The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-01 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BUN.

Sin,—When the Government brought in their Reform
Bill, and the public learnt that Lord John Russell was
to appear as the champion of the people and appose this
Tory measure, most of us expected that he would bring
forward a measure of his own, so that we might compare
the two and choose the best. If Lord John had been at
the head of a large party he would probably have laid his
measure on the table; but this not being the case, his first
efforts were to make a party. And this is the reason why
Lord John did not give us even the faintest outline of his
bill. He knew very well that it was absolutely necessary
for him to bring together Lord Palmerston, Mr. Bright,
and as many of the Peelites as possible, and he knew that,
if he brought in a Reform Bill in accordance with the
opinions of Mr. Bright, Lord Palmerston and the Peelites
would vote against him; whereas if his bill suited the
latter gentlemen, then he would lose Mr. Bright. Fur-
ther, Lord John did not dare to oppose the Government
Bill by a motion "to read it a second time that day six
months," because, as far as it goes, it is a very liberal bill,
and he knew that many Liberals would have voted for the
bill rather than postpone the question of Reform till next
session. There was, therefore, only one other course open
to his lordship, and that was to move a resolution, which
he would wish us to believe is not intended to postpone the
settlement of the question, nor to displace the Ministry,
but to amend the bill.

His lordship probably never anticipated such It length-
ened discussion. He thought the matter would soon be
decided, and the Government soon removed. In fact, the
impatience expressed by no less a person than Sir C. Lewis
to finish the debate as soon as possible, pretty accurately
expressed the wishes of Lord John and Lord Palmerston.
They were afraid the public might think twice before it
came to a decision; and they knew that the more the de-
bate was protracted, the greater was the danger of hints
being inadvertently dropped touching the nature of the bill
which the country might expect from them.
Now, Sir, this is just what has taken place. This pro-
tracted debate has enlightened us on almost all the particu-
lars of the bill which the country would obtain if Lord
John were restored to power.
Before, however, proceeding further, I will just notice
the extraordinary inconsistency of Lord John's amendment.
Any one who has read the debate must be aware that the
uniformity of the borough and county franchise is looked
upon by the Whigs as the main principle of the Govern •
ment bill, and to this uniformity they are opposed. Under
these circumstances the proper mode of proceeding would
have been to move that the bill be read a second time this
day six months. But Lord John himself said that he ap-
proved of many of the provisions of the bill; and, as his,
resolution only relates to two items, we may conclude that
he entertains no strong opposition to the remaining clauses.
In this case the proper mode of proceeding would have
been to endeavour to amend those two provisions in com-
mittee. In whatever light, therefore, we look at Lord
John's amendment, it is evidently irregular; and as it com-
mits his lordship to nothing, it is certainly dishonest, and
can only have been framed with a view to catch as many
votes as possible, and to defeat the Ministry.
And now, Sir, let us examine the bill itself, and compare
it with the hints which have been dropped from those who
wish themselves to be considered thechampions of the people.
In the first place, Lord Derby proposes to reduce the
county franchise to £lO. The leading Liberals propose £2O.
Nov, Sir, which is the most liberal, the Conservative or
the Whig ? Some say that it is one of the principles of our
constitution that borough members represent resident occu-
piers, and that county members represent property, and
therefore the Government proposition is unconstitutional.
But the Chandos clause of the Reform Bill of 1832 altered
all that; and those who maintain the above doctrine, them-
selves propose to reduce the county qualification to £2O. So
much for their consistency. Furthermore, we never heard
anything about its being unconstitutional when the proposal
was made by Mr. Lock King, and no ono has ever given
us a reason why a man occupying a £lO house in a county
should not have a vote as well as a man occupying a £lO
house in a borough.
In the second place, the Conservatives propose to give
the franchise to lodgers who pay £2O a year rent, whether
their rooms are hired furnished or unfurnished. Most lodg-
ings which let for £2O a year furnished, would let for about
£lO a year unfurnished. But it would be impossible to
make a distinction in this respect, because many lodgings are
let partly furnished, so that it would be difficult to describe
what constituted a furnished and what an unfurnished
lodging. By the Government Bill, lodgers as a rule would
be placed exactly on the same footing as householders.
Now, what do the Liberals propose? Mr. Bright, in one of
his speeches. rather ridiculed the idea of lodgers voting, and
Sir James Graham disapproves of it. We may, therefore,
fairly assume that a Whig Bill would exclude the lodgers.
We know that it would reduce the household suffrage to
£B, or perhaps to £6. Now, Sir, who is best qualified to
give a vote—a householder who pays £6 rent, or a lodger
who pays £2O rent ? Those who propose to reduce the
household qualification, profess to do so in order to include
the best of the working classes. Now, sir, just consider
London. How many clerks and artisans live in lodgings ?
Nearly all! And how many occupy a£6 house ? Very
few I don't know where to find any houses of that rental
in London. There are some, no doubt; but they certainly
are very few, compared with the number of lodgers, and the
£2O lodgers are certainly a more respectable class. Here,
again, the Conservative proposition is the most liberal and
the best.

