The Sun.
London, England, 1835-11-05 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The decided gain of the Reformers in the Registra-
tion Courts is matter of certainty. This is no doubt
a very disagreeable topic to the Tories, but the fact is
one which they will find it difficult to explain away.
When we announced last week (not till after the ter-
mination of the contest) the gratifying result, we were
well aware that the Conservative Press would be put
to their shifts to gainsay our conclusions. We now
join issue with the Standard. Our subtle Contempo-
rary is no doubt a dextrous controversialist, not over-
scrupulous as to partial statements, and aware of the
advantage to be derived from diverting attention from
the main issue. We stated on Wednesday se'nnight
that we had in our possession proyi of the electoral
gains of the Liberals in England, Wales, and Sco-
Fand, and that we did not doubt that Ireland would
yield its corresponding increase of Liberal constitu-
ency. We shall not allow the Standard to blind
the public, or to escape from the main subject of
dispute. We stated that the Tories, in 1833 and
1834, had stolen a march on the Reformers ; that the
Tories had almost exclusively registered in thoss years ;
that the Reformers neglected their duty ; that the
great field of Toryism—the tenantry of the Tory
landlords----had been carefully cultivated previous to
th:s year ; that the non-registered Liberals, the re-
cently created small freeholders, and town-county qua-
lifications, had for the first time been diligently re-
corded for the Liberals this year ; that the ten-pound
qualifications of the cities and boroughs had greatly
increased, during two years of almost unexampled com-
mercial prosperity ; that the new votes and claims and
qualifications, not before registered of this Reformers,
had, therefore, this year greatly swelled. the gross num-
bers of the English and Welch constituency ; that the
old constituency, especially the dead and non-resident
freemen, had unquestionable been better scrutinized than
in any previous year since 1'832; and that the Reformers
every where are fully organised, and their cause con-
ducted with unexampled spirit, and gratuitous
professional duvotion. These are facts which
the Tory Journals may deny, but which they cannot
by any controversial chicanery disprove. Now, how
does the Standard affect to dispute .the result of the
recent registration ? After some days of painful la-
bour in the work of sophistry and misrepresentation,
the Standard publishes two columns and a half of
partial figures and false reasoning. 'We shall demon-
strate the falsity of the data adopted by our contempo-
rary, and show the absurdity of receiving them as a
fair test of the Registration. The figures and sche-
dules with which the Standard makes such a parade,
all resolve themselves into quotations from the Tory
provincial press, relating only to eleven English coun-
ties and nineteen English cities and boroughs. These
picked samples only relate to about one-eighth of the
English representation, and not to one-tenth of the
gross numbers of the House of Commons. They
exclusively apply to the seats of thirty Conservatives,
and thirty-two Reformers. We must deal with these
as the examples most favourable for the 'Tories ; but
they do not test the Registration of one tenth of the
Parliamentary representation of the empire. Thus the
figures of the Standard in truth present no real analysis
of the general results of the registration. In no one sin-
.le instance has the Standard favoured us with the
comparative increase or political character of the new
(additional) constituency returned by the overseers
from the rate-books, and only in four instances are the
comparative numbers of the claims of the two parties
stated ! The Standard is cunningly contented with a
pompous display of adverse columns of " objections"
" taken" and "sustained." Our Contemporary knows
really nothing of this subject, and has made a very
bungling use of the information given him by some
one who knows very little more of the matter. If the
I Conservative calculator knows the truth and will avow
it, he must be aware that the party having the majo-
rity of claims has usually the fewest objections ; but
we suspect lie is merely a compiler of newspaper
election scraps. Eleven counties only, two of them
divided, comprise the county calculations of the
Standard manifesto. Middlesex, 'Vest and East Kent,
Huntingdon, the Isle of Wight, East and West Glou-
cester, West Somerset, South Devon, North Shrop-
shire, the West Riding of York (U, North Nor-
thampton, and South Leicester, -" are" says the
Standard, " all the counties of which we have
yet found any return." Now we (the Morning
Chronicle) have " found" and have before us the.. 'S
correct returns of nearly four-fifths of the coun-
ties of England, Wales, and Scotland ; not scraps
from party journals, but the real results of the Regis-
tration contest, as far as they can be ascertained. We
affirm that an extraordinary increase of the county
constituency has been registered ; that the greater part
of that increase is Liberal. The claims unopposed •
make the difference which appears so unaccountable
to the Standard, in. its county calculation. In eleven
counties, two divided, the Standard states the Tory
" objections" and " claims" as 10,424 ; those 'of the
Reformers, 4,915. Now, in three counties 'only does
this statement give the new claims—a fair. presump-
tion that the relative number of party claims in seven
counties not given, could not be cossveniently stated.
