The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 21, 1865.

tution of democracy for constitutional government;
we have the reluctant Whig, compelled by the tra-
ditional professions of his party to support theories
of progress and amendment while in reality he
would much prefer to " rest and be thankful," leav-
ing the material advantages acquired by his party
undisturbed. Again, we meet with one-sided Re-
formers, who would go to the extreme in some
points, while on others they consider that little or
no reform is necessary. The great question with
most of them is the extension of the suffrage, and
whatever measure is introduced a change in this
direction (must certainly be its principal feature.
The reform required in the manner of voting is as
unpopular with the candidate as the alterations
necessary in the electoral districts are unwelcome
to the voter. Neither of these improvements, which
must eventually be made in our constitution, are
therefore very popular subjects of discussion, while
the reduction in the lifetime of Parliaments,
generally thought expedient by sincere Reformers
is thrust aside by members who have no wish to be
kept too strictly to their husting pledges, or to in-
crease the expenses of a contested election. It is
admitted on all hands, however, that a considerable
increase must be made in the number of our electors
if we wish the House of Commons to represent in
any adequate degree the temper and feelings of the
nation. While all admit this necessity as a basis
I of the new Reform Bill, there are almost endless
diversities of opinion as to the best means of putting
theory into practice, some being as much fascinated
as others are alarmed by the thought of entrusting
political power to new and untried hands. The
bolder Reformers have, however, a strong argument
in their favour in the beneficial and prosperous
effects of the old Bill of 1832, against which so
violent an opposition was raised, and whose
consequences were so dreaded by the privileged
classes of that day. They argue with consider-
ble force that it is most impolitic and unwise
to drive the lower ranks of the present
day into the same same state of irritation and
resolute organisation to which the middle class of
the last generation were urged by the obstinate
withholding of the necessary concession. The
working men of the present day are many of them
as well educated as the tradesmen of 1832,
and as each rank rises in the scale of intelligence
and education, it naturally demands its share in the
constitutional government of the country. The
real danger lies not in wise concession, but in the
selfish disregard of the wants and the claims of the
unrepresented classes too often displayed by those
in power. The natural forces which, when unduly
repressed, produce startling catastrophes have
often been used as political illustrations, and they
are certainly not unsuitable examples of the inevi-
table consequences of political blindness, selfishness,
and prejudice, sooner or later. At the same time
it is fair to admit that there are great and inherent
difficulties in the question ; difficulties which require
to be well weighed and anxiously considered by
every man who comes forward with projects of
Reform.

