The Express.
London, England, 1852-02-09 00:00:00

THE NEW REFORM BILL.

(hum the Deaf News.)

i,oght lord Joust RUVIELL is to explain the
me 4, to• proposes for amending the representation of
rept( of these kingdoms, and the Tory porty.,
it 0
id, arc not likely to offer any. great consd
ince to the measure of the minister. Reformers
re.,, therefore. make up their minds on the subject.
alt the conking reform bill is not to contain all that
le, de we have at kart a right to expect
tho %hat there is of it should be good. 'The
representation is nut a matter to be cobbled
a n•
ikerd. from time to time, according to the
lonil.iur or coneenience of parties. It may not be
oe
to get all we want at one effort, but it is
4.lltecomptial that whatever we do get it should be of
rjo right sort, and that whatever is done should be of
kind to be la-ting.
A tiec pound household franchise in towns would
k ail important stele in the right direction. It may
half way from where we are, to the point
• .hall one day reach. To pretend that having got ,
ro far. the people will sit down contentedly, and
*AM abide by another twenty years, would 100 ate
tend, But every shrewd and intelligent friend of ;
honestly help to get as much as we
no,• as soon as we can, from whatever quarter we
on—avowing frankly that in gin ing a receipt on
mount we have no idea of abandoning our claim
pr the remainder. Ten shillings in the pound is
hoer than nothing. provided we get it in hard
il. and not in bail paper. The English people
ore all for the practical and the practicable: only
oyes must be satisfied that they are not going to be
cheated. Lowering tin' standard front le/. to
k. in cities and boroughs is an instalment of
the it, bt long due to the industrious classes
a the community. Even with such a test of
eligibility those who would be enfranchised would
e: ;le a minority of the hard-working, tax-Fiying
offering many, whose equal right to a voice en
presentation we have ever contended for. We
ec the time is not distant when that right will
unreservedly acknowledged by the battled mano-
r:vas of power who have hitherto successfully
foisted its concession; and till it be acknowledged
in its entirety, discussion on the subject can never
dm. But as a Al. franchise is now certain of being
serried by members elected by 101. constituencies, so
▪ rating suffrage without any limitation will inevi,
table follow the adoption of a M. extension.
Why the whigs should not at once propose a full
an perfect measure, rather than an instalment, is
another question. It is, in fact, only another form
et th.• much larger question, namely, why are there a
wt •t IhllitiCian. (1111111 Whir!? The story goes that
Lad bins would fain hare introduced a better bill
tlan we arc likely to hear him propound in the
as of Commons to-night, but that he was out-
Toted in the cabinet on more points than one. Be
Vt... however, as it may, the course of the people's
is plain. They must bate nothing of the
:.real demand. They must ask for all and press
f r : but if, after a gallant fight, they secure only
hal the leaf when they cannot get the whole, no
can I .en fairly condemn them. '"The Ballot—The
---must be their grand battle cry, =don that
they nn.t divide the House.
We differ altogether from the Times in the esti-
nee formed by that journal of the comparative
niportoriet of the suffrage question, and the question
• relates to the transfer of representation
fru half-a-dozen rotten boroughs to larger
temmunities. Let the roguery of St. Albans
stel Harwich be punished by all means; and let
Lancashire and Yorkshire be made the deposits-
res of the privileges thus abused and forfeited.
It:: it us not be diverted from the main question
he such matters. Itossted chcsnuts are excellent
Ines after dinner, but they would make a very un-
satisfactory substitute for the meal itself. The endue-
:nous masses who dwell in towns want a share in
tl. representation of the realm, and they arc coolly
t... 1 that the monied and landed interest are mach
...re concerned about adjusting anew the terms
r: their divided ascendancy. Probably they
tit. be; but assuredly the nation at large
infinitely more for the general enfranchising
I -1-e of the promised bill than for any transfer of
p ser from one locality to another. The special in-
t. -ts of cliques and-classes arc undoubtedly more
Le need in the latter than in the former; but in the
-7f of the people the feeling is altogether the
• way. To abate a local nuisance is very proper
• praiseworthy ; but to set its importance above a
tzdamental change in the whole fabric of tho con-
stitution appears to us unreasonable and unjust. If
the ministerial measure omits to punish the con-
rated boroughs, and to secure additional represen-
tatives to the manufacturing counties, the defect
an and ought to be cured during the passing of
the bill through committee. The question in
fah particular case will be one of detail; and
we should be greatly surprised if a good battle
acre not fought on each point as it shall arise. Bin
re the broad and essential features of the bill parties
• naturally range themselves under their rival
standards. Any, man who votes against theexten-
se a of the franchise to re/. householders will run the
tick of bring called a tory, and must expect to be
regarded as an enemy of popular right, by what-
ever title he chooses to designate himself, and what-
sfir excuse he may set up as his reason for so doing.
There is another item, however, in the programme
that has been given, which we confess appears to
to much more equivocal in its character and taw
limey. We allude to the alleged intention to redoes
tle.'see tenant at will qualification in counties to 20!.
chaps, as an equivalent for the 12!. tenant at will
franchise conferred two years ago on the
lr,h counties, the change may not be open
the charge of national partiality. It has
axe iys been contended, and not without
soma colour of reason, that having regard to the
(Velvet value of money in the two countries and the
Lamm condition of the agricultural classes on the
termite sides of the Channel, a lower figure ought
to be fixed as the standard in Ireland than in Great
Britain. It should be borne in mind, however, that
to one instance has the efficacy of the new 124
meaty franchise as yet been tried ; and that it re-
tains to be seen how tenants-at-will are likely to act
eith,ut the protection of the ballot. And this
holes us to what, after all, is the chief short-
totting of the scheme attributed to Lord Jolly
It re.t.t.

