The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-08 00:00:00

THE CHILTERN HUNDREDS.

Lord PALMERSTON then rose to move fort copies
of any correspondence which has taken place since the
Ist day of July, last, between the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer and any Member of this House, upon the subject
of the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds." The
Noble Lord said he. could not abstain from bringing
Under the notice of the House a matter which seemed to
affect if not the privileges, at least the independent
action of its Members ; he alluded to the correspond-
ence which had taken place between the Right Hon.
Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord
Chelsea. The Right Hon. Gentleman had been applied
to by Lord Chelsea for the Chiltern Hundreds. The
reply of the Right Honourable Gentleman to that
application was, that after the disclosures which
had taken place with respect to certain boroughs,
of which the borough of Reading was one, and after
the admission of the facts by the parties interested, he
considered that by lending his assistance to the fulfil-
ment of any engagements which might have been
entered into as arising out of such compromise, he
would in some sort make himself a party to transac-
tions of which he did not approve, and which
the House of Commons had condemned. He then
went on to say, " I feel, moreover, that by a refusal on
my part of the means by which alone such engagements
can be fulfilled, I afford the most effectual discourage-
ment to the entering into similar compromises, and thus
promote, as far as it is in my power, the intentions of
the House of Commons." Now his (Lord Palmer-
ston's) objection to this course was of a twofold
character. First, it appeared to him to be inconsistent
with the understanding upon which parties appeared
before the Committee; and, in the next place, he thought
it was inconsistent with the spirit of the Constitution.
Now, it was a clear and distinct understanding that if the
parties whose proceedings were to be inquired into before
Nits Roebuck's Committee should before that Committee
make a full disclosure of what had taken place, and a
full admission of any facts in which they were
concerned, they should be completely . indemnified,
and saved harmless from any injury which li
might otherwise arise from the disclosure. The
refusal of the Chiltern Hundreds by the Right Hon.
Gentleman must have been considered as an incon-
venience or punishment to some one—either to the indi-
vidual to whom the stewardship was refused, or to the
individual who expected to come to the seat when it was
vacated by Lord Chelsea ; otherwise it should Hot have
been mentioned in the latter part of the letter, as a dis-
couragement of such compromises in future. Now he
thought that by retaining any person in Parliament
who wished to go out of it, or by preventing
another person from coming into Parliament who
had an opportunity of so doing, he (the Right
Honourable Gentleman) was violating the understand-
ing upon which the Committtee had proceeded.
One result of that refusal would be, that in
consequence of 'the agreement entered into by
Lord Chelsea, he would have to forfeit 2,0001.
Lord Chelsea might perhaps prefer forfeiting
his seat. Many persons would give 2,0001. (as they had
learned from those proceedings) to obtain, and others would
give the same to retain, a seat in that House. He, there-
fore, thought that there had been a departure from
the understanding upon which the Committee had
proceeded: The Right Hon. Gentleman had said that to
those compromises he would not make himself a party, as
they were objectionable; since they interposed a screen to
the investigation and punishment of the alleged bribery.
By the principle of the agreement on which the Com-
mittee was founded, that bribery of course could not be
gone into. The result of a refusal of the Chiltern Hun-
dreds was that a Member who was supposed by the Go-
vernment to have obtained his seat by bribery, and who
entered into a compromise foi the purpose of prevent-
ing inquiry, was retained. Parliatnent and the electors were
deprived of the opportunity of electing another candidate.
The principle adopted in this case would equally apply
to the case of Harwich or Falmouth. But he begged to
draw the attention of the House to the general principle
of such refusal. By the practice, of nearly
a century the ' Chiltern Hundreds had been con-
sidered a legitimate mode of vacating a seat.
The.only two cases in which the office had been refused,
were the case of a person in a state of mental incapacity,
and the case of a party over whom certain proceedings
were hanging, as, for instance, a motion for his expul-
sion. If the Government had a right to inquire into the
motives of Members, what would be the situation of an
Opposition Member who applied for the Chiltern Hun-
dreds, in order to enable another person to obtain a seat?
The effect might be to keep a party out of the House,
who would otherwise obtain a seat. He believed the Go-
vernment had, in this case, acted from a sense of duty,
but he was anxious to hear what they had to state in de-
fenCe of the course they had pursued.
the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER begged
to second the motion of the Noble Lord, and in doing so
to give the strongest possible proof in his power, that so
far from having any objection to the production of the
correspondence, it was but fulfilling his wish that it should
be made public. The Noble Lord would observe that he had
made his letter to Lord Chelsea an official letter, for the
express purpose that it should be matter of record. That
the Noble Lord should take a different view from himself
was mot surprising, as the Noble Lord had expressed an
opinion that compromises of this nature were not im-
proper. The Noble Lord had overlooked the fact, that
he, as an individual applied to for this office, was not
bound to consider what was the situation of
the parties ; he had only to act upon his own judgment.
He had felt after what had passed, that it was his duty
to discourage such compromises, and he had- thought
that the knowledge beforehand that such compromises
could not be carried out would be the most effectual
cheek to them. Ile agreed with the Noble Lord, that on or occasions the Chiltern Hundreds should be granted
ithout any inquiry into motives. In the course he
had pursued, he had only been influenced by a desire
to carry out the intentions of the House of Commons.
Mr. HUME entirely concurred in what had fallen
from the Right Hon. Gentleman, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and he thought if lie had acted otherwise
than he had it would have been an insult to the House.
lie could not consider that any injury hail been done,
for he did not think the Chancellor of the Exchequer
was to be bound by any general understanding ; but of
this he was convinced, that he had taken a step that
would put a stop to the practice that had hitherto taken
place. With respect to the compromise, he believed that
the Chancellor of the Exchequer had adopted that course
which he.ought to have done, and it was deserving the
thanks of the House.
Mr. V. SMITH believed that the Right Hon. Gentle-

mun had pursued a proper course, but he thought tl.e
sooner they got rictof such a system the better.—(Hear,
hear.) He thought they ought to be much obliged to
the Noble Lord for bringing the motion forward; he was
afraid, however, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer
by the course he had adopted had not defeated the com-
promise.
Sir R. PEEL admitted that the act. of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer was that of the Government. He con-
sidered that he had acted most wisely. The decision he
had come to was irrespective of the case of. Lord Chelsea.
He agreed that in ordinary cases the Chancellor of the
ExChequer ought not to exercise a discretionary power,
but in the present instance he thought he had adopted
a wise course.in withholding the appointment.
Mr R. YORKE said he agreed with the Right Hon.
Gentleman, that they should watch with great vigilance
the power which was vested in the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, respecting the granting of the Chiltern
Hundreds. But in the present instance he thought he
had acted properly,
Captain PLITMIUDGE said that- he had a letter at
that moment in his pocket, containing an application
for the Chiltern Hundreds, but he had been advised by
some friends not to send it. And now, after what had
taken place, he thought it would be in the worst taste if
he'sent it.—(Hear.)—The motion was then agreed to.