But, in addition to this, the Goverment propose a £6O
savings-bank deposit qualification. Mr. Bright may sneer
at this as a reward to prudence, but there are not many who
will join him in that. Sir Benjamin Hall found out one
borough in which this franchise would atpresent add only
one voter to the register. This, however, was a small
borough, and, as Sir Benjamin did not mention another, I
presume it was an isolated case. But no one can doubt
that if this proposition should pass, many thousands who
have never yet placed any money in a savings-bank will
soon begin to do se, if they wish for the franchise, and thus
will learn and practise prudence while acquiring a right to
vote. By this means the best of the £6 householders will
obtain the franchise. The reason why £6O is the sum fixed
upon would seem to be, that it is about equal to the value
of a forty shilling freehold.
And this brings me to the consideration of the borough
freeholders. The Conservatives propose to transfer them
to the boroughs in which their freeholds are situate ; and
the Whigs call this transfer a disfranchisement.
The Liberals, as I have before stated, propose to lower
the borough qualification to £6 or £B. Sections 24 and 25
of the Reform Act of 1632 enact that a peison shall
not vote for a county in respect of a freehold which
gives hbn the right to vote for a borough. The result of
this would be, that while the Liberals condemn the Con-
servatives for proposing to transfer the freeholders to their
boroughs, the Liberals themselves propose to carry out the
very same policy, by simply lowering the borough house-
hold qualification, and thus converting county freeholders
into borough householders. So there is not much dif-
ference as to the nature of the operation and only a trifling
difference in the mode of operating. And here I must re-
mark upon another Liberal inconsistency. How is it that,
when talking of these borough freeholders as county voters,
Whigs always call them the most independent class in the
county ; and yet when it is proposed to transfer them to the
boroughs, Whigs always pretend to be afraid of the grossest
corruption creeping in? Perhaps some kind Whig can ex-
plain this, even to the satisfaction of the freeholders them-
selves.

In the fourth place, the Conservatives propose to give us
voting papers. This, Sir, is the most important proposi-
tion of all, because we all know that many thousands of the
best class of electors will not mix in a mob, and conse-
quently attend no meetings and do not vote. We may,
therefore, assume that if they were to vote, it would not be
for a mob-orator, Hence the opposition of many of our
fluent speakers to this proposition of voting-papers. Some
say they would be unconstitutional and would. open the door
to all sorts of corruption; yet no one has explained how
this corruption is to creep in. But one fact, and that a
monster and an all-important one, is worth more than all

