The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-10 00:00:00

COAL MINES BILL

The Earl of CARTAiLE move 1 the second reading
of the Inspection ry.Co.:l Mines Bill; or the tinilmciv;d-
ing that the cliz,cus.sion on it shc.uld be tztk,Al on going
into Committee.

The Marquis of LONDONDERRY Cr.if2tight the
operation of the 13111 would be mischi,vs, Tiould
divide the House against it on a future stige.
The Bill was then read a second time, itnd ordetel
to be ei-o-nmitted on Thursday next.
ME rROPOLITAN INTERIIENTS BILL.

The El,rl or CARLISLE moved the order of
for the House going ii to Committee ot, the 3tetropoli
tan Interment- Bill,

The llouse having gone into Committee.
Lord REI)ESDA.LI43 moved the inserti.)t, o! a proviso,
the purport of which was understood to b. that t-ithing
in the Bill should authorhe any party under kgal disa
bility to sell to the beard any 'amity mansion, house,
gardcn, or Farb.

The Earl of CARLISLE said that the proposal had
been fully discussed when the Bill was before the Selcct
Ctinimittee, and he was inclined to adhere to the Bill as
it stood.

The House then divided, when there appeurvd—
Contents
Non-contents 7
Majority ngsin:t ihe proviso ... —1
The Bill wbs then passed through Committee.
The General B:pard of Bea't's Bid and ihe Lrw of
C..p3right of ll,siiktn Amendment Bill were read a third
time and pasiird.
COURT OF CHANCERY BILL.
_

On the motion of L,)rd LANGDALiiTic Court o
Chancery Bill, after a few words from Lord MON•
TEAGLE, way read a vcond time.—Adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, July 9.
NATION AL REPRESENTATION.

Mr. LOCKE KING then ro.e to move for leave
to bring in a 1111 to make the. franchise in coun-
ties in England and Wales the same as that in boroughs,
by giving the right of voting to all occupiers of tene-
ments of the annual value of 101. He asked, he mid,
for no great measure cf reform. He merely wished to
do away with an existing anomaly. He would take
the borough of Reigate, in Surrey, and ask why should
a 1(1 househo'der of that borough have a hundred and
nits ty-eighth share—for there were only 198 electors—
in sending a !Member to that House, whilst a person
living in a larger and better house at Croydon, and pay-
ing something short of 501. a year, was not allowed to
have a six-thousandth share in returning a Member for
East Surrey.—(Hear, hear) He held in his hand a list
of twenty-two boroughs which sent forty-two Members
to the House of Commons, and in none of which did the
number of electors exceed 400. The aggregate of elec-
tors to those boroughs was 6.885, or, .upon an average,
163 electors to each Member; whilst in the West.
Riding of Yorkshire 36,000 electors were represented by
only two Members in that House. He thought, then,
that as a matter of justice the county constituencies
should, at least, be put upon the same footing with
the borough constituencies. If they were deter-
mined to keep the great body of the people
outside the pale of the constitution, surely it would
have been bstter to have continued the old rotten
borough system, with its avowed oligarchies), arists-
cratical domination. The inequalities which existed in
the Parliamentary representation of this country were
shocking alike to common sense and common justice.
The measure which he now proposed would remove one
great anomaly, and palliate the sense of injustice which
was created in the minds of tens ef tb )usands of persons
who were quite as fit to enjoy !he franchise as those
upon whom it was conferred by the li..fsrm Bill. His
proposition would also test the sincerity of Hon. Gen-
tlemen opposite who still clung to protection, and did
not hesitate to assert that the great body f the people
were in favour of a bread-tax. It would give them the
means of trying that question, and trying it with an
extended suffrage in those very districts where they
said the greatest amount of distress prevailed. For his
part, he was quite ready to put that question to the
great body of the people, the consumers of articles
which, formerly taxed, were now duty free; and he had
no doubt if that question were put, the verdict of the
people would be one by which the important question of
plenty and prosperity, with the assistance of truth and
justice, would be permanentl, end he hoped for ever
established. In conclusion, the Hon. Gentleman moved
for leave to bring in a Bill ."to make the franchise in
counties in England and Wales the same as that in
boroughs, by giving the right of vo!inz to all occupiers
of tenements of the annual value of lot"
Mr. lIUME seconded the motion. The Hon. Gentleman
said that the Noble Lord at th a head of the Government had
declared that he was willing to go in the path of reform,
but he had never yet stated to what extent he would go.—
( Hear, hear.) If the Noble Lord was really favourable to
progress, in what way, he asked, could progress be made
with less risk and less danger than that proposed by the
Hon. Member for East Surrey? The Hon. Member simply
proposed that, whereas 101. householders were now allowed to
vote in boroughs, the same privilege should be extended to
householders of that amount in counties—and he ( Mr.
Hume) regarded it as an act of justice to give them this pri-
vilege. Ile hoped the Hon. and Gallant Member for West-
minster (Sir De Lacy Evans) would postpone the amend •
ment of which he had given notice, and all :vr the decision of
the House to be taken upon the motion of the Hon. Member
for Surrey.
Sir DE LACY EVANS said that if his amendment should
be thought to interfere, upon a division, with the motion of
the lion. Member for East Surrey, he would at once comply
with the wish of the Hon. Member fur Montrose. At the
same time he would beg leave to make a few observations in
support of his amendment, after which he should be guided
by the opinions of his Hon. Friends near him. The propo-
sition he had to make went considerably further than that of
the Hon. Member for Surrey, though in his opinion it did not
go by any means far enough. Ile concurred with Mr. Hume
in thinking that there was no ground for alarm in an ex-
tension of the franchise to registered household suffrage.
It would be in the recollection of the House that the Re-
form Bill was not accepted by the Reform party in the
country as a settlement of the question, but only as a com-
promise, to prevent the disturbance of peace and tran-
quillity. It was taken simply as an instalment. But
even if it were an adequate measure of reform at that
time, it would not be a sufficient franchise now, for the
twenty years which had elapsed since that period had
witnessed a greater advance in populto ion and in intellectual
and moral improvement in all cl.4sses, and in the humble
class particularly, than had ever before taken place within
a similar period in this country. The amendment of which
he had given notice contained three propositions. lle pro-
posed to " render the payment of any income or property-
tax a qualification to vets for Members of Parliament for
the county or borough in which such payment shall have
been mde, provided that no person shall be so entitled un•
less Le shall have been resident far the space of twelve
months preceding wiahin the said county or borough, and
shall have been duly registered ; also, to render the pay-
ment of roor-rate as occupier of any premises rated as ef
the net annual value of .l. or upwards a qualification to
vote for Members of Parliament for the county or bo-
rough withiu which such premises are situated, provided
the person paying such rate shall have occupied such
premises for twelve months preceding, and have
been duly registered ; also, to render deposits in savings
banks of a certain amount a qualification to vote for Mem-
bers of Parliament, with the provision of twelve months'
preceding residence, and of registration ; and of twelve
months' preceding duration of such deposits." He consi-
dered it an unsafe state of things which at present existed in
this country, with their legislation not in accordance with
the spirit of the age, and a majority in the House of
Lords opposed to a reform Government. Even that House
(the Commons) was too aristocratic to fairly represent the
feelings and opinions of the people at large. As an instance
of the working of the system, he might mention that the late
Mr. Robins on one occasion, when advertising a fine estate
that he had for sale, recounted, amongst its other advantages,
that its owner enjoyed political influence over 1,200 indepen-
dent voters. With respect to the amendment of which he
had given notice, he wished to know from the Speaker
whether, if he moved it, it would prevent a division being
taken on the original motion—a result which,he had certainly
no d sire te effect ?

