The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 2, 1860.-

• Yolunteer Company—Henry Thompson Thos. Vaughan,
Esq., to be Captain; Wm. R. Innes Hopkins, Esq., to be
; Captain ; Wm. 'Vaughan, Gent., to be First Lieutenant ;
Charles Ferdinand Henry Bolekow, Gent., to be First
Lieutenant ; James Innes Hopkins, Gent., to First Lieu-
tenant ; Robert Lloyd, Gent., to be Second Lieutenant ;
James Stovin Pennyman, Esq., to be Second Lieutenant ;
John Brewster, Gent., to be be Second Lieutenant. 2d
North Riding of Yorkshire Rifle Volunteer Company—
James Simm Metcalf, Gent., to be Ensign. 6th North
Riding of Yorkshire Rifle Volunteer Company—John
Michell, Esq., to be Captain ; C. R. Robinson, Gent., to
be Ensign ' • W. Walker, Gent., to be Honorary Surgeon ;
6th North Riding Yorkshire Rifle Volunteer Company
Hebden , Esq., to be Lieutenant ; Harcourt
Johnstone, l• sq., to be Ensign.
County of Wigtown.- —lst Company of Wigtown Volunteer
Artillery—Viscount Dalrymple to be Captain; John
Campbell, Gent., to be First Lieutenant; Alexander
Guthrie, Gent., to be Second Lieutenant ; John Orgill,
Gent., to be Honorary Surgeon; Rev. Wm. Mungall
Simpson, to be Honorary Chaplain. Ist Subdivision
Wigtown Rifle Volunteers—Robt. Vans Agnew, Esq ,
to be Lieutenant.; William James McHaffie, Esq., to be
Ensign.
Court' of Lincoln.—lst Company of Lincolnshire Ai slip y
Volunteers—Andrew Mercer Adnam, Esq., M.D., to be
Honorary Assistant-Surgeon. 2d Company Lincoln-
' shire Rifle Volunteers—Samuel Trought, Esq., to be
Honorary Assistant-Surgeon. 3d Lincolnshire Rifle
Volunteers—William Earle Welby, Esq., M.P., to be
Captain Commandant—, Ist Company 3d Lincolnshire
Rifles—John Fowler Burbidge, Gent., to be Lieutenant ;
Edmund Tumor, Gent., to be Ensign. 2d Company 3d
Lincolnshire Rifles—C. J. B. Parker, Esq.; to be Captain.
James William Jeans, Gent., to be Lieutenant ; Henry
Benjamin Thompson, Gent., to be Ensign , Bth Com-
pany—Anthony Willson' Esq., to be Captain. 11th
Company—John Samuel Lister, Esq., to be Captain ;
Augustus Laurent, Gent., to be Lieutenant; John Hig-
gins, jun., Gent., to be Ensign; Edward Cooke Odling,
Esq., to be Honorary Assistant- Surgeon. 13th Company
—Thomas Hilliam, Esq., to be Captain; Franolb
Thomas Selby, Gent., to be Lieutenant ; Ash-
ley Maples, jun., Gent., to be Ensign • the Her.
Edward Moore to be Honorary Chaplain ; Anc,ell Ball,
Esq., M.D , to be Honorary Assistant-Surgeon.
Royal South Lincoln Militia—Warwick Oben G. Richards,
Gent., to be Lieutenant, vice Ingram, struck off.
County of Wilts.—Wiltshire Volunteer Rifle Corps—lst
Company—John Magor Carden, Gent., to be Honorary
Assistant-Surgeon.
County of Stirling.-90th or Stirlingshire, &c., Highland
Borderers Light Infantry Regiment of British Militia—
Robert William Cullen, Gent., to be Ensign, vice Hor-
rocks, resigned.
County of Sussex-sth Sussex Rifle Volunteers—Arthur
Charles Ra.msden, Gent., to be Lieutenant; William
Alston Head, Gent., to be Ensign. 6th Sussex Rifle
Volunteers—Captain Walter Barttelot Barttelot, late
Captain Ist Royal Dragoons, to be Captain. 7th Susses.
Rifle Volunteers—Sir John Henry Pelly, Bart., to be
Ensign, vice Dickins, resigned.
County of Worcester.—Worcestershire Volunteer Rifle
Corps, sth Company—William Nichols Marcy, Esq.,
to be Captain; John Bury, junior, Esq., to be
Lieutenant; George Beddoe, Esq., to be Ensign.
6th Company—Ferdinando Dudley Lea Smith, Esq., to
be Captain; James Philip Hunt, Esq., to be Lieutenant.
7th Company—Henry Money Wainwright, Esq., to be
Captain • Francis Sanders, Esq., to be Lieutenant; Chas.
C. Hewitt, Esq., to be Ensign. Bth Company—Joseph
Rogers, Esq., to be Captain; Charles Harrison, Esq., to
be Lieutenant; Benjamin Dunks, Esq., to be Ensign;
9th Company—James Foster, Esq., late of the King's
Dragoon Guards, to be Captain; Michael Phillips Gras •
brook, Esq., to be Lieutenant; Frank Evers, Esq., to be
Ensign.

