and slate industries of North Wales became important. Cardiff, Swansea, and Newport became important ports; and places that few had ever heard of before like Ystrady-fodwg or Blaenau Ffestiniog—became the centres of important industries.
But, in 1832, Wales was still mainly pastoral and agricultural; and the Act, though it did much for the towns, left the representation of the counties in the hands of the same class. Still, it was the towns that showed disappointment, as was seen in the Chartism of the wool district of Llanidloes and of the coal district of Newport.
The second Reform Act, of 1867, gave Merthyr Tydvil two representatives instead of one, otherwise it left the distribution of seats as it had been before. But the new extension of the franchise—to the borough householder, the borough 10 lodger, and especially the 12 tenant farmer gave new classes political power. It was followed by a fierce struggle between the old landed gentry and their tenants, a struggle which was moderated to a certain extent by the Ballot Act of 1870, and by the great migration of the country population to the slate and coal districts.
The rapid rise of the importance of the
