The Express.
London, England, 1849-07-05 00:00:00

poli•ically in very high consideration. He bad just
served the office c f hit h sheriff of the county, which
bad brought him into immediate commueication with
the Maidevone people ; and he bad been known to take
pecular interest in the bop cultivation, in which the
residents of this locality are In peculiarly interested.
Had Mr. Salomon, been brought forward at an early
period, it is not improbable that be might have suc-
ceeded ; but he came too late in the field. As it was,
be polled nearly 450 votes, Lot one of which was pur-
ebred.
Mr. Selomons proved him.. If a very excellent can-
diclate,and obtained a high degree of popularity is Ma id-
st ere. One an. cdote is told of him that is worth per-
petuating. At the nomination some one, with far
more bigotry atd ignorance, than wit or humour,
caused to be displayed a boar d on which was psi nte d tl e
figure of a Jew riding on a pig. " Aft," said Mr. Salo-
mon., tarning to the Tory agen's "that is remarkably
good ; I should htve recognised the resemblance to
Disraeli anywhere." Is it necessary to add that the
ii.acard was withdrawn ?
In 1847 Mr. Hope and Mr. Dodd both took the
field again. Mr. Sslomons was also invited to come
forward, and bred an address in which he offered
himself as a candidate. When the liberal electors
met, however, the old son of " the Coppock debt"
was re-opened. One or two of the principal sufferers
expressed an opinion that the candidate they sup-
ported ought to pay this liability. Their views were
made known to Mr. Selomone. Ten years had elapwd
since the debt was incurred : he had been, neither
directly nor indirectly, concerned in its contraction,
and he consequently at once, and we think most rea-
sonably and properly, refused to recognise it. The
s tme reasons that induced Mr. Salomons to with-
draw deterred others from coming forward, sod
the consequence wee that, for the first time for up-
wards of a century, the election for Maidstone was
uncontested. - -

With inch a state of Pings it might have been
hoped that corruntion would have ceased. Not ro.
Two months after the election every elector believed
to be " conservative," received, by post, in an enve-
lope, a bank note of the value of 51. At the succeed-
ing Christmas the same parties received a gratuity of
11. Tke intention with which this offering was trans-
mitted is thoroughly understood, and the receipt of
the money is so little a secret that on one occasion it
was proved at a trial in the Maidstone county court.
It seems a work of supererogation to sum up the
case against this borough. It is evidently subject to a
meet atrocious electio-eering system; a system, too,
by which, hitherto, neither whigs nor tories have
been in any way the pinery. The Maidstone con-
tests between 1747 and 1847 cost upwards of
1.50,0001. ; and, despite this immense expenditure, the
two factions have, as nearly as possible, enjoyed an
equal share of the representation.
The cure for Maidstone is universally said to be the
ballot. If the ballot is not adopted, it would be better
for the constituency and the nation that the town
should be disfranchised—an extreme measure, to
which, we believe, se things at present stand, the in-
tegrity of the borough would by no means be opposed.