, and the furthering of the cause of Conservatism in the district. (Applause.) The proceedings then terminated, and the company adjourned to the Town-hall. THE MASS MEETING. It was a few minutes after three o'clock when Colonel Franklen took the chair at the mass meeting at the Town-hall, and he was supported on the right by the Earl of Dunraven and Mr John Edwards-Vaughan (candidatefor Mid-Glamorgan), and on the left by the Rev C. R. Knight. Amongst others on the platform were Colonel Wright (Gowerton), Messrs J. D. Nicholl, E. Knox (Margam), J. M. Randall, R. K. Prichard, J. E. Moore (Neath). Robert Evads. L. D. Nicholl, T. M. Price, J. C. Coath, G. F. Lambert, S. H. Stockwood, R. C. Griffiths, W. M'Gaul, J. Deere, jun., G. B. Nicholl and 1). W. Nicholl (Ham), J. Sankey (Bridgend), W. E. Bradshaw, W. E. Lewis and W. Riley. Amongst others present were the Rev F. W. Edmondes, the Rev E. Jenkins (Llan- mihangel), the Rev C. LI. Llewellin (Coychurch), Mrs Booker, Mrs J. D. Nicholl, Mrs T. T. Lewis, the Misses Knight, Mrs Hood, Miss Nicholl, Mrs and Miss Prichard, Miss Warlow, Miss Deacon, Mrs J. C. Nicholl, the Misses Stockwood, Mrs Herdman, Mrs Coath, Mrs W. R. Randall, MrsT. H. Smith, Mrs House, Messrs R. L. Knight, D R. David (Margam), W. Hopkin, W. Howells (Wick), J. H. Thomas (Maeeteg), T. Thomas (Cowbridge), H. Hayden (Port Talbot), T. G. Smith, O. Sheppard, Dr Hood, F. Rogers ,'i'orthcawl), T. Jones (Maesteg), J. Holmes (Cardiff), J. Muir (Margam), Jacob Jenkins, D. Jenkins (Porth), Lloyd Evans (Tondu), Wm Williams, R H. Hughes (Cowbridge), Edward .Jenkins, W. Buckley, W. Bradshaw, and James I) ivies. The gallant Chairman said his Lordship who v.M about to address them required no introduc- tion. He hoped there would not be more disturbance than was necessary. (Hear, hear.) Lord Dunraven, who was received with cheers, fid id it gave him great pleasure in discussing political matters at home, in his own neighbourhood an;! among his own friends. (Hear, bear.) If there were time, he might occupy a considerable number of years in discussing the items in the Imdical programme. It was calculated by the Prime Minister that it would take 30 years for a Government in office tLe whole time to pass all the measures in the Radical programme, and it wonld t-tke at least half that time for him to adequately discuss the various items included in that pro- gramme. He was not going to undertake a gigantic task of that kind, but he should like to say a word or two about some of the notable items in the programme. In the first place, it was, surely, a rather remarkable fact that there was no mention made whatever, not even a sympathetic voice raised on behalf of what was. after all, the first, and, in many respects, the greatest industry in the country » and that was agriculture. (Cheers.) Agriculture was in a declining condition, and, instead of exciting sympathy and apprehension on the part of the present Government, it seemed, if anything to excite delight in their eyes because one of the partners engaged in agriculture-that was, the landlord-was suffering severely. The House of Lords had attempted to do A LITTLE FOR AGRICULTUBB, something for the people. He would re-call to their recollection when, on the debate on the Address last session, an amendment was moved by Mr Howtfrd Vincent to deal with the depressed state of agriculture, that amendment was opposed by the Government and negatived. In April Major Rasch moved an adjournment in order to discuss an Act for the relief of agriculture. That was opposed by the Government and negatived. In June a motion was made to discuss Mr Brindle's report on the state of agriculture in Essex, where 45 square miles of land had gone out of cultivation and become waste land. Sir William Harcourt, how- ever, said there was nothing to be done, and it was only a waste of time to discuss such a trivial matter as that. Well, the list was not yet exhausted. They knew that whenever they talked about depression in agriculture and the disastrous effect it had the farmers were told that if they could not grow wheat they should grow fruit and make jam. (Laughter). A motion was made to apply the provisions of the Margarine Act in that case, so that people should know whether they were eating English jam or foreign jam, or whether tney were paying for English fruit or foreign fruit. That was absolutely ridiculed by the Government and negatived also. Mr Jesse Collings brought in a Bill to promote education amongst labourers' children. That was opposed by the Government, and had to be abandoned also. That was a pretty long list of attemrts that had been made by Her Majesty's Opposition to do something for the declining industry of agriculture. On every occasion they had been met with contempt and A