The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-26 00:00:00

Til E

teretion to revise or review the whole question. If it should
o be the province of the Noble Lord to revise the ques-
ti,n n, he (Sir J. Walmsley ) would recommend him to take
!te his serious consideration that part ot Parliamentary re
form which he had left out of his Bill—a part which, in his
(Sir J. Walinslee's) opinion, was most important, as any
loe asure that did not include the protection of the ballot
va
tildr as far as he could judge, be lightly esteemed by the
rrPle of this country. His first objection to the measire
n the Noble Lord was founded on the disparity between
tihe
borough and the county franchise. No gonad reason
_l4Cla been alleged, nor did he think that any could
he:lleged, why the franchise should be 51. in a borough and
tofi in a catanty, and unless Hon. Gentlemen were disposed
admit !last he inhabitants of rural districts were less qua-
il:llos die exercise of political rights than t hose of ghs,
rit(l trust that they would press forward for an equal boroumea-
d' su of justice for the agricultural as for the manufacturing
2etricts. The proposition to enfranchise by means of the
‘us. direct taxation appeared to him to be a step in the right
'directions Inasmuch as it recognised taxation to be the basis
tf,representation—(Hear, hear)—and he trusted that that
frmsciple would be further carried out. But he could not
colt upon another eortion of the Bill with the same favour-
tole view. He conceived that the retention of the rate-
tial'ing clause for the qualification of the voter was an un-
tigated evil, and he thought that the House would allow
lat such a measure as the ratepaying clause had been a
fruitful source of litigation, chicanery, and fraud, and
that it had been an unnecessary restriction to the right of
bottnE—(Hear, hear.) It might not be necessary to
increase the number of Members for large towns,
eat he could not conceive how the Noble Lord
could justify the retention of two Members to a small
and insignificant borough, while he refused a Member to
lame
populous, and important districts. Another feature
O, !that Bill to which he (Sir J. Walmsley) objected was,
...hat it did not remove nominati ‘n boroughs, which were a
eying evil.—( Hear, hear.) In his opinion, the interes sof
agriculture, commerce, and manufactures were identical, and
11Pon this broad view of the question ought the electoral
Power to be based. He had referred on a former occasion to
the numerous demands which had been made by the people
at various periods for enfranchisement. and he had pointed
^set the acknowledged loyalty and intelligence of the en-
franchised classes as evidences of their fitness for the exercise
Of political rights. He had also advertel
the to
eo the patience
and forbearance which had been shown by
pple under
slrhat he conceived to be very unnecessary and unjust
nutmeat, and subsequent thought had convinced him
. that reason united with justice in demanding a recon-
struction- of the electoral system. So far from perceiving
any cause for apprehension in extending the basis of the
representation, he was persuaded that that was the only
course by which they could remove the existing causes of
'discontent, and the enly means by which any Government
could ever obtain the full confidence of the eeople.—(Hear,
hear.) Twenty years had elapsed since the Reform Bill
was introduced, and, with all its defects, there could be no
doubt of the satisfactory results of that measure, which
removed many flagrant abuses. While, however, he
Italy acknowledged the benefits of that Bill, he could no
!drat bbrlbyea -to its defects. The ovile of the nominsitien
laistsugris were `CF.