County of Oxford.—Oxford University Rifle Volunteer
Corps—The Hon. Robert Charles Henry Spencer (lately
Colonel Royal Artillery), to be Lieutenant-Colonel ;
Lieutenant Charles Stewart Parker to be Captain; Lieu-
tenant William Holding to be Captain; Ensign Edward
Cecil Coney to be Lieutenant, vice Parker, promoted;
Ensign William Matthew Hale to be Lieutenant, vice
Holding, promoted ; Ensign Walter Payne Gepp to be
Lieutenant; Ensign Windham Thomas, Viscount Adare,
to be Lieutenant; Sergeant-Major Charles Thomas Luck
to be Ensign, vice Coney, promoted; Colour-Sergeant
Henry Emerson Westcar to be Ensign, vice Hale, pro-
moted; Colour-Sergeant John Cecil Russell to be En-
sign, vice Gepp, promoted.
County of Brecknock.—Brecknockshire Rifle Volunteers,
Crickhowoll Subdivision, 3d Corps—Frederick Ximenes
Gwynne, E• s, to be Lieutenant; John Hotohkis, Esq.,
to be Ensign. •
County of Hertford.-4th Hertfordshire Rifle Volunteers—
William If'urey Cust (late Honourable East India Com-
pany's Service) to be Captain ; William Paxton, Gent.,
to b 3 Lieutenant,
County of Surrey.—South London Rifle Volunteer Corps—
Lieutenant Alexander Lodwick Irvine to be Captain,
vice Boucher, promoted; Lieutenant Edward Dresser
Rogers to be Captain ; Ensign Alexander James Scrut-
ton to be Captain ; Frederick Andrew Durnford, Gent.,
to be Captain; Ensign George Phare to be Lieute-
nant ; Ensign John Russell Clipperton, to be Lieu-
tenant; Ensign Henry Kimber, to be Lieutenant;
Ensign Robert Henry Bristowe, to be Lieutenant;
Travers Barton Wire, Gent., to be Lieutenant ; Charles
Henry Robottom, Gent., to be Lieutenant ; James Elliott
Cunningham, Gent, to be Ensign; Edward Barnaby
Gudgeon, Gent., to be Ensign; William Riddell Bran-
don, Gent., to be Assistant-Surgeon. 7th Surrey or
Southwark Rifle Volunteers—Thomas Beeby Moseley,
Gent., to be Ensign. 15th Surrey Rifle Volunteers
(ChertseySubdivision)—Francis Lewis Dowling Gent.,
to be Ensign.
2d Cumberland Artillery Volunteers—Silas George Saul,
Gent., to be First Lieutenant; John Giles Mounsey,
Gent., to be Second Lieutenant ; 'William Reeves, Gent.,
to be Honorary Assistant-Surgeon. 3d Cumberland
Rifle Volunteers—John James Spedding, Esq., to be
Lieutenant.
County of Monmouth-6th Monmouthshire Rifle Volun-
teers—James Pearce King, Esq., to be Captain; Alfred
Evans, Gent. to be Lieutenant; Egerton Isaacson,
Gent., to be Ensign.
County of Derby.-2d Derbyshire Volunteer Rifles—Cap-
tain Lord Vernon to be Captain-Commandant; the Hon.
E. Wentworth Keppel Coke to be Captain ' • J. Bott, Esq.,-
to be Lieutenant ; John Broadhurst, Esq., to be Ensign ;
9th Company of Derbyshire Volunteer Riles—Lord
George Henry Cavendish to be Captain ; William Pole
Thornhill, Esq., to be Lietilinant ; Robert William Mills
Nesfield, Esq., to be Ensign ; James Smith Walters,
Esq., to be Honorary Surgeon.
BANKRUPTS.
John Mintorn, jun., manufacturer, 106, New Bond-
street, to surrender, March 10, at twelve, and April 16, at
eleven, at the Court of Bankruptcy.
John Lowe, printer and publisher, Cheltenham, March
12, and April 16, at eleven, at the Bristol District Court.
John Geard Bedells, chemist, Brewood, March 12 and
April 2, at eleven, at the Birmingham District Court.
Alexander Jacobson, jeweller, Clerkenwell, March 14, at
half-past twelve, and April 11, at two, at the Court of
Bankruptcy.
James Blackmore, builder, Wellington, Somersetshire,
March 14 and April 11, at twelve, at tho Exeter District
Court. , .

