The Sun.
London, England, 1837-02-13 00:00:00

MUSHROOM VOTERS.

(From the S'olsinan.)
We are rejoiced to announce that, on the meeting of
Parliament, a Committee will be moved for by Mr. Hors-
man to inquire into the system which has been introduced,
of defeating the Reform Act by the creation of fictitious
votes. This system has been carried to such an extent
by the Tories, that several of the smaller counties may be
considered as swamped. Delighted with their success in
this fraud on the law, they are at this moment straining
every nerve to make these votes in such numbers as will
effectually extinguish the voice of all the real constituencies.
Being perfectly aware that by lawful means they can
never )epeal the Reform Act, their object is insidiously
to repeal it iwartically, and to revive the old and con-
demned system, by centralizing the whole elective in-
fluence of the country in the hands of a few extensive
landed proprietors. The mode in which they proceed to
work is chiefly by the creation of what are called life-rent
voters. A large landed proprietor covers his estate with life-
rent rights, granted either gratuitously or for a trifle,.in fa-
vour of hosts of political partisans, or of men who are entire-
ly dependents on his bounty or patronage. There men are
indeed generally utter strangers to the county, and their con-
nexion with it is formed for no other purpose than the discre-
ditable one of attempting to, extinguish the voice of the local
electors. As illustrative of this, it is a notorious fact that the
present member for Peebles-shire and three political friends
made no less than seventy-three such votes in that small coun-
ty—a proceeding totally unnecessary, had lie not been well
aware that the real constituency are directly opposed to his
political principles. By the subservient voice of these
seventy-three mushroom voters, he goes up to Parliament as
the representative of the county, and this is called re-action !
In like manner the member for Selkirkshire, who displayed
a most factious opposition to the passing of the Reform Act,
hut now professes that, as it is the law of the land, he will
give it fair play, made laskyear in that county forty-one life-
rent votes on the property purchased for that purpose
alone. The consequence naturally is, that the indignation
of the true and honest electors is raised, and we look with
some alarm to the collision which will arise between
them and those fictitious voters at the next election. It
is high time, therefore, that the system were abolished; and
we are glad that the subject has been taken up by Mr.
Horsman. We have had occasion more than once to ad-
mire the talent, sound judgment, and determined spirit
which lie has displayed ; and we are confident that, backed
as he will be by every right-thinking man, of whatever party
he may be, he will have little difficulty in obtaining such
an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons, in
support of a measure for the extinction of so gross a
fraud, that even the Lords will not venture to uphold it.
We are perfectly aware that it has been said, that in some
instances the Reformers have had recourse to a similar prac-
tice. We believe that there is souqtruth in this ; but we
know that the system was first commenced by the Tories
—that the Reformers, seeing it supported by the Bench,
were compelled in defence and for the protection of the local
constituencies, to attempt to neutralize those created by
the Tories. But we care not by which of the parties it
has been carried on. It is the system we condemn, and we
are confident that every Reformer who holds such a vote,
will most readily submit to any measure of disfranchise-
ment. There is no man indeed who is desirous for the pu-
rity of election, and the peace and independence of the
country, who will not readily give his aid to extinguish a
system so fraudulent, so demoralizing, and so much calcu-
lated, in its practical workings, to produce riot and blood-
shed ; and we therefore, in the most earnest manner, call
not only on all the resident electors, but on all the non-
electors, immediately to pour in petitions to the House of
Commons, for relief from so flagrant a grievance.—
Scotsman.