The Express.
London, England, 1866-05-31 00:00:00

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IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOME OF COMMONS.—WzDirasDAY, MAT 30.
_ _ EMOTIVE FRANCHISE BILL.

After our report left
Mr. COWMEN said the bill combined a maximum of
liberal expression with a minimum of liberal action. The
house would never pass the bill by itself, and if it received
the support of hon. members opposite it would be difficult
to resist the conclusion that they supported an impracti-
cable measure in order to conciliate some hon. members on
that (the ministerial) side of the house, with a view to their
su • them in resisting the bill of the government.
( gear, hear.)
Mr. B. HOPE said that he wished to have the edu-
cation of all classes fairly analysed before it was de-
clared that an educational franchise was impracticible,
undesirable, dangerous, and revolutionary. Ho should
vote for the i bill in the hope and expectation that if it
were read a second time it would be referred to the same
committee as the other bills, and that it would form the
final complement to the immaculate reform measure which,
under the able obstetric management of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, they would bring forth.
Mr. DENMAN had arrived at the conviction that, how-
ever admirable intheory an educational franchise might be,
it was not desirable in practice. •

Mr. WHITKSIDE said that the practicability of an
educational franchise had been considered by the ablest
thinkers and writers, and all that the Chancellor of the
Exchequer had said had been refuted by the practice of the
freest countries on the contineut of Europe, and therefore
the subject could not be dismissed by his indignant but
rash protest against the possession of the franchise by
yottng men. The right hon. geptleman said that this bill
would admit to the franchise very few of the working
classes. He hoped that that statement was not true ; but
if it was, upon what principle could the government
propose to admit them by hundreds of thousands
Mr. BRIGHT did not say the bill would be wholly
inoperative, or that it would lead to universal suf-
frage • but it would admit probably the greatest number
of those who would come in by it—young men of from 21
to 30 years of age. He had no objection to young men
anymore than hon.gentlemen opposite, but he thought that
a system of franchise which said to the great bulk
of the working men in England that whilst their boys
should be admitted to the franchise under the bill before
the house, the fathers were to be excluded because in their
time education was not so common, although it might be
that they had brought up those very boys to the position
they had attained -he thought a bill like that was op-
posed to the constitution of the country and grossly insult
ing to the great body of working men. (Hear, bear.) He
was free to declare that it was not because the bill would
admitson.e and only a few to the suffrage, nor that it
would lead to universal suffrage, that he opposed it. He
did not fear universal suffrage, but he did net in the least
recommend it. Ho had never said anything for it either
in public or private. (Hear, hear.) lie had a letter in
his pocket from one of the most eminent writers in the
United States, who told him that he believed
universal suffrage was the most conservative thing in the
world. Whether that were so or not, he was for standing
on the old line of the constitution of this country. (Hear,
hear.) He believed our forefathers were right and wise
when they were willing to entrust the representation of
the cities and boroughs in the kingdom to the beads of
families, occupiers of houses within those cities and
boroughs, and with that opinion he had opposed, and pro-
bably Rhonld always oppose, any of those fancy franchises
which he believed were departures from that ancient consti-
tution, and which were generally offered to parliament and
thecountrybymenwhom bethought he might Ray had some
fear that that ancient constitution should be fairly put in
practice. Those literary gentlemen outside who wrote in
the London weekly papers, and who were all for
what they called culture, because they happened to have
a smattering of two dead languages, talked of culture,
and said that the groat body of the working
people of this country ought to be excluded from the
franchise. He had no sympathy with those notions, nor
with that notion which the bon, member for Stoke called
the educational franchise.

