History of the Anti-Corn Law League/Chapter2
CHAPTER II.
THE ELECTION FOR MANCHESTER.
At the beginning of September,after having taken some pains to ascertain the strength of the supporters of the several candidates, I ventured to say that two-thirds were reformers, of various grades, and that, if no other candidate was brought forward, the following would be an approximation to the distribution of votes:—
Two thousand tories, of whom 500 would give plumpers to Hope, 250 would split between Cobbett and Hope, with the intention of keeping out Philips, and 1,250 who would split between Hope and Loyd, believing the latter to be in heart a tory;
Two thousand reformers to the extent of the Reform Bill, who would split between Loyd and Philips, choosing the former in preference to Cobbett, or being bound to vote for him by obligations to, or the influence of, Mr. Loyd's bank;
One thousand five hundred reformers who considered the bill as a step to further reforms, of whom 500 would give plumpers to Philips, and 1,000 who would split between Philips and Cobbett;
One thousand reformers who looked to the reduction or extinction of the national debt, of whom 250 would give plumpers to Cobbett, and 750 would split between Cobbett and Philips.
The following was given as the result of this calculation, followed by some comments:—
| Hope | Lyod | Phillips | Cobbet | ||||
| First Class Plumpers | 500 | .... | ——— | .... | ——— | .... | ——— |
| Split Votes | 1,500 | .... | 1,250 | .... | ——— | .... | ——— |
| Second Class Plumpers | ——— | .... | ——— | .... | 250 | ||
| Split Votes | 2,000 | .... | 2,000 | .... | ——— | .... | ——— |
| Third Class Plumpers | ——— | .... | ——— | .... | 1,000 | .... | 1,000 |
| Split Votes | ——— | .... | ——— | .... | 1,000 | .... | 1,000 |
| Fourth Class Plumpers | ——— | .... | ——— | .... | ——— | .... | 250 |
| Split Votes | ——— | .... | ——— | .... | 750 | .... | 750 |
| ——— | ——— | ——— | ——— | ||||
| 2,000 | 3,250 | 4,250 | 2,250 |
Mr. Cobbett's firm friends would not, however, withdraw him. They thought it would strengthen his influence, if, in addition to his return for Oldham, he could have fifteen hundred or two thousand votes recorded for him in Manchester. There was a certainty then of Loyd being returned as the colleague of Philips, unless another popular candidate were brought forward. I represented this certainty to Mr. Cobbett's friends, and argued that to stand for Manchester and be rejected, would rather diminish than increase his influence in the country; but they were desperate in their duty. In allusion to the sudden change of his opinions upon the slavery question, I asked one of them what he would say, if the author of the Register were suddenly to turn round to his former notion that the West India islands cost us nothing, and he replied, "Say! What could I say, but that he had good reason for turning?" Many of his supporters were good radicals, disposed to promote radicalism irrespective of individual claims to support; but many, and those the most active, were only "Cobbettites," who imagined that the advancement of their leader was the assertion of a principle.
Much discussion took place as to the candidate to be brought forward. Loyd's friends had been in the field, and had obtained many promises of support. To oppose a man of his immense wealth, and so powerful in the local and ledger influence which he possessed by being the head partner in our greatest banking establishment, it was necessary to look out for one who could enlist some equally powerful counteracting influence. It was proposed that some member of the whig administration should be selected. On being consulted on this point, for having the direction of such influence as a popular newspaper possessed, some importance was attached to the course I might pursue, I stated my opinion that a member of the administration was not likely to make the best representative of the district, for although his being in office might be advantageous in matters of minor business arrangement, his position would prevent that healthy influence upon public opinion, tardy, as all governments were, to adopt wide and decisive measure of relief to the people, which a less trammelled representative, speaking in the name of a large and important constituency, might exercise. At length it was proposed that some member of the government who was known to be in advance of his colleagues on questions of reform, and especially of commercial reform, should be sought for, and Mr. Charles Poulett Thomson, then Vice-President of the Board of Trade, was pointed at, the possession of such office being thought, in a great manufacturing district, likely to counteract the ledger influence of the wealthy banker.
