The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-15 00:00:00

THE NETV _REFORM BILL.

Last night a public meeting of the inhabitants of
Paddington, convened by the churchwardens of the
parish in compliance with u requisition presented
to the vestry, signed by numerous influential
parishioners, was held in the Vestry Hall, Harrow-
te, c(ee.ider the provi,ious of the proposed new
Reform Bill—Mr. Churchwarden Dickinson was
unanimously called to the chair.
Mr. ROBINS, in moving the first resolution, as
follows—" That it is the opinion of this meeting
that the bill now before Parliament, entitled A
bill further to amend the representation of the
people,' can be considered by the real Reformers
of this country as a trifling instalment only of
that necessary amendment which both reason and
justice imperatively demand," said, by adopting this
resolution they would not be stating a great deal in
favour of the bill, which was a very little bill, both
in respect to the amount of reform it would afford
and its contents, as it only extended to about a page
and a half of a newspaper; it had been said that
good things were usually wrapped up in small par-
cels, but he questioned if this would scarcely agree.
with that idea, for it was, but a trifling instalment
of reform, and very trifling indeed. (Hear, hear.)
The only advantage Paddington would gain by it,
in the increase of the number of electors, would be
five—(hear and shame)—and perhaps not more than
one. (Oh, oh.) Marylebone would fare but little
better ; in the Tower Hamlets somewhat more. Ho'ic
ever, in some of the large country towns the franchise
would certainly be increased to a very much greatei
extent, so that out of the 200,000 electors which
Lord John Russell proposed to create only a
very small proportion would be added to the me-
tropolis. The enfranchisement of. Chelsea and Ken-
sington, he maintained, was not considered as an
advantage, but he believed it was merely for the
purpose of preventing those two parishes from re-
turning the members for Middlesex entirely for
themselves, and thereby giving greater power to the
great landowners in the election of the members
for that county. He thought such a course was
trifling with the large and intelligent constituencies
of this great 'metropolis. (Hear, hear.) He looked
upon the bill as only an oyster with a little lemon
before dinner, and he thought they had better ac-
cept it as such. (Laughter, and hear, hear.) Rea-
son and justice imperatively demanded a.greater
reform by a larger increase of electors and protec-
tion by the ballot; and he sincerely hoped- this bill
of Lord John Russell would only be received as an
instalment of reform, a precursor of a better bill to
meet the wants of the people. (Applause.)
Mr. HARGREAVES seconded the resolution; on
which au amendment was proposed objecting
altogether to the bill, and advocating the lodger
franchise, which was rejected by a small majority,
and the resolution was then carried.

Mr. LANGIIAM moved, and Mr. PERRY seconded,
the next resolution :—" That the amendment to
thc eald hill. proposed by our honourable re-
presentatiye, Mr. Edwin Tames, fbr gi•rins- (Agora
the franchise, is highly approved by this meeting,
and deserves the earnest support of every Liberal
member of the House of Commons."

