The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-11 00:00:00

found it difficult to give a silent vote upon
measure.—(hear, bear.)' lie would then, limits
permission, compress into the narrowest possible "
ke. en
the observations which he was anxious to In. In tee
answer to the ebserva'tions which had fallen Ire
001
Hoe. Member for the University of Dublin, be., del-
wow?
o_.
assure him, with the utmost sincerity, that he
this
claim all party subjects and party thisoirhporthtstoirt
feeling Urn d weeli
casion. He had looked with great attention an. defy
auxiety at the course which it would be his Hs
in reference to the present Bill to
thought it imperative upon him, when the Hon
joio,
Member for the Queen's county moved the °Mse tbM
of the second clause, to vote fur the rejection
to
so
clause.—(Hear, hear.) He had not one wHonourable
in answer to the arguments used by the „Id
Member for the University of Dublin againstalicies
pursueo.araos
clause. He thought it unsound in principle, tinteeee)
cidedly objectionable in every point of view.—("cii be
He believed that it was a clause which ivoneca of
tamed to vicious uses, and would create a 5)4 hese)
splitting votes and making faggot voters.—(acarwiseeet
it.
With those impressions, he had voted against .
sod
hesitation, and he should b ) glad, before this Bill of
the House, of Again being afforded the opportutni.oJoi
reeording his vote against it. Then, again, he was lea
to express his opinion that the 81. valuation was toob
a valuation,—Bear, hear.) He should have bellow,.
better satisfied if the Bill had been f amed with tlaiuonly
what higher rating. He felt, however, tbet he 111'1010s
to choose between a proposition of 154 and an B•tes to
0
tine. When these two alternatives were 10'1) ow
his choice, be did not hesitate to support the 84 To of
tion. He, therefere, viewed this question as one sit
mixed considerations of great difficulty. But it Wooed'
duty to look at the condition of the county ethos,
tuencies in Irelard at the present time. Retest/Us' be
a great nation, consisting of 8,000,000 peolite,4ereeet
found—what, indeed, was admitted by the Hon• eons
for the University of Dublin—that the county c°"o
-eat
ency of that great nation, with a form of govets Too
based upon representation, consisted of an electors was
07 about 50,000.—(Hear, hear.) That be thougTos.
an anomalous state of things which was utterly 1;;ems)
sistent with our constitutional principles.—(leer' eeevil
He had from time to time admitted that this was "0 ite•
which demanded an urgent remedy, and that it si meet
dispensable to adopt some measure for the enlarget tee
of the county franchise.—(Hear, hear.) LoOlting, %Oral
fact of the rapid diminution of the number of that tee
voters, it appeared to him to be quite clear the; to
nature of the franchise being based upon tenure, was be
cause of this diminution; and that any remedy „nog
effectual must be a substitution for a constituency rr-reeee
on tenure of one based upon occupation in Te'ewsieb
to voting,—(Hear, hear.) All the measures to .seset•
he was a party with the Right Hon. Baronet the ui,os
ber for Tamworth, in respec t to valuation, had d• isuabe
reference to this subject. He was anxious thatiolo
valuation in Ireland should be uniformly stieg.
on the sound principle of occupancy and r" ere
He found in the Bill before the House all tills/leen
visions for which he had been contending.-4 sell
hear," from Lord John Russell.) First, based ceopsa
franchise was to be an occupation franchise, be of
rating; next, an annual registration, which was to
se or
a self-acting character, and attended with no "'tole ,
difficulty. Again, there was a precaution to be °"melf,
to which he attached the utmost importance, °ewer
not only occupation for twelve months before reg.'oso
tion, but there must be actual payment of all poor rder
due six months within the date of registration. 111.° ose
to calculate the value of such a provision as this, I's et'
necessary to consider the circumstances of Irelanstes
this moment. As he understood the Bill, all pocesdi•
must be paid, and these must include not only the °not
nary poor-rate necessary for the maintenance of thehrwell
for the time being, but also the rate in aid, whi,s:s for
recently called into operation, and which was to whalea feS
three years to come.—(Cries of "No, no.") ;„ff it
might be the duration of this rate—even sunrs';o'be
was only to last for one year—the rate in aid was its
included. And, more than that, there was a wees"ossa
progress which he believed had passed this Houseostse
which would fix on the poor-rate the re-payrnentst°baea
Exchequer of this country all the advances that had able
made to Ireland, which would form a very consnie&eis
permanent addition to the poor.rate.
