The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-19 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP TIM PUBLIC, JOURNALS.

TIMES.—An industrious gentleman, with a greater taste
for such inquiries and more belief in their results, than is
possessed by the world at large, has been at the pains to
work out Mr. Gladstone's Electoral Statistics ; and another
gentleman has been so good as to call our attention to
them in a brief summary. We will frankly say that we
are apt to regard any attempt to get really useful princi-
ples of action out of these figures much as the schemes of
the philosophers in Laputa for extracting sunbeams out of
cucumbers. The circumstances of time and place are al-
ways so much more important than the figures, that unless
we take the former into account the latter are almost
worthless. But when so much labour has been lavished
and thrown at our feet —most honestly for anything we
can see—we cannot but use it to the best of our ability.
So what do the figures mean ? As it happens they are
left to speak for themselves. Seemingly very little use has
been made of the Electoral Statistics in the debate hither-
to ; and it locks as if the speakers, on both sides, bad
ransacked them in vain. Our correspondent concludes,
not unnaturally, that the working of tho bill is to be seen,
if anywhere, in those cities and boroughs in which it will
make the greatest difference, by altering the proportion of
the working classes to the whole constituency. He has
therefore excluded for this reason, as also for brevity, the
cities and boroughs in which there is already a very large
proportion of the working men, and in which this bill
will only snake that proportion a little more. He ex-
cludes, for example, two such constituencies as Coventry
and Northampton. These are already in the hands
.of
working men, as far as their numbers will do this for them.
He has therefore selected from the Tables in Mr. Baxter's
Appendix forty cities and boroughs in which the bill will
work with concentrated force, doing its best or its worst, as
people may hope or may fear. This is the line between
wind and water in which shots will tell with decisive
effect. Of the other cities and boroughs many are
already democratic ; many safe to the Conservatives even
under the operation of this bill ; but these forty boroughs
are so much border land, in which the warfare will be
worst and the result most positive. We take the list as it
stands, and our readers will see that we have no other
wish, and, indeed, can have no other wish, than to show
the immediate working of the bill, if any, in its most di-
rect range. We repeat that we take the figures before
us, with neither the wish, nor at present the power, to
question them. At Salford the proportion of working men
will be doubled, and they will become a clear majority.
The town returns Mr. Cheetham, and will probably con-
tinue to return Mr. Cheetham. As its population is more
than 100,000, it ought to have another seat, and in that
case will probably return two Mr. Cheethams. Wolver-
hampton will more than double its proportion of working
men. It now returns Mr. C. Villiers and Mr. Weguelin,
who will vote for the bill in the confident belief that they
will not be disturbed. At Oldham the proportion will be
more than quadrupled ; but as Messrs. Hibbert and Platt
go a good way already, and are prepared to go further, we
should doubt whether they will give way to Messrs. Cob-
bett and Spinks. At Walsall the proportion will be nearly
quadrupled, but the working men will not improve on
Mr. Forster. At Derby the proportion will be more than
doubled, but Mr. Bass will have no occasion to tremble for
his seat, nor, indeed, Mr. Cox if he shows himself decently
amenable. Unless Portsmouth is exceptionally affected
by the disqualification of dockyard labourers, its pro-
portila will be more than doubled, but it returns two
Liberals, and will not do more. At Stoke-upon-Trent
the proportion will be more than doubled, and Mr.
Beresford Hope will have the opportunity of ascer-
taining whether artisans are a better class than
shopkeepers. He will be able to snake the ex-
periment under favourable conditions, and we are in-
clined to think with success, but Mr. Grenfell must feel
quite sure of his seat. At Peterborough the proportion
will be more than doubled, but as Lord Fitzwilliam is the
genius loci and Messrs. Whalley and Hankey go about as
far as men can do, there will be no change. There is a
mystery about the politics of Preston. It is, we believe,
the most Irish and the most Roman Catholic town in this
island. Its proportion of working men will be more than
doubled ; but as it returned two Conservatives at the last
election, it is quite possible that Lord Derby's friends will
see their way again to a like result. At Rye the propor-
tion will be more than quadrupled, we presume, by the
addition of agricultural labourers. In that case Mr. Mac-
kinnon, a moderate Liberal may have to describe himself
as a moderate Conservative. At Dudley the proportion
will be trebled, but that will make no difference to Mr.
