The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-27 00:00:00

THE BUDGET.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said as ii
was intended to finish the debate on the Reform Bill to-
morrow evening, he should, on Thursday next, bring for-
ward his financial statement.
THE REFORM BILL.—ADJOURNED DEBATE.

Mr. LOWE roseand said—As we are now on the second
reading of the bill for the purpose of reducing the electoral
franchise it is not inopportune to ask what is the principle
of the bill. (Hear, hear.) Our information upon this subject
at the present moment is very meagre. (Hear, hear.) We
have learnt from my right hon. friend the President of the
Board of Trade that the principle of this bill is to reduce
the franchise;and we have learnt from the Solicitor-General
for Scotland, as I understood, that the principle of the bill
is to fill upwith figures two blanks, which the Government
propose to fill up with £7 and £l4 respectively, but which
we can fill up withany number we think proper. These are
the rather shady-colouredviews which have been imparted
to us on this important question. I submit that they neither
of them answer the question at all, because the principle of
a bill does not mean the scope and tenor of the bill, it does
not mean the thing the bill professes to do, but the ground
or reason on which it is based, and upon that, as far as I
am aware, her Majesty's Government have been entirely
silent. I can only imagine two grounds on which this bill
can be proposed to the house, this bill for lowering the elec-
toral franchise. The first of those grounds is, that the
franchise ought to be given for its own sake ; and the se-
cond is that it is the means for obtaining some ulterior ob-
ject. Which of these two is the principle of the bill ? The
first principle has at any rate the merit of extreme simpli-
city, and those who profess it are very little troubled either
with proof or investigation. According to their theory, all
they have to find is a person fitted to have the electoral
franchise—and they are not very particular in exacting
proof of fitness, nor very strict in the presumptions which
they apply to it—and that having that person tie giving of
the franchise to him follows as a matter of immediate and
cogent necessity. According to this view this is not a ques-
tion of politics at all. It is a question of morality, of right
and wrong. It is a debt, to use the words of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, and when you find a man presumably fit,
or whom you choose to consider fit, for the franchise,accord-
ing to this view you are as much bound to give it him asyou
are to pay your own ordinary debts, and that to deliberate
about it is as much an act of turpitude as to deliberate
when you will pay your creditors. Thus all those citizens
who are not admitted to the franchise become creditors oft
the state, and every day, and every hour, you withhold it
from them is, according to this view,, wrong accumulatedopro
Upon wrong, a denial of justice, a disgrace andisiVview
brium to those who act in this manner.
That
toow whether
that may be taken. It is very important
it is the view on which this bill isugehrtittfosoirtwhaarsd;ebnetcnsye
it is a view which, whatsoever other
eeliutidieers
flanieystshoinhgiglhikoerresianskosn
so
or a rgutruhoulant
o f argumentspttnoidit,icbs
apostles is
of a new
tit foinlarp,sesaibrl.)e Itto
dreeaaltwpihthuoistobpyh argument.philosophers—they
tsy
tnissoTy.fhabo:lsone:sowst
Inspired
propoundodlay doi
vni tthmisaydobee_
g
ey
religion of humanity.
usingythhee artother
(Conservative chee •
doc-
trine ne t
doctrineshe y ar
we notithi politicians,rs,anj 3Telhoysnemoi
oranaycr,eeotnohret
i
evrircot sTohfetyh
am; haveu emr iset a k fallacyen the
h e amneda nt sh ef
o rugltt ohoesext
attainp:nebrd a:t ihe dsee
ofin ftetr,
that
tt
tbehecaeuiescetwivee allfra franchise
eeis farogmooodutrhilnong
end of good government, that, therefore, it is necessarily a
good thing in itself. They have this great advantage, as all
enthusiasts, all persons believing in immediate intuition,
establishing arbitrary connection of ideas have over those
who are not so fortunate, that they entirely emancipate
themselves from the necessity of looking to conse4uences.
(Cheers.) They are free altogether from those complicated,
those troublesome, and embarrassing contemplations of the
future effects of their measures. They divest their minds
altogether froth these things, and fall back 91Z the principle

