The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-01 00:00:00

of distrust. It was said that commercial changes were Pre.
vented in this country chiefly by this £5O tenancy clause.
The men who acted under that clause—and take them alto-
gether I do not believe that a more valuable class to whom
to intrust the franchise could be found—(hear, hear)—were
described in this house as men void of all patriotism and
public spirit, exercising the suffrage without the slightest
effort of intelligence, merely at the beck of their landlords.
Nothing can be more exaggerated or groundless than the
sentiments which have been expressed in this house on the
effect of the Chandos clause and on the influence which it
has on popular elections. (Hear.) In the first place, voters
under the Chandos clause at no time ever exceeded one-
fifth of the constituent bodies of counties. Therefore, had
they all voted the same way they never could have exercised
that influence upon public events which has been ascribed
to them. (Hear, hear.) But the proprietary of the soil
does not rest with the Tories and Conservatives. There
are Whig landlords and very considerable Whig landlords.
(Hear.) The proprietary of the soil is distributed among
proprietors of all opinions, and the consequence is, that if
you look at the elections you will find that those who voted
under this Chandos clause were much divided—often
equally divided. (Hear, hear.) It is not true, therefore,
that those who vote under this qualification have exercised
any very great influence upon the legislation of this coup •
intent or that they are a class who have acted always without
or meaning. (Hear, hear.) There is no doubt that
dissatisfaction, followed by mistrust and misrepresentation,
did ratio in the country an idea that the county representa-
tion was an exclusive representation, that it was animated
only by one object, that it had a selfish interest always be-
fore it, and that it had not thatsympathy with the commu-
nity which we desire in that chosen body to whom the pri-
vilege of election—the highest privilege in the State—is in-
trusted. An effort was made by means of the 40s. freehold,
which was retained in counties, to counteract the exagge-
rated influence of the £5O tenancy voters. A manufacture
of votes—from the facts before me I am entitled so to call
it—was carried on in the boroughs, by which it was sup-
posed that the injurious influence of the tenants living
upon the land, dwelling in the counties, might be counter-
acted: For the last 15 years—for the last ten years at a
very great rate—this has been going on, until it has
really arrived at this point, that the number of county
voters who do not dwell in the counties now exceeds the
number of those who vote under the £5O clause. It was
proclaimed with great triumph that when a gentleman
stood for a county his neighbours who dwelt in the
county might vote for him, but some large town in
the district would pour out its legions by railway, and
on the nomination of some club in the town would elect
the representative for the county. The dwellers in the
county found themselves not represented in many in-
stances by those who lived among them. A sort of civil war
was raised in this manner, and if hon. gentlemen look into
the statistics on this point they will see that what I may
call an unnatural state of things was brought about,—be-
cause there is no doubt that what we seek is that a man
should vote for the place where he resides, or for the
locality in which he is really and substantially interested.
(Hear, hear.) That is a state of affairs which is much to
be deprecated. It is of the greatest importance that those
who vote, whether in a borough or minty constituency,
should sympathise with the commnnity in which they ex-
ercise that important right. (Haar, hear.) A man who
votes for a place where he resides or in which he has an
interest, votes with a greater sense of responsibility than
what I may call a mere stranger. (Hear.) Where, then,
when we are considering the condition and the elements of
the constituency of the country, when we are endeavour-
ing to reconstruct it on a broad basis which admits within
its pale all those who are trustworthy, shall we look for
means by which we may terminate these heartburnings
and restore the constituencies of England to what I will
venture to call their natural elements ? No doubt, it is a
labour of great difficulty. Can it be done by reconstruction
—can it be done by rearrangement ? It may be possible to
pass a law which would remove these strangers from the
sphere of their political power. Perhaps it may not be
possible to pass such a law, but whether it be or not, who
would be rash enough to propose it ? How should we ter-
minate these misunderstandings, how restore that good
feeling—that which Lord Clarendon called the "good
nature of the English people "—if we took a course which
would give occasion to a perpetual agitation for the re-
moval of the restrictions which we had succeeded in esta-
