The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-25 00:00:00

ti,PIRITot the PUBLIC JOURNALS

FRO3I THE EVENING PPAERS OF SATURDAY.

GLOBE.—The Report of Mr. Roebuck's Com-
mittee on Election Compromises, which had been long
looked for, has come at last, and though it is not very
long, it is exceedingly full of matter. There is, per-
haps, nothing in the Report that will startle those who
are at all cognizant—and who in these days is not ?
—of the nature of the proceedings at certain con-
tested elections. If Mr. Roebuck's Committee have no
other good effect, it will at least force upon Parliament
the necessity of taking some step, for its own credit
sake, to put an end to practices which might have
been omitted if they could have been "kept un-
known." Considerable delicacy has been shown to-
wards the parties concerned; who are, in nearly all
the cases investigated by the Committee, declared to
have denied that they had, " either before or during
the election, any personal cognizance of any bribery
or corruption' —a state of innocence that must
have left them in a condition of extraordinary
bewilderment as to what was being done
with the large sums of money which they
were called upon to supply ! The election for Har-
wich was proved before the Committee to have cost
one of the sitting Members 6,3001.; and above 3,0001.
sit' this sum was distributed in bribery among 33 per-
sons, though the individuals from whom the money
came " had no personal cognizance of any bribery !"
But a seat for Harwich was a luxury not to be had for
the trifling consideration of 6,3001., and it was found
necessary to add 2,5001. more by way of compro-
mise for securing the honour of representing Harwich
in Parliament. The reason for the compromise is
stated 'by the candidates and their agents "to have
been the belief that the seats of the sitting Members
could not be held, in consequence of bribery by parties
who would have been proved to be agents.' It ap-
pears, then, that after expending upwards of three
thousand pounds in bribery he did not know of, one
Of the sitting Members puts down 2,5001. more, to
avoid the consequences of the corruption practised
against his will, and without his knowledge, by his
over-zealous agents. Each csse is so like the other,
that it is unnecessary to call special attention to more
than one ; but it is observed by the Committee, in re-
ference to Nottingham, that the system of bribery
" was particularly developed in the April of 1841,"
which was the date of Mr. Walter's election. It is
atated that the parties concerned have, with few ex-
reptions, been willing to appear before the Com-
mittee, whose proceedings have been facilitated
by the full and frank disclosures that have been made
by the several candidates. This, indeed, does not sur-
prise us, considering that the inquiry was not one of
a judicial character, and that individuals implicated in
the past were not to be held responsible. It is cer-
tainly wise in them to give every facility to an inves-
tigation, undertaken with a view to putting an end to
a practice which is at once costly its its -operation, and
insecure as to its results ; • for, however large the out-
lay, the enjoyment of its fruit could never be relied on.
STANDARD.—In the House of Commons, the
fragmentary New Poor-law Bill was read a third
time, and passed, with a most valuable clause added
by way of rider, upon the motion of' Sir Thomas
Acland. This excellent addition empowers Boards
of Guardians to appoint local Committees, in order to
spare the poor the necessity of making journeys
of, it may be, ten or twenty miles in pursuit
of relief; perhaps of sixpennyworth of bread, as
we have heard has sometimes happened. We
See in this clause the germ of a return to
sound Christian principles—to the virtual dis-
solution of the overgrown unions. The next step
will probably be the restoration of local workhouses,
reserving the union workhouses for the incorrigible
and worthless. Thus there will be a perfect grada-
tion of relief—out-of-door aid to the respectable and
industrious, who can in part contribute to their own
support; local workhouses for such as are alto-
gether helpless; and "the union" for the utterly
idle ,and profligate. This arrangement, with a
permanent Central Commission, sitting as a tribunal
of appeal, but originating no orders, would consti-
tute a perfect system of machinery for a Poor-law ;
and to this we trust the law will come sooner or
later. Sir James Graham read the present Poor-
• law Commissioners and their Secretary a sharp
lecture upon the head of impertinence : would
it not be right to change them altogether ?
" Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth
speaketh." We know :from the best authority,
awl every one's experience tells him, that imper-
tinent persons are generally bad hearted persons.
Now bad hearted persons ought not to have that ab-
solute and complete control over the poor with which
Sir James says the Commissioners are invested. We
doubt whether even the spirit of Lord Ashley could
render the. New Poor-law sufficiently mild and gene-
rous in its,effect ; and surely -it is not necessary to
render a harsh law still .harsher in its operation, by
confiding the administration of it to men capable of ;
writing as•the Commissicsers.and their Secretery are
accustomed to write.

DOVER CHURCH-RATE CASE.
(From the Dover Chronicle.)

Our readers will recollect that, in December 1840,
Mr. 1). Palfrey of this town was cited to appear in
the Arches Court, Doctors' Commons, for refusing to
pay four Church-rates and two Cemetery-rates. The
admission of the libel, as far as the Church-rates were
concerned, was successfully opposed by Mr. Palfrev's
counsel : but as far as related to the Cemetery-rates,
no opposition was offered. The payment of these
rates was recommended by counsel for Mr. Palfrey,
and they were paid accordingly.
On the 11th of January last the question of costs
was argued before Sir H. Jenner Fust, who con-
demned the churchwardens in the costs of the four
Church-rates, and Mr. Palfrey of the two Cemetery-
rates.

Mr. Pnlfrey's Proctor's charge was £76 1 10
Taken off in taxation 2B 13 4

47 8 6
Churchwarden's Proctor's bill
Taken off in taxation l2 7 2