The Sun.
London, England, 1851-11-10 00:00:00

S

for two mon,hs at least. The Republicans have al-
ways considered universe' suffrage as the key-stone
of the Constitution ; at the time that M. Louis NA-
POLEON BONAPARTE and his accomplices perpetrated
this " political act," and did their best, according to
the PRESIDENT'S own admission, to provoke their ad-
versaries to civil war—on the 31st May, 1850, and
almost de die in diem ever since the consistent Repub-
licans of all shades have contended that the law of
the 31st May .was ipso facto void, and of none
effect, inasmuch as the Legislative Assembly
had in passing that Bill clearly exceeded its powers,
and had attempted to do that, which a Constituent
Assembly alone had the power to do, viz., to deal with
the question of the franchise ; nay, they had always
proclaimed their intention of treating in May, 1852,
when the elections must necessarily come on, this
pretended law of 31st May as void, and presenting
themselves at the polling places and recording their
votes irrespective of any of the qualifications which an
usurping Legislature had pretended to introduce.
They therefore consistently supported the proposition
for the withdrawal of the law of the 31st May,
openly declaring at the same time their doubt
of the sincerity of M. Louis NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
in proposing its repeal, and accusing him of being
merely desirous of acquiring, under false pretences, a
popularity which might secure to him a few thousand
votes in his attempt at procuring an unconstitutional
re-election, whilst at the same time he was no more
prepared to carry out really, and truly, and honestly
the principles which he bad proclaimed on the subject
of universal suffrage in his Message, than he had car-
ried out in Rome the principles of civil and religious
liberty which he had enunciated in his celebrated letter
to M. EDGAR NET. At the meeting held at LEMAR.
DELAY'S, it was resolved that theßepublican Members
of the Assembly should adopt every means to procure
the repeal, pure and simple, of the law of the 31st of
May, and the integral re- establishment of universal
suffrage, and accordingly the Republican Members
did, on Thursday, that which the Ministers ought to
have done. They proposed that the Bill, instead of
being referred to the Council of State, should be
at once referred to the Bureau; and carried
the question. Accordingly, on Friday the Members
of the Assembly met in the Bureaux; the Republi-
cans were there to a man, as were the Committee of
seventeen—MM. Benoist d'Azy, Daru, Mole, Julea
de Lasteyrie, Vatismenil, Berryer, Beugnot, De
Broglie, Buffet, Chaeseloup-Laubat, Leon Faucher,
Montelambert, Monte Piscatory, Deseze, St.
Priest, and Thiers, who, according to the confession
of their (now soi disant repentant) acomplice M.
Louis NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, drew up this law as " a
political act," a challenge to their adversaries, a pro-
vocation to civil war. "To re-establish universal
Suffrage now," said M. LOUIS NAPOLEON
BONAPARTE, "is to deprive civil war of
its standard ;" and yet on Friday, when the
appointment of the C ,mtnittee to consider this law in
the Bureaux took place, the only three members of the
Cabinet of M. LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTR who
have seats in the Assembly, viz., MM. LACROSSE,
FORTOUL, and CASABIANCI, were absent; the personal
friends of Louis NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, who are
also Members of the Assembly, many of them ab-
stained from attending in their places to support the
measure which M. BONAPARTE declares to be abso-
lutely necessary to prevent civil war. Amongst these
absentees the most consp3.cuous are MM. DE MORNAY,
EDGAR NET, DE MONTHOLON, DELAJIES, FERDI-
NAND BARROT, PEUPIN, and Claim These absences
occurring at such a critical time have, to say the least
of it, a very ugly appearance, and will not tend to
increase the faith of either friends or foes in the sin-
cerity or the firmness of M. Louis NAPOLEON
BONAPARTE. The Committee appointed are 13
to 2 against the repeal of the law of the
31st May, and the Members voting in the
Bureaux show that of those present there were-266
for the repeal of the law, and 352 against it. These
numbers, however, are of very little importance,
the doom of the law of the 31st of May
is sealed ; there is no more chance of
maintaining it now than there was in 1846 in this
country of maintaining the Corn-laws, after Sir
ROBERT PEEL had declared against them. The only
question is as to the readiest means of getting rid
of it.