blishing? Her Majesty's Government have given to this
subject the most anxious consideration. I may say that if
labour, if thought could assist us to arrive at a proper
solution, neither labour nor thought has been spared'
(Hear, hear.) Is there any principle on which we can
restore the county constituency to its natural state, and
bring about that general and constant sympathy between
the two portions of the constituent body which ought to
exist ? Her Majesty's Government are of opinion that some
such solution does exist. We think there is a principle the
justness of which will be at once acknowledged, the logical
consequences of which will be at once remedial, and which,
if applied with due discretion, will effect all those objects
which we anxiously desire with respect to the county con-
stituency. We find that principle m recognising the iden-
tity of suffrage between county and town. (Cheers.) I will
proceed to show the house what, in our opinion, would be
the practical consequences of recognising that identity. If
the suffrages of the town are transferred to the county, and
the suffrages of the county transferred to the town, all
those voters who, dwelling in a town, exercise their suf-
frage in the county in virtue of a county suffrage, will re-
cord their votes in the town, and the 40s. freeholder resi-
dent in a town—subject to provisions in the bill which
would prevent this constitutional instrument being turned;
to an improper use—will have a right to vote fot.rthe
borough in which he resides. (Hear, hear.) This; as
well as the franchise founded on savings banks, will open
another avenue to the mechanic whose virtue, prudence,
intelligence, and frugality entitle him to enter into the pri-
vileged pale of the constituent body of the country.
(Cheers.) If this principle be adopted a man will vote for
the place where he resides, and with which he is substan-
tially connected. (Hear, hear.) Therefore the first mea-
sure would embody this logical consequence—that it would
transfer the freeholders of the town from the county to the
town. But if this principle be adopted there are other
measures which in our opinion it would be the duty of
Parliament in this respect to adopt. Since the year 1832
there has been an immense increase in the population of
this country irrespective of the ratio of increase with
which we are acquainted. The creation of railways in
particular districts has stimulated that increase, and this
has come to pass in England, that in a great many of the
boroughs there is a population residing who for all
social and municipal purposes are part and parcel of the
community, but who for Parliamentary purposes are
pariahs. (Cheers.) A man votes for a municipality, he
pays his parochial rates and taxes, he is called upon to con
tribute to all purposes of charity and philanthropy in the
borough, but, because he lives in a part of the borough
which exceeds the boundary that was formed in 1832, he is
not, though he lives in a £lO house, permitted to vote for
members of Parliament. Now, all this extramural popula-
tion in fact and in spirit consists of persons who ought to
be electors in the boroughs in which they reside, and we
therefore propose that boundary commissioners should visit
all the boroughs of England and re-arrange them accord-
ing to the altered circumstances of the time. (Cheers.) I
know that these boundary commissioners may cause some
alarm in this country. (Hear, hear.) I know there are
traditions of party arrangements effected by that machinery
which, whether true or not, left an unpopular recollection
in the House of Commons. (Hear, hear.) I believe that
in the present state of public feeling on this subject, so mo-
derate as it is, and in the present balanced state of parties,
no partial or improper conduct of that character, if it ever
did take place, could be repeated. (Hear, hear.) But it is
quite unnecessary for me to dwell upon this point, because
her Majesty's Ministers are so circumstanced that they can
in that respect make a proposition to the house which will
at once divest it of all suspicion. Since the reform of 1832
machinery has arisen inthis country perfectly competent to
effect that which wo believe to be so necessary—l mean the
Inclosure Commissioners. There is a body of men totally in-
dependent dell party ; and we propose to delegate to them
the fulfilment of this office. (Hear, hear.) They willappoint
deputy commissioners, who will visit the boroughs. The
deputy commissioners will make their reports to the Secre-
tary of State, and the Secretary of State will embody. them
in a bill, and that bill will be subjected to criticism in this
house. (Laughter and cheers). After that no one can for a
moment suspect that there willbeanyopportunity of making
arrangements favourable to any party. The house hasa
right to ask me whether her Majesty's Government have
formed any estimate of what may be the consequencee
of the change which we propose in the numbers
which one must speak with some degree c.
