The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-02 00:00:00

(From the Morning Herald.)

•
We must emphatically w aria the Conservative party iu the
House of Commons against the danger of trusting to the
abandonment of the Reform Bill by the Ministry. That bill,
if passed, is the destruction tf the monarchy and. the constitu-
tion. We have already decl it ed our conviction that the spirit
of faction which was unprincipled enough to propose may be
unprincipled enough to pers ev ere in it—and it is the solemn
duty of every friend to the n ionarchy of England to prepare
for an active and energetic n tsistance to its provisions.
With this persuasion we p- typose, day by day, to examine
in detail the changes which ht will effect in our electoral sys-
tem. We earnestly invite the attention of every true English-
man to the nature of these cl ranges, inthe belief that they need
but to be understood to be indignantly rejected by the good
sense, the intelligence, and i:he loyalty of the nation.
We begin with that provislon to which we have already ad.
verted, the proposal to increase the county representation,
coupled with the provision for representing the minority. It
is of the utmost importance that the bearing of this should be
distinctly understood, and we must endeavour, even at the
hazard of tediousness, to male it plain.
' Lord John Russell proposes that whenever a constituency
returns three members then: reach elector should only vote for
two. It is not necessary to occupy time in proving that the
effect of this in'every such ttoustituency would enable the po-
litical party who are in the minority to return one of the three
members. It Is a great mis trals., we must observe, to regard
this as a mere incident of Lc and John Russell's plan. It is, on
the contrary, the keystone o f the entire. Without increasing
the county representation w e do not believe Lord John Rus-
sell would venture to propos e the democratic provisions which
are contained in his measurer But to increase the county re-
presentation simply would b e to give additional power to the
landed gentry, and range on one side tho Conservative repre-
sentatives of the counties, athd on the other the revolutionary
delegates of the populace of great towns. The representa-
tion of the minority is a device to interpose the party of the
Whig aristocracy—the par ty who in almost every county
would return the third m ember. To this rule there may
be of course exceptions, bat, as a general rule, we may
safely assert, that hi the great majority of instances
the third county membc:r would be returned by
the influence of the small section of the gentry who
entertain Whig principles, or rather the prejudices of Whig
party. To provide for this party, now almost politically ex-
tinct, a sure "refuge for the destitute" in the minority repre-
sentation of counties, is, we cannot help thinking, one of the
essential portions of the meastwo. We do not think that the
object will be attained. We believe that under the system
established by the bill, both the Whig and the Conservative
will, in the effect of the wholes theme, be utterly overpowered;
but it is not the less essential to expose the partisan character
of the provisions of the bill.
There are now seven counties in England returning three
members each. They are— _

Berkshire
Bucks
Cambridge
Dorset

Hereford
Hertford
Oxford

Of these seven counties, only one (Bucks) returned to the
present Parliament a member opposed to the Government of
Lord Derby. So far as the other six counties are concerned,
the effect of Lord John Russell's bill will be to take from the
Conservatives six seats and transfer them to the Whigs. The
representation of Bucks will continue as it is—two Conserva-
tives representing the majoirity, and one Whig the minority.
But in each of the other six counties a seat will be taken from
the Conservative majority and given to the Whig minority.
But the bill proposes to adal to the county constituencies,
which it does not alter in regard to boundaries, 37. Lancashire
and the west riding of Yorkshire are to be newly divided.
But at present we confine our tuttention to the effect of the
representative clause as applied to existing constituencies.
Thirty-seven of the county constituencies are to return three
members instead of two, and in each of these constituencies
of course the minority will return the newly-added member.
Now of these 37 constituencies, 24 are at present repre-
sented by two Conservative members each, 8 divide their
representation, and 5 are represented by supporters of the
Coalition.

That there may be no room for mistake, we give the results
in a tabular form.

Constituencies to have a third member which now return
two Conservatives :

Cheshire, North Norfolk, East
Cheshire, South Norfolk, West
Derbyshire, South Staffordshire, North
Devonshire, North Somersetshire, West
Devonshire, South Somersetshire, East
Essex, North Shropshire, North
Essex, South Suffolk, East
Kent, West Suffolk, West
Kent, East Sussex, East
Lincoln, East Warwick, North
Lincoln, West Yorkshire, East Riding

Monmouthshire

Yorkshire, North Riding

In each of these 24 constituencies the Conservatives now
return both members. In each of these Lord John Russell
proposes to add a third member, to be returned by the mino-
rity, that is, in other words, to add 24 Whig members for
ihese places.
On the other hand, he proposes to give a member to the
Conservative minority in the following five constituencies,
which now return two supporters of tho Coalition Cabinet :
West Cornwall North Derbyshire
Middlesex South Staffordshire
East Surrey.

The eight constituencies which now neutralise their repre-
sentation we may leave out of the calculation, as the pre-
sent state of their representation supplies us with no test of
the party which form the majority or minority in these.
But it appears that, so far as we have the means of calcu-
lation, the effect of giving a representative to the minority will
stand thus—
To take from the Conservatives six seats now possessed by
them, and transfer them to their opponents, being a clear
gain equivalent to 12.
And to add to the Whig party in the counties 24 seats, by
giving a third member to 24 counties in which that party
have now no share in the representation.
On the other hand, it will give to the Conservatives five
seats in counties, where they, in their turn, are wholly unre-
presented ; thus making the gain to the Whig interest in the
county representation 25 votes ; but adding to this the six
Conservatives displaced, making a change equivalent to 31
votes on a division. _ _

Against this, no doubt, we must set the result of the appli-
cation of the same principle to the town constituencies; but
while it will be applied to ❑o less than 49 county constituen-
cies, it is proposed to apply it to only eight towns. These
towns are—

Birmingham
Bradford
Liverpool
Sheffield

Bristol
Leeds
Manchester
Wolverhampton

In one of these (Liverpool) the third member would be a
Coalitionist. In the remaining seven a Conservative. From
the 31 votes gained by the Coalitionists in the counties we
must, therefore, deduct six gained by the Conservatives in the
towns. Still the effect of the dexterous application of the
principle of minority representation is to make that applica-
tion tell against the Conservatives by a strength equivalent to
25 votes on a division.

When we remember the majority by which great questions
have latterly been decided, we may appreciate the import-
ance of this manoeuvre, by which, under the pretence of re-
presenting the minority, it is in reality attempted very seri-
ously to affect the distribution of political power.