The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-27 00:00:00

BALLOT MEETING iN IifANCHESTEA

•••••••••.01 41
A meeting of the friends of the Ballot was held 011104,
nesday night in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, AO,
Wilson, EEq. (member of the council), preside°'kejeli
amongst those present were the Hon. F. H. F. 13rtorio
H.P. fur Bristol ; W. Nicholson, Esq., of v
Australia ;E. C. Whitehurat, , and J. Canipbe"oese
(, he deputation from the London Ballot Society). Aldecil
'
Harvey, Alderman Hey-cowl, Councillor Fildes Caine,
G iadsby, Messrs. A. Prentice J. E. Nelson, S. PePeoce;
Clegg A. 11. Dymond, &c. There was a large 81100!
The Chairman having opened the proceedings, illy ha
Mr. Nicholson to the meeting. This gentleman, vjb, ers4ef
occupied a position of _ great eminence in Ilej:00172
delivered a long and able speech demonstrating the
f the ballot in the colony of Victoria. Ile
le ofle~
the rust; :of voting in Australia. It was a very situp endr
The returning officer was appoint ad in the usual vial,
at 08
there were many candidates, the returning ofßeerid epee
nomination declared the time when the pull w°ll,ttoode,
and also the place. On the morning of the day be
there with the electoral roll, or list of electors, all
number of ballot papers corresponding with the n.„,, 01
on the electoral roll, and containing the printed Ile`-t
the candidates. This was in a public room, so thtill le
one could object to an elector coming up, and C,,rtutliAti
question his right to vote, so that there was no oPP or"
of persons personating electors, as would be 08E0 the
if the proceedings were in a private room. W„boreti
electors received the ballot papers, they were secoeide,
passed into another apartment, where a table wasp
for them, to mark out the names of those for 1111°`ipliv,,,
did not vote. They then had to foil the ticket 211,bt
it in a ballot box on the counter, and they had no PIO/
take the paper out of the room until the vote Was r„enco,da
He was not allowed to have intercourse with any "-ea Plic
was not overlooked by any one, after he real% A:,
voting paper, until he had placed it in the benstr,
might be that this would not be practicable in
constituency ; but that was provided for. In
n (trot
constituency, such as elbourne, with 800
they had various election booths, and in thesel.re°,eher:
sub-divisions over which are the letters indieati°l„4
individuals must record their votes. After a peo-f-a
out of a ballot room he could say how he had Ve"hee'll.,,e"
he had it not in his power to show how -teetvg
voted. He was perfectly free in this respeetL, 001:
fore, from all influence. In America, it might "Leetle:ei
had been doubted whether the ballot had stcre
but this was only in particular districts, r7-teetti,„-g
parties provided their own voting papers, and be",,;
different colours. In Victoria it was not so ; tre.„l'
papers were of a uniform size and colour,.°l3Atoeritvi
furnished by government, so that the difficulty 0r„,,„ t-nt
could not occur. The electors were bound tO, —hod ,11)t
voting papers provided by the government, all"„dertitl
the power to take any others. The government beg •
to defray all the necessary expenses, and the canclideofb,
nothing to do with it. One great evil suggested at/jai tie
ballot was, that the returning officer might tamper wed
ballot box; but, in Victoria, each candidate wee...e",:del
nominate a scrutineer, who sat by the returning owee,..ed.
the whole proceedings, and until the poll was deele'll Ow;
was impossible for a returning officer to succeed /0 tftld
pering with the box with such a scrutiny as that'e to, :e4.
elections in Victoria there were some close Ontiettsr"
one large district the successful candidate was
°: re
;
by a majority of twelve in another,
bid
jority of one ; in another, by the casting 8
returning officer ; but never had a returning °Toece
charged with making a false return. Another c"
,bee be
the returning officer was, that the returning officer' at itie of
delivered a ballot paper, signed his name to it, e°,,-,elled
any imposition, they must very successfully forge 45e, it,"ibo
the returning officer. Now, having related the
his intention to show them the practical worhwrater"'e,
system, and the success which had attended it i° r",. the' te
He might be looked upon as a mere ballotnionge'y'reslio,
agree . to
were conclusive on
fore he preferred to give them the opinions of the with bed
thesubject
utbhjee they t would
The
Australia, which, he thoughtvil-
electo
over ;30 members were elected to the upper h°llB- !et'
the lower, and in almost every case contests took pp,, so.oo
Whitehurst and the Hon. F. H, F. Berkeley, -°',.esoltiqo;
quently addressed the meeting, and the following ha/1,4,
meeting soeiel,i
was adopted unanimously :—" That this
heard au explanation of the objects of the 133110 e t balP °
t 1
h oe
and an account of the success of its working 0 tnoiet‘loto.t
the colony of Victoria, desires to express its the vier
the benefits to be derived from the adoption °f
end col'ost
in this country, and pledges itself individually atlie
pto
tively to support the movements of the society t°
of their power."