Thomson had been the representative of Dover. Jeremy Bentham had thought so well of him, as to leave his "Hermitage," in Queen's Square Place, and personally canvass for him, greatly helping to secure his election for that place. He was understood to hold firmly most of the political doctrines of that great reformer; and he had, in 1830, made an excellent speech in favour of free trade. If we were to have a minister as our representative, a minister who was for progression was to be preferred, and such a man, after much private enquiry, it appeared to me that Thomson was. The choice seemed to be only between him and Loyd. I attended a private meeting at which he was formally proposed. Mr. J. C. Dyer strongly urged the propriety of opposing a reformer to one who had obviously adopted the doctrine of finality, and had only acquiesced in the Reform Bill when, without his support, it had become law. Mr. George Wilson, then a very young man (afterwards to distinguish himself in the Anti-Corn-Law struggle), already skilled, by taking part in local contests, in the systematic method of conducting elections, expressed his strong belief that two decided reformers could be returned for Manchester. Mr. George Hadfield, now Member of Parliament for Sheffield, a staunch reformer and dissenter, expressed his confidence in the same result; but lamented that the whole of the Manchester papers were against them, except one which was not with them. A laugh arose, for I was standing behind him, ready to give in my adherence, and to assure the meeting that all that I could do, as the editor of a paper and as an elector, by my pen and my voice, would be done to prevent a compromise of principle, always a dangerous example, and to send two free traders and reformers into the house. On the 6th of September, the following address from Mr. Thomson's committee appeared:—
TO THE INDEPENDENT ELECTORS OF MANCHESTER.
Gentlemen,—Under the peculiar circumstances in which the Right Honourable C. Poulett Thompson is placed he cannot, with propriety, be called upon at present to issue any Address, or personally to offer himself as a Candidate for this Borough. His well-known public character, however, renders either of these proceedings unnecessary.
It must be evident to every merchant and manufacturer, that the trade of this great district, and, through it, even the national welfare have been frequently and seriously injured by the want, on the part of the government, of full and correct information on subjects connected with our manufactures and commerce; and that this has almost inevitably arisen from there having been, hitherto, no immediate connection between this particular community and any individual members of the administration. All persons conversant with public business know the difficulties which, from this cause, have constantly been experienced in bringing commercial subjects, and even the condition of the population dependant on manufactures and commerce, under the consideration of government and parliament.
Strongly impressed with the importance of obviating such difficulties, and with the conviction that the best means of doing so is to return as one of our representatives a member of the government, officially connected with the administration of commerce, we are induced most earnestly to recommend to your choice the Right Honourable C. Poulett Thompson, Vice-President of the Board of Trade, &c., whose enlightened views of rigid and extensive economy in the public expenditure, which were announced in his justly-celebrated speech of the 25th March, 1830, establish in the most satisfactory manner, that, both with reference to the extent of his knowledge and to the soundness of his financial, commercial, and political principles, he possesses high qualifications for the important and distinguished trust; and whose valuable services in obtaining the repeal of the Print Duty, especially entitle him to the warm acknowledgments of the inhabitants of this district.
To him also, as one of the ministers to whom the country owes the Reform Acts, the public gratitude, support, and confidence, are due.
The committee would not conceal the responsibility which rests upon it, in venturing to recommend to your suffrage a candidate for the representation of this important community; and begs to assure you that it has been prompted by no other motives than the desire to see those pledges redeemed (of returning reform representatives), which were virtually made to the ministry and the country, by the warm, general, and distinguished exertions Manchester has displayed in the cause of reform; that it has no interests which are not common to yourselves—the good of the country, and the honour and welfare of the borough; objects which, it sincerely believes, can only be accomplished by the return of honest, enlightened, and firm friends to the principles of reform.
The committee has thus explained some of the reasons which have induced it to address you; and hereby announces a determination to put into nomination, at the ensuing election, the Right Honourable C. Poulett Thomson, Vice-President of the Board of Trade, and earnestly requests the honour of your co-operation and support.
On behalf of the committee,
September 6, 1832.
