County Observer and Monmouthshire Central Advertiser Abergavenny and Raglan Herald Usk and Pontypool Messenger and Chepstow Argus

MONMOUTH BOROUGHS AND SOUTH MONMOUTHSHIRE. Enthusiastic Meeting at Monmouth. On Friday evening in last week a joint meeting of the Monmouth Boroughs and South Monmouth- shire Conservative Associations was held in the Rolls Hall, Monmouth, which was filled. Lord lilangattock, of The Hendre, presided, and amongst those on the platform were :-Lady Llangattock, the Hon. J. M. Rolls, Mr E. E. Micholls (the Conservative candidate for the Boroughs), Mrs and Miss Micholls, Lieutenaut- Colonel Courtenay Morgan (Conservative candidate for South Monmouthshire), Colonel Crompton. Roberts, Colonel Walwyn, Mr W. C. A. Williams, Mr A. Vizard, Mr F. Hobbs, Mr T. Hamilton Baillie (local sec.), &c. LORD LLANGATTOCK, I as usual, was given a hearty reception. At the outset his lordship read letters from Mr S. C. Bosanquet, J.P., and Dr T. G. Prosser, expressing Tegret at being unable to attend and the hope that the meeting would be a successful one, and that both candidates would be returned with triumphant majorities. (Applause.) The noble Chairman then thanked the Committee for asking him to take the chair on that most important occasion. They were on the eve of a great battle, he said. They had come there to meet two Conservative and Unionist candidates—Lieutenant-Colonel Courtenay Morgan for South Monmouthshire, and Mr E. E. Micholls for the Monmouth Boroughs- both of whom had been unanimously adopted. (Cheers.) There was no need of introductions that night. Colonel Courtenay Morgan was very well known to them all—(hear, hear)—and he was a chip of a very good old block. (Cheers.) He was making a splendid candidate, and all were delighted with his manly speech at Newport on the previous Wednesday. They knew that they could always trust him, and that he would ever support State and Church. (Cheers.) If South Monmouthshire only remained true to the old traditions, very soon they would have him as their member. (Cheers.) Mr Micholls came to them as a stranger now he might call him a man of many friends. (Cheers.) He had made his home in Monmouthshire, and he and his excellent good wife, by many kindly actions, had made themselves most popular in Monmouthshire. (Cheers.) Again, in North Monmouthshire, they had a splendid fighter, in Admiral Sir Charles Campbell, who had fought in the Navy well, and would make a good fight politically. (Cheers.) THEY WANTED GOOD MEN -now, for a great crisis was before the country. Home Rule was in the air, and he hoped it would remain up there. Before they had Home Rule he thought they would like to know who were going "to be the rulers of the home. Was it to be a Redmond or a Healy, or the one who encouraged the midnight murders? Were the rulers to be some of the agitators who had for so many years ,destroyed the peace and comfort and pleasure of Ireland? He thought the world had had quite enough opportunity of studying Irish management of Irish affairs, the use of blackthorns, and the shooting down of poor tenants who were honest enough to wish to pay their rents. (Hear, hear.) Then, again, what would the Colonies say ? What, would India and Australia think of us if we could not manage Ireland ? Would they not say, If you cannot manage to govern Ireland, how are you going to manage to govern us?" (Hear, liear.) No, it will not do. We must Rally round the good old flag- The cross, red, white, and blue; Let England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales Stand together firm and true. (Cheers.) Another question was that of fiscal reform, which would be one of the most important in the future. There was no doubt that our trade was not progressing in proportion to the trade of other countries. When Mr Cobden instituted Free Trade he said that in a few years every other nation would follow our example. That prophecy bad not been fulfilled, and it was an extraordinary thing to his lordship to hear real statesmen say that they did not want any alteration in our fiscal policy because we had done very well under Free 'Trade. He maintained that we had NEVER HAD PR. BE TRADE II at all. It could not be Free Trade that was free on one side only, and heavily taxed on the other. (Hear, hear.) Now, this country had not progressed under Free Trade any more than foreign countries had progressed under Protection. It was nonsense to talk about taxing the food of the poor, and to refer to the small and the big loaf. Nobody would be such a fool as to be taken in by it. The big and little loaf was in evidence when he was a candidate. He was always put as the little loaf, and described as the one who was trying to starve the working people. (Laughter.) No sensible Eng lishman took any notice of that cry now. It was not likely Mr Balfour wished to starve the working man; he was the working man's great friend. All he wanted was a re-arrangement of taxation to restore our country to its former prosperity. (Cheers.) One or two more speeches -from Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, such as he delivered at the Albert Hall, and Conserva'ives would be all right. (Hear, hear.) The feeling in the country now is very different to what it was a month ago. Sir Henry's Government was fearfully and wonderfully made. Under Mr Balfour's guidance, our country stood higher in the estimation of the world than it had ever stood before, and now Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman would destroy all the good work that had been done. (Hear, hear.) It was very easy to pull down, but it was not so easy to build up. It had taken 400 years to build up our great Empire. Conservatives wished to conserve all that was good, while being quite ready to improve all that needed