that fifty-six rotten boroughs were placed in Schedule A,
tut nearly an equal number were retained as a sop to the
, 'oligarchical party; and, altogether the Reform Bill of 1832
was one of the most aristocratic measures offered to the
_nation. The effects of the Chandos clause, in involving
the occupiers of the soil in a political serfdom, were fore-
told. There were 350,000 houses in England and Wales
. alone, -whose occupants, although assessed at between
10e and 501. annual value, were totally excluded from
• . any share in the representation. Surely, then, they might
fairly ask for a revision of the system which twenty years'
experience had shown to be so ineffective for its declare
the
d
object. Within the last twenty years the population of
country bad considerably increased, its commerce had ex-
handed, popular intelligence had been more widely
in diffus
broead
d,
and our national literature had progressed. But,
contrast with all this, there had been no advance and no
• improvement in our representative institutions Five-sixths
ef the adult male population of these realms continued to be
excluded from all voice either in framing the laws they had
to obey or in the distribution of the funds of which they had
• to contribute so large a proportion. A paper was laid upon
. the table of the House two sessions ago, stating the number
of electors in the United Kingdom to be 1,050,107 ; being 1
in 30 of the population, or lin of the adult males. That
'e gave an average of 1,60 e votes to each of the 656 Mem-
bers of that House—he said votes rather than electors,
• because many electors had a plurality of votes un-
der different qualifications, and it was supposed that
the total number of electors did uot exceed three-quarters of
a million. Thus upwards ot six millions of the adult male
Population by the existing system were kept
without the pale
of of the Constitution ; and there was a grievous and unj
monopoly of electoral power in the exclusive hands of a
comparatively small minority of the nation. He had said
•• that the total number of the electors would give an aver-
, age of 1,600 to each member of that House; but the real
fact was that 329 Members, or a clear majorsty
ri, only
represented 430 electors each, whilst heoy re-
. presented 2,729 electors each. Calne with 159 electors
had the same power as Stockport, with 2,400 ; and
18,0 4) Man-
chester with 12,000 electors, or Marylebone with ,
had no more weight in that House he
than Ttford with
210 electors, or Knaresborough with 230. These facts suffi-
ciently demonstrated the way in which the influence of the
larger boroughs could be neutralise marshalling
that
the
power of the smaller ones against themd by.
He
our representative system had made no advance, but he
believed it bad actually retrograded; 184 of our constituen-
cies had a less number of electors now than they had at
former periods. If he were told that the gross number of
electors had increased, he wonld reply that the increase had
taken place in counties where extraordinary exertions had
been made for special objects, and in the boroughs which
were included in those counties; and that the register for
the English counties showed a decrease of 13,600 electors in
the year 1840-50, as compared with the numbers in 1+46-7.
It was said that electoral power ought not to be based on
• mere numbers; but in truth at present it was neither based
on numbers nor on property, nor on numbers and property
-• combined ; and indeed he could not tell upon what it was
based. The ntatistics given by Mr. Alexander Mackay, in
his pamphlet on Parliaments ry Reform, and which he had
never heard controverted, showed that in the year 1811 the
total amount of the poor-rate assessment of the country was
' 85 millions; and of that sum be stated that 7 millions were
• represented in that House by 329 Members, and the remain-
ing 78 millions by 329 Members. What was the practical
tendency of such a system? To render that House subser-
vient to the territorial aristocracy, and, instead of a
on of
real
representation of the people, to make it a representat
the peerage, the army, the navy, the Church, and the Go-
vernment. The taxation of the country was levied unequally,
and tended to restrict the expansion of trade and commerce.
'Wherever a barren rock was to be found among our colonial
possessions, a governor, lieutenant-governor, and a costly
staff of useless officials were saddled upon the public purse;
pensions and sinecures were distributed with an unsparing
hand ; and a system of Church patronage was administered,
as injurious, he believed, to religion as it was offensive to
the consciences of a large portion of the people. To remedy
these evils—moral, political, and financial—hie Honourable
Friend (Mr. Hume) had brought forward this measure of
Parliamentary Reform; and, believing it to be safe, practi-
cable, and constitutional, he should give the motion his
humble but earnest support. There might be those who ap-
prehended dangers and. difficulties from a measure which
sought to add five or six millions of the adult male popula-
tion to the electoral registry of the 'United Kingdom ; bit
for his part he saw no such dangers, nor apprehended any
such difficulties. There was indeed a danger; but it arose
from a very different source—from the refusal to do justice
to men who not only knew their rights, but knew their
power to enforce them. The present motion only aimed at
correcting abuses which time and a vicious system had pro- I
duced ; and the present period of comparative pros•
perity and domestic tranquillity appeared to him emiueutly
calculatd for the calm consideration and settlement
of thise important question. The only sounds that they
now heard of the injustice under which the pet pie
laboured, or believed they laboured, were those of calm re-
monstrance and enlightened reason ; but none might venture
to predict how long such a favourable state of things might
continue. The burdens which the people now bore might
soon become insupportable ; the evils that they now endured
might ere long assume an erepect which might drive the
masses to desperation, and they might approach that House
in a temper which alt must deprecate but none would be able
to resist. Should such a time ever arise— which he prayed
the wisdom of that House to avert—then they would see
when too late the political folly of treating with contumely
the just demand of millions of their fellow-subjects. By
' timely concession to that just demand
of hey, content would stren
becausethe
• the taxes would then be imposed,
the concurrence and consent of all.