parisons have been made with the franchise in Brigitte
Be it remembered that would have been the 403. "dsi
hold.—(Hear, hear.) But the 40s. freehold whiehesea
exist in Ireland was open to insuperable Objec`isel
This franchise no longer existed ; and if they c°lllP-3, it
the franchise under this Bill with that in Scotian 0
could scarcely be thougt that the 8/. franchise Wcsslesy
extravagant proposition. Quite the contrary
whet
leaseholder in Scotland was entitled to vote under s''s
was termed the feu tenure. In Ireland, however, trisetl
valuation, including the payment of the poor-retet jeg,
that was a valuation which was gradually sncress tbe
was a much more limited franchise. What wer: i
is):
other difficulties which this Bill removed? It tv-i
s-
possible that they could forget those angry debate'ftbei
took place here in respect to the interpretation ° out
franchise described as the beneficial interest. The,rlte
opposite opinions were expressed upon this point. ; yea
was no uniformity of decision in respect to it, anisecei ia
the concurrence of the bench could not be obtain doe
respect to the construction that was to be put alien ;deck
words. If they turned to the decision of the Consin;ssst
of this House upon the subject, they would find -
the Noble le rd the Member fer Bath, wbOA °the,
chairman of one of those Committees, had reported ea'
opinion of the Committee over which he presided' 1O
this was to the effect that no time ought to be lost bt
legislating upon this subject, and in regmoviog 11,.-ties
which so eeeerally existed—that until such donu`i,
removed in respeei to what was the meaning of Id be
Leal interest," the county franchise in Ireland wnsusseete
always placed in a most uncertain old
hear.) Wieh the present Bill all suph difficulty I° eft
cease.—(" Hear, hear," from Lord J. Russell.) .ott
spect to registration, all the evils that attended 01°00
of the subject were removed by this enactment; an 'the
the whole, he was bound to say, when balancing 00
considerations, that the good he thought this Bill w° 10
effect was such as would not permit him to besittsteete
giving it his support. It was said that it greatil 00t
larged the constituent body. He must say he 'lllo'
object to it on that ground.—(Hear, hear.) Cc:Peg-site'
ing the increase of democratic elements in our itt.s,"eese
tions, he saw the greatest danger in erecting an itr wee
superstructure upon a narrow electoral basis. Pilenos
sure that such a superstructure could not stand 1!1" sio
narrow basis.—(Hear.) He, for one, could not Alof.
extend that basis.—(Hear.) Some allusions bad geld
made to what we had witnessed elsewhere. Wesh; fore
not disregard the examples that are patent, snii sable
our eyes. If he were to mention what in his ,11--0010
judgment was the immediate cause of the fell 01
Philippe, he should say it was, that he maintainesies
attempted to maintain, the aemblance of represen-sseel
government with a constituent body, which, cntsPessli
with the great bulk of the people, was ,danger sate
narrow, and utterly inconsistent with a free Mist°. sett
His government fell without a struggle. His porie' see
buried in its ruins, and the immediate consequellbich,
been, that for the last two years the nation over ens
ho ruled has been plunged in anarchy, confusion, osi
bloodshed, and property as well as life has beconter
insecure. The result has been, instead of universsgrege
frage, a general desire has been manifested for a Ittse,
restriction, as compared with universal sunsfrree
namely, household suffrage in connexion with pots
taxation. He was sure that that was the safe bas's
. °s be,
which the franchise might rest. He had corn° "tbiro
conclusion that it was his duty, to support the be
reading of this Bill, and he could only repeat 0.1 Of
would rejoice at an opportunity being afforded hilitsite
voting against the second clause, and of sending °Paste.