EHFTTSAL TO LISTEN on the part of Her Majesty's Government. The condition of agriculture was a serious matter. He was looking the other day to see how far it could be put into the shape of statistics, and he found that between 1883 and 1893 the amount of land in corn crops that had gone out of cultivation was 1,150,000 acres, and 700 acres that were growing green crops, That had gone out of cultivation and had gone back into waste. They could not express in figures what the loss to the country statistics of that kind meant. To put it at the very lowest calculation there were at least 1,200,000 or 1,300,000 people living directly, absolutely, getting their bread from agriculture. There were at least seven or eight millions of people indirectly living on agriculture, and, besides that vast multitude, there were all the distributors—all the shopkeepers especially, and small shopkeepers, whose business depends on the prosperity of agri- culture. Jt was impossible to conceive what the loss meant to the country, and difficult to estimate what the loss meant to this town of Bridgend, as to whether agriculture was or was not in a thriving condition. When a gigantic national matter of that kind was treated in the kind of off-hand way in which it was treated by the Government, he did not think that any man who had got the welfare of his country at heart could think that the country^ wag giving proper attention to great national concerns Of course the great set-off that was always men- tioned was that we had the inestimable advantage of cheap food, but it was not all advantage, because a large sum paid in wages to agriculture was being diverted from the United Kingdom to foreign countries. That amount, at any rate, was a dead loss to the country-(hear, hear)-because wages that were paid in the United Kingdom circulated in the United Kingdom. They went from the labourer to the shopkeeper and the manufacturer, and so on, and they created trade throughout the country. He was afraid it was impossible to carry a very en- couraging message to the British farmer. He knew that some people thought that the present condition of things was extraordinarily bad, and that the prices that prevailed were abnormally low, and could not last. It was perfectly true that what had principally broken down the prices in respect to wheat he believed to be the imports from South America, and it was equally trqe that that trade was carried on on A TOTALLY UNSOUND BASIS. The currency which was equivalent to £ 2 10s. in Argentine paper currency was worth only about LI, and, as long as that state of things existed, it gave the grower and exporter of wheat an enormous advantage (hear, hear). Fortunately, it was im- possible that that paper currency could maintain itself at that ratio, and he thought he could fairly assume that before long the importation from America at abnormally low prices—prices that would not pay—would break down (cheers). Many remedies were suggested for depression in agricul. ture. Some people talked about protection, others about bi-metallism, but he did not himself think that they were very practical remedies. They might be sound, and they might be not, but, at any rate, they did not come within the purview of practical politics at the present time. Some things might be done to assist agriculture which both parties in the State were imbued with a desire to see carried out. One of these was fair rates for British as for foreign produce (cheers). It was rather a remarkable thing that the freight for bacon, for butter, cheese and other dairy produce which was imported at Southampton Docks to London, was 6s. per ton, while the freight for British produce of the same class from Southampton town, which made the dis- tance about 100 yards more, was 17s. Id. (shame). It cost more to carry meat from the North of England to London than from the United States of America to London. Take again hops. The charge from Southampton Docks to London was 6s. a ton, but from Andover, eleven miles less, it was 30s. a ton. Wheat from Sydney could be delivered in London for the same freight as from Lancashire. Was that, he asked, fair to the British producer ? (no, and cheers). The British grower should be put on A LEVEL WITH THE FOREIGN COMPETITOR: he asked for nothing more (cheers). Again, the general system in this country was not to tax raw material, but did not agricultural land bear the greatest taxation of anything in the country ? It bore nearly the whole weight, and the result was that it was the industry which was failing most in the country. He did not think they should ask for protection, but he did say that the British farmer and the British landowner and the British labourer had a right to demand that his industry should be placed upon