The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-20 00:00:00

THE DERBY ELECTION AND THE
SECRETARY-AT-WAR.

Sir A. COCKBURN was about to rise to bring under
the consideration of the house the petition of the electors
of Derby, when

The SPEAKER said he though it right to invite the
attention of the house to what he thought was an infor-
mality in this petition, and if the house should be of the
same opinion, it would not be competent for the hon.
and learned member to proceed with his motion. He
wished, in the first place to call the attention of the
house to a clause in the 11th and 12th Victoria, which
stated what should be deemed an election petition. That
clause said that every petition presented to the House of
Commons within the time from time to time allowed by
the house for receiving election petitions, complaining of
an undue election and return of any member of Parlia-
ment, or that no return had been made, and which petition
should be signed by some person who had voted, or had
a right to vote, at the election to which it related, should
be deemed an election petition. Now, this petition
began by stating "That your petitioners are electors of
the borough of Derby, and voted at the last election of
members to serve in this. present Parliament for the said
borough." Then there was another allegation, namely,
"That the return of the said Thomas Berry Horsfall was
procured by illegal and corrupt means, and by an orga-
nised system of bribery, which was resorted to, and suc-
cessfully carried out, for the purpose of procuring, and
which- did procure, the said return." And then the
prayer of the petition was, "Your petitioners therefore
humbly pray your honourable house to institute a full
and searching inquiry into the allegations of this petition,
and into the proceedings of the said Right Hon. William
Beresford, with reference to the last election for the
borough of Derby." Now the question was, whether
that allegation "That the return of the said Thomas
Berry_ was procured by illegal and corrupt
means, and by an organised system of bribery, which was
resorted to and successfully carried out for the purpose
of procuring, and which did procure, the said return,"
ought not to be considered as an allegation complaining
of an undue return for the borough of Derby.
Sir A. COCKBURN said—Understanding, sir, that
you' entertain a strong opinion upon the point of forma-
lity, which you have stated to the house, I should not
be inclined to struggle against that opinion ; but, inas-
much as the prayer of the petition is not to make void
the return, and inasmuch•as the bribery that is alleged
is not stated to have been committed by the sitting
member, or by any person for whose acts the sitting
member would be responsible, this petition, it strikes
me, does not come within the clause of the act. At the
same time, I think it will be a great pity to take up the
time of the house in discussing a question of that kind ;
and if, sir, you entertain that view, I will withdraw my
motion, for I have not the' slightest wish to press it for-
ward against your opinion.
Sir J. Y. BULLER said he begged to state, on behalf
of his right honourable friend the Secretary-at-War, that
he (Sir J. Y. Buller) was quite prepared on his part to
go into the case now, unless the Speaker ruled that the
motion of the honourable and learned gentleman (Sir A.
Cockburn) could not be entertained by the house.
The SPEAKER said if the house allowed the debate
to proceed on this petition, it would really have received
a petition which it ought not to have received at all, be-
cause the act stated that no election petitions could be
received by the house unless they were endorsed by the
officer of election recognizances, who must state that the
recognizances had been properly entered. Now, if this
petition came within the definition given in the act of an
election petition, then it ought to have been endorsed by
the officer of election recognizances ; if it had hot been
so endorsed, he did not think it ought to have been re-
ceived ; and he did not think they could proceed with
the debate. _ _ _

Sir A. COCKBURN : Then, this being your view,
sir, as I said before, I will not struggle against it, but
will withdraw my motion. But I do think these peti-
tioners are bound to give the right hon. gentleman
(Major Beresford) an opportunity of clearing himself of
the charges that have been brought against him ; and,
therefore, I hope the parties who presented this petition
—having failed from the informality which you have
pointed out—will not hesitate to come before the house
again with the least possible delay. (Hear, hear.) '
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER : It is
unnecessary for me, after what the honourable and
learned gentleman has said, to add a word. I merely
rise to say, I think it would be inexpedient to act con-
trary to the regulations of the house on such an im-
portant subject. But I think there will be no difficulty
in devising some means by which a full and speedy in-
quiry shall be given to it, and I think that must be the
wish of every gentleman on both sides of the house.
The subject then dropped.
AMENDMENT OF THE COMMON LAW IN