Sheridan. At Birmingham the proportion will be nearly
trebled. It will continue to return Messrs. Bright and
Scholefield, and, in the event of a redistribution of seats,
will return two men as like them as can be found ; while
the same may be said of Sheffield, where the proportion
will be more than double and where Messrs. Roebuck and
Hadfield must be tolerably safe from Franchise Bills. At
Bolton also, the proportion will be more than doubled.
Mr. Barnes must be safe enough ; Mr. Gray may have to
give way to somebody more decided and explicit. At Ash-
burton the proportion -will be trebled, and we should like
to see the additional constituents march through Coventry,
if they ever heard of that place. However, they will do
their duty to the new lord, and return Mr. Jardine again
At Manchester the preportion, now large, will be nearly
doubled. It will re-elect Mr. Bazley, and, perhaps, a
closer pair than Mr. E. James. As the population is going
on for 400,000, it will probably find room for the two
candidates who did not get in at the last election.
At South Shields the proportion will be more than doubled,
but they will not quarrel with Mr. Ingham, or he with them.
At Wigan the proportion will bo more than doubled, and
Mr. Eckersley may find himself in difficulties. At Cam-
bridge the proportion will be nearly doubled. It returned
two " Liberal Conservatives," one of whom has been un-
seated, and it may possibly change them for Liberals of a
less mixed quality. Ashton-under-Lyne will more than
double its proportion, but it will rest and be thankful for
Mr. Milner Gibson. Bury will more than double its pro-
portion, but it cannot do more than prefer Mr. Philips to
Mr. F. Peel. Thus far, on the authority of these statistics,
and the interpretation before us, the total proportion of
working men, after the addition by this bill, will bo 50 per
cent. or more. Below this point, it will be between 40
and 50. But it is the addition we are concerned with now
—that is, the estimated increase of proportion. At Black-
burn the proportion will be more than doubled ; and in
that case Mr. Hornby and Mr. Feilden may have to give
way to Messrs. Pilkiugton and Potter. At Sunderland the
proportion will,be more than trebled, but that can matter
little to Messrs. Candlish and Hartley. At Warriiagton the
proportion will bo more than doubled, but that.nttoerwenateevh"-
dently consults its industrial and commercial
will have they
returning Mr. Greenall, and its now voters
will quadruple
same reasons as the old ones. Gate
o,f
nc
,rcO, o
el eabersyit
do
os
uperotpaoereteipotn,
sbiurtltvh.eunnetweevoetxeprisattlsnlh.neaolibaeeemleeanfieilfdtwheivll
oievdrrekitsy.itnrogilctitnMs
increasefiel
d t a
self-protectivei sproportion fivefold,and
semi-Conservative. In
tb4.l; but then seTr,pv,hoawevt
Raadrthicaelns awreillh
than more s ilke silken
ocuhbalien sits
Car-
marthen
into the lanes and by-ways, but that will not affect
Mr. Morris. Abingdon will do the same without danger
to Col. C. H. Lindsay. Salisbury will more than quadruple
its proportion, and how it may then stand with its two
returned Australians we know not; but they need not
despair. Yarmouth will more than double its proportion,
but the friends of Messrs. Lacon and Goodson will be equal
to the occasion. At Hull the proportion will bo more than
doubled, but that will only obtain more supporters for
Messrs. Clay and Norwood. Newcastle-on-Tyne will
nearly double its proportion, with the same pleasant results
to Messrs. Cowen and Headlam. Wycombe, which seems
oddly interpolated in such a list, will more than double its
proportion by the addition of labourers, we should think ;
and in that case may return two Conservatives, instead of
Messrs. Mills and Carington. Swansea will not quite
double its proportion, but Mr. Dillwyn will be secure.
