The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-15 00:00:00

superintending care of an individual he utterly den
and for this reason—that the best security against over-
sights was to be found in more minds than one being ap-
plied to the subject. His noble and learned friend near
him had said that it would be better if more care were
taken by their lordships in working out the details of
measures both in committee and at subsequent stages.
He (Lord Brougham) would not say it was hopeless that
their lordships should take more care, but that he should
ever see that assembly remaining there from about the
present hour, half-past six o'clock, through the next cri-
tical half-hour of the evening—(laughter)—he hardly
expected ; and that he should see their lordships, not
only sitting through that difficult hour of the night, but
for four or five hours longer, in order to get through the
measures before them—he would not say that he de-
spaired of such a result, but his hopes were moderate.
(Renewed laughter.) Still he believed it to be highly
desirable, and by no means impossible, that.the3.- should
avail themselves of the knowledge and labours of learned
persons in framing bibs by way of what the civilians
would call an ad2niiticuluin. Some time ago he had laid
before their lordships a proposal of this kind in reference
to proceedings upon private bibs, and had no manner of
doubt that a board of this description, acting under the
superintendeneJ of his noble friend on the woolsack, and
in communic,4tion with the Government, would enable
their lordships to secure a due,
wiye, and saf.
prepara-
tin's of acts of Parliament, lie had always been of opi-
nion• that the appointment of a minister of justice would
be a hig!ily expedient measure. Many agreed to the
thing who objected to time term, and lie thought that the
late changes in his noble and learned frien,i':; curt, by
which Lords Justices were appoiti:ed in addition to the
Vice-Chant.illors, had substantially given to the Lord
Chancellor the power of acting as a minister of justice.
Many improvements still remained to be effected which
prejudice had been so powerful as hitherto to have pre-
vented, and on this ground he would take leave to read
to their lordships the words of a dear and lamented
and most venerable friend of his, Sir Samuel Romilly,
who, upon his failing for the third or fourth time to ob-
tain the assent of Parliament to some of those enlight-
ened measures for the amendment of the law which he so
often proposed, said—" I am not so unacquainted with
the nature of prejudice as not to have observed that it
strikes deep root and flourishes in all -soils, and spreads
its branches in every direction ; but I have observed
also that, flourish as it may, it must by laws sacred and
immutable wither -and decay after the powerful and re-
peated touch of truth." And, he added, " Whatever
may be my fate, the seed which I have scattered is not
fallen upon stony ground." It had not fallen upon stony
ground ; for every one of those measures—and let every
moderate and judicious amender of the law take comfort
from this fact—every one of-the measures which that il-
lustrious man had propounded had. now become the law
of the land, together with' an amount of other improve-
ments which even he, sanguine as he was, had hardly
dared to expect. (Hear.)

COUNTY ELECTIONS POLLS BILL.
The house having, on the motion of the Earl of CAR-
LISLE, passed through committee on this bill,
Lord BROUGHAM said that he wished to take the
present opportunity of expressing his gratification at the
introduction of this useful measure, which he believed
would tend, in some degree to diminish the expenses of
elections, and also to abate in some measure the crying
evil of the time, namely, the system of bribery and cor-
ruption at elections. He (Lord Brougham) wished to
see the suffrage extended in safe and well-considered
directions, though God forbid it should become univer-
sal ; but he did not wish for the extension of suffrage
with the view of preventing corruption, for it was per-
fectly clear that that would not be prevented by extend-
ing the number of voters. If there was a place with
1,000 voters, 900 of whom were on one side, it was not
there that attempts would be made to bribe. It was
where there were 600 on one side and 400 on the other,
and it was with respect to the balance that bribery took
place. (Hear, hear.) Might not the same thing happen
where there were 10,000 voters instead of 1,000 ? Take
the case of any great city where there were 10,000 or
12,000 voters. The respectable part of the constituency
came forward, and gave their votes, and there remained
a difference between the parties of 200 or 300. It was
to that difference that the corrupting party addressed
himself, and the result was that as much bribery took
place in that great city as in any small borough of be-
tween 800 and 1,000 voters. (Hear, hear.) Therefore,
it was not by extending the suffrage, neither was it by
secret voting, that bribery was to be put down. He
(Lord Brougham) had the misfortune to differ from a
great many able and excellent men who thought that the
ballot was the true remedy for the evil ; but after all the
pains he had taken to make himself master of their argu-
ments he was not able to agree with them. It was cer-
tain that the ballot would prevent the detection of the
offence—(hear, hear)—but that was a very different
thing from preventing the offence itself. You could not
by the ballot prevent a,bargain being made between the
voter and the candidate. The voter might be told,
" Let so and so be returned and you shall have 51.," and
thus he would be converted into an active agent for the
return of that party, and would be interested not only in
voting himself for that party, but in getting others to
vote along with him. He (Lord Brougham) would beg
to ask his noble friend at the head of the Government
whether or not he was prepared to frame some measure
for endeavouring if possible to extirpate this ,great evil
. . .