county constituencies. That is, no doubt oheasitpaotiionnt
;upohunt
aorethefrsurnwishhicedh
thyetrheeapreapseormseheinfterithaelseouesxei,saten.nde.ethaerticaric
This morning there. was put into my
well known
examinedk.n ow:n to
are at our command.
the most eminent
is by a gentleman who ran
hand a pamphlet—probablyksa, proof—evpeumblished to-day.. It
ams'leofte isn
been gentlemen
statisticalaiuntltiloiirsithyoiunset,haenedounwhtoryil
before our committees—Mr. Newmarch. Mr. Newmarch
sti e mates that the gross increase that would; be occasioned
ins the county voters by a £lO county franchise would be
103,000. I have no time to ascertain what are the data on
which Mr. Newmarch makes his calculation, but I should
be disingenuous if I did not acknowledge to the house that
the estimate formed by her Majesty's Ministers is much
more considerable. (Cheers.) I should suppose the addi-
tion to the county constituency would be not less than
200,000, one-half of which would be furnished by what sta-
ticians call the north-western and the north-eastern groups
of counties—that is to say, Cheshire, Lancashire, and the
West Riding on the one hand, and Kent, Sussex, and part
of Surrey on the other. With reference to those gentlemen
who have on various occasions expressed their opinion that
the £2O occupation franchize is one which they should pre-
fer to see adopted, I would observethat the number between
a £2O and a £lO franchise would, I think, be described by
the figure 100,000. But, with reference to the change of
the county constituency from £5O to £2O, I would observe
that, having given to this subject very considerable pains,
so far as I can form an opinion, there is nothing in an ad-
ditional £lO house in a county which would make me trust
the loyalty and respectability of one who lived in a £2O
house, in preference to one who lived in a £lO house.
(Cheers.) I am also bound to be candid, and say
that the estimate of 200,000 voters has been made irre
spective of what the effects of the labours of the
Boundary Commissioners may be. I have heard many
arguments against the proposition, but only to one of them
its
would I attach much weight, and to that not for
strength, but for the phrase which is used to clothe it.
allude to the objection that the identity which this proposi-
tion would introduce between the county and town
tr
consti-
tuencies may lead to what are called electoral districts.
om
Now, if the only protection of the English people
franchise between the county and thetown, then I
electoral districts is a difference of £lO in an
_ocacupatoind
in this country
I do that there is nothing more unpopular
that electoral districts cannot be resisted. But, belienivingas
ofthe pe
ople.
I
to all the customs, manners, and assoc
'than electoral districts—(cheers)—and.
t.that they are alien
I have no fear whatever that that
.
scheme
m will be adopted
their
majority
all fondness for the localities in until Englishmen have lost all priwdehiticnhtheyehvrveb country e
lived.
d
and
(Cheers.)
ta-
blished until you recognise representation • this
'Why, Sir, electtohnielvothicsetrioci.
as
hcuanmenriesi
as the right principle of house.
which it is my duty to introduce on the part
the measures
(Cheers.) They can be formed upon no other principle,
of the Government to the house to-night have no other
•ht • •
object but to assert those rig principles upon wl
the representation in this
.house has always been based.
I have now, very imperfectly, and omitting many points,
placed before the house a general view of what we pro-
pose to do with the constituent body of the country.
lear, hear.) Our object is to reconstruct that body, with
no mere view of increasing its numerical amount, but
solely with the object of improving it, by the addition of
various classes and individuals to whom the privilege of
the franchise may be trusted, with safety to the State and
benefit to the community. (Cheers.) If the measure we
recommend be adopted, you will have a great homo-
geneous constituency, with a great variety of character,
for variety in the franchise is perfectly consistent with the
identity of the suffrage ; youwill have a great homogeneous
body, between the different sections of which there will no
longer exist feelings of dissatisfaction and distrust. The
elector will elect a man of the community in which he lives,
and he will exercise the right under the high sense of duty
tbiat ißlll4Cfla liglistaue4 in perform;— n
--D fr ; 44y, awog

• t.