The Express.
London, England, 1858-05-07 00:00:00

Memos between the name of land in tM two canaries.
The freehold tenure in both cotmnite was originally the
Na.. The freeholder was • roma' of the crown, bound to
Live attendance on hie lord, and bound, therefore, to give
his attendance in parliament. Before the reign of
Edward I. the superior vassal wee entitled to give
ell hal property to sub-holders, and that wu the
law In Sootland to this day; but these sub-meals
ewer were freeholders. In Edward I.'s reign a statute was
peened which enabled the superior meads in England to
alienate the fee, and in that way the small freeholders
beams a large body. But the franchise was tithed to free-
boiders whose holding was of the emu/ value of 40a. The
greet of property in Scotland woe held by the sub-
and the consequence was that it was impossible to
introduce the 40s. (mocha,* in Scotland. It was a mistake to
suppose that the Reform Bill created the 40e, freehold
franchise in England. The Reform Bill lek that &sa-
nitise as it found it. The Reform Bill created a IW. copy-
held and a leasehold franchise for England and he Scotland,
and it wee a mistake to suppose that the two omatrise wore
dealt with differently in that reaped.. What mead he the
effect of the hon. gentleman's proposition ? In Ediabesgh
there were 4,634 basses of the annual vales of between W.
and 101., but It world be a great mistake to suppose that
these 4,600 houses nproeatad 4,600 rill*
because, after deduct g the land held by corpo="Z
other parties who °odd not vote, and those who wasealreatly
oa the list, or untied to ne on the lint of voter% the,.
remained only 290 to be added to Hui list, end even that
would be reduced la various ways by 46, leaving the net
increase of voters 244. Then his hon. friend said he would
medalists the borough fianchier to that ot England. Why,
In two respects the advantage was on the aide of Soothed.
In the fret place, the smaller le.roughs of Scotland were put
Into groups, and they together elected a member. That was
net the ease In England. Another material distinction was
this—that where'. in England the owner of property ha •
borough could only vote fur the county in respect d property
which he did not occupy; in Scotland the owner oonki vote for
property which be occupied, and the consequence wee, then was
a line ownership homage be reaped of tesestents is Sot*
land which did not exist in England. Bat passim from that
and travelling into boroughs, they found exactly the same
results as in the counties. The result was thiat that that.
were no small tenement camas of receiving this lanolin,.
He found that in the city of Edinburgh there were about
1,600 tensenists, valued at 21. each, but be found that these '
_,I 600 tenement were owned by 29 permits and no more.
Then the bows of the miss of between 21. and 124 were
22,000 in number, belonging to about a thousand proprietors,
the great mere of whom were already entitled to vote by them
property heat. Then there ware 13,000 teammate above
the value of 111., and if the English system were tes be intro-
duced the result would be that they would have an addition
of 4,000 votes for the county of Edinburgh. Now, he did
not wish for that result. He did not think it would
I. the constituency in Scotland. The ardent-
had interests distinct from the interests of
boroughs, and he did not think It desirable that the
mann members should be chosen by town populations,
They might depend upon it the agriculturist, would out
submit without a straggle ; and they would inevitably mo-
oned, and they would arrive at a state of things in which
those who were opposed to progress would be predonsimat.
He believed that no greater calamity could happen to Scot-
land than a system of ensiling —he would not call them ficti-
tious votes, because they would be real votes—but a system
which would give the victory in elections to the possessor of
the longest pane. His hon. friend seemed to think that the
40s. females would intones,e the working classes to invest
In 21 Maass, but others would invest in them also, and head
not hesitate to say that the acquiring of votes on that prin-
ciple, whether by a society or by individuals, was foreign to
the true spirit of representative government. The franchise
was given to persons because they had an Interest in the
locality is which they voted, and he did not think a pereon
tivingln Edinburgh or in London, simply because he had 401.
or 501. to spare, should be entitled to vote in a locality Ia
which he did not reside and in which be had no interest.
Mr. BAXTER said the number of public meetings that
had been held and the petitions that had been presented
indkated an amount of diesatiasotion with the state of the
tranades in Scotland which the house ought to take into
that serious oonsidenitioa. At the same time, he was not
=ire thee Mr. Card bad hit the right principle. The
hereingb mismitem represented an average popula-
tion of 29.003 penmen; these of Scotland, 44,000 ,• and to
=ti the proportion of county voters to those of Ragland
ought to Urn 83,000 °aunty electors %steed of
49,000. These Agues showed that the boroughs of Scotland
were net eaSeitatly represented, and that the proportion of
tounty velars was much km than In England. The path
threw ellega that this dad/my Ina muted by the &D-
-UR'. Or the 40s. freehold franchise. He (the bon. mexlller
would saggest that the bill should be brought in, but
not be penned farther ; and that it should be named to •
select onmeettiae. (Hier, heir.)
Kr. C. BRUCE was not at all unwilling to extend the
county franchise in Scotland ; be he considered that such a
rassestre would ham mass • conservative eller& than other-
wise upon the tioninittiormilas. Bat he ehould o the
prima bill, because be thought it would have a direct ten-
dency te promote the of fictitious votes, and that
to ea unlimited extent.