that if the thing be right in itself why embarrass it With
consequences? That is one view of the quostion. The
second view is a much humbler one, but I believe very
"etch sounder—not a sounder principle of the bill, but a
sounder doctrine to maintain—and that is that the franchise,
ono
class
classes,
fe )ns
,b toaa
finn order
over obtained)—expediency,
another
)e1
p.
in x
vP the endt like every other political expedient, is a means to an end(that
end, like other political action, being the greatest good that
necanre b
eahnnicys principle,y ,
country g o
predominance
to keep
gk o ve 1
iep ,ct,hhmeoa government, ,s
tyranny
pre.of
told
is not one of the British constitution, and I will, therefore,
of
with the permission of the house, refer to a few words of the
preamble of the statute, the 7th of Henry VI. This is the
first statute, as far as I sin aware, that contains any declara-
tion with regard to electoral right; and has allusion to the
body from which the knights of the shire were elected. By
that act it was determined that "no man shall have a vote
fur a knight of the shire unless ho be possessed of a free-
hold amounting in value to 40s. annually." Look at the
principle here laid down. In the first place it recites that too
reee.T i
great a number of people have been involved in the right of
election. That is the danger—the too great size of electoral
districts, so as to make them unwieldly. In the next place, it
contemplates the fact that a class may be swamped by am:J.-
ther class of less importance aud of less weig,ht in the country
and, in the third place, it establishes that a voter ought to
possess a certain qualification—a principle embodied in the
doctrine that the franchise ought not necessarily to be given
to any man not qualified for it, or to any man unfit for it.
(Hear, hear.) So that the vote isnot to be referred merely to
the fitness of the person on whom it is proposed to confer it,
but we ought so to deal with the question that no single
class should be allowed to swamp another. (Hear, hear.)
The same authority lays down this second ground, that how-
ever we may differas to the quantum of the franchise, we ha.ve
a common ground of argument, and if that be so it may not
be impossible to arrive at some sort of compromise. As to
the advocates of the first principle there is no common
ground of reasoning, and no man who holds the theory that
everything in politics must be referred to the safety andgood
government of the state; can agree with the Under Secre-
tary of State (Mr. Layard) that it is better to be governed
less effectually by a largo representative body than more
efficiently by a small representative body. (Cheers from the
Opposition.) Which of these principles does the bill go upon?
To ascertain this you must ask what the bill will do ? What

will be the number of persons enfranchised under this bill?
If we know that, then we know the manner in which these
di
moonuitnydeornsostasnio.dnebdy it. But numbers will be distributed ;we then have data up to which
give, either according owsetean argue as to what her Majesty's Government intend
franchised, or t(
and therefore •
tot
hßeu tGIe a ,vme r
nmme
et n
there h
Government—(hear,
theit e
ago' el
t impossibleb ~manneriiht to
theif
no forme
which
t:
ioel
number
tof guide
fe pe
will
hsiolelnvsbotet : Ib heae vee
from us information
distri-
buted.
, and to
chooses to with-
hold(Hear, hear.)
con-
clusion without it. Wahferanotohistobidllirect us to come to a
hiso
bill
brought in, it was
and the Chancellor
n a
strange
riranticiple of which
intended to be merely
s,
fore bre -
the press
of the change. That was satisfactory. But
of the Exchequer, acting upon
I never heard, in order to assist our dale)
fore us statistics of what might be expected to
and certain members of this house, bore down upon the
Government, and they began to slide. First of all, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer declined to lay on the table a
bill for the redistribution of seats ; but ultimately he said
he would lay such a bill upon the table ; and then, advanc-
ing another step, growing bolder the further he went, he
said he would proceed with the bill upon the table,,and ho
laid down a formula, that when they had laid before the
house the two parts of the bill, they would be prepared to
stand or fall by it. (Hear.) Well, then, thewhole question
becomes changed. When the Government made up their
minds to bring in a Redistribution of Seats Bill the obvious
course would have been to withdraw the Franchise Bill
and bring in the additional measure, so that the two might
be considered together. (Hear, hear.) Plain, downright
common sense could see no other course. Self-love and
pride, and a number of other things, caused the Govern-
ment to desire to appear to concede as little as possible.
So the challenge they made was one by which they deter-
mined to put the Administration in jeopardy because of
the bill. I never heard or read of any conduct
on the part of the Government so utterly irrational and
unintelligible. (Cheers from the Opposition.) Until we
know the distribution of seats we do not know the number
of persons to be brought into the constituency. If you take
the borough seats, there is one which many people would
prefer to take rather than any other. (Laughter.) And sup-
pose you were to transfer the right of returning a member
from it to a constituency, say in Lancashire, if you did that
you would not merely be transferring political power from
one body of men to another, but you would bo enfranchis-
ing a great number of men of the class of £7 householders
who up to this time have never enjoyed political existence
of any such kind. Before we make such a change we ought
to know the number of persons to bo enfranchised and the
proposed distribution of seats. (Hear, hear.) The hon.
member for Birmingham says that you might establish
universal suffrage, and yet that you might continue to neu-
tralise its effect so as to make the representation less popular
than it was before. We are ignorant at present of what is
proposed to be the second part of the Government measure,
and, therefore, we do not know in the least what the effect
of the whole change is likely to be. It is quite right that in
a matter of great Imperial policy, on which it is desirable
that certain information should be kept secret, the Govern-
ment should call upon their supporters, and even upon the
Opposition, to trust them. But in this case important infor-
mation is kept back apparently from mere wantonness.
(Cheers.) It seems as though it were a trial of power, in
order to see whether the Government can make the House
of Commons pass under the yoke or not. It seems
to be their desire to see whether they can exhibit us
tdheogrfenediogfnifntydiogfnhitsyv(inhgeasr,
ghreenart).paWrteohf
pb be
oe nv fss ui
obnj
se c
ot
fe dt
ht
eo
to the country as persons content to be treated with this
athvee
bill concealed from us until we have given a vote upon the
subject. (Hear.) Look at the language that was used by
the Chancellor of the E xchequer when he spoke at Liverpool.
He said he knew the people with whom he had to deal.

