The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-21 00:00:00

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LONDON, BTED---
- ESDAY, FEB. 21, 1866.
The introduction of Mr
eLm''
s Rill for the Ex-
telsion of the Franchise h
3-3 enabled the House of
party
Reformt Commons to consider the ciairna
allay or the gain
move-
ment foundo I, not on the cries of
of popularity, but on a definite
principle. This principle, too, iz one whiecch°lagiliBed
met 1v1;h: it meets the objectionswl;e
can el;,;puto,
are raiscll in many quarters against a considerable
reduction of the suffrage, it answers ou the other to
the well-grounded appeal of the friends and
advocates of the working classes. In a

speech characterised by great moderation,
clearness, and ability-, Mr. CLAY introduced
his measure, whose simplicity required little
explanation. Ile does not propose to interfere with
any existing franchise, so that the supporters of a
property qualification will have nothing to com-
plain of, neither does it extend to the counties for
reasons which were subsequently explained. It
provides that any man of full age, not otherwise
di4 •
qualified, but not having a vote by any other title,
right to
shall have the demand to hubmit himself to

-......
an examination by the Civil Service Commissioners,
and, on
passing the examination to their satisfac-
tion, according to the rules of the service, shall re-
ceive a certificate which shall entitle him to a place
on the register. It has been suggested that the
full age specified should be 25 years rather
than
the ordinary 21, and this change Mr. CLAY
expressed his willingness to adopt, as well as a pro-
posed extension of the necessary time of residence
from 6 months to 12. Mr. CLAY expressed his
belief that there was no mechanical difficulty in
the way of his plan. Having served many years
ago on a committee appointed to consider the working
) of civil service examinations he found tkat the gen-
-1 tlemen connected with the Commission apprehended
! I no difficulty in allowing every man in the country
to be examined if lie wished. The arrangements
proposed are very simple. The test is to be founded
i entirely on examination papers which are to be
I filled up by the candidate and transmitted to the
civil service commissioners by an appointed officer.
Mr. CLAY is careful to avoid anything like local
examinations, since there might be a suspicion of
the impartiality of the examiner. The test itself is
to be very simple, including only reading and
writing, and the first four rules of arithmetic ;
in fact, the sort of examination through
which our outdoor custom-house officers have

to pass—such an examination, in fact, as no man of
ordinary intelligence and education need think twice
about, and no man of ordinary intelligence and
application need doubt being eventually able to pass.
The merits of the bill are very great. In
the first place, it admits without any delay
whatever all those members of the educated classes
who are now excluded for various reasons by the
property qualification. " There are clergymen,
members of the learned professions, teachers (some
24,000 in England and Wales), who could
readily pass this examination. We next
have 60,000 commercial clerks and assist-
ants in shops, the greater part of whom
are able to pass an examination, and of these two
classes very few have votes. But, beyond this, there
is another class who could pass an examination
without difficulty—l mean the best educated of
the working classes." All these classes, as Mr.
CLAY justly observed, we have expressed our will-
ingness to admit to the franchise, and various pro-
posals have been made to include them. All of
us, said Mr. CLAY, have declared that we were
ready to admit the best of the working men if we
could find them out ; and here is a way to find
them. You cannot, of course, guarantee a man's
integrity or capacity by such a simple test, but
you can at least insure that he has the means of ac-
quiring that political knowledge without which
political privileges are useless. You are at least
certain that lie will be able to judge for himself,
and not be wholly dependent on the partial
or prejudiced accounts he may receive from
others. The great difficulties in dealing with un-
educated masses are of opposite character, because
they are inclined to one of two extremes, credulity
or prejudice, both strongly indicative of unenlight-
ened minds. The obstinacy which refuses to admit
a doubt of its own infallibility, and the simplicity
which accepts unquestioned every confident asser-
tion, are near akin in reality, although they are very
different in appearance. The man who can pass an
educational test may be liable to both, but he is less
likely to be so, and certainly more capable of receiv-
ing indirect instruction than the absolutely illiterate.
The most democratic advocates of a reduction of
the franchise base their claims upon the intelligence
of the working man, and it is in fact the high rate
of intelligence among our artisans and mechanics
that constitutes their right to demand a voice in the
Government. Nc one presumes to say that a totally
ignorant man has any claim to such a voice, and
therefore, as Mr. CLAY points out, the grievances
complained of would be altogether removed. Yet
there would be no principle of permanent exclusion,
no class distinction to produce irritation and dis-
content. With a few months' application of his
leisure hours any man can master the necessary
knowledge, and this sacrifice, as Mr. CLAY remarked,
would be the best guarantee for the honest sincerity
and earnestness of purpose. A man who cares enough
about his vote to study for it may fairly be trusted
with it, for the application required would be most
unwelcome to those idle, unsteady, or reckless
spirits, who would be dangerous voters. No one
could reasonably complain of his exclusion, since
the answer would be ready, "Why do you not learn
to read and write ?" and every one, as Mr. CLAY
said, -would be ashamed to call that a grievance.
The two franchises of property and intelligence
might, as the hon. member for Hull urged, be very
safely left to keep each other in check. " The man
who voted from a certificate of education would
always oppose the lowering of the property qualifi-
cation, and would say, Let •my neighbour take
the same steps that I took.' The householder
would always be opposed to the debasement
of the educational standard."

Mr. CLAY had no reason to complain of the re-
ception which his bill met with. Mr. GREGORY and
Mr. HonsmAN alike supported it in speeches of
considerable vigour. Lord ELMO gave it a ques-
tionable approval, while the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, while humorously declaring that not a
word should be got out of him as to the intentions
of the Government, paid tribute to the force, ability,
and sincerity with which the bill had been intro-
duced to their notice. Mr. HORSMAN'S speech was
very severe on the professing Liberals, and the
cheers and laughter with which it was greeted
showed that inthe opinion of the House his strictures
were not altogether undeserved. All the ardour of the
advanced Liberals had, he declared, been expended
during the recess, and as for the member for Bir-
mingham, though he went up to boiling point on
Jamaica, he was frigid on Reform, while the philo-
sophical Liberals had only shown their philosophy
by the patience with which they endured delay.
Mr. lIORSMAN took the Government to task for not
expressing some approval of a measure based on so
sound a principle, but added that he supposed their
silence proceeded from envy, since their only idea
of statesmanship was to admit a mob. How was it,
he asked, that the Reformers below the gangway
had no voice in the matter? " How comes it that
they have given no response whatever to this pro-
posal to base the franchise on intelligence ?" It is
the very thing, they tell us, they have been roaring
for all their lives, and I should have expected that
the moment the hon. member for Hull resumed
his scat there would have been so many
starting up to second the resolution that you, Sir,
would have been perplexed which to name. But
they all remained fixed to their seats." Satire
lcar thefounded on truth is always painfully severe, and we
independent Liberals deserve but too well
the character which Mr. HoRsmAN gave them. His
remarks on the Manchester School are of very wide
application, and when he declared that such a bill
was unwelcome, because intelligence is fatal to
agitation, he gave the measure the highest praise it
had received. "We know," he said, " that as the •
schoolmaster advances the agitator recedes, and
that an educated multitude no more believes in
i
one e
demagogues than it believes in ghosts."
rrll
is
of ths,in
fact, the truth long ago expressed by
earliest Reformers—" Education makes men easy
to lead but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but in;.