The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-14 00:00:00

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LONDON, TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1867.

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The dicussiou in the House of Commons last
evening respecting the English Reform Bill, though
less exciting than the previous portion of the debate,
was by no means without interest. The exact
terms of the borough franchise have long been a

source of perplexity to all those statesmen who have
seriously addressed themselves to the settlement of
the problem of Parliamentary Reform, and there-
fore we must consider that an important point is
gained when the House has agreed upon what Mr.
DISRAELI not inappropriately styled the celebrated
clause 3. The lodger franchise, which was very
coldly received on its first introduction by Mr.
DISRAELI eight years ago, has since that time gained
so much upon public favour that no Reform Bill
is considered complete without it, and it is one of
those points which the frienth of the artisan have
with reason most strenuously insisted upon. llow-
ever liberal in principle even household suffrage
may be, it is evident that there will re.
main in London at least a very large
class of working men who will not
be enfranchised under its provisions, owing alike
to the scarcity of house accommodation and the
dearness of rents. The wants of this large class
are fully met by the lodger franchise, while the
terms upon which the House finally decided were
fair and reasonable. A lodger occupying rooms of
the annual value of £lO, and residing in those
rooms for a twelvemonth, may claim to be registered
at the next registration. An important step has thus
been taken in the settlement of the Reform question,
and we congratulate the country on its having ob-
tained the concession. The lodger franchise is really
the most liberal franchiseyet granted, and we may rea-
sonably hope that it will admit to electoral privi-
leges the very class who most desire and deserve
them—the skilled artizans. One thing is certain,
no man can justly complain of his exclusion from
the franchise when so simple a condition as a
year's residence iu a room for which ho pays
3s. 10d. a week will qualify him. Mr. TORRENS
who has always befriended the lodger, proposed iu
his amendment that six months' residence should
qualify, but the House accepted Mr. GOLDNEY'S
amendment of twelve months, which, on the whole,
seems to be preferable. The lodger can scarcely
complain that he is placed on exactly the :.ame
footing as the householder, and without doubt the
lodgers are likely to include a more migratory class
than the householders. A man who is constantly
moving about, either from business or inclination,
will probably be indifferent to the possession of a vote
which indeed he may hardly ever have the chance
of using. He will not be a fair representative of
the interests of the borough for which he votes, be-
cause he may have just migrated from the other
end of the county, and his inclination and his
prejudices will be identical with those of the place
he has quitted, rather than those of his new place of
dwelling. The £l5 line is too high. Although no
doubt a very large proportion of our skilled artizans
pay between five and six shillings a week for their
rooms, still the wish of the house and the great
body of the public is to enfranchise liberally and
not stingily. The condition as to the term of resi-
dence will be sufficient security that the occu-
pier is a decent, industrious, and sober man,
so far as such tests can be relied upon, and the
additional six months' occupation will be a safer
test than the extra £5 rent. The general prin-
ciple of the lodger franchise was readily ac-
cepted on both sides of the House, and though a
few hon. members, like Sir R. KNIGHTLET and
Mr. SCHREIBER, were loud in their indignation,
they were only the exceptions who proved
the rule. Mr. BRIGHT was in favour of the
£lO amendment, which, as we have seen, was
finally determined upon. Care should be taken,
however, that it is clearly understood that a tem-
porary break in the personal occupation of the
room or rooms does not disqualify, since, if a
man leaven home on business for a few weeks, in-
tending to return, paying his rent meanwhile, he
should not in common fairness be held to forfeit his
vote. This and some other points remained to be
considered, and we hope the House will entertain
them in a candid and liberal spirit.

