The Express.
London, England, 1860-04-02 00:00:00

Thjbelgiui rs
acvool6 of a • -
Foreign Affairs Lis

iOO3ll delinquencies. The =al....tribusmis o.
realm have hiewies been
tamperers and forgers ; and fau se. ttlEro
have already been made of plAsit seen
in this villanous work. But the' ty
of proof, and the reluctance of in .11i1Miie
to devote time and trouble to the irk-
some business of prosecuting offenders,
renders them instances exceptional rather than
frequent. Where a parish clique or faction have
by illicit arts managed to obtain an ascendancy,
they are generally able to throw insuperable obsta-
cles in the way of preliminary investigations which
would tend to subvert their jobbing power ; and
it is only where the excess of abuse has created
an organisation of resistance capable of devising
and directing a ramified system of popular sur-
veillance that there is any fair chance of being
able to track the dealers in electoral fraud to
their lair.

The inherent vices of this detestable system of
voting are sufficiently great, were they wholly
uneonnaded with the pelfish passions and preju-
dices of elan. Unfortunately they are not so in
the working of the Poor Law. Owners of property
are entitled by the Act of 1834 to double and
treble votes, while occupiers vote singly. The
consequence is that by securing accuracy in a ooze-
paratively limited number of Voting Papers a
compact party can go far towards the attainment
of their object, while the humble and isolated
man, who suspects he has been cheated in the
exercise of his right, believing that at best his
single suffrage can make no appreciable difference,
gives up the point sullenly, as not worth vexing
himself about. It is clear, however, that if pro-
party is to be allowed the power of cumulative
votes, it is all the more necessary that individual
right should be carefully guarded against being
overborne by furtive and flagitious means. During
the present year the last renewal of the Poor Law
expires. A Bill will have to be introduced
asking for its continuance for another term. The
opportunity might well be availed of to amend the
provisions we have been more especially adverting
to. If an entire change of machinery for electoral
purposes be not contemplated, at least we have a
right to expect that some resolute effort should be
made to try whether it is possible to check the
vices and venalities of the existing method, and to
afford easy and prompt redress when persons find
themselves divested of their local privileges by no
fault of their own.

THE EXP

agents abroad, relative
remarks, that of the two anti-French combinations
established in 'l5, ma, the bander of. As
French slopes to Sardinia, has just been rectified,
while the other, the foundation of the kingdo of
the Netherlands, was rectified in 1831 by the se
Lion of Belgium from Holland, and the creati of
the Belgian monarchy, the neutrality of whit'',
guaranteed by Europe, is of great interest to
Prance. The government of the Emperor has never
had the idea of putting in question a work so full
of wisdom and altogether so favourable to France,
and which French diplomacy has contributed to
establish since 1831.
The Independence says :—" We record these de-
clarations with the more satisfaction from the reason
that they interest not only Belgium but also Eng-
land and Prussia, whose attitude in favour of
Switzerland is explained by their fears of an ex-
tension of the &adamant France to the Rhine."

FRENCH DESPATCH TO THE SWISS
GOVERNMENT.

In a despatch dated the 26th ult., M. Thouveael
cites to the French Charge d'Affaires at Berne the
second article of the treaty with Sardinia relative
to the cession of Savoy and Nice, as • proof that
the imperial government has no intention of alter-
ing any of the legitimate conditions upon which
the neutrality of Switzerland rests. •

