The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-02 00:00:00

wards Harwich ? He had stated-tbat if the Hon. and Gal-
fAnt Meinb.,r succeeded in his- Metien, he would make a
similar motion respecting the borough ef Leicester; Mit the
11, n., Measlier for that borough -assured hint that• mu, brihery
took plaee thelast election, and. he.„bsdieved hitn: None
took pl tee at the, leet,eleetion. for Harwich ; and if they did
not beat upjestly, upon
.Ilarwicli,, would not make his
motiOn'respeCting'Leicester. - ,
Mr. CLAY said it niattereciligtle to him whetherthe car!,
repaint af Harwleh'ifas Vetirnoted'hy t` le Government,or by any He' belied for the credit ofall admi-
nistratioits thattbefiwouldpinin putting to such
disgraceful,doihgs-.; lo a matter 'Of' this,kind notoriety
All they. -required to, induce them to •act.' He had it
on the authority of a gentleman' intitnately 9 acquainted'
with •the,plage,,that ia. ,18 41 two m ens -Sather and son, re-•
;calved between tbem,l,ooo,l. 'They bought large barges with
the money, and were. vodacioul enough to name one of them
The Aftwciod. The . other did not:know the ;name . of,
but it ihight'heThellitreper, other cases.voters_were
.made -so `they never got sober agaie,.. bat: died
drunk.' '-He believed that' igsilingUantriiSaions
into boroughs,-Where it -was' belii.Ged that bribery bad been
practised; would sid more good' to promote purity of election
than -anarthing,they had eons to effect that object during *tno
last nenturva.,,,' - • ~.,
Alt•-,134Q441-IAW obaervedahat what.,ibe bad said 'were his
:gertuine,certriptions, aedtboughtlie Heti: and Aiallant (,}en
tleminhad raised a lapels', at his,expense, bie,werda;would be•
found-to 'he true. ''Xbe best course which the House could,
_pursue would be toti,S'ree the writ for' Harwich at the next
•general 'election,: arid let the borough be
,tried by its conduct
Ittiviedestitiieney'-WereWite people they.WouldknoW
how to .aets s.',(Loberianghter,) •' . •
• Mr. Secretary -W ALPOLE opposed'-•the'-Motion.' 'Whet
was asked for was, that, the Rouse 'Aliettlet issue a Commis=
Sion, with enernioue andurlconstitutional powers, which in
many respects, would;,supersede the law ,of the land:—
( Hear, heap) Such a, Commission', hathought, ought never
to begranted'excea in Ow case of; corruption, recently,
and lf thu.pgreed to the
motion the 'tvoald.-give to a majority of that a power
to deal with horoughi and-COunties- that 'night be opposed
to their' vast-a, to whieli be could never consent.--(Cheers.)
:The ItutheritieS upon which this .ease tested -Were these- of
Sudbury-and St. Albans, but be beggedthe HMSO to bear
in mind how greatly, both these, precedents differed from
the case before therm In Sudbury the.' bribery was so
great that, out of the .276 electors who Polled, for Mr.
Dyce- Sombre, no .fewer -than 20, were s.proved to. have,
been britted4 and the. commissioners, reported that they
believed the bribery must, have, been carried to ,a much
greater extent, 'because, at the rate of 7i.
.' per head, that
.would not have'.acconnted for the %OWL' which had been
sent to • the borough for the purpose ' 'of Corrupting the
'voters.. The case of St. Albans was still stronger. &cord-
ing to Mr. Coppock to bribe or to "bleed* was the general
practice; and Alderman Carden,sard the political opinions of
ittost,ef-the constituents :were breethee:pockets.-s-;
(Laughter.).,-: The Commissioners in this case also •reported
.that.the, practice was .not occasional; or:partialf but ,gensral
and . Systematic, . 704, of ..,20b.,.votera who. polled for one
:of the candidate's, only 30 were supposed td,hava.been
bribed; and out of 276 who bad voted on .the other, side,-
186 were, 'Clearly bribed. • sln both .ciaaes; there, was thus
-shown to be universal cOrruption,,,Ahd it: was , proved to hive
occurred 'at'ilreeleCtiOn Whicit had just taken pled.; but in
the case of 'Harwich, 'the' Honourable and Gallant Member
had gone' backsis farAs 18.42;•And had' only come down `as
late as 1847 or 1848. There- might'haver been bribery-in
• both cases, but . then,there was, bribery at Leicester, in the
case of which theAmmitteereperted that the system carried
on had been sloth, as to. demand the attention of the House.:
But would it be just and. air. to the lion. Members for Lei-
cester, because bribety ad.been, proved in 1847, to issue . a
commission' with enormous and unconstitutional powers„ and
then to dispbasess thent of their Seats, and diarratichise the,
• borongh7. Where bribery bad taken plaCe' it ought imnie-
diately to'be inquired' into; but in the case of Harwich, two
elections-_ bad -occurred since '1847, on both of Which peti-
tions had been issued, thefirstsor which alleged only it*ant-
of qualification, and; the second only intimidation.- (Hear,
hear) He wanted to „know.! then on what principle they
could issue a.commiesion to ,inquire into this case, without
also inquiring into all ,-other places where. am Gentlemen
could get, up and say that notorious bribery bad been
practised.( Hear, bear.) The (hay -of the House was to
protect the' minority-(Laughter)--and, theretere, he pro-
t6ted against -st Courais which .might lead to the results
which hebadolready pointed out.—(Hear, heir.) Besides;
there.was ale() thistnomaly. They had 'diSfranchised one
borough' (St Alban's), of which the Hon.' Member still kept
hie seat ;sand now they ',were asking for a parliamentary in-
quiry into another, where no,-corrupt practices had been
preyed., They
.were keeping, open. that seat for more than
12 months; ..but surely the inhabitants of that town were as
-much entitled to hare a representative in the House .as
.Any
other, 'btorongh.-,:-(flear' hear.) Ile considered,- first, that
they Wire not entitled at all to institute an inquiry. into
any alleged corrupt practices,' unleas such Corruption were
recent; and, secondly, that such inquiries ought to be pro-
ceeded.with immediately; otherwise they might deprive the
country:for one or two years of its proper number of repre;
seurative!..—<Hear, hear.) -In the present case; however, as
the seat had been kept open 12 mouths ,and as a general
'election was se near at band-,(Cheers)—he did not think it
would, he •right•to.Move for :a new-writ..—(Hear,,hear.).