The St. Albans' Bribery Commission has, at all
events, done one good—it has proclaimed to the public
and to the world at large, that which every Member
of both Houses of Parliament who has owed his pro-
motion to his Parliamentary influence, or who hopes to
use his senatorial honours as his predecessors have done,
knew well enough—that seats in the House of
Commons are now, and always have been, bought
and sold. Mr. BELL and Sir ROBERT CARDEN
did but represent the rival candidates for many well-
known boroughs, in which at each returning election
might be seen the man who had bought, and the man
who was too late in the market to buy the votes of the
constituency. To the LORD CHANCELLOR, to the chiefs
of each court of common law, to at least two of the
Chancery judges, we might with confidence appeal
for proof that payment of purely legal expenses for
elections formed no part of their claims upon their
party for promotion. If the amounts which our legal
functionaries have spent upon the elections necessary
to bring them into position for preferment,
could be detailed, the Member for St. Albans would
have companions in the very highest quarters. And
if to these were added the places in which large
amounts had been expended by candidates for
legal honours on the Tory side of politics, St. Albans
would gain companions to share in its practices, if not
in its disgrace.

Go a little further; let candidates for popular
favour tell their expenditure ;---let Bridgewater
and Westminster be heard ; let Greenwich
tell her taIe,—ROTHiCHILD what he has laid
out cn the city of London—let BAIRD tell
what his election for the Falkirk Burghs cost him
—let ATTWOOD tell bow much he has laid out at
Harwich—let GWYN declare what Falmouth has
drawn from his pocket, and let them all declare
truly, and then compare notes with Mr. BELL. Mr.
BELL will have co-mates, as well as St. Albans.

Far be it from us to justify the practices of St.Albans
—disfranchisement is the least punishment that ought to
visit its constituency—but we do claim equal justice
to be meted out for all such boroughs. Inquiry
was not needed as to St. Albans, its character has
been known for years and years ; inquiry is not
needed for other such boroughs, whose characters are
equally well known. Go to Mr. Corrocic on the
one side—go to the Carlton Club on the other—
where Mr. IlotmEs in his lifetime could, or Mr.
BONHAM, or Major BERESFORD now can, give
you all the details which they and all their
associates know, and you may learn where you can
spend your cash with probable advantage ; how you
may become a Member of Parliament, and remain so,
if no City Alderman, thirsting for purity, seek to unseat
you.

Go into the City of London—find out the, makers
of Sheriffs—learn how they are made by money, and
for money ; dealt in, bought and Bold, year by year,
and by men who will profess not 'co know the name
of Bribery ; and ask how these, things are done, and
why they are done, and you will find they are regu-
larly performed for the benefit and advantage of
a3piring gentlemen of money and ambition, who
long to bring tbenaselves or their pet schemes into
in a" w" having cash, seek position, and thirst
p' _motion which
bor ttichea,t
merit alone would never
achieve far them.

We seek by these remarks to direct attention to
the evil :—eradicate that, but do not ltt all the sinners
join so loudly in decrying another's fault, hoping
t',leir own delinquencies may not be heard, in the
midst of the clamour raised at the very name of st.
Albans.

Let all parties honestly join in giving a frapiL:ne
unpurchaseable by its extent Tin Sr.'" tinging
the
sphere of its exercise, so that no 'intrigue can control
it; and then, with the BAllo',„ which you find desirable
ft your clubs,
:It the India House, and elsewhere, you
will have as your re
`:tartl an honest House of Coal^
lIWP.S.

We have from time to time directed the public
attention to various evils occasioned by the Poor-law
system, chitfly arising from the operation of the
iniquitous law of settlement and the mal-admini.stra-
Lion and jobbery inseparable from local manage-
ment," or perhaps " mismanagement" might be the
more correct designation. We have but too Ire.