The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-30 00:00:00

ebeeniact

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 1849.

While the general attention has been attracted to-
wards almost every other quarter of the globe, Ger-
many, for the time being almost unobserved, has been
gradually sinking into an abyss of difficulties. During
the-last month our observations have been necessarily
absorbed by those more startling events which have
illustrated the current history of both hemispheres.
Wa have witnessed the rise of Hungary to inde-
pendence, her children conquering the oppressors of
their country, and, to use the noble words of ARMAND
Maui/Ater, inscribing their rights upon the bulle-
tins. of their victori3s. " We have seen the victor
of Sobraon successful in accomplishing -what
the victor of Arbela had only ineffectually attempted.
We have seen the tranquillity of Canada interrupted,
and Fee loyalty insulted, by riots fomented by men
beggared in reputation, and without even the shadow
of a grievance to palliate the crime of rebellion. We
have seen the ancient monarchy of Denmark battling
for the integrity of its dominions in the peninsula of
Jutland, and threatening the seaports of Pomerania
with the fleets of the Baltic, We have seen spatn

On Monday we directed the public attention to the
vigorous exertions now making throughout the entire
country for the attainment of the social and political
reforms so urgently required by the great body of
the people. The Metropolitan Financial and Par-
liamentary Reform Association have put forward a
programme of the legislative alterations for w hich
they are prepared to agitate, and these alterations are
sufficiently extensive to ensure the active co-opera-
tion of every true reformer. The first point insisted
on is the extension of the elective franchise
to many of those who are now wholly unrepresented,
who are mere political cyphers, without any voice in
the enactment of the laws by which they are to be
governed and controlled. Such persons have indeed
but too much reason to complain of the injustice ex-
hibited towards them. They contribute largely to
the national expenditure, not only to the maintenance
and support of the public establishments, but also to
the interest of a debt contracted before they were
born, and for which they received no valuable
consideration. Their labour was mortgaged be-
fore they came into the world, and not
a single day passes, not even a meal can be taken,
that a portion of the earnings of their honest industry
not absorbed in providing for the expenses of the
State. It has been said that there can be no "just
taxation without representation." The truth of the
assertion has never been controverted, and yet, under
the present sys'em of indirect imposts, the humblest
labourer, the hardest worked operative is bound to
pay far more than his proportion of the public
burdens, while his claim to the elective franchise
is superciliously and contemptuously rejected. The
prices of tea, of sugar, of tobacco, of beer, and of
other humble luxuries, that have almost become
necessaries of life, are enormously increased by the
Customs and Excise duties. Forty or fifty per cent.
of his earnings are expended in the additional charges
thereby occasioned, but he is not permitted to have a
voice in the election of those by whom the national
expenditure is controlled and regulated.
A comparison of the number oft
the
Lnd T registered United
voters
with the actual population in
King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland,
gill exhibit
this anomaly in the strongest
light, will
afford the strongest illustration of the multitudes that
are thus excluded from the privileges and rights that
should belong to every free-born citizen in a free

country.
The population of the United Kingdom amounts
in round numbers to nearly twenty-eight millions of
persons; of England and Wales to more than sixteen
millions; of Scotland to nearly three millions, and
of Ireland to nearly nine millions. The number
of registered electors for that vast body
amounts to but little more than a single
million, that is to say, there is but one person
possessing a vote for the election of a popular repre-
sentative out of every twenty-eight throughout the
country, and this proportion will be still further re-
duced, if the number of those who are registered
twice or oftener in different counties, be taken into
consideration. The mere fact will, however, appear
sufficiently startling without entering into more
minute calculations, by which the disparity may be

* " Some Observations on the Affairs of Germany, in
a Letter addrt ss,ci to the Right Hon. ViF:count Pgliner-
won." By Sir Harry Verney, Bart., M.P. Bvo., pp. 12.
James Ridgway, London; 18.19.

