The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-24 00:00:00

rulers and consequent discontent of their subjects.
England assumes the high privilege of teaching the
nations how to live, bow to govern themselves, and
how the power of the Crown and of the aristocracy
may be properly ',lended with—and, if I may so,
moderated by—due power on the part the people.
Anything, therefore, which tends to bring into con-
tempt the constitution of this country, and to show
that the Parliament is like a lot put up to the
highest bidder; to have this, I say, the confessed
truth—to have it so recorded in the annals of Par-
liament itself—to have it the subject of conversa-
tion and rejoicing amongst our enemies abroad, is
one of the most serious aspects in which the evil
can .be regarded. (Applause.) The next clause is,
" That the measures hitherto taken to expose and
punish bribery have been inadequate, inasmuch as
none but the actual parties to the corrupt transac-
tions have been dealt with, whilst those who were
the moving cause. and instigation of .the evil, and
who provide the means of corruption, have been
permitted to escape." That clause, Sir, I am
sure, will expreSs the real feeling of every member
of this Council, however much some may be
indisposed from personal or other frotives to give
their support to it as it stands. (Cheers.) It was
put forward at the previous, council meeting that
the effect of these proceedings would be- to bring
punishment on individuals, and particularly on the
hubler classes of the voters. Now, Sir, I have no
desire of that kind. Ido not believe that they are
the criminals—the real, the great criminals in these
transactions. I believe that those ilien who provide
the money for party purposes or for purpose's of per-
sonal ambition—who lay the plan and carry it out
—are the men who should be visited with all the
punishment which appertains to the offence. (Loud
cheers.) I happened to be listening to the debate
the other night in the House of Lords on the Italian
question, and was much struck by an argument put
forth by Lord Brougham. Ido not remember his
words, but his remark was to the effect that when
anything is done of which you have to complain, if
you have a difficulty in finding out who were the
instigators of the offence, and who provided the
means for it, a question naturally arises the answer
to which will help you to a conclusilon—the question
started by an ancient Roman judge—" Cui bono r
(To whose advantage does it tend ?) And his lord-
ship contended that whoever was benefitted by the
act might fairly, in the absence of evidence to the
contrary, be taken as the instigator of it. (Hear.)
Now I say that bribery was committed at the last
election to the extent of some thousands of pounds,
and affecting some hundreds of voters. I ask, then,
for whose good, if I may use such a term, or to whose
advantage was it done ? And when you have found
out for whose advantage it was done, you have
tolerably' good grounds for concluding who was the
doer of it. (Hear, hear.) I would lay hold, there-
fore, of the men at the head of the affair, I would
bring them all unsparingly before a commission,
and 'would make every one of them give an account,
particularly as regards financial matters, touching
this contest. (Applause.) The next clause is, " That
it is rumoured that a fund was raised in London
prior to the last general election, for election pur-
poses, to_which it is asserted influential personages
largely contributed, and that. a considerable contri
bution from that fund was sent down to this city for
the purpose of being used at the late general elec-
tion. ' Now, Sir, I have already said that I hap-
pened to be in the House of Lords the other night,
and heard the discussion on the address, and I at the
same time heard Lord Derby's speech on this ques-
tion of bribery. I admit that he did, in the most
decided and unequivocal terms, deny that he had
subscribed anything for the purposes of corruption,
but he nevertheless made an admission of a very
serious character as affecting the question now be-
fore us. He said that he thought there could be
nd objection to subscribing for the legitimate ex-
penses of elections—that he saw no objection to a
fund being raised to help candidates to pay for
their legitimate expenses. (Laughter.) Now,
Sir, I say that it matters not whether the two
or three thousand pounds which were sent here,
came from the Reform Club or froni the Carlton
Club—from whichever it might come, it is a mere
pretence to say that it was sent for the legitimate
expenses of the election. If any such fund was
raised in London as Lord Derby's speech evidently
admits, and if it was employed to help men to pay
their election expenses, how can Lord Derby under-
take to say that the money so subscribed by him for
legitimate purposes, was not applied for the pur-
poses of corruption? And if the rumour is correct
that considerable differences have arisen between
one of the political parties in this city and their
candidates touching the payment of the legitimate
expenses of the last election, and if legal proceed-
ings are arising out of these differences, it only
strengthens what I have said that the matter re-
quires a rigid investigation. Anyhow, the commit-