M. H. DRUMMOND said the excuse urged by the two
Hon. Gentlemen who had preceded him for bringing forward
the present question was that the country was in A state of
comparative tranquillity. Hon. Gentlemen were anxious to
send the Members of that House back to their constituents,
. . and yet theycOcupied'a whole night in discussing a measure
which could not possibly be passed. No less than six gentle-
men bad brought forward measures for irop-oving the repre-
sentation, but he trusted, coming in that shape, the Govern-
. re, it would not fall into the error that had been committe i d
• by its predecessors. but that they would.at once repudiate t.
The present measure differed from—all -otherri that it con-
- tarried no principl.e. The Noble Lord in his Bill connected
- s the right of voting with a beneficial interest of 101. ; but
there was no more connexion between the right of voting
• . and 107. than there Was between the right of voting and 9/.
ho Withlaid
thisregarddown to
atsh the e
rule,xer-
19s. 6d. The system was altogether absurd, and the mea•
_ sure contained no real principle.
cise of the elective franchise,
and as the only essential rule, that the exercise
of the franchise should be co-exte
all
would include nsive with di.
rect service to the State. He
those classes whose pockets the Chancellor of the Exchequer
could reach, all those whom the rate-collector called upon—
and he would go further and say where a man was too poor
to tempt the rate-collector or the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer. it he had rendered service to the state—as, for instance,
a soldier after his discharge, or a militia-man, he should say
he was entitled to exercise the right of voting.— (Hear.)
One point had had an adventitious importance conferred
upon it, although it had really nothing to do with the ques-
tion—he meant the ballot. What could it possibly signify
to them how the electors voted, whether secretly or openly,
whether standing upon one leg, or upon both?—(A. laugh.)
It seemed to him that that was a question that might be
fairly left to the constituents. He had himself special rea-
sons for preferring the vote by ballot, but he would not
now enter upon that question. t But they must bear in
mind that when they added to the electors, as was pro-
posed by the present measure, they did not add a similar
to a similar thing. It was not the mere addition of electors
of the same kind, but electors of a very different kind.
He would give an illustration of what he meant. He
would take the case of the savings banks. He found by
a return which he held in his hand that out of 1,000,00
contributoro in the savings banks there were only 2,000 who
possessed 200/. and upwards,
while there were no less than
677,000 who possessed less than 201. Let them take that as
a guide or an illustration. In point of fact, whet, they had
extended the franchise as far as they proposed they would
represent the poverty of the country, and the wealth would
not be fairly represented, but actually overborne. He had
beard other Hon. Members talk of education as the basis
of representation, but be could not see any conthenexio ec bee
e-
, tween reading, writing, and arithmetic, and el
' franchise. The 'argument, however, showed that they had
considered the danger of extending the franchise, and try-
ing, by indirect means, to correct the evil. Much bad been
said of the good old times and of the practice ot the Con-
stitution—the practice of that House formerly was that no
one should sit in it unless he possessed a certain amount
in land. Land was formerly the only means of possessing
Now,
property—trade being confined to the Jews,
and after-
wards to the Lombards and the Flemings.
however, things were totally changed—the essential was
property, the accident was land. When the Honour-
able Gentleman brought forward a measure to do awaents
y
with the property qualification one of his argum
was that that House did not regard the sanctity of their
oaths. That was, he thought, a bad system.—(Hear, hear.)
They encouraged the violation of oaths—they encouraged
uries to break their oaths, and to find men not guilty be-
.o , .
