The Sun.
London, England, 1851-05-07 00:00:00

SUN,

LON DON,

for the introduction of this measure. The case of the late
election of St. Alban's was similar to the cases of Sudbury
and Great Yarmouth. The mode of proceeding adopted was
this—a house was taken, as it was supposed, for the purposes
'of a committee of one of the candidates. There were two
means of access to the principal room in it. Tr e one was
through a particular street, and the other through an alley,
called by the expressive name of " Sovereign-alley." A.'
number of voters, it was proved, went by the street one by
one into this room, in which a person sat who, it was alleged;
was the person who bribed. Each voter, as he promised this
person his vote, went out by the other door. Although they
had not the actual proof that this person referred to paid
• money to these voters, it was satisfactorily given in evidence
that the latter, upon leaving the room, went into a public-
, house, and there exhibited four or five sovereigns each. It
• was true that those persons when examined swore they had not
- received any money for their votes ; but when they swore that
they were not in possession of any money, it was distinctly
proved by respectable evidence that they were in possession of
money. Very little doubt remained on the minds of the
committee that they had received money in return for their
votes. The parson who sat in the room, as described, was

Edwardes, wile, however, was not examined. There was not
the slightest doubt in the minds of the Committee but that
bribery was committed. It was, however, necessary that
further inquiry should be instituted. In 1845 an election
took place at St. Alban's, and a Committee was appointed to
try the merits of a petition presented against the election,
when it appeared that Mr. Edwardes was the prominent per-
son also on that occasion. Certain proceedings having then
taken place in Parliament in respect to that, as well as other
elections, there was a compromise entered into and the peti-
tion was withdrawn. The object of the Committee was
thereupon frustrated, but they made a special report of that
c ise to the House. If, then, there was to be an inquiry into
this matter, he submitted, upon the authority of the proceed-
ings taken by that House and the House of Lords in the
Sudbury case, that the inquiry should proceed through a
commission. There could be but one opinion entertained
in respect to this subject, and that was that a system of
bribery unhappily prevailed in St. Alban's to a most
alarming extent. It was, then, our bounden duty to do
everything in our power to put down this bribery, which
tended to lower the character of that Nouse and to degrade
and demoralise the parties who were immediately concerned
•in it. The Hon. Gentleman concluded by asking leave to
. introduce his Bill.
. Mr. COBDEN. rose to move the addition of words so as
to include in the motion any bribery, treating, or corruption,
that might Lave taken place at the last election for the Fal-
kirk district of burghs. He represented on that occasion a
certain portion of the constituency who had complained of
these practices, and who had petitioned that the Falkirk
burghs might be included in the proposed inquiry. The
petitioners complained of the gross treating and demoralisa-
tion that had taken place, arid stated that the spirit-shops
in certain localities had been opened to the inhabitants! at
the expense of the sitting Member. He had to inform the
House that the petition against the sitting Member had been
withdrawn without the knowledge of the parties who had
, signed it. In a letter which he had received from the Pro-
vost ot Falkirk he expressed the disappointment felt by the
electors at the withdrawal of the petition, and stated that
never since the Reform Bill had he witnessed such scenes
of drunkenness and dissipation as at the last election. He
(Mr. Cobden) had no feeling of hostility to either of the
parties who were engaged in that election. He believed
that both candidates were advocates of free trade, but there
was so little difference between their general politics, that
he bad no political leaning to one more than to the other.
The Falkirk burghs were five in number, some of them as
tar apart as thirty miles, and situated in different coun-
ties. It was difficult to understand upon what prin-
ciple they had been grouped together. Up to 1841
the character of these burghs, like that of most of the Scotch
burghs, bad been unimpeachable in point of political mo-
rality. The practices complained of began in 1841 in the
burgh of Airdrie, when the bre., her of the present Member
was a candidate. In 1846, when Lord Lincoln was elected
in the room of Mr. Baird, who had resigned, he was op-
posed by Mr. Wilson, and at that election the malpractices
which had been before confined to Airdrie extended to the
other burghs. In 1847 Lord Lincoln stood again, and was
opposed by Mr. Boyd, and since then for scenes of dissipa-
tion and undue influence Falkirk and Hamilton had become
as bad as Airdrie. With regard to the last election he held
in his hand depositions which had been taken by a legal
gentleman, and which corroborated the statements in the
petition as to the treating and demoralisation that had taken
place. One person, Robert Binney, a grocer and spirit dealer
in Grahamstown, a suburb of Falkirk, stated that he was asked
to vote for Mr. Baird, and declined; that he was afterwards
visited by some of Mr. Baird's friends, particularly by a Mr.