Bill to the other House in as perfect a state as note
Mr. DISRAELI—Sir, I hope the House—as :ees
not as yet presumed to give an opinion upon this -note
sure—will not think it intrusive if for a few 03°131-reet
I express my opinion. I do so, not only with g
hesitation from a consciousness of the ditnie
of the subject itself, but from having o..,bet
low the speech of the Right Hon. Gentleman the Ale 7.058
for Ripon—a speech which is to me one of the
es Flo°'
perplexing character.—(Hear, hear.) The Rig--,
Baronet has called the attention ofthe House to 10,00
cumstance that he disapproves of the most inlPfs:g
regulations of the Bill in favour of which he is go oar
vote.—(Hear, hear, and laughter). He recalls t° that
recollection, with somewhat of Parliamentary prid° otos
he recorded his vote against the second clause Of the seat
The Right Hon. Gentleman actually disapproves °:
clause which has fixed the suffrage at an 8L rating"
but, I believe that be voted in favour of it in Conitossitiettil:
[Here Sir J. Graham made an observation to 02.r;bet
raeli which was not heard in the gallery.] I find eon
was correct, and that the Right Hon. Gentlemanh be
recorded his vote in favour of this rating of while Dot(
diSapproved.—(Hear, hear.) What opportunity o,e iota
longs after to express his opinion by his seconorve to
against the second clause I confess it is difficult for.isia
ascertain, considering that the Bill is now only 111 00°,1
for a third reading.—(Hear, and laughter.), Jai"
hardly believe that any very successful occasiosn luts°
offer itself now to any Honourable Gentle tb°
in this House to express his opinion ireosn'
manner sought for by the Right Honourable Gent „user
Nor has the Right Hon. Gentleman, although 11, 000
proves of the most important clauses of this Jai ,he
ie
under these circumstances vindicated the rote
of she
going to give by a frank avowal that he approvt, eon;
principle of the measure.—(Hear, hear.) On tit fitted
trary, the Right Hon. Gentleman has candidly asueliegS
that he is going to give that vote upon mixed ie as fer
and with mixed considerations; yet it would Jeers' 00,1
as I can draw an Ulf rence from the speech of in, 00
Hon. Gentleman, that what he most approves oi to
Bill is, that the suffrage is in future to be esere'hesP)
Ireland without any reference to tenure.—(Efear. d
I understood the Hon. Baronet, between wholueresees
self there is much political sympathy, in 6:11)^.-0, Ire
part of the debate, to tell us that a franchise the
tb;
land, unconnectsd with tenure, way, with "u'lectrie
great political desideratum. A franchise c°ll;sas 0`
with tenure, he told us, was not suited to Inc Beat i°
the Irish people. Now, Sir, I have more confiuud-robla
the genius of the Irish people than the 11°,t1°-Ve/101.
Gentleman the Member for Cavan.—(Cheertes' es Gen'
is most remarkable in this discussion is, that poin;
tlemen should rise and tell us that there is 01t-d tbs'
upon which all parties and all sides are agreed,: el Iran
f
is, the impossibility that in Ireland the politic'
ur,
chine can be connected with proprietorial ten /010"A
my mind that is announcing the degradation of s elate
—(Cheers)—that is, telling us that Ireland
is i
which is inferior to the countries with which U-15son Yr'
tally connected; and if you persist in that 13°,30ind is
announce that you believe the position of Ireis„sely dlv
reclaimable.—(Hear.) Sir, it is because I ell!sils's,it
politoSSe Be;
approve of that principle as a principle of
because I entirely disbelieve the principle Was. a
nating from the real state and social conditio. .slangs
land, that I cannot accept it as the basis of Legsisio Ire'
What do you mean by saying that the franonifiaeol
1411C1 cannot be exercised with tenure? P° low