The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-28 00:00:00

`the time when tho Reform Bill passed no alteration had
taken place in the franchise. Twenty years had elapsed
since the passing of that Bill, and they still had the saaoe
501. franchise in counties; and the sarna 101. franceise in
towns. 'There had, therefore, been no alteration of or
tampering with the franchise. A strange proposition
had, however, been made to that House with reference to
the extension of the franchise which had not hitherto
been noticed. He alluded to the proposition made by
the Secretary for the Home Department with reference
to the militia franchise.—(Cheers. and anteater on the
Opposition side, and cries of " Oh r from the Ministerial
benches.) Hon. Gentlemen might well cry " OIL"—
(Laughter.) That proposition was made oe a, Friday
evening, nod so anxious was the Right lion. Gentleman
(Mr. Walpole) that the Noble Lord (Lord J. Rusteli
should hear it, that he (Sir B. Hall) was informed that 3
the Right lion. Gentletnae actually called the Noble
Lord back into the House that he might hear the pro-
nosedhe alteratioa.—(Flear, beer, and a laugh.) The
Noble Lord did come back, and was certainty astounded
to hear the proposition that people of the class men-
tioned should be placed upon the electoral list. Now,
what was the class of persons which the Government had
proposed to enfranchise, and what was the class of per-
sona whom his Hon. Frierel ear. King) pop
place upon the electoral list? Hes,would take the case of
two persons claiming the right of voting before the Re-
vising Barrister. One might b e
a man of high I
and, lofty
demeanour. who had served his country in the enin•
sule, and who wore on his breast decorations won by
his gallantry, but, because he claimed a vote in respect
of a tenement worth 481. a year, the Berrister would
say,
" If you had all the glory of the Duke of Welling-
ton, and all- the honours of Lord Nelson. and occupy
a tenement of 481. a year, you ere not worthy to be
placed upon the register, according to the present
law," This was the class of persons who would be
enfranchised by the Bill which his Honourable Friend
asked leave to introduce. But what was the class of per-
sons who would have been placed upon the register under
the recent proposition of the Government? They might
be told of "after-dinner jakaa” but the proposition of
the Right Hon. Gentleman (Ur. Walpole) was delibe-
rately submitted to the House, and he did not suppose
that Lord Derby would condescend to treat with such
levity a question of this . importance, or that he would
make a fool of the House of Parliament—(A laugh)—by
putting forth such a proposition, if he did not intend to
carry it out. Well, another person claiming a vote might
be a loutish clown—perhaps a feeder of pies in a farm-
yard; a person 'somewhat similar to the George Seacoal
who was tutored by Dogberry. Indeed, he might per-
haps be accosted in the language of Dogberry—" Come
hither, neighbour Seacoal; God hash blessed you with
a good name; to be a well-favoured man is the gift of
fortune, but to write and read comes by nature;" for a
vote for a county, according to the proposition of the
Right Hon. Gentleman opposite, came by nature.—(A
laugh.) If such a man was asked for his qualification,
be might say that he had received 61., that he put on a
red coat for some three weeks its each year, that he was
5 feet 2 inches high, and that he was, therefore, entitled
to be placed on the register.—(Cries of " Divide!") All
he (Sir B. Hall) could say was, that if the Government
intended to abide by a recent statement of the Noble
Earl (Lord Derby), that it was his intention there should
be no reform, the House and the country ought to un-
derstand their intentions clearly and distinctly. If, on
the other hand, the Right Hon. Gentleman( Mr. Disraeli)
meant to enfranchise the working classes, let him say
so at once, and he (Sir Benjamiue Hall) would be
very glad to see a Bill for that purpose laid on the
table.—(Divide, divide.)
Mr. L. KING, in reply, observed that it had been
said the measure he proposed would introduce a very
great constitutional change. It would, however, do an
act of simple justice, by giving to the inhabitants of
certain localities the right of voting possessed by per-
sons occupying property of the same value in other lo-
calities; and so far ha thought it was desirable that
a constitutional change should take place. It had
been also said that the object of his measure was
merely to secure representation to property; but
what he contended for was, that if property was repre-
sented in one locality it should be represented fairly in
another.
A division (for which the House had for some time
been extremely impatient) then took place, when there
appeared—
For the motion .. . 149
Against it .
202
Majority against the motion —53
Leave was then given to Sir W. P. WOOD to bring in
a Bill to extend the provisions of the Trustees Act,
1850. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman explained
what were the defects which he wished to remedy, re-
lating (we believe) chiefly to cases in which infants and
married women are concerned.
COLONEL OUTRAM.
Mr. ANSTEY rose to bring before the House a sub-
ject on which he had given notice of two motions, one
for the production of the papers relating to Colonel Oat-
ram's case, and the other for an instruction to the Com-
mittee on Indian Territories to examine Colonel Outram
teaching the alleged corruption of the Bombay Govern-
112.!ent• The Hon. and Learned Member was proceeding
speak upon the first motion, which was for " copies
of th •
ii(„.° Papers and correspondence concerning the inves-
.
ir"°?a made by Colonel Outran], C. 8., into the exist-
s,: of corrupt relations between the Guicowar or his
exist-
ed and certain officers of the Bombay Government;
and 4180 concerning the removal of the seed officer from
his post of Resident at Baroda," when
thMr. H. BAILLIE interrupted him by observing that
e Papers he had more than once asked for had arrived
y:the last mail, and were under consideration.
Mr. ANSTEY said he would, however, press his mo-
ti"a • Re had nothing to do with the way in which the
production of the documents might affect the pecuniary
interests of Colonel Outram; he made his motion in the
interest of the natives of India, and the service of India,
and this country, the honour of which was involved. The
Only result of an attempt to stifle inquiry into what yet
remained to be known of this case, the main facts of
which were notorious, could be, not the evasion of shame
and disgrace, but the impunity of the offender. He was
thee proceeding to enter upon the history of the case,
and referring to former charges of a similar kind in
1834; but
An SON. MEMBER rose, and took notice that there were
tot 40 Members present.
The SPEAKER counted, and, finding that there were
41111 Y 34, adjourned the House, at a Quarter before Eight
o'clock, until the next (this) day.
bh

-r• M. T. Smith paired against the Militia Bill with
Sir E. Kerrison.
The Hon. G. H. Cavendish paired against the Militia
Bill with Mr. W. Patten, for.
Sir G. Dashwood paired against the second reading of
the Militia Bill with Mr. G. Berkeley.