The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-05 00:00:00

the celay. e could not feel satisfied with the answer
of the Right Hon. Gentleman.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. PLUMPTRE said he believed there was a strong
feeling in the country that it was unnecessary these railway
carriages should travel on the Lord's day. There was
also a strong recommendation to that effect in the Report.
The engine-drivers and others were obliged to continue at
their labour day after day, and week after week, with co
opportunity of obtaining rest or religious instruction ;. and
it seemed to him that this was requiring of them more than
they had a right to do. It was, moreover, excluding
many conscientious persons from engaging in this employ-
ment. Many accidents had occurred on railways on the
Lord's day. In Scotland it was never once thought of to
run the traias on the Sabbath, and he thought the ne-
cessity of doing so was done away with by the fact of
the great facility given to travelling by railways. He
had felt it his duty to make these remarks, lscowing there
was a strong public feeling on the subject, and feeling
assured that it would be doing a great service to all em.
ployed upon railways, and to the public generally, to put
down travelling by railway on the Sabbath.
Mr. WARBURTON would put it to the consideration
of the House, that if they adopted this proposition they
must put down almost every other species of conveyance
by which persons of the middle and lower classes, could
travel cheaply, and, in caseslof necessity prohibit travelling
on Sunday to all who were unable to do so in a post-
chaise.—( Hear, hear.) If this system were once com-
menced, where was it to end ? Why, boys were kept to
tend sheep on Sunday. There were some things which
every one admitted, in profane times as well as Chris-
tian times, were necessary to be done on the Sabbath.
He would put it to the common sense of Hon. Gentlemen
whether, for carrying out their principle with moderation,
it was necessary to put down entirely all communication
by railway on the Sabbath.--( Hear, hear.)
Leave ws then given to bring in the Bill.
REGIOVRATION OF PARLIAMENTARY
ELECTORS. _

Lord J. RUSSELL then rose to ask for leave to bring
in a Bill for the Registration of Parliamentary Electors
in England. The Noble Lord said he had brought in a
Bill the last two years essentially the same as the Bill he
now asked for leave to bring in. There were at
at present a great number of revising barristers, and it was
known to any one at all conversant with this subject, that
among them were many gentlemen of little experience,
and whose decisions were in many cases impugned. In
the present state of the law, a person haying a vote allowed
by the revising barrister, might have it the next year dis-
allowed by another. This system was extremely vexa-
tious, and created great disaffection.—(Hear, hear.)
The Attorney-General, some years ago, thought it better
to have a plan by which they would secure a permanent
body of revising baristers, and the Hon. Member for Brid-
port bad brought forward that plan, which seemed to be
approved of by the House. One Bill had passed the
House ; but the Bill before the House last year had not passed
into a law. He now proposed, as last year, that there should
be 15 Revising Barristers, to be named by the Speaker at
first, from a list of 45 to be nominated by the Judges,
and that afterwards the nomination should be entirely in
the Speaker. He also proposed, in the present Bill, that
the offices should be held until death or resignation, or an
address for removal from both Houses of Parliament. He
thought as a,permanent body to make the situation as perma-
nent as possible, and togive to it as much strength of char actor
as they possibly could.—( Hear, hear.) Ho proposed
likewise to have a Court of Appeal of two Barristers ; and
baring done this, he proposed, instead of revision taking
place every year, that the first decision, after having gone
through the claim of the voter, should place him in such a
situation as to make him an established voter, with his
claim not liable to revision. He supposed from the Noble
Lord (Stanley) on the Irish Registration question, that
tills would tie the subject of some discussion, but be con-
ceived it a matter for discussion in Committee, and that
any modificatiOn the House might desire to make might be
there considered. But he hoped the House would not
leave the county electors in the situation in which they wet e
at present--( Hear, hear)—by which many of them, after
having gone year after year to a great distance to establish
their claims, might some year be prevented, by business
or otherwise, from going some 50 or 60 miles to esta-
blish their votes,and might have them struck off the register.
though the votes might be perfectly good.—( Hear, hear.)
lle would not farther detain the House, having before
brought the question before it, but would now simply ask
for leave to bring in the Bill..
Mr. LIDDELL was glad to bear that the Bill of the
Noble Lord would afford to county electors some of the
protection which they had a right to ask.—( Hear, hear.)
He wished to know whether in the Bill about to be brought
in there was any clause particularly noticing and for the
prevention of a fraud in the practice of controverted elec-
tions, which he was sorry is say had become common—he
alluded to the practice of the fraudulent personation of
electors.—( Hear, hear.) He thought this a proper op-
portunity of making some enactment upon this point, and
he would show in what particular point he thought the
present law defective. He believed it was admitted that
this was not only an audacious violation of the law,
but a violation of the privileges of the House.—(Hear.)
The practice involved the probability, almost the cer-
tainty, of the crime of perjury. It W4B only in particular
circumstances that it was resorted to, viz., when an clec.
tion was nearly ever, and parties being nearly balanced,
votes were eagerly sought, and when the vote was re-
ceived under the present law, there was no power to ap-
prehend the person offending. He thought that power
should be given to give such an individual into the cus-
tody of a policeman, in order that he might be detained,
and proof given either for or against him. He might be
told of this freedom of election, and the freedom of the
subject, but he could not think this was sufficient. He
thought such a fraud a greater violation of the privileges
of the House than that for which he had seen innocent
men condemned to a long imprisonment by an
alder of that Ilbuse, for a breach of its privi-
leges. He thought a criminal of this kind could
not complain of being taken into custody for the purpose
of ascertaining his guilt. An instance of this fraud bad
been recently stated, not only in the public prints, but in
an address of the new Member for Walsall to his consti-
tuents, in which he said that the Corn-law League polled
nine dead men, three of whom, when living, were consi-
dered decided Conservatives, and thus, not content with
agitating the minds of the living, the Anti- Corn.law
Igague disturbed in their graves the bones of these
Mpectahle and worthy Conservatives to poll their names
for a Liberal candidate.—(Laughter.) He mentioned the
subject to the Noble Lord in hope that ho would take
notice of this great evil in his Bill. But if the Noble Lord
did not,,,he gave notice that he should frame and propose
a clause to remedy the evil which he bad pointed out.
Colonel SIBTHORP wished to ask the Noble Lord,
as the Court of Appeal might be expected to sit but
seldom, and to have little to do, what salary the Judges
were to have?

Lord JOHN RUSSELL said it was proposed that
t ey should receive a yearly salary, but he was at that mo-
rn....t unable to state the amount.

Leave given.