The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-06 00:00:00

THE REGISTRA.TION BILL.

Mr. HARDY moved that, first, the orders of the day be
postponed, in order that the R,gistration Bill might be
read a third time that it might bo sent up to.the House
of Peers.

The motion having been agreed to,
Mr. CA.NDLISH wished to call the attention of the
house to a decision which had been given in the Court of
Common Pleas on Saturday last, which was to the °free t
that tenants of a portion of a house were not subject
to the payment of rates, and therefore not en-
titled to the franchise as he believed it was in-
tended they should be. (Hear, hear.) The effect of the
decision of the Chief Justice of Common Pleas would be
to disqualify from between 100,000 and 200,000 persons,
whom it was intended to enfranchise. In the borough he
represented he believed between 2,000 and 3,000 would be
prevented from taking part in the next election, a►nd in
Newcastle-upon-Tyne the number would be between
5,000 and 6,000. The new Reform Bill, according to that
decision, would not enfranchise more than one-half
the number that was intended, awl, as it
was a matter of such great importance to-morrow ho
should ask the right hon. gentleman whether he intended
to bring in a short bill to give effect to that which was the
intention of Parliament. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. NEWDEGATE wished to know what stops were
to be taken to prevent houses being unduly crowded in
order to obtain a vote.

➢lr. HARDY said there was nothing in the act about
crowding houses. The great question to be decided would
be, was the person claiming qualified to vote.
Sir G. BOWYER expressed regret that evidence had
not been heard on the matter, and he questioned very
much whether the registration would be carried out satis-
factorily.
The bill was then read a third time and passed.
CORRUPT PRACTICES AT ELECTIONS BILL.
The house then went into committee on this bill.

On clause 5 being proposed,
Mr. BOUVERIE moved that the clause and all clauses
following up to clause 18 inclusive be omitted. Ho
did so because he believed that the provisions
were such that the whole intention of the measure
would be frustrated. The right hon. gentleman moved
a number of clauses to take the place of those proposed to
be loft out : the first set forth the place at which the trial
was to be held, the next provided for the appointment of
three additional judges, and the other clauses
provided that every such election inquiry should be
presided over by one of the judges of her
Majesty's superior Courts of Common Law at Westmin-
ster, such judge not being a member cf the House of Peers,
and such judge should alone decide every question of law
arising on such trial, whether relating to the admissibility
of evidence or otherwise, and should direct the said com-
mittee upon the law by which their decision was to be
governed, and such committee should accord-
ingly, as a jury, give their decision only
on the facts of the case': provided always that
such trial should proceed and be conducted in all
respects in the same way as a trial at Nisi Prins, or a cri-
minal proceeding before a jur. On the conclusion of the
trial the judge, he proposed, should certify to the Speaker
the result of the trial, at the same time stating if any and
what corrupt practices had prevailed. Ho thought if
the house were to adopt his amendments, that great
good would result, and they would have a tribunal which
would do the work far more efficiently than at present.
Sir P. COLLIER objected to the amendments, the more
so as they did not provide for any local inquiry, an ar-
rangement very generally desired, and also that no
provision was made for au inquiry being taken
when the house was not sitting. (Hear, hear.)
He thought if the house parted with the jurisdiction of
conducting these inquiries into corrupt practices, the
eurdsi c lf
hbearstristj
authorities.l)wer
jebeetedgivteen
gtioveth
ite tog
ten years' standing or county court judges.
(Hear, hoar.) It had been said that the inquiry would ba
tou severe, but he did not think that could be so, for if
there was corruption existing it was woll for the country
that it should be known and rooted out.
Mr. LOPEZ supported the amendments of the right hon.
member for Kilmarnock. Ho thought that the proposal
these election inquiries by an assessor and a kind
(
selected from that house was ono of the best
arrangements
Mr. HUGGESON said the select committee having do-
t)ofjurytr3 r
that could be made.
cid,id upon the house giving up its jurisdiction, ho thought
the best thing to-do was to agree to it rather than frettur-
ing the time of the house in useless discussions, which
would only prevent anything being done at all during th)
present
m rsession.
HENLEYp
s(uLlepaorr,
the hear.)
thear.) clause, because it gave the
security of a jury, rather than making their decisions, rest
upon thrffitlionof ono man.

Mr. MILL said he wished it could be male unlawful
for bribery to be tolerated, and that could rot be done as
long as Parliament itself took the initiative in deciding
the question. If the matter was decided by an indepen-
dent tribunal, a much more satisfactory state of things
would result than that which at present existed.
(LEET SITILNG.)