from our constituencies, either by prosecuting the offend-
ers at the public expense, or by increasing the punish-
ment of the offence, not to the unhappy voter, but to the
party bribing ? He trusted that his noble 'friend could
give him hopes that the attention of the Government was
directed to this subject. . (Hear, hear.)
The Earl of ABERDEEN said he could ,assure his
noble and learned friend that it was irnpossi!)lc that he
could be more anxious to check the preseirt system of
bribery and corruption than her majesty:, Government
were. That being the case, of course the sultject occu-
pied their most seriouf attention, and he did trust that
something might be done. His noble friend the in:lnber
for the city of London, if he bad not yet given notice of
a motion in the other house of Parliament, at all events
had his attention occupied with the subject, and they
had. a hope of diminishing the evil to which his noble
and learned friend alluded, and which, if it were to con-
tinue as it existed at present, would go liar to bring the
whole of our representative system into contempt. (Loud
cries of "hear, hear," from Lord Brougham.) He was
not prepared to say that there was any measure at this '
moment ready for Parliament, but that something would
be done he thought he might confidently say.. And he
did hope that that house would give its active co-oper-
ation in framing such a measure, and would not receive
it with any indifference or reluctance, but would lend its
hearty assistance to that which has now become a mat-
ter of necessity.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE said that the time had come
when it was incumbent upon Parliament to take mea-
sures for preventing the present system of bribery and
corruption. He had not the slightest doubt that their
lordships would do all in their power to give their co-
operation and ready and anxious assistance to-any meas-
ure calculated to attain that end. But he must say that
lie thought they should not lay too much stress upon the
exposures which were now being made. He had no wish
to explain away the nature of the transactions which had
been brought before the public, but it had been said that
at the last general election there had been greater cor-
ruption than had ever existed before, and that the crime

of bribery was on the increase. Now, for his part, he
greatly doubted the truth of that assertion, and he did
think that it was not desirable that it should go forth to

the country and to the world at large that the whole of

the Parliamentary constituency of this country was in a

gradual course of progressive corruption. The truth was
that changes had been introduced into the mode of in-

vestigating these cases. Some short time since, it was
indispensable not merely to show that bribery had txist-

ed in any case, but to connect it with the eand;dute hint-

self. That practice was now entirely altered. It was
only necessary to prove one single case of an offence of
that description in order to invalidate the eloction, and

to displace the person who had been returned. It was
his (Lord Wharncliffe's) belief, from the experience which
he had had in transactions of this kind, that there was
scarcely a member ever in Parliament who would not
in
contest,
theesti eii:
have been unseated if all the circuinstanc;.;s connected
with his contested elections had been known. No one
who had gone through a contested election could be ig
norant that when men were engaged in a keeii saNtriu,t,itul of
stheb,auattnkwdihavvedo:
uetlxhdceirpteedlaow
by
reythtehmmees
et wetsihnionu
atwnhoceuerl
odofsiatti!
Ile
°off 'llis eZseorniptainoyn
friends, with whom the candidates could not. refusetheir
act, but
be induced to do acts of this kind even ro w the
fresponsibility
single
case
odneseirlimnigt themselves.th
could be proved to a committee, it vas
unseat a candidate, and to brand now sUfticient to
stigma of corruption. For this reasonthe place with the
him to be just to the constituencies it did appear to
conclude that they were atthis of this country to
than at a former period. Ele • moment more corrupted
excuse such practices as h
ddid not mean to palliate or
thought it the duty of both abeen complained of. He
their best energies to the houses of Parliament to apply
thought their lordsh. reparation of the evil, but he
selves and to the ips would be doing injustice to them-
claim to th country at large if they were to pro-
successfuleworld that, because the had been more
than usual in .
ption therefore
tietecti g
that more corru corruption n-corruption,
on any' former
occasion. (Hear.) 1) lon had prevailed than
The
concurred in the spirit
Earl of CARLISLE fully eonell
of the remarks which had just fallen from his noble
friend, whose experience in the matter of electionso had
been somewhat analogous concurrently with
in his vish to check
wn.
And yielding, as he did, to no manihtit
would not be for
and prevent bribery, he still
etil3foitng
make _ e
ak the pursuit and
the benefit, even of
virtue
itself,
go on with so much
running down of what
aswas vicious
to include in it what the
want of discrimination,
would never regard as wholly
general sense of mankind
For instance, the act of a
and equally reprehensible.
man who gave a
of beer to a voter who had made a
long journey to support
glass a candidate, ought not be looked
on in
the same light as
person committing direct and
downright acts of a ,
ry, He trusted the bill now
under consideration
of
wouldbribe
be found serviceable, because
d from experience that the second day's
poll not only it had been fou ii
l
y imposed considerable additional expense
but had a tendency to lead parties to
on the candidate,
bribery and other discreditable acts,
have recourse to
..
he was glad to observe the Legislature showing a
which
strong disposition to discourage. (Hear, hear.)

INLAND REVENUE OFFICE BILL.
On the motion of Lord STANLEY of Alderley, this
bill passed through committee.

COMMONS INCLOSURE (No. 2) BILL.
On the motion of the same noble lord, this bill also
passed through committee.

OFFICE OF EXAMINER (COURT OF CHAN-
CERY) . •
The LORD CHANCELLOR,BILL in moving the com-
mittal of this bill, said he wished to make a
single re-
mark with reference to a petition which he lad pre!