the cant of sham Liberals and the pretended fears of sham
patriots. Whenever the people establish'a philanthropic
institution, the working of which requires a system of voting,
in order to admit those, who need, to the benefits of such'
institution ; what system of voting do the people select ?
This identical system of voting papers I And so admirably
is it found to work, that I never heard of any abuse or cor-
ruption in any single instance. The votes that are recorded
frequently amount to many thousands, the number of can-
didates is frequently large, and yet no difficulty is found.
In. fact, Sir, here is the best system that has yet been.
framed. I will therefore only remark that if the voting-
papers be not published, but merely preserved for a
certain time . in case a scrutiny should be required, we
shall have all the advantages of the ballot without
the chance of fraud. Now, Sir, no Whig has ever
proposed anything so liberal as this ; therefore let all
true friends of the ballot vote for the Government Bill,
and trust no more to Whigs or chance. Such another op-
portunity as this may not occur for years ' • for if the friends
of the ballot vote with the Government, the majority will
be something astonishing—and while it will secure a great
political privilege to the people, it will relieve us from hav-
ing reforms kept continually dangling before our eyes and
beyond our reach. As regards the re-distribution of mem-
bers, I must acknowledge that the Government .bill does.
not go far enough, but in other respects it is, as Mr. Hors-
man justly called it, the most liberal bill we have had, and
more liberal than any other party can or will give us.
Many difthrent rules for the distribution of members have
been proposed, such as population, property, income-tax,
direct taxes, &c., but I think the best rule is to distribute
members according to the number of electors. -Let us,
therefore, have the Government bill, which deals almost
entirely with the franciiise, and when the new lists of voters
are made out we 4101 lie in a position to ascertain the
number of members e:Ach county and borough ought to
have. Let us wait no longer for a perfect Reform Bill ;
for no one seems able to frame one or to pass one. Let us
not place a blind confidence in a man, who first talks about
finality, then fails with two measures, and now declines to
tell us what he will do. Let us not be deceived by the
cry, that every change which a Conservative proposes is
unconstitutional. Liberals have proposed many changes
which were not constitutional, until by being carried out
they became so. Let us take what we can get, while we
'can .get-it, and not refwe it because we wantinore.—
I remain, Sir, your obedient'servant,
ONE WHO HASN'T A VOTE

March 31, 1859.
[This letter would have appeared yesterday, but for weal
of room.]

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

Our new colony of British Columbia is, according
to the last accounts, in a most satisfactory condition.
This will be good news to the public generally, for
the young establishment on the Pacific coast has
been quite a favourite since the tidings reached
home that gold had been found along the course of
the Fraser River. Although our people know little
—far too little—about the colonies, yet they have
their partialities. New Zealand, the Britain of the
South, from its position and climate, and the labours
of an eminent churchman, has long enjoyed popu-
larity, not so much with the emigrant who seeks a
busier market for his labour, as with that educated
class which does not emigrate at all. British
Columbia has succeeded for a time to this pre-
eminence in the minds of Englishmen, and seems
likely to justify the good opinion which has been
formed of it.

At the last advices, the difficulties which the
influx of miners had caused were passing away, as
the great body of them, dreading the winter and the
high price of provisions, had returned to San Fran-
cisco. Government was strong enough to keep
order among those who remained. In the spring the
rush would, of course, begin again, but; by that
time a reinforcement of troops would have arrived,
the administrative and judicial arrangements of
the colony would be more complete, and the
unquiet spirits more easily dealt with. With
respect to the mineral wealth of the I country
the accounts are most captivating. It is re-
ported on good authority that the whole course of
the Fraser River up to its source in the Rocky
Mountains contains rich deposits of gold, land that
the tributary streams are no less abundant in
metallic wealth. The gold covers an extent of ter-
ritory, if these reports be true, which will make
British Columbia the most important gold pyoducing
region in the world. It is certainly fortunate that
Sir Robert Peel made a firm stand on the Oregon
question and secured this noble tract for his coun-
trymen. After the sacrifice of territory by the
Ashburton Treaty such a success was necessary to
restore his reputation as au administrator of foreign
affairs. The country to which British emigration
and enterprise are now invited is one which must
before long take a high place in the world. The
Americans have founded two States, California and
Oregon, on the Pacific coast, and these arc growing
with a rapidity unexampled even in their annals.
They are pushing steadily across the continent ;
new cities-of ten years ago arc now far within the
limits of civilisation. Chicago has become a vene-
rable metropolis to the citizens of St. Paul,
Dubuque, and Superior. The transit across the
Isthmus is being regularly organised, and there is
reason to hope that the troubles which desolate
Central America will pass away, so that a rapid
and cheap communication between the two oceans
may be permanently established. All these things
point to the speedy prosperity of the British
territory on the Western coast, containing
as it does some of the finest harbours in the
world, with a fertile soil, a healthy climate,
winters less severe than were anticipated, and, above
all, mineral wealth to which there seems no bound.

