Mr. Reed (M.P. for Pembroke District), the former adviser of
the Admiralty in relation to Naval construction, addressed his constituents at Tenby on Thursday in a curious speech, of which -this sentence from it may be taken as the motto :—" His vote [on the county franchise] had been put forward among them as -a proof and example of extreme Radicalism on his part. He was
not very anxious to repudiate this designation. but he -ventured to say that his views on this subject were pretty closely identical with those of the leading members of the present Con- servative Government, including Mr. Disraeli and Lord Derby ; and that it was only the Tories of the hour, and not the Con- servatives of the near future, who viewed the county ratepaying franchise as a goal of Radicalism. It was much more likely to prove a milestone of Conservative legislation." Mr. Reed went on to say that he had voted for household franchise in the *counties, and hoped some day to see it pass ; but for the present, he would not promise to vote for it again, for "in politics timeliness was a great element." In fact, Mr. Reed's speech was Liberal in the abstract, and Conservative in the concrete, and may be said to be timely in the sense of serving the time. The part of his speech on the Church was also curious. He appeared to condemn the Public Worship Regulation Act chiefly for giving the remedy against infractions of the Rubrics only to "declared members of the Church of England." He thought this a new test inconsistent with a National Church. It looks rather as if Mr. Reed wishes to gain the support both of those who disliked the Bill for diminishing the comprehension of the Church, and of those who disliked it for not giving enough opening for complaint and litigation,—for not allowing Dissenters to complain of the illegalities of the clergy. It was a speech to gather in votes from all parties.
Previous page