Henry Hobbs, brewer, Wooburn, Buckinghamshire,
March 14, and April 11, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy.
George Clark, builder, Ashford, March 12, at two, and
April 16, at twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy.
Jame!. Berger, broker, Creat Tower-street, }larch 16, at
twelve, and April 13, at eleven, at the Court of Bankruptcy.
Joseph Chatwin, gas fitter, Birmingham, March 16, and
April 5, at eleven, at the Birmingham District Court.
Thomas Holgate, grocer, Bradford, March 19, at half-
past eleven, and April 16, at eleven, at the Leeds District
Court.

William Clarke Gill, racney scrivener, Manchester,
March 13 and April 4, at twelve, at the Manchester District
Court.

Henry Fridlingtou Kemp, and William Skey, distillers,
Louth, Lincolnshire, March 12, and April, 18, at twelve,
at the Leeds District Court.
SCOTCH BANKRUPTS.

Archibald Orr, watchmaker, Dumfries.
John Darling, manufacturer, Dunfermline.
James Crawford, shipowner, Saltcoats, Ayrshire•

BANK OF ENGLAND.

An Account, pursuant to the Act 7th and Bth Victoria,
cap. 32, for the week ending on Wednesday, the 29th day
of February, 1860 :

OXFORD DRAMATIC CLUB BALL: The annual
ball of this amateur dramatic society was held at Willis's
Rooms on 'Wednesday evening.- The entire suite of rooms
have been re-decorated, and looked very handsome. Up-
wards of 400 ladies and gentlemen responded to the stewards
invitations, and kept up the "spirit of the bill," to the ex-
cellent music of Mr, Jones's band, until five o'clock the
following morning.

7111 S DAY'S MARKETS.

CORN EXCHANGE.

Fresh up to-day very little English wheat came to hand,
coastwise or by land-carriage, hence the show of samples
was small. Good and fine qualities moved off steadily at
full quotations, but other kinds were a dull inquiry, at late
rates.

We were well supplied with foreign wheat. For the
most part the sales were confined to retail parcels, at Mon-
day's currency.
Floating cargoes were firm, although the arrivals are
rather numerous. Taganrog Ghirka wheat has sold at 47s
to 47s 3d per 492 lbs.
The show of both English and foreign barley was limited.
On the whole trade was firm, at extreme rates.
We have again to report a dull inquiry for malt on former
terms.

The arrival of oats is still limited, and the demand was
steady, at extreme rates.

Beans and peas were firm in price, and the flour trade
ruled healthy.

