The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-28 00:00:00

REFORM IN PARLIAMENT.

The following is a copy of a letter from Mr. In-
gram, M.P., read at the Reform meeting held at
Newcastle, on Monday last :
" 110, Marine Parade, Brightox, Oct. 22.
"My dear Sir,--I am glad you are making well-
directed efforts to call greater attention to the
question of a new Reform Bill. As it new stands,
there appears to me to be a greater desire in the
House of Commons for reform than there is even
among the people outside. This desire arises prin-
cipally, I believe, out of the remembrances of the
last election, as well as from the near prospect of
another. The members can themselves bear testi-
mony to the great abuses of the present system,
entailing upon candidates great expense and great
degradation ; and they, therefore, desire an im-
provement. We have now to consider how such
an improvement is to be accomplished. The pre-
sent state of matters may be briefly summed up :
That in a small constituency bribery and corrup-
tion are resorted to almost uniformly, involving
large expenses ; that in the large constituencies,
although there may be no briber-, yet a large ex-
pense is incurred by agencies, chiefly conducted by
legal gentlemen. Hence it would follow, in my
mind, that the small constituencies should be
made larger, and that effectual means should be
used to prevent exorbitant and unreasonable
expenses for the future, whether in large con-
stituencies or small. A diminution if not an
entire prohibition of the interference of lawyers
at elections must follow in consequence. It has
been proposed that#the introduction of household
suffrage, giving a vote to every house, should be
established ; but I think that the experience of our
municipal elections will prevent such a suffrage
being established for the purpose of electing mem-
bers of Parliament ; and without doubt, residential
suffrage to all persons of 21, unconvicted of penal
offence and not in receipt of parochial relief, would
be far preferable to mere household suffrage, because
you would include the more intelligent persons who
are lodgers, such as well-informed mechanics,
bankers' clerks, and others, who often occupy the
best part of a house, and are now excluded from the
franchise. As we are a practical people we must
not notice all fine-sounding theories about the right
of every person having a vote, but must consider
the best means of getting the best Parliament and
of preserving our present liberties. In order to ac-
complish this, I think that boroughs of less than
10,000 inhabitants should only return one member,
and in their stead that we should give the right to
large places now unrepresentedof returning a mem-
ber to Parliament. No constituency to be less than
3,000 ; and if the place is not large enough, to an-
nex neighbouring towns to the present boroughs,
as is done in Scotland. I cannot say I view with
much favour the extending in counties of the right
to vote to £lO householders and tenants ; but
with an improved law for the free transfer of
land, give the right to freeholders only ; the ex-
•periment of giving tenant-farmers votes cannot be
said to have worked satisfactorily. In order to
give every one an opportunity of voting as freely
as possible, let all the constituencies have the
right of saying by ballot yes' or 'no' whether
they will have the ballot at an election. Then we
sum up by asking for our ancient franchise—free-
holders in counties, and every resident in a town.
I hope the reformers in the north will not be
parties to the rejection of any measure that has a
tendency to improve the present state of affairs
because they cannot get all they require, but that
they will accept all improvements as instalments
of what they consider their just rights, as in the
end education will considerably increase the in-
telligence of the people, and, with intelligence,
extension of the suffrage must follow. Accept my
thanks for your letter, and
" I remain, dear sir, yours truly,
" Jos. Cowan, Esq." " HERBERT INGRAM.