Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-11 00:00:00

municipal franchise is now possessed by every man who is a
ratepayer, whether his rates are paid by himself, or by his
landlord, and without regard to the value of the land he
occupies, or the amount of his rating. I propose to adopt
the same arrangement down to a certain point ; that is, I
would give the vote to all persons rated at not less than
£3, or occupying to the value of not less than £4 pey
annnm, whether the rates are paid by the tenant or by the
landlord. Below that point, in order not to exclude any
industrious and frugal man, wishful to have a vote, I would
allow any person, being a rated occupier, to secure his vote
by undertaking to pay and by paving his own rates. This
is the only test I would apply, and I think its effect would
be to exclude none but such as are not likely to have any
independence, and such as are utterly careless as to the
possession of a vote.

The Municipal Act requires a residence of two years and
eight months before a person can be placed upon the bur-
gess rolls. This is done by a clause inserted in the House of
Lords, and was a concession of the House of Commons to
the appehensions of the Peers. It assumes to be directed
specially against the poor, and to be Conservative in its cha-
racter ; whilst, in fact, it acts almost equally upon every
class, lessening the number of burgesses, without being a
guarantee for their independent character, or for their supe-
rior in any respect. _

I impose to adhere to the present term of residence for
parliamentary electors : that is, to have a twelve months'
residence. That is, in fact, a sixteen months' residence, for
no person can now be placed on the register, which comes
into force on the let December in any year, who was not in
occupation of his premises on the 31st July of the year pre-
ceding; and if his occupation began on the Ist August, his
residence must be two years and four months before he can
give a vote. Under the present law, the occupation of
every porson who becomes entitled to vote will vary from
sixteen months to twenty-eight months, or .an average of
twenty-two months. Surely this is long enough, and
nothing but ignorance of the law and the facts, or a dread
of numbers, can induce any man to wish for any longer
period of residence.
In addition to this general proposition to extend the
right of voting in boroughs, I propose to give the fran-
chise to occupiers of apartments—that is, to lodgers paying
a rent of not less than £lO per annum, subject to the same
period of residence as in the case" of rated occupiers,
and whether the rent be paid half-yearly or at any shorter
period.
To all voters, whether in counties or boroughs, I would
give the ballot, and my bill provides for the appointment
of a commission to decide upon the best means of securing
secrecy, expedition, and order, in the taking of votes at
elections ; that is, to discover the best system of voting by
ballot.

I need not now enter into any details about the disfran-
chisement of small boroughs, and the re-distribution of seats.
My schedules have been and are before the public. They
who regard them as extreme and hurtful are they who
wish the House of Commons to be the coadjutor of the
House of Lords, rather than a fair representation of the
people. I believe the time will come when my propositions
on this point will be considered as moderate as I now.believe
them to be just.
I regret very much that I have been unable to introduce
my bill to the House of Commons. I feel certain that I
could have removed some misapprehensions with regard to
it, created chiefly by the untruthful criticisms of the news-
papers in the interest of the two aristocratic parties. I
could not bring in my bill before the government brought
in theirs, and I could, not with advantage have asked the
House to consider it, whilst that of the Government was
under discussion.

The ground was cleared when the great division was
announced ; but on the very evening when I intended to
give notice of the introduction of my bill, we were informed
of the impending dissolution of Parliament, and thus all
chance of proceeding with any important business was at an
end.

The question of Reform is now before the constituencies.
The quality and extent of the measure to be passed in the
new Parliament will depend on the earnestness of the
existing body of electors. I hope they may act up to the
occasion.—l am, truly yours, JOHN BRIGHT.
To Samuel Morley, Esq.
Parliamentary Rgor m Commitee,
15, King-street, London.

THE GENERAL ELECTION

MR. BRIGHT'S ADDRESS.
TO THE ELECTORS OF BIRMINGHAM

Gentlemen,—The government of f.,Orif Derby has advised
the Queen to dissolve the parliament, because the House of
Commons has rejected the bill introduced by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer to amend the representaton of the people.
In parliamentary language the words "to amend " do not
mean "to improve," and in the case of the bill just rejected,
I only express my honest and undoubting conviction
when I say, that it would he difficult to contrive a
measure more calculated to disturb and to damage what
we now possess of popular 'representation, than that
which the House of Commons has refused to pass.
Its evident object was to lessen what remains of
independence in our constituencies, and to give the
means of utterly destroying the independence of all
but the largest boroughs, whilst it ventured upon the dan-
gerous experiment of condemning the great body of the
industrious, or wages-receiving, class to a perpetual exclu-
sion from the possession of the elective franchise. It was a
measure conceived, not in the spirit of a statesman, but in
that of a cunning party political agent; it sought perma-
nently to subject the people and the destinies of England to
the supremacy of a class whose political triumphs are the
disasters, and whose defeats are the gains, which mark the
course of humanity of freedom amongst us.

Lord Derby is not content with the judgment of the
House of Commons, and he appeals to the constituencies of
the United Kingdom. You will therefore be called upon
to select your representatives in the coming parliament. I
offer myself as a candidate for your suffrages, in the belief
that, since I was elected in August, 1857, I have not taken
any course which renders me less worthy of your confidence.
On the question of parliamentary reform I have spoken
freely—first, amongst you, my constituents, and afterwards
in other large cities and towns of England and Scotland. I
have spoken for a moderate but a real reform ; and more than
a hundred public meetings have expressed their approval of
the general propostions I have made. I am bold enough,
therefore, to hope that my course will be sanctioned by you,
to whose past services and patriotism the cause of reform is
greatly indebted.
Let me remind you that the fate and future of reform do
not depend on the course to be taken by particular states-
men. Parliamentary leaders, or they who affect to be such,
may assist or retard the march of great questions, but
public opinion, as exnressed by public meetings, by
petitions, through the Press and at the poll, is the omnipo.
tent influence to which the legislature must bow, and which
parliamentary majorities will follow. It is to the people
themselves that I look for an answer to the appeal of Lord
Derby. They can say, imperfect as is their representation
now, whether little more than one million of electors are
sufficient out of a population containing sevenmillions of
men; whether it is fitting that our great cities and towns
shall have a voice in the House of Commons, but a voice
almost without power, by reason of the existence of some
scores of small boroughs, necessarily without influence in
everything in the country except in parliamentary. divisions;
and whether it is just that electors shall be subjected to
every variety of hardship in the exercise of their right to
vote, when the simple arrangement of the ballot would
liberate them from insult and from wrong.
To the existing constituencies the appeal is now made.
Upon their YerdiCt will depend the question whether the