The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING; JUNE 10, 1869.

descended to the Peers, and now had descended to
the Commons ; but so acute a man as the Marquis of
SALISBURY denied this last assertion, and said that
the Lords had co-ordinate power with the Commons,
and were subordinate only to the nation ; not seeing
that the House of Commons is the mouthpiece of the
nation. The matter is really hardly worth further
discussion. In spite of the compromise between
Lords RUSSELL and CAIRNS, Lord MALMES-
BURY'S " unerring instinct" sees that the
measure is revolutionary, and he means to move
its rejection on the third reading. We
imagine that the Duke of ARGYLL is not likely to say
nay to that proposal, and that in all probability the
bill will be withdrawn by its author. It will not be
the first time that Lord RUSSELL has had to abandon
a scheme of Parliamentary Reform. He acquired so
much experience of the kind in the Lower House that
he is not likely to shed tears on the present occasion.
Even if the bill should pass the ordeal in store for
it, we do not imagine that the Commons will care
to trouble themselves about anything so insignificant.
They have other and more serious work on hand
just now.

THE renewal of the electoral contest in France
has ended in a victory for the Opposition, but this
triumph has been smaller in extent and different in
kind from that which was confidently expected.
The people of France seem to have taken alarm at
the revolutionary choice of the great cities
a fortnight ago. Several official candi-
dates who were supposed to have no chance
have defeated their Liberal opponents, and in cases
where the choice lay between a moderate Liberal
and a Red, the former has been almost invariably
successful. The second ballot is en institution
peculiar to the electoral system of France. No
candidate can be elected at the 'first voting who does
not secure at least one-half, plus one, of the whole
number of votes recorded. Of course when there
are but two candidates one must be successful at
the first ballot; but it sometimes happens that when
three or more compete the greatest number of votes
given in favour of one aspirant. does not
exceed one-half the whole. In such cases the
election is indecisive, and a second ballot, which is
decided without regard to proportion, becomes
necessary. In previous years these double
elections have been few. In some town
constituencies the Opposition candidates triumphed ;
in all others the authorities hopelessly
distanced their adversaries. At the general election
of 18(33 the indecisive contests were not more than
half-a-score. But it is one of the peculiarities of the
memorable contest just over that the spread of
Liberal ideas has been so universal, the struggle
everywhere so close, as to produce no fewer than
fifty-nine drawn battles. It was calculated with
much plausibility that the Opposition would gain
nearly all these seats. In some cases the Liberal was
at the head of the poll, though failing to secure
the necessary " half plus one." In others
the total number of Liberal votes exceeded the
number secured by the Government. For instance,
in the Vaucluse the official candidate received 13,200
votes, and two Liberal competitors 10,400 and 4,800
respectively. As one of the Liberals retired in
favour -of the other, it was concluded that the
official candidate would be rejected. But he
proved successful, though his single com-
petitor was a moderate and respectable Liberal,
M. TAXILE DELORD. Many other calcula-
tions of this kind have been falsified by the event.
The total result is, that whereas the Opposition
thought to lose no more than half-a-dozen of the
fifty-nine double contests, the Imperialists have
secured no fewer than twenty-four, leaving thirty-
four to the Liberals, and one yet unknown.
This issue proves clearly that the fear of revolu-
tion has brought about a certain reaction
in favour of the . Empire. It is true
that the authorities have exerted themselves
to the uttermost, have employed all fair means, and
some that cannot be esteemed fair, to prevent an
utter defeat in these fifty-nine circumscriptions. All
over Franee, in the rural distrieis, might be seen
notifications that, owing to the prayer of M. This,
or Baron That, the official candidate, the
EMPEIWIL had granted a sum of money, a road,
a railway, or what not, to the inhabitants. In one
case the Prefect proudly announced that a vast
dung-pit, which had proved a dreadful nui-
sance, was to be removed, and that this
great blessing had been procured only
by the special prayer of the official can-
didate. It is gratifying to learn that this
philanthropic gentleman is at the bottom of the
poll. No doubt, however, these bribes did
have much effect in many cases ; but the
entire reaction is not to be attributed to
these- causes. The cries for revolution which have
gone out from Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, and Nantes
have evidently frightened the country voters, and
this much congratulation the Government may
take to itself. Still, it is but poor satisfac-
tion to find that, through fear of Socialism,
and not through love to the Empire, a few
seats have been lost to the Opposition. The
triumph is but a comparative one. The evil is just
a little less than it might have been. The absolute
and net result of the elections is, beyond all doubt, a
decisive triumph for the Liberals, and a clear vote of
censure on the Imperial policy.
The most dreaded enemies of the Empire are
all in the new Corps Legislatif. Nothing that the
Government could do was sufficient to keep out 111.
THIERS. Though the leader of no party in parti-
cular, though occupying no definite position in
politics, his eloquence and searching criticism are so
dreaded that no man in France is more personally
obnoxious to the E3IPEROR and the EMPRESS. Put
Paris has chosen him by a triumphant majority,
actually, for the purpose, denying itself the luxury
of electing a Red. M. HENRI ROCHEFORT,
the lampooner of the Lanterne, has been
rejected, but this has been effected only by the
return of a far more formidable man—N. JULES
FAVRE. In another Paris circumscription the
electors have rejected M. RASPAIL, one of the
Socialists. But this is to be attributed to the fact
that M. ItASPAIL was already elected for Lyons,
whilst his opponent—N. GARNIER - PAGES—is
an advanced Republican, and scarcely less dear to
the Parisians than the Socialist himself. In short,
not one enemy of Imperialism whom the Govern-
ment had any reason to dread has failed
to find a seat. The Opposition will include
almost all the genius and ability of the new
Chamber. In respect of oratory, it will be, perhaps,
the strongest party in Europe. Lastly, it is about
three-and-a-half times more numerous than it was
in the last Chamber. Then it mustered a miserable
band of twenty-three ; now its strength cannot be
under fourscore. Add to this the fact that
even where the official candidates have triumphed,
the struggle' has been close beyond example—in
several instances the Government nominee has got
in by only two or three hundred in a poll of 20,000
to 30,000—and the serious nature of this blow
becomes apparent. The general election of 1869
has proved the greatest disaster of the EMPEROR'S
reign.

DREADFUL BOILER EXPLOSION AT
BINGLEY.

A very disastrous boiler explosion, supposed to
have resulted in the death of not fewer than twenty
adults and children, occurred yesterday morning at
the works of Alersrs.Town and Son, bobbin-turners,
at Bingley, between Bradford and Keighley.
The dead and injured were removed to the M-.-
tional School, and a number of surgeons from the
surrounding district rendered prompt aid to those
who were suffering. Some were removed to their
homes, and some to the Bradford Infirmary. The
search for missing bodies was being prosecuted
yesterday afternoon. The cause of the disaster is
not known.

WRIGHT'S TURF GUIDE.—Wo have just received
a copy of this Well-constructed guide, containing a return
of the past meetings up to the end of last week.