The Express.
London, England, 1866-08-25 00:00:00

BRIBERY AT ittEcrioNs.

" More election commissions !" exclaims the
Times. It expects great things from Totnes, but the evi-
demo at the Reigate commission does not add anything
striking to the annals of bribery ; it only gives us an addi-
tional scene of the loose morality which prevails. It is in
vain that people look solemn, and shocked, and horrified,
and grieved, and indignant ; all these grave faces are con-
sidered by our borough populations to be parts of the
general sham. "We get our fit., and you look like a judge
at us—that is to say, we play our part, and you play
yours." That bribery is a misdernamour is a part of the
joke, and gives a high relish to the whole proceeding. In
the judgment of the electors, it cannot, they think, matter
a straw to the nation which of the candidates is elected.
In this state of the case a poor man is offered • gratuity if I
he will vote for one of them. They have their moral dis-
tinctions, and it seems to be considered unfair for a
man to be bribed by two sides, or to be bribed by one side
and vote for the other ; but as for a man receiving a 5/.
note and voting for the gentleman who gives it—the im-
morality of such • transactions as this lies altogether
beyond them. All possible ultimate tendencies are mere
abstractions in their eyes. What harm they are
doing they cannot see. Even dwellers in 16/. and
121. houses are unable to penetrate this mystery.
Both the receivers and distributors of bribes give their
evidence with the greatest openness and in the easiest and
most cheerful way imaginable. " What slid I want' I
was asked. I put up my hand and said five.' He said.
' Very well, I will give it you out of my own pocket.' I
" ' •

went then and voted." "All the voters," says a distri•
hater, "expected to be paid. When you told them it
would be all right they understood it to mean they would
be paid. A nod is enough." A defrauded and aggrieved
witness moralises before the commission :—" I voted for
Gower, but have never got anything. When a man
promises he ought to do it." The distributors of
bribes enter into the joke more genially and vigorously
than the passive recipients. They wield their weapon
with a grand and exulting swing, and their languge is re-
dolent of that mirthfulness and facetiousness which attend
so often upon spirited operations.
If the Daily News turns to Reigate, it sees much the
same state of things as at Yarmouth, without, however,
the excuse, if excuse it be, of any party considerations
being involved. The three candidates at the last election
are described as being "all thorough liberals ;" but per-
sonal or local considerations seem to be just as efficacious
in extracting money as any political distinctions can be.
" There is a little jealousy," it seems, " existing between
Redhill and Reigate ;" and " Mr. Gower has the ma-
jority among the Reigaters, and Mr. Monson at Redhill."
In one respect, however, the Reigate tactics are very j
superior to those in use at Great Yarmouth. In the
former place the great invention has been introduced of
bribing on credit and not paying the bills. A promise of
Si. usually means a payment of 21., a promise of 3/., a pay- •
ment of 30a. Apparently this practice has been in use for 1
some time, for one witneu says :—" A person named
Stephens asked me what I wanted. I held up my fingers
and said "—as being determined to leave no room for
mistake—" ` Five.' Stephens said, ' Very well ; but I i
never got it. I never expected to get it." But still the
chance of a bribe seems to have been thought worth secur-
ing, for the witness adds, " I voted because Stephens •
said he would give me the 5/. Referring still further to
the evidence before the commissioners on the Reigate
election, the Daily News says it is this entire unconscious-
ness of there being anything wrong or unusual in what the
voters were doing that strikes one at the first glance as
presenting the immense difficulty in determining how to
treat the disease.
The Herald cannot read the disclosures at Yarmouth, or
recall others made in previous inquiries, without asking
from what class the delinquents usually come, and in what
places they moat abound. The answer to this inquiry is
not favourable to the advocates of " Manhood Suffrage and
Vote by Ballot," of "Bailee and Bright," of " Gladstone
and Reform." If we could but believe what we have been
told such places as Wakefield and Great Yarmouth should
be the purest of the pure. The working-class element, to
which we have been taught to look as the great purifier of
existing constituencies, is exceedingly strong in both
places. At Wakefield one-eighth, at Yarmouth one-fifth,
of the entire number on the register are members of that
class, yet in both these boroughs the amount of corruption
has been simply startling.

Baron Bentinck has arrived at the Queen's Hotel,
Upper Norwood.
His Excellency the Hon. G. S. Stafford Jerning-
ham, her Britannic Majesty's Minister to Sweden and
Norway, has arrived at Maurigy's Hotel from Stockholm.
Sir Edward Cunard, Bart., has arrived at the
Palace Hotel, Buckingham-gate.
The Hon. J. D. Macpherson, Mrs. Macpherson,
and family have arrived at Brown's Hotel from Toronto.
Sir Robert and Lady Gerard have left the Cla-
rendon Hotel for Lanombire.
Mr. and Mrs. G. G. Hobson and family have , CHINA AND JAPAN.
left Maurigy's Hotel for a Continental tour. j (By Overland Telegraph from Galls.)
D. The John Bull announces the sudden death of
Mr. Alcock, M.P., at Great Malvern, on Wednesday. SHANGHAI, JOLT 25.
SIR WILLIAM MANSFIEL
The Nyenfei have been successful in the North.
A good scandal, says the Times, is the seasoning et life
The late Sir Gilbert East was yesterdav buried Two French bishops and seven priests have been
in India, and this year the fates have been particularly
liberaL It must be a very had season when everybody's in the family vault in the village of Hurley, Berkshire, massacred in the Cores.
and the fans al of his brother, Mr. Charles Bast, took Irate non received here from Japan announces
conduct is above reproach, but no one could anticipate place at the same time. A large number of persons
that the careful and judicious Sir William Mansfield, assembled to witness the funeraL The procession on its that civil war was being carried on between some
hitherto the very pattern of a discreet and well-disciplined way to the church passed Hall-place, the estate of the
baronet, who was much esteemed in the district. of the princes.
n, would, within a few months of his secession to the daelle"dThe
Rev. Francis Vidal, A.M., bas been admitted OUTWARD AMERICAN MAIL.
chief command in India, voluntarily supply the country
curacy Bisho of Gloucester Bristol to the LIVERPOOL, atiIViDAY.
with a fund of gossip large enough to last a twelvemonth. 80.% bier, chepatow, vacant by trPoetiou
The Times then proceeds to give a history of the scandal, of the Rev. Tur Horn. The patron is the vicar of Tian• The Royal Mail steamer Scotia, sailing to-day
which originated out of the management of a farm of Sir hem, Gloucestershire. for New York, took out 110,0001. in specie.

The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation
Company's steamship Delta, with the heavy portion
of the above mails, has arrived here with 52
passengers, 1,1101. in specie, and a large cargo, in-
cluding 2,000 elephants' tusks.
She experienoed foggy weather up the Channel.
On the 18th she spoke the steamer China, and on
the 22nd Mist. the Surat.