The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-10 00:00:00

TI3E NEW REFORM BILL.

4.
A letter, of which the following is a copy, has
been addressed by Mr. Tillett to Lord John Rll--
sell, on the above important subject :
My Lord—The people are expecting a New Reform
Bill. Being desirous that the promised measure should
be 'efficient and satisfactory, I respectfully submit a few
practical suggesticns to the consideration of your lord-
ship as the member of the Cabinet most likely to be en-
gaged in its preparation.
The extreme difficulty of the task which the Govern-
ment has undertaken is obvious. One seems at a loss
to conceive of any scheme of Parliamentary Reform
'which would at the same time satisfy the people and be
deemed a. safe concession by the aristocracy. Yet all
will agree that the proposal of a meagre and unsatisfac-
tory measure, containing no substantial improvement of
the existing system, would be very mischievous, and
that, rather than make such a proposal, it would be
better that the Government should not touch the que3-
tion at all.
It being, however, understood to be a necessary thing
• that a New Reform 13111 shall be proposed in the coming
• session, it becomes no less necessary that the contem-
plated measure should be above contempt, or, at least, a
step in the right direction—something that reformers
may consistently support and accept.
I take leave here to correct an impression that exists
in some minds, and possibly in the mind of your lordship
that radical reformers are so bigotted that they will op.
pose any proposition which may not come up to their
ideal. This is a misapprehension. I venture to assert
that they would accept any measure which would en-
large the liberties of the people, if by so doing they did
not compromise their principles, or prejudice the de-
mands left unsatisfied. Any proposition for the extension
of the franchise could only be rejected by them on the
ground that it was based on a, bad principle, the re-
-1 cognition of whioh would be argument against them
lathe future. However far .),might fall short of what
they believed to be due to th..1),30p1e, it would be taken,
not as a Battlement, but as r`rnuch on account. Radical
•reformers would not obstruct "moderate reform, provided
it were real.
The New Reform Bill must deal with three important