exhibited in even a more striking light. It is true
that women and children are included
in the twenV-eight rnil!ions above re.
ferred to, but the adult males may
be fairly estimated at one•fourth of the entire num-
ber, or seven millions. llere, then, we find at least
six persons excluded for every one entitled to the
elective franchise, and amongst them will be found
many as fully qualified by education and general in-
telligence, by the possession of liberal opinions and
sound patriotic views, as any that could be produced
even from among the ranks of the hereditary legis •
lators. These parties now call upon their more
favoured brethren to aid them in a peaceful
and constitutional agitation for the attainment
of their political rights that have hereto-
fore so unjustly been withheld. The act
will carry with it its own reward. The infusion of
additional popular strength into the Legislature will
speedily remove the various abuses that have sprung
up during successive centuries. If a full and fair
representation of the people were once achieved, the
nation would not long suffer under the evils by which
it is now afflicted. It would not call in vain for fiscal,
financial, or monetary reform.
The association does not at present demand a uni-
versal suffrage ; it does not insist upon every
inhabitant of the country 'being entitled to
the elective franchise. Education has not
as yet, perhaps, been sufficiently diffused to qualify
every man to form a sound opinion on public affairs,
but that affords no sufficient justification for the
narrow limits within which the franchise is restricted.
It is not because every man could judiciously exercise
the right, that vast numbers are to be excluded who
labour under no disqualification. The franchise to all
should be the rule—the want of it should be the excep-
tion, in place of, as under the present system, where
the absence is the rule, the possession the exception.
To effect these great and comprehensive changes
gradually is the object of the association. They de-
sire to obtain for every male occupier of a tenement,
or any portion of a tenement, the right to be regis-
tered as an elector, the only condition being "his
being rated, or having claimed to be rated, for the
relief of the poor in respect of the qualifying pre-
mises." An addition of between three and four mil-
lions, or of about one half of the adult male population
of the United Kingdom, would be thereby imme-
diately made to the several constituencies. There are
few, indeed, who could with justice complain if such
a proposition were adopted. Every honest and in-
dustrious man might look forward to attaining such
a position by his own exertions, and the prospect
would stimulate those exertions, so that while endea
vouring to obtain the franchise he would be qualify-
ing himself for the judicious exercise thereof when
attained.

A more judicious decision, or one better calcu-
lated to unite all honest reformers under one
banner, could not have been devised. Those who
have heretofore advocated the household suffrage can
scarcely object to its extension to lodgers
who have the exclusive right to their own
apartments, and who are rezpomible, in re-
spect thereof, for a fair proi ortion of the
poor-rate chargeable on the entire tenements ;
while, on the other hand, the supporters of universal
suffrage cannot consistently remain neutral, or refuse
to co operate for the attainment of that which would
constitute so large an instalment of the justice which
they are disposed to claim on behalf of the unrepre-
sented population of the United Kingdom.

[CIE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
The Moniteur publishes the following official ac-
count of the resignation by the President of the Con-
stituent Assembly of his powers into the hands of the
new Legislative Assembly:—
M. ARMAND AIARRAST, attended by the Vice-
Presidents, Secretaries, and Questors, received the
Provisional President and Secretaries of the Legisla-
tive Assembly, whom he addressed as follows :
" The bureau of the Constituent Assembly holds
it to be an honour to await and receive you here for
sake of authenticating that under the empire of our
Republican Constitution, there cannot be any inter-
mittence in the legislative powers. Your presence
puts an end to our powers and duties. Oar career
is terminated, and yours begins. Elect of the people !
be ye welcome. More happy than your predecessors,
may you shun, at least, the horrors of civil war.
If, as I hope, the national Legislative Assembly shall
worthily respond to the wishes of France, your pre-
decessors, who are first to salute you, will equally be
the first to thank you and to bless you."
M. KERATRY replied—" In the name of the Le-
gislative Assembly, I accept your good wishes and
the hopes you have had the goodness to express in
favour of our future labour. Faithful to our man-
date, we will endeavour to respond to public expecta-
tion, happy to be seconded by you and your honour-
able friends. We do you the justice to say that you
have traversed difficult days with nobleness and
courage ; and if blood has unhappily flowed, you
have put an end to deplorable calamities; and better
days already shine on our country, for which you
merit thanks, and by my voice the Legislative As-
sembly expresses gratitude."
At the meeting of the Legislative Assembly on
Monday, M. ODILON BARROT ascended the tribune,
and said that the Legislative Assembly was now,
according to the terms of the Constitution, convoked
dej ure. It holds its power by the will of the nation.
The executive power for the moment does no more
than declare the fact, and join in the hopes which the
country has placed in you. A general expose of the
affairs of the Government will be placed before you.
The Government will be ready to fulfil that duty as
soon as the Assembly should be regularly constituted.
The sitting of yesterday commenced by the nomi •
nation of the presidents and secretaries of the several
bureaux for the ensuing month. The following were
the norninations-Ist bureau, president, M. Mole ;
secretary, M. de Larcy-2d, M. de Panat, M. Berard
—3d, not known-4th, Marshal Bugeaud, M. de
Ga:londe-sth, General Bedeau, M. Victor Lefranc
—6th, M. Baroche, M. Poujoulet-7th, M. Dupin,
M. de Merode-Bth, M. de hemusat, id. E. Leroux
—9th, M. Gouin, M. de Remusat-10th, M. de
Broglie, P.I. de Tabouet—llth, M. Thiers, M.
H.
Fortoul-12th, N. Bauchart, M. de Laboulie —l3th,
Mauguin, N. Fresnau-14th, N. Fs an 9 Arago.
Leverrier-15th, General Cavaignac, N. Payer.
Each bureau then appointed five commissioners to
verify the election returns.
A discussion then took place on a motion for an-
nulling the election returns which may have been
supposed to have been influenced by the telegraphic
dispatch of M. LEON FAUCHER, which, it appears,
contained an additional portion marked " confiden-
tial," in which the Prefects were enjoined to urge the
Ministerial nominees who might be elected to pro-
ceed to Paris with all speed, probably with a view of
assisting in the contemplated coup d'etat for the de-
struction of the Republic. The discussion was ad-
journed to the next day.
The National declares that M. DUFAURE has posi-
tively declined taking office. The following appears
in the Pattie on the subject of the Ministry :—" Vs e
have reason to believe that nothing has been resolved
upon as to the composition of the Ministry, and that
all the compositions hitherto proposed have been
abandoned. It is asserted that Marshal BuGEAUD is
charged with the formation of the Ministry."
The Place de la Concorde and all the avenues lead-
ing to the Assembly were occupied by troops, There
was not, however, the least attempt at disorder, and it
would seem as though General CHANGARNIER'S sole
object was to harass the troops, for he ought by this
time to be aware that his efforts to exasperate, the
people are utterly useless.
The following official announcement of the dissolu-
tion of the electoral committee of the club of the Rue
de Poitiers has been " communicated" to the
journals:—