ARRIVALS TR'S WYE):

wheat. Barley Malt. Oats. Flour.
English 1,820 r 1,480 1,220 1,220 1,060
Irish
Foreign 450 7,100 460 50 aks,
I 5,990 ids.

NICE AND SAVOY.

(From tke Times.)
The most important part, however, of this important
speech is the declaration of the Emperor of the French that
he intends to annex to France a portion of the dominions of
a neighbouring and friendly Power. It is no longer a
rumour. It is now an avowed fact that Napoleon 111. in-
tends to take to himself all that portion of the Savoy
Alps which slope from the watershed line towards the
French frontier. He declares it to be his duty, for the
sake of the safety of his frontiers, to proceed to this slight
aggrandizement. The words " edamer" and "rovendi
firer," by which he designates this operation of the Im-
perial will, are distantly suggestive of a previous title,
and would rather present the idea that he considers
himself to be reassuming what was once his own that he is
seizing upon the ancient patrimony of his close ally. No
doubt there is a semblance of French title to these moun-
tains, but it is a title depending only upon the wars of the
French Republic. There is also, as the Emperor urges, a
certain ratural convenience in the boundary thus obtained,
but similar natural conveniences abound upon other of the
frontier lines of France. The saran title and the same
plea of natural convenience will carry the French
frontiers to very alarming outposts, and may even convince
the most indulgent and unsuspecting of the Emperor's
neighbours that peace has perils to other countries besides
France. It would be a curio* and an easy task to calcu-
late how many words in this paragraph of the speech would
require alteration in order to make the declaration as to
Savoy apply to ono of the banks of the Rhine. It is well
that the Emperor is careful to tell us that France menaces
no one. We sincerely congratulate him upon his resolu-
tion to allow his progress in an enlightened commercial
policy to be arrested neither by the clamours of parties nor
by the threats of selfishness ; and we hail with real satis-
faction his emphatic acknowledgment of the great truth,
that " The greater the riches and prosperity of a State the
more she contributes to the riches and prosperity of all
other States." We will venture, however, to hope that in
future speeches these and similar excellent sentimets will
not be exposed to damage by contact with so very question-
able
an act as that of th annexation of Savoy.

• (From the Paris Correspondent of the Times.)
The Emperor was interrupted two or three times by ap-
plause, and some isolated cries of "Bravo I" and the clos-
ing sentence was warmly received. The applause was
marked when allusion was made to the demand for the
French sides of the Alps—any increase of territory, how-
ever small, flattering the national amour propre. The para-
graphs relating to the commercial reforms were listened to
with attention, but I must also say, in silence ; and it is
inferred that the Italian question is not so definitively
settled as people expected, for the allusion to Pied-
mont did not seem to produce any warm feeling.
Out of doors the opinion I have heard expressed is, that
the speech, though pacific in tone, is too sparing of infor-
mation on Italian affairs. and, with one exception or two,
vague and slightly embarrassed, and, as a whole, by no
means equal to previous speeches. It was naturally
thought that something precise and definite would be an-
nounced on the points which have so long kept in suspense
the mind of the public. Many think the speech is not
precise or definite, and frankly express their disappoint-
ment.

(From the Morning Herald.)
Every possible reason urges him to stand well with the
greai powers. It is not to his interest, one would imagine,
to drive the continental states into a league against him, by
treading in the footsteps of his uncle. It was but the
other day that all Germany bristled with arms against him.
Russia, if she has not signed a treaty with Austria, never
will and never can be a reliable ally to France, England
looks with greater suspicion than ever on the recent deve-
lopment of his Italian policy. In France he is gradually
alienating the sympathies of the enlightened classes ;
and he has pushed away one of his strongest supports,
the clergy. What, then, are we to think, when,
under such circumstances, ho deliberately announces
his intention to protect his frontier from the incursions of
Piedmont by the annexation of Savoy, except that he, too,
yields to the intoxicating delight of military triumph, and is
ready on a very slight pretext to give his 700,000 soldiers a
new cause and a fresh battle-field. The annexation of
Savoy, now openly proposed, is a deliberate gage of defiance
to Europe. It is the proclamation of the Majesty of force
and of the Emperor's triumph over the treaty of 1816—a
proclamation rendered all the more significant by the assur-
ance that if Europe will leave France to do as she likes in
Savoy, France will not interfere with the projects of her
powerful neighbours upon weaker States. Europe, the
Emperor may rely upon it, will form its judgment of the
Italian policy of the French Court quite apart from his
protestation of disinterestedness. The notion of Piedmont
being a dangerous rival to France, or in fact being any-
thing but a third-rate power, whilst the line of the Mincia
forms the Austrian frontier, is too preposterous to be dis-
cussed. All the arguments and assertions in the world
will not convince the world either that the agerandisement
of France is not one of the "ideas" which dignify the call-
ing of the " Soldat de Dieu," or that Napoleon himself.is a
maligned and calumniated, but well meaning and amiable
ruler, whose chief desire is to develope the res mrcos of hie
country and live in amity with his neighbours.