There was an arduous contest before the free traders of Manchester, and they were fully aware of it; but they felt that on the first election it was necessary to set an example that should influence future elections. If, on the first exercise of their elective right, a coalition between moderate whigs and moderate tories were to be triumphant, it might be expected that a spirit of compromise would be introduced, which would continue to take the place of the assertion of independent principles. It was felt that to send any member who would not strive, heart and hand, for freedom of trade, would be an abandonment of one of the principal grounds on which the Reform Bill was demanded; and that the election of one, who, had he possessed the opportunity, would have deprived that measure of some of its best and most popular features, would be to acknowledge its finality. The contest was felt to be one, not for 1832, not for one session, not for the return of one man, but for a precedent that might rule for a long series of years—a precedent that would rescue Manchester from the contempt with which it would be regarded were it untrue to its known opinions on political and commercial reforms, and raise it to the highest rank amongst the newly enfranchised boroughs. There were many difficulties to be overcome before victory could be achieved; but that victory was to be the prelude of many successive electoral victories, and the promise of a future legislatorial victory over the grasping avarice of confederated monopolists. The opponents of coalition and compromise had principle, and knowledge, and zeal, and youthful activity on their side. The press teemed with their publications, and every placard, every hand-bill, every letter, every leading article, was a popular elucidation of the truths of political economy; and thus Thomson's committee was the precursor of the Anti-Corn-Law League in the great work of public instruction.
The nomination took place on Wednesday, December 12th, in the presence of a great crowd, assembled in St. Ann's Square, the Boroughreeve, Mr. Benjamin Braidley, presiding as returning officer. Mr. Mark Philips was proposed by Mr. Edward Baxter, seconded by Mr. John Shuttleworth. Mr. John Fielden proposed Mr. Cobbett, seconded by Mr. Joseph Johnson. Mr. Thomas Sharp proposed Mr. Samuel Jones Loyd, seconded by Dr. Holme. Mr. William Criric proposed Mr. John Thomas Hope, seconded by Mr. F. Aspinall Phillips. Mr. Benjamin Heywood, the late member for the county, proposed Mr. Charles Poulett Thomson, seconded by Mr. George Hadfield. Mr. Philips, Mr. Cobbett, and Mr. Loyd spoke from the hustings. Mr. Hope attempted to speak, but the noise and tumult prevented his being heard, and he desisted. Mr. J. C. Dyer, as representative of Mr. Thomson, who had never offered himself as a candidate, was equally unsuccessful. The show of hands was decidedly in favour of Philips and Cobbett. A poll was demanded on behalf of the other candidates, and the polling commenced on Thursday morning, at nine o'clock. At ten Philips stood first, and then Thomson, Loyd, Hope, and Cobbett, and this order was preserved throughout the day. At four o'clock the poll closed, when the numbers were;—Philips, 2,344; Thomson, 1,545; Loyd, 1,396; Hope, 1,136; and Cobbett, 965. The election of Philips was now obviously secured; but there did not seem the same certainty for Thomson, who was only 149 before Loyd; and it was believed that the supporters of Cobbett and Hope, who had been shamelessly splitting votes with each other—ultra-tories and ultra-radicals making common cause—seeing they had no chance of success would unite to put Loyd before Thomson; but on Friday Thomson kept gaining throughout the day, and at the close of the poll had obtained a majority of 237 over Loyd.
The numbers then stood thus:—
| Philips | 2,923 |
| Thomson | 2,069 |
| Loyd | 1,832 |
| Hope | 1,560 |
| Cobbett | 1,305 |
Mr. Thomson, who had never offered himself as a candidate for Manchester—never even said that be would sit for Manchester if elected—was returned for Dover also. He chose to sit for the larger constituency. The honour of a double return—for South Lancashire and Wolverhampton—was conferred at another period on Mr. Villiers, and at another, the West Riding and Stockport, upon Mr. Cobden. Mr. Cobbett was peculiarly fortunate at Oldham the majority of his constituents were Cobbetites; "he stood in coalition with Mr. John Fielden, a Cobbettite, and with the additional influence which great wealth usually gives; his opponents were Mr. B. Heywood Bright, a mere whig, who had sought the place in all England the most unlikely to favour such political principles, and Mr. Burge, the Attorney–General for Jamaica, who strove to get into Parliament expressly to support interests of the the West India slave owners. A fifth candidate, Mr. George Stephens, offered himself only that he might have an opportunity of exposing the slave system and its advocate. At the close of the poll the numbers were:—Fielden, 675; Cobbett, 644; B. H. Bright, 153; Burge, 101 and Stephens, 3.