Mr. BOWYER wished to deer away a little of the legal
mystification which the hon. gentleman (Mr. Monorail!) had
thrown over the question. The learned gentleman had
Wind about the statute of Qsaa employes; but, he might
Jost es well have talked stout the Statute of Limitations, or
toe astute of Frauds; for it had really nothing whatever
to do with the question. (lies; hear.) The hon. gentle-
men maid there were no freeholds in Scotland ; and in • tech-
nical Neese that might be true. The old Scotch franchise
depended upon tenure. Those who held is *spite of the
crown, the greater and the lesser barons, sat together in one
elmenber ; and there could be no doubt that the promos of
sabbliendation had had a tendency to diminish at fram-
able*. Practically speaking, however, freehold in Scotland
was a question not of tenure bat of interest ; and the Scotch
feu-holder wee exactly equivalent to the Hagfish freeholds;
bat while tenure conferred the franchise in Scotland, interest
conferred it in England.
Mr. E. ELLICE (St. Andrew'e), said there was
something ambigaous in the expression of • 40e.
freehold la Scotland; and it would be more honest
to describe the bill as en attempt to reduce the ex-
isting 101. franchise to one of 2/. (Hear, hear.)
TM raseing of • measure of that deecription was altogether
ees.
LORD ADVOCATE could not understand the ap-
parently inconsistent course which Mr. Baxter and the last
speaker had announced their intention to pursue ; for they
had both suggested excellent reasons why they should not
assent to the introduction of the bill. The measure was
founded upon an entire misconception; and to allow the bill
to be brought in would only tend to keep alive the delusion
under which its advocates seemed to be labouring. The
hon. gentleman opposite (Mr. Bowyer) would have been far
nearer the truth if, instead of saying that the county fran-
chise depended upon tenure in Scotland and interest in
in England, he had stated just the reverse. (Hear, hear.)
In both England and Scotland all the proprietors of
laced who had an interest of 101. a year were entitled to vote ;
sad that Winded not only freeholders, but oopyholders,
leasideolders, sad, la Scotland, the from But in England
there was long before the Reform Bill • qualification which
did not suet Scotland—namely, a freehold tenure with •
40s. Interest. Now that was • frinehhe which it was impos-
sible to create in Soothed, end whisk he would venture to
say would not have been created in England if it had not
previous' existed. It was, thavelbre, in reality a vlobition
of the of the Reform As be attempt now to extend
it over a new area of representation. (Hear, hear.) He
(the horned lord) **sad to the bill on the ground stated by
the hoe. waster far St. Andrewe—seeody. that it weer
he
set to Nies =iodic eaden • eel
it die an • g theened whoa the Ise. amber
needs of, namely en month of the iheillike would
glee ihr the matt= of vans. Es St net say "Saddens
he the men reel the voles which be was see-
the make scald be the sheeted
vises (Haar,
les74M the gad of the bill meld be.othie me ea bon'.
hod Indy add. Io es the repllent the
M:Tae sal these hthese who hod the impel Use the halm
of farisadag who bed bee amino lthe MB wield howl
no peeled spoevelsa et el; beet may whet thrower it
=tee is the bowie of the SOO poem hod hem
to as big the arms of T4OllO weenie
(Heer, beer.) hay race ass. by de of •
lewd vow is conveyer:en algid empower who were
the of the headthe. (Muth)
ShlarrOLMNllool.l. dialed Set le owed la
lien for for Leserkalthe le the geed, either the Mathias col
Glasgow; bat le opposed the Ith hewer he diseght it
would too wad tend be beim the Sr of dinerestian
between two inthesis which wee Agin&
Colonel SYKES odd be abed& wee is favour of the bill
is the erect of • divides. The was • Say hewerds a
relleva of eleekeed feessidee. The people d Gestisad
hit ft • grimace Het hell mat the. sepstheekend
rights es the Lie* ef It wee mid Ohm wee
no freelholden • were ell theft flat
essay me knew thee fa Beglored wealthy ma es bath
skies of patties were pereithing Wdeley sal yselehaling
thus oat to emote votes; ea way mem sot they As OM
ease is Soothed ? (Boar, bow.)
Mr. PILLSZ said k was worthy of resark that all the
Scone webers ednitted that the law required alteration.
Rom odd that the alma& sow proposed was not the one
en
bet wee at all svelte emension of the fres-
=l:6l. it
and Seeeland arida mot to rest conned until such m-
tensloayr (Neer, them)
Kt,
Ss rid that, if this 01110111iSil IMO
Crinlketiesel. it sent be szlesied to Wand.
Thor* es ethether fmachhe eagle not to earl;
torygd, so we that en endedy sew hea-
dship ache thigiven. Bs hod Ism ea sleeks is heisted
rented Whet hEir 40a. freeholders ; they were thoths,
ethielleth,' sad to the of the MOW= bridade and
as plash. Os eseeent dee 40n freaddes wee token
aver frees belied by the Rakes het. It was
led covered the lead with yesperhse by the = itl
sewn few. Tot it was now propesed le ezemd that
of heath* by giving tt to Booths It was es
sad bipeds a stop se the adman of !lend prithiphe