MPERIAL 'PARLIAMENT.

...... 4,, %..,,,..e..•••

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-(YESTERDAY.)
THE REFORM BILL.

Lord J. RUSSELL (amid some loud cries of " Hear,
hear," from the Ministerial benches) then rose to ask leave
to bring in a bill to amend the representation of the people
of England and Wales. He said—Before I enter into the
subject it is necessary for me to make a disclaimer. I wish
to disclaim entirely any intention, by the measure I ask
leave to introduce, to frame a new constitution ; I disclaim
any wish to alter the constitution of this house. I should
feel totally unable to propose anything that would stand in
the place of the glorious constitution of this country. And
if I propose a bill to amend the representation of the people,
it is not as a confession that the Reform Act of 1832 has
failed ; it is rather because that act has succeeded. I do not
think that any act was ever passed by this house that has
had more complete fairness, or with which so few faults
have been found ; and when I compare the present state of
this eountty with what was its state some years before the
Reform Act I cannot but congratulate this house that by
that measure so much discontent has been allayed and so
much satisfaction been given. I do not allude to our ma-
terial wealth, or the great increase that has taken place in
our prosperity, because that progress may be attributed to
other causes. But it is that the people since 1832 have been
more generally satisfied with the institutions under which
they live. (Hear, hear.) If I compare the year 1820
with the year 1860 I remember that in the former year Lord
Castlereagh had introduced measures which he himself de-
signated as measures of severe repression; they were mea-
sures intended to restrain the Press, to prevent public meet-
ings in the open air, with ether restrictions of the same
kind. Thoy were thought necessary by the Government
of that day ; and I think the system of government then
pursued may have required them. But looking at the state
of the country in 1863 I find a generally prevailing spirit of
loyalty to our institutions—a spirit that wishes to preserve
and extend, not to destroy them. With this preface I pro-
ceed to say what we propose to do, in some degree at least, to
supply tke omissions and remedy the defects of the Reform
Act. There is one point that has snore than once
attracted the attention of the house, and on which it has
clearly pronounced its decision. It is the franchise in
counties. During the progress of the Reform Act through'
this house it was decided that freekold and leasehold tenures
should no longer give the sole title to a county vote ; but
that an occupation, merely, of the annual value of £5O
should also confer on the occupier the right of voting. That
claim having been sanctioned by Parliament, those who
since that time have looked into the subject, with the view
of amending the law, have very naturally said, " If an oc-
cupation merely is to give a title to a vote, it should no
longer be restricted to a £5O holding; the occupier of a
£2O or £lO holding is as fully entitled to a vote as the occu-
pier of a value of .L 50." That view of the question has
been more than once adopted ; in principle it was adopted
by the late Government. In the bill I now introduce we
propose to add to the county franchise an occupation fran-
chise of £lO a-year. (Hear.) But we propose also to take
further securities than were taken in the bill of last year,
that this shall be a bona fids franchise. (Hear, hear.) It
is obvious that under the plan of a £lO holding the land
might be covered with small occupations that could not be
called beneficial holdings. We propose that where land is
attached to a dwollinghouse no sum shall be required as
value in respect of the dwellinghouse, but where there shall
be on tho land any building other than a dwellinghouse a
sum not less than £5 shall be required as the value on such
building. I now proceed to the consideration of a question
which has occasioned far more disputes, which gave rise
last year to warm debate in this house, and with respect to
which various opinions were expressed—l mean the ques-
tion of lowering the borough franchise. It appeared to me,
I must confess, that the late Mr. Hume had good reason
to complain some time after the Reform Bill of 1832 had
come into operation that a £lO franchise in boroughs drew
too arbitrary a line ; that a number of persons were in
consequence of the line being so drawn deprived of the
right of ♦oting who might fairly enjoy the privilege,
and that in that respect an injury was done to our
system of Parliamentary representation. The longer
the time that has elapsed the more distinctly have I per-
ceived that that complaint was founded in justice. It has
been said that the franchise in boroughs was in 1832 pur-
posely framed to exclude the working classes from the right
of voting; but to a statement such as that I cannot sub-
scribe, although I am ready to admit that it was framed with
the view generally of giving weight to the middle classes in
this country, whose information and character appeared to
us at the time to entitle them to obtain that vast accession
of power which they then received. I own, however, that
I think it would be a great evil if we wore to continue much
longer to exclude from our representative system that large
number of the working classes who, by their knowledge,
their character, and their other qualifications, aro fitted to
exercise the franchise freely and independently. (Hear,
hear.) It appears to us, then, that the constitution would
derive additional strength from the fact that a certain num-
ber of those working men best qualified for the privilege
were admitted to the franchise, and that a greater value
would thereby be set on the benefits which the constitution
confers. (Hear, hoar.) I am aware that it is said there
has been no agitation on this subject; that we have seen
manifested with respect to it nothing of that eagerness which
took possession of all classes of men at the period of the
Reform Act, and that we ought not, therefore, until some-
thing like a successful agitation is set on foot to proceed to
extend the franchise. That, sir, however, is not the sort of
political doctrine which I have been taught. (Cheers.) I
have, en the contrary, been accustomed to regard the well-
known maxim of Mr. Burke with respect to early re-
formation as being both deep and wise, I have not
failed to perceive that in those instances in which just
demands have been refused, as in the case of the
Catholic question, the country has been on the eve of
having its peace disturbed and insurrection excited because
Parliament had obstinately refused to accede to those de-