improvement. (Cheers.) They did not want to knock about the old fabric of the Con- stitution. They wanted to build it up and strengthen it, so that England should be as great in. the future as it had been in the past. (Cheers.) MR E. E. MICHOLLS, -who was cordially greeted, thanked the company for his magnificent reception, and especially because that was the first opportunity he had had after his adoption of meeting the electors of that ancient borough of Monmouth. Looking round, 3he saw the faces of many kind friends, and noted their great enthusiasm and determination to keep to the traditions of their Royal Borough and uphold the great Unionist cause. He felt that with their kind help and assistance he should again be able to lead them to a great and glorious -victory on the 18th of the month. (Cheers.) He -was fully conscious of the great honour of representing that borough, which had been repre- sented at Westminster for over 400 years, as also of voicing the feelings of the important industrial population of Newport;, and of the lesser, but equally important, electors of Usk. (Cheers.) All his life he had been a member of that Party which -during their long period of office could point to A HARVEST OF GOOD MEASURES. I XiOoking at their social legislation he need only mention the Workmen's Compensation Act, which bad by them been extended to the labourers. Then there was the Agricultural Rates Act which, it had been proved, was not a dole to landlords, but an inestimable benefit to tenant farmers, who, indeed, wanted all the help they could be given. (Cheers) The Conservative Party had proved themselves ever to be the friends of the toilers, and they could with pride point to their social legislation, their social reform, and, above all to the marvellous manner, the able and statesman- like way, in which the foreign affairs of the country had been conducted. (Cheers.) They had handed foreign aftairs over to the new Liberal Government in a very different way to that in which they were handed over to them. He trusted the Liberal Party had learned wisdom from their mistakes, yet he could not help having his doubts on the subject seeing the composition of the present Government, the majority of the Cabinet being Little Englanders avowed, who gloried in the title. Every one, too, was an avowed Home Ruler. No Government could exist without unity, without cohesion, and how were the Cabinet to work harmoniously with those who, if they were to be judged by their professions, were imbued with more imperial instincts ? How could they work with Mr Asquith, the Chancellor of the Exchequer; with Mr Haldane, the Secretary of S'ate for War; or with Sir Edward Grey, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs-men who were formerly followers of Lord Rosebery, that man of splendid imperial instincts, but who seemed always to have an extreme dislike to fight for them. After an amusing reference to Sir Henry Campbell- Bannerman on the box of the administrative coach drawn by an ill-assorted, team. Mr Micholls asked why the country wanted another driver of the coach. I NO GOVERNMENT COULD EXIST, he said, on a policy of negation, nor on a policy of destruction. The Conservative policy had been constructive and practical; the Liberal policy was destructive and theoretical. The Education Acc having been alluded to, the speaker proceeded to speak of the Licensing Act of 1904, which, he said, was the greatest attempt which had been made to encourage temperance. He would tell them why. It gave security to the publican. Now, why should not the publican be as respectable a member of society as any one of them ? (Hear, hear.) Given security he could make his house comfortable and respectable; and they must remember it did not cost the public a penny, and it was not, as their opponents said, a brewers' endowment. The compensation money came from the licensing trade itself. They had simply recognised what was not legal before but which was a moral right. If they had well-oonducted public-houses, managed by well-conducted members of society, surely it would promote the cause of temperance. (Cheers.) He wanted temperance, but he did not believe they could keep a man sober by compulsion. He would oppose Sunday Closing, and he was against Local Veto, as it would be interfering with the liberty of the subject. He did not believe in making drunken people sober by keeping sober people thirsty. (Cheers.) The curse they all had to strive against was the curse of excessive drinking. (Hear, hear ) The moderate glass of beer could do no harm to any man. He would rely on the spread of education. He would not grumble at the expenditure of public money on the provision of parks and open spaces, nor on the provision of better housing accommodation for the working classes, which would conduce to their pleasure and comfort and lessen the attraction of, and temptation to enter, public houses. (Cheers.) What he would prevent would be the abuse, and not the use, of liquor. (Hear, hear.) Proceeding to deal with the question of our national defences, VIr Micholls said it appeared from a speech by Mr Haldane, that the Radical Government were going to learn wisdom, and would not go in for reductions. But then they had to remember that the tail might wag the dog, and Mr Haldane MIGHT NOT HAVE THB POWER I to carry out the policy he would desire. They could not have conscription, therefore they must pay for the best army they could get, and which would be fit at all times to go anywhere. As to our auxiliary forces, he (the speaker) would, if he had the honour of being returned their member, do all in his power to treat them with courtesy and liberality, because he thought the man who gave up his time, whose time was money, in becoming an efficient member of those forces, should