The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-24 00:00:00

which he is put may thus be considerably increased.
Such are a few of the meet prominent grievances
to which the present system of registration gives
rise, and which, after the lapse of two-and-twenty
years, an attempt is now being made to remole,
"We allede to the Bill for the Amendment of
the Registration bf County Voters, introduced
by Mr. Dodson, which, wd tietrieretand, will probably
receive the sanction of the Legislatnre daring 09
present teeeinn, Several of the provisions of tbie
bill are intended to remedy the evils which we have
shortly described. One section provides that all
objections, 7eith the exception of theee officialeil
made by the overseers, must "set forth in opeeinen
terms the ground, or several ereunde, of objection
upon Which it is intended to rely. And the wort
section provides that do person so objected to shall
be required to defend his vote before the revision
court upon any other point than that upon wbi
he has received due notice. This would prove "le
serious check upon the present vexations system °,6l*
objecting to votes upon frivolous grounds, or, a
very frequently the case, upon no grounds at all.
Nor would it leave the bona fide objector the
smallest ground of complaint, for it would be easy
for him to state his true reasons, if he had
any, for objecting to his neighbour's vote. I"`
points to be discussed before the revising barrister
would thus appear on the notice of objection. end'
these being at once disposed of, there would be en
end of the case. No fishing questions would be
allowed, with the view of detecting some flaw in an
adversary's title, other than that set forth in the
notice which the latter has received. Much Irre-
levant and irritating discussion would be thus
avoided, which, from the uncertainty at present lilt;
tending the nature of objections, is at times likeet
to arise. Another important provision, intended to
protect county voters from needless annoyance' is
contained in the 22d section of the proposed bill.
By this section any person whose vote has been
objected to may make a declaration upon oath In
answer to the grounds of objection alleged against
it, and setting forth the facts upon which Le relies'
This declaration is afterwards to be transmitted to
the clerk of the peace for the county, and notice
of this fact is to be sent to the objector. If, not-
withstanding this declaration, and the reasons t
which it is supported, the objector still persist ill
contesting the point, and he fails, the revising
barrister is to be empowered to make him Peay
costs to the amount of £5 ; that is, five times the
amount which in any case can at present °I
imposed. In ordinary cases in which the P'rt/
objected to has not made a aecleratile, on vbin
in answer to the notice of objection, but ha.
simply appeared and defended his vote in the
court of revision, the barrister is to be en"
powered to give costs to the extent. of £3 if he iS
satisfied tint I he objection is frivolous and vexatioure
These provisions, and others to which we need net
now refer, appear to be well calculated to protect
voters from annoyances to which they are wale'
notoriously subject. It is also proposed to cast
various additional duties upon the clerks of the
peace and the overseers, which, we should imagine'
will lead to a consider Able incre se co expense. But
considering that the present Registration Act has
been in force since the year 1842, we need not be
surprised that it should now rFquire amendment'
Upon the whole it has not worked b ‘dly, otherwise
it would not have remained so long unaltered. Be`.
experience has clearly shown that it may be made
to cause much unnecessary annoyance to those fet
whose protection it was especially designed--we
mean all bona tide possessors of the franchise. `Ye
believe that the bill before the House of Comen°°,6
will much diminish, it it doss not remove, the WO
that are now complained of.