The Express.
London, England, 1849-03-12 00:00:00

OUR REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM

RIPON.
We have to-day to tell the tale of a most degraded
and debased constitueecy. It may be said, without
exaggeration, that in Ripon every spark and particle
etpablie spirit is literally crushed! In other need-
notion boroughs, at least the dyieg embers of political
opinion may remain, giving hope, if no tut, of
vitality hereafter. But in Ripon there is bet
the dry, cold, cheerless ashes of a own Singly -
ing flame. In the whole town you could scarce excite
ass mace to look forward to a better future. The
short-lived independence of the place born of the Re-
form Act is not merely smothered, dead, and buried, but
every trace of its progeny—every sign of the inheri-
tance it might have bequeathed—has been carefully
=actis,Nothimg remains bat sad and mournful
the painful memory of a brilliant example
ending in an irretrievable ruin.
The representation of Ripon, from a very remote
period down to the Reform Act, had been a mere
to the estate of Studley Castle. A hundred
Mmefac:ltyeburgopholds possessed by the proprietors
of that estate, and exercised after a fashion
more than usually unscrupulous, enabled the
family of Aialabie and their successors to re-
turn two members for the town. The estate of
Studley, in 1832, was held by a maiden lady.
The House of Commons, with fastidious delicacy,
went out of its way some years ago to suppress in
one of its reports all mention of her name. In page
after pegs of evidence, teeming with the strongest re-
cords of electioneering abases, Miss Limnos, of Stud-
ley, is only referred to u" —." Seth scrupulous
caution has not been exhibited by parlianwo not in
dealing with the character end reputation of in ri-
des]s far leas deserving public reprooL It is to
be accounted for upon the supposition that the com-
mittee thought it unfair to hold Miss Lawrence
responsible for the acts committed in her
name. The lady bad a friend and adviser
is a high functionary, the present Vice-
Chenseller et MlOnd, who held the somewhat un-
seal Gies d " waiter" of her castes, and who is
believed, and apparently not without reason, to have
bee. the real dictator to the town of Ripon. At any
rate, in the two last boroughmengering parliaments,
the occupants of the seats were two Lincoln's-inn
barristers, Mr. Louis Hayes Petit and Mr. George
Spence; and it is much more reasonable to suppose
that they were the nominees of the " auditor," than
that they held their seats as the favoured swains of
the 0 Stedky ledy."
Great was the joy in Ririe when the Reform Act
passed. The town is by no means an !magnificent or
contemptible place. There is wealth in it, though it
is anasoompaased with independence. It boasts of a '
cathedral church, and in oar day has been thought of
suMsient ermsecienoe to be elevated, with Manche.-
ter, to the seat of a bishopric, and the centre of an
important *Nepal system. Oust was the joy there
when the Reform Act pealed. The people really sup-
posed themselves emancipated. The Ist of August,
1834, was not a day of more signal rejoicing among
the slaves of the West ladies than was the day of the
mal assent to the Reform Bill among the slaves of
Miss Lawrence's political &minim They believed
that they were free. The benaderise of the
had been extended; the righter_ }remised to =1;
the names of at lout 400 destine; and twthezt
men end true were likely to primed
as candidate. These were Mr. Thomas Bitchingmen
Manly, of lionneyford, and Mr. Joshua Samuel
Crompton, of Sion-hill, both near neighbours to the
town sad representative. of families held in high m-
oped throughout the ommty. With these maidates
it was felt that Ripon weisM ammo a parliamentary
position not unworthy Os character of the city, for
under the new charter of liberty, said the towns-
people* horostkinciegering is at an end for ever.
Poor, deluded people ! Soon, too soon, were they
destined to discover how gram was the deceit. The old
Studley members had, indeed, retired, but it was only
to give plus to candidata* yew associated with the
snout system, but not ken capable of riding rough-
shod over a cosidtneney. It was a curious exchange
that was made : the two Chancery lawyers gave plus
to two military martinets. They were Gemmel Sir
Charles Whim, who was jest at the moment fresh
from presiding over the court-martial which had sat
at Bristol on the ill-fated Colonel Brevities, and
Oohed Markham, a grandson of Archbishop Mark-
ham, who filled the see of York for • period
of thirty years, from 1778 to 1807. To
folly appreciate the position of the borough at this
time, it must be borne in mind that a considerable num-
ler of boner holders still had a right to vote. This,
mad avery strung exercise of Miss Lawrence's Win-
es" rendered the contest severe. It became, indeed,
towards the close much more narrow than bed been
expected. Strong efforts were evidently bang
made by the tory party, but the voters were
at that time too inexpenenced in election *lairs to dis-
cover the form which they assfamed. However, Messrs.
Stavely and Crompton were returned. Their ma-
jority wee may six votes; the numbers being 188 for
each of the liberals, and 182 kr General Dalbiac. But
the refine= believed that the smallmos of the ma-
jority was entirely ettribatabie to the buggy votive,
and they determined to vas every dirt tostrike these
off on*. mowing segistsitisa, ealealstiag that es
they get old deal damof sledges the
side would he emmilma esastitamasy
would old
deal
bly aaditeesul ority 'spa their
This eludes et Merely sad Crompton took place
on the fad der el Dumber, 1832. The tenancies
upon the fkalmy estate are yearly tenancies termi-
nable at lady-day. On the fad of September, 1833,
being the earliest-period after the election on which
sash a masers would be of any avail, nodose of die-
=mama marred upon all the tenants on Miss Law-
Walk not only electors but non-electors
ot aim 1 The consternation ommaioned by this
upessaleated mum, may be Nally conceived.
The Unary rushed to the We are
bid that whoa the liberal voters went up and
mil if them notices meant a rise in rent or a Min-
Ver the ocoa= they were informed that
I have their When the truism made a
Washy, the steward was in a state of happy
=N uto the hue of any notices whatever.
the *semi temente signed the following
deeknation, mid sent it up to the Home of Commons:
I dolserrhy
_esismaly declare, to the bast of my know-
hellodeclare, and MAK list I wee diesharged from say oempstios
edfto pseyster seldsh I *ea belt under KW Lawrence
(when femme Ilhaise bee. tar Mesa years), In consequence
aidesbe valail ha Nam Stavely mad Crompton, at the
ha Dumber, M.