"The electoral committe I' r.naed.by the old club of the
twtsielllf since the elections
-have
dehe
ePno Poitiers
nhaatsed. dissolvedi uei°t
mission
the
remembered that
aryThii propaganda of
anti-
socialista:etd,
d e d to its te
propaganda.mpor
itad
considerable funds were collected, ands greateing
them has already been expanded upon the portionob. of
which they were destined. rho committee hai
notobject t t o
seconded the establishment and the distribution or only
po-
pular papers, but it has had composed thirty-five
pamphlets containing sound ideas upon social morality,
: . 1-1 nas distributed, at the lowest pric 5, 4,435,000 co-
pies of each. These works have not entirely exhausted
.he whole of the sums collected. There still remains an
important amount, which is to be appiied in the first in-
stance on a permainent work on social conservation.
The committee has resolved to remit this balance to a
society about to be formed fur et,mbatting those doctrines,
which are adverse to the interests and happiness of all.
This society will shortly publish its organization and
its programme,"
The Ledru Rollin section of the Legislative
Assembly have formed a club for the discussion of all
important questions which may be brought forward
by the Assembly.
The Presidents are—Ledru Rollin, Able Lammen-
nais, Benne, and Devhle. The Secretaries are—
l3ertholin, Pelletier, Sergeant Rattier, and Sergeant
c
mmissaire. The Treasurer—Sergeant-d aj or
Boichot. Questor-11.1. Brives.
The club last night determined to support the ful-
l() •
sung members as their
candidates
for office-

bearers of the Assembly :—President of the A ssem-
; bly, M. Ledru Rollin ; Vice-Prt..7.idents, MM. La-
mennairs, F. 'Prat, Mathieu (de is Drome), Devilie,
Baune, and Boichot ; Secretaries, MM. Gambon,
Bethelon, Pelletier, Nadaut, Jules Jeroux, and Corn-
missaire ; Questors, MM. Brivi:s, Dufraisse, and
Rattier.
A Socialist banquet, attended by no less than 1,800
persona, to the representatives of the Montagne, tool:
place on Monday at the Jardin do la Liberte Barriere
Poissonniere. There were about twelve representa-
tives present, among whom were M. P. LEROUX and
Sergeant RATTIER. M. LEDRU ROLLIN did not
attend. While the company was at diener a com-
missary of police appeared, and claimed his right to
be present. This being refused, he retired, but before
two speeches were delivered, and while Sergeant
RATTIER was addres.sing the company, he re-
appeared, accompainied by two companies of in-
fantry. The President immediately protested against
the violence used, and the whole party at one rose
and left the place without the slightest disturbance
or violence, but crying " Vive la Republique Demo-
cratique et Sociale."
Lord WALLSCOURT died in Paris on Sunday.
It. is said that the Foreign Minister has assured the
POPE'S Nuncio of the intention of the French Govern-
ment to disavow M. DE LESSEPS, and to
..recal him
from Rome, inasmuch as he bad exceeded ids instruc-
tions by treating with the Roman triumvirs. It is
supposed that the PRESIDENT of the REPUBLIC has
been persuaded to adopt this step by M. DE FaELoux,
who appears to have obtained a complete ascendancy
over him.
The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse on
Tuesday at 53f. 45e.; the Fire per Cents., at 80f. 403.;
Orleans Railroad Shares, 76011; Rouen, 507 f. 50c.;
Havre, 255 f.; Great Northern, 416 f. 250.; Avignon,
190 f.; Vierzon, 300 f.; Basle, 100 f.; Boreaux, 403 f.
75c.; Paris and Strasburg, 362!. 50c.; Tour:: and
Nantes, 310 f.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, MAY 29.
Boulogne and Amiens, 634—Great Indian Peninsular, 4%
—Ditto, %—Northern of France, 914—Rouen and Havre,
914.