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PUBLIC HEALTH SUPPLEMENTAL BILL.
This bill was read a securid time.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

ißy the British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph.'

HOUSE OF LORDS—THURSDAY.
The Lord Chancellor took his seat on the woolsack at
five o'clock.

CHIEF CONSTABLE'S BILL.
Viscount Dungannon postponed his motion relative to
the see of London until this day week. The noble
viscount also gave notice that, when their lordships went
into committee upon the Constabulary Bill, he should
move a proviso that no person should be eligible to fill
the office of chief constable who has been a bankrupt, or
has passed through the Insolvents' Court, unless he should
prove, to the satisfaction of the Home Secretary, that such
bankruptcy or insolvency has not been caused by fraud
or extravagance.
The Earl of Hardwicke presented several petitions in
favour of the exemption of incomes below £l6O per
annual from the operation of the income tax.

LAW OF LIBEL.
Lord Campbell moved for a select committee to consider
whether the privilege now enjoyed by reports of the tl7',„.
• eeedings of courts of justice may be safe' and
Properly extended to reports of the proceedings of the
two Rouses of Parliament, and of any and what other
assemblies or public msetiTss, under any and what
oonditions or restitctions. The noble lord said
that this ques;',,(in was one of great importance. He re-
rettell-ue could not comply with the request that had
• °earl made to him to postpone it. The effect of agreeing
to his motion would not pledge their lordships to any
Particular measure. It would express an opinion that
this Was a fit subject for legislation. The question
demanded an immediate settlement in consequence
of the unanimous opinion of the judges of the Court
of Queen's Bench, that the law did not justify the
Publication of the proceedings of a public meeting in
the event of libellous or injurious matters being spoken
against the character of individuals. It was
that Lord Coke propounded the doe
ction of law lay only against that
speaker, and
I,lnt a tie
gainst the party that publi°,'aed the libel. Lord
We, though no doubt a bilfu legal authority, was not,
tchat the
hnwever, 1.., was obviously for the public good
Pro-oni.:tings of this house and the houses of
th"vl°cat4on should be published under the protection of
ebathp e a w
e was not willing to go further without the
'bat'he
of a select committee. The noble lord concluded
by moving for the appointment of a select committee to
-11 quire into the whole subject, and to report to their
,lordships.
Lord Wensleydale entirely concurred in the
thought
of the noble and learned lord, and said he
, it exceedingly desirable that the subject should
be settled as speedily as possible. He thought his noble
friendend }lad better introduce a bill in which he could deal
the Whole of the subject.
The Motion was then agaeed to.
'WAR WITH tHINA-THE ADJOURNED DEBATE

