The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-18 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—This EVENING.

The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
The galleries devoted to the members of the House of
Peers were very fully attended this evening. The
Strangers' Gallery, of course, was crowded. •
At twenty-five minutes past four the Chancellor of the
Exchequer entered the house and took his seat without
the slightest tuanifostation of feeling either from the Go-
vormnent or Opposition side of the house. At this hour
not a single seat in the house was unoccupied.
FLOGGING 1N THE ARMY.

10
Sir J. PAKENGTI N said the Government could not
consider the vote come to the other evening with respect
to the abolition of this punishment in the army as con-
clusive, and therefore the usual clause would be intro-
duced in the Mutiny Act. The motion could, therefore,
be again raised by moving that the clause be struck out of
the bill.
THE REFORM BILL.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER,
rose at 18 minutes to 5 to move for leave to intro-
duce a bill for the amendment of the representation
of the people. He said the subject had been so
thoroughly investigated and discussed that on
the present occasion he should not stop to
enter into the reasons that existed for such a mea-
sure, but he would at once state the two branches
into which he had divided the subject. The first
was to convey to the house the object of the
Government in the bill which he
leave to introduce ; and the snecoowndsouwgasht
to detail by what means the Government thought
that the objects of the bill could be cam .
The first duty, therefore, theof house eaft ot e
rdwe
ac dd es
upon was the object of the bill,
and the
to consider whether the means the Government pro-
posed were inadequate. That was the issue before them
The great object of the Government was so to deal
with the matter that the subject could be adjusted
in such a way as to secure something approaching
to universal assent. The bill which he now asked
leave to introduce dealt with the matter in the way
the Government thought was the best that could be
adopted. It did not propose to give preponderance
to any class. It did not seek to secure the ascen-
dancy of democracy, because he did hope it
would never be his lot to live under democracy.
The bill, therefore, had no tendency in
that direction. In the last year the house knew
what was the. result of a long and angry discussion
which took place on the subject in which they were
now engaged. The bill proposed on that occasion
offered no prospect of a settlement, and therefore
the house took the matter into its own hands. It
asserted a principle and carried it with one of the
largest majorities of the session. (Cheers.) The
principle affirmed was that the borough franchise
should be founded on a rating basis, and as he
had said was carried in the face of the Govern-
ment proposition. (Hear, hear.) The Govern-
ment believed that the house had come to the con-
clusion that the proper foundation for the borough
franchise was a rating qualification, and therefore
it became the duty of her Majesty's Government
to connect it with value; and, under such circum-

}~..ir

stances, they directed their attention to occupation
ia conjunction with rating. In the returns he
had in his hand, which would very shortly be
in the possession of members, be found that
there were in the boroughs 1,367,000 male house-
holders, of whom 644,000 at present possessed the
qualification, the remaining 723,000 being disqua-
lified, and the best manner of dealing with this
large number was the great problem the Government
had to solve. Considering, therefore, the borough
franchise, the Government thought they ought not
to rest on the fluctuating principle cf value. The
Government did not think that the compound
householder should have a vote as a compound
householder, and therefore the Government
had to consider the position of that large
class by adopting the rating principle. Tak-
ing a general view of the question, and by
taking the rating principle in its entirety, the pro-
posal
of the Government was that the
franchise for the boroughs should be exercised
by every man who occupied a house for two years
and paid his rates. The proposal of the Govern-
ment, therefore, was, in effect, that out of 723,000
householders at present disqualified, the proportion
the Government would admit to the franchise
would be 230,000 who now pay their rates, and
the 486,000 compound householders could, if they
chose, become possessed of the privilege of the fran-
chise if they had their names entered iu the rate-book.
It was in the highest degree desirable that the voter
should not be a migratory pauper. (Hear, hear.)
Unless a residential term was decided on,
all attempts at a settlement of the matter would
fail, and therefore the term for the
qualification had been fixed by the Government at
two years. The Government had fully considered
the proposal that had been made by some to 'fix the
borough franchise at £5, but it was bad in every
particular, and could not for a moment be seriously
entertained. The proposition, therefore, was to rest
the borough. franchise on a two years' residence
and payment of taxes, besides which it was
also proposed to confer the franchise on the
man who paid twenty sLillings in direct
taxation. (hear, hear, and laughter.) If, how-
ever, the householder, in addition to the franchise
he possessed, paid 20s. in direct taxation, then he
might exercise his suffrage on both franchises.
(Hear, hear.)
Mr. GLADSTONE would like to, know if the
copyholder who did not pay his taxes, but paid his
20s. in direct taxation, would be entitled to a
vote.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
sail of course he would be entitled to vote for the
direct taxation qualification, and also to qualify for the
other by payment, and thus he could, if he choose,
give two votes.
An HON. MEMBER asked for an explanation of
what was meant by " direct" taxation.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said income and assessed taxes, the humorous quali-
fication alluded to by the hon. member (Mr. Bright),
was not included in either of those, and the franchise
would not bo obtained by payments made in the
shape of licenses of any description. The bill of
the Government also proposed to give the fran-
chise to those persons who had £5O either in the
funds or savings banks, because it was thought that
persons having that amount had just as much right
to vote as the holder of personal property who exer-
cised the franchise, because he possessed a freehold
of 40s. and value. With respect to the counties
the position of matters differed very much from
that of the boroughs, therefore the Government did
not propose that the new franchises should extend
to the counties, and it was not therefore proposed
to give under any circumstances two votes for the
counties. The Government after the greatest de-
liberation, had thought that the qualification for
counties should be placed at a £6 rating—(hear)--
and therefore they had determined to fix upon that
amount. With regard to the distribution of the
36 seats, which would be obtained by the means