fair terms, and that the raw material should not be taxed to death. Mr John Morley said that if we taxed an industry the tax ultimately fell upon the labourer, and the labourer should remem- ber that if agricultural produce is placed in an unfair condition the tax ultimately fell upon him. He would like to see this this national question of agriculture discussed as a question of such magni- tude ought to be discussed. But what did they find? The Radicals almost openly gloating over the fact that agriculture was dying ("No, no," and cheers). It was not absolutely dying, perhaps, but sick, because the landlords were singled out as a class which was to be ruined. What did Sir Wilfrid Lawson say at Cardiff ? Thank heaven the late Budget will reduce dukes to the position of paupers." He did not know whether Sir Wilfrid had a dislike to dukes, but, if so, he was perfectly right to have it, but what good was it to the State to turn a duke into a pauper? (cheers). There might be some good in turning a pauper into a duke, but he did not hold with the Radical system of trying to reduce everybody down to the lowest possible denomination (cheers). His idea of legis- lation was that they should do what they could to I enable a man to raise himself (cheers). The Radicals were anxious that landowners should be ruined by hundreds and thousands. In the Eastern Counties they were almost ruined wholesale. Did they suppose the industry was. not conducted the same as any other industry P Men who owned land wanted to make as much as they could out of it, and not an inch had gone out of cultivation that could be cultivated at a profit. The simple reason why land went out of cultivation was that it did not pay to cultivate it, but they were told by Radicals that th3 landlords were responsible. Under the same tenure as now existed the land of this country was made to blossom like a garden. It was made to grow more to the acre than the land of any country in the world. Under these circumstances it was legitimate to say, Unless you can prove that the land can be better cultivated under some other system of tenure there is nothing amiss with land tenure in this country" (cheers). Such questions as allotments and small tenancies were very excel- lent things. He thought it was a very good thing that labourers should have allotments, and he should only be too delighted if the small holders in the country could be enormously strengthened and multiplied (cheers). Nothing that the state could do in the direction of allotments or in the direction of increasing the number of small freeholders would make it pay to grow wheat where it could not be grown at a profit at the present price. What was our present system ? Well, roughly speaking, there were THREE PARTIES INTERESTED in agricultural land. There was the owner of the land, who put in the main portion of the capital, and there was no industry in the country in which the capitalists would be coni ent with the same rate of profit with which landlords were content for their agricultural land. He should think any land- owner would be very pleased if his land brought him 11 or 2 per cent. on the amount be sank in it. Was there any other industry in the country where the capitalist only got 2 per cent. on his capital ? Then, there was the tenant farmer, who supplied capital, supervision, technical skill, industry, and talent. He did not know what his profits were. They were very small indeed, and he was afraid the tenant farmer was only too glad in 99 cases out of 100 if he could make two ends meet, and if he could carry on without making any appreciable profit at all (cheers). Then, they had the agricultural labourer, whose capital was his bone and muscle and industry, and who put his capital into the land in that shape. Up to the present he certainly had not suffered as much as the other two partners in the concern but he had suffered. He had been driven from his occupation into the great towns to compete with the labour there, and, not being able to com- pete in the skilled labour market, he was forced to take up with any kind of labour that he could find in the unskilled labour market. He was competing with the wages in the great towns, and his wages were not going up in his own business of agricul- ture. He (the speaker) was afraid as time went on, if matters did not mend, that the agricultural labourer would find the truth of Mr Morley's. words—that if they taxed industry, and if the industry was in a bad condition, the evil results would fall ultimately upon the labourer (cheers). It seemed to him that, under the circumstances of that condition, the one great thing they who were in- terested in agriculture were to do was to TRT AND PULL TOGETHER, work harmoniously and happily together, do the