The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-30 00:00:00

ELECTIVE FRANCHISE BILL

Mr. CLAY moved the second reading of this bill, the
object of which was to confer the elective franchise upon
all persons of full age, and who were capable of uud:tr-
going an educational test in reading, writing, and arith-
metic.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he
must oppose the motion, and in doing so ho thought
that course was much better to pursue than td follow thr,
course which was in fashion elsewhere, to 'pick certain
portions of the bill and show that it fell short of the cl).',ect
intended. If he thought that all tho conditions otnn
educational test could always be obtained, ,he. should not
object to it ;. or if a test of that description could be formed
on extreme simplicity, he should not so much object ;
but to take, for instance, the test of writing a
signature, why it was patent that the signatures,
of some of the most highly-educated of our me
was illegible. He objected to the bill because there -,vas
no presumptive or prima facie ground for it, and also be-
cause it proceeded upon the principal of universal suf-
frage. Of course it was desirable that education should
become universal, yet that time "had not yet, arrived in
toEnhfaagnlld.
ftt,uthlnaitl
yrlle rsihvtoihjueolgudogrhsetheeiot
iuvled moretbheedeeeolsieenfrateirbvrleee th
conferred upon
peohnti
franchise
f aee
3i.a,otttuhlineegrr
man
itlejmuasnt frpesrhopolsreodni sthchaot
a test of writing from The
t. right
31
elementary
rhonourableiuthndeeltyco.
Such a test was much more severe
those who a ) than was required by
C°arns justm Commission iu front o
of those
ethlsientsewcohwiicplied for
dh broke
tchl
eerkCsihvii S epl
s,arnvdi Service
it
w
down more applicants than era thing
men-
tion. (Hear, hear.) Then, with respect to the arithmetical test—with addition, subscraction, and
xnultiplicationtheio
would, he apprehended, be no difficulty ; but he should
like to know how many labourers in that country could
pass an examination in division of money—(hear,
hear) ;
but, flying at higher game, he should like to know
how many members of that house could undergo success--
fully such an examination. He should like to know how
many members could take a given uneven large sum of
money and divide it by £2 13s. Bd. (Laughter, and cries of
"Oh, oh.") He did not mean to say that there were not
some members who could perform the operation, but the
majority he contended in that house—
Lord R. MONTAGU said that no division could be -
worked oat with such figures. (Loud laughter.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said one
illustration was worth a thousand arguments—(loud
laughter)—and yet the noble lord opposite was one of the
financial authorities in that house. (Loud laughter.) He
was fully alive to the high intentions of the right hon.
gentleman who had introduced the bill ; the Government
had no fear of the £7 franchise, but the qualification pro-
posed by the bill now under discussion was of a nature
that would produce nothing but failure. It was quite
true that where some men saw daylight, another saw
nothing but darkness, and giving the highest motives to
the hon. gentleman, he thought the bill would act directly
the reverse of the object intended, and therefore be
should move that the bill be read a second time
_that day
six months.
Lord R. MONTAGU' said he did not rise to complain
of the extremely conservative tone of the speech, but to

express his hope that when the bill was read a second
time, it would be referred to a certain committee as
a complement of the Reform Bill, lle felt certain.
that there were many highly and respectable and
intelligent men who never could hope to exercise
the elective franchise without an educational test
was adopted. If the test proposed was more severe than
the test ad opted by the Civil Service Commissioners, then •
he thought that test was altogether a farce, and the sooner,
it was remedied the better. With respect to the arith-
metical problem of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, lie
contended that you could divide by sum but not by money,
and Professor de Morgan would bear him out in that opi-
nion. The only claim that he regarded to the electoral
franchise was intelligence ; if the man had the knowledge
how to give a-Vote for tile benefit of -his fellow-citizens,
then in his opinion he had a right to the elective franchise,
and therefore he trusted that the bill would be amalgamated
with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and he should vote
for the second reading.
Mr. CLIVE said tho speech of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer had heightened his opinion of the bill, because
tho right hon. gentleman had entered Unto an elaborate
description of the measure before he had even read it
through, or ho would not have fallen into so many mis-.
takes with respect to its enactments. Ho preferred the
text of the bill to that of the Government, because
ho looked upon the £7 franchise as merely a compromise
proposed by the Government between contending parties.
Mr. EWART supported the bill.
_ _