It would certainly ill become the British Govern-
ment and people to neglect the priceless territory
on which they have planted their flag. In days to
come, when the Pacific coast is under Anglo-Saxon
dominion from the Frozen Sea to the Isthmus of
Panama, when the Australians are a powerful com-
munity, when China and the whole of Eastern Asia
are penetrated by the enterprise of English-speaking
races, the region now known as British Columbia
will assuredly rank among the most prosperous and
powerful. 'lt rests with the English people of the
present day to decide by whom this fabric shall be
constructed, and whether the new community shall
grow up with English habits and instincts, or be
furnished with population and ideas by a kindred,
but still very different, people. We are exposed in
British Columbia not only to the rivalry, but to the
invasion, of the Americans. They are firmly esta-
blished in the neighbourhood, and while the terri-
tory is many thousand miles from the English either
of the home country or Australia, it is within a few
days' sail of a great American city. The first great
object of our Government should be to encaurage a
large British emigration. We are happy to say
that the working classes of the present day are
firmly attached to the Government of the mother
country, and that even the Irish obey peacefully the
law and the constituted colonial authorities wherever
they go. A large infusion of English settlers is
the primary want of the colony ; they would bring
the land under cultivation, thus probably enrich-
ing themselves more than by seeking their fortunes
at the diggings; they would stand by the Governor,
and help in maintaining order; and they would
give an English tone of decency and regularity to
the administration of
,justice, and, when esta-
blished, to the Colonial Legislature. Every one in-
terested in the welfare of British Columbia must
do justice to the exertions of Sir E. Lytton, who
has organised the staff of officials and improvised
a fair Government with praiseworthy readiness.
We trust that his attention, or the attention of his
successor, will be turned to this question of immi-
gration ; and it would not be amiss to examine
whether English colonists could not be sent across
the Isthmus as well as the Americans who proceed
to California. The voyage round Cape Horn is a
terrible affair of five months, with storms and
headwinds a great part of the way. Surely there
is no insurmountable difficulty in establishing two
lines of emigrant ships,--one for the Atlantic and
the other for the Pacific service, and booking a
family all through. Of course, it is a question of
money, and we do not want the Government to in-
terfere with private enterprise; but still a Govern-
ment may give encouragement, or even originate
ideas, and the passage of emigrants across Panama
or Tehuantepec seems no more extraordinary than
the transport of troops to India by Suez, a scheme
about which the official world hesitated greatly.
The next subject of anxiety is the financial
management of the colony, and on this head the
greatest danger is to be feared from Downing-
street meddling. Australia will probably not
recover during this century from the evils inflicted
by Lord John Russell's and Earl Grey's Admini-
strations with respect to the sale of land. In British
Columbia we have already the first note of com-
plaint, which in a few months will probably swell
into a chorus, unless, indeed, the settlers take the
matter into their own hands, and conquer the
alleged official obstinacy by a violation of law.
Every one wants to buy land, and the authorities
will not sell. Colonel Moody and his sappers are
to survey the colony, and when that is done the
market will be open, but not before. In the mean-
while men have been even prevented from esta-
blishing a sawpit, a first necessity in a new land
where houses are built of timber. This prohibition
was the result of a belief that the possessor would
claim a right of pre-emption when the land came
to be. sold. For similar reasons the soil remains
uncultivated, and all provisions have to be brought
from abroad. This intolerable mismanagement
should cease at once. The system adopted in
America, and of later years in Canada and
Australia, is to allow land to be acquired on