be recompensed. (Cheers.) He knew that the Navy was a huge cost to them, but he would have them remember that we had to import from abroad five million tons of wheat and flour for our food supplies, which, in time of war, would have to be protected to prevent us starving within a very short time, Again, our sea-borne commerce, amounting to XI,200,000,000, necessitated a strong Navy, which, if it did cost L33,000,000 a year, represented only an insurance rate of 2 per cent. (Cheers.) Then, too, continental tariffs had driven us to trans-oceanic markets, which we were bound to keep open and free for the sake of our workmen, because upon those outlets for the products of their industry depended their very livelihood and existence. (Cheers.) Radicals called attention to the large increase of expenditure on the Navy, and he himself regretted its necessity, not being more desirous than other people to pay heavy rates and taxes, but let them compare the increase in the cost of our Navy with the increase in the cost of the Navies of other Powers. Since 1895 our increase had been 75 per cent. aa com- pared with a German increase of 300 per cent., and a United States increase of 350 per cent. Germany had obtained power from the Reichstag to spend 86 millions on the Navy before the year 1916. He mentioned that fact because it was a far greater amount than could be requisite for the safe guarding of her sea-borne trade alone, and it formed a danger which must be taken into con- sideration by us in regard to our own Navy. (Hear, hear.) He hoped the present Government would keep up the Navy, but he doubted it, remembering that only last year in the House of Commons the Liberal Party voted against an increase both of men and wages. On the other hand, the Conservative Government during the last ten years had added 40,000 men to the Navy and increased the wages by £ 2,750,000. (Cheers.) The Radicals voted solidly against the building of ships to enable us to hold our own with foreign rivals, but the Unionist Party spent £ 8,500,000 more upon repairs and maintenance, and LI,250,000 upon naval works, thus providing employment at the same time as they were making the Empire strong and secure. (Cheers.) The Radical Party, further, did not tell them how, under Lord Selborne's wise administration, the Unionist Party had I EFFECTED A SAVING of £ 5,000,000. Yet our Navy is more efficient at the present time than it has ever been, thus shewing that efficiency and economy can go together. Within 24 hours the whole of our Navy could be mobilised in all parts of the world, and be ready for action. Therefore, he thought the late Government, and especially Lord Selborne, deserved the thanks of the country. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Referring to South Africa, Mr Micholls said he feared they were running the danger of the Radical Party undoing all that had been done there, at such a great sacrifice of blood and treasure, in order to maintain the integrity of the Empire. He had always said, as he thought, that the introduction of Chinese labour there was a regrettable necessity—a temporary expedient. He had also said that if for a moment he thought the employment of a single Chinese prevented the employment of a single white man he would have nothing to do with Chinese labour. He was no African millionaire to benefit by the introduction of Chinese labour, as it was suggested those millionaires did. Chinese labour was not introduced in any haphazard manner. A Labour Commission, appointed by the Transvaal Govern- ment in July, 1903, sat for thirty-two days, heard ninety-two witnesses, asked 14,000 questions, and, virtually unanimously, agreed that Chinese labour was a necessity. The Free Church Council there were all agreed, too, that it was a necessity. As an outcome of this, and knowing the local conditions better than we in this country could possibly know them, the Transvaal Government sanctioned the introduction of the Chinese, and the result was an expansion of progressive development in the Transvaal. For his part, he thought it was a cardinal point in Radical policy to respect and encourage the idea that nations should manage their own affairs. In fact, Sir Henrv Campbell- Bannerman said last July that If the inhabitants of the Transvaal deliberately endorse the policy, I for one should not be disposed to interfere with them in that decision it should be no part of the Imperial Government to interfere with their action in a domestic matter." And, yet, action had already been taken to upset this fundamental principle and to jeopardise the prosperity of the country. (Cheers.) A domestic matter!" and yet the walls had been covered by the wicked statement that we had been guilty of imposing slavery. He refused to gain applause or votes by discussing the mean and guilty slanders alleging slavery in South Africa. (Hear, hear.) SLAVES COULD NOT BREATH on British soil; as soon as they touched it their shackles fell off them, and they were free. (Cheers.) There were now about 18,000 white men employed at the mines, or 6,000 more than there were before the Chinese were brought over, and the wages to white men had gone up from el XI,750,000 to £ 5,000,000. (Cheers.) Touching the Irish question, Mr Micholls said another danger was that a Radical Government would imperil the unity of the Empire by granting Home Rule to Ireland. The record of the Unionist Party with regard to Ireland for the past 20 years was one of which they might well feel proud on account of the generous terms they had given to her. She had been treated well, and had progressed and prospered. Crime and intimidation had been less frtfm 1886, when f,10,000,000 were given to the tenants under the Ashbourne Act. In 1898, Ireland was granted more liberal terms under a