Lord CItANBORNE said if they passed the government
measure as it stood it would have two great faults-- it
would fail to provide proper precautions against bribery,
and it would give power to ignorance. (Hear, hear.) He
found that intelligence was as unpopular with the
liberal party as was the attempt to put down
corruption on Monday. (Opposition cheers.) He
was not surprised at the sneers which the hon.
member for Birmingham indulged in against what he called
culture. That philosophical spirit with which extended
knowledge imbued the minds of politicians was likely to
give it little favour in the mind of the hon. gentleman,
because hie whole hope was in thesuperiority of ignorance.
(" Oh, oh.") The hon. gentleman sneered at culture.
(Mr. Helmer: I never did so.) (Hear, hear.) The hon.
member sneered at those who wrote out of doors because
they possessed culture, and had acquired, as he said, a
fragmentary knowledge of one or two dead languages--
(hear, hear)—which the hon. member seemed to look on
with the greatest contempt. If the hon. member had
consulted them with more concern himself, probably he
would have possessed a greater amount of knowledge than
be now did. (" Oh, oh.") He was sorry to excite the anger
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but he would appeal to
him whether he bad not found much in the writings of
those dead languages to teach men to dread democracy. As
to the grounds on which he (the noble lord) gave his vote,
he should not pledge himself to this bill as a simple and
isolated measure, but he would support it as a correction
to the measure of the government. (Hear, hear.)
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that the noble lord
who had just sat down and the right hon. gentleman (Mr.
Whiteside), while professing to vote for the second read-
ing of the bill, were, in fact, voting for it as a restric-
tive measure, imposing fetters upon the extension
of the franchise. This bill was a franchising bill,
hut every argument used was • disfranchising argument.
(Hear, hear.) They said they did not vote for the bill
upon its merits, or commit themselves to • single clause,
but that they bad before there the bad bill of the govern-
ment, and they were engaged in mending it. (Opposition
cheers.) The government were desirous to get into com-
mittee on their bill with the same view. The noble lord
made a charge against the Chancellor of the Exchequer
and the hon. member for Birmingham, that they were the
greatest radicals in the house; but from what bad occurred,
unenlightened outsiders might believe that the conservatives
Lad turned radicals. (Hear, hear.) Hon. gentlemen opposite
said they did not mean to extend the elective franchise at
all, or at least not to go below the 10/. line, and their ob-
ject in supporting this bill seemed to be to graft its condi-
tions upon the government measure. That might be very
wise, taking into account their views ; but to vote for the
bill on such grounds called to his mind those words they
had often heard of, "organised hypocrisy." (Cheers.)
He would take that opportunity of tendering his thanks to
the hon. member for Birmingham for the speech he had
addressed to the house. The bon. member had often
said many things which be had heard and read with
pain, not so much in that house as elsewhere, and
the admiration which ho felt for his abilities, for his die-
.uished services, and respect for has high character,
made him (the Attorney-General) mostdeeply and sincerely
regret the things he had alluded to ; and probably they
had given • considerable advantage to those who were
opposed to the principles which he advocated. But the
sentiments expressed by the hon. gentleman on the present
occasion were those which he (the hon. and learned
member) also entertained, and he should be ashamed if,
after hearing that speech and holding opinions ropecting
the franchise substantially the earns as those just expressed
by the hon. gentleman, he did not state that for some
years past his opinion had been that there ought to be
• household franchise. The hon. gentleman had done's
service to the house in making it understand that he was
not the advocate of those extreme revolutionary measures
white had been so often imputed to him. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. ADDERLEY advocated the principle of the mea-
sure, urging that no argument had been adduced against
it except on points of detail.
Mr. LOCK): opposed, and Sir S. NORTHCOn supported
the bill ; and expressed an opinion that U the franchise
was to be lowered below 101. it would be desirable to go
down at once to household suffrage ; but as he believed
that such a descent would be most dangerous he should
always oppose a departure from the 10/. suffrage. It
being, however, desirable to admit • certain number of
the working-classes fitted by education and intelligence to
the suffrage, this bill afforded the means of doing so.
Mr. ACLAND observed that it had now been declared
that it was the intention of the Opposition to refuse any
lowering of the franchise ; and proceeded to argue that the
bill proposed to establish a merely official test, in order to
the acquirement of the franchise ; and he objected to it,
although he was in favour of fancy franchises.
Mr. 31_ CHAMBERS was speaking against the bill when
be was interrupted at • quarter to 6.
The debate then stood adjourned.
The other business was gone through and the house ad-
journed shortly before 6 o'clock.

,:. I s ii A deputation from the British Horological lnsti-
,
*ate, consisting of Messrs. Jones, Mylne, and Glaagow,
1 1;4 !': . ! accompanied by Mr. Ellis,
.of the Rera Observatory, =4
Mr. Winter, of the Electrio and International Telegraph
I +:! Company, had en interview yesterday with the sub-corn-
! ' 1 mittee of the General Purposes Committee of the corpora-
tion of the City of London, on the subject of the establish-
] Is li !sent of clocks in various parts of the Llty in electrical
communication with Greenwich Observatory, for the pur-
ls s 1 pole of securing to the mercantile interests of the City
Lrestetra.pressicision in the public time than is at present to
r'. 1 I UNITED LAW CLERKS' BOUNTY.— Mr. Justice
1 Lush has consented to preside over the thirty-fourth anni-
versary dinner of this excellent institution, to be held at
. ,
the Freemasons Tavern, on Friday, the 15th of June.
RAILWAY AND OTHER BILLS BEFORE PARLlA-
XLN'r.—Yesterday, in the House of Commons committee,
• . in Group 3, the further consideration of the bill for the new
line to Brighton, promoted by the London, Chatham, and
it Dover, and the South-Eastern Company,. occupied the
whole day's sitting. In Group 14, the Midland (Ashby
and Nuneaton) and the Midland (branches) Bills were
further proceeded with and again adjourned. The Bryu-
I ' I I t. !
' mawr and Blaenavon and the Mold and Denbigh (branches)
11 Bills were again proceeded with. The North British
(Glasgow branches) Bill was furtherproceeded with in
Group 19.
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