thoupht that the case of fit. Albans was bad
enough;without making any ..worse
:WOrse ;than. it Was.-7"
CLOgiit.o:l-. lie thought it Was vary, severe to eiaggerate
the arnoun ,of COrruptiori„ ACcordiOg to the figures.of
the Coniniiisiohere'report, there were 200 voters against.
whom there' was' no- allegation of bribery or eiirriiptiort; and
therefore the corrtiptionstas'nehiniVersal. ..'With respect to
the present motion he was in a SeineWhat-difficelt Position.
If he voted for the proposed Bill: he should vote in opposi-
tion to the argument he had used-in favour of St. Albans—
(Laughter),-and if he voted against it he should be appa-
rently voting in favour of corruption.—(Laughter. )
Mr. M. J. O'CO&NELL objected to the animadversions
which the Hon. Member (Mr. Clay) had cast upon the
Election Committee. He (Mr. O'Connell) had sat upon
two Committees, in both of which the Members were un-
seated—in one f them (the Lincoln case) upon the very
smallest possible amount of evidence that could be considered
sufficient. Of course they were bound to see that the case
was proved according to the law of the land.—(Hear.)
Mr. CLAY had certainly no intention to censure the Com-
mittee, but he did think that they were not the best tribunals
for sitting evidenCe, as he thought had been confessed by the
issuing of commissions.—(Hear.)
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE protested against the idea that the
supposed approach of a general election was any reason why
a new writ should not be issued. The reason why it had not
been moved .for, in this case was, because the inquiry had been
pending. How would the evidence of -Mr. Coppock have
been obtained but for the St. Albans Commission ; and if the
CommiSsion now asked for were issued. no doubt they would
be able to get the eiridehce of Mr. Attwood, which Would in-'
dnee the-lions° to pass -a 13111 for the disfranehisentent of
Harwich. At 'Albevents; if the Commission-did not isiae,'he
(Mr. Dunconahe), should certainly-
~move for' the new writ,
because be thought aninjastice Would be done,.. if they any
longer sespentled,.it.39 a-Nery immaculate and holiest bo-
rinigb.—(Linghter.)
Mr..WAL.POLE explained. that under the circumstances
he SliOald riet:reOVe:fot the writ, hiiiiself.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. BANKES , explained that the petition to the House,
alleging that three, of the: tivevoters who constituted, the
majority at the.laStiLlarwiCh eleetionhad been .intimidated
by the late -Gevernineat, had been placed in his hands by
persons whom be believed to be respectable; but he bad no
further lb( erest iii the matter Whatever. At the beginning
of the Present session there had been no petition praying for
a renewal of the inquiry, ,and therefore, although the same
GOviirnment, viss.tlien. ,in office, he had not thought it his
0
duty. to press the subject. was qiiite true that he , had
moved, for a Comniitiee,_but that was a very different thing
from A`.."CorniniSsiop.. ,(Hear, , hear,.) . With, regard to. the
case. of St. Albans,' there had been a technical -difficulty as
to the adjoininneet el the CoMmittee, and that, had vitiated
their WhdleproCeedings. Sitar was he from
wisbiogtostretch
the power of the Constituti66, -that be,had voted againc that
Commission, thinkitg-that, its puly.ers,should be intrusted to
MeMbetsOf that Hpuse;'' and, ho Wished they,. had been so.
The Honse Would bave Stood higher, hail that inquiry been con-
chided by its members.. That Cominission hind Shaken their
jurisdiction,, and had tended to invalidate. the decisions of
theirCorninittees.
