The Sun.
London, England, 1848-06-20 00:00:00

banner of a really Liberal Constitution.

Don VICENTE DE PEIEDi has indicated the man
whose name (according to his opinion as an impartial

•
Spaniard) should be the watchword of Spanish pa

:riotistn, and whose hand should raise the standard of

Spanish nationality.

The motion about to be brought forward in the
House of Commons this evening by the Honourable
Member for Montrose may be divided into two parts.
The first, affirming the existence of a state of facts so
manifestly unjust and inequitable, that the indignation
of every thinking man, who feels the wrongs thereby
inflicted, must be thoroughly aroused. The second,
pointing out fitting remedies by which these
grievances may be, at least, partially removed, and
the representation of the people placed upon such a

to nominate the representatives. " These boroughs,
containing altogether a population of 370,200 persons,
counterbalance in the House of Commons the entire
representation of the following cities, boroughs, and
towns, viz.: —London, Liverpool,; Leeds, Lambeth,
Manchester, Marylebone, Finsbury, Sheffield,
Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Westminster, Birming-
ham, Bristol, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin, Cork,
Belfast, Wolverhampton, Greenwich, Salford,
Oldham, Stockport, Preston, Bolton, Sunderland,
Newcastle, Nottingham, Stoke-upon-Trent, Aber-
deen, Dundee, Dudley, Hull, Bradford, and
Huddersfield, with an aggregate population
of 4,638,0004 And be it remembered that
these are the inhabitants of the chief seats of our
manufacturing and commercial industry, who are
thus set at nought by the representatives of one
thirteenth of their numbers, and less than the one-
hundredth part of their wealth.

The metropolis itself, with more than 2,000,000 of
inhabitants, returns but sixteen Members to Perlis-
' meat; while the boroughs of Bridgenorth, Honiton,
Harwich, Thetford, Richmond (Yorkshire), Totnes,
Stafford, and Lymington, with an aggregate popula-
tion of less than 40,000 persons, return an equal
number. Thus one group, sixteen in number,
represent over 2,000,000 of people ; and more
property, perhaps, than is contained in any other
part of the world ; while another group, con-
sisting of the same number, represent less than
40,000—with but petty interests at stake, and many
of them, so far as the franchise is concerned, under
local influence. Again, we may find 22 boroughs,
containing barely 100,000 inhabitants, sending an
equal number of representatives with the 20 chief
cities and boroughs in the United Kingdom, with
populations amounting in the whole to 5,780,000.
We are unable, from want of space, to bring for-
ward other illustrations contained in the remarkable
pamphlet to which we hare above alluded. We
shall, however, state the following results :—via.,
" That the majority in Parliament represents less
than one-eighth of the body of the people, and but
about one-sixth of the whole electoral body, while the
distinction is still greater with regard to property
as the majority only represents 7 1-3 per cent. of the
rateable property; or, in other words, " one• fourteenth
of the whole rateable property of the country can
control the remaining thirteen-fourteenths."
How can the great body of the people be con-
tented under such circumstances ; and is it not mani-
fest that any mere extension of the franchise alone
will be inadequate to remedy the evil, unless accom-
panied by a more equal apportionment thereof ?

The vast advantages of the principle of mutual
insurance has long been tested so far as "life and
marine assurances" were concerned. It is, however,
strange, that until recently it has never been at-
tempted, with the exception of a few local offices
to apply it to cases of fire, to which, of all others, it'
would appear to be the best suited. In life assurances
there is a constant wearing away of the thing
insured, and the absolute certainty that at some time
or another a considerable sum will have to be
defrayed by the office. It is, however, otherwise in
cases of fire. There is no increase of risk, or
greater liabilities to casualties in consequence
of previous and long.continued exemption from
loss. The mutual system would not only make
parties more careful themselves, but would give to
every person soinsured a direct and positive interest
to prevent anything, whether in the shape of fraud or
negligence, by which the interests of the general
body could be impaired or deteriorated. Long ex-
perience has shown that the premiums calculated are
amply sufficient to cover the losses accruing during
each period, and to leave considerable profits divisible
amongst the proprietors. The object of the Mutual
insurance system is that these profits should be
divisible amongst the parties insured at stated
periods, a certain portion thereuf being retained
until a certain sum has been accumulated
to form a guarantee fund sufficient to prevent the
possibility of any claim being made upon the general
body of the assurers.

