The Express.
London, England, 1867-05-30 00:00:00

DRURY LANE

THIS EVZInS47, THAT ILISIACYSTAL. gears. Rouse and
; lleidsmes Alleyne end To conclude with
THE GREAT CITY. Mui Werner, Stoeton, Illtzpones, Rouse,
Irving, do. ; Mesdames Robertson, Le There, and Thompson.

IIAYMAPACZT.

TEA ETI7IIIO, DEAF AS A MA. Mr. Compton, dm —A
WILD GOOSE. Maras. Sothern, Buckstene, Rowe, Rogers, Gor-
don, &c.. Mesdames Burks, Chippendale, mu, Laws, ac.—
Aug PERFECTION. Mr. Kendal and Miss Burke.

PILINCIIMIII

VEIN EVENING, ANTONI• ,CiiICi.P.7OPATRA. Antony, Mr. B.
yor4ine Knobarboa, Mr. C. Verner: Charuaaa, Illsa Page: sad
Cleopatra, Maw Glyn.

LYCEUU.

Tars 'Mama. BAMiloCdairo. Mr. Price and Mae
Hata Blabop.—THE DCHICS MOTTO. Mr. Fechter, MC4871.
Finery, Wkldlcorob, Jordan, Price, dc. ; Mama 7/4worthy, Hen-
rade, Grattan, and Carlotta Leaman.

ITILAND._

Tit p: EvxmlNi, rSDEROROVND.—THZ
LI IT LE SAVAGE —PYGMALION ; OR, THE STATUE FAIR.
Messrs Thorne, lames dc. ; Mesdames Swanbseengh, Raysharn,
Harlmid,Juhnotoue, &Holt —And THE FRENCH EXHIBITION.

HOLBOII4.

TM EVENING, WV TURN NEXT. Mr. Remora; Meese
Yenta and Lennox.—And FLYING SCUD. Yews. Neville, Bel-
loom Make, Tatiana, be. , • Yeedainee P. Janda. C. /launders,
Beads roots. ridden. Lento; Raymond, &a.

EItiTANICIA.

MIS EVENING, TUE IHA3II6UK OF IRELAND. Mrs. 8.
Los.—THR DARK CLOUD WITH THE SILVER LINING.
Misses 8. Mlles &J. Cusesiey.—And THE VOLUNTEERS, Yr.
Digiruesl and Mies It Edwin.

MON WATER AT LONDON REMO*
TUT! DAT —Morning. lid Ro......Afteraoon. 111 ERA
10.1101M11—Morning, Oh. 0m..—.. Noon.

LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 30.