mands. (Hear, hear.) The consequence has been that,
although concession in those instances was wise and founded
on just principles, yet that, coming somewhat too late, and
being as it were watered by delay, we have witnessed the
'r land vexed and troubled by the agitation of those very mea-
sures the object of which was to pacify. (Hear, hear.) I for
one am, therefore, of opinion that we ought not to wait in
the present instance until agitation arises, and those classes
which are excluded from the enjoyment of the franchise
combine together to enforce their demands upon the con-
sideration of Parliament. On the contrary, I maintain
that, if their petitions be just, if their claims be founded on a
fair appreciation of their own qualifications, and that it
would be likely to contribute-to the strength and durability
of the constitution to accede to their request, we ought not
to hesitate to comply because no agitation of the question
prevails. (Cheers.) I have no wish to see again the flames
of Nottingham and of Bristol blaze forth to warn the House
of Commons that it must delay no longer to pass a further
measure of Parliamentary reform. I much prefer taking
advantage of these quiet and tranquil times, when any pro-
position on the subject can be fairly and calmly d&cussed,
to submit such a measure to Parliament, to deferring its in-
troduction to a moment of greater excitement, when it
might be out of our power to fix as we might deem expe-
dient the exact limits by which our proposal ought to be
defined. (Hear, hear.) In dealing with this great ques-
tion, then, Sir, we have deemed it better, upon the whole,
in order to make our measure as simple as possible, to avoid
those proposals which we made in former years, and
which were likewise made last year by our prede-
cessors in office—l allude to the introduction into our
representative system of franchises hitherto un
known to the constitution—(hear, hear)—which my hon
friend the member for Birmingham calls " fancy fram