We refer our readers to the advertisement of the
" British Empire Mutual Fire Assurance Company"
which appears in another part of our impression this
day, and by which the public in general are invited
to participate in the advantages which could formerly
only hare been attained in some few country districts.
The British Empire Society has been formed under
the Friendly Societies' Acts, and enrolled accord-
ing to the provisions thereof. It is provided
that the parties insured shall not be liable to any
contribution towards losses, an adequate fund having
been subscribed by some of the members, in addition
to the premiums received, to make good losses, until
such an amount has accumulated from the profits as
to render this precaution unnecessary. Any disputes
which may arise may be settled by arbitration, ac-
cording to the provisions of the Friendly Societies'
Acts. These are advantages which we doubt not
the public will be fully able to appreciate.

SPAIN.
Madrid journals of the 14th have arrived.
General NARVAEZ had a conference, on the pre-
vious day, With ORLANDO, it was supposed for the
purpose of endeavouring to induce ORLANDO to accept
the office of Minister of Finance.
MADRID BOLIA, Jima 14.---Three per Cents.,
o 1 3-16
don, 41 6 ;
0 Five per Cents., 12k. Exchange on Lon-
.

THE WOUNDED IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
An official statement, relative to the period from Feb.
23 to April 28, 1848, records the number of wounded
received into the civil hospitals of Paris at 613, of whom
94 were soldiers, 531 non-military males,
and 18 females;
458 had left the hospitals, of whom 71 were soldiers,
375 non-military, and 12 women; 103 had died—viz., 18
soldiers, 85 non-military, and 2 women, and 80 remained
in the hospital at the latter date.

* Electoral Districts, or the Apportionment ot the
Representatives of the Country upon the basis of its
Population, &c.," by Alexander Mackay, Esq., of the
Middle Temple, barrister-at-law.
t Porter's Progress of the Nation, p. 537.
I Mackay's Electoral Districts, p. 14.

! footing that every reasonable cause of complaint
would be set aside. The facts asserted are threefold
" That the House of Commons as- at present consti-
tuted does not fairly represent the population,
the property, or the industry of the country." Each
of these points is capable of the most satisfactory and
conclusive proof, so as to render it impossible to con-
trovert the accuracy of the statement in any par-
ticular. We shall endeavour to establish the truth
of each of these propositions in detail, so as to fix
the premises from which the subsequent deductions
are to be drawn.
A ♦ery remarkable pamphlet* by ALEXANDER
MACKAY, Esq., barrister-at-law, to which we have
already referred, contains a variety of statistical facts,
prepared with the greatest degree of accuracy and
industry, from which we shall quote largely on the
present occasion, and with which, we trust, every
person anxious for the success of the new Reform
movement may make himself fully acquainted, so as
to be enabled to confute on every occasion the advo-
cates of a restricted franchise, the opponents of equal
rights and privileges to all.
The United Kingdoms contain in round numbers
28,000,000 of inhabitants. The male adults may be
reckoned at a little more than one-fourth of the en-
tire number, or 7,000,000, and we find that the total
number of inhabited houses in 1841 t was, in Eng-
land, 2,753,295; in Scotland, 503,357; and in Ire-
land, 1,328,839; or, in all, nearly 4,600,000
persons who would be entitled to the fran-
chise if household suffrage was introduced,
there are, however, only about 1,000,000 who pos-
sess a voice in the election of representatives, so that
6-7ths of the adult population, and 7-9ths of the
householders are disfranchised, without any fault of '
their own, under the present system. It is, there-
fore manifest that the House of Commons, as at pre-
sent constituted, does not fairly represent the popula-
tion of the country.
Unjust and inequitable as this may appear, it is
scarcely so bad as the gross and glaring inequalities
that pervade the actual representation. We find the
largest constituencies neutralized, and their wishes
set at nought :by the nominees of individuals, and
one-eighth of the population sending a greater num-
ber of representatives to Parliament than the remain-
i ; s even-eighths, and, consequently, enabled to
outvote them on any question that may arise. Ex-
empli gratin—There are 42 boroughs, returning 69
Members, which are still subject to local influences,
and where a few aristocratic families are enabled