Last night the Scotch Reform Bill was intro-
duced to the House of Commons, and Mr. DISRAELI
made an elaborate explanation of its peculiarities. We
are not surprised that he took the opportunity of
referring to tge extraordinary events which took
place on Saturday at Mr. GLADSTONE'S. Such a
course of procedure is indeed unusual, and is greatly
calculated to impede the progress of measures before
the House, and interfere with their consideration
being carried on in that calm spirit which is so very
desirable. The right hon. gentleman said he had
hoped that after the vote of last Thursday there
would have been no attempt made to rescind or
" perplex" that vote, because the Government could
not possibly deviate from the conclusion which was
then come to. He made this observation on ac-
count of the violent speeches which had been made
since the House met last, and which were calculated
to discourage them in their anxious and arduous
task. There was great force in what Mr. DISRAELI
said, and indeed there can be no one at all versed in
Parliamentary affairs but must feel that the
course pursued on Saturday was a very unusual one,
and the wonder is that a man of Mr. GLADSTONE'S
experience should act iu so unprecedented a manner.
As the Chancellor of the Exchequer said last night
it is to be regretted that those addresses were ever
delivered, considering the length of time during
which the House had been engaged in the discussio❑
of the question and the general desire which was
felt for its settlement. " I regret very much,"
added he, " that the old stories and antique
machinery of agitation should have been re-
adjusted and reburnished, and sent up by
parliamentary train to London, and that we
should have been threatened with an agitation
of a most indefinite and incoherent character,
for at this moment I am at a loss to know whether
the proposed agitation is to be in favour of manhood
suffrage or of a£s rating. I should have been very
glad if, after the vote on Thursday, it had been con-
sidered that there was no question whatever that a
definite opinion had been arrived at on the subject
of the borough franchise ; and I regret very much
that these spouters of stale sedition and obsolete
incendiaries of that character should have come for-
ward to pay their homage to one who, wherever he
may sit, must always be the pride and ornament of
this house—

"'Who must laugh if such a man there be,
Who would not weep if Atticus were he."'

We have quoted 'this passage at length, because
of its adroitness of description, and because we
fully concur in the expression of the right hon. gen-
tleman that the extreme intoleration displayed at
these assemblies d,)es not rightly represent the tem-
per of the house or the temper of the country. It

is time that Mr. GLADSTONE should cease from these
exhibitions of temper beyond the walls of Parlia-
ment. llis attempt to mend matters last night by the
few observations which he made did not impede the
case at all.

As far as we can judge at the first appearance the
Scotch Bill seems to, be a desirable one, and fully
capable of being adapted to the purpose required.
With the exception of some "technical discrepancies"
it is formed on the model of the English Bill, and
the Borough Franchise is founded on the personal
payment of rates. The occupation franchise is
counties will be the same as in England. Seven
new members will be given to Scotland, two to the
universities, which proposal met 'with tulivers4l

approbation. The general result will be that
a share in the burgh representation will be
given to every town of six thousand population.
As the right hon. gentleman said, he did not expect
that every arrangement would pass " unques-
tioned ;" but if it was improved by discussion, her
MAJESTY'S Government had fulfilled their promise
of seeking to give to Scotland a full and fair re-
presentation—and more cannot certainly be de-
manded or desired by those who fully appreciate the
difficulties of the case.

The announcement which Lord DERBY made last
night in the House of Lords respecting the Con-
ference will be received with universal satisfaction
by all parties. On Saturday a satisfactory termina-
tion was come to by the members of the Con-
ference in consequence of the signatu.re of a treaty
which guaranteed for the future the neutralisation
of Luxemburg under a collective assurance of all
the Powers. The territory is to continue under the
rule of the King of Holland, but the fortress is
to be dismantled. The noble lord added that he
felt convinced their lordships would hear with satis-
faction that " an arrangement had been come to
upon this subject, which was calculated to preserve
the peace of Europe ;" and we feel assured also,
that the sentiment of satisfaction will be re-echoed
far and wide, and cause general delight and re-
joicing. The prospect of another continental war,
and one of the magnitude which it must have been,
with France for one of the contending parties, was
indeed disastrous at the present juncture, and on
all accounts it is a subject fur congratulation that
the result has been what is here recorded. The
cloud has passed away which darkened the political
horizon, and we trust that it is a good augury of
future success, and that the unwonted depression
which has weighed down public affairs in this
country, and, indeed, in other lands, will give place
to a serener season, full of confidence and indicative
of prosperity.