The Sun.
London, England, 1848-06-21 00:00:00

House in spite of every effort made by the whole Tory aris-
tocracy, who would have given his weight in gold only to
get rid of him.—(Cheering and laughter.) The working
men now thought and acted for themselves; and lion.
Gentlemen should remember that the schoolmaster had been
abroad, and that there was a great difference between the
days of 1831 and those of 1848. Public affairs were now far
better understood, although he could wish education had
been still more widely extended.—(Hear, hear.) He thought
that a large suffrage—such as he hoped to see realised be-
fore long—was so consistent with the interests of all classes,
high and low, that he believed no Minister would be able
long to refuse it. It was as clear to him as any proposition
he had ever examined, that, if those were admitted within
the pale of the constitution who were now ranging discon-
tented over the country, a grand cause of such discontent
would be removed, and thereby the number of advocates
of order and peace would be increased.—(Hear, hear.) This,
therefore,', was the principal object ; all the others were
merely subsidiary. The extension of the suffrage was the
one great object—( Hear, hear)—all the others were
matters of detail. Having obtained an extension of the
suffrage, the result would be—for he would not trouble the
House with figures—according to his estimate, that 2,000,000
of votes would be added to the constituency.—( Hear, hear.)
This increase of the constituency was itself a good. The
more votes that were added the better. He hoped that all
would be included in the franchise who deserved it ; for it
was a heartbreaking circumstance to see men of ability and
talent, though in a low condition of life, excluded by law
from the exercise of their rights in a representative
constitution. If this was not to be a representative con-
stitution, it must be a military constitution ; it must
be one or the other, and, he hoped, when he looked
round at the state of the continent, that this
truth would be remembered ; it ought to ring in the ears of
those who obstructed the extension of the principle of re-
presentation, and he hoped it would continue to ring in their
ears until the object was obtained. If he found the county
prepared for the change, he was bound to explain why the
resolution,7put forth as the resolution of a committee, was
put in this shape. It was thought better to throw out the
principle, and to let the country say how far they would go.
having answered what he considered as the calumny of the
Noble Lord, and having stated the definition which he was
anxious to embody in an Act, in order that his plan
should have effect and operation, he would mention
one circumstance, which he had referred to on a
former occasion—namely, why he had put all into one reso-
lution. The extension of the suffrage without protection
would, in his opinion, be an evil, since in many cases voters
would be subject to a coercion and an influence which was
not very delicately exercised by masters; he therefore
thought it perfectly right, and he took it upon himself to
express the opinion on the part of the community at large,
that voters should be protected. It was not the humbler
classes alone who needed this protection ; the petitions bad
not been confined to those -classes: All had joined—Conser-
vatives and Whigs, the man of wealth and the tradesman,
mayors and justices of the peace, had joined in the prayer
that the suffrage should be extended; and the next and
most important question was, in what manner it should be
exercised. Hitherto there had been the grossest inequality.
What was to be done? It was not his intention to adopt the
plan proposed by some, of cutting the country into squares.