~1210 iheY dinaPpreyed of their offences being visited with

capital punishment. If they did not wish to have Hon. ;
Members violate their oaths, let them appoint a Commission
such as had been appointed in the case of the St. Alban's
election. If they had a standing Commission he thought
they Would soon find out what Gentlemen were without the
necessary property qualification. Let there be a good
Chancery lawyer and a good common-law lawyer on the
Commission, and he was bound to say that would make the '
Cominission effective. If they hail not that equality of pro- 1
pery they would have equality of power, and that was as
good. Where there were two animals, one of whom had got
something which the other had not, they might depend upon
it there would be a battle.-(A laugh.) If there were two
men, the one rich and the other poor, unless the rich man had
something to deteed him which the other had not, there
would be free trade between them pretty quickly.--(A laugh.)
They must combine priperty and power together, for civi-
lised society was constituted on the principle of preserving
acquired property. -What they were to provide against
was not peaceable times. A ;pip was worth nothing that
could only sa lin smooth water They must have a consti-
tution that would stand the storms. There always had
been. and there ever would be, times when masses of
starving people were to be found, and they might depend
on it the severest moral anguish any man could endure
was seeing his children starving and himself willing to work
and unable to obtain it. They might rest assured that the
sufferings of Ugolino would not be less keen if inflicted by
a constitutional government term by a Florentine despot.
The interests of the landed and the other classes were amal-
gamating every day. Fur his part he desired to see the
great estates and properties subdivided, and the number of
small proprietors increased There was inherent in the
nature of things something more permanent in land than
in manufactures. Take the case of a labourer-no m tter
whether he earned five shillings or five guineas a week,
he had no regard for anything beyond the ea of
the week-he eat and he drank the whole of it,
and there was an end of the matter.-(Laughter.)
The manufacturers only looked to their temporary profit;
but landed proprietors tooked to the permanent value of
their property, and were continually laying out something to
make that value greater-(Hear, hear, and " Oh," from the
Opposition )- though no doubt there were exceptions -( Hear
and a laugh, from the Opposition.) There was, at all events,
this advantage attached to the se stem of rotten boroughs,
that: they facilitated the return of persons to that House
when it was advantageous to have them.-(Hear, hear.)
The Noble Lord lately at the head of the Government had
recently been reproached with the basis of his Administra-
tion, and with some truth. But until Hon. Members had to
form a Government they would not know the difficulty of
doing so, for it was not enough to find the best man for an
office, but whether some "enlightened" constituency did
not prefer some empty chatterer.- (Hear, and a laugh) He
however did not want them to recur to the " rotten
borough" system, but to suggest that if Ministers, as the
servants of the public, were expected to come ex officio to
that House whenever they were required (whether they had
seats in or not), in order to be interrogated, all the advan-
tages of the rotten borough system would be reaped without
the disadyantageS. Governments would be emancipated,
and the fop:neaten. of adnalvistratjone
con-
-li,, cv ct, WI towar processionl,l-11.0.
former, be sh uld like to reform the House of Lords-(Hear,
hear, from the Liberals)-which he deemed the weakest part
of the constitution, and the one which required the most
attention.-(Hear.) The power of this House had increased,
was increasing, and ought to be ditninished-(Hear, hear)-
and he e anted to strengthen the Lords to withstand i
(Hear.) He particularly wished to put an end to voting be
proxy.-(Hear.) Then, again, he thought that no nobleman
should have hereditary right to the peerage unless they bad
the means of supporting its dignity, for there could not be
a greater misfortune in a country than a pauper nobility.-
(Hear.) At the same time the Crown ought to have the
power of creating peers for life, in order to raise to the
Upper House man who were likely to be useful there,
although they might not have the means of transmitting the
income necessary tor the maintenance of the dignity.