Local Government Act than had been conceded to any other portion of the British Isles. Again the huge amount of £ 112,000,000 had been advanced to Ireland, wherewith her people might purchase their holdings. (Cheers.) Again were the Radicals going to plough the sands. He would not grant Home Rule because he thought it would be individually bad for Ireland and collectively worse for the whole of the Empire. (Cheers.) He had endeavoured to show what the Radical Government would destroy. Now he would ask them if the Radical Government had given them the least sign of what they would build up. Had they made any offer, had they discovered any panacea, to find employment for the unemployed—those men willing to work, but, alas, from no fault of their own, unable to find work ? He welcomed the Unemployed Bill of last Session, but, after all, it was only a palliative, not a cure. It only touched the fringe of the great question. But the great party to which he belonged had a cure. (Cheers.) They did not like to rest and be thankful while, to quote Sir Henry Campbell- Bannerman, there were 13,000,000 living on the verge of hunger and the borderland of starvation. (Hear, hear.) There must be a change in our fiscal system, and that was what he would advocate. (Cheers). For his own part, with his commercial experience to guide him, he refused to be hide- bound by principles which were good enough, doubtless, sixty years ago, when England was the workshop of the world, but which WERE NOT IN CONSONANCE I with the pressing necessities of the present age. (Cheers.) Mr Micholls proceeded to deal at some length with the fiscal question, and in the course of his remarks maintained that the Unionists and not the Radicals were the Progressive Party in present-day politics. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) His motto for the election was "More work for the people of this country and a closer union between the different parts of the Empire." (Cheers.) He exhorted his hearers to think of their duty to the nation and to the Empire, and not to be deluded by the misrepresentations of the Radicals on matters which were of lesser impor- tance. The British Empire stood for freedom, liberty, progress, and civilisation, and it was their duty to show that they lacked neither the courage and daring, nor the determination of their fore- fathers, to fight for and promote those ideals. Let their motto be- Unite the Empire, make it stand compact Shoulder to shoulder, let its members feel The touch of human brotherhood, And act like one great nation,— True and strong as steel —Loud cheers. [ LIEUT.-COL. COURTENAY MORGAN, I who had come upon the platform during Mr Micholls' speech, after addressing a meeting at Trelleck, and received an ovation, was again cordially welcomed on rising to speak. He said Mr Micholls and he were fighting side by side during the election. He was afraid, however, be was rather an interloper there—(" No, no.")—and that he had not very much right to address any remarks to them in that borough. At any rate, it gave him the greatest pleasure to be there and to support a man like Mr Micholls, who was fighting all he knew for the cause they all had at heart, and, if he might, to say a few words on his own behalf. (Cheers.) To his mind the chief principle of the Conservative cause was the unity of the British Empire and the consolidation of all its component parts. (Hear, hear.) He was very sorry if he bad to go over old ground but Mr Micholls had treated all the subjects so successfully that there was little left for him to say: Mr Micholls had, so to speak, jumped over the fence first, and all be had got to do was to follow him. He (the speaker) maintained that if at the coming election the Radicals gained a majority over any other issue, I HOME RULE in some form or other was bound to follow. It might be bit by bit, on the instalment plan, or out-right, but Home Rule for Ireland must come before any legislation for the other parts of the country would be allowed by the Nationalist Party of that country. (Hear, hear.) As to the con- solidation of the Empire he urged that the present Colonial tie of sympathy and affection, rendered the more secure by the masterly hand of Mr Chamberlain when Colonial Secretary, should be further strengthened by increased commercial reciprocity between the Colonies and the Mother country. (Cheers.) Referring to the Education Act, he said that, as far as he could see, there were two issues before the electors. Mr Lloyd-George proposed that the religious instruction to be given to the children should be decided by the bodies elected to manage the schools-that it should, in fact be popularly controlled." He disagreed. He did not think the County Councils, or the elected bodies, were the proper people to decide what religious education should be given in the Schools. The people to decide, in his opinion, were the parents of the children themselves. (Cheers.) The other idea was that religious instruction should be eliminated from the Schools altogether. That, to his mind, would be inflicting a very serious injury upon the future population of the land. (Hear, hear.) On the subject of agriculture, the gallant Colonel said the Liberals were in power from 1892-5, and he would defy anyone to find that they did anything at all for the farmers. But the moment they went out of office, and the Unionists were in power, the latter reduced the tax upon the land from 4s to Is in the L. (Cheers.) Then they introduced the Agricultural Rates Act, which, as they knew, was of the greatest benefit to the farming community. (Hear, hear.) Not only did the Liberal party do nothing themselves to help the agriculturist, but they resisted, by every means in their power, the passing of that Act and its renewal on three