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 pounds lodger, and
especially the 12 pounds 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 industrial districts is seen
in the third Reform Act of 1885. The country districts represented
by the small boroughs of the agricultural counties of Brecon,
Cardigan, Pembroke, and Anglesey, were wholly or partly
disfranchised. But the slate county of Carnarvonshire had an
additional member; and in the coal and iron country, Swansea and
Carmarthenshire and Monmouthshire had one additional member each, and
Glamorgan three.
The third Reform Act enfranchised the agricultural labourer and the
country artisan.
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