The Express.
London, England, 1867-03-20 00:00:00

THE REFORM BILL IN P.

The questions which Mr. Gladstone proposes to
put to the government to-morrow are given by the Order-
book as follows :

"To auk the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the
conditions of voting in boroughs, so far as they are affected
by the bill of the government, are to be the same for oc-
cupiers of the value of 10/. and upwards as for occupiers
under 10/. ; or, if not, in what respects they differ ?
Whether it is intended by the bill that the occupying fran-
chise in boroughs, which now depends upon the occupation
of any house, warehouse, countinghouse, shop, or other
building,' is henceforward to depend upon the occu-
pation or dwelling houses exclusively? Whether the
total number of male occupiers stated by the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer in his speech on Monday
madded exclusively of the occupiers of dwelling-houses ?
Whether her Majesty's government will lay upon the table
their estimates of the numbers of voters to be enfran-
chised under the several clauses of the bill, together with
the data, so far as they think fit, upon which such esti-
mates are framed ; anal whether an occupier claiming to
be registered under clause 34, when a composition or other
reduced rate on the premises has been duly paid by his
landlord must, in order to be registered, pay the differ-
ence between such reduced rate and the rate which would
have been chargeable upon him if directly rated.
Notice has been given by Mr. W. M. Torrens of the
following amendment, to supply the omission of
a lodger franchise. At the end of Clause 3,
which enfranchises all ratepayers in borceighs, irre-
spective of the value of their houses, to add these
worts: "or who shall have occupied separately for
the period aforesaid as tenant paying a rent not
less in the whole than 10/. a year, any por-
tion of any house within the said borough. "
In Lord Derby's bill of 18,50 it was proposed
to enfranchise all lodgers who paid rent at Bs.
a week, or 20/. a year. In Mr. Gladstone's bill
of 180 G the qualifying rent was fixed at 41,
a week or 10/. a year. The latter is the stun proposed
to be adopted in committee by Mr. Torrens.
Mr. Hussey Vivian, on the same occasion, will ask
whether a forty shilling freeholder, residing on his own
freehold within a borough, and paying rates, would not
become a borough voter, and thereby lose his county quali-
fication under the proposed Reform Bill.
Assuming that household suffrage is henceforth in-
evitable. Mr. G. Poulett Scrope, M.P., revives his propo-
sition to exempt the lowest rented class of houses from
load taxation altogether, and to make the franchise ter-
minate where the payment of rates terminates. Thus, he
thinks, would be eliminated from the electoral body that
class of the extremely poor and uneducated which borders
upon pauperism, and cm hardly be with safety admitted
to an equality of political power with the educated and
propertied classes.

At a meeting of the Birmingham Liberal Association,
held yesterday, Mr. Thomas Lloyd, in the chair, it was
unanimously resolved :
" That this meeting, having considered the provisions
of the government reform bill, accepts with great satis-
faction the recognition of household suffrage as the basis
for the franchise in boroughs ; but is of opinion—
" Ist. That the condition which limits the right of voting
in boroughs to those who pay the local rates directly
would neutralise the advantages which would other-
wise result from the proposition. 2nd. That the
introduction of dual voting is an unwise inno-
vation on the constitutional usages of the country,
and, being calculated to make invidious distinc-
tions between different classes of society, would create
permanent ill-feeling in the nation. 3rd. That by naming
a higher qualification in the counties than was adopted by
the House of Commons last session, the government have
shown an inclination to oppose the just demands of the
people. 4th. That the redistribution of seats proposed by
the bill is totally inadequate to rectify the existing
anomalies in the law, or to assimilate, in any important
degree, the representation to the population, intelligecce,
or wealth of the nation."

A town's meeting of the inhabitants of the borough,
called by the Mayor, will be held on Friday neat, in the
Town-hall.

FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENTS OF

RAILWAYS.

Mr. Edwards intends to-morrow to ask the
Chancellor of the Exchequer in parliament, whether his
attention has been called to the serious financial embar-
rassments in which many of the railway companies of this
country am at present involved, in consequence of the re-
cent decision as to the validity of debentures as a security ;
whether any applications have been made to the govern-
ment for relief, and with what result ; and, whether ha
will state to the house the nature of any such application,
the extent of the relief sought, and the terms proposed by
the company or companies who have applied for such
relief ?