There woe s ;Mow woman in the town wise
missed $ semewird similar declaration. She belimwd
that the had been ejected because her Jule husked
had voted for the Duals. She had lived in the
house she wu tuned oat of no km than 40 year%
aad it is menthe's's that, though ejected, that hones
did not give a qualifintion, bat that her husband
voted in respect of land and buildings occupied under
another landlord.

iiiitiesjeciments were by no means the only
hardships under which the Ripon people at this time
suffered. To speak of the lanes the shopkeepers sal-

tabled b 7 reason of the withdrawal of costae would
be =thing : that marries is, =happily, too pre-
valent every where. Bat them are tastiness
remolded in the parliamentary reports of asiserke
Idlated at in a way so meld= es
to excite the lißipoa veliest sympathy lour the =Borers sad
the etteelest disgust towards thaw who iallicted the
safferiag. Bore is the ease of a widow, megher-io-
kw to a vets: who bed • pee ,* so the teehe
mid. Her husband had Isla a laboamr ander the
for many yews. He was Wields' some
down to Rip= one winter's night when be
slipped and Ml down, and metained injuries. Oa
hie death " as the data paper lam
thought prope to make the widow an allowance of
101. year. In Imagery, 1833, it was withdrawn.
Hen hl bu inbred=
Ide hereby soimuoly dukes that ay pond= boa —,
of 101. a yew, aes %hes hem ass ea the homey. 1888,
stases my having in way way (to ape knowledge) pow
sew* dbededt ad I do truly believe that it wee sakes
off mettneeltame. of say werin•law haviog vend he
U Nem& eiesere. nal Oneeptos, at ths denim la Doeseabor,

There was another man who had a like peed= of
IOL struck off. He wan a non-dater, bat In com-
pliment to " " be pat as a blue ribbon, and
went out to meet the tory procession. He bad, how-
ever, a leother, a master bricklayer, who voted for
Stadiy and Comptes, and he expressos his 4:envie-
d's that it was In eanseqmsee of that vote that his
pussies was withdrawn from him. There were other
woo of the sums sert.—none, perhape,. so strong as
this, but all displaying the name sesuans, and all
'Wag for the strongest reprobation.
Bail as they were, aim were by no means the worst
mane aid et ladling the tows, and Fertriotit
to most the seat elation in "a better spirit." The
limbo eltbe borough were eatmiisel by the Reform
Ant biped the limits of the town. Several fields on
the Studley estate were divided Off Into allotments, and
sheds he cattle were built apes dim, after the hsbion
of the a unnise at Tatar. The parties pd into
pone:ask& of these cow-houses ware entered on the
register as occupants of "building and land," and
were permitted by the revising barrister to enjoy the
franchise. Two fanned, who refund to allow votes
to be thus made upon their lands, were summarily
!ejected—and one of them was, perhaps, the best fanner
in all Yorkshire. At a subsequent period the system of
faggot-vote making was oan4sd even further than this.
The right of voting is rival, under the 27th sec-
tion of the Reform Act, to any person occupying any
building, being, either separately or jointly, with any
land within the borough, of the annual value of lOL
A very great latitude has been given to the intnwe-
teflon of this word " occupying." At Ripon Mr.
Revising Barrister Pollock seems to have understood
it to mean this: that a man having a shed in the
town of no real value, and a piece of ground outside
the town of 101. a year value, shall have a right to
vote. One of the " buildings" we saw at Ripon,
which confers, under Miss Lawrence, the privi-
lege of the franchise upon this principle, was
as wretched a places as can be imagined :
the roof half off, the window blocked up, the door
fastened with a padlock, and all the filth of the loca-
lity heaped befo-s it. Talk of universal suffrage not
being " respectable !" What do the great locals and
ladies of the land my to the respectability of the
reform ten-pounder ?
Bat to return to the elections. When the dissolu-
tion came in 1835 it was apparent that the liberal
party had no chance. Alter the penalty paid by the
voters of 1832, it amounted, in feet, to a cruelty to
ask a reform elector to vote against Miss Lawrence.
General Dalbiao and Mr. Pemberton, of the chancery
bar, werethe Studley candidates. Mr. Crompton with-
drew his prehinsions te!the seat: Mr. Stavely, however,
thought it right to give the independent voters an
opportunity of recording their opinions, and also to
test the length to which the Studley party would go
in exercising their tenants' suffrage& So completely
had they been brought into subjection, that not a
single tenant of Miss Lawrence voted for the liberal !
The poll wee as follows :—For Dalbiac, 246 ; Pem-
berton, 235 ; Stavely, 125. Of the 235 voters for
Mr. Perabertoo, there were :
170 101. householden, good votes, 69 of whom were
tenants of Mies Lawrescs.
21 ditto, divided qualifications ; of these, 17 were
__ Mama of the same.