subjects 'see--
lst. The Electoral Qualification.
2nd. The mode of Voting. ' •
3rd. The Distribution of Repilmentativeg
As there appears to be a general understanding that
the county franchise is to be lowered from 50/. occupy
tions to 101., and as no opposition is anticipated to such
a proposal, I may confine my observations almost en-
tirely to the borough franchise, which is likely to be the
main difficulty.
In regard to the borough franchise, permit me to beg
your lordships serious attention to the fact that your
own measure—the IVlunicipal Corporations' Act —con-
ferred the right of voting on householders. Every
inhabitant householder within a borough subject to cer-
tain conditions as to rating, which are but tests of occu-
pancy, is an elector for municipal purposes.
Your lordship is aware that municipal corporations
have great power. They appoint the police, and manage
the paving, lighting, sewerage, and many other import-
ant matters, and for these and other purposes levy and
%;;Xpend large sums of money annually.
These corporations have of late, in many places, been
constituted Local Boards of Health ; and, if I remember
rightly, it was proposed last session, by your lordship,
still further to add to their powers by entrusting to them
the execution in the boroughs of a measure relating to
the all-important subject of popular education.
Your lordship will see that it is very difficult to con-
tend, and impossible to prove, that a man already consi-
dered by Parliament to have intelligence enough, and a
sufficient stake in the community to entitle him to a
municipal vote, is too ignorant or of too little consequence
to be suffered to vote for members of the House of
Commons.
Householdership, tested by rating, then, having been
adopted as the basis of the municipal franchise, it would
be not only consistent, but easily practicable, to make it
also the basis of the borough Parliamentary franchise ;
and thus establish a uniformity much to be desired, and
avoid the expense and trouble of two distinct registra-
tions and revisions of votes in every municipality.
In adopting this suggestion, it would be necessary, at
the same time, to make the system of rating uniform
throughout the kingdom, and the actual payment of
rates--whether directly by the tenant himself, or indi-
rectly through the landlord in the form of an increased
rent----the sole conclusive test of occupancy.
To the simple proposition of making all burgesses
Parliamentary electors, might be added provisions coie
tinning the freehold'qualification in cities where it is
now in force, and even extending it to all boroughs, and
enfranchising payers of direct taxes of a certain amount.
The next point to which I beg your lordship's atten-
tion refers to the mode of voting, and on this I
must again allude to the practice under the Mu-
nicipal Act. That act directs that the poll in each
ward shall be taken by an alderman and two
assessors ; the assessors are elected by the burgesses,
and no burgess is entitled to vote for more than one.
The result almost invariably is, that.one of the assessors
in each ward is a Conservative and the other a Liberal.
The alderman is selected from the list of alderman by
the majority of the councillors for each ward. These
three—the alderman and two assessors—receive the
voting papers of the burgesses when handed in at the
appointed place, and deposit them usually in a box pro-
vided for the purpose ; and, after the poll is closed,
these papers are examined and corrected, and the next
day or the clay after that, the result is publicly declared.
It is usual, in case of a contest, for each party, by per-
mission of the Alderman and assessors, to have a
"cheek-card writer" in the polling place, to report from
time to time how each burgess has voted. This, I ap-
prehend, is allowed, to meet the wishes of the contending
perties, and not as a legal right. Now, I would suggest
that the alderman and assessors should take the poll in
the several wards at Parliamentary elections, and that
the polling should be conducted in the same way, with
one exception only—that it should be impossible for any
one to know, as the poll progresses, how each burgess
has voted ; and that the voting should be kept secret,
at all events, until the poll had closed.
I must strongly urge this point on your lordship's at-
tention. The temptation to bribery becomes almost
irresistible in a close contest, when it is known almost
tv a certainty towards the end of the day, that a few
• votes would determine the result this way or that, and
that the required number may be readily secured. I
have no doubt that a large proportion of the bribery that
takes place might be prevented, if the polling were not
published until the election was concluded, which seems
to have been the intention of the framers of the Muni-
cipal Act.
But, my Lord, I would go further than that—l would
- bind the scrutineers, like Income-tax officers, to absolute
secrecy, unless called upon to give' evidence before a
Parliamentary Committee or a Court of-Law, on some
question connected with the validity of the election, or
certain votes then recorded.
This mode of taking the votes would riot only check
bribery, but shield the honest voter from an oppressive
landlord or employer, and from the various forms of
official or popular intimidation. At the same time,
whilst it disappointed the curious or the revengeful, it
would preserve a faithful record of every vote, and en-
able the proper authorities to ascertain how any elector
had voted, in case such information were required in a
scrutiny, or for the purposes of justice. These advan-
tages might be secured without the adoption of any
novel expedient, by simply carrying out the obvious in-
tentions of the Legislature in regard to municipal elec-
tions, and extending the same to the elections of mem-
bers of Parliament. Similar arrangements could be
made for taking the poll in each of the polling districts
of the several counties. Some such plan as this, would
be a step in the direction of the Ballot ; and, if it worked
well, might possibly be accepted as a substitute for it.
• Whilst on this point, permit me, my Lord, to observe
that the extension of the 101. franchise to the counties,
with due protection to the voter, would be a very seri-
ous evil indeed. Take, for instance, a village, (and the
major part of the county voters would generally be found
in the villages), in which the clergyman, the landowner,
and the farmers (his tenant), are the ruling power— what
are the shopkeeper, the blacksmith, the publican, the
wheelwright, and the schoolmaster, to do with their
votes ? If the " influence "is all on one side, the
conscience of the voter would, in most cases, yield to
necessity, and the whole parish would vote in one way.
But if the pressure is as much on one side as on the
other, what are these poor dependents to do ? They must
" split" their votes, if that be possible, or not vote at all.
In almost all agricultural districts, the conferring of the
right to vote on those occupiers, would virtually be the
addition of so many more voters to the predominant
power in each district. If the right to vote be acknow-
ledged, they certainly should be enabled to exercise it
without fear of expulsion and ruin.
On the last point—the distribution of representatives
—but little difficulty would arise, if the franchise ques-
tion and the mode of voting were satisfactory settled.
Whether numbers or wealth be taken as the basis, is
quite immaterial; numbers and wealth, I believe, almost
always go together. It is only requisite, therefore, that
doPrinciplmae
de without or rule be laireference,
down and that
to personal tor party in-
erbe
ts.
Before I:E!sn lude, my lord, I would say a few words
on b
emehalfthe
the working classes. Under the present
tri
systous ,men, ese' as a class,
excluded. These indus-
the'
otroducers of our wealth, the source
and defence
l ness, treated
by the Cnnstitutioru
of its own theory. ,4nationa:es helots, greatin directare violation
people„_
aristocrat have their house,
but " the common
retlo 7the vast majority of
no
as a
neatliiosned political existence.
• the nation—have
What should we be,
W,arwitho.ut these work-
ing What in case oe
men I
sly lord, they'are beginning what even in
peace
intelligence and powers of combination. Some
dread the consequence of admitting too many of traheagy
men on the register ; but I am sure your lordship does-e
not think it safe to eYclucle the whole of them, .
and thus
drive them one day into a class-agitation for the en'.
forcement of their electoral rights, A new es.
eform
Bill; without an enfranchising clause in favour of th,,
operatives, would be sure to provoke a movement, which
party, and
would again break up the Liberal in the end
become irresistible.
Begging your lordship'; attention to these suggestions,.eet will oe
and confident that the importance of the subject
deemed a sufficient justification for what might
other-
wise appear presumptuous in an in • -dividual.—l have the
honour to subscribe myself your lordship's obedient ser-
ant, .J . HENRY TILLETT,
Norwich, Nov. 30, 1853.

i

COALS EXPORTED.—It is shown that the value of
coals and culm exported between January and Novem-
ber was 1,359,346 g., a large increase on last year.