He was one of those who thought that every change was an
evil.—(Hear.) Every change ought, in his opinion, to be
well considered beforehand ; and he never would advocate
any change merely for the sake of change, or unless he was
sure it would effect great good. He did not, therefore, pro-
pose to divide the country anew, and he did not propose to
alter the proportion of Members for England, Scotland, and
Ireland. He would leave the proportions the same as they
now were. He was aware that there were counties with a
population treble the amount of other counties, and it might
be desirable to alter the limits of some counties, as well as
of some boroughs. He had the number of the population in
each county and in each borough, and he could state what
should be the average of each. The next proposition was
the vote by ballot. He knew that this subject had been
very fully discussed in this House upon former occasions,
and he was not now disposed to renew the discussion ; but
he would notice one objection to the ballot, namely, that
it was un-English. If the ballot was nn-English, was it
meant that bribery and coercion, against which it was
meant to guard, were English?—(Hear, hear.) If the
franchise was a trust, those in possession of it should vote
according to their honest opinion. If a man came into the
possession of an estate giving him the command over a cer-
tain number of votes, why should the men who had them
be called upon to vote at all, when they could not do so
honestly? But was it those men alone who required pro-
tection? Why, men with hundreds and thousands a year
had not courage to vote as they ought, and required a pro-
tection as well as the poor man. But it was the poor man
he wished chiefly to protect against the rich, in order that he
might give his vote freely, without suffering the conse-
quences which in many cases a working man endured if he
gave an honest direction to his vote. What was surprising
was, that the higher classes did not object to the Ballot
among themselves. They should do to others as they would
be done by. When they got to their clubs they voted by
ballot, and why not permit the poor man to exercise his
franchise by ballot ? He wished any man, when he came to
vote, to be able to go in an erect and independent manner
and exercise his right; he wished him to be as independent
in that act as the Honourable Member for Sunderland oppo-
site, and therefore he thought the ballot was necessary to
the due exercise of the elective franchise. Having dis-
posed of this point, the next was the duration of the Par-
liament. Some proposed that Parliaments should be elected
for five years, some for three years, and some for two years.
He admitted that there was no rule by which a person could
form an opinion upon this question, which depended upon
practical experience. His own opinion, after all his expe-
rience in that House, led him to say that if the Parliament
were elected for a not longer time than three years, that
term would afford a sufficient opportunity of control over
the representatives. If the elections were annual, it would
occasion trouble delay, and expense, though if his plan
were adopted candidates would be put to little expense. He
thought, however, taking it altogether, that Parliaments
ought not to be elected for more than three years. These
were, therefore, his propositions—household suffrage, under
the conditions he had mentioned; the more equal apportion-
ment of Members,to population; triennial Parliaments; and
vote by ballot. There was likewiie as' fifth proposition
which he wished to adopt. He wished to act upon the prin-
ciple he had before referred to, of doing to others as others
'ld to him. He sat in that House without qualification.
He was an elector, and as an elector he had a title to be
elected. In Scotland there was no qualification required
—no property qualification —but the fact of being an
elector. He was anxious to put the people of England
and Ireland on the same footing in this respect as thoee of
Scotland, where there was no property qualification, and
where even working men of Latent who had no property
qualification were not therefore excluded from the House.
Upon this ground, he thought that all the rest of the United
Kingdom should be put upon the same footing as Scotland
was, which would open the door for the removal of property
qualification. This was the plan of Reform which he thought
ought to be adopted ; he thought if the House stopped
short of this the plan would be defective ; he thought they
ought to carry it out entire, and- they stamild' beware of
making such another mistake as they had done in 1832. In
justification of his views he had no occasion to refer, but he
must refer, to the sentiments expressed by the Noble Lord
when he introduced the Reform Bill in 1831, which he sup-
ported in this strong manner, and he (Mr. Hume) saw no
reason why the Noble Lord should have since changed his
opinions. The Noble Lord, on the Ist of March, 1831, said
" But what is the case at this moment? The whole people
call loudly for Reform. That confidence, whatever it was,
which formerly existed in the constitution of this House,
exists no longer—it is completely at an end. Whatever may
he thought of particular acts of this House, I repeat that the
confidence of the country in the construction and constitu-
tion of the House of Commons is gone, and gone for ever.
I will say' more. I will say that it would be easier to
transfer the flourishing manufactures of Leeds and Manches-
ter to Gatton and Old Sarum, than to re-establish confidenee
and sympathy between this House and those whom it calls
its constituents. I end this argument, therefore, by saying,
that if the question be one of right, right is in favour of
Reform—if it be a question of reason, reason is in favour
of Reform—if it be a question of policy and expediency,
policy and expediency are in favour of Reform." He (Mr.
Hume) could not use stronger language to support his ar-
guments than this, and it was only necessary to read it to
show what the sentiments of the Noble Lord then were.