different occasions. Tackling the fiscal question, he said they had been twitted with the remark that they wished to keep that subject in the back- ground. Their leader, Mr Balfour—(cheers)—had not burked it; Mr jMicholIs had shown them that he had no such wish, and he (the speaker) knew no reason why he should not keep it to the front. (Cheers.) The Radical party, so far as this matter was concerned, were, in his opinion ABSOLUTELY REACTIONARY and stationary, for they wanted to stick to an obsolete system of 60 years ago. Yet the Radicals called themselves progressive The circumstances 60 years ago were totally different to the circum- stances of to-day; what applied then would not apply now. Then Conservatives were told there was a tremendous difference of opinion in their ranks. That, also, he denied, so far as the principle went. (Cheers.) What they all wanted-what he wanted-was a system of Free Trade, and not a system of Free Imports. If they could get absolutely equal trading negotiations all over the world they would recover their lost ground and again be on top of the tree with regard to trade. (Cheers.) They wanted power to say to a country putting a high hostile tariff upon our goods, which was doing us an injury, "Very well; you will not admit our goods, so we will put a tax upon your goods, which have hitherto come into our country free and have done an injury to our manufactures." As to the Army and Navy he would never support anything which would lead to a reduction in their strength and efficiency. He did not think they could reduce the expenditure on the Army. To begin with, it was a volunteer army, and they must pay the Army well to get the best men, (Hear, hear.) To-day they were paying them a great deal better than ever before but it was only the equivalent of an ordinary wage. (Cheers.) That was only fair. If a man left civil employment for the Army, surely they should not expect him to be worse off than if he remained in civil life. (Hear, hear.) Then, with regard to the Navy, they could effect no reduction, taking into consideration the necessity there was to provide for the proper safeguarding of our food supplies and our mercantile marine. Nearly every Radical had complained of the largeness of the expenditure on the Army and Navy, and referred to our h bloated armaments," but he noticed that, on the previous night. Mr Haldane had said that the Army must, perhaps, be small, but that it must be efficient, and that Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman had given him a free hand if he wanted more men and more money. He (the speaker) thought that that showed that the Liberal party were, now, on the eve of an election, on I A VOTE-CATCHING EXPEDITION, for before, again and again, they had declared that they mlist have a reduction. It was not, in his opinion, the expenditure on our necessary forces of defence that weighed so heavily upon taxpayers and ratepayers as the reckless expenditure and extravagances of many of our municipal bodies, which should be checked. (Hear, hear.) In conclusion, he said there was a great issue before the electors in the Monmouth Boroughs and South Monmouthshire. They in the Monmouth Boroughs would be the first to go to the poll, and he asked his friends there-many of whom he had known for some years—(cheers)—to rally round Mr Micholls and return him as their member. (Cheers.) They would thus be doing him (the speaker) the greatest possible service. (Cheers ) As for himself, he was a Monmouthshire man, and he wanted to win South Monmouthshire for once—(cheers)—and if once he were returned he could promise that the Radical party would have some trouble to turn him out. (Loud and continued cheering.) RESOLUTION OF CONFIDENCE. I The Hon. J. M. Rollm proposed a resolution of confidence in Mr. E. E. Micholls and Lieut. Col. Courtenay Morgan, and pledged the meeting to use every legitimate means to secure their election to Parliament. On several occasions before in that Hall, he believed, similar resolutions had been passed, but more than ever just now, at this critical period, on the eve of a contest, was it their duty to again unite in expressing their confidence in their candidates, and their appreciation of the way in which they had been working:, and of the service they were rendering in fighting; for the Unionist cause. (Cheers.) They had that evening given them a very complete survey of the political field. They had shown them that in many of the proposals put before the electors on the Liberal side there was great national danger, and that, in others, there was marked indefiniteness. (Hear, hear) It seemed to him that the policy of the Liberal Government enunciated by the Prime Minister and his C, binet, well-intentioned as many of them might be, was a negative policy—a policy of dis- integration, rather than of construction. A con- structive policy bad always been the policy of the Unionist party, and that would, he believed, alwavs remain their policy. As Mr. Balfour had pointed out, the issue seemed to be a simple one. They had to choose one of two alternatives. On the one band they had Home Rule, with probable separation to follow and on the other hand they had Fiscal Reform. (Cheers.) In the latter the Unionists would endeavour to do something to mitigate the evils of unfair competition with our rivals, and attempt also to strengthen the relation- ship existing between our Colonies and ourselves, whilst finding increased employment for our work- ing people. (Cheers.) Ir they asked themselves, when they were going to the poll, which of the two policies was likely to do the most good. he was sure that none of them would have the slightest hesitation in voting in their respective constituencies, for the two candidates there before them. (Cheers.) Mr. H. T. Simmonds seconded in a speech in which he referred to the courteous way in which the candidates were conducting the election, and to the family ties which bound Col. Courteney Morgan to South Monmouthshire. Col. Crompton-Roberts, in supporting, referred to the enthusiastic meeting over which he had presided just before at Trelleck, where a vote of confidence in Lieut.