Stockport will increase its proportion fivefold, but it will
not seek bettermen than Messrs.Watkin and Smith. War-
wick will nearly double its proportion, and perhaps, in
spite of its noble patron, it may return two Liberals in-
stead of one. Carlisle will nearly double its proportion,
and though Mr. E. Potter will have no reason to fear, Mr.
Hodgson may have to look about him. Whitehaven will
just double its proportion, by the addition possibly of as
many friends of the Conservative Mr. Bentinck. The dis-
trict of Carnarvon will more than double its proportion of,
we should think, rural working men, who will not find a
better adviser than the Liberal Colonel Pennant. The last
in the forty is Horsham, which will double its proportion
of rural industrials, and possibly exchange a Liberal for a
Conservative. We have stated all these cases, and the
operation of the bill upon them, with the utmost simplicity
and left ourselves little room for comment. The first
thing that strikes us—and it is the only remark we can now
make—is that the grand pretence of a special representation
for the working men wholly disappears. In all these
cases much the same sort of men will be returned as at
present ; and if, in a very few cases, the working men do
put their heads together, taking the lead from some cen-
tral organisation, and elect representatives of their own,
in more cases will it be found that the now and poorer
voters are employed to neutralise the votes of the shop-
keepers and better artisans. But the real phenomenon that
will strike both sides of the controversy will be the very
little effect which a reduced borough franchise will have,
even in the extreme cases, as selected and arranged in the
list before us. But is the probability of little actual effect
one way or another a reason for a bill ? It certainly is
not. We cannot help seeing in the advocacy of the bill
the signs of a bad animus against the middle class, against
shopkeepers, against oven the artisans of the more domestic,
quiet, humdrum class. There is a craving for electoral
units of a more natural, less sophisticated quality. Re-
joiced, indeed, should we be if they would show them-
selves even in the depths of our overgrown pities ; but we
fear that man is much the same everywhere, and that a
deficiency or absolute want of respectable appearances can
nowhere be relied on as a proof of wisdom and virtue.
This, as we have often had to observe, is a comparative
question ; and a question, moreover, in which there is
always a good deal to be said on both sides. As a matter
of cost and comfort most Parliamentary gentlemep with a
varied experience would rather have the poorest labourers
even to the very dregs of the "freemen" class, for their
constituents, than a set of self-important tradesmen and

ambitious professionals. A constituency of the former
ingredients can be managed by the ordinary agency, the
usual hospitalities, and a little interchange of personal
kindness. A more respe'ctable constituency secures for the
successful candidate not only a larger expenditure in the
first instance, but also continual applications for places sad
other favours supposed to be easy to a member of Parlia-
ment. That, however, is only an M.P.'s point of view'
and it is one which is quite independent of politicalparties.
As we have said above, we do not think the bill serionsfY
threatens the political balance in the 40 cities and boroughs
we have quoted ; but we also do not think it will preVe
conducive to electoral purity and dignit
DAILY NEWS.Tke scattered familyy.
over which Jr.h
Cardwell so conscientiously presides is giving, him muc
trouble, and threatens to givehim more. New Zealand, the
maritime provinces of British North America, and more
recently Victoria, have proved wayward and untractahle,
and have provoked from the Colonial Secretary of Staile
ta
the Language of warning and expostulation, and now,
while
the fruits of his teaching are as yet things to be hopef
th°
d for
rather than admired, a colony in another part °
on
world is deviating from the straight and narrow patb,
the pleasantness and safety of wh Mr. Cardwell so loves
ich
to descant. The Governor and House of Assembly of Yaw;
la
couver's Island are at loggerheads, and the public affairs?'
