Star.
London, England, 1831-09-05 00:00:00

REFORM BILL.

The house having gone into committee upon the Reform
Bill; and the CHAIRMAN having put the question upon
that part of Clause 31 which gives the Judges of Maize
the power of nominating barristers to revise the lists of
voters,
Sir C. WETHERELL expressed his satisfaction that
the public bad at length begun to perceive the usefulness of
the sifting and investigation to which he and lion. gentlemen
upon his side of the house had from the beginning subjected
the bill. The public journals, which were most zealous in
their advocacy of that measure, were complaining now, not
of the opposition fur provoking discussion, but of the minis-
ters for not replying to objections, and for not giving guise
factory explanations when appealed to. The clause now be.
tore the committee was, in its amended form, very different
from the oue originally printed. Tile same extent of change
had been found necessary in every part of the bill. For his
part, he could not conceive how those gentlemen who had
pledged themselves some months ago to vote for the whole
bill, and mulling but the bill, of coat day—which neither
they nor their constituents, nor his Majesty's minister*, nor
the house understood—he could not conceive how those bill-
men could reconcile it to their pledges to vote for the bill
which would he brought up froau the committee. (Cheers.)
It had received already five additions, and he knew not how
many alterations ; anti here was another alteration upon the
table—a new clause, just come Isom the printer's, and the
paper still wet. He owned that such was his desire to go on
speedily with the bill, and at the same time not to go on
without knowing what he was about, that he began to read
the clause when it was still so wet that a man afraid of cho-
lera would shudder to touch it. (A laugh.) lie was as
anxious to obtain early information about the bill as the
members of a certain club in the city used to be about
foreign news, when they got the name of the Wet-paper
Club, because they read the newspapers without waiting
to dry them. (Much laughten) As to the clause before
the committee, he considered it in every respect objec-
tionable. Nothing could be more inconsistent with the
Constitution, than the court which it proposed to erect. In-
deed, there was nothing but inconsistency in the clause, as
in the whole Bill. For instance, the Banisters, who could
have no influence over the electors, were declared ineligible
to serve in Parliament tin any place in which they super.
intended the registration of the voters, until at least one year
and a half after such registra ion ; whereas the Commission-
ers, who would have vety great influence, were to be Imme-
diately eligible. Now, he thought that what was good for
the goose was good for the gander ; and if it was good for
the Commissioners to be eligible, there could be no harm in
making the Banisters eligible also.—(llear, and a laugh.)
He thought the introduction of the new Court, whatever it
was to be caned, altogether a dangerous novelly.—( Hear.)

The Judges would be appointed, not by the House, but by
the Lord Chancellor. The House might be told, indeed.
that they would be appointed by the Law Judges, but that
was all mummery.—(Laughter.) For he denied that the
King's Judges would allow their characters to be desecrated
by their taking part in politics—(cheers)—for party politics
would inevitably have part in the appointment of the Judges,
under the clause before the Committee. The appointment
would be made by the Lord Chancellor, therefore, and was
it to be supposed that he would not be influenced in his se-
lection by political considerations ?—(Cheers.) Amongst a
variety of objections to which the clause was open, he thought
this objection had peculiar force—namely, that the appoint-
ment of Barristers under the Act would be especially open to
the influence of partisanship ; and he further thought a pay-
ment of five guineas& day was very much too small for per-
sons possessing those high attributes which had been im-
puted to the individuals thus to be appointed to the impor-
tant and delicate judicial duties to which the present measure
gave rise. By the proposed arrangement, the country would
have as many as sixty-five new Judges, exclusive of those
who might be appointed for the regulation of boroughs.
Thus the Ministry for the time being would :have a large
amount of patronage--he was the furthest in the world from
supposing that the present Administration could have any
such object in view; he knew that the creation of new places
would be most abhorrent to their feelings ; but every suc-
ceeding Administration would have the full benefit of those
appointments. He (Sir C. Wetherell) would venture to say,
that the expense would run very close upon the heels of
20.0001. a-year. Finally, he objected to the present clause
as unconstitutional, novel, expensive, and calculated to ope-
rate the greatest injustice, and produce the utmost confusion.
The ATTORNEY• GENERAL said, that though his
hon. and learned friend who had just sat down had introduced
much variety of illustration, yet he had added nothing to
the arguments used bt• him last night upon the subject ; a
subject that, in fact, had already been discussed and decided
by the house. Lookin4 merely at the character of the
amendment, no one would for a moment suppose that it
involved any great legal or political right ; but the speech
of his honourable and learned friend—at least in its
manner and language•—would convey an impression
that the dearest rights of Englishmen were at issue.
He should now come to the argument founded upon the
assumption that the amount of five pounds per diem
would not procure competent persons to discharge the judi.
&al functions created under the bill ; it would, he rather
thought, be quite time enough to complain of that when the
difficulty anticipated was proved by experiment to exist.—
There were. in Westminster-hall, abundance of qualified
persons, eminently accomplished in all that such a situation
could require, but yet not affected by such heavy proles-
sional engagements as to shut them out from the acceptance
of those offices which the clause created—a clause which, on
that, as on other accounts, had been designated as the most
unjust—the most cruel—the must unconstitutional clause that
ever found its way into any statute. Now, if his recollection
served him rightly, there was scarcely a clause of that bill
which had not been so described. Now they could not be
all the most unjust, &c. &e. He trusted that the committee
would be of opinion that the clause had not been ill-consi-
dered, but that it was adapted to do that which the committee
had already agreed to.
Mr. J. WILLIAMS said that the objection as to the
partisanship of the barrister was just as forcible against the
Sheriff or the Sheriff's Assessor, under the present election
laws.

Air. NORTH complained of the insufficiency of the
means which these Barristers would have for the purpose of
deciding on each person's right to vote. A Judge in a
Court of Law had records, charters, and a number of other
things to assist him in his decisions; but the Barrister
would be without all these, and the necessary consequence
must br, that even with the best intentions he would fie.
quently decide wrong for want of proper information.
Lord ALTHORP admitted that there was a similarity
between the Court of the Assistant Barrister in Ireland and
the Court of the Barrister in question. He, however, did
not think that it was necessary to enable the Barrister to
sunitnon witnesses, as the parties interested would always
come before them. It had been ruled at law that eve!), per-
son appointed to hold a Court was armed with authority to
preserve order in that Court. The noble lord concluded by
defending that part of the clause which provided for the pu-
nishment of tbe,Barristers, should they be guilty of corrup-
tion.

The motion was then agreed to. Several blanks in the
clause were filled up, and the whole clause wu agreed to,
and ordered to stand part of the bill.
Upon the motion that the 32d clause, directing the mode
in which the returns of the parties entitled to vote should
be made out for the decision of the Commissioners appointed
to enquire into their eligibility, should stand part of the bill,
Colonel SIBTHORPE stated, that, in consequence of the
lateness of the hour, the House ought to adjourn till Mon-
day ; but that he would frankly tell the Chancellor of the
Exchequer that he would endeavour, by every exertion in
his power, to delay the further progress of the bin in every
stage. _ _

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER in reply,
observed, that he should expedite the violist of the mea-
sure with a corresponding exertion on the part of himself
and his Majesty's Government.
The clause was then agreed to, and the House adjourned
till Monday.