Carried unanimously, with applause.
It was further moved by the Rev. R. EVEREST,
and seconded by Captain LIVEING :-" That the
omission of the metropolitan constituencies,
and of Marylebone in particular, from the
list of those boroughs to which an increased
number of representatives is proposed to be given,
is so grossly unfair, that it calls for the severest
condemnation of this meeting."
Lord FERMOY, in rising to support this resolution,
was received with loud and prolonged applause.
After adverting to the receipt of a telegram which
he had just received from his colleague, Mr. E.
James, regretting his unavoidable absence, the noble
lord said he had received this Reform Bill of Lord
S. Russell with great dissatisfaction, but not with
disappointment. (Hear.) He was dissatisfied because
it fell far short of the just requirements of the
people, but he was not disappointed, because he
never believed that the Cabinet, constituted as it
was at present, would have brought in more. (Hear,
and cheers.) This Reform Bill had a series of com-
promises, and was full of negative quantities.
(Laughter.) To a certain extent the nomination
boroughs were preserved to satisfy Mr. Gladstone
and the Conservative element of the Cabinet;
another portion of the bill he looked upon as most
unjust, which limited the franchise to a great ex-
tent in this country—he meant the lodger fran-
chise. (Hear, hear.) The only portion of the bill
which was good was that which extended the
franchise, and that was a compromise which the
Liberal party benefited by ; and that was only in
order to satisfy the Liberal party in the Cabinet,
such as Lord John, Lord Palmerston, and the Bright
party ; so he thought he was not far wrong in
saying this bill was full of negative quantities,
one countervailing the other. There was a good
old saying, that " charity began at home," and
they would, therefore, see how the bill would work
in their own constituency. The increase of the
franchise in Paddington would be exactly one.
(Hear, hear, and laughter.): He did not know the
name of this happy gentleman, but he ought to
come forward and thank the noble lord for har-
ing thus made an act of Parliament solely for his
benefit. (Roars of laughter.) If that was true
with regard to Paddington it was more or less true
with regard to the other metropolitan districts. It
compared mast unfavourably with other Reform
Bills of preceding years, Lord J. Russell himself, in
1844, having proposed a repeal of the ratepaying
clauses. It was monstrous to introduce such a bill,
for in Calne, a small Whig borough, containing
a population of 5,195, an estimated rental
of £24,406, and registered electors but 174;
and yet Calne had its member preserved ; and in
Portarlington, a Tory borough, with a population
of about 2,964, rental not ascertained, and electors
only 92, there also their one member was preserved ;
whilst Marylehone, with a population of 370,967 ;
rental, £2,442,611; electors, 21,031; and they give
no increase to her representation. He concluded
by stating that before he gave his vote for throwing
out the bill, he would try to have it amended, and
if they failed in doing that, then after that it would
be as well to consider as to what was best to be
done with it.
The noble lord having resumed his seat amidst
great cheering, the resolution was unanimously
approved.
A vote of thanks to Lord Fermoy and the Chair-
man closed the proceedings.

HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE

WEEK.

(From the Report of the Registrar-General.)

The health of the people of London is better
than it was recently. The mortality has declined,
and the deaths have fallen in three weeks from
1,500 to 1,397. The corrected average number of
deaths of the corresponding week of the ten pre-
vious years is 1,365; so the deaths of the week that.
ended on Saturday, March 10, were 32 more than
the estimated number.

The weather was inclement, and had it not
been for the mildness of the intervening
week the mortality have would probably been
higher. Pope said of himself that he was
an " atmosphei ical creature ; " and thio same
may be affirmed with equal truth of the population
of London. The tide of death falls and rist.s with
the thermometer. Many hardy constitution s resist
extremes of cold and heat, because they lave in
themselves, as Dr. Edward Smith has ingeniously
shown, the power of increasing or diminishing the
internal combustion of carbon. Others lease that
power, and die in consequence.
The deaths of the consumptive do not appear
to be accelerated by cold ; last week tb.e num-
ber (143) was below the avtrage. The diseases
of the organs of breathing were rife, and
were fatal in 387 instances, the oirrected
average of corresponding weeks being 301-5. The
deaths by these diseases were 23 at the awes of 20-
40, 57 at the ages of 40-60, and 88 at the ages of
60-80. The power of resisting cold climb ishes as
age advances, and the clothing should, therefore,
be increased.
An old man of 101 died in the week.
Small-pox was fatal—many children are -still de-
prived of the protection of vaccination. Sixteen
persons died of measles, 51 of scarlatina, '0 of dip-
theria, 42 of whooping-cough ; 33 of typbutt, typhia,
or typhine ; 15 of diarrhoea, 1 adult of cholera.
Eight persons were killed by mechanical, 'violence,
4 by drowning, 13 by suffocation, and 8 by burns.
The fires of Smithfield and the Suttee fit vs of India
have been extinguished, but the fires of (our own
hearths destroy hundreds and deform thou sands of
English women and children annually.
Assuredly
some remedy may be found; why are con tbustible
ndroetsbseesbcuarrneeldestsloy
dewtrthn, Or 10 siffs.ohcoauteldd
Ecihghiltdrepu.ersbrs,
under the bedclothes and otherwise in seven days.
Such deaths can scarcely be considered inevitable
accidents.

