The Express.
London, England, 1849-03-29 00:00:00

The feeling at Knareebo:ough, chiefly in conse-
quenceof Mr. Ferrand's cc nduct,being strongly against
the toner, the liberals it the last election detail mined
to bring forward a second candidate, and, after .
several negotiations, they selected Mr. Wcsthead, of
Manchester, a iientleman who, by the death of an'
uncle, had acquired a considerable lauded property
new Stourbridge. A very close contest ensued be-
*
tween Mr. Westhead and Mr. Lawson, and we regret
to add that it was a contest exhibiting many very
disgraceful features on both sides. All the public-
houses were engaged by one party or the other, and •
an immense b.ady of renters, staffmen, banner
bearers, &c., were employed. A large body cf
"navvies" were also introduced into the town by an
irdi met agent of Mr. Wes`head, and their pre-
sence gave rise to continual disturbances. On the
night of the nomination, it being suspected that some •
liberal voters wore " bottled " at the tory inn, att
attack was made upon the gates with a Vete to a
rescue. A few special constables might have dis•
Freed the people, but Mr. Lswson's son, a very
young mag:su ate, feeling some alarm, sent off too
hastily for a military force, which came in the
shape of a detachment of dragoons, helter
skelter from the barracks at Leeds. Sad
consequences might have ensued; but luckily, as tho
troops were entering the town, Sir William Ingilby,
who is more accustomed to elections than Mr. Lawson
Jan., rode into Knaresborough, and having requeeted
a short delay, in order to make inquiry, saw reason
for thinking that the force bad big get back again es
quickly as they came. This circumstance of seeding
fur a military force probably exercised an unfavorable
lenience on Mr. Lawsou's election. He lost by 14,
despite the Cowhouse voter, the numbers being for
La-celler, 158; NVesthead, 128 ; Lawson, 114.
The last election is admitted by all parties in
Knareiloorough to have been the worst within
memory. The treating was as extensive as it could
be on both sides. But the "runner" system was per-
haps the worst feature. Each voter was at liberty
to nominate any non-elector ho pleased as runner or
banner-bearer. As the town hi extremely de-
pressed, and there are numbers of unemployed
men, both young and old, this patronage was
valusb'e. There were not less than 300 runners
emplGyzd by Mr. Westhead'a agent. These
people received a breakfast, dinner, tee, two quarts
of ale, and 3/. 61. a day, or if they were banner
bear. rs from 4s. to Gd. Ktimating the food at
6s. each per day, the lowest an innkeeper would
charge in an election bill, the total expense of
these 300 non-electors must have been little less
than 1501. a day. ti,x days' expenses at this rate
would mount up to 9001.—n0 small sum for only a
part of the chatges of election by 128 voters. Ws ere
not able to state the precise amount of the expenses
of the last election to each candidate, but they certainly
did not average much le's than 7001. a pica. And
if this be, as we believe, a cloned estimate, the
total expenditure was at the rate of nearly 101. a
voter.

The prospects of Knaresborough on a future elec-
t:on ere very uncertain. There seems every proba-
bility that the borough will become gradually worse
and worse, until it sinks down into a very corrupt
and degraded constituency. There is still much of
the old spirit of independence existing among the
voters, but the failing condition of the place gives
reason to feer that the Lumber open to " influence" is
likely to increase rapidly, and the nearly equal divi-
sion of parties of mune re nitre it in the power of a
few to turn the scale. Already, it is said, the election
is in the hands of the publicans, who are a strong
body, and always require "evening parties" to be
given at their respective house..
Apart from the treat ins end banner-bearing practices,
the worst feature of Knaresborough is the Cow-house
vote system, to which we adverted the other day. In
every other case we have met with, these cow-houses
are in the hands of parties who possess the boroughs
either for themselves or th 4 it nominees. Thus at
Totness the Duke of Somerset's cow-house voters re-
turn his grace's son, Lord Seymour; and Mr.
Barry Baldwin, the other member, seats him-
self by the voices of some dozen electors
manufactured in the same way on his own
property. But at Knaresborough the cow-house
voters are manufactured by an elector—a clergyman
to boot—to turn the scale ►n favour of his own party.
This is a new feature in "our representative system,"
and one that gives occasion to many reflections as to
its abuse.

Tae boundary of Knaresborongh might be extended
so as to include Harrogate, the wh:le of which lies
within three miles. This would double the electo-
rate, but scarcely incrrasc,it is believed,the independ-
ence of the borough. In no other direction would the
extension of the boundary be of any service ita
increasing the constituency, for this part of the
country is held by large landed proprietors, and in
farms of considerable extent. Villages are not nu-
merous, and the population is thin.
Knereaborough, mince the H form Act, has been
certainly unfortunate. We can only hope that the
lesson it has received in electing Mr. Ferrand may be
of use, though there is little to excite any expecta-
tions of the borough.