-Col. Courteney Morgan had been carried with acclamation. Mr. W. C. A. Williams said that as one of the oldest members of the party in the constituency, he thought he ought to offer a few words. (Cheers.) It was now over 300 years since the first member of Colonel Morgan's family was returned to Parlia- ment for the County, and the family had almost continuously represented it during that long period of their county's history. (Cheers.) For the last 65 years this had been absolutely the case, for in 1842 Mr. Octavius Morgan was returned and he sat for some years and fought two very severe elections. He was followed by the father of the present candidate in South Monmouthshire, viz., Colonel the Hon. F. 0. Morgan, who during his 32 years' service fought in five contests and came out at the head of the poll at each. (Cheers.) He (the speaker) had had very great pleasure in working for those candidates all through those elections. (Cheers.) The record of the Morgan family, he thought, formed a splendid foundation for any candidate to start from. (Cheers.) Daring the eighteen months Mr Micholls had been before them they had seen much of him, he had met them in the street and at meetings, he had called upon them, and he had made friends with most of them. (Cheers,) They had two admirable candidates for whom to work. (Cheers.) Mr. A. Vizard referred to a conversation he had held with Mr. Beit on the Chinese labour question. Mr. Beit. in reply to questions, said Chinese labour had been an unqualified success. He employed some 1,100 Chinese, who had the run over forty square miles, and who could apply for a pass to go out or visit Johannesburg, which was hardly ever withheld. Some crime was to be expected from the large number of Chinese who were on the Rand, but serious crimes were very rare, and when they did occur it WHS made the most of and exploited by the Radical party at home. Mr. T. Hamilton Baillie also spoke, urging his hearers to work, now that the time of election had come with the sure knowledge that their cause was a right and just one. (Cheers.) Questions were invited, but none were asked, and The resolution was carried with acclamation. Mr. Micholls, in response, said Col. Morgan had the advantage of him in being born a Monmouth- shire man, but that was not his (the speaker's) fault, and he had been trying to redeem the error of his dear parents as far as he could by residing in the County. (Laughter and cheers.) He and his family had been very happy here, and they hoped to remain here for the rest of their lives. (Cheers.) Lieut.-Col. Courtenay Morgan also returned his thanks. He said he wanted them to stick to the old flag, which, for 32 years at least, they had nailed to the mast, and which should not be pulled down if he could help it. (Cheers). Col. Walwyn, in an interesting speech, proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman and speakers, which was seconded by Mr Francis Hobbs, and accorded in enthusiastic style. The Chairman appropriately responded, and the splended meeting concluded.

Enthusiastic Conservative Meeting at Usk, Ir. Micholls in Fighting Form. Z5 m All Conservatives Cheerful and Confident. A splendidly-attended and most enthusiastic meeting on behalf of the Conservative and Unionist candidate was held in the Town Hall, Usk, on Thursday evening. Air J. Maitland Watkins pre- sided, and on the platform were Mr and Mrs E. E. Micholls, Miss Micholls, Mr A. E. Bowen, Mr and Airs R. St John Beasley, Miss Boulton, Mr J. H. Clark, Miss E. B. Clark, Mr L. R. Lucas, and Mr T. Jones while in the body of the Hall were many strong supporters of the party, and a fair sprinkling of the opposition. THE CHAIRMAN, in opening the meeting, said it gave him very great pleasure to undertake the duties of presiding at such an excellent meeting as that promised to be that night. The attendance showed that they wero all alive to the great issues that were now before the electorate. The organisation of the Unionist party in Usk was complete, and all that now re- mained to be done was for them to make a good fight for the cause, and a good fight they would all have to make. Another advantage the party had was that they had secured a candidate who would make that great fight. (Cheers.) Mr Micholls had been before the constituency nearly two years, and the electors of LTk were very familiar with him, his political principles, and the policy be advocated. (Hear, hear.) They had heard and read several of his speeches, and they were impressed with their straightforwardness and clearness; they called for jjjo interpretation. (Hear, hear.) He said what he ineaat, and said it well, and he (the speaker) thought that I NO BETTER QUALIFICATION could be found in a candidate. (Cheers.) Upon one point all parties seemed to be agreed, and that was that the issues to be submitted t ) the electorate at this election were of exceptional and far- reaching importance on every point. (Hear, hear.) The political faith of Usk was strongly Conservative they intended to show by the poll that that was so. (Cheers.) They had a two- fold duty to perform, viz., to retain the seat won at two successive elections, and to give Mr Micholls a thumping majority. (Cheers.) At the same time they intended to fight fairly. They did not wish-he was sure their candidate did not wish—to indulge in personalities. (Hear, hear. The detestable example that was being set in a leading constituency