chises," and which, although many of them might confer
the right of voting on persons well qualified to exercise it,
yet arc almost every one of them liable to abuse and so re-
sult in the creation of fictitious votes. (Hear, hear.) The
principle on which we propose to proceed, therefore, is to
extend still further the £lO franchise which is now en-
joyed ; to take that franchise generally with its present con-
ditions ; to require the payment of rates, as is now the case;
but, at the same time, to extend it to a lower degree than
that at which it stands. With that view we have made
inquiries, and carefully considered their results. There is,
I may here observe, one question which has been frequently
discussed, and which formed the foundation of the provi-
sions of the bills of 1852 and 1851,--I allude to the ques-
tion whether this should be a rating franchise. In examin •
ing that subject we found that great variety in the propor-
tions of the rating franchise to the true value of houses
existed. We discovered that there were some instances in
which there was a difference of 9 per cent. between the
gross rental and the rated value of a house, while in many
instances there was a difference of 28, and in others of 30
per cent. Now it is obvious that it would not be possible
in a Reform Bill to make at once a change in that mode of
valuation ; that, in endeavouring to effect that object, you
would be subject to the discretion of local authorities, and,
as a consequence, either through ignorance, custom, or pre-
judice, many persons would lose their votes, while others
possessing the same amount of property in their vicinity
would enjoy the franchise. (Hear.) I have stated the prac-
tical difficulty which would be involved in making the
change, but there is another objection to its introduction.
In striking the poor law rate the rental of a house is cal-
culated according to ite true value, subtracting from it,
however, not only the rate charged in point of fact, but also
the sum necessary for repairs. Now, in taxing property it
is quite right to subtract that sum ; for, if a house be valued
at £lO, and £2 are each year laid out for the purposes of
repair, it is obvious that the property is not in reality worth
more than £8 per annum to the owner. The question,
however, with respect to the meaning of a £lO "clear
yearly value"— the phrase used in the Reform Bill of 1832
—came before the Court of Common Pleas, and it was then
contended that the "clear yearly value" intended by Par-
liament was the same as was signified by the net annual
value under the Poor Law Act, and that the Reform Act
should, therefore, be construed after that manner. The
Court of Common Pleas, however, decided that in the case
of the Reform Act the Legislature had proceeded diverse
intuitu, and that in that particular case its object was to
confer the franchise according to the capacity to pay rent,
and not to impose a tax on a man according to the value of
his property ;—that is to say, that if a man paid £lO a year
for his house, it was no matter whether £2 a year were laid
out by his landlord for the purposes of repair; that he was
the man who paid the £lO a year, and the Legislature de-
clared that the man who paid a rental of £lO a year was en-
titled to a vote. That being so, we did not think it advisable