At Bury no tory offered himself, and the contest lay between Mr. Walker, a whig-radical, and Mr. Edmund Grundy, a radical, both of them inhabitants of the borough. The election was in favour of the former, who had 304 votes, while the latter had only 150. In the evening, the adherents of the unsuccessful candidate were so much excited, that in spite of the earnest exhortations of Mr. Grundy to preserve the peace, they proceeded to break the windows of some of their opponents, and the military were called in to prevent further violence, although probably nothing more serious would have occurred.
At Macclesfield the contest was entirely between local candidates, a result common when the constituency is so small as to be borne upon with effect in every part by local influence. On Macclesfield, containing not a sixth part of the number of inhabitants that Manchester had, had been bestowed as many seats as were conferred on Manchester. The candidates were Mr. Ryle, a banker, who wished to restore protection to the silk manufacture, which he said had been ruined by the free trade system; Mr. Brocklehurst, silk manufacturer and banker, a moderate reformer; and Mr. Grimsditch, attorney, a tory of the old school. The two bankers were elected.
At Blackburn also, the local influence was too strong to permit the election of a distinguished reformer and free-trader, but a noble effort was made to return Dr. Bowring, which would have been successful had the voters been more numerous or protected by the ballot. On behalf of the local candidates, although professed reformers, the base corruptions of the old system at elections were largely practised. Bowring said he would not give a cup of ale to secure him a seat, and the numbers who voted him proved that nearly one half of the electors acted upon principle, however debased a portion of the other half might be. The numbers at the close of the poll were, Fielding, 376; Turner, 346; and Bowring, 334.
Wigan might be considered as a new borough, for, before the Reform Bill the right of voting had been confined to certain burgesses nominated by a self-elected corporation. Mr. Richard Potter had made a noble effort in the previous year to restore the ancient household suffrage, and had thus established a claim of gratitude on the new constituency, in addition to twenty years' labour in the cause of reform. Along with him stood Mr. Thicknesse, a banker of Wigan, a reformer. Against him were Mr. Kearsley, an eccentric, and not very much cultivated man, a tory of the old school and Mr. Whittle, editor of the Manchester and Salford Advertiser, a Cobbettite, who said he stood mainly because none of the other candidates would promise to vote against the tax on the "poor man's beverage." At the end of the first day's polling Kearsley resigned, and so did Whittle, who had obtained only thirteen votes. Some delay took place in making up the return, and during the absence of the mayor for that purpose, the multitude in front of the hustings, to the number of at least five thousand, swaying about alarmingly, like waves of the sea, I was requested to occupy their attention. I congratulated them on the peaceable manner in which a great constitutional right had been exercised, contrasting it with the drunkenness that used to prevail at former elections; Mr. Potter had been placed at the head of the poll, and he deserved to stand there, considering what he had done for the emancipation of the borough from its self-elected burgesses; Mr. Thicknesse came next, at only a short distance, and he deserved to stand so near, as he had voted faithfully for the Reform Bill; Mr. Kearsley was far behind, and it was right that he should, for he had voted against reform. The multitude was now stilled, and I went on to express the gratification that I, who had been present when measures were originated to emancipate the borough, felt at witnessing the triumph that had been achieved; the results of the Reform Bill ought to be cheap government, cheap food, and the removal of all those restrictions on trade which prevented the working man from receiving the full reward for his labour; if these results did not follow the bill, the same noble spirit which caused it to pass, would cause its amendment. The mayor then appeared, and declared the state of the poll: Thicknesse, 302; Potter, 296; Kearsley, 175; Whittle, 12.
On a previous visit with Mr. Potter to Wigan, I had a short conversation with Mr. Stanley, now the Earl of Derby, and prime minister. At the end of 1830, after having taken office in the whig administration, he had been ousted from Preston because he had given a peremptory and emphatic "No" to the question if he would vote against the Corn Law. He was now on his way to offer himself as candidate for North Lancashire. He asked me who would be returned for Manchester. I said, " We shall send Mr. Poulett Thomson, partly as an expression of gratitude to ministers for the Reform Bill, and that he may tell his colleagues that we demand the repeal of the Corn Law as the first practical measure of relief to the people." " You will make a very good choice," he replied. I said, "And we shall send our townsman, Mr. Mark Philips, to show you that we want the adoption of the ballot, and the repeal of the Septennial Act, as additions to the Reform Bill." "It will be a good choice," he said, but he did not look as if he was altogether pleased with the information he had received.