which was being contested by the ex-Prime Minister would not be followed by the Monmmth Boroughs He referred to the publication of a loathsome attack upon Mr Balfour's grandfather, which was as detestable a device as had ever been resorted to, and made it appear that their opponents had very little to offer by way of attack. He would detain them no longer, but would call upon Mr MichoUs-who had shown tbem that he was anxious for the fray-to address them upon what was probably the last opportunity before the election. (Cheers.) MR E. E. MICHOLLS, I who was loudly cheered on rising to address the meeting, thanked the audience for their very corditl reception, which was very pleasing and gratifying to him. He thought it would not be presumptuous oil his part to say that that day week the men of Usk by their votes would help to put him at the top of the poll, and that he was going to lead them to a great and glorious victory. (Cheers.) He was encouraged in his desires, for ified in his hopes that he should be able to do the best for their interests in the knowledge that all his life he had been a Conservative. And he was proud of being a Conservative, because he recognised that that party had proved itself by its deeds, and not by vain promises, to be the party of true progress and the true friend of the toiling millions. (Cheers.) The record of the late Unionist Government was one to which they might justly point with pride. With regard to their foreign policy they had not left to the Liberals a legacy of blundering and plundering, and of scuttling and surrendering; they had bequeathed to them no legacy of disgrace and defeat, such as was left to the Unionist Party by their political opponents in the eighties. Had they not reason t-) feel grateful to Mr Balfour for his wise conduct of FOREIGN AFFAIRS? I (Hear, hear.) He would allude especially to their friendly relations with France. He would call to their mind the fact that, when their cousins over the sea went to war with Spain, this country was approached by continental nations with a view to making hostile demonstrations against the United States, and Lord Salisbury replied that if hostile demonstrations were made the British Fleets would be found at Cousin Jonathan's ports to defend them. (Cheers.) Again, there was the treaty with Japan-a treaty of defence not defiance—one important effect of which would be to keep the "opeu door" in China, which would I give them equal opportlmities-alllõ hey wanted by fiscal reform-and enable them to retain 70 per cent. of the total trade of that country, to the benefit of the working classes of England. (Cheers.) Mr Micholls then passed in review the social legislation of the Unionists. After referring to the Agricultural Rites Act, he spoke at some length on the subject of the Workmen's Com- pensation -\ct, which, he said, recognised for the first time that capital had its duties towards the wounded soldiers of industry. (Cheers.) The Act of 1897 applied to six millions of work- people in 1900 it was extended to those engaged in agriculture, making it apply altogether to^Kune eight millions. Seeing that anomalies were bound to arise in an Act framed on new principles, the Conservatives appointed a Departmental Com- mittee to inquire into the matter, and they had made certain recommendations which, if he had the honour of receiving the suffrages of the con- stituency, he would support in the House of Oommons He would support the extension of the Act to all engaged In building oijerat £ „UO| railways—whether on sidings or not—on tramway lines, on docks and quays, and to seamen. (Cheers.) After careful consideration he had thought it wise to ° iM SUPPORT AN AMENDMENT to the Act which would provide for compensation being payable from the date of an accident instead of from 14 days after. Employers had in evidence stated that such an amendment would add 50 per cent. to the rate of insurance, and that if compensa- tion commenced seven days after an aacident it I would mean a 25 per cent. increase, but from his commercial experience he thousrht the employers had over-estimated the cost. When he remembered that more than half of eight millions of workpeople he had referred to as coming under the Act were not receiving 18s. a week wages he felt they were in a different position to those receiving over 30s. a week, whose duty it was to belong to Friendly Societies and sick and benefit clubs to insure them- selves. A poor man receiving 14s. a week, for instance, could not afford to pay into those societies. It had been said that there was a danger of malingering, but when they considered that the bulk of the wages amounted to not more than 18s. per week, and compensation was only granted to half the amount of a man's wages it could hardly be worth his while to feign illness (Hear, hear.) The Education Act of 1902 was a good one he thought, and one of his chief reasons for thinking so was that it gave the poor man's child an equal chance with the rich man's child to ascend from the lowest to the highest rung of the education ladder. (Cheers). It co-ordained education, prevented over-lapping and consequent waste, and conduced to harmony in that which was before chaotic and confused. Above all, it allowed religions education in our non-provided schools. (Cheers.) He udded to the popular three R's of education a fourth- religion. His opponents' three R's were Rates, Repairs, Religious rancour, and Resistance. (Cheers.) Religious Education went to the formation of character, and was more important than secular education. They must have a formula, a dogma, or a creed, or they could not have religion, and HE FELT IT TO BE RIGHT and better for a child to have religious education it would make him a better citizen and a nobler patriot if his character