Sir P. WOOD said if the Chancellor of the Exchequer
had adopted the suggestion thrown out by the Noble Lard
(Lord J Russell) of availing himself of Thursday nights
for the purpose of carrying on the business of the Govern-
ment - that night would not have been consumed with this
discussion, than which, however (if the House were not to
be engaged upon the supplies) he could scarcely conceive of
any more important. Now, he contended that they were
called upon to ewer into the discussion by the declaration
which had been delivered by the Noble Earl (Earl Derby) in
another place, that the principle of his Government would
be to oppose a barrier to the power of demagogues, and
upheld the Monarchy against the democracy. Now what did
the Noble Lord mean by that? What did be mean by so
contrasting the principles of his Government with those of
the Government he had succeeded ? Had the late Govern_
ment at all adv.nced democraey in a bad sense? In a bad
sese
it msant insurrection. And there certainly had been
two feeble attempts at insurrection in the country during
the late Administration- one in Ireland under ell. S.
O'Brien, and the other in England under-he would not
say whoin.-(A laugh,) And both attempts had been put
down, one by the energy of Lord Clarendon, the other by
the vigilance of the late Home Secretary, sustained by the
good sense and good feeling of large masses of the people.
Democracy was a vague word, like " protection." - (Liberal
cheers.) It might mean total exclusion of the monar-
chical-element of the Constitution, or it might mean merely
justice to the people. Now on the continent there were
two classes of governments-omitting cases of military
occupation, which he did not call governments at all-in
which these opposing principles were illustrated. In one
class -in which was developed the here-
high baonarchical
an or des-
potic prirciple-in Austria or Russia, for instance,
ditary sovereign, invested with an imaginary perfec.ion,
carried on the Government with such small counsel as
he chose to call to his assistance, with what was con-
ceived to be a fostering and paternal hand, providing
for the happiness of his people, who had nothing to do
with the Goeernment but to obey, and were not allowed
to think for themselves, lest they should discover the
imposture and exercise their power-the policy pursued
by the Governments of this class being that which war
sor
expressed in a single sentence once spoken by the Emper
Francis-" I do not want learned men, but good subjects,"
and any little unpleasantness that might arise being sup-
pressed by military force. In the other class of Govern-
ments, to which our own belonged, there was an her
aned uippertary
sovereign, with a representative assembly and
chamber, composed of persons, from their position, educa-
tion, and property, best suited for that dignity and the
bulk of the people, instead of being prevented from thinking
or acting for themselves, were encouraged and trained to
do so by the municipal and parochial systems on which they
had to regulate their local affairs; and thus they were edu-
cated for the more important duty of choosing those who
should represent them in the Legislature. Now, the princi-
ple of the former of these chives of governments he consi-
dered the principle of fear; that of the latter confidence.-
(Cheers trot the Liberals.) And on the principle of confi-
dence in the people he advocated the enlargement of the
franchise. He believed that it would be found soon by all
nations that there was no basis on which Governments
could rest except that of confidence in the peeple.-
(Hear, hear.) Not merely in their affections, which
might be influenced by passions and impulses, but in their
political education-their power of thinking and acting
and judging for themselves. and their appreciation of those
high moral and intellectual qualifications which ought to
fit a man for taking a part in the government of he nation.
Now, did the Noble Lord (Derby) mean to depart from this
principle, or to maintain that it ought not to be extended ?
Were we to have that most monstrous form of government-
an oligarchidel de.: ooracy, under which one uaillien out of
five millions of.men alone had votes? Such ase stem would
show a total want of confidence in the people ; and no Go-
vernment. could stand many months which should commit
the most fatal error committed by one of the greatest men
who ever held power-that of declaring himself against a re-
form of the representation of the people. Our whole career
was one of progress ; and were we to stand etall here, and
here alone? The Hon. Member for Surrey said the sup-
porters of extension of the suffrage were obliged to admit
that there was danger in it, and that the only resource was
in the good disposition of the people. But were
he Constitution people
than
move dangerous within the pale of t
without it? Now,' the Honourable Gentlemen's illus
tration of the starving animals would have been more
applicable some years ago, before reform or repeal
of the corn laws, as jaBg47, the
whdeins as
bt rroeuasd sucearwci tteo.
