The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-10 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIMES.---LIVERPOOL, FRI DAY.

arising from land, or even the occupation of an
empty stable rated at 101. As our representa-
tive system now exists, it excludes thousands
upon thousands of intelligent, moral, and well-
conducted citizens, whilst it enters vast numbers
of ignorant electors upon the parliamentary roll
of the United Kingdom.
In noticing the remedies which should be
applied to the existing defects of the last Reform
Bill, the foregoing remarks will prepare the
reader for the announcement that the funda-
mental principles of Parliamentary Representa-
tion should be based upon Intelligence. But, as
some may object to that, as it would, under our
existing imperfect scheme of National Education,
require an examination, the rate-book qualifica-
tion could be adopted, and thus do away with
the annual bickerings, and the party battles
which come off before the Revising Barrister, in
town and country. In all large cities and towns,
a considerable number of the population are
lodgers. To carry out this plan, any one, on the
production of a certificate, or declaration before
a magistrate, proving a six months' residence,
should be admitted to the rights and privileges
of the franchise. What would hold good in cities
and towns, as to rating, could also be made
applicable to the rural districts. The funda-
mental idea of the plan is to give every man who
contributes, directly or indirectly, to the national
taxation, a voice, through his representative in
Parliament, on the all-important topic of national
expenditure. To such an arrangement there
can scarcely be any valid objection.
Having determined who shall vote, it is next
to be considered in what manner the votes shall
be taken. Two important principles suggest
themselves. If the entire masses of the commu
nity were endowed with the electoral franchise,
it follows that the vote of one man is equally as
good, and should tell with as great effect as that
of another, that the peasant's should be an a par
with that of the peer or the commoner. Hence
it is absurd to overlook the question of popula-
tion as applied to representation. It cannot be
just in principle, nor beneficial in practice, to
allow the vote of an elector in a small pocket
borough, where there are not more than :300
electors, to have equal influence and effect in the
House of Commons by its representative as that
of Liverpool, on whose Parliamentary roll is
fully 18,000 voters. In other words, no
good reason can be given why the voice
of an elector living in Coleraine should
have eighty-four times the force in the
House of Commons of one resident in Liver-
pool ; or that one resident in Clitheroe should
exercise forty times a more potent influence than
one in Manchester. To intelligence, then,
population must be added as an element of the
new Reform Bill. To carry into effect this, we
must have electoral districts ; each locality must
be represented by its population,—not its sub-
stance or wealth. We must not have any poli-
tical tinkering of classes, of majorities or mino-
rities, in the representation of the people. As
long as legislation exists there will be Parlia-
mentary majorities and minorities. At the same
time, both are the people's representatives, and
hence ther is no fear of any important section
of the country not finding a voice and an ad-
vocate.

These remarks lead to the third and last pri-
mary principle which should be embodied in the
New Reform Bill. It is well known, and as
generally admitted, that under our-present system
of voting the tenant farmer is coerced by the
electoral spur of his landlord ; and in cities and
towns the working classes are influenced by the
control of their employers. An electoral vote,
to possess the force and virtue designed by the
Constitution, should be given free of all compul-
sion or restraint. It is an important trust, con-
fided to the elector to be exercised for the
national good ; and where the voter's conscience
is tampered with, and the landlord or the
employer steps in to stifle the dictates of that
conscience, and the faithful discharge of the duty
which it admonishes,: there cannot be purity of
election—the Sovereign is misinformed of the
real sentiments of her people, and the public
interest is sacrificed to such cunning designs—
the schemes and plots of party, and the intrigues
of selfish narrow-minded Statesmen. To
Intelligence and electoral districts we
would add the ballot. DISRAELI may
cry out, and declaim as much as he can
against electoral districts ; Lord PALMERSTON,
too, may resist an extension of the suffrage; or
Lord JOHN RUSSELL may argue on the principle
of expediency against the ballot. Neither the
one or the other, or all three and their respective
adherents combined, can resist for any length of
time these reasonable demands. The General
Election shows that such is the people's will, and
that a Reform Bill, containing the same, must
ultimately, and that soon, become the law of the
land.

THE NECROPOLIS AFFAIRS AND

MR. KIRKUS.

A COMMUNICATION has, we are informed, been
received by the Health Committee, from the
solicitors to Mr. KIRKUS, the late chaplain of the
Cemetery at Low Hill, exonerating Mr. KIRKUS
from the responsibility of the acts which have
recently formed so grave a matter of complaint,
and stating that the committee of the Necropolis
were aware of all the important events in con-
nection with the management of the internal
affairs of the cemetery, and that in fact it was
positively communicated to them in writing that
200 graves had been sold, which had been formed
out of old common graves. The communication
states that Mr. KIRKUS was not aware of the
system of temporary burials in preparatory
graves, and the subsequent transfer of the bodies
to other places of interment; that the entire
management of the graves rested with the sexton,
who was a salaried officer of the committee, and
directly responsible to them ; that Mr. Kirmus,
both from feeling, as well as from duty, kept
himself aloof from any direct interference with
the graves ; and that he neither suggested nor
approved of the violation of the order in council,
by the interment of more than one body in a
private grave.