were thus formed. He would have religion taught in accordance with the wishes of the parents. What he objected to was that the little ones should be made the pawns in this political game: that just to suit the exigencies of political warfare they should be made the shuttle- cock of party. He would have religious freedom and the welfare of our little ones. (Cheers.) He noticed that in his address his opponent advocated that the non-provided schools should be bought up —either leased or rented. He (Mr Micholls) thought that one of the great cries of the Radical party was retrenchment. What would the adop- tion of his opponent's policy mean ? The raising of between twenty and thirty millions of pounds if anything like the fair value were paid for these schools, or over a million a year. That could not mean a reduction of taxation. (Hear, hear.) Here a reference to sugar caused some opposition and laughter, and Mr Micholls at once asked if a politi- cal cry had been made there of the raising of the price of sugar by the wicked machinations of the Conservative party. Last year. he said, he heard a great deal about the Sugar Convention causing the price to rise to 16s. per cwt. To-day it is 8s. 5d. per cwt.—a lower price than the average during the last 15 or 20 years. (Cheers.) Having dealt with the Licensing question on the lines of his Monmouth speech, reported in another column, Mr Micholls proceeded te speak on Home Rule. Was there anyone there who advocated Home Rule for Ireland ? The Unionist party could point to having done an immense amount of good for Ire- land during the laet 20 years. In 1686-7, by the Ashbourne Acts XIO,ooo,ooo were given to the tenants to enable them to purchase their holdings. In 1897 a more generous Local Government Act Was given to them than was given to auyotheripart of the United Kingdom. In 1903 England's credit was pledged to the amount of £ 112.000,000 to en- able Irish tenants to purchase their holdings. That showed I TKE SYMPATHY AND GOODWILL that the Unionist party had ever felt for the sister isle. (Cheers.) Let them look at the progress of Ireland let them compare 1893-4 (when the Liberals were in power) with 1903-4. In Joint Stock Banks then there were £ 35,000,000- now £ 44,000,009. In the P.O. Savings Bank' then* XI,500,000 now £ 9,500,000. (Cheers.) Receiving pauper relief then, 5,600 000; now, 4,800,000. Those facts spoke volumes. He would have noth- ing to do with Home Rule. (Cheers.) Going on to deal with the question of unemployment and fiscal reform, Mr Micholls said, notwithstanding that trade returns showed the record amount of £ 895,000,000 for our exports and imports, millions of our working people could not find work to do. His greatest desire was to find employment for those people, and he felt there could be no improve- ment in this respect so long as their present fiscal system existed. (Cheers.) He wanted to protect the labour of his own countrymen. He wanted British work for British hands. Once the workshop of the world, we were now the dumping ground of the products of the workshops of the world. Before the eighties other nations, engaged in war, had no time to manufacture for themselves. Now it was very different, and we must have a change (Cheers.) After dealing with the subject of the Colonial conference, Mr Micholls concluded an excellent speech by an eloquent appeal to his hearers to support the Unionist party and to bequeath to those who came after them, unimp-iired, the great and glorious Empire, the foundations of which had been laid by their ancestors, who had fought and bled for them. (Cheers.) VOTE OF CONFIDENCE. Mr A. E. Bowen proposed a resolution express- ing contidence in the candidate and pledging the meeting to use every endeavour to secure his return. In the course of an able, pleasing, and humorous speech, he exhorted the electors to take a middle course when they went to the poll and vote for Mr Micholls whose named would come on the ballot paper sandwiched between the names of Mr Haslam and Mr Winstone. (Cheers.) Mr J. H Clark briefly seconded. In support, the following spoke:—Mr R. St. John Beasley (who guaranteed that all Mr Micholls had said he would do he would carry out), Mr Henry Dunning (who lucidly explained the Chinese labour question), Mr L. R. L icas (whose remarks were general), Mr T. Jones (who called upon Churchmen to vote for the candidate on his straightforward statement that he woul i oppose Disestablishment), and Mr J. H. Salter (who commended Mr Micholls' licensing views to the serious consideration of the electors, especially with regard to Sunday Closing, which would mean Sunday opening to the undesirable stranger, more strain upon the publican, and more work for the police). The resolution was carried without opposition and with acclamation, and The Candidate, in reply, went at some length into the Chinese Labour question, and refuted the statement that huge dividends were being paid to millionaires in consequence of the emoloyment of the Orientals in the place of Britishers, to whom it would be derogatory to work wi h the natives or Chinese even if they could stand the conditions, which he denied. A vote of thanks to the Chairman, propose I by Mr Micholls, and seconded bv Vfr S. T. Griffin, C.C. (who alluded to the employment of English- men to carry sandwich boards about illustrative of Chinese "slavery" at lOd a day while the Chinaman himself had Is 6d a day and his board and lodging in South Africa) was carried with applause. The Chairman replied, and the meeting con- cluded with the singing of the National Authem and cheers for Mr and Mrs Micholls.

rfi^ARCHERi^rl ISHLBEMRETURMS II I ¡ '< REGISTERED i ac-simde of One-Ounce Packet Archer's "Golden Returns I The Perfection of Pipe Tobacco. | COOL, SWEET, AND FBAGSANT.