The Earl of Carnarvon said after the able speeches that
. :had been delivered in their lordship's house the other
..411.1g1111 he felt it exceedingly difficult to throw any additional
dit un the subject. He contended that even from the evi-
ence upon their lordship's table it was impossible to doubt
hat the lorcha Arrow, which was boarded by the Chinese,
'wee
'4"Y other than a Chinese vessel and, therefore, that the
iiiTeola Proceedings that had been taken by the British were
gals
Sir The noble earl declared the whole of the acts of
horn Ito Wring as unjustifiable. At one time he writes
hp:e LIN a lorcha had no right to carry the British flag,
l'zgistry having expired on the 27th of September,
after that he writes home and says no matter
hat might be said on, the subject, the lorcha
was a British vessel and had a right to carry the British
flag. It was a curious fact, that throughout the whole
°l' the speeches that had been delivered by the members
Of her Majesty's Government, this discrepancy had not
been alluded to, in fact, he might say, it had been studiously
Avoided.
tord Methuen defended the government.
,14°1'd St. Leonards concurred in the arguments of Lord
Derby, and contended that the ordnance in the case of the
theh,
Could not overule an act of parliament, and was
therefore mere waste paper.
°l'd "Wensleydale declared his opinion that the ordnance
1,r5
valid, and that the seizure on board the Arrow was an
to)
J,ll.st:,fiable insult to the British flag.
the Earl of Malmesbury defended the views of Lord
it e 133`, and observed that the conduct pursued by the
• ril-ish authorities was both impolitic and immoral, and its
morality was not to be defended upon the ground of policy.
Viatitcl to the difference of opinion between the Law
La upon the queition, remarking that when they differed
litiv not surprising that the Chinese Commissioner should
tri, been in doubt how to act, and that therefore the
h authorities should have exercised greater forbearance.
,htte he Earl of Albemarle vindicated the conduct of the
t
b!Preaehtatives of the government, and justified the opera.
'clis at Canton.
The Earl of Ellenborough alluded to the horrors of the
was
Chinese war, with which he said Sir John Bowring
-,:48 acquainted, and contended that a recurrence of hostility
might have been avoided, bad the conduct of the govern-
otent shown discretion, judgment, and forbearance. It was
.1 au slender grounds that Sir J. Bowring should have
risked another war, and yet he considered that no insult
had been offered to the British flag, though that was the
t
,t°4lcl upon which operations against Canton were co
m
"'-
sheet'.
arl Granville replied to the arguments of the Earl of
nehborough, contending that it was the duty of the Bri-
tish authorities in consequence of a refusal of the Chinese
t
' tla. alto reparation to revenge the insult offered to the
41811 flag, by hauling it down, which, he contended, it
"as Proved had bEen done.
The Bishop of Oxford condemned the conduct of Sir J.
' tnng as inhuman, and supported the resolution.
4-heir lordships then divided. The numbers were—
ntitaata, for the resolution, present, 53 ; proxies, 57 ;
76" a-contents, against the resolution, present, 71, proxies,
Majority against, 36.
1,
house adjourned at half-past twelve.

110 USE OF COMMONS—THCIRSDAY.
tae Speaker took the chair at four o'clock.

kr. b NEW MEMBER.
...tebow took the oaths and his seat for Colchester.

PRIVATE BUSINESS.
T
nrci he following private bill was read a second time and
ail
$ l'eci to be committed :—Mid Kent and South Kent
way.

THB CHINA WAR.
li:letitions were presented from Southampton, Carlisle,
the ' Darlington, Sheffield, and other places, condemning
tee4llar with China, and ca on the 11: Sir J. Bowring and Mr.lling Consul ParkesG overnment to

TOBACCO SMUGGLING.
+ll6 „ G. Langton moved for a return of the several
1: r 44 Made, and of the prosecutions for breach of the
451:elating to tobacco, between the sth day of January,
tho°2 and the sth day of January, 1857, distinguishing
the 4 in Great Britain from those in Ireland ; specifying
or frs'-'s where and the names of the persons prosecuted,
itiaci:Di Whom the seizures were made; the Quantities and
eyli. 'lf goods seized ; the precise nature of the offences
the or for which the seizures were made ; the results of
atninations of the goods by analysis or otherwise
preened seized for adulteration; whether and what judicial
Proledings Were taken in each case ; the result of such
Dsici-elings, whether convicted or otherwise; amount of fine
or imprisonment suffered ; whether the goods seized

were condemned or restored (in continuation of Parliaments
tart' Paper No. 429 of session 1854-5).
Agreed to.

NEWSPAPER STAMPS.

Mr. M. Gibson moved for returns of the number of
newspaper stamps at Id issued to newspapers in England,
Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, from the Ist day of July,
1855, to the Ist day of July, 1856; and of the halfpenny
stamps issued as above, during the same period (in continu-
ation of parliamentary paper No. 438 of session 1854-5 i
Agreed to.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT (sCOTLAND).

Mr. W. E wart gave notice that on this day fortnight he
should move to introduce a bill to abolish the law enacting
or prescribing capital punishment in Sctland, to the same
extent as it has been abolished by the law of England.

DECIMAL C)INA GE.

Mr. Beamish asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the
date of the Royal Commission to enquire into the expe-
diency of adopting a decimal coinats.:, the number of
sittings the commissioners harl had, what progress they had
made, and when.a report zaight be expected Irons them ?
The Chancellor of the Exchequer said that the date of
the commission xv"As October, 1355. The commissioners
had held ei',7;uteen sittings ; and with regard to their pro-
gre?";he read a communication from Lords Monteagle and
Overstone, stating what they had done, and that they hoped
shortly to make a parliamentary report. Several important
points were still to be considered, and it was impossible to
state when they would conclude taking evidence.