At Bolton two reformers, Colonel Torrens, the author of an able work on the corn trade, and Mr. Ashton Yates, of Liverpool, would have been returned, but for the introduction of Mr. Eagle, a Cobbettie, who divided the reform interest. Mr. Bolling was the only tory candidate. Great tumult took place on the first day of the election, and the military were called in. On the second day Bolling shot ahead of Yates, and at the close of the poll the numbers were, Torrens, 626; Bolling, 499; Yates, 482; and Eagle, 107.
The result of the general election, although exhibiting a great majority for ministers, was not such as to give unmingled satisfaction to those who critically examined the returns. Many men who had been tried in the balance were found wanting, but in the general adherence to reform principles, the consequence of success, it was difficult to ascertain how far the adhesion was on principle. When nearly all professed to be reformers, just as in the general election, twenty years later, all professed to be free-traders, the ordeal was after, rather than before, the appearance on the hustings. It became a subject of interesting speculation whether the House of Commons would be led by the Whig ministers, or originate and press forward practical measures on which the ministry might be unwilling to hazard place and power. My comments on the position of affairs were, I believe, prevailing opinion:—
"The elections have been exceedingly favourable to ministers; the electors having, with few exceptions, rejected alike those candidates who would have opposed them on popular measures, and those who would have urged them onwards with a too hasty zeal. The country has thus imposed upon them a weighty responsibility. By returning members who will support them, it has given them the power to advance in every practicable reform, and by rejecting their opponents it has taken away from them every shadow of excuse for tardiness of movement in effecting public good. They may encounter obstacles from the throne, which is surrounded by those to whom a very rigid economy will be anything but acceptable; they may have opposed to them the unreasoning obstinacy of the House of Lords, where there is, as yet, very little of that enlightenment which has spread amongst the people; and they may be embarrassed by the entanglement of legacies from their tory predecessors in office; but they have got rid of the nominees of borough-owners, including numerous members sent to the House of Commons expressly to support the Bank monopoly, the East India monopoly, and the atrocities of the West India slave system, and of a considerable number of those whose business it was to support the corn-growers' monopoly. They have, in short, obtained a clear stage, and the country is disposed to see them have fair play; and if, under such favourable circumstances, and without the excuse that they are either opposed with factious pertinacity, or pushed on with imprudent ardour, they fail to effect great public good, the people will be exceedingly apt to suspect the want of inclination.
"We, however, relying on their honesty of intention, trust they will not disappoint the public expectation. But they must not natter themselves that the rejection of ultra-tories on the one hand, and of ultra-radicals on the other, implies a belief on the part of the people that the administration occupies exactly the just medium between the two extremes, or that the great measure of reform, which, supported as they have been by the public voice, they have happily effected, is complete and perfect. The compliment has been paid them, and deservedly paid them, on account of their past services, of returning persons in office,and members pledged to serve them; but a further compliment has been paid them by the electors, in believing that the representatives most likely to be acceptable to them are those who will urge them onwards, rather than wait for their impulse.
"The county constituences have not shown themselves so favourable to progressive reform as the constituencies of the boroughs, having generally sent members who, like a portion of the administration, regard the Reform Bill as a final measure. But public opinion has gained great force, and we doubt not that many of the administration, though now indifferent to the Ballot and the Septennial Act, will, ere long, accord to the almost universal will of the people. In the meantime it is curious to observe how those tones, who are pleased to call themselves reformers, let forth the secret of their terror of a too rapid march of improvement. The Guardian of last Saturday says:—'We are convinced that ministers will be stronger in the new parliament, to do what is right, than in former parliaments (except for short periods, and under peculiar circumstances,) previous ministers have ever been to do what was wrong. However, it is desirable that there should at all times be a respectable and talented opposition. Public measures of an important character require to be well considered in every variety of aspect; and this can in no way be so well done as by engaging in the discussions on their merits persons of different temperaments, education,principles, and modes of thinking. Whilst, therefore, we rejoice in the probable exclusion from St. Stephen's Chapel of some parliamentary mountebanks and mere factious oppositionists, we are glad to see that there is no doubt of the presence in the House of Commons of a number of the most respectable and able opponents of the ministry. They will not be in force to stop the wheels of improvement; but, like the governor of the steam-engine, they may prevent a dangerous rapidity of motion.' Glad! glad that the onward march of improvement is to be retarded by the opposing force of the enemies of reform! Are there not checks enough provided by the constitution, without sending more into that house which ought purely to represent the people? Is there not the King, surrounded as he is by influences unfavourable to too great an extension of popular privilege? Are there not the Lords, with all their aristocratic horror of popular encroachment? Are not these sufficient guarantees against a 'dangerous rapidity of motion' without clapping the drag-chain of tory obstinacy upon the movements of the Commons? Oh! what confusion reigns in the heads of these men of checks and balances!"