There was another passage of the same speech of the Noble
Lord which it was very important that ,the House should
bear in mind. The Noble Lord showed the necessity of a
change in the state of the representation at that time, and he
(Mr. Hume) wanted to show what the Noble Lord's opinions
then were :—" It will not be necessary on this occasion
that I should go over the ground which has frequently
before been gone over, for arguments in favour
of a change in the state of the representation ;
but it is due to the ' House that I should
state shortly the points on which the reformers rest their
case. In the first place, then, the ancient constitution of our
country declares that no man shall be taxed for the support
of the state who has not consented by himself, or his repre-
sentative, to the imposition of these taxes; the well known
statute De Tallagio non conceded° repeats the same lan-
guage ; and although some historical doubts have been
thrown upon it, its legal meaning has never been disputed.
It includes all the freemen of the land,' and *vides that
each county should send to the Commons of the realm two
knights, each city two citizens, and each borough two bur-
gesses." He read the
.next passage to introduce the two
branches of his plan, namely, the ballot and the duration of
Parliaments;—" I ought to notice certain points which are
looked to with great interest by the most zealous advocates
for reform but which are net included in the proposed
measure. In the first place, then, I have to state that
there is no provision in this gill for shortening the dura-
tion of Parliament. That is a subject which has been
much considered, but, upon the whole, without stating the
opinion of his Majesty's Ministers on it, I may observe that
it was thought better to leave that matter to be brought for-
awaßr l
la saffaescetpi
na
gr a tfer
aquestion
and tha nmatottebrrsinogf iltocaati trbeefeernedncoef,
separate and essentially different from any question concern-
ing the duration of Parliament. Without saying to what
opinion his Majesty's Ministers incline on this point, I may
say that they consider it of the utmost importance not to
burden this measure with any other, but to reserve it by
itself, leaving it to any other Member, at any time that may
be considered fitting, to introduce the question, and to make
it the subject of future consideration." " There is another
question, likewise, which has excited a vast deal of interest
in the country, and of which no mention is made in this
Bill, I mean the vote by ballot. I have no doubt the ballot
has much to recommend it as a mode of election. More in-
genious arguments never fell under my eye on any subject
than I have seen in favour of the ballot.', He (Mr. Hume)
believed that the Noble Lord and his colleagues wore at that
time in favour of the ballot. " But, at the same time, I am
bound to say that I hope this House will pause before it
sanctions the motion which the Hen. Member for Bridport
is to make, and adopts the mode of voting by ballot."
Now, he (Mr. Hume) said that these arguments of the
Noble Lord (Lord John Russell) were very good, and ought
to weigh with the House on the present occasion ; but he
wanted to clear away, as the Noble Lord did, the objections
to a great measure of reform, and in the same speech the
Noble Lord referred to the doubts entertained by some as to
the expediency of bringing forward a great and effectual
measure of reform, when the Noble Lord said,—" I think,
therefore, that they have a right to be believed when they
come forward with a measure of effectual reform, and say
that they do not so for any sinister purpose of their own.
Interested as they are—all must be—in the future welfare
and prosperity of the country, they do think that thif mea-
sure will tend to promote that future welfare, and secure
that future prosperity; and above all do they think that it
is the only way calculated to insure permanency to that con-
stitution which has so long been the admiration of foreign
nations on account of its popular spirit, but that admiration
cannot be made to exist much longer unless, by an infusion
of new popular spirit, you show that you are determined'
not to be the representatives of small classes or parti-
cular interests, but that you will form a body which,
representing the people,—which, springing from
fairly !he
people—which, sympathising with the people, can
call upon the people to support any future burdens, d
,like them-
soay.teo
do a;o;
united heart and hand with them, and look
counter, struggle
confident wi th any ftuhtautr e
those difficulties
who
e/er ot all
ask them tTsamy
selves, to the glory and welfare
the P
time?
wad
clime observationa applicable to the preeeht