CA
John P. :inson, 29,
both of w. lendar as
imperfectl, bar on a
charge of .1d of the
female prisoner, having been committed for trial
on a coroner's warrant. The prisoners were respec-
tably attired, the man being in deep mourning;
and neither of them appeared to be under the in-
fluence of any very strong emotion, considering the
serious position in which they were placed.
Dr. Wheeler and Mr. Hopwood appeared for the
prosecution ; and Attorney-General Bliss 41. C., and
Mr. Campbell Foster for the defence of theprisoners.
From Dr. Wheeler's opening statement it ap-
peared that the male prisoner was recently a book-
seller in Bradford, and that he' was also the owner
of a chapel in which he preached. The female pri-
soner was the wife of a person who was engaged as
an assistant in his shop. Both prisoners were pro-
lessed-spiritualistsi -and the woman was the man's
' medium " of communication with the spiritual
world. On the last day of last year he preached his
farewell sermon and took leave of his flock, as he was
about to leave Bradford fora distant part of the coun-
try-. For some time previously a close intimacy had
existed between the prisoners, and it was remarked
thativhen thaman left the woman disappeared at the
same time. Their first appearance afterwards was
in Manchester, where they were going about in
search of lodgings. They presented themselves at
the house of Mrs. Mawdesley, in Hyde-road, and
agreed to take a parlour and bedroom at the rate
rof 10s. per week, they at the same time represent.
ing themselves to be man and wife. They took
possession of the rooms the same evening. 'When
the prisoners were first at her house Mrs. Mawde-
sley observed nothing peculiar about the woman,
but the following-morning she noticed she was far
advanced in pregnancy. She asked how it was she
had ventured td travel about when so close upon
her confinement, and the prisoner replied that she
did not expect it for three months, as she was only
six months gone. On the following Monday morn-
ing the prisoner was delivered of a • female child.
Mrs. Mawdesley was indignant with the prisoners
for taking her lodgings under such circumstances,
but still every necessary attention was paid to the
woman. The child was a very healthy. one, but
the mother said she did not think it would live, as
it breathed very heavily, and two children she had
before died soon after their birth. A surgeon was
in attendance upon them, but he told the prisoner
that it was unnecessary for him to call again, as
both mother and child were doing well. This con-
tinued until Thursday night, when the child died.
On the body were found bruises and discolorations,
which ultimately led to the suspicion that it had
been killed by strangulation. The male prisoner
was very anxious to have the body quickly in-
terred, and having succeeded in, obtaining a certifi-
cate from the registrar, the burial took place in
Ardwick Cemetery, where, in consequence of sub-
sequent suspicion arising, it was exhumed.
Mr. Rix, surgeon, said that • early an Sunday
morning the male prisoner came to his place and
requested him to attend the confinement of his wife.
He went with him to his lodgings, and delivered
the female prisoner of a female child. The child
was healthy, and appeared to be full grown. He
did not say anything about the child being weakly,
and unlikely for life. He never said she must not
be surprised if the child died at any moment, or
that it would die in convulsions. He saw not the
slightest symptoms in the child of weakness or
convulsions. It appeared to be a perfectly
healthy child. On the Thursday the male prisoner
came to his house about 10 o'clock in the morning,
and stated that the child was dead. When witxess
asked why he had not sent fora cloctor, he replied

it was early in the morning, and it would be of no
use. He asked for a certificate, but witness told
him he could not give one, as there would require
to be a coroner's inquest. He appeared to be
very unwilling to go to the coroner's office, and
witness told him he might go to the registrar, and
see what he had to say on the subject. He after-
wards went to see the child, and found the lips
were black and the mouth open, and a black mark
on the neck under the chin. He had not no-
ticed the marks before, and if they had been on
the child he would have noticed them, as they
were so decided marks. Witness and Mr. Jona-
than Wilson made apost mortenz examination of the
body on Saturday, and found it was a full-grown
child. The cause of death was congestion on the
brain, which was produced by the unnatural pres-
sure of the veins, which were too full. It was his
opinion that the child did not die from natural
causes.

Several other witnesses were examined.
His Lordship summed up strongly in the pri-
soners' favour, and
The jury, without leaving the box, returned a
verdict of not guilty, and the prisoners were or-
dered to be set at liberty forthwith.

THIS DAYS MARKETS.