The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-26 00:00:00

asbanvde re,Ydtpfiuirpialanalco,rise.i ;country, and which will bring back again
fair
par.
tion of political power which the old Constitution of the
country recognised, and which, if practicable, it seems to
me that all of us aro desirous should be accomplished.
Well, sir, there is a very great difference between the pe-
riod of 1832 and the period of 1867. In the period of 1832.
Parliamentary Reform was a subject to fire the imagine.-
y
tall
mshoitite
ctcohyhgauetorwtn.qheteti
occupy
sceawtcistuoi
utponhbyni aeuteihnhaLesee
the
unsettled
presentaee nsdwpdi
ahrwniotidthohaf
occasion
bvayetphteiuwnce c
e ier
there suchi4
Lions and excite the passions of all men. It was one which
g
pp,,al with confdence,
vo(reei
sti-
ttaougttireahone
rsal
consent requiring settlement, can n
as I now understand, to the candid interpretatiort' of the
(louse of Commous upon our plans and motives, and can
couet even on the support., of couria the discriminating,
t still the not less generous supprrii, of our political
rivals. S,r, with these feeliugs I shall endeavour to speak
to ter ese liosolutions which I placed ouly a fortnight ago
upon the table of this hous... (A laugh.) It is ouly a fort-
night ago that I asked the lionse to consider the propriety
of p eanitting her M ijcsty's Government to proceed on this
subj-ct by way of R3sulutiou, and it was then more than
doubtful whether that permission would be conceded. It
has been said that the Resolutions placed upon the tteole
are vague, and not intended to lead the house to any prac-
tical conclusion. My presence to-day, according to all Par-
liamentary practice, to give the :orplanations which the
house has a right to expect, is a sufficient answer to that
charge. I confess for myself, sir, that I cannot agree with
those who in attempting to settle great questions begin by
disregarding the importance of principles. It appears to
me thatit is of great importance, if we are endeavouring to
bring about a general understanding in the house upon
subject of groat moment, that we should begin by seeing
whether there is between us a sympathy on the principles
on which that settlement is to be founded. And although I
was Dever less inclined to enter into controversy with the
house on any pat:: of the subject before us, yet still, in vin-
dication of the Government, I do not think the period fixed
for the consideration of these Resolutions, which form a
whole and aro connected together, and which at least are
the result of reflection and pains-1 do not think that the
period was unreasonable. Because what has been the prac-
tice under such circumstances? Gentlemen take these Re-
solutions, and endeavour themselves to see what they lead
to and what would be the practical results. They thew-
selves make cdmbinatious and applications which fail, and
some of which perhaps are partially successful; and when
they find that the solution of the difficulty is not so easy as
they imagine, they come, as it were, into a more practical
state of mind, and at the light time they treat her Majesty's
Ministers with morecaudour, and aid them with more zea-
lous co-operation. (Hear, hear.) I will firstask the house to
=sides that portion of the question which is perhaps im-
mediately the most interesting, and which has occasioned
of late years the most controversy in this house-viz., the
state of the borough franchise. Is considering this question
our anxiety has been to widen, as far as we could, the right
of exercising political suffrage, and, while retaining the
general character of this house, and while we endeavour to
give to the working classes their old share in the formation
of Parliament, at the same time not derogating from that
variety of character in this house which I believe to be so
important, and the main foundation of our influence and
authority. (Hear, hear.) We have endeavoured, in consi-
dering the question, to see whether we could not improve
and increase the suffrage for boroughs, with a due regard to
three important qualities-capital, intelligence, and labour.
With this view we have resolved to recommend the house
to adopt four new franchises in boroughs. These four
franchises have no novelty to recommend them to alarm
the house, for I believe they have on several occasions been
the subject of our discussions, and in all instances have „.
experienced a very favourable reception from the house:
The first now franchise that we wish to establish would be 6
au educational franchise. In 1859 we introduced a bill in
which we proposed to give the suffrage to the graduates of
all Universities, to the members of all the learned profes-
sions, to clergymen and ministers of religion, to certificated
schoolmasters, and others. I should myself wish to see
such a suffrage extended. In the present Resolutions, or
in the bill which, if the Resolutions are sanctioned, it will
bo my duty to bring in, that franchise would to a certain
degree be extended, although not to that degree to which
some would wish to see it carried. I believe, however,
that under this franchise a considerable number of persons,
comparatively speaking, would exercise the franchise who
otherwise would not enjoy it. To that point I will advert
afterwards. The next new franchise that we wish to estab-
lish is a savings-bank franchise. That is a franchise which
has always been favourably considered, and which has
been included in almost every project of Parliamentary
Reform of late years, but to which one objection of consi-
derable importance has been urged, and that is, that it is
very difficult to establish and register the names of those
who, under such a franchise, would La qualified. We hope
to be able to lay a plan before the house which will tie
found easy and practical, and to render that frauchise self-
adjustiug..ln that case it will be a very satisfactory and itn-
portaut franchise. We propose that a qualification of
£3O in the savings-bank, with a retention of it for one
year, which is a necessary condi:ion, should be the subject
of the second franchise. --Sir, 'the third new franchise that
we should propose -would -be established on public pro-
perty. We propose that any person who has £5O in the
debt of this countsr-in the public funds -should be en-
titled to the franchise. The fourth new franchise which
we should wish to propose is one founded upon the
payment of direct taxation. Wo propose that every person
who pays 20s. a year direct taxation shall have a vote to
elect members of Parliament. These are the four new fran-
chises that we propose. I will giro the house the numbers
that the Government believe wig register and record their
votes under the savings bank franchise-not the numbers
that may appear on the first blush qualified to vote under
that new franchise, because that would be deceptive. But
we believe that under the £3O savings bank qualification in
boroughs there will at this moment be 35,000 persons who
will register and record their votes. [Sir G. Grey-" Hav-
ing no other qualification ?"] Yes, having no other qualifi-
cation. We believe that under the education franchise in
boroughs there will be 10,000 persons, and under the funded
property qualification there will be 7,000 persons, while
the direct taxpayers will not be less than 30,000 persons
entitled to vote. Having stated the new franchises proposed
for boroughs, I will ask the house to consider the question
of the readjustment of the old franchise. The Resolutions
which I have placed upon the table are connected together,
and I wish to call the attention of the house to the fith Re-
solution. What is expressed in the fifth Resolution is the
belief of the Government that "if the principle of plurality
of votes were adopted by Parliament it would facilitate the
settlement of the borough franchise on an extensivebasis."