Was that the sort of language that ought to have
been used ? It seemed to indicate that the House of
Commons was better known than trusted. (Cheers, and
laughter.) Then let me refer to the language of my right
hon. friend the President of the Board of Trade, who
avowed that the Government 'Wanted to bring in the mea-
sure in such a way that the House of Commons should be
compelled to pass it. Was that respectful to the House of
Commons ? If you were dealing with a horse, and were
trying to discover whether it was a roarer or not (great
laughter)—l could undershirt(' your getting iu into one cor-
ner of the stable and giving it a sharppunch to see whether
it would grunt. (Renewed laughter.) But the commons of
England are not exactly the class of people to be_ treated
in this manner. (Hear, hear.) Then, again, look at the lan-
guage of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr.
Goschen), who observed, " Some people say that we have
divided the bill into two parts, but we thought we could not
carry the whole; but we thought we could carry it in two
halves, and therefore have acted as we have done." There-
fore, on the one part there is an attempt to force us, andou
the other there is a desire to take us in. (Hear, hear, and
laughter.) It is possible that the two parts of this bill, pre-
sented separately, may amount to more than would have
been obtained if they bad been presented in the first in-
stanceGg roevaetr
nadvantagesh
iosf
hhoanvsien gi s t ht
he
alte at
hd ienyg
omweem a-
as a whole. It has also been said by Hallam that
ob
ne
res )of f tt hh ee
double allegiance—one, as leading members of tke Govern-
ment to this house, and the other to the Crown ; and that,
while
not wanting in duty to the one, they will not be
wanting in respect to the other. Mr. Hallam was a very
good historian, but he was not a good prophet. (Hear.) If
he had lived to this time he might have seen that, while
allegiance might be shown to the Crown, there might also
exist the desire to humiliate and degrade this house in the
eyes of the country. (Loud cheers.) I might here quote,
with slight alteration, an old epigram—

" Whatever the pain may cost,
It is time we should say each adieu,
For your confidence in us is lust,
And we have not sufficient in you."
(Loud laughter.) That is a remarkable position, and very
ftehwe
Cmheanneecolnlotrriovfetthoe
Egextchiengto it twice in their lives. But
When the right hon. gentle
he proposed a reform to
Tonie li j oy
ue
tdat
sh aLt h
oa
rpd pin
li ei
gs ser
h.
Commissioner Extraordinary to the an Islands, and ..
Exchequer ha:
the Chambers of the lonian Islands, and ono part of
the Government of Lord Derby,
that
reform was that the powers of the Lord high
Commis-
sioner should be defined by an act of the assembly,ing and arbitrary, but and
they were verysweeP the right hon.
be e •
gentleman said there must exceptions, and that excep-
tion must be that all the powers
that her Majesty
exercise she might might
choose to o. do b
(Laughter-) Then, as was urged b Y order in council.
member for King's Lynn (Lord St y my noble friend the
admit that we ought to have e Stanley), the Government
to us before we go into co extra information furnished
prodace it immediately if committee, and they promise to
and yet they refuse to • the bill be read a second time,
corner." It is a task worthy
it us until they "get us into a
Chancellor of the vorthy
of the subtle genius of the
is so estranged Exchequer to show us that this informa-
tionnot necessary to be consideredfromthe principle of the bill that it is
second reading of the bill. Butbdton the question of the
tsarily this knowledge is neces-
intertwined with the proper consideration of the bill
at this stage, why is it not communicated to us before we
go into committee? (Hear, hear.) We are told rumours
are abroad,l and perhaps we must not be unwilling to be-
ieve them, though I think the
Government have gone far
enough in conceding what is to be done after the second
reading, but I am told that we are to be offered one
more concession, and that, if we will only con-
descend to give the Chancellor of the Exchequer
a victory over us, when we get into committee the two
bills shall advance pari passu. (Hear, hear.) Would ft
show that you were properly treated? would it show that
you were doing your duty to the Government and to your
constituents, would it show that you were acting worthily
of the dignity of this great assembly, and consistently with
the pelations between this house and the executive Govern-
ment--(hear)- to allow a proposition of this sort to be
broached at the last moment, when it would be too late to
reply ?—(loud cheero—and I beg hon. membsrs to Observe
thin before it is tin Wel and if they doe 0 they will *II