that colony at a dead lock. The,cause of the difficulty
real, not sentimental. The Government of the colony hae
been spending more than it receives, and is accordingli
involved in difficulties. Its official staff was organised
net
ni‘
a sanguine spirit of magnificence which the event has
justified. Those who fixed the colonial establishment, in-
stead of asking themselves, as the founders of young ciani-
munities should always do, what service was
pear to have considered simply what amount of eels°
the taxpayers would tolerate. At first the people were
satisfied with the scale of their outgoings, even Lf they
were not proud of it, and if the population and revenue °A
the colony had continued to increase, no complaints
of
have been heard on this score. But of late the number
g
inhabitants has been decreasing, while expenditur- .;inee
augmented, and the finances of the colony have fallen 7.t._
a very unsatisfactory state. Under these cireunastan7,
the Government felt it necessary to enters ire
wanted, a.p;
policy of retrenchment. But instead of dinna':
useless officers, it cut down the estimates aPP,„—;
printed for roads, surveys, education, and other rd,a7l4
objects, and this at the very time when
salaries were being raised and new offices created.
tion accordingly became more oppressive, more people 'le:,
business grew worse, and the evils which called forth the
first complaints were intensified. The Assembly Wile not
satisfied with the method of economy practised by the
vernor, and instituted one of its own. It took them i`i
terial estimates in hand, and struck out the sums destine,
to pay the salaries of those officials whose services it cod ;
sidered superfluous, reducing also those of the retnail3.i.ety
to amounts corresponding to their usefulness and the
strong
sof the colony. These, it must be confessed, were tie
measures, and Governor Kennedy lost no time in
ddr,e;;;.
ing a letter to the House, decidedly blaming its
s°oBo
The Assembly, he said, ought not to abolish Pied
it
without making compensation to their incumbent* the old
was bound to pay the full salaries according to
the
or
scale
of the officials whom it retained. *The Genorilly
does not appear to have denied the right of the Xeril:be
to reduce the supplies, though he strongly reprobal vote'
idea of providing for official salaries by an annu- the
But this was not the only point of difference betWe° via
Governor and the House. The latter, beside cutting•dew
expenditure in one direction, enlarged in in another in dr
following way : it gained 69,000 dollars by its retreliond
ments, and this sum, together with 8,000 dollars oVer
pro.
above the gross amount of the original estimates, it 901:40,
plated for public works. The Governor, in his 11001
treats the whole amount of 77,000 dollars as an anf Are
to the estimates, and remarks :—" The Ilouse ‘'" ori-
sembly usurps the functions of the executive hi and
ginating and increasing items of public expenditure, and
creating new offices. I cannot too distinctlY Tbe
decidedly
express my dissent frOm this acour for eatis
.
power of both initiating and voting supplie ,o
any
ies and services cannot with safet be conceded op
single branch of the existing le is lature of
this eni°
oder
Such a concession on my part would be a virtual Orr! tor
of all that it is my duty to guard. Such a course Ar l9io
known to the constitution of Great Britain, lea
violation of those important constitutional Prille"P-- the
quiring a strict separation of the legislative frail
_isji
iO ably
executive functions." Governor is unq ueot
right in resisting the pretensions of the Assainbg a
een ,
initiate public expenditure. Wherever this right boa
successfully asserted constitutional government hay bee
ruined. Nothing more contributed to make the lea!' iDis
of Assembly in Jamaica a nuisance than its practica
lusted
respect. It is an essential part of the constitutional sY
tli
that every grant of money shall be recommended 110
Crown before it is voted. Were it not so, there vrtlenot
no real and individual responsibility for themenefcoor
of the public`finances, and members of the }louse ° for
mons would bo encouraged to push forward gra% OS
objects interesting to themselves and to their coo:b0f
without much regard to the amount or urgency o",:ift
demands upon the national purse. The Assembly eLti°
.500
couver's Island, however, knowing that its o,pprOPri7tllo
are more for the interest of the colony than those (4100.
Governor, mixes up unconstitutional pretensions witbcoge
timato claims. On the receipt of the Governors al-
it passed resolutions, among other things, refusinqd,
pensation to the officials whose salaries had been abolished'
and asserting its right to originate and increase al-bip
grants. In the neighbouring colony of British C°l
Ives
fish
which, besides supporting Government
eats
upon a sumptuous scale, has just raised seeslarl,oo,l f
to
ito
Governor from £3.000 to £4,000, extravaghas : host
if tb
financial difficulties. It would really seem as
thing the people of Vancouver's Island could do lc°
,o join British Columbia.