For Middlesex, we have the impudent assumption
that the majority of Conservative claims, " as far as
ascertained," is 1,100. In. tine Middlesex Register
of 1834, 8,005 electora
plicate qualifications, 'are enrolled, including du-
Of these about 6,000 polled.
when there was
over the Tory 'majority of 300 for Mr. Hume
electors Candidate ; and of the 1,800 un-
polledthe majority is known to be Liberal.
This Yw. there were six thousand now claims, of
;.,."-"cr. we know a large majority to be Liberal. The
.'.. ories claim a majority of 51G objections to the old
and new Register. How are they to win Middlesex.
against Mr. Hume, or any Liberal Candidate ? We
will notice two or three other examples of the pre-
tended triumphs of the Standard in the county Re-
gistration. In West Gloucester our Contemporary
has placed the figures on the wrong side. The Tories
assert a gain on " objections" of 553. We know
that the strength of the Liberal Party in the Register
has been increased by 348 votes ! In West Somerset
the Standard states a gain on " objections" of 211;
we claim about 40 gain, besides which we had a
majority of 800 on the last contested poll. Are the
Tories serious in claiming the West Riding ? But
enough as to counties. All the county selections of
the Standard relate only to the scats of fourteen Tory
Members and eleven Reformers, and can there.
fore, as we have already observed, little affect
the result of the aggregate Registration. Our
Contemporary discreetly observes, " of some other
counties,' we regret to have to admit that the
Conservatives have remained in a state of inert-
ness, and have left the representation in the hands of
those from whom they might with ease have wrested
it." It is too late now ; but will the Carbon Club
give us a list of these defaulters ? We will now ac-
company the Standard in its tour to the cities and
boroughs. Nineteen cities and boroughs ors'ey in Eng-
land, returning but 37 Members, 16 Tories, and 21
Liberals, comprise all the samples in the Tory Mani-
festo—not one-ninth of the English town representa-
tion ! Will the Standard name any cities or boroughs
now liberally represented, in which lie can assign a
single future gain ? Will he deny that Bristol, Col-
chester, Halifax, Dover, will not gain Liberal Mem.,
hers by a dissolution ? Will the Standard reseat
Kelly and Dundas for Ipswich by the vaunted gain
, of twenty upon objections at the late Registration ?
Will he unseat one of the four Liberal representatives
of London by his asserted gain of 249 on the City Re-
gistration ? The gross ignorance of our Contempo-
rary in the meanwhile js exhibited in his bold and ri-
diculous averment, that the nineteen cities and
boroughs cited, viz., Leeds, Bristol, Wakefield, Ips-
wich, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Colchester, Peter-
borough, Southampton, Halifax, Reading, Wind-
sor, London, Grimsby, Hereford, Poole, Shrews-
bury, Canterbury, and Dover, " are the principal
reports from the boroughs in which any struggle: has
taken place." We could give the Standard a treble sit
list of other " struggles," but we leave him to his own
discoveries. The attempt to determine the results of if
the Registration by eleven counties and nineteen cities ,;(
and boroughs, is, however, so absurd, that we would
not rob our contemporary of even the Ten Pounds so.;
ostentatiously tendered for the benefit of the Middlesexim'
Reform Club, by setting him right as to the figures of
the Middlesex controversy. If our contemporary had.