The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-05-15 00:00:00

NOTICE OF THE WEEK.

I.—A a oira ?Ili puts out another,
sensation extinguishes sensation, till every
man and mother's son amongst us seems
left

"Lit. Hsierfolto, with his ha/ as sod,
At his son wuoders, woodering for his breed.*
The Redistribution Bill, after all the coy
reluctancp of its authors to eipoee it to the
light a day, has warmly been allowed fair
play as a political surprise; for the consterna-
tion created by the grand financial crash
which followed in its wake, has utterly
eclipsed that not very startling measure, and
very nearly damped down all possible excite-
ment regarding it. Indeed the surprise on
all hands is—what then could have been to
conceal? Conservatives call it a Conservative
measure; and all, save a few of those affected
by it, pronounce it a better digested scheme
than the Franchise Bill. That is to say, they
consider it the better of the two, and the
redeeming feature of the whole. Meantime,
it will be seen from the Bridport " indigna-
tion meetings," reported in our columns, that
it Is probable many platen affected by the
redistribution, may, however, be found dis-
posed to kick at it. Dorchester, proverbially
dull and spiritless, suffers incomparably more
than Bridport by the misfortune which
threatens to bring them both into acquaint-
ance "with strange bedfellows." Dorchester
not only loses • member, but becomes
" annexed" to Wareham, Here Regis, and
Corfe Castle, which places in reality lose
nothing, as they *ill still continue to return
• member as at present, with only the
accession of their imperturbable Dorces-
trian friends to assist them in so doing
And Dorchester sits down under all this—
it "dies (Politically) and gives no sign."
As an index and exponent of the feeling of
the place, the present writer ihould
have been content to remain dumb on the
occasion, had not more than one corres-
pondent recalled to mind an episode of th-
election of 1859, which, under existing cir-
cumstances, it provokes a smile to Fad
unforgotten. Lord Russell's and Mr.
Bright's Reform schemes were then upon the
Sara, and the question wip put tq our liberal
representative, Mr. blieridan, on the busting.,
which dr those measures be would support, as
the one proposed to deprive Dorchester of
two members, the other of one? The
hon. gentleman, who at that time pro-
fessed to have some difficulty in recognising
the status of an elector, then expending
£l,OOO a year, (not more nearly approachjng
£2,000 a year,) in the town, in wages, &c.,
replied that nothing on earth should ever in-
duce him to support any measure that would
compromise the political privileges of Dor-
chester. Now is the time for the hon. mem-
ber to prove his consistency. Bridport is up
in arms against its annexation to the Honiton
lace population; lure and hemp are ill con-
sorted. For being uni,ed with Lyme Regis
and Charmouth, they might care lees • but
Honiton, away in Devon, ii mitrige;iusly
out of the track, that we are only surprised
has not been rendered glaring how ex-
ceptionally Dorsetshire, as a whole, has been
treated in this redistribution. This count
in the aggregate, has not any undue propor-
tion of members ; yet of the paltry &yen
about to be given airily from England to
Bcotistid, no lea than two have been filched
from Dorset alone. It is amongst the proudest
political traditions of the county, that at the
last "redistribution" or seats, it resisted
successfully the attempt to disorganise the
triple representation of the county at large,
and thus continues to retain its three county
members, and every county voter his peculiar
privilege of having three votes. But what
has come ovet the Dorset Boroughs, that
when thus made the mark of political spolia,
tion, Mr. Mitchell alone of all their repre-
sentatives, cames down to defend "the rights
and common" of the ancient burghers? Mr.
Hodgson, it is true, is detained" more by a
command than request" of Mr. Gladstone,
at the Bank of England, to face the still more
terrible financial crisis of the moment. But,
alma for Dorchester, which succumbs in total
silence to an equally severe infliction The
only wonder is, that, in a county that sub-
mits to be fleeced arid shorn so tamely,
Shaftesbury, Poole, and Weymouth should
have escaped. As regards the former it may,
however, be remarked that pocket boroughs
generally have been held sacred by the
framers of the present measure; as re
Poole there may be ressons why it should be
e
exempt from the fate of Bridport and Dor-
chester, although we by no means seem to
see them; and Weymouth with Melcombe
Regis having lost two out of four members
by the last Reform Bill, it would be hard
indeed were so "sweet" a spot reduced one-
half again by the present.

- -
IL—Lowrey has during the last few days
I experienced an entirely new and unhappily
sensational ordeal which. if it continues, will
serioaelt ailed the Womb of the highest MI
Wen 181. kmet Ow Imed. Already middle