Le had on a former 9ceation detailed to

the house, it was proposed to give them
to Ilartlepool, Darlington, Burnley, Staleybridge,
St. Helen's, Dewsbury, Barnsley, Middlesborough,
Wednesbury, Croydon, Gravesend, Torquay, and
the Tower Hamlets ; and of the fifteen to be
given - to the counties, North Lancashire,
North Lincolnshire, West Kent, East Sur-
rey., Middlesex, South Staffordshire, South
Devon, and South Lancashire, we propose to give
a representative to the London University. These
were the provisions of the bill the Government
and in framing it great difficulties_ had to be
encountered ; btit the great object of the
Government had been to give a fair
representation to the nation. (The right hon gen-
tleman resumed his scat amidst loud cheers.)
Mr. GLADSTONE, who, next rose, said so far
as he could gather the bill of the Government was
not a pleasing one—(hear, hear, from the
Opposition)—but before a positive opinion was
pronounced,it:would be desirable to have the bill of
the Government in their hands, and it was promised
hon. members by to-morrow morning.

FLEFT SPEAKIXG:I

OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE BOAT RACE.

OXFORD, Saturday Evening.
The Oxford crow, steered by their regular coxswain Mr.
C. W. R. Tottenham, started hence this afternoon at two

o'clock, and took a long sweat to Wallingford, a distance
of 22 miles, where they dined, and returned to Oxford by
train. The position of the mon remained unaltered ou
Monday last, but much dissatisfaction exists here as to the
merits of some of them, there being in the estimation of
good judges one or two in the boat not up to their work ;
in fact the odds have so much changed that instead of 6
to 4 being offered on the " Sons of the Isis," slight odds
aro asked for the other way. The Oxonians will leave
Oxford in about a fortnight's time, and will have a good
fortnight's practice on the Thames. The new boat built
for Cambridge by Messrs. Salter has been completed and
forwarded to its destination, but the new Oxford boat is
still on the stocks. The following are the names and
weights of the Oxford crow.

st. lb.
1. W. P. Bowman, University
2. J. 11. Fish, Worcester
3. E. S. Carter, Worcester
4. W. W. Wood, University
.5. J. S. Tinne, University
6. A. 11. Crowder, Brasenose
7. F. W. Willan, Exeter
8. li. G. Marsden, Merton

OXFORD AND
MCA T CHMBRIDGE BILLIARD
AES.

-ip.. _____

OXFORD, Saturday.

A great trial double match of 500 up between Messrs.
W. R. W. Rodgers, of Exeter College, the winner of the
Oxford and Cambridge single match last year, awl Mr. E.
Watts-Russell, of Christ Church, his partner; and Mr. W.
E. Stokes, of the Cocoatree Billiard Club, St.James's, Lon-
don, a former Oxford champion, and Mr. R. D. Walker, of
Southgate, was played at Oxford this afternoon, in the
presence of a large number of University men. The old
ones went off with the lead, and had a manifest advantage
until Mr. Rodgers got in and made a splendid break of 45,
and the game was shortly afterwards called 113 all. From
this period it was hotly contested, each side leading alter-
nately until the last 100, when both of the young Oxonians
made several fine breaks, and eventually won by 66 points
amidst great applause. The winners will have the honour
of representing Oxford in the approaching inter-University
matches, which we understand will be played as usual at
St. James's Hall, on the Friday and Saturday evenings of
the boat-race week, Mr. Rodgers, the recent winner of the
Oxford University cues, representing the " dark blue" in
the single match.

TIIE SISTER OF BERANGER still lives, a nun in the
Convent des Oiseaux, at Paris. She is 101 years old, but
in good health. •
A man named Willis, who was in charge of a cart
in Levenshulme, was stabbed in the neck on Friday night
by an Irishman named Macarty, who, it is alleged, is a
Fenian. Willis was taken to the Manchester Infirmary,
and was visited by a magistra'e on Saturday for the pur-
pose of taking his deposition, but he was too ill to dis-
turbed, and he died yesterday morning. M.acart be
y, who is
in custody, will be taken before the magistrates to-
morro on a charge of wilful murder.
THE Fox CLUB.—The second meeting of the
Fox Club took place at Broolis's on Saturday night. There
were present the Earl of Albemarle, Colonel T. C. B. Chal-
loner, Viscount Eversley, Augustus K. Stephenson, Esq.,
Frederick Dundas, Esq., M.P., Lord Torpichen, Hon. E.
S. Russell, Hon. Fitzpatrick H. Vernon, Sir William Scott,
Bart., M.P., S:r Henry Ferguson Davie, Bart., M.P., Earl
of Zetland, Lor.l Carew, Sir E lward M. Buller, Bart
M.P., Earl of Fife, Viscount Sudley, &c.