" It is equally understood," says this article,
"that his Majesty the King of Sardinia
eannot transfer the neutralised parts of Savoy, save
on the conditions by which he holds than him-
self, and that it will appertain to his Majesty the
Emperor of the French to come to an understand-
ing on this head, both with the powers represented
at the congress of Vienna and with the Helvetic
Confederation, and to give them the guarantees
that result from the stipulations alluded to in the
present article." M. Thouveuel adds, "As you see,
Monsieur, this arrangement is such as to completely
reassure the Federal Council. It seems to me,
then, that henoefor-h all apprehensions ought to
disappear before this spontaneous pledge, and that,
certain of being able to discuss the guarantees
which, after a European consultation, will be
deemed fittest to bring about, in ita relations to
the permanent neutrality of Switzerland, the
object of the stipulations relative to the eventual
neutralisation of a portion of Savoy the
Helvetian government has no raison to fear that
this interest, the impoi :aim° of which has thus
been recognised by us, will not be regulated in a
satisfactory manner. The government of the
Emperor is pleased then to hope that the Federal
Conch will use its exertions to allay an agitation
altogether sterile, and that it will profit by the
approaching meeting of the Federal Assembly to
dissipate anxieties as unfounded as they are op-
posed to our friendly relations with Switaerland."

NORTH SAVOY.
(nos ous smut oomerosziairr.)
GENEVA, Maw' 31.
The affair of Thonon is reduced to ins:gnilicanoe.
Thirty men landed without arms at Tho.ion and
Evian, and passed the morning in publio-honess.
They then returned by the evening steam-boat. No
one amongst them is known, with the exception of
Perrier. The are all of the lowest class, belongin3
to no party whatever, and coining no one knows
Miaow. It is as inexplicable as it is ridiculous.

SiltNt, MANOR 31.
The event communicated yesterday loses all
essential impoi.anoe ; for the individual who left
Geneva entered upon tte territory of Sa►oy without
arms. An invas..i.9...io i is going on, and the utmost
rigour 0: t..e l.iw will he enforced.

The President of the National Committee at
Nice has forwarded the following telegram to
Mr. Renter :

"NICK—ENTRY OF THE FRENCH TROOPS.
"NICE, fiumosr, 8 p.m.
"To-day the entry of the French troops took place
here. The aptitude of the population was cold.
This evening disturbances have been suppressed.
(Ce suit' couflita comprimis. )"

PARIS, MOMDAY Roam°.
The Monastic of to-day publishes the following :
' Nies, BU/IDAT EVENING.
" Two battalions of the Second French Regiment
of the Line have arrived here, and met with an en-
thusiastic reception by the population, who went
to meet the troops and strewed flowers on their
Passage. All the houses we decorated with tri-
colored flags."

annexation of Savoy, Austria
declares that after having ascertained the views of
the other great powers she could not abandon the
: tee and reserved attitude which her real in-
demand in that affair.
As regards the neutrality of Switzerland and the
neutralised districts of Chablais and Faucigny,
Austria declares her readiness to join her good
aloes to those of the other !iciest powers for the
fulfilment of the legitimate wishes of Switzerland,
the more because the circular note of K Thouveael,
of the 13th ultimo, promised beforehand to respect
the guarantees granted to Switzerland by the treaties
of 1815.

SARDINIAN MONARCHY.
GENOA, lEtaca
Piedmontese troops entered Florence on the 28th.
The division under the command of General Ro-
selli is on the march from Bologna towards RP-
venni', The Piedmontese garrison at Nice is on
the point of returning to Genoa.

FLORENCE, Yaws 30.
Prince Car in his proclamation to the Tus-
cans, says ignan,
" The king understands the importance
of his mission to unite your destinies to those of the
various races who have elevated him to the national
throne. I shall respond to the oonfidenos of the
king, whose firm resolution is to achieve your hap-
piness to the full extent which your conduct has
merited."

I EXPRESS, MONDA f VENING APRIL
~........—.--------,
to
maintain
the . •
the
IF
cingt:L
...Ir.:to
10%
liimi vin9
proof of her moderatii
of the LATESFRI INTELLIGI EN . ILL: -ur
uweit berg has col= . . " . 1
ty
....i.da. urn rs yesterday thaltibe the Charg‘ ' of Swi ..i z e
tIE
leek of a ' w ' oh minktor of raply • to the .est the ..1
to French dog Toy, addressed by the Viral Ca
, irk_ 1"1.1! Affairs • Liu' recently
the great powers.
!mien, agents abroad, relative to M. Thouvenel In reference to the annexation of Savoy,