ISPLaren, an active supporter of Mr. Baird-that while they
were in his house several people came to the bar, when Mr.
Baird's friends ordered him to give them what they wished, for
Mr. Baird was rich enough to pay. This man went on
to state that he considered that a sufficient order to keep
open •house till the day of nomination, and accordingly
•supplied these people with whisky, brandy, porter, ale, and
vinegar cordial.-(Laughter.) He further stated than on the
day of nomination some of these people came to his house for
drink as early as six o'clock, and said they had come for their
"morning." Hon. Members who had been in Scotland
would perhaps know what a " morning" meant.-(A laugh.)
Several got drunk rapidly, and before nine o'clock seven er
eight were lying quite drunk opposite the door. Binney
states he gave one man two bottles of whisky to assist in
taking the drunken people away.-(Laughter.) Boys of 10
and 14 got drunk in the street. women," says Binney,
"were drunk in my house, except those who came to take
their husbands home."-(Laughter, and:cries of " Hear.")
Now he had in his hand at least a dozen of similar statements
from publicans. One of the name of Waugh, a spirit-dealer,
in Grahamstown, stated-" On the Monday before the nomi-
nation, Mr. M'Laren, Mr. Baird's friend, and a writer to the
signet, his agent, came and told me to provide refreshment;
M•Laren said he would be responsible. In the course of the
evening 'SOO: people came and had whisky, brandy, and rum
cordial.- (Hear, hear ) An order cause to let them have
drink." He would now refer to the evidence of several re-
spectable inhabitants of these burghs. The respectable por-
tion of the inhabitants of such burghs would be greatly
to-blame if they did not denounce the scenes of dissipa-
tion that they saw aronnd them. Even seven righteous
men might save such a burgh from becoming a political
Gomorrah. Dr. Hamilton, of Falkirk, returning home the
night before the election, states-" I observed two youths
lying in the middle of the road, and found both of them in a
beastly state of intoxication. On addressing them, one ex-
claimed, "Oh, there's open house to-night at Waugh's."-
(Hear.) The Revel Alexander M'Farlane, minister of the
united Presbyterian Church, states-" I was coming home
the night before the election from the Carron Works. I met
a great manypeople, and saw so much demoralisation as to
make me believe that it would neutralise all the good that
might have been otherwise effected by ministers ot the Gos-
pel "- (Hear.) He (Mr. Cobden) might be told that these
men so brutalised were not electors. If anything could
make the demoralisation more demoniacal it was the very
practices that had prevailed at the Falkirk election. There
were some spirit-dealers whose votes it was thought desir-
able to have. If the candidate had invited the voters into
a 'room and given each 51., it would have been virtue
itself compared with what had been done, for publicans
bad been ordered to admit men, women, and chil-
dren, and to give them as much drink as they pleased.
The evil one himself could not have devised anything so
black and detestable. He had in his hand the declaration
of one man-a father and member of a temperance society.
