The Sun.
London, England, 1831-02-18 00:00:00

BOROUGH OF EVESIIAM.

Previous to the Marquis of CHANDOS bringing forward
his resolutions respecting the borough of Evesham,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL begged leave to present
a petition from certain inhabitants of that place
praying for an extension of the elective franchise. The
Noble Lord said he did not now feel the interest in peti-
ti )ns of this nature that he did formerly, as the great mea-
sure of Reform was so shortly to be submitted to the House.
After the petition had been read,
General GASCOYNE said, he wished to ask the Noble
Lord opposite a question relating to the important question
of Reform. He did not wish to provoke a discussion on
the subject, he would, therefore merely ask the Noble Lord
whether he intended to bring the subject before the
House in the shape of resolutions, or by Bill.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL—In answer to the Gallant
General I have only to say, that it is my intention, in
the first instance, merely to move for leave to bring in a
Bill.

The Marquis of CHANDOS moved a resolution to the
effect that the corrupt state of the borough of Evesham
required the most serious consideration of the House.
Lord ALTHORP bed no doubt corruption prevailed in
the borough, hut should have been glad if the Noble Mar-
quis bad postponed his notice till after the Ist day of
March.---(Hear.) As, however, he had refused to do so
he (Lord Althorp) should not object to it.
Mr. CLIVE, after having, as one of the Evesham Corn.
mittee, devoted his best attention to the evidence which
had been submitted to them, deemed it improbable that
the Noble Lord would succeed in his expectations. Al-
though he could have wished that it had been postponed
as recommended, he was happy to find that Reform had ac-
quired so able and so generous an advocate.—(Hear.)
Sir R. PEEL said he could discover no reason why the
House should not decide on the case of Evesham as a ju-
dicial question, without waiting for the Reform plan of the
Noble Lord, of which they must be supposed to know no-
thing antecedent to the hour of its introduction.—( Hear. )
That very extensive bribery prevailed, as far as respected
non-residerat voters, they could no longer doubt ; and the
present petitioners, to the number of 255, who certainly
should be most conversant with the affairs of the borough,
actually described the corruption of the electors as a leprosy
which pervaded the body.—(Hear.) lilt should be even-
tually proved a delinquent borough, most assuredly it was
the duty of that House to punish it as such, if only for
the purpose of intimating to the future constituency which
the Noble Lord's (Lord J. Russell's) Bill might hereafter
originate, that the offences of bribery and corruption would
ba visited by the penal displeasure of the Legislature.
With the expediency of such a course, the future Ministe-
rial measure should not be permitted in any way to inter-
f re. The Right Hon. Baronet concluded with compli-
menting the Chancellor of the Exchequer on his liberality
and candour.

Sir C. FORBES insisted strongly that there was no
borough whatever in the actual enjoyment of the elective
franchise, in which influence of a corrupt nature was not
continually employed.—(Marks of dissent.) Hon. Gen-
tlemen might quarrel with his opinions, but he appre-
hended that it would not be difficult to prove their cor-
rectness in point of fact. The Noble Lord had avowedly
more than suspected the guilt of Evesham ; but the truth
was, that Evesham, East Retford, &c., only differed from
their neighbours in the misfortune of being found out; for
in these matters the people here acted on the principle of
the Chinese, who attache() no disgrace to picking pockets,
especially where a European was the sufferer, provided
the delinquent could escape detection. If once discovered,
he was torn in pieces like the hunted-down boroughs of
Grampound and East Retford.—(Laughter.) The general
principle of all elections was corruption; and they might
accordingly fasten on the boroughs of England, in alpha-
betical order, beginning with Abingdon and Bletchingly,
and proceeding through Liverpool till they ended with
Truro.—(Laughter.) He maintained that it was mere
affectation, not to say cant or hypocrisy, to attack indi-
vidual cases when it would be so difficult for any MM.
Member to come forward with hand no heart, and make
oath that he had obtained his seat without being indebted
to those means which drew down their coll,ctive dis-
pleasure on such places as East Retford. He hoped there-
fore that some member would rise in his place and pre-
sently move a new writ for East Retford, as they knew
how they were now, but were ignoraht how they might
be hereafter.

