The Press.
London, England, 1856-11-08 00:00:00

SATUUDAY,

bringing the noses of the country people to the
political grindstone. The qualification for a vote in
the counties (independent of the 501. tenants-at-
will, enfranchised by the Marquis of Chandos's
these
s , with ifor the
leading votes a
town
clause) is a 40s. freehold. Now, there are in all
counties a number of villages and small towns con-
tcaoitiinintyg memberinatly ; thesebut voters,
freeholders
life, are swayed by town instincts, and do nut repre-
sent the agricultural interest at all. In reality they
are in general more radical than the voters in large
towns, and, unless influence be brought to bear on
them, vote to a man fur the candidate most inimical
to the landed interest. Thus it is that several
countiee are swamped, and return members who, in.
stead of representing the demi-disfranchised class
of agriculturists, swell the racks of the representa-
tives of the shopocracy, and in fluctuating numbers
heighten the fixed injustice; so that when a demo-
cratieal mania comes over the nation, the real county
members, arithmetically and inflexibly put to the
disadvantage of two to one, find themselves outnum-
bered in the House by three to one. Thus, by an
ingenious contrivance of fixed and fluctuating in-
justice, democratical measures from time to time
are sure to be forced ou a nation against the will of
a real majority.
So far we have argued the question on the footing
of constituencies, and we have fully made out our
case ; but let us glance at it in two other points of
view, the Democratic and the Conservative. The
Democratic view we assume to he representation in
proportion to population ; a principle which we be-
lieve, if it could be practically worked, would be
found much more conservative than the present
" Beautiful order." Excluding Ireland because my
almanac does not give the returns, I find the
county population of England, Wales, and Scotland
to be 11,441,550, and the town population 8,574,801.
Now the eleven million odd are represented by
189 members ; while the eight million odd are
represented by 356 members ; and if we assume
350 as the normal number of representa-
tives for eight millions, the normal number for
eleven millions will be 464. Whence it follows that
the agricultural population under the Reform system
have two-and-a-half times less influence in the Go-
vernment of this free country than the town popula-
tion.
The Conservative view is that representation
should be based on property. We have a want
of hccurate statistics on this head, but we be-
lieve the Whigs will be rather obliged to us if
we say roughly that the value of agricultural
property in this country is ten times larger
than all other species of property in or bdongiog to
the country taken en masse. Yet so it is under the
Reform Bill, that the parties interested in the tenth
part of the wealth of the nation have at least twice
the influence on the Government of the country to
that possessed by those interested in the other nine-
tenths.
The subject is susceptible of being placed in a
great many other lights, the Reform Bill being in
reality a kaleidescope of injustice; and if you give
rite space for another communication, I will make
another attempt to shame the Whigs, as it is only
through the honesty of the best of them we can ex-
pect redress. Meantime my object is to rouse the
Conservatives, and incite them to struggle for what
they are plainly entitled to, not according to any
vague opinion, but according to an equity certified by
arithmetic. And to induce them to act energetically, I
will tell them the real reason why the Whigs will
oppose Conservative Reform ; it is this, that of that
189 members who represent the counties of England
and Scotland, 140 are Conservatives, 41 are Whigs,
and the balance milk and water.-1 am, sir, Sec.,
J. A. U.