-(A laugh.) He could tell those Honourable Gentleman
who laughed, that there was no more useful-no more ho-
nourable or more respectable member of society, than the
man who tried by his example to rescue the working man
from habits of drunkenness, however it might serve the pur-
poses of some to keep him in a state of degradation. This
Man (Mr. Arnott) states :-" The day before the election I
found my son-a boy of twelve years of age-lying on the
rug in a state of intoxication. My -wife said she had
picked him up in the street, and he afterwards told me that
he had had whisky at Waugh's.- (Hear, hear.) My wife
tells me that before the election my daughter came to tell
her that her brother was Mu in the street; ' that she saw
his brought home, when he vomited tremendously, and
then fell asleep."•-(Hear, hear.) Such was a sample of
the practices that had prevailed. The favourite mode of
corrupting the constituency of Falkirk was to open the pub-
lic-houses to all corners, and allow them to drink
what quantity they pleased of ardent spirits. Similar
scenes occurred at Hamilton. He had quite a little volume
describing what had taken place at Airdrie, the town in
which Mr. Baird resided. The lion. Member and his
brother were large employers of labour in the iron works
near Airdrie. He asked what was the first duty of a suc-
cessful wealthy individual to the community that had grown
up under Lis auspices? Undoubtedly it was the first duty
of the capitalist to endeavour by his example and by their
education to lead that community up in the paths of sobriety
and of virtue.-(flear, hear.) He was sorry to say that such
was not the case here ; that the enormous wealth possessed
by the family of the Hon. Member was exercised for a
totally different purpose.-(Hear, hear.)( He said that the
scenes of debauchery begun in Airdrie when the brother of
the Hon. Member was a candidate; and that bad as the
scenes were last year, they were nothing to what they had
been in 1841. There were two cases of bribery against the
Provost at that time, and there was one case of abduction in
Which the police were concerned.- (Hear, hear.) lie re-
ferred to the case of a witness, who had been then offered
201. for his vote. He bad ten cases of attempted
bribery, with the then Provost implicated in two of
them. It was sufficient to say of the treating that in
a population of less than 15,000 there had been 41 public-
houses kept open, in which drink was freely given to all who ,
came to the election. To show this lie referred to the testi-
mony. of two ministers of the Gospel, the Rev. James
M'Gowan and the Rev. Alexander Baron. Both corrobo-
rated what had been already stated, and the first testified
that it was a general desire, to prevent the recurrence of
each scenes, that the town should be disfranchised. He had,
ip addition to this, the sums charged by the public-houses for
supplying drink to all corners. The bills were of different
amounts, 401., 80/., 901., 256/, 2801., 404 321. And then
there was a mysterious man in this case, as in others. There
Was a roan who went by the significant came " Goldy," or
"the man with the bag."-(Laughter.) This man was sup-
posed to be a person of the name of Hallett, a writer, or a
writer's clerk in Ayr; and then to ascertain the facts with
respect to that person it was his wish to have a Committee
appointed.-(Hear, hear,) What he had now stated with
regard to Falkirk, Ayr, and Hamilton, was perfectly
correct, though in a mitigated form as regarded
Linlithgow and Lanark; and now, having laid these facts
before the House, he asked whether he was to be debarred
from inquiry by any technical rules? He said that here was
a case without precedent-here was a case that was charac-
terised with so much injustice that an investigation was ab-
solutely necessary. The manner in which it was his lot
now to call for it originated in an accidental reference he had
ma's to Falkirk. That allusion had brought to him hosts
letters-appeals made to him by the Provost of Airdrie-
appeals made to him from temperance societies to call for
the disfranchisement of the borough. These appeals had
ipduced him to submit the question to the consideration of
the House.-( Hear, hear.) Were, be asked, these elections
to be carried on by any such process as he had just described?
-( Hear.) If they were, then he said to Hon. Members op-
posite, let them, beyond all others, mark the consequences;
man would make their way to seats in that House by passing
through a hundred gin-shops and public-houses. The ex-
penses of elections would be enormous. He was told that
the expense of a seat to the Hon. Member for the Falkirk
district was estimated as costing from 5,0001. to 15,000/.
Men with hereditary Linded property had seldom an
abundance of spare money in large sums. If this system
were to be perpetuated, they must abandon the chance of
being elec‘ed to moneyed men-to Men who would spare
hard cash enough to find an entrance into that Huuse. He
asked Hon. Members opposite whether they would look
upon such a change ns teat as an inpriovernent to the cha-
recter of that House? Under the old system it was thought
that men 'had a family claim to seats in that House, and, for
his own part, he declared he would rather be governed by
any oligarchy than submit patiently to the rule of those who
ha i entered into that House by the base means he had de-
scribed.- (Cheers.) Was that House, he asked, to be the
only place in England where such scenes were to be de-
scribed, and not excite feelings of diseust?-(Hear.) He
could tell them that the temperance publications-a very va-
luable class of papers-and temperance societies had rung
with horror at the account of the murders that had been
ci?mmittedsin Airdrie.-(Hear.) The-House claimed exclu-
sive jurisdiction in all cases referring to Parliamentary elec.