Last week the births of 919 boys and. 867 girls,
in all 1,786 children, were registered in London.
In the ten corresponding weeks of the yeiirs 1850-59
the average number was 1,768.

HEENAN, TIIE PUGILIST.—The "Benicia Boy, "
who has for some time past been in training at Harnham,
near Salisbury, has just left that place for the purpose of
prosecuting his preparations in some more retired locality.
Thz. New York illustrated News has sent a
special correspondent, and a distinguished artist, to Eng-
land, to attend on the international encounter between
Heenan and Sayers, and give correct views or descriptions
of the training grounds, the mode of training the pugilists,
the sporting places in England, with faithful portraits of
Heenan and Sayers, and of their sergoios.

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

(From the Correspondent of the Times.)
VICTORIA, VANCOUVER'S ISLAND, JAN. 22.
The elections of representatives to serve in the
new House of Assembly of Vancouver's Island are
just over, and give a very marked majority in favour
of the Government.
The qualifications of electors, which were lately
established by an Act of the last Legislature, and of
which the recent elections are the first fruits, are
rather peculiar, and some of them novel in practice,
although not in theory. Here is an epitome :-
Ist. All British subjects who, as surgeons or phy-
sicians, obtained a diploma in Great Britain, Ire-
land, or any of the colonies ; barristers, solicitors,
attorneys, and advocates and writers to the signet
(in Edinburgh), and graduates of any one of the
Universities of the mother country or of the colo-
nies. These form the first class of electors. The
second class comprises the occupiers of any real
estates in the colony at a yearly rental of Xl2. The
third class embraces the following property and oc-
cupancy qualifications :—(a) A freehold estate of
20 acres of land ; (b) a freehold of the value of £5O
in any real estate ; (c) one-fourth part of the profits
of . a farm held by a person in charge thereof (a
bailiff, for instance). The conditions as to residence
are, in the first class, four months ; in the second
class, six months ; and in the third class, three
months. The voters enfranchised under the pro-
fessional and educational qualification; may elect
to qualify under the first or any other class, but
they cannot vote for the same district on two qua-
lifications at the same election.
The voting is open, there being a great aversion
to the ballot here, where its effects are well known,
that the subject was not even mooted during the
discussion of the Act to amend and extend the re-
-presentation.

The disqualification of alienage by reason of a
British-born subject having assumed allegiance to
another country can be removed by his taking the
oath of allegiance to the Queen three months pre-
vious to registration. All others who are disquali-
fied in Great Britain are disqualified here. So far
as regards the electors.

The qualification of a member is freehold property
of the value of £3OO owned for three months pre-
vious to the election, and a residence in the colony
for the same period.

The following are disqualified from serving as
members—vis., clergymen, returning officers and
revising barristers, for 18 months after they shall
have acted in either capacity ; insolvents and uncer-
tificated bankrupts ; persons who have been con-
victed of felony, of bribery at an election, or who
have been outlawed in any suit.
The acceptance of a Government appointment, or
the taking of a Government contract by a member,
shall, ipso facto, vacate his seat ; but he shall be
eligible for re••election.

The practical working of the Act is the same as
in England in similar matters.

The duration of the House is for three years.
The number of members is 13, of electors 478.
Such are the simple foundations of our young
political institutions, which their founders trust will
endure as long as those of the mother country from
which they are borrowed.

Of the character and standing of the newly elected
members, upon whose proceedings in the approach-
ing session of the Legislature the future fate of the
colony in a measure depends, it is safe to say, that
they are, on the whole, so respectable a body of
educated and intelligent men, whose individual in-
terests are linked with the general interests of the
colony, so as to afford a reasonable guarantee that
they will strive to advance its prosperity. They
very fairly represent the opinions and interests of
the constituency, and they possess sympathies com-
mon to all classes.

