The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-08 00:00:00

THE ANTICIPATED REFORM BILL.

We are not 'without our apprehensions that
Parliatoeritary reform is in the pteclicanaent ,of
the lia-re'with many friends. Every one is for the
thing in name, but how many are fo-: the thing in
the true sense of the word ? The. Tories—Con-
servat,ivis as they now style themselves—cherish
their old grudge again 4 the representative sys.
tern estabhshed by the Refortn Bill. It put an
end to their ascendancy, and in return they would
be well pleased to overthrow it, and to set -up
something better suited to their. objects. Their
aim will of course be to contrive a system in which
the aristocratic influence may have - more sway.
The old Whigs will be fOr some small expansion, of
the Refoim Bill,, and they will not be indisPosed
to ,concur with the Conservatives in expedients
increasing the aristocrat ic inflne nee. For example the
project of compassing the representationef minori-
ties, by giving two votes for three members, will
obtain the s,upport..of .these two parties. If Col.
Sibthorp had been spared to us, he would doubti
less have come forward with, a plan improving,on
this, ingentouS, idea to :the extent of pacing miL
notifies uppermost, as ii the apex of the cone:
The thing is not impossible with certain arranger
ments departing from the direct representation of
the majority. • Suppose .the repreientation 'of
group of places to belong to the majority. returned
to an electoral college, A, 13_, and C have &oh 1,000
,
voters. A happens to haVe an united 1,000 of the
white party, while B liaS '5Ol black's against 49p
whites, and C the same. 13 and C are thus in the
majority in the electoral college, and return their
black representative, though their voters have
amounted in the whole only to 1,002 against A's
1,000 499 (in B) + 499 (in C), making an ag-
gregate of- 1,998. A system of .this, sort actually
found an advocate in the French revolution, and
the old Scottish' system pf boroughs voting in
giniips-bore some resemblance-to it. If ever there
be a departure from the' plain old principle of the
direct _representation of majorities, an accidental
distribution of parties may give a most undue force
to a party in the minority. Suppose, for example,
Lord. Derby's party in the House of Commonspl4
the third member in' every place -where there are
three-by virtue or by vice of the proposed two votes
for the three ? • Never was there proposed an in
novation so uncalled for, so occasionless, and,- let
us add, so unprincipled.
• What is ,there unrepresented in the House of
Commons? are there not diversities of opinion
enough and to spare ? We know of none but the
Mormons-who have not a small voice somewhere
in Parliament. Are there any minorities of con-
stituencies broken-hearted for being crossed in re-
presentation ? Kidderminster breaks heads in that
prediCament. No minority has-hung itself in a fit
Of disappointment. They all' know how to digest
their griefs, and bide their. time. From the lan-
gnage of the advocates of their -representation it
would, however, be supposed that the discontents
of minorities were disturbing the peace of the coun-
try. , And the men who are the most full of concern
for the mortification of these same minorities ha've
the-largest 'toleration for the intimidation and op-
pressionathe-remedy of which they vehemently
pose in the ballot.
We have been led, into these remarks by a speech
of the Duke of Cleveland on the anticipated lie-
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form Bill. The points on which we differ from his
Grace-we have touched upon, but without any per-
sonal reference to him, for indeed ho does not
specify his grounds for adopting the new Crotchet.
What strikes us in the speech is its great modera-
tion and liberality, which we cannot but contrast
favourably with the language of men of his Grace's
party (not house of Raby) in 1831-2.
What most people are anxious for is an extension of the
franchise. But, to begin with, I. hopeell anomalies will
be got rid of, and the small constituencies, of which there
are so many, and which I cannot help saying are a dis-
grace to the country, be done away with, and their
members given to larger bodies of persons. Now; gen-
tlemen, so far from holding that an extension of the
franchise in counties would be injurious, if extended in
the way it ought to be, and amongst those who ought to.
Lave it—those who from their education and station in
life ought, according to the spirit of the age to be en-
franchised—l hold that the constitution would be tnate-
rially benefited. What are the classes to which I allude?
Wel, there are many with large money qualifications
and resident in counties, but who from various causes
are not qualified now to be on the register, who ought,
in my opinion, to have a vote for the county in which
they reside. I will not only say that every man who has
1001. a year...but I would even go lower, and say that
those who have 50/ a year, no matter from what it
comes—are fully entitled to the franchise in counties.
This would include all curates, almost every village
schoolmaster, clerks in mercantile offices, banks, and
railways, and others; and it cannot be denied that all
these persons are entitled to the franchise, and ought to
have it. There is another class of persons whom it has
been attempted to bring it, but who I hope to God will
never be brought in, and that is the renters of 101.
houses. Rely upon my words, if that is once done the
landed interest in every county in England is extin-
guished for ever. Upon what principle, let me ask, is
the journeyman mason or carpenter, who resides in one
town in one county this year, and in another town in
another county next year—who has no permanent resi-
dence or stake in any county—upon what principle is he
to claim a county vote ?"
Why the 101. renters are the objects of such pe-
culiar horror we confess our inability to discover.
In what respect is the journeyman mason or car-
penter less trustworthy than the village schoolmas-
ter or railway clerk ? The carpenter is especially
an educated workman. If the Duke of Cleveland
had objected that the journeyman mason renting a
101. house had no status affording presumption of
intelligence, we could understand the scope of the
objection, whether the application was or was not
good. But the Duke would exclude him simply
because he is not fixed to the county, while he
would admit divers others with pecuniary qualifica-
tions who are liable to exactly the same objection
if it be of any worth. And as fOr intelligence, does
any one believe that the man who is fit -to choose
the representative of a borough is not equally fit to
choose a member for the county ? In this case, if
in any in the world, the proverb would hold good,
that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the
gander. We never bear the argument for two
classes of voters for town and country insisted on
without thinking of Montaigne's provident charac-
ter, who provided two holes in his hen-house, a
large one for the fowls and a small one for the
I chickens.
The question is not settled by the postulate that
it is for the rural interest to choose its representa-
tive in the county member. The 'rural interest is
to be found in country towns, where the shopkeepers,
are mainly dependent on it. And after all, it is not
for skill in agriculture or knowledge of rural affairs
that county members are chosen. In the present
system towns, many of them not at all identified
with agricultural interests, have a large share in
the election of county members.
Especially worthy of note in the Duke of Cleve-
land's speech is his strong declaration against small
boroughs, the disgrace, as he says, of the country.
Even a division in the Conservative party on this
point will be impoitant, for on the old Whig side
there is dstrong hankering for these small boroughs,
for which Canning's stale arguments are resusci-
tated. If will be curious, indeed, if the two great
aristocratic parties should change sides on this ques-
tion, and the old champions of schedules A and B
should be found fighting the battle of the petty
constituencies. Examiner.

ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, GRAY'S-INN-ROAD.—The num-
ber of patients relieved at this hospital during the week
ending Saturday, June 6, was 1,777, of which 596 were
new cases.