The whole question of the suffrage is fully,
though temperately, examined by Mr. FREDERI C
HILL, in a pamphlet which he has just published.*
He inclines, undoubtedly, rather to the side of
caution than of progress, and he is perpetually ex-
horting his reader to remembers that rash and violent
changes are much to be deplored. The road to
democracy, he urges, admits of no retrogression ;
the wheel has a ratchet behind it, and will only
turn one way. Violent and sudden changes are,
he asserts with truth, often detrimental to the very
cause which they seem to forward from the strength
of the reaction they inevitably produce. We have
instances of this in our own history, as well as in that
of other nations, while of the anngornue to2l,lPncieß
of Democracies we have abundant evidence in our
own time. Mr. HILL urges that our public com-
panies and societies are for the most part complete
democracies ; they choose their own constitutions,
their own voters and mode of voting, and other
details, but the results are not always satisfactory
even to themselves. If we lcok abroad we shall,
he says, find 110 more satisfactory evidence of the
fruits of a democratic constitution, since in France
it has been found compatible with a fettered press
and restrictions on speech and motion, in America
with lynch law and slavery. In the Colonies
the effects of the ballot have not, he thinks,
been edifying. No dispassionate observer can, he
thinks, fail to arrive at the conclusion that there
is in reality more liberty in England than hi
America. The great measures of legislative improve-
ment during the last 35 years have been carried by
the middle classes, and Mr. HILL reminds us that,
with the exception of the Reform Bill itself,
the working classes took no part in supporting any
of them, and were, in fact, opposed to many. The
tyranny of the Trades' Unions, the intolerance and
violence shown by working men against those of
their own class who differ from them, and the
indifference which they have shown to those parts
of commercial law which were really oppressive
and unjust to them, are all cited by
Mr. HILL in support of his argument,
that it would be detrimental to the public
interests to place too much political power in the
hands of the masses. He is strongly in favour of a
tentative mode of progression, and supports what
has been called the lateral extension of the franchise,
though he omits all mention of one of its most
important branches, the lodger franchise. In these
days of crowded cities and high prices, thousands
of lodgers pay more rent than the occupants of
small houses. Even unfurnished rooms in un-
fashionable quarters are let at rates of twenty and
thirty pounds a-year—what shall we say, then, of
the occupants of our West-end flats ? The
" fancy" suffrage of the savings' bank depositor
is approved by Mr. HILL, while he does not favour
the educational test advocated by Mr. MILL and
others. We cannot agree with him in depreciating
the possession of rudimentary knowledge as a neces-
sary qualification for the franchise. A sober
and careful working man may, indeed, as Dr.
TEMPLE avers, have a more real education
than he who has only learnt to read and write
without acquiring those qualities ; but we cannot
take an individual case as the test of a class, and as
as a general rule the working man who can read
and write is more likely to be sober and careful
than the totally illiterate and ignorant man. lie is
able to see for himself both sides of a question, to
examine the facts upon which political theories aro
based, and can exercise his own judgment upon
them, instead of being at the mercy of any mob
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arguments answered by other arguments ; lie can
learn that there are not only two, but many sides
to the religious, political, and social questions of
our busy, complex life ; and if we wish to get a fair
and honest representation of the English working
men, we must take the suffrages of the intelligent
and educated, not the ignorant and consequently

prejudiced among them.
Mr. HILL advocates very strongly the representa-
tion of property, and prefers this qualification to
any other. In this we cannot agree with him,

* "Parliamentary Reform. How the Sepresentation
may be amended safely, gradually, and efficiently." By
Trederic Hill, Barrister-at-Law. Longman.

for the influence of mere material wealth has
already too much preponderance among us. It is
the especial danger of all highly civilised nations,
and to make the possession of property the
sole qualification for the possession of poli-
tical power would be as much opposed to the
best interests of the country as it world be unfair
to those educated classes who might profit little by
its facilities, and unjust to the working men, to
whose exclusion it would naturally tend.
As for the Ballot, though citing its effects
in Australia as a sample of the evils of democratic
government, Mr. HILL is in favour of its experi-
mental adoption ; that is to say, he mould have it
applied, to use his favourite adjective, tentatively to
some of those places which are notorious for bribery
and intimidation, and he further thinks that the
plan of voting papers is a promising me with regard
to this part of the question. Altogetaer, his views,
though inclining, as we have said, rather to the ex-
treme of Whig caution than of Radcal desire for
change, are fair and temperate, even though in
some places he seems to contradict himself. He
fully supports the right of the industrious intelligent
working man to a share in the representation,
though he is much afraid of admitting too many of
his class at once to the possession of political
power. He is, as we have seen, a partial supporter
of the Ballot, and generally in favour of progress,
so that it be not too rapid. He deserves much credit
for the total absence of party feeling or bitterness
in his discussion of some very vexed questions ; and
his brochure, as setting forth the opinions of an
able and experienced writer, is well worthy of care-
ful attention at the hands of professing Reformers.

The Cattle Plague.

CHESTER (COUNTY).

The following is the number of cases reported to
the 18th inst. :—Number attacked, 2,988. Died,
1,740; killed, 157; under treatment, 951; recovered,
140-2,988. Since the 13th inst. the disease has ap-
peared in the following places :—Brindley, Bickley,
Barton, Crewe, Cuddington, Churton, Eaton, Lit-
tleton, Marlston-cum-Lache, Norbury, Poole, and
Ridley. The number reported last week was 1,779
attacked—died, 948 ; killed, 123 ; the number has
increased during the last seven days by 172 per diem
attacked, and an increase in the number dead and
killed of 118 per diem. The disease has now ap-
peared in 115 different townships in the county.