be of
1817, or more recently
in
had' for sd. was sold for lid. ; and when he was able
to tell the people "It is the hand of God, and you muer
bear it patiently," which he could not have
the ball said had the
all cornhe
-
laws not been repealed. With regard to ot,
need Sag was that his constituents wanted it, and that he
lhtfwtahses orme
pertei
sme s.
shaaidd vtontetdhnfeoer
with,
oanedupsphnorutledd
the soe
x
atg
eansnion
tative system, ".Look at France!" He had looked at France,
and considered that the lesson to be derived from the cala-
mities of that country was to avoid the errors which had oc-
casioned them. Up to the revolution of 1766 the Govern-
ment of France had :been of the despotic or paternal chruc-
' a
racter be had described the people had no political inst
tion fitting themfor the functions o' government, or the ex-
ercise of the franchise; the nobility were exempted from tax-
ation under which the masses of the community were op-
pressed; and there arose at last a tremendous insurrection,
since which the country had bee Pin a constant state of con-
fusion. Eyen under Louis Philpe the principle of confie
dense in the people had not been acted upon ; the country
was ruled from Paris by orders sent down to 'the
prefects. Under the last portentous revolution; which had
placed the President on-he was going to say his
throne - there was to be general voting or universal
suffrage; there had not been a single public meeting held.
Conceive of such a change in this country with'out a public
eeting to consider it. The fact was, however, the people ot
m
France had not been taught how to exercise
toolitical power,
and had never known what it was to bow a majority-
(Hear, hear)-46 that a minorHear,ithear,y fou
and laughter.) This,
nd no better resource
than taking up_ arms.--(
theenewas the example pointe Molt n order to deter us fro
to
m
extending .thy. franchise ! W, t was rather a warning
us to do so. It proved how unsafe it was to attempt to ex-
clude large classes of people from the representation. And
such recours'e-was at variance with, and likely to destroyeour.
oChtaodnstiitti,entiootn.doTnehe 'Reform 'Bill had removed gross abuses
the Constitution, and had improved its machinery ; and
so some of its moat ancient landmarks
would have been swept
away
oswon ; and bahyt
a p
was said " All is-nowg . m
the proper period to dolt et and calm. Why raise
tion of the representati Wy
n;
becauseoo
opthu elarrt Convulsion.mthat
theowu laariJust
steeafely considered.
asosrtofatal error to withhold Catholic
emancipation until the
had to confess that they did so
which conceded it
from fear of the conse-
quences of longer refusing it; a
been the result of a longer refusal of and such would have
reform.
Constitu-
tion ought to be allowed to go
on,
and expa The
itself: wherever there was life there n' and develops
mustd
Some persons had recently said they did not. desirelle progress.
constant
changes. But change was the natural result of the
action of
a living principle in a state. What changes had aocactionwitbin the last twenty years-in everything except the re-
presentative systeml The commerce of the country had
been inordinately developed-(Hear, hear),-and so had ma-
nufactures.-(Hear.) Whole towns had risen up; and to
one of ,these (Birkenhead), which had not been in existence
at the time of the Reform Bill, it was proposed by the late
Government to extend the franchise, of which St. Alban's
was to be deprived. Railways, again, had everywhere given
rise to new towns along their lines. And it was not only in
material development that changes had occurred, ut moraL
and intellectual education had greatly advanced band the
National Society, which some years ago had only 400,000
scholars, now had upwards of 1,000,000. The increase of
savings banks and mechanics' institutes led to the same con-
clusion. Why, then, was everything to progress except the
representative system? At the time of the Chartist attempt
be knew a body of workmen engaged about that House,
although they bad promised to defend it, had declined to
be sworn, not choosing, as they said, to act against their
" order"-an ominous and remarkable expression. And
what made them an "order?" Only exclusion from the
franchise.-( Hear, hear.) Give them the franchise, and they
would be transfused into the rest of the community. The
Hon. Member for Surrey had derided the 10/. or 5/• quali-
fications for voting, as having no principle in them. The
principle, however, was not in the exact sum chosen, but
in the choosing of any sum as a test; and he 40s. free-
hold test was almost as old as parliament itself. At the
same time he 'should have no objection to some of the