best they could to help each other, and he thought they ought to rely on the State doing anything they could to help them (hear, hear). But they were placed under considerable difficulties. Certainly, the landlord, the farmer, and thtt labourer did not get any very great encouragement from the Radical party to work harmoniously and happily together. It appeared, on the contrtiry-be supposed he was mistaken—(laughter)—as if the Radical party were most anxious to do anything they possibly could to set the landlord and tenant by the ears, and do everything they could to stir up animosity between them. They had had a Land Commission in Wales. He did not know whether any of them had read the evidence before the Land Commission. He had not read it all-he should have been in a lunatic asylum long since—(laughter)—but, as far as he could make out, the inquiry was not directed in the least to try and find out the cause of agricultural depression in Wales, or whether there was any agricultural depression, and, if there was, if there was any remedy. As far as he could gather, the majority of the members of the Commission had certain definite opinions of their own as to certain changes that ought to be made, and they directed the whole of their inquirieo to try and back up their pre-con- ceived opinions by the evidence they could manage to screw out of the people who came before them (cheers). He had no doubt his Radical friends would be delighted by the inevitable result of the condition of agriculture if matters did not mend. One thing waa perfectly certain, that it meant ruin to the landed gentry of Great Britain, and he, for one was sorry for it. Other people would come in and get historical mansions, and beautifully-situated estates would be bought by Colonists and Americans, as many had been already. In his humble opinion, the ruin of the landed gentry of England would be AN IRREPARABLE MISFORTUNE TO THE STATE of Great Britain. He did not believe that in any country that had ever existed there had been a class of men, taking them as a class, who had done their duty, to the best of their ability, to their country better than the landed gentry of the United King- dom (cheers). His lordship then proceeded to deal with the Irish question, and adversely criticised the intention of the Government to devote the time of Parliament to the discussion of another Land Bill declaring that the Government had showed them- selves utterly incapable of keeping their pledges in favour of repeal, and so they were trying to satisfy the Irish members by giving them another Land Bill (laughter). The only people who could possibly be hurt were the Irish landlords. They were very few now, they had got no political power, and could not turn a vote in the House of Commons, and the Government said, Let us have another cut at the Irish landlords, provided there is anything left to cut at" (laughter). He (Lord Dunraven) believed the salvation of Ireland was the re-introduction of private ownership in land. He hoped that the present Government, if it remained in office-which was not likely (cheers)-or the Unionist Govern- ment, when it got into power, would find a means to do something more practical in the way of en- couraging men to become owners of the land in Ireland. Discussing next the declaration of Mr Morley at Newcastle that the repeal of the Union was the only thing that held the field, Lord Dun- raven asked if that were so, why did not the Govern- ment appeal to the country when the House of Lords threw out the Home Rule Bill (cheers). If the Government considered the repeal was a right- eous policy for the country they ought to have appealed then and there to the people, and IF THE PEOPLE AGREED WITH THE GOVERNMENT the House of Lords would pass the Bill (cheers). The fact of the matter was that the Government dared not appeal to the country, and it looked very much as if they were afraid of the House of Lords. It did not matter what it looked like if it was the right thing to do. If they believed the prosperity of Ireland was to be secured by her being divorced from England, the question ought to be put to the people. Mr Morley now said it was a question of repeal or coercion. It would be wasting the time of the meeting and would be insulting to the intelli- gence of those present to deny that the existing law in Ireland was a coercive law. Everybody knew that it was the same as the Scotch law, and every- body knew it never coerced anybody except evil- doers. Mr Morley flattered himself that his reign in Ireland was benign, and that this state of things is brought about because the people have confidence in the Government, and think that some time or other they will get Home Rule. Mr Morley asked what was there in an Irishman which