Lord J. RUSSELL was glad to infer that the Hon.
Gentleman would be favourable to a general measure of
Reform, although not to a partial one, for he now stood in
this dilemma—if ho said that partial corruption was not
to be reformed, and subsequently refused to reform general
corruption, they must conclude under such circumstances
that corruption itself ought, in 11;s- opinion, to be en-
couraged. He perfectly agreed with him in thinking, that
the electors of those particular boroughs were peenharly
unfortunate in being " found out," and he was willing to
transfer the franchise to the large tosms, not as a punish-
ment, but as a measure of Reform. The people had tai eu
a disgust to all partial Reforms, in consequence of the suc-
cessful opposition of the Right Hon. Baronet, the Noble
Lord, and others, to the transfer of the franchise from East
Retford to Birmingham t 4 few months ago, when it was
his wish, by such an experimental proceeding, to ascertain
to what extent Reform would be found practically advan-
tageous. NVith that, however, the country, in its present
state of feeling, would be any thing 'oat content.
MABERLY asse,rec; the Hun. Member for Malmess
bury, that he nwer directly, or indirectly, attempted to
bribe any of his constituents; and affirmed taut a large pro-
portion of the boroughs at present returning Members were
inaccessible to corruption.—(Hear.)
Sir C. IVF,THLREILL felt himself called upon to vin-
dicate his constituents also from the accusations of the
lion. Baronet, who had attacked the boroughs its alpha.
betical order, Boroughbridge, unluckily, happening to
stand pretty high upon ;he list. His constituency, Le
could confidently affirm, were honourable, respectable, and
independent ; and he certainly was one of those who, if
necessary, could swear to having forborne bribery, as the
Hon. Baronet so facetiously proposed. He believed that
his lion. Frio(' might take that oath.—(Hear, hear, and
a laugh.)—To say that when a flagrant case of bribery
was found out, the House was not to take measures to
punish it, appeared to him puerile and absurd. He knew
nothing of the motion hereafter to be brought forward by
the Noble Paymaster of the Forces. He could not tell
whether it was to be a Cabinet measure or a measure
brought forward by the Noble Paymaster of the Forces as
an individual Member of Government ; but if it were to be
brought forward as a Cabinet measure, then he would re-
peat what he had said before, that it ought to be proposed
by some Member of the Cabinet....(Hear.)—Theltlenabers

Mr. HUME moved, by address, for returns of expenses
ordinary and extraordinary occasioned by our ambassadors
in Paris since 1815 ; also of the expenses of British con-
suls and Vice consuls, with their chaplaincies, in France,
luring the same peiiod; together with the amount of the
imports and exports to and from the country from the se-
feral ports in France, in which we were at the expense of
consuls. His object was, in !he first place, to bring be-
fore Parliament the gre it expense which our French em-
bassy cost this c‘aintry •iace the peace,—including an item
of 30,0001. in one year alone for the repairs of the am-
bassadorial residence, and in the next to show the Mis-
chievous expense which accrued to us from Mr. Canning's
arrangements with respect to the remuneration of consuls,
That Right Hon. Gentleman abolished remuneration by
fees, substituting a fixed salary in their stead ; and in con-
sequence was a great annual and unnecessary addition to
the public burdens. Besides paying our ambassador at
Paris 11,000/. a year, we had a Consul-General at a salary
of 2,000/. a year in the same place, with an extensive
establishment. Then we had consuls and chaplains at
ports with which we had in fact no commercial inter-
course, at a great and most unnecessary expenditure of the
public money. He would propose that our consuls should
be on the same footing with those in America ; that they
should have no remuneration other than their fees, which
of course would be in proportion to their actual services ;
and he was prepared to prove that on those terms the
offices would be gladly filled by respectable resident
chants. He wished to know whether any reductions
were intended in our consular establishments?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was not
able to give his Hon. Friend any other answer than that
the subject was under the consideration of his Noble
Friend the Colonial Secretary..—The motion was agreed to
NEW WRITS

were moved, for the borough of Sahash in the room ‘‘f
J. Gregson, Esq. who had accepted the Chiltern Hun-
dreds, on the motion of Mr. HUME , and for Ashburton,
in the room of C. Arbuthnot, Esq., who had also accepted
the Chiltern Hundreds, on the motion of the CHANCELLOR
of the EXCHEQUER.