THE BIRKENHEAD POLICE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES.

Sir,—My attention has just been called to an ar-
ticle inyour impression of yesterday, reflecting in
most severe and unjust terms upon the Birken-
head police force. With the exception that the
late constable Vaughan was an Orangeman, there
is not a word of truth in the allegation from be-
ginning to end. The prisoner Smith is not a
Roman Catholic. The members of the police are
not " mostly Irish," there being but ten natives
of Ireland out of a corps of thirty-seven officers
and men and as to their being, " with one soli-
tary exception, all Orangemen," there are not
more than five or six such in the entire force.
—I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. B. GOLBORNE,
Chairman of the Lighting and Watching
Committee.
Birkenhead, 9th April, 1857. •

[We had, and can have, no wish to say any-
thing harsh of the Birkenhead police as a body,
or of any individual member composing it. We
wrote, as we stated, upon what was common
rumour, and to remark upon those rumours we
conceived to be the only way of arriving at the
truth as to the facts. If they are as stated by
Mr_ GOLBORNE, and we have no doubt he believes
them to be so, we shall have rendered the force
some service, by silencing reports which were in
common circulation, and which certainly were
calculated to impair the efficiency, if not destroy
the legitimate authority, of the police. We may
add that we have no reason to doubt the fact as
reported to us, that not many days since, one
inspector, whilst dressed in his uniform, gave
utterance in public company to the fiercest de-
nunciations against Roman Catholics, which fully
justified the inferences we drew. It is quite
within the range of probability that there are
only five or six men enrolled as members of
Orange Lodges, and it may be equally true that
there may be many more professing the same
opinions, although not actually members of any
Lodge,—En.

THE COURT, 4c.

LONDON, THURSDAY.
The Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by the
Princess Alice. took a drive in a carriage and four. Lord
Alfred Paget and Captain Du Plat attended on horseback.
His Royal Highness the Prince, accompanied by the Prince
of Wales and the Princess Royal, rode on horseback in
the forenoon. The Hon. Beatrice Bvng and Captain Du
Plat were in attendance. Prince Arthur and the Prin-
cesses Helena and Louisa, went to the Zoological Gardens,
in the Regent's Park. Prince Leopold visited her Royal
Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, at Gloucester House.
The Prince also paid a visit to her Royal irghness the
Duchess of Kent. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of
Kent took a carriage drive. Their Royal Highnesses the
Princess of Hohenlohe Langenburg and the Prince of
Leinengen, the Right Hon. H Labouchere, and Captain
the Hon. J. Denman, dined with her Majesty in the
evening. The Lord Chancellor will receive the Judges
and Queen's Counsel on Wednesday, the first day of
Easter Term, at his Lordship's residence, in Upper Brook
street, at Twelve o'clock.

GOOD FRIDAY.—AS stated in our paper of Tester lay,
this being Good Friday, all public business will be
suspended.
LIVERPOOL BANKRUPTCY COURT YESTERDAY.—BEFORB
MR. COMMISSIONER STEVENSON. —ln re WILLIAM
HUGHES.—The bankrupt, builder of Liverpool, applied
this day for his certificate. Mr. Evans appeared for the
assignees, and offered no opposition. His Honour granted
a certificate of the first class.

THE PRESENTATION BOX TO W. BROWN, ESQ., M.P.--
The beautiful box, to be presented to W. Brown, Esq.,
M.P., on the occasion of his laying the first stone of the
New Free Library, was exhibited in the window of Mr.
Mayer's shop yesterday, and attracted much attention. It

is in the shape of aCottage, the design being handsome
and well executed.

QUICK PASSAGES.—We have to chronicle this week several
quick passages of Liverpool ships, amongst others that of
the Cambalu, arrived at Deal on the 4th inst., in 102 days
from Shanghae, and the Aerolite arrived at Deal same day,
in 71 days from Batavia. The Aerolite proceeded on to
Holland, and arrived at Niewdeep the next day, the sth
inst. This vessel's performance is, we believe, the most
extraordinary on record. She left Macao in the end of
November for Batavia, and reached the latter port in eight
days and a half, which, added to the homeward passage
from Batavia, makes the whole time occupied in sailing the
distance from China to Deal via Batavia, seventy nine
days and a half. B )th ships were built by Mr. Charles
Lamport, Workington, and are owned by our townsman,
Mr. John Atkin.