.At present he saw no ground for the pro-
posed" Conte:fission, : Had :acorainittee been proposed sup-
tortei by sects a petition as he ,had presented,: he would
haVe voted Tor it. lf thalloa. Member for Finsbury would
move the iarsue of the writ for Harwich, he would vote
with him. •
Mr. D.EEDES said -.he had Acted as chairman .of the
second Harwich. Election. Coinulittee.. No evidence-as to
bribery was laid he ore them,. nor was Any conclusion come
to on that; subject.',, , The Committee's decision was founded
entirely ona point of law' as to whether the poll was kept
open, the time-whether:proper.. it had, been interrupted by
improper Vivienca.rand whether the returning officer had
taken the steps, he Ought to haVe taken. Tbe.„Cominittee
thoughtbe had not done 50,., and consequently deemed it a
Void election.: It had .been said, if, the borough was so inn-
maculate maculite silould it:Object to an 'inquiry? That might
be made an Argturient (or a Comthission :in any:., case where
there wand coniplaint Whatever.,..lle,could not help thinks
ing that. Hitrivich.was rather hardly dealt with, and . he saw
no reason why a writ should not issue., It was altogether an
unfair Proceeding._ • • - •
_
Sir.DZLACY ANS;ia reply, said he-was:not aware
that the minorityhed any such peculiar;; claims to:consider-
ation as had been urged by the :Home Secretary; be had
always.,und,erstood. that the
of
decided-everything.
Ede justified. the appointment of the Commission by reference
to the .casd,of.St. Albans, and contended that great benefit
had resulted iberefroin„ • „ , .
, Mr. ROElWCKihought the proposal. for, a Commission
came rather toe late. •The inquiry• at St. Albans had beea
institnted-titerely to enable,: the, House to arrive at the facts;
and npen•these fade the Bill brought in by the Noble Lord
(Russell), and , taken up by 'thee present Government was
founded. 'lie could,llet vote favour of this Commission;
and he thought they ought not ito, allow: that night to nasa
without iPsulng the.writ. ..liewould have voted, forthis mo-
tion..l4'A been -made a year ago. Now, the best -.thing
they could do . was to let. Harwich have another trial to
save itself from conZienination. He had.no doubt it was a
corrupt place a year ago; but the metiontame too late.
,T. he House thendivided- when there:appeared,— • • •
the,motien, . . •95 •
Against ... . . .. . ... -137
jority,against
Mr. kir. I'...IUIsTCoMBE alit had been decided :that
.
,no inquiry shonidtaka place, the House had no right to dis-
franchise_thS borough,,eitherfor a week, for two weeks; or
a 14411tb-,•slfe, ;therefore- moved, that the Speaker ;should'
iSsue.his-WaKrant to 'the clerkef the crown, directing,a..writ
to issue,tot..the .horough 'of klarwich, the room of •Mre
Crawford. +. , - . . • •
Mi. Bigql-1%34 i4-tbis motion seemed to follow somewhat-
,natUrAllY. -from the, course - taken by the Government, but
there wastte-iarscsesity that it should fellow so' immediately.
A fornieratteMpt had been tnade to move this writ, and the
%Anus had thonghtthats.it should be suspendedforsome time
J9ngers,fins. some. cause not. very- clearly explained; but there
4a understanding that notice should be given-before the
g.flL.Waa moved..; After adebate which was not supposed to
c0vu43,47. :spacial reference to the motion, and after the pre-
to put it oft': tidal-tee tia
that thatiae"*4: 'aP4
-luederstanding, it would•not •be fair
suadeilliesms %ion abouldise 'consented to Considering the
left twstlo9flle Propesir ion, end that many Members bad
holidays lie rhoved.
lion wourci-T,4 riagrlß idea whatever that any such mo-
deternaint7toca•read'
acid notice giv aAil!edi he
-hoped lt,would be withdrawn,
a future day... It would .be better
- Qf it for
Ment,. that the debateas an amend-
Sir. DE L. EvAN,sBB4inQuis.l beadjourned.
aecussary
and i another .most.unfortunate
__.....conded Abe amendment. ••
ssist that was .
Haase Would-.not
noht
aveceaeZgerinevery
to him that the
improper interference of the
ti3listaitnua4nchc,Ge6sen9teftrlteshriato:niotip.epsoeite., it
_ to the ;dicta-
, cur in the moth, • oh, • oh, :and laugh t;:.r) or om n ustymade..
•.. frir,,./30n-tERTO hoped the made„'
not act,
ttfohinng.o..f ';,ll,l!;..bb°roPeedel.thriertuned,.
yin
'OPpoSition te; the, understanding .t nt.
7.3 to issue
Mr. IiEWDEGA.TE :said that the, liberal
Without .due potice.—
Party having
Stist jOinetk in en, unpopular tvote as•far as Harwich ~was con,.
(Hear, hear.)
'corned, tbe.i Menshet far YiusburY 494" moved that. the
writ do lasue„A•lthough he•bad just now declared that it was
net fit to, retltth I)fember.-41.1ear, beer.), Theson. Man-
i* ielkag- kimils*TforS ,*XIII alga