The Express.
London, England, 1851-12-13 00:00:00

TIIE NEW REFORM BILL.

Moe tT• Daily Neva.)

TO LORD JOHN RUSSELL

LErrra I.

SIT LORD,
permit me to remind your lordship of the heavy
gill areepted by you at the commeLeement of the
Lott session, and which—payable at twelve mouths' '
date -will PO soon become due.
Oa the credit of your name the People lent to your
political capital, and their subsequent
conduct has beam such as must have increased your
lordship's desite—as it justifies their expectation—
thi.t your engagements should bo tulle discharged.
ly tveryttung should be done in ccder, allow me
to rewind your lordship of the date of your accept-
sure. It was on the 2lith of Febitiary, 1851, that,
hs tlw Kam of a debate on the extension of the
frauel.ise, you pledged yourself as follows: "If I am
a number of the government next year, I shall
cert.:hale deem it my duty to lay my views upon
this subject before the House of Commons."
my lord, in the commercial world a man who
puts his hind to paper in this way no doubt intends
to plc in full, :red the law will force him to do so if
he shrinks from his promise or endeavours to evade
i:. Idu not venture to presume that you will shrink
in any way from the full performaace of your pro.
rise. Th it is not, I believe, your character or pi...etice.
But you have partners in your cancers of whom the
wort.' ge.ierully. and the commercial world especially,
reasuu to think ill. 'Puy may endeavour to
in lace you to shirk and shuffle. Tiley may wish you
to ph: a limited interpretation: ou vour pledge: to
nik-a.our toe iastead of manfully is teeming it.
Ms lord, it will be my o'icet in what 1 mn about to
address to you, t o shoe you the consequences of such
a rourse--tbe constquetres to yourself, the conse-
quences to the nati,n, the consequences to the system
y.et are L.Sertl to lie enxious to improve. ft will
he ray rill:anew to show you, in its naked deformity,
wlwt that pees ut system is—the mischief it is doing
i.tv, the injury- it is doing to the state. And I
di ate tioabt, my turd, that such a case can be made
• eut yoi will see not only the wisdom but the
thiperatitemesssity of a full and complete fulfilment
of ia, pledge you gave and the expectation you
. nisi. Vase nano: is too honourahle to suggest
s susi:luei of your dealing iu " accommodation
sisata, my lord, of " full sal complete " mem-
r•trt-. Ito not misinterpret me. I employ the
parts.: sense in vs hielt a nustenite man would
ut it ; fie people seek for uothilig beyond what
▪ iatiikra'e man may grunt. I say "lull and com-
p:to:" masers A. sense in which vou expressed
y,s,,lf in licit, where in words which arc &plea-
to b. to I %cry period untl to every reform, you told
IL:. Commons of England—
•• +/ Aries, to forward 111 awe-tehirh
• .0 .0 40.eee e ~,a, fin 4 eltre
• , ehf,..ls, bat whi,l4 Jed! anti dare the battle to be
f •Nre.ed
At..i hem hosing. referred to the debates on the
litre:ca lA, I may be permitted to glance over
a just p tl/21. It:stary fur the purpose of inquiring
sae that utea,ure was and what it left to be
iscomplisht d Your lor.Lskip, in the speech from
• 1 have quotes', delivered in debate in 1831,
&heed the ltehorm Bill to be "a measure for the
wth.ss of two enkcial grievances." They were,
yea said—
Ist.—lttm NOMINATION Or MEMBELS BT INDI-
%U.rALs.
CNUFE EXPENSES OF ELECTIONS.
It it thin. my lord, a proper subject of inquiry,
bow far the It. to. in Act has cured these two evils
\Oath your lordship especially designed it to re-
-s.

Ry Schedule A of the Reform Act your lordship
ei,strawhisesLiti boroughs which were in those days
n4ori utsly subject to nomination influence. In the
211 years chick have rime elapsed their names have
faded from memory; their very whereabouts is,
iii 11111411 V cases, not easy to determine. Yet, my
had. taing the list of the nomination boroughs of
the present day, it is no difficult neater to match
s-veral of the towns which you ruthlessly consigned
to hdiedule A. Wherein, fur example, is Arundel
lame independent in 18.31 than Appleby was in
llelstone a more important place than
lleytesbury ? or u by should the village of Westbacv
return a metnber when the little town of Whitchureh
Lis lust its franchise ? Disfranchise Ashburton, and
iu half-a-dozen years it will be no more held in re-
membrance than Amerahani, which was a borough of
quite as much impirtunce, and having the advantage
of far better associations.
Rut your lordship, no doubt, will take pride to
yourself, and will congratulate the country, at having
in tar putilied the representation of the nation. You
*ill say you did a great work ; against all the in-
thane of the aristocracy von disfranchised fifty--six
twaiinatiou boroughs: Well and good. But how
many rennin? Let tine give your lordship it list
of We nomination boroughs belonging to the aris-
tocracy in Isal. Strangely enough their number
csactiv corresponds with the number of towns you
placl iu Sc!fedule A. 2t) years ago. There were
ut rv-stx nuudnation boroughs in England in 1s31;
there are VilfV-Slx in ItQl; and here is the list,
with the names and titles of the patrons :
Boaorous.
Arundel
Avdouttua
liewdley
Briihnhirth Mr. Whitmore, M.P.
Buckingham
Burs St. Edmunds
C. tint
Chichester
Chip?, nham
Christchurch Earl ut Midmesburv.
Cirencester
Crieklaik