LIVER POOL SES.IONS. —Prisoners tried and sentenced
yesterday : Edward Gerrard, acquitted ; James Nl•Neill,
three months, hard labour ; Joseph Webster, eight
months, hard labour ; John Evers, ten months, hard
labour ; John Evers, two years ; Ann Evers, acquitted ;
Ann Connor, acquitted ; John Howell, fifteen calenear
months, hard labour ; Thomas O'Neill, acquitted ;
Michael Graham, four months; J hn Dempsey, acquitted ;
Jane Fitzgerald, four weeks ; Ann Gorman, four months.
AMERICAN MAILS. —The Royal Mail steamer America
will sail for Boston and Halifax to-morrow, with the
Canada and United States Mails, &c. Letters, &c., will
be received at the G. P.O. in the ordinary course, up to 9
o'clock, and with fees to 10. The box at the Landing stage
will be open to 11, with late fees of Is. on letters.

THE PRESENTATION TROWEL TO WM. BROWN, ESQ., M.P.
—We are sorry to learn that the committee for getting up
a subscription to present Mr. Brown, M.P., on the occasion
of laying the foundation stone of the New Library and Mu-
seum. with a trowel, mallet, casket, address, /i'c.' are not meet-
ing with that success which they could desi• o. This must be
from the public not knowing the efforts of the committee in
question. Who that contemplates the splendid building
which Mr. Brown is going to bequeath to the town, will
hesitate for a moment in handing in his subscription ? One
penny from each adult in the town will make up the desired
amount. We call attention to the matter, confident that
the appeal will not be made in vain. Subscriptions will
be received at all the newspaper offices, and by the secretary
of the committee, at their rooms, 8, Hardy street.

It is a curious fact that, nearly two hundred years
since, a penny post should have been suggested by a
writer of the same name as the well known promoter of
that great modern reform, Mr. Hill. In the library of
the British Museum is a small work, entitled "A Penny
Post; or, a Vindication of the Liberty and Birthright of
every Englishman in carrying Merchants' and other Men's
Letters, against any restraint of farmers of such employ-
ments. By John Hill, London. Printed in the year 1659."
CHILDREN STOLEN BY INDIANS AND BEARS.—Some
months since the Western papers gave a thrilling account
of the loss of a child which had been carried off by a
bear near Manitowoc. No traces of the child have been
discovered, and the excitement was about dying away,
when, on Wednesday of last week, in the same locality, a
Mr. Woodward, living near Sandy Bay, had some diffi-
culty with an Indian whom he had fed nearly every day
during the past winter, and kicked him out of doors. The
next day his little girl, three years of age, was standing
near the house, when an Indian sprang out of the thicket,
clasped her in his arms, and bounded away through the
underbrush. Pursuit was commenced immediately, but
without success, though information had been received
which, it was hoped, would lead to the recovery of the
child.—New York Tribune.

FUGITIVE SiltvEt3.-::(7nTaesday morning last our town
was thrown into much commotion in consequence of an
almost successful attempt to capture eight runaway
slaves, for which rewards are offered of upward of 3,000
dollars. It seems that some time during Monday a man
came to Sheriff Green with the information that he had
discovered eight runaway negroes, and had made arrange-
tnents to have them in Dover. The sheriff had dressed
and followed them upstairs, supposing that be would
find them it one of the rooms, and that all he would
have to do would be to belt and close the door. On
discovering that they were all in the entry, the sheriff
returned to his room for his revolver. The negroes, anxious
to get to a fire, followed him down, and were all in
the sheriff's room, where his wife and children were
asleep, before he could seize his revolver. By this time
the suspicions cf one of the negroes were aroused, and
with the exclamption, '• he didn't like the looks ob de place ;
I'se gwine out o'dis," he bolted for the window The Sheriff
seized him, and while engaged in the struggle, the rest of the ne-
gross burst through another window, and escapo, first scattering
the fire over the floor, the man standing trembling in the door
like the veriest crave❑ hi sited coward. The Sheriff, alarmed
by his family and the fire, let go the negro for a moment,
when, in an instant, he bounded through the window, and was
gone. Thus they all escaped. Six of them were tracked to a
house in Camden, but the officers could not enter for the want
of sufficient warrant, which the magistrates said they had no
power to grant.—Dover Reporter, March 12,

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

[By British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph J

FRANCE.

The Paris Three per Cents closed yesterday
(Thursday), at 09f, 50c.

FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

At half past ten o'clock yesterday forenoon, as
the carriages were being prepared for the eleven
o'clock train to Ballymena, an engine exploded at
Belfast, and the fireman, Wm. Sarke, was killed.
The engine was raised quite off the rails, and
carried over two waggons a distance of about thirty
yards, when it fell upon its side and was much
battered- The fireman was blown high in the air,
and alighted in a field about forty perches off.
Ho was quite dead, and very much mutilated.
The wires were smashed by the engine,
and communication between Belfast and
Derry was stopped until the injury was repaired.