The Press.
London, England, 1858-01-02 00:00:00

THE PRESS, JANUARY 2, 1858.

we believe it to be literally, absolutely true—
capable of complete and unquestionable cor-
roboration. But if it be true, may we not rea-
sonably ask how much longer such a system
of abominabl' injustice and tyranny is to be
endured? If Parliament does nut take this
matter up, it will abdicate its function as
guardian of the public liberties of England.

FAIR PLAY FOR THE LANDED
INTEREST.
THERE is only one point in connection with
the promised Reform Bill on which persons
of opposite politics hold the same opinion.
It is believed generally that, whatever may
bo its main features, any new measure of
Reform must inevitably be one depending
very much upon detail. Arrangements, ad-
justments, and compromises of all sorts,
allowances in one direction and retrench-
ments in another, may be looked for in any
scheme which may be brought forward. A
purely one-sided measure exalting the Liberal
and depressing the Conservative interest
would not be adopted by the House of Com-
mons ; and even if such a measure passed the
Lower House, it would be certainly rejected
by the Lords. A medley Ministry, like that
of Lord PALMERSTON'S, is not likely to bring
about a collision between the two Houses ; it
will endeavour to steer a more cautious course.
But even with specious words, and solemn
assurances of fair play to all sides, Lord PAL..
MERSTON may commit himself to some scheme,
which, though not directly aimed at the Con-
servative interest with the view of crushing it,
may yet work considerable injustice.
It must, therefore, never be forgotten by the
Conservatives that the Reform Bill, in a party
sense, has worked more unfairly than had
been anticipated. The late Earl GREY, at the
end of 1832, boasted in the House of Peers
that " a more aristocratic measure had never
" been passed by the Legislature," and Lord
BROUGHAM, in one of his pamphlets against the
Melbourne Ministry, reminded Earl SPENCER
(the Lord Al►horp of 1831 2) that "it had
" never been intended by the Reform Bill to
" crush the Tory party, which had its own
" natural position in the country." We quote
these theta for what they aro worth; but we
remember that, in a way never anticipated, the
Reform Bill has worked with an augmented
ratio of Radical aggression. The framers of
the Bill of 1832 never supposed that the
management of the Irish Liberal interest
would pass out of the hands of the Irish Whigs
into the priests and local demagogues. Nor
was the effect of the Scotch changes calculated
upon. Society in the towns and burghs of
Scotland is constituted in an essentially dif-
ferent basis from that existing in England.
Scotland has not those great professional
interests which exist amongst us, nor has
she an Established Church ; and hence the
representatives returned for her boroughs
are, for the most part, all ultraists in their
Liberalism. In the wo•:king of party against
party, under the Reform Bill, much injustice
has been done to the English Conservative
interest in consequence of the one-sided cha-
racter of the representation produced by the
Reform Bill in Scotland and Ireland.
It will, consequently, be more necessary for
English Conservatives to see that the claims
of property and the agricultural interest at
large receive fair consideration. The main
bulk of Cue House of Commons is returned by
England ; and the representation of Ireland
and Scotland (however important) is com-
paratively secondary to the grave and weighty
claims arising from the land and agriculture
of England. One hundred and tourty-four
county members and three hundred and
twenty-two borough members are allotted to
the whole of England. That is to say, con-
siderably more than double the number of
members is got by boroughs and towns against
counties The numerical disproportion seems
great even at the first glance; but it is still
greater in a strictly political point of view,
because the active social life of the towns, the
facility of getting up meetings and working

by the platform, and the circulation of
journalism, all contribute to intensify the
politics of town life, and raise its pressure to a
far higher motive force than can be supplied
by the counties. " Nothing," says BURKE, "is
" a due and. adequate representation of a
" State that does not represent its ability as
" well as its property. But as ability is a
" vigorous and active principle, and as property
" is sluggish, inert, and timid, it never can be
" safe from the invasions of ability, unless it
" be out of all proportions predominent in its
" representation. It must be represented,
' " too, in great masses of accumulation, or it i 3
" not rightly protected." (Reflections on the
Revolution.)

Now, with the help of the returns ob-
tained by Mr. DrsaAELI, let us see how
far the landed property in counties and
the investments iu agriculture are repre-
sented as compared with the commercial
property of towns and boroughs. We will not
trouble our readers with too many statistical
illustrations, and our instances shall be
selected with perfect fairness. In Lancashire,
taken by county division, the return (p. 2) gives
4,025,492/. as the annual value of property rated
under the income tax to a population of
817,515. There are fourteen boroughs in Lan-
cashire, including Liverpool and Manchester,
and the value of their property rated under
the income tax stands at 5,110,8841., with au
aggregate population of 1,200,08:2. Twenty-
two members are assigned to these amounts
of town property and population, while only
four members are given to the great property
and population of Lancashire in its county
divisions. We select Lancaster first ou this
occasion because its town population and
property returns exceed (though not greatly)
those of its county division. Here are the
exact figures, and we prefix of ourselves the
number of members of each borough
LANCASHIRE :
•