Dorrhester i Earl of Shaftesbury.
I Mr. Williams.
Dudley
Droitwich
Eye
Cirrat urinsaby
Hamrick Mr. J. Attwood.
Hertford Earl Cowper.
Bristow Duke of Leeds.
Huntingdon
L youeston Duke of Northumberland.
Lichfield Earl of Lichfield.
Ludlow
Lyinineton Sir 11. Burrard Neale.
• Lyme 1016 )lr. J. Attwood.
Malmcsbury
MA on
31arlbsiesegk Margnis of Aylesbury.
31.rtow
14 kihnnt Earl of Egmont.
Mormth Earl of Carlisle.
Newark
N.rtkalkirtsm
Ktabenigik
htersfickt
I:. irate
iticlimond
Ifiripou
lire
Shaftesbary
Stamford Marquis of Exeter.
Trnsworth SKIL. Peel, M.P.
*lavish/Lk
Thetford f Duke of Grafton.
I Lord Ashburton.
Think Lady Frankland Burnell.
Town
Wallingford
Wareham
Warwick
11-,•-tlitr 7
Whitehareu
Wilton Mr. Sidney Herbert, M.P.
It •od.teek Duke of Marlborouoh.
Wycombe

This by no means represents the entire case. I
i‘c esefuded from the list many towns where an
ati.toeratic influence is indirectly exercised, and
where that influence is felt without being. or having
n. Predominant. I shall have more to say of these
horonelis hereafter, when I come to illustrate tho li
larks modes in which nomination influence is
sunk( 41. Nlennwhile I submit the list for your
itectiun and consideration, as presenting a state of
things with which any
t new measure of Parliamentary
rea ilef, must deal i it be worth submitting to the
Pc9ple.
ticherlnk A. my lord, was a step in the right dine-
Von. The disfranchisement of Jul nomination
L'oringhs Was, for the time at which it was accom-
Pli'll,d, a large and valuable measure of reform. But
lu-dale A was very incomplete. That schedule, as
originally drawn, was far more sweeping and eaten.
sive in its character than it proved to be when it
r.,..ed into a law. In the progress of the bill through
Parliament modifications were made—compromises
were made—what is far worse, private arrangements

were made, between the ministers and the members,
and the original Schedule A was the means of satis-
fying the doubts and difficulties of many a peer
and commoner at the expense of the interests
of the people. Several of the nomination boroughs,
of which 1 have given you a list above, were
included in the original Schedule A. Some were
rescued from it altogether; others, only par-
tially escaping, were placed in Schedule 11, under
which they were permitted to return one member.
Now, my lord, I invite you to look at the condition
of the boroughs which you included in your Sehe-
dub: 11.

'there were thirty of them. Recollect,—these thirty
boroughs were to be purified: their boundru:es were
to be extended: their burgize tenures were abolished,
and the franchise was colikTred upon enlarged con-
stituencies in each of them: they were to he rescued
from 'twill:lotion Lthience, and were to be made
valuable contributories to the council of the nation.
This is what was to be done with them: I will now
proceed to give you an account of each, from which
your lordship may judge how far they arc improved.

Scur sw• e n.

Ant-sot:T.—Before the Reform But, Was a pocket borough
of the Duke of Norfolk : continues to be so at tile pres,ut
time.

AsitnrwroN—Was the property of Sir Lawrence Palk,
and Lord Clinton: has, since tim Reform Bill, terra bought
up with Sir Lawrence estate, by Sir James )t atm son,
11.1'., who has returned himself or Iris brother sines the yLur
1813, and upon whom you have just conferred a baronetcy
for his mrntorious services—to your party.
CA LN —W al a close borough of tin Marquis of Lallf
flown( ; continues to he so.

CH 187,•:1 ItCH W4S ::stays rotten; at present is under
the control of the Eat of Maltne.bury.
CuTnEttiir —Corrupt : ste t!.c proceedings lr fire tho
Election Connuitt.e of 18W.

DtlMil.lTll—Corropt the scene of the gros.4 'uribery
and corruption in 1844, when it was contested by Mr. &ones
Mn.! Mr. Morro.

