The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-23 00:00:00

REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE BILL.

The Earl of DERBY rose to move the second reading of
this bill, which, he said, had passed the House of
Commons after the most anxious discussion. He
said ho felt the difficulty of the task, but
having taken part in the vote which had brought about so
great a change many years ago, he felt some confidence in
submitting the motion to their lordships. The bill of 1832
effected the most extensive alterations, and was followed
by changes that might almost be called a social revolu-
tion. He was then a young man, and ho remembered
the fact in order to show the difference of the state of
public opinion at that stormy period with that of the pre-
sent time. Then every popular demand had been restricted
until it rose. with tremendous power, and broke down all
the barriers that opposed it, and enabled the Government
to carry it with an irresistible demand. At that time the
cry was " The bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the
bill," and such was the power of , the movement
that the bill was carried amidst the utmost excitement,
such as had never been known before. Fortunately, how-
ever, at that time they had a man at the head of affairs
capable of directing the storm and ultimately of passing a
measure which put all parties on a batter footing and
added largely to the prosperity of the country. He
took an humble part in that groat measure, and fortunately
they also had still another one amongst them who stood
prominently forward in the groat struggle, and who had
rendered himself more to be remembered than the
rest • by his opinions with respect to finality. (Haar,
hoar, and laughter.) Tho bill he had now
the honour to submit to their lordships was one, he felt,
that would be productive of the most important results to
the country, and ho hoped it would be acceptable to the
country. The question of reform had for years been the
great effort of statesmen, for so long ago as 1818 the
tocsin of reform had been sounded. It was again and again
brought forward, and successive Administrations had tried
to arrive at a settlement of the question. It was brought
forward in the years 1852, 1854, 1858, and in 18G0, but it
was not until the present Parliament had taken up the
matter that the subject was brought to a successful
issue. When it was first introduced to the
House of Commons last session, it was done
so in such a dictatorial sense that the house re-
fused to give its consent to the proposal. Had the right
hon. gentleman who then filled the office of Chancellor of
the Exchequer dealt with the matter with a little more
discretion, it was possible that a more favour-
able issue might have been the result; but it
was loft for others to work out a solution of the
problem that was fatal to the Government of that period.
During the whole of the discussions that had then taken
place the question of the borough franchise had never been
alluded to. Her Majesty's Government had taken the mat-
ter in band, and the result had boon a success, and although
they were threatened with an amendment, which, if car-
ried, must be fatal to the measure passing during the pre-,
sent session, yet he felt that the attempt to defeat a mea-
sure which had cost so much thought and anxiety would
be defeated. (Hear, bear.) The noble earl then
alluded to the circumstances under which he was
called upon to form a Government, and said that
twice he had been called upon to direct public affairs with
a minority in the House of Commons and failed. On a
third occasion of the same kind arising, he determined
that he would not again be made a stop-gap until
Lis opponents had matured their plans of reform,
and therefore he accepted the task with a deter-
mination to change an existing .minority into a
practical majority—(hear, hoar)—and to devote the
closing days of a public career to the passing of a
measure that would bo satisfactory b the country at
large. £hey had boon charged with change of political
opinions on taking the reins of Government, but what
under the circumstances, were they to do ? Were they to
ignore the consideration of Reform altogether ? They de-
cided that they would net, and a measure was brought
forward, and in doing so the Government felt that the only
way of arriving at a successful issue was to take Parlia-
ment into their council, and by such means pass a
measure that had been brought forward with the most
honest and sincere motives. (Hoar, hear.) They in the
first instance attempted to proceed by resolution,
with but ill success, and when at last it was determined
to proceed by bill, the great purport of which would
in effect be household rating and personal payment of
taxes, such a proposition resulted in the loss of throe of its
most distinguished colleagues. However, her Majesty's
Government persevered in their earnest and honest en-
deavours, and the result had been a success, which few had
been willing at one time to concede to them. Adverting
once more to the resolution of Lord Grey, the noble earl,
whilst granting that the opinion of so high an authority
was deserving of all consideration, pointed out that the
proposal could serve no useful purpose, and he put it to
the house whether the adoption of snob an amendment

TheXerl of CARNARVON had objected to the bill of the
ate Government because it was based upon incomplete
and insufficient information, and was likely to swamp the
intelligence, independence, and property of the country.
Yet they were now invited to pass a much larger measure
upon absolutely no information at all. The very principle
of the bill was unsound and illuscry, and the only result
would be to disfranchise directly and indirectly the edu-
catt...d classes. They might regret it hereafter, but it
would then be too late, for they would discover that they
had taken an irrevocable step. Whilst saying this the
noble" earl made the admission that he had always Mt the
working. classes had been inadequately represented, but
the correction of that state of things was a different mat-
ter from transferring the whole power of Parliament to
them. Finally, Lord. Cameroon strongly censured the
conduct of the Government during the passage of the bill
through the Commons. They had evidently entered on a
race of concession with their political opponents, and the
result could only be fatal to the Constitution.
Earl BEAUCHAMP defended the Government in a
spirited speech, and said that ho should have been glad
so far as the county constituencies were concerned if the
bill went further even than it did.