tee who have drawn up this petition have a right
to credit in this respect, that there is nothing in
this clause which accuses one side more than
another. There is no stronger imputation on the
gentlemen who managed the election on the part of
the Conservatives, than there is on the gentlemen
who managed the election on the part of the Libe,
rals. The clause is impartial, and only asks for a
full inquiry into the truth. The next clause is;
" That it.is further rumoured a considerable sum -of'
money was subscribed by persons in Norwich for
the same purpose." To this clause the same remarks
apply as to the one immediately preceding it. The
following paragraph says, " That your petitioners
are desirous that a thorough inquiry and investi-
gation should take place before a committee of your
hon. house, or before a Royal Couimission, into the
alleged bribery and corruption practised at the last
election for this city, particularly into the sources
from which the money, so corruptly expended, was
derived ; and your petitioners pray that such in-
quiry and investigation may be full, searching, and
impartial." Now, sir, I can only of course deal with
what is currently reported, but I am told that gen-
tlemen on the other side—and there is some confir-
mation of this in the reports of the meetings which
they have held—are united for the purpose of at-
tempting to defeat this inquiry. (Loud cries of "No,
no, no," from the Conservatives.) Well, llm glad
to hear it; this shows the importance of stating
what one has heard and the mentioning the rumours
that are afloat, for if I had not made that remark,
a feeling would,have remained in our minds which
would have been unjust ; but certainly my appre-
hension, when I saw the opposition benches so
early and completely filled this morning, was that
there had been what we call a " whip up" of
,the
party on the other side, to try and thwart this mo-
tion for an inquiry. (Great applause.) lam glad,
gentlemen, that you are disposed to second
the efforts now being made to promote a full,
searching, and impartial investigation. But you
must excuse my having fallen into such a mistake,
since I do happen to know that some of your lead-
ing friends did actually pledge themselves to be
here on- a recent occasion to put a stop to this
petition; and I am glad that that gentleman who
charged another of his own party with having more
zeal than discretion, has drawn out in time to pre-
vent the return of such a charge upon himself.
(Laughter and applause.) The next clause is,
" That it is further rumoured that, at former elec-
tions for this city, bribery has been extensively
practised, and your petitioners refer it to the wis-
domthes o o f
electionsy o ur hon
sho
ouurladb h
be
ehouseutdoedde
ot err
nmoitn
ienwthheet h e
in-
quiryr
and investigation
n theo
ionuoviw
e:ntigation now prayed for." That
know,
was put
side
and
atcl
thoughth instance sat a
friend:nce of
aelaguenset,leams
of his wished it to be struck out, having myself
adopted the suggestion in the Council I felt bound
to preserve it in the petition when the question was
considered -in committee, but of course I shall be
happy -to bow, in this respect, to the feeling of the
majority. The prayer of the petition is, " And
your petitioners pray that a committee of your
honourable house may be appointed forthwith, or
that such other means may be adopted as to your
honourable house may sem meet and proper, to
expose, punish, counteract, and prevent the prac-
tice of bribery at elections." So far as my own
judgment serves me, I cannot but think that if
gentlemen are honest in their professed desire to
put a stop to this evil, they will assist in the endea-
vours to secure an answer to this prayer. I cannot
conceive of any reasonable pretence on which they
can object to the petition, and I can only say that,
if there are any words in it to which they demur,
anything too harsh or too strong, my real desire
has been, not to bring an acrimonious ele-
ment into the discussion, but simply to do
my duty to the public in the best spirit I could;
and I am sure that if any gentlemen object to the
precise form in. which the matter is put before the
Council, they will be listened to, and their sugges-
tions met, as far as possible. I beg leave to move
that the petition be adopted, and the city seal
fixed thereto. (Applause.)
The MAYOR—I hope that some gentleman on the
other side will second the motion.
Mr. LEDGE—Oh, I beg leave to second it, Mr.
Mayon' lam very pleased to think that the feel-
ings of iny friend, if he will allow me to call him
so, are a little milder than on the last occasion. I
suppose he is tired of rumours, and I have no doubt
that his evidence, when it comes out, will he like
Queen' Charlotte's when it came from Italy. (Great
laughter.) I suppose he will have no objection to
have my petition-for the Guardians' election taken
as an appendage to his, as it is extraordinary to me
that a gentleman connected with the Norfolk
News should excite the feelings, and spirit,
and good understanding there used to be in this
city, and•afterwards, in consequence of that paper
heing wished to be prosperous, there must be some-
thing On ,all occasions got up for the sale of the
Norfolk News. (Great laughter.) It is a very
pretty shop for the editor, 11.8 I 'mum Ist in