made him in- capable of self-government. He (Lord Dunraven) never heard anyone deny that an Irishman was oapable of self-government, and no one would refuse to grant Ireland the same measure of self-govern- ment as was enjoyed by Scotland and England and Wales (cheers). What they had said was, that it would not be right to entrust the lives and liberties and properties of the great industrial Protestant population of the North, and the few little scattered Methodist families in the South, to the dominion of the men who would rule in Ireland-men a great number of whom were proved guilty by three of the most eminent judges of the land of criminal con- spiracy, and men whose policy was now dictated by THE ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY. They had taken a very much larger view of the matter even than that. They had said that it was not for the benefit of Ireland that she should be divorced from England; that Ireland could not subsist if it was not for the assistance and succour that she received from her richer neighbours and she went on still wider grounds-that our nationality and Empire depended upon union, and that that was sufficient in itself to make repeal for ever impossible. (Cheers.) He did not know whether Mr John Morley was perfectly justified in looking upon himself, as he did, as a sort of angelic message to Ireland. (Laughter.) He should be very sorry to quote what his friends in Ireland said of him, because the language was exceedingly forcible and most unparliamentary (hear, hear). He (Lord Dunraven) knew something about Ireland, and if they were to poll Ireland from end to end to-morrow as to who should be the Chief Secretary-Mr John Morley or Mr Arthur Balfour (cheers)-he knew very well that Mr Balfour would come in at the head of the poll by an enormous majority (cheers). There was only one very hopeful thing thf.t he had noticed lately about Ireland, and that was some words that fell from the lips of Mr John Redmond. Now, he differed from Mr John Redmond in almost everything political, but he had a good deal of respect for him, because, according to his lights, he was a thoroughly honest man. Mr John Redmond said it was perfectly obvious that the Radical party could not give them repeal. They would not get what they wanted from the Radical patty-first of all. because it was very doubtful if the Radical party wished to give them repeal, and, secondly, because it was absolutely certain they had hot the power to give it them (laughter). Then he said, We can- not get repeal from the Unionist party, because they would never give it us but, as we cannot get it from either one or the other, don't you think it would be a wise and practical thing, and better for us, if a Government was in power that, at any rate, sympathises with Ireland, and from whom we can expect to receive practical benefits-not all that we want, not the repeal of the Union, but the practical benefits which we jderive from a wise and sympa- thetic Government-from the UNIONIST PARTY AND MR ARTHUR BAI.FOUR ?" (cheers). That, at any rate, was wise and common- sense, and he (Lord Dunraven) admired Mr Red- mond for saying so, and sincerely hoped that those wise words would bink into the hearts of his country- men, and that they would reflect and come to the conclusion that, if they could not get repeal from either political party, they should try and get into office that party which recognised the duties it owed to Ireland, and would bring them wise, beneficient, and sympathetic legislation (nheers). The head and front of the offending of the House of Lords was its action in regard to the Repeal Bill. It was not the duty of a Second Chamber to bring in legislation, but it had last session brought in a Bill to prevent the immigration of pauper aliens, with the object of protecting the British working man and woman. The House of Lords had also brought in a Bill pro- viding for the markiug of foreign goods and agricul- tural produce, but those Bills were not allowed to pass into law. The Lords were described as bloated aristocrats, mummies, and things of that sort. Since 1832, when the Government of .this country became the most democratic in the world, there had been seventeen Prime Ministers, eleven of whom were peers and six members of the House of Com- mons. It was a remarkable thing that during that time nineteen Foreign Secretaries were members of the House of Lords, and two members of the House of Commons. Nineteen peers had been Colonial Secretaries, while thirteen were members ef the House of Commons, and during that period THE COUNTRY HAD GOT ALONG VERY WELL. (cheers). Our colonies had grown into states under the supervision of those intelligent mummies, fossilised remains, and bloated aristocrats (cheers). It