The SPEAKER said that would depend entirely on
whichever the House would adopt, whether the amendment
or the motion.
Sir DE LACY EVANS was afraid that, the House would
not adopt the amendment, and he begged therefore to with-
draw it.

The amendment was accordingly withdrawn, -
Mr. ALCOCK po!nted out the great hardship inflicted by
the present electoral system on respectable inhabitants of
towns, who in consequence of dwelling in houses under 501.
a year rent, could not vote for the county. Such a state of
things ought no longer to be allowed to exist.
Mr. G. THOMPSON said it would be easy, to show, from
evidence accumulated since the Reform Bill, that of all the
electoral systems in the world that of this country was the
most unequal and absurd. The great majority of the bo-
roughs having small constituencies sent Members to Par-
liament, whose elections were not contested, because those
boroughs were the property of rich commoners or peers,
whose nominees they were to all intents and purposes.e
While such a state of things existed there was not a Minister
sitting on the Treasury bench in that House who was really
responsible to the country; for when Ministers represent-
ing large constituencies were rejected by them, they did not
lose their office, but went to some pocket borough to be re-
turned to that House—ejected from Westminster they
went to Harwich, and they were no more responsible to
the public at large than if they had returned thems Ives to
the House, and walked through those doors by hereditary
right. In the list of boroughs, he found that the fifty hy-gest
did not return more members than seventy-one of the
smallest, though they contained seven times more electors,
more than six times the number of the population, and
seven times the number of houses rate 1 to the relief of the
poor. The result of the system was, that there
were voting
in that House, and voting upon all the most vital interests of
the country, 82 Members representing bo oughe, whose
united constituencies amounted to only 19,282 voters, or 63
less than the number of- voters registered on the electoral
lists of the Tower Hamlets in 1847. What chance was there
fur any liberal measure, or any liberal G.,vernment, in a
House so constituted? Would the Noble Lord (Russell) be
frank enough to tell them how, in the present state of par-
ties, he meant to maintain his ground—how he meant to
secure to the country the benefit of pest legislation ? The
Noble Lord could not effect either object, and the country
felt it; and he could assure the Noble Lord that if' he had no
intention to improve the representation of the kingdom, he
and his adherents must give way to a stronger party, with
whom, though the independent Members bad not much
sympathy, they would be obliged to vote, as they would be
ready to vote with any party who recognised the right
of the people to have something like a fair represen-
tation in that House. He trusted the Noble Lord would
not let the session close without giving the country some
assurance as to his intentions on the subject —some pro-
mise of a measure of electoral reform. Among the work- .