Earl GRANVILLE, in sarcastic tones, congratulated
Lord Beauchamp and his friends on their great success in
having suppressed and concealed for so long a time their
burning desire for a household suffrage. He warned them,
however, that they would soon lose their character as
ardent reformers if they once condescended to adopt the
language as well as the arguments of that groat reactionary
personage, Mr. Bright. Twitting the subordinate members
of the Cabinet ia both houses with their reticence on the
Ministerial proposal, ho remarks I that this, however, was
not a matter to be wondered at, seeing the humiliations to
which those who ventured to express their views had had
to submit at the hands of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Criticising the speech of Lord Derby, in moving the second
reading of the bill, the noble earl said it only went to con-
firm the truth of the story which had currency, that the
chief argument used by the Premier in inducing his party
to support the bill was, "See ! how we've dished the
Whigs!" With respect to the bill itself ho did not share
in the apprehensions with which some noble lords regarded
it. On the contrary, he believed that the extension of the
franchise proposed would greatly strengthen the Consti-
tution. He, therefore, gave that part of the measure his
cordial support, but he could not say the same of the re-
distribution schem-., which he expected would not outlive
the next two or three years.
The Duko of MARLBOROUGH vindicated the course
pursued by the Government on the ground that they had
only the choice of accepting, as they had pledged them-
selves to do, the decision of the House of Commons, or of
incurring the tisk of not passing any measure cf reform,
and so plunging the country into confusion. He argued
that they had acted patriotically and consistently with
their promises, and they could afford to bear the taunts
which had been flung in their teeth, believing that their
conduct would receive the public approval.
On the motion of the Earl of SLIAFTESBUR,Y, the de-
bate was then adjourned until this clay.
Some bills were advanced a stage, and the house then
adjourned.

HOUSE OF CONIAIONS—LAST EVENING.
The SPEAKER took the chair at 4 o'clock.
HOSTILITIES IN CRETE.

Mr. MILL asked the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs whether he would undertake that, unless in the
event of a complete cessation of hostilities in Crete, Sir
William Wiseman would not proceed to Turkey or take
up his appointment until the house had had an opportunity
of expressing an opinion on the subject ?
Lord STANLEY said he had no objection to give the
undertaking asked for. (fear, hear.)
THE POOR LAW BILL.

Mr. 11. LEWIS asked the Secretary to the Poor Law
Board whether, considering the advanced period of the
session, it was his intention to proceed with thos3 clauses
in tho Poor Law Bill which were likely to givo rise to pro-
tracted discussion.
Mr. SCIATER-BOOTII said ho proposed to omit from
the bill all the clauses that were likely to lo.id to pro-
tracted debate.

BUSINESS OF TUE HOUSE.

The CITANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. -said there
were 51 Government bills standing on the paper, and such
a circumstance at tho present advanced period of the ses-
sion must necessarily load to the postponement of some of
them until a future session. The Government, therefore,
proposed to give up for the present session the Murder
Law Amendment Bill, \Vrits Registration (Scot-
land) Bill, Tonants Improvement
.(Ireland) Bill,
Land Improvement and Leasing (Ireland) Bill,
Sea Fisheries Bill, Admiralty Jurisdiction Bill, Intestate
Widows and Children Bill, Office of Judge of the Admi-
ralty Court, and Patent Juries (Ireland) Bills. There
would thus remain 41 bills, of which 11 had come down
from the Lads. Those he did not intend proceeding with
until some of tho other bills had been considered. To-
night the second reading of the Scotch Reform Bill and
the Meetings in the Royal Parks Bill would be taken.
To-morrow the house would meet at 12 to consider the
Tornado case and the Citizens Dwellings Bill. On Thursday
the remaining military and naval estimates would be con-
sidered, and on the following Monday the vote for the Bri-
tish Museum would be brought forward. On Friday the
vote for the packet service would be taken.
REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE(SCOTLAND)