The King's speech on the opening of parliament did not contain any allusion to an improved commercial policy. Again, I believe, I expressed the opinions of a considerable portion of the community when I said:— "His Majesty congratulates houses that, with very few exceptions, the public peace has been preserved, and tells them it will be their grateful duty—to do what? To rescue the people from that depth of suffering which they have borne in a manner entitling them to the gratitude of the legislature? No! But 'to promote habits of industry and good order amongst the labouring classes of the community.' To promote industry amongst the hardest working community on the face of the earth! To promote good order' amongst those for whose preservation of the public peace his Majesty thinks the lords and commons ought to be grateful! Why was there not an acknowledgment that the greater part of the community is suffering under the load of grievous taxation, and some hope held out of an alleviation of the public burthens? Why was there no recommendation to consider how the community was operated upon, by the corn-laws, when every one confesses that the system, abandoned by the most zealous of its supporters, stands almost exploded, and that a change must be made, now that the commercial communities of this country have representatives in the councils of the nation? We have had the satisfaction of seeing that Lord Althorp, in reply to a question from Mr. T. Fowell Buxton, has expressed his confidence that he shall be able to propose a measure on the subject of negro slavery, which shall at once be safe and satisfactory. Let us hope that other just and necessary measures will be proposed, though not mentioned in the speech. We are willing to believe that, if there be any backwardness on the part of ministers to originate broad and extensive reforms, it arises from their fears of obstruction in the House of Lords. If this be the case, it is the duty of the people to support them, not only in carrying such beneficial measures as they may introduce, but, by the demand for further relief, to remove from them the charge of attempting more than the people desire to obtain. Let them be strengthened against the grasping landowners by petitions for the repeal of the Corn Laws. Let them be told that we, in the manufacturing districts, are quite willing to give such encouragement to the agricultural interests as may be effected by taking the duty off malt. Let them have a reason for abolishing all useless places and unmerited pensions, by the demand for the repeal of the Assessed Taxes. Let them be enabled to effect a thorough Church reform, by a contradiction of the Duke of Wellington's assertion that the people of England do not complain of tithes. Let them silence other conservatives who say that reform has already been too extensive, by petitioning for the ballot and for short parliaments. Let no man be afraid of embarrassing the ministry by such demands. If honestly determined to introduce cheap and good government, it will be strengthened rather than weakened by an universal call for those practical reforms which the country expects to follow the measure that they have had the merit of originating, and, aided by the people, of carrying, in spite of borough-mongering and aristocratical influence."
It will be seen that the cry of "Do not embarrass the ministry" had been already raised. It was found exceedingly effective in repressing the impatience of those who had thought that the Reform Bill was but an instrument for the attainment of other necessary reforms. Under the new system of representation, ministers had acknowledged their obligations to men possessing popular influence, and the acknowledgment had induced many to believe that their advice would be gladly received and acted upon. The almost invariable reply was that the suggestions were good, very good, and would be taken into consideration at the first favourable opportunity, but that, under the present peculiar circumstances, it would be imprudent and dangerous to press the measures recommended; it would embarrass ministers, anxious to promote, at the right time, every well-considered practicable reform; and, so, those leading men became quiet, waiting, patiently or impatiently, for the right time, until ministers, firmly fixed in their seats, could go boldly onward. When the instrument was obtained, there was a reluctance to use it immediately, as if the axe would cut more effectively after it had rusted. When a protest against the continuance of destructive commercial policy was urged, the reply usually was: "We have sent free-trade representatives—that is our protest."