The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-16 00:00:00

election.

W:th all these disadvantages, then, on all sides,
the " tug of war" will now begin. All the Tories
hostile for Toryism's sake, most of the Whigs hos-
tile because almost obliged to support what they
will defend, not for Whiggism's sake but for
the reputation of Whiggism. All the Radicals,
only half-friendly, if so much as half, because the
Bill does not give one half of their demands—it
leaves out altogether, indeed, the greatest demand
of all—freedom of voting. What, then, can become
of the "poor little Bill" in such a house as this ? If
it be true that " where there's a, will there's a
way," we may be absolutely certain that the House
of Commons will by soma means or other
find a way to get rid of the Bill with which
all its members are_ on different grounds
discontented ; and which,
we are sorry to
believe, a large majority of its members think goes
too far for them.

It is here we would j)in issue with the House 01

Commons. Our demand is, that it should offer
the country nothing less than the Bill. Whatever
honourable members may think, our comic contem-
porary has rightly represented the prevalent senti-
ment abroad. The faults of the Bill are, in public
opinion, entirely those of omission. Regarded
merely as an enfranchisement bill, it is respectable ;
but regard it a Reform Bill, which ought to include
protection for the voter and fair apportionment of
seata, it is a nullity. We do not mean to affirm that
these two points could have been carried through the
present House of Commons; but that fact only shows
how much Representative Ref, wrn is needed. When
n.) one even cxp,- tioit ' -ric
to every voter a right to give an unbiassed vote—
or, to property, in connection with population, a
tolerably equal representation— surely it is time
that such a house should be made to give way to
one which will do political justice.

It is plain that every obstruction will be offered
to this franchise-extension bill. Regarding it as a
good piece of bit-by-bit reform, we denounce such
obstructions. The great organ of Toryism has been
at it day by day, especially since the Opposition
have succeeded in their schemes of procrastination ;
and if hon. members do not return to St. Stephen's
with a tremendous ogre of mob ignorance swamp-
ing the select constituencies of £lO householders,
getting rid of taxes on articles of consump-
tion, and mulcting property with the cost of
our army and navy, it will not be the
fault of the Times. Mr. GLADSTONE'S Budget has
shown the way to get rid of taxes which affect the
many, and Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S Bill has said to
the many—" walk in lads, and saddle all of us who
do not live on wages with seventy pence in the
pound income-tax, and that will just pay our
seventy millions a-year expenditure." Lord
`MACAULAY, moreover, has been raised from the
dead, and if members of Parliament will neither
believe the journal which sits in MOSES' seat, nor a
risen Lord -MACAULAY-why, to the place of tor-
ment go they must:
But are Reformers to be called on in the name
of all the worthy persons who inhabit houses of
between £6 and £lO rent to fight with such spectres
of the fancy as these. Our answer is, collect any-
where you please, the class of persons referred to—
talk with them individually, or get them
together in a hall or schoolroom set
some of them to tell you their minds on public

things, and you will be surprised how shrewd and
sensible their remarks are ; the per tentage of in-

telligent men among them would probably equal
that of any other class. But, what is more to the
point, you will find them all—yes, even the men
who belong to Mr. WHITESIDE'S dreaded Trades'
Unions, imbued with as deep a reverence for the
rights of property as Mr. WHITESIDE himself.
None but industrbus hard-working artisans, as the
rule, are masters of even a 16 house, and honour-
able members may be as certain of it as of any pro-
position in Euclid, that the man who works for
his living is never a destructive. He knows the
value of "his own." He has come by it, by
a process which teaches him its value. It is
justly called his " hard-earned. savings"—and is
as dear to him as the estate of a Duke.
You will also find him an earnest friend to order.
He may think the capitalist hard upon him, but he
would rather try the matter out with him in his
own way—in the perfectly legitimate way of re-
fusing to work if he thinks he ought to have more
for his work.
We do not believe ii Lord MACAULAY'S vivid
pictures of what operatives will do in hard times.
He says we have got over such seasons in England
because the few—just sufficient to keep Whigs
in power—had the political power. We beg
to recal one fact to recollection—on each return
of the times of hardship alluded to by Lord
MACAULAY, the temper of the unemployed and the
demands of those on strike have become milder and
more reasonable. To what is this to be attributed
but to the fact that the working classes have been
treated, legislatively, with more justice. The great
crowning act of justice to them was the removal of
the tax on their food. How thankful were all
of us in 1848 that the Corn Laws had
been repealed! And it is certainly rather
tender ground that those who for thirty years con-
fiscated by corn laws the very food of the poor
should now begin to exclaim about the danger of
the poor throwing on them the sole burden of the
taxes, which are paid chiefly to protect the pro-
perty of the country. Our working men, how-
ever, will never do any such thing. They will
never, we are confident, object to a fair taxation of
those things which are not the necessities of life.
We observe in his speech to the electors of Har-
wich Mr CAMPBELL., now Lord STRATIIEDEN, has a
new proposal. He, having left the House of Com-
mons, has handed over to a member who has au-
thority and eloquence to urge them, the arguments
by which he intended to have supported a motion
for a select committee to draft a Reform Bill.
There may be advantages in such a
course, but the objections strike us as
insurmountable. We know our rights and claims
without the help of a select committee, and want
only a house and a Ministry honest enough to
recognise them, There is nothing new to be
ascertained—ne secret doings needing to be inves-.
tigated. It is not knowledge, but fairness, that
is wanted. In the other main feature of
his proposals we altogether concur and we
trust Lord STRATHEDEN will use his powerful logic
with the Upper House to convince it. " That, to at-
tempt a general amendment of the system, with a
view to rest and perpetuity, and at the same to
deny vote by ballot in election either wholly or
partly, absolutely or conditionally, seems to be a
course more adapted to excite popular resentment
than to assuage uneasiness existing in the body of
the people."

tarTyhecoannaniutin o
annual report of Dr. LETTIEB on the sani-
sented to the CofmmthiessiiC
onteyrsofofLsoenldvoenrs,, jhuasst
sponaree-
points of interest. It is especially deserving the
attention of all who occupy themselves in the con-
sidaration of questions of sanitary reform, and many
topics which it touches upon are highly suggestive.
On the whole, Dr. LETIIEBY considers the state of
the city health to be favourable, as the death-rate
only a nounts to 22.4 per 1,000 of the population,
whereas in other large towns it isnearly26.The
mortality, it seems, is very unequally divided
among the different districts. In the western divi-
sion it has been as high as 27 3; in the eastern,
26.5 ; and in the central, only 19 8. Consequently,
according to these statistics, while 1 in 44 have
died in the whole city, 1 in 36 have died in the
western districts, 1 in 33 in the eastern, and only 1 in
56 in the central. may be supposed, those dis-
tricts where the death•rate is so high are the loca-
lities of the poor, who have often to contend against
the evil effects el excessive labour and bad living,
in addition to the ills resulting from over-crowd-
.ng and want of cleanliness. Still the fact is sug-
gestive to the sanitary reformer,
especially when the
great decrease which is perceptible in the returns of
mortality during the last few years is home in
mind. After giving some particulars of the mean age
of death in the city, Dr. LETIIEBY goes on to say:—
I" Dark, however, as this picture may seem to be