I wish to make an observation on that Resolution. In the
first place, a very great error has prevailed as to the mean-
ing which the Government associated with this plurality
of voting. Our intention was that any person who possessed
one of the four new franchises that I have mentioned, if
he were an occupier in a borough or if he had a right to
vote for a member of Parliament, should vote, not merely
for the occupation qualification, but also for any one otherfi
of the new franchises which he might possess.d (Mur-
murs.) murs.) We believe that if that principle weret.
hers of the people of this country; but NI o are n.
it
state frankly that this is not a view of the case which, if
might have led to results very satisfactory, larabeipndumte-
permitted to bring in a bill, we shall at all insist
we?' (Cheers.) It seems to us that it is not desirable to
ftniPla o anyproposition on these questions which we have not
a fair prospect of carrying to a successful issue, and, there-
fore, although I myself believe that it is a principle well
worthy of our consideration, for it involves nothing inv..-
dious in its character, applying alike to all classes, yet it is
not one which I am now in any way recommend:mg to the
hbuse, or announcing that we should act upon it if we had
permission to bring iu a la. it is, however, necessary
that I should speak frankly to the house on the subject of
the fifth resolution. Then, sir, having been obliged to give
up acting upon that resolution, we had to consider thebasis
on which, in our opinion, Parliament should fix the
borough franchise so far as occupation is concerned. It
must be remembered that Parliament has asserted the prin.-
6ple of rating as the basis of our electoral system. (Hear.)
It must be remembered, also, in offering the general views
of the Government on the matter, that we have placed the
assertion of that principle among the Resolutions on the
table of the house ; and therefore I will assume that on that
subject there is now no question. We have, then, to fix
upon some franchise with regard to the boroughs of which
rating shall be the basis; and our object being that we
should fix upon an authentic basis -one not nominally of
yt freramtaeipna ratepayers-that
e upon,r s-- tahnadt
ratingol'l et ln)ar
shoulderywbehi son,
whole
ghbe
aunevtol
anew:,
as I
st toamr
ea s rpe os
ts
Ili bg e p roei an
tl
f
oral hopesyst it
em,wwilelb:h, ccoauldepretecd as the
ommendbatshies
house, having relinquished our fifth Resolution, to adjust
the occupation franchise in boroughs upona £6 rating basis.
eantypn.;)bt:e,, the It now devolves upon me to show the house what will be
the effect upon the number of the constituency of the new
franchiee which we have proposed, and of the readjustment
of the occupation franchise in the boroughs which I have
just mentioned. I must remind the house that the ntunbers
which I place before them are the numbers which the
Government believe .will family be added to the roll. We
Rieke all due allowance for time° who do not register, and
all duo deductions for other classes., in respect. of which I
w;ll not now weary the butts.. But we believe that with a
£6 rating franchise, the number qualified I,eing, I thinek,
203,000, there would be new voters to the
number
00 froin
140,000. lint we must make a dedueticu of
‘,lloready
qua_
that, because probably that proportion may
voters under a £6 frauchise in borougobe
lified as electors. Therefore we place the
piece the savings-bank voters at 35,00,
d;edvproperty quali-
fication 01.0 of
nowW e
di-
rect taxation voters at 30,00 ;
)12,000, Which is the
voter.; at 10,000-making alto ether voters at 7,000 ;
practically be added to
number that, in our opinion, ‘l.
the funded
franchise
(Hear.) It will now be
my duty to call the attention
t franchise. We propose, in
gofist.he house to what we pro-
the cou.shtitreue;yetot of the
tib county
os 101 un y
e
the pose with
d to the counties the four new
CA,pi3C.; to extend
tire counties will be to add to the consti-
tuency this upon
sub-
franchises which I have already mentioned ; and the effect
and by the &wine. •
bydirect taxation 52,000, by funded property 13,000, '
btuyenthcoyeducational franchise 15,000,