Annual Value. Population:
Northern Division.... £1,253,214 316,504
Southern Division.... 2,772g38 .... 500,711

£4,M5,482 817,515
And here is the return for the boroughs

:-

LANCASTER :
limbrs Annual Value. Population.
1 Ashton•under.Lyne £107,034 .... 29,791
2 Blackburn 157,293 .... 46,536
2 Bolton
1 Bury
1 Clitherne
2 Lancaster

2 'Liverpool ...... 1,765,031 .... 373,935
2 Manchester (City) .. 1,531,9.63 .... 310,213
2 Oldham
2 Preston
1 Rochdale
1 SAllord
1 NVanington ..
2 Wigan

5,110,881 1,200,082
A mere glance at these contrasted figures
shows the injustice done to the landed interest.
Let us turn to a part of the country with
opposite social features. Let us look to Kent.
The return for the Eastern and Western Divi-
sions stands thus :
KENT :

Annual Value. Population.
Eastern Division .... £1,051,079 .... 1.51,1166
Western Division .... 1,3.51045 .... 231,711

Z 2,407,1264 .... 383,377
There are eight boroughs in Kent returning four-
teen members. Their annual value of property
under the income tax stands at 930,0891., and
their population is 236,463. To these figures
fourteen members are given, while the enor-
mously larger property and population of Kent
in counties (East and West) obtain only four
members.

We subjoin the exact return :
KLsT :

Mmbra. Annual Value. repulat'ol
2 Canterbury ( City) £31,528 .... 18,398
1 Chatham 80,102 .... 28,424
2 ]lover
2 Greenwich
1 Hythe
2 Maidstone
2 Rochester (City)
2 SAudwich

£920,089 236,463
Let us look to the case of Devon. In its

..A

county divisions the return fur Devonshire
Stands thus :
DEVONSHIRE

Annual Value. Population.
Northern Diviaion.... £785,341 .... 150,1:04
Southern Divibion 1,128,709 .... 217,884

e 1,894,110 .... 371,013
And its boroughs appear thus in the return :

DEVON :
Almbre. Annual Value. Population.
1 Ashburton
2 Itarnetaple
1 Dartmouth 15,002 .. .. 4,b08
2 Devotiport
2 Exeter ( City )
2 11 nn iron

,
9 111 v month
2 Tay:yowl
9 Tiverton 41,800 .. .. 11,144
1 T unless

1719,842 191,155
That is to say, seventeen members are assigned
to the property and population of the Devon-
shire boroughs, though more than double the
amount in the county have only four members !
Or look at Gloucestershire. The county
has four members, its returns standing thus :
GLOUCESTERSHILE :
Annual Value. Population.
Eastern Division
Western Division %Mali .... 138,159

X 1,469,123 237,943
And the boroughs, w ith nine members between
thorn, are thus returned :

Mmbrs. Annual WU& Population.
1 Cheltenham .. X21)0,988 15,051
2 Cirencester
.6,098

2 Gloucester (City) 81,770 .... 17,572
9 Stroud
2 Tewkesbury

£453,604 101,1363
These figures tell their own tale.
We could thus go through the whole return,
and show the enormous disproportion between
the number of members assigned to the landed
interest and the property and population of
counties, taken in contrast with the cl►ims of
towns estimated by the standard of property
and population. The Parliamentary Govern-
ment of England has thus be.'n thrown almost
entirely upon the towns, and au intense " out-
oldoors " pressure has thus been placed upon
the Queen's Cabinet for the time being. The
constitutional consequences from such a dis-
proportion between the Conservative and
Liberal elements of English society are ex-
tremely serious, and suggest most important
considerations, and we shall have to dwell at
length upon them on another occasion.

LORDPALMERSTON'S"PROTESTANTISM"

IN IRE. AND.
TUE Whigs have ever been famous for their
jobbery in Ireland. We all know by this time
what was the extent and the significance of
the Lichfield-house Compact. It was an
understanding which involved mutual sacri-
fices, and secured reciprocal advantages. Both
parties came to the conclusion that place was
the cardinal aim of the philosophic politician.
This was the pursuit which was to subjugate
the power of principle, and override the con-
victions of conscience. The Whigs entered
the market as buyers—the Romanist faction
entered it as sellers. The bargain was effected,
and it has been ratified by the interchange of
countless favours. The Whigs have fondled
Roman Catholicism, and the Roman Catholics
have served the Whigs. But of late years
this disreputable state of things has been
aggravated. Lord PALMERSTON has signa-
lised his Premiership by a truckling to
the Romanist body, which casts all the deeds
of his predecessors into the shade. Matters
have come to such a pass in the sister country
now, that no one has a chance of promotion
unless he be a warm Papist or a cold Protes-
tant. He may be anything else, or nothing
else—a lawyer without practice, or a practi-
tioner without law—a dull gentleman, or a
sharp adventurer. So long as he is a sworn
enemy of the Irish Church, his credentials are