20 eowhoo;e;otes ; 11 of these tenants of the .me
(9 other tenant cowhounmen tendered, and were
rejected).
24 Blame holden under the Studley estate ; fag-
got votes, every one.
Thus, deducting the made votes and the tenant voters,
Mr. Pemberton would have been in a minority, even
allowing for six votes out of Mr. Stevely's 126 which
appear to have been doubtful.
The reeecendancy of the Studley interest thus
secured, the borough relapsed into precisely its posi-
tion before the passing of the Reform Bill. In
1837, two Untwist's-inn men were returned,
just as they had been in 1830 and 1831.
At as subsequent period the place supplied a seat to
Sir eorge Cockburn, and it afterwards had the felicity
of returning the Bombs:des litrioao Attorney-General
for Ireland, .A.B. C. Smith. With the exception
of Mr. Pemberton, who lea man of a noble impulse
and a warm heart, scarcely one of the members ever con-
ferred the slightest benefit upon the town or its inha-
bitants—none of them were known or cared for, or
obtained in the most remote degree the sympathies
or affections of the people. In hot, Ripon and its
pege:stinever were represented except daring the three
when Messrs. Stavely and Crompton sat in
parliament. Studley was represented before, and it
ham been ever Moos.

Miss Lawrsna has now paned from the scene of
election strife, and her property and influence in
Ripon have gone to Earl de Grey, who rarely visits
the piece, and perhaps is scarcely known by sight to
a creature in the town. The Studley interest, how.
ever, is maintained. At the last election it returned
as one of the members no km a ppeerrssoonn than that once
glowing reformer, Sir James Graham. R was not
so many ymos ego that Sir James, in a
tremendous' philippic at Hull, denounced the rotten
home* et Ripon and the influence of the lady who
Naiad its representatives ! Yet, upon the Ripon
knathige, he commeseed his addressl denying that
Ripon was a nomination town I The groan with
which the declaration was received gave it a suffici-
ently significant denial. What a satire on a public
man's 'maims How just and appropriate, to be
soh, the retribution which the Fates award to the re-
am& in polities! Sir James Graham, rejected by
may large emstilmacy in the empire, seeking refuge
in the borough he exhibited as the worst example of
ths visa he amistmosd!
we evis.lardstt Jostles
Onommis sbgrollsolo of oar poiKe'd chaos
'it wrens my!
Met is to he done with Ripon it is hard to my.
The esisnelem of its boundary would to all appear-
anse nay inseam the evil ; for on (may side le Studley
land. mid Studley farms, and Studley tenants. The
eottenaien of the mange, it is feared,would only bring
another dem, still less able to bear it, under the pres-
sure dekolley inflasnos. The ballot might do some
pod; beat is a question with many voters whether
tbe town is not too far gone in political depsda-
Rea even fry that panacea. The faggut voters,
who are absolutely now a majority in Ripon
(there is one caw where five tenant farmers,
resident within ems miles, are registered
for one inuldingotthe town and a commas field
outside it)—the voters are, of coons, safe men
who would vote wi the landlord and the steward
under all chuumstanoss, whether they voted openly or
secretly. Those who take a real interest in Ripon,
and they are very few, tell you plainly that to 1111
other remedies they would infinitely prefer disfran-
olunnentth at once. To this extremity appeal= has
reduced em

Certsinly Ripon ought at bast to loss one member.
There is not far from it the large and inoraminglyba-
prftnt town of Darlingtoo, quits inuegraiwted.
Why should not Bu James Graham have an oppor•
Witty of eseldng there a oonotitiE more to his
teats then that on which he has the strongest
condemeatioe, bet, nevertheless, ' it deceives to
sit for ?