....
1)1:%/i I wit—For:7l:rly b:longed to Lord Foley; has re-
cently become the hontiu..e borough of the larg,st landed
propriet:sr in the di-tnet, Sir J s'an Pakington, who received
als ilowet:y from Sir IL.Peel—for his meritoriou,
t:xt. ebw 1e,....anh of sir Edward Kerrisun, who has.
retorne.lhine,elf I.llCe the Itk form Bill.

UILLAT (a anumr —ender the influence of the Hyman°
family.
llmacroNE—Divided by the Duke of Leeds and the
Vrryan family.
lloasuAm—Rotten to the core.
Ilc rut —Yoram rly a riaque port, rei,cueil from nomina-
tion iulluenea by the occidental increasc of the town of
Folkeetonc. 11 tainted with corruption.
LAl:Net:...tox—A claw b.iniugh of the Duke of Nortbum-
berlan.l both hcfur, and since the ltkfurm Act.

Ltatcetl:u—Fornerly Isclont.ted to Lord St. 6:Trims ; is
now pure, and the only pure borough of the thirty.
LYMIt RE,llS—lter qtly I...uxlit up by Mr. John Att-
woot, who in eon.. gurney ut thu squabbles of the local
attorneys h..s up to the rrest tit tune ga:nt 41 a has.
tIAL,III.II,TiOfte ; ILL lIIa nomination of thu Earl of
50tf..11..

MI ..I—Close; Lords Dishy and Egmont poszen the
influence.

MotteErti—Close • the family have seated ouc of
them% Ives for'
borough
ever Mum 183..
. . .

lit/KT/IA LL LIMON—Ct.-7:e ; has 'anti' into the hands of
Miss Palle, of Bi• !ale, at whose death it will proOably vo
to hrr preinaiptire heirs, tho thihlrca of Sir Julio P.
Beresford.

I'ETLIP.FIELD—CIafe ; after a most disgraceful contest
which lasted several years, and by which the town has been
almost ruined, Sir William Jolluf r, who nominated for the
borough prior to the Iteforra det, has recovered his ascen-
dancy, and returns Mown,.

IiERIATE—CIme ; Lord Solll^Ti returns a relative.
live—Ciuse; in the possession of the turteis
ST. ITT.S—Corrupt.
Susrenissentr—lainly controlled by the Marquis of
strainsttr. Corrupt.
TIRSIE—ts now entinly influenced by Lady Fi.:aLland
Itussell, who returns her . .

WALLl:co:•otto--torrupt, :is it always yr:L.; but the
corrupt electors are beaten by the local influence of tin:
largest hadosrner.
WAILEHAM—IIa full,n from the control of the Ca'crafts
under the dominion of Mr. lh..tx, entirely in consequence
of the manufacture of fictitious rotes. _ _

WEsrutur--reirlipt and wider influence. The old
proprietor, Sir 11.41 A Lup,m, eau return himself at any
time.

ILTO!C—In the hands of the Herbert".
Woon4tuetc--Quite dim; not ten people in the borough
dare oppose the Duke of l‘lirlborough.

This is the havoc that twenty years has made with
the boroughs that were to be reformed! You have
in this list every specimen of corrupt constituency.
You have the old nomination system in full vigour in
some of the boroughs. You have it in others adul-
terated with brib.ry ; in others drowned by beer.
In certain other cases these towns have been
bought from their ancient owners, very much as
they were bought and sold before dour Reform Act
pa,sed. When your friend, Sir James Matheson,
purchased Ashburton, I unhesitatingly say, that the
influence the estate conferred over the parlia-
mentary electors of that borough was an element of
the price he paid for the property. In the case
of areham, you have one of the most flagrant
examples of fictitious vote-making that it could have
been possible to conceive, or that it is passible to ex-
hibit. Houses have been bought and built for the
mere purpose of creating votes; and, as might have
been expected, the longest purse has carried it. I
shall have, on a future occasion, to direct your at-
tention to the condition of other boroughs in this
list ; meanwhile, permit me, as in the ease of
schedule A, to commend it to your grave consi-
deration.
Your lordship told the House of Commons on the
20th of February that whilst you approved of the
Reform Bill, you still thous ht that, "building on the
old foundation, the rarliaiaent ought certainly to
endeavour to improve the symmetry, and add to the
convenience, of the ancient edifice." You will see,
my lord, from the foregoing illustrations, how rotten
are the timbers, and how imperatively necessary
is a complete reconstruction. Build upon the old
foundation if you please, but do not strive to use
materials which must inevitably fall about your
ears, and which will assuredly bring down with
them the entire remainder of the edifice of the state.
For the present, I beg to remain,
My lord, your obedient servant,
RUNNYMEDE.