The greatest compliment I can pay to them is to
say that their sentiments are thoroughly English
and to this fact I attach much importance. It will
give a tene—a wholesome practical tone—to the
Assembly; and the force of this good example will
tend to extend and to confirm the feelings of loyalty
and of attachment to our common country and to
our peculiar institutions which, happily, animate
the great body of the colonists. It is good and
gratifying to see our old and tried institutions re-
produced in so remote a portion of the new world.
The contest in some parts of the colony was keen
enough, and success was only obtained after a hard
struggle; bat the conflict brought out much that
was manly, straightforward, and independent in
thought and action, and there was a singular ab-
sence of all impropar influences, The result is a
triumph of the influence of property, capacity, ex-
perience, prudent reform, economy and progression
over demagogism and its kindred concomitants. At
the same time, it is proper to add that few popular
elections have left less acerbity of feeling.
The new bishop has been here for three weeks.
His fame as an able and efficient pastor had pre-
ceded him, and insured him a kind and hearty
reception. His presence, social intercourse, and the
performance of his sacred duties have confirmed the
estimate we had formed by reputation of his charac-
ter. He has been exceedingly well received by all
classes ofProtestants—Dissenters as well as Church-
men. Much of the favourable impression which the
Bishop has made is due to his very candid declara-
tion from the pulpit, on the first Susiday after his
arrival, that his church is self-supporting, and un-
connected with the State. He threw himself boldly
and confidently upon the affections, zeal, and good
feeling of the laity for the future maintenance of
religious instruction; and, as a large majority of
the people is averse to State connection, the decla-
ration has had the desired effect.

My own individual opinion is of no weight or im-
portance, but I shall not commit myself entirely to
these sentiments. They are very pleasing in theory,
and as a general principle have much to recommend
them. I think, however, that a moderate endow-
ment in real property in aid of religion, where, as is
the case here, it can be done without any injustice
to existing interests, is a duty incumbent on the
State—such endowment not to be limited to the
Church of England. This done, the further future
support of every church might with a good grace be
left to the members of each persuasion.
A clergyman who knows his part well, and plays
it, will find support under the voluntary system;
but I have yet to learn that this system possesses
vitality and attraction sufficient to induce the edu-
cation, training, and devotion of such a body of
learned men as the Church of England draws, under
State endowment, to her service. Having seen much
of the voluntary system where it exists on a large
scale, I cannot hesitate to declare that it has not yet
produced, and is not preparing, an educated body of
clerical gentlemen in any part of the world which
comes up to the standard I have:mentioned. There is
much practical philosophy in Sydney Smith's doc-
trine of "prizes" in the Church.

I have now to take up a far less agreeable sub-
ject, San Juan, but I shall touch upon it slightly.
By the determination of the home Government
we are now, it seems, to hare a joint military oc-
cupation. The Americans have 90 men on the
island at present, and I suppose we shall send an
equal number. I stated so many objections to this
measure in a former letter that I shall not take up
your space with any more. My own opinion is
that the American Government will continue to
express its determination to keep the island so long
as they believe that we shall not go to war for it,
and that the moment we remove this belief from
their minds, and convince them that we are deter-
mined to maintain our rights at all hazards, they
will give us up a possession which is of no value,
use, or utility to the American nation, but which
will be a source of expense to it, a continual cause
of annoyance ar.d irritation to us, a constant
menace in time of peace, and in time of war a key
by which they can lock us out of our possessions of
a great portion of Vancouvet's Island, and out of
British Columbia altogether.

I naturally feel very strongly on this matter, and
have paid much attention to the question ; but
having so fully stated on former occasions both
sides of it, I will not at present go into its merits.
I wish, however, to express my conviction—a con-
viction which I share with all the best informed
men here—that if our Government shall commit
folly, and be guilty of the weakness of giving up
San Juan, unless England shall at the same time or