LowE's last great deliverance was, let
us hope, a final attempt on the fears of the
British public, and a final protest against
giving to any class of the community a " pre-
" ponderating " share of electoral power.
We have always admired the audacity of alarmists
who insist 1 that a pore and simple
household suffrage in boroughs, without ela-
borate devices to neutralize the votes of the
" numbers " admitted within the circle of con-
stitutional rights—those numbers mounting, per-
haps, to something more than a twelfth of the
present non-electors would constitute that
preponderance of a class which they denounce.
We admire the unblushing blindness of these
alarmists to the fact that a plurality of votes
not dreamt of in their conservative philosophy may '
already be witnessed in full operation in a consi-
derable number of boroughs and counties, a plu-
rality of votes compared with which all their im-
practicable devices for cancelling the single hard-
earned vote of an artisan look pale and poor indeed.
Let us give a few trite instances of this concentra-
tion og voting power in the bands of a single pre-
ponderant class. In sober truth, we are almost
ashamed to have to cite such familiar and acknow-
ledged facts to prove that the preponderance of a
class is no new state of things in this country, and
that it is precisely the condition which honest
and true Liberals desire to see removed by a broad
and simple extension of the suffrage to the
intelligent and independent portion of the British
people.
One of the most striking features of our exist-
ing electoral system is the absolute absorption
by landowners and capitalists, whether Whig
or Tory, of a large number of boroughs
and counties. The aristocratic Whigs who
in 1832 consented to the extinction of a
few " rotten " boroughs, were probably not
more solicitous than their Tory rivals to
destroy that electoral preponderance of a class
over which they reigned. And as often as
Reform Bills have been prepared by ministries or
by independent Liberal members since 1832,
there have not been wanting statesmen, even
Liberal statesmen, to defend the existence of
pocket boroughs on principle. Without en-
tering into that question now, we will only ask
attention to the following facts. First,
with regard to nomination boroughs. These
may be divided into four classes —l. Boroughs
returning one member. 2. Boroughs re-
turning two members where the proprie-
tor returns both. 3. Boroughs returning two
members where the proprietor returns one. 4.
Boroughs in the hands of two proprietors, each
returning a member. We find twenty-eight boroughs
under the control of " Liberal" proprietors,
and these proprietors return 34 members : viz.,
nine boroughs of class 1, six of class 2, nine of
class 3, four of class 4 ; twenty-four boroughs are
in the hands of Conservative proprietors, and 28
members are returned by them, being six lees than
the number returned by " Liberal" proprietors.
These are to all intents and purposes " pocket
" boroughs ;" but there are many more in which
a proprietor has considerable influence, though
hardly sufficient to return the member, such as
the following six " Liberal " boroughs : Dud-
ley, Helston, Horsham, Reigate, Scarborough,
and Wareham ; and the following three Conserva-
tive boroughs: Christchurch, Guildford, and Truro.
At Frome, a Tory Marquis and a Liberal Earl
each have considerable influence on the different
sides. In the Monmouth district the influence is
divided between a Tory Duke and a Tory Baron.
Altogether, fifty-two boroughs are under nomina-
tion, the largest being Wigan, and the smallest
Honiton.

Nor is the " preponderance " of the landowner
and capitalist class confined to boroughs. In
several counties there are proprietors possessing
estates so large that the representation is par-
tially (in some cases wholly) under their control.
There are ten county constituencies returning,
in all, eighteen members, of whom twelve are re-
turned by " Liberal" proprietors. There are
eighteen county constituencies returning, in all,
thirty-three members, of whom twenty-one are re-
turned by "Conservative" proprietors. It is in
the face of such incontrovertible facts as these
that the so-called " constitutional " party were
crying out only the other day for the construc-
tion of ingenious devices against the pre-
ponderance of any one class in the State; as
though territorial and capitalist proprietors of
thousands of votes and nominee members, whom
in a letter to WILLIAM IV. the Earl GREY of
1832 described as " falsely called representatives
" of the people," were no longer to be found in
the United Kingdom.

Tau new arrangement of morning sittings in the
House of Commons promises to be of so much
utility that it would be a pity if it were to become
obnoxious to any considerable portion of the
House, as it would do if it were found practically
to rob private members of their privileges. There
is, however, no reason why this should be the
case. Some severe things were said in the House
yesterday about the "count-out " of Tuesday, and
the necessity of greater vigilance on the part of

the Government was certainly made apparent. The
censure cast upon the authors of the devioe was,
however, somewhat overstrained. Colonel Knox,
who moved the count-out, wanted to prevent
the progress of the Bill for repealing the Ecclesi-
astical Titles Act, the Committee on which was to
be nominated that evening, and to prevent the
formation of a House seemed the most effectual
means to that end. The expedient is frequently
resorted to when an obnoxious motion is to be
got rid of, members expect it, and take their mea-
sures accordingly, and it is for Ministers and those
interested in business which is expected to come
on, to take precautions against it, and it is undig-
nified to complain when these fail. Colonel KNox
was accused of having, in his eagerness, made
his motion before the SPRLICEIt was actually in the
chair, and while he was walking to it, but we may
be sure that the &manta sanctioned no irregu-
larity. Ministers, however, have now undertaken
that members shall not in future lose the opportu-
nity they ought to have at evening sittings, and it
may therefore be hoped that the new arrangement
will work smoothly.

OUR CONTEMPORARIES.
(THIS DAY.)