Sir J. PAKINGTON said he had heard nothing from.
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who ought to deter the
house from considering the bill in the fullest manner, be:
cause it appeared to him to contain materials which evi-
dently might lead to the settlement of the vexed question
of reform. He doubted whether, if the bill was rejected,
the house would be so submissive to the will of the Govern-
ment that they would continuo their sittings until October.
He could not, entertaining the sentiments that he did,
consent to vote against the principle laid down in the bill,'
bit in giving his vote in its favour he reserved to himself
the right of objecting to many of its provisions in com-
mittee.

Mr. GOSCHEN said he was much gratified bythe speech
of the riglit hen. baronet who had just sat clown, because
ho admitted the one qualification that was required in the
working class to entitle them to the franchise was fitness. If
hon. gentlemen intend to vote for this bill as a supplemental
measure to the Reform Bill introduced by the Government,
they would be but acting precisely as they bad on Mon-
day night, namely, throwing every obstacle in the way of
the passing of a measure they had declared ought not to
receive the assent of Parliament. lie did not know how
hon. gentlemen opposite had given their consent to the
bill, especially as they had not called for statistics, which
were invariably required by the honourable member for
Stamford. (Hear, hear.) The bill was in principle
ono of universal suffrage, whiist in principal it would ad-
mit but very few to the privilege it sought to confer. It
appeared to him that the bill was supported by the oppo-
site side of the house merely to obstruct the measure in-
troduced by the Government, and not with any real desire
to extend the suffrage in the manner it proposed.
Mr. B. HOPE said ho should vote for the bill in the
hope that it might be referred to immaculate committee,
which was to produce a perfect and complete reform bill
under the guidance of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Mr. DENMAN objected to the bill, because by the test
proposed a larger number of working men would be
was
ead-
mjtted to the exorcise of the elective franchiseint h
mistakedesirab when i
desirable. He thought
wougahstparonpoesded to adoptueationalt
it altogether
in
politicalgthea
matters.

[LEFT SITTING.]

Live

loci Cotton ittarilet. —Etis Day.

Market very excited, and a great deal of cotton
is being bought on American account at id. to id.
above yesterday's prices. Sales 20,000 bales or
more.

Railway will be
tbheeeneffisescutetdhabty
ptahyenideir.4,.ectors of the
n full, in
callslss on shares in the Delhi 1111
iall.enceteAliiheviiPecadrirt4ici°uluilt:Jl' to
further notice ; and that the 5 per cent.
interest guaranteed by Government will accrue from the
toafte for paymentln dthiaerienof icnotioult. rit
Ir et
is statedaslirY of the Secretary
of date of
that several
shareholders have expressed a
of paying in full upon their w wish
shares tohave the privilege
accorded to them.
The mail from Guayaquil has brought a remit-
tance of £1,621 is. 6d., on account of the dividends
Ecuador.
on the debt of
The 'gold taken in
the Bank yesterday, amounted
to £Bl,OOO.

PLY3IOI:TR, Tuesday.--The ship Verulatu, 600
tone, Capt. II Angel, belonging to Mr. W. Stevens, of
Wished), Was off the Isle of Wight yesterday morning at
8 a.m. under all sail, wind light, bound for London with
150 tons copper, 1,500 bales wool, a quantity of bark, &c.,
With ten cabin and two steerage passengers. She left King
long. 4 W,
jarTlYa' ni 11 for Cork ;
a
George's Sound on Feb. 26, Cape of Good Hope April 4,
crossed the line April 23, and spoke April 9, Ist. 23 S,
59 days front
Batavia for Rotterdam ; 29th, lat. 4 N, long. 27 xv, the
ptheFDeruorteehporo
ship
93 daysems M
from
British ship
and May 4, Ist. 19 N, long. 38 W, the ship General Neil,
87 days from Callao for Antwerp. The Verulam was de-
tained several days in the Channel by the prevailing east-

crly winds.
Lord Dufferin at the War-odice,
Private secretary to Lord 43/cY •
E 2 r . Sidney G. Osborne, assistant
has
Ripon in the join vt Al6ernon West
privatebe pi
appointedA secretaryF FICp