—indeed, we are of opinion that it would be practically in-
convenient, and in point of abstract right unjust, to fix
upon a franchise that should be dependent on rating. Then,
the question next comes as to what would be the franchise
taking the gross annual rental, or, as it is expressed in
the Reform Bill, the clear yearly value, of the premises.
The returns at first showed a very great addition which
almost any reduction in the franchise would make to the
number of the electors. For instance, reducing it to £8
seemed to add an alriost overwhelming number, but when
the question came to be tested aid examined, it was found
that a very great number of these persons, in consequence of
not having paid their rates, and from various other causes,
were disabled from having a vote, and that deduction was so
large as to amount to 27f per cent. Now, sir, having ar-
rived at that conclusion, the next question was to consider
what would be the numbers added generally in the whole
boroughs of England and Wales by taking any particular
sum. It appeared that the whole number of electors on the
register was 440,790 in the cities and borowhs. A very
considerable number of these 440,790 are parties having an
old scot and lot right of voting or in the enjoyment of old
rights which are expiring A deduction ought to be made
for the number of freemen and others to the extent of
30,765 ; the remainder, therefore, only 410,005, may be said
to have the -right of voting—electors on the register by
virtue of possessing a £lO qualification. Well, in clnsider-
ing what should be done we found that if we took those
who occupied at a gross rental of £9 and over we should get
440,717 electors, being only 30,712 additiooal voters. If
we took those rfte£3.9.ndtrvir,Ahe number of voters would.be
476,004 being an additional number of voters of aboit 66,000
—i.e., 65,999. Sir, it appeared to us, although that is ap-
parently a very considerable lowering of the franchise—
namely, not to £8 rated rental, which some per3ans talk of,
but an £8 occupation—that disturbing the arrangements of
the Reform Act and introducing a measure which might
excite great publie expectations, and adding no more than
66,000 to the 440,000 electors now on the register for the
cities and boroughs of England and Wales, would not be a
wise or expedient course. (Hear, hear.) It then became
worth while to see what would bp the effect of placing the
franchise at £7. At £7 and over the total number of voters,
subtracting always the 27i per cent., would be 532,817 ;
giving 122,812 additional voters. Well, but we did not
atop at that number. We went down to the 15 rental.
(Hear.) We considered what'effect would be produced by
taking the rental at £6 and over, and we found that the
total number of voters for all the cities and boroughs of
England and Wales, including the metropolis, and such
places as Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham,
would be 604,804, making an addition of 194,199 voters ; so
that if we add the present number of electors—namely,
440,770—we shall have as the total number of voters for the
cities and boroughs in England and Wales 634,969. Sir, it
appeared to us that in point of number that was no extrava-
gant amount (hear) ; that when you have already 440,600,
including freemen, to add to them somewhere under
200,000, less than 50 per cent. of the present number, was
no exorbitant addition. (Hear.) With regard, however, to
the character of the persons who would be thus admitted, I
must say the accounts from different cities and boroughs
have been extremely various. In some places the rental is
very low; in others it is high; accordingly, in some places
there would be very few electors added to the present num-
ber. In the city of London there would be very few indeed.
In Plymouth there would be some 200 or 300 In other
places—at Liverpool, for instance—there would be a greater
number, perhaps 15,000. But then the question is, what is
the character of those who would thus be added to the con-
stituency ? I remember asking a gentleman now deceased,,
Mr. Fletcher, who was inspector under the Poor-law Act,'
to take the trouble of going through the manufacturing dis-
tricts'and inquiring for me what was the general lent the
highest paid of the working classes gave for their houses,
and when he came back he said he thought about £7 a year
gross rental, or much about the same sum I have Men-
tioned. Now, it is difficult to lay Awn any rule or fix
any particular amount as regards this class, but I think

if we add what I have stated to the present number
of electors, we should have a greater number the work-
ing classes included ; and I think it would be a great
benefit to our representation and to our constitution to
have this class included (hear, hear) ; and I repeat I do
not think that would be any very extravagant number to
add to the whole body of electors. (Hear, hear.) Well,
sir, I come now to another question—a question of a totally
different nature, and one on which I think it behoves this
house to consider well as to the changes they make now or
may hereafter make. When I had the honour, 29 years ago,
of introducing a Reform Bill, the task was so vary easy that
the general sense of the country condemned places which
were mere mounds or ruins, which no person inhabited, and
which did not allow the representation of such places as
Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham. I remember the last
effort I made before the Reform Bill was to endeavour to ob-
tain representatives for these three towns, Manchester, Leeds,
and Birmingham; and one would scarcely believe, unless he
looked back to the proceedings of that day, that a very con-
siderable majority of this house decided against the admis-
sion of these great towns to the representation. (Hear,
hear.) I think that was a very grave question. There were
certain places that continued to have representatives with-
out having the least semblance of population; there were
other among them the great towns which are the chief
seats of our staple manufactures—in which Parliamentary
representation did not exist. But, sir, the case at the pre-
sent day, and the case for future consideration, is a very
different one, and I wish to call the attention of this house
to what, in my view of this case, are circumstances which

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must, I think, have the greatest weight in ally decision as
to what is to be done. There was, more than two centuries
ago, before the names of Whig and Tory were ever knosin,
a great dispute between two great parties as to the nature
of the functions of the House of Commons, The one
party declared and maintained that persons holding the
chief weight in this house should likewise be Ministers