about the ballot, no experiment of a widely
extiotkd suffrage can be fairly made. In period sof
escirtruent, when the menaces of tend and the
thrtats of customers are alike dis d, tenants-
a••will in counties and the hwnblcst class
shopkeepers in towns, may do their duty.
h... in ordinary times these influences are sure to
with more or less effort universally ; and we
i.i,:urs to prophecy that should Lord DERBY and
t.• 141 lowers not obstruct the passage of the pro-
-1 'td ballot-less reform bill, twelve months will not
p.ss before the cry for secret voting will become
unsistible. The grievance of intimidation is now felt
a comparatively limited section of the community
it; taib district of town and country. But let the
ntirage ones he conceded to large masses of perimeter;
tlerywhere throughout the kingdom, and a sense el
esumon defencelessness will combine them together
M a demand not to be gainsaid or neglected, for the
role 4hield and shelter that can be afforded them.
This is, of course, no reason why the ballot should
sot be loudly, firmly, and long urged as a necessary
amendment to the present ministerial plan ; bat it
is very like a reason why we should secure, by all
r"ans, all that is possible during the pretend sessiosa.
With an armed despotism next door to se Parlia-
mentary timidity may tend to link Tories to Whigs
in a rvfuNri of popular demands. But if full justice
iw not obtainable on the instant, it may be worth
t imidisring whether we had better not take all we
can
_gct• - al an instalment.

11,‘vtNr, THE NAVY.—On Saturday, orders were
tram the Admiralty at the naval readesvoui,
I' +, Old], and at the Crocodile receiving ship, lying oft,
t'' r, to increase the W
of able wainco, and bra,
I.vs, to man the ad ships. The aterson's
"ofssay have also rsestwi amiss asessably he the Mow
tt th. If charter, to send in a Mars of the amber of her
0.5 on the books capable of ruing in the royal
_1417
/load,' any emergency arise; theeedwated amebae hits tioa rind from this source is 600. Orders have likewise
Cob"O
o 6aed that on paying off discharged ships nelhissiel
Cdas* should be stroreenterded to the men to reenter he her
service, and all so doing will receive di weeks'
I,4se of eh., nee, their pay accruing during that period,
and' t is shoo reckoned towards their full period of service
to ',with them to a pension. Lads accustomed to river
haft, %fifth sever at sea, are now entered, sad every la-
sae/wet held out for men to eater the service.