would be found that during the same period 166 of the mummies had sat in the House of Commons, and 141 had held high office. The agitation against the House of Lords was a bogus agitation, got up for the meanest of all purposes—political advantage, and he had not the slightest doubt in the world that the electors of this country would not allow the Government to tamper with the Constitution (cheers). Referring to the question of registration and one man one vote, Lord Dunraven said he saw no reason whatever why the period of qualification should not be shortened, but it ought to be shortened fairly. The Radicals said it ought to be shortened to three months prior to June 24th and December 25th. The effect of this as regards agriculturalists would be that any farmer entering in upon a holding would require nine months to get upon the register, whilst any labourer could be upon the register in three months. He simply put it to Radicals, as well as Unionists, was that fair ? (" No, no ") Was there any reason under heaven why the farmer should be put at a disadvantage as compared with the labourer ? That he knew was a Radical theorv w but his theory was that one man was as good as another (fcheers). They could not have one man one vote so long as they maintained the House of Commons in its present condition. The House of Commons was not merely an assemblage of re- presentatives of the who'e nation, but it was an assemblage of gentlemen who represented particular localities, and as long as they maintained the repre- sentation of localities they could not have one man one vote. In order to have one man one vote they must have equal electoral districts, and ONE VOTE ONE VALUE. Might he mention three constitupnces-one in Wales, one in England, and one in Scotland ? There was Cardiff with 18,415 electors, Wandsworth with 16,986 electors, and South Ayrshire with 15,284 electors. Let them compare them with Newry with 1,805, Kilkenny with 1,756 and Galway 1,821 electors. Did they think it fair that each of these boroughs should only have one man to represent them in the House of Commons ? (" No, no") He was born in Ireland, he had large interests in Ireland, and he had a very high opinion of Irish- men, but he was bound to say he did not really in his conscience believe that one Irishman was as good as eight Englishmen, nine Scotchmen, or ten Welshmen (laughter and cheers). Then there was the question of Local Veto, which he supposed was to be introduced into the next session of Parliament also. It struck him there would be some little hard fighting about that. He was not a Radical, and, therefore, he objected strongly to a measure which drew an invidious distinction between a rich man and a poor man. Not being a Radical, he did not believe it was right to deprive a poor man of his beer and allow a rich man to drink as much as ever he pleased (cheers). Being a Unionist and not being a Radical, he was opposed to the principle of takiug away people's property from them without giving them compensation (cheers). Those were objections that he really thought were sound and solid, and when they came to be considered by Radicals them. elves, would come home to them. He thought it would be A HARD FIGHT AND A LONG DAY before the Govenment succeeded in getting their Local Veto Bill through the House of Commons (cheers). The greatest measure of all that the Government had in their hands was the disestablish- ment of the Church. They might be perfectly certain of one thing, but they coull not confine the fight to the Principality of Wales. The position was thoroughly illogical and absurd, and it could not be done. It was a perfectly fair fight to say there should be no such thing as an Established Church. The Government knew they could not pass the measure which they put forward. It would take the strongest Government to pass anything like the present programme. After alluding to the bye- elections, his lordship said the Government had no desire to go to the constituences because it would result in their being removed from the very desirable position they now occupied ("No," and cheers). The people were getting frightened at the scarcely veiled attacks on property. They were getting tired of the promises which were never to be re- deemed. They were disgusted with the long pro- gramme of destructive and revolutionary measures, and he felt certain that the time would come when the good sense of Wales would prevail (cheers). Wales was as Radical as she was because SHr. WAS SO INTENSELY CONSERVATIVE. It was on the memory of Liberalism as it was 100 years ago, which brought them a good many things which they needed, that they now relied. When Wales woke up to the fact that it was living at the end of the ctntury, and not at the beginning, she