The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-04-26 00:00:00

TO THE FREE AND INDEPENDENT ELF.CTOBB
OF THE BOROUGH OF DORCHESTER.

riIHE approaching dissolution announced by
the Willi:term of the Crown, induces me again to
offer myself as a Candidate for your suffrages, upon the
seine independent principles which obt“.ined for le in
1852, and 1857 the proud position of representing you
in Parliament. The mutual relations of confidence and
friendship, which I can now say have subsisted between
us for years, render it leas tiecesoiry on my part to enter
into a lengthened explanation of illy principles, than if
I were a stranger seeking for the first time to obtain
your suffrages.
In one of the fullest houses upon record, numbering
625, Parliament luta ilecidcsl by a majority of I/. that—
it is neither jnst nor politic to interfere, in the manner
proposed by the Governumut Reform Bill, with the
Freehold Franchise as hitherto exercised in the Counties
in Saigland and Wales, and that no re•adjustment of the
Franchise will Entail) Parliament or the Country. which
does not provide for • greater extension of the Suffrage
in Cities and in Boroughs, than hi contemplated in the
present measure."

The Chancellor of the Exchequer seelis to Jiver f our
attention from this decision by informing the electors of
the County of Buckingham, that the resolution pro-
posed as an amendment to the second reading of the
Government Bill was carried by "a majority broken
into sections,'' which in his opinion, " is a condition
alike prejudicial to Parliament and to the Empire." He
does not appear to remember the combination of incon•
granite parties that conspired against Lord Palinendon
in March 1857, when he endeavoured to maintain the
honor of the national flag in China—He forgets "the
diaengenuous inameuvre" in February last year which
he promoted, when "a Parliamentary majority composed
of discordant sections, again availed itself of its numeri-
cal strength to embarrass Lord Palmerston's govern-
ment."

While examining the Chancellor of the Exchequer's
address, let us not loose sight of the real question which
the several constituencies throughout the country are
called upon to consider. It is not how a majority of
the House of COMMeeb may have been composed, when
required to decide on the sufficiency and value of a great
political measure, which the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer has declared in his place in Parliament to be of
greater importance than either peace or war. The ques-
tion really submitted to the country at the forthcoming
election will be this—Reform or no Reform' whether
the decision de conclusively pronounced by the House of
Commons shall be confirmed or reversed.

It will not be sufficient simply to state that prudent
and cautious amendments have become necessary in our
time-honored institutions, and that the subject will
reieive due consideration from Lord Derby's Govern-
ment. A frank deelsration of opinion must be avowed
on the busting, that the time has arrived for • decision
on this great question, and that the Government is
bound by the promise it has already proclaimed, and by
the recommendation thrice given from the Throne, to
bring forward such a measure of Reform on the assem-
bling of the new Parliament as shall be satisfactory to
the whole country.
After the discussion that has taken place in Parlia-
ment, during a protracted debate on the late Govern-
ment IlleaSUre, it would be idle to suppose, that the
great body of the people can entertain a doubt as to the
nature and extent of the provisions necessary for the
improvement and maintenance of our Parlisuxentary
institutions.

To allow the question of Reform to be agitated year
after year, and to be made a cry for party purposes on
every hustings at each successive general election, would
be such a dereliction of public duty, and fraught with
so much danger to the stability of our institutions, that
no Government would dare to adopt such a course, and
no Parliament will sanction it.

The vital and important question of Reform awaits
your decision—lt is for you to say whether you have been
satisfied with the Government measure, or are resolved
on obtaining one which shall be iii accordance with the
just demands of the people, and the requirements of tlo•
time—it is for you to say whether lam again to represent
your wishes in Parliament—lf it should be your pleasure
to return me, I shall continue to pursue that straight-
forward and independent course best calculated to retain
your good opinion, and to promote the interests of this
great country.