THE COUNTY FRANCHISE DEMONSTRATION. (TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR:1
Sur,—You tell the agricultural labourers that in order to succeed, they must enlist the support of their brethren in the towns. Per- mit me to say that this is exactly what they did at the recent conference. In round numbers, that assembly consisted of 2,600 delegates, only 1,250 of whom were sent by the agricultural labourers. The remainder came from the great towns, the mining districts, and the suburbs of London outside the borough bound- aries. The branches of the National Reform Union, whose head- quarters are at Manchester, sent not far short of 500, West Kent more than 200, the suburban parts of Surrey nearly 100. With scarcely an exception, the Liberal associations of all the large towns were represented, in most cases by several delegates. So far as the agricultural labourers present were concerned, their travelling and other expenses were in no case defrayed by either the London Committee or the Union itself. Each village that sent its men had to raise the funds to send them. In many cases, Union men have been contributing weekly ever since Christmas out of their scanty wages, in order to be as well represented as
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