would discover that all that was reasonable and good had left the Liberal party, and was to be found in the Unionist party. The tyranny of an in- dividual was always a tyranny tempered by a fear of assassination. The tyranny of a small majority of that kind was under no control whatever. The idea was absolutely foreign to this country-abso- lutely foreign to all the traditions of the Liberal party-that a small majority in the House of Com- mons had a perfect right to hold in the hollow of its hands the lives and properties of the whole com- munity. The idea that individuals and minorities had got no natural rights was absolutely new and subversive of the first principles of liberty, and he said that, even in comparison with the maintenance of the Union and the n aintenance of the integrity of the Empire, the Unionist party had even a more important mission before it, that of maintaining the rights and libertias of the people of the country. (Cheers.) He had no doubt what the result of the next election would be, and, in spite of what might seem a very discouraging position of affairs in the Principality of Wales, he was certain that the opinions of Wales would change, because he was certain of the rectitude of Unionist principles, and he believed that ultimately truih must prevail. (Loud cheers.) Mr Edwards-Vaughan, the Conservative can- didate for Mid-Glamorgan in opposition to Mr S. T. Evans, the present member, moved a vote of thanks to Lord Dunraven for his excellent speech, and made a brief speech, in the course of which he advocated the principles adduced by Lord Dunraven, and made a strong appeal in support of the House of Lords. Mr Riley seconded and said Lord Dunraven was in sympathy with all of them, and he referred at length to the able work done by the noble lord in connection with the sweating system. Refer- ring to the question of the diseetablishmenb of the Church in Wales, he said the Church had existed from Pagan times down to the present day. Lord Rosebery had said at Cardiff the other day that the Welsh Church was doomed, doomed, doomed," but he (the speaker) defied the Prime Minister (cheers). He referred to the Parish of Tythegstone, which, if the Church was disestab- lished and disendowed, would be left without a a resident minister. Mr Riley concluded by making an eloquent and urgent appeal to the Conservatives of the division to support by every means in their power those principles which were for the benefit of the country at large (cheers). Alderman John, of Cowbridge, asked to be allowed to ask a question of Lord Dunraven. The Chairman said the motion before the meet- ing was that their hearty thanks were accorded to Lord Dunraven for his admirable address. Lord Dunraven briefly returned thanks and said he should like particularly to thank those gentle- men present who did not agree with him on political matters, for their kind and courteous attention. He respected them for the opinions they held, and he hoped they respected him for his opinions (hear, hear). He had no doubt, how- ever, that they would change their minds by and bye it was only a question of time. He believed his friend Alderman John wanted to ask him some questions he should be only too glad to hear them, and answer them to the best of his ability I (cheers). Alderman John, in response to vociferous shouts of platform," ascended the structure, and said there was no one in the room more grateful to his lordship, for the noble work he had done in the cause of labour and the sweating system, than he (the speaker) was (cheers). He should like to ask Lord Dunraven if he could mention one country in the four quarters of the globe that was in a more flourishing condition than theirs was. The second question he should like to ask was as to whether his lordship did not consider the time had arrived when ground rents and royalties ought to be taxed (hear, hear). Lord Dunraven said he did not know that these questions were strictly regular, as he was not a candidate (hear, hear). The second question was a difficult and complicated one to answer off hand, but he did not think it affected them very much there. The question would require a considerable amount of research to answer in a satisfactory manner (hear, hear). With regard to the first question, he was not prepared to say offhand that there was a country better off financially than they were, but he believed there was. It was, however, very poor consolation, if he had a severe toothache, to say that there was somebody else with toothache equally bad (laughter). On the motion of Mr J. 1. D. Nicholl, J.P., seconded by Mr S. H. Stockwood, a cordial vote of thanks was accorded the Chairman, and an enthusiastic meeting concluded with the singing of the National Anthem. I