Star.
London, England, 1827-03-16 00:00:00

for the year 1774 this R4olytiont-r'UThat it appestat°
this Committee, that in iotne counties, b 7 MINA of their
great extent, and of the particular situation of
county towns, the freeholders are not able to Conn

the poll without considerable difficulty and expense;
and that in the ',pinion of this Committee, in such comp
ties the polls should be taken in certain different places
in certain different districts of each teenty."The prior'
pie containe.d. in ibis Resolution Tao adopted
Woe. He saw that they viai a Bill:founded upon it,
introduced in the following SessiOn, which Bill was
read a first and second time, and' went to a Ceausitmc
What became 'Of it there- he was uttable to di*•
cover, and therefore concluded that It was lost from
tbi difficulty of the details which such a measure must
neiressarily have to'encounter. He was aware that there
'inust be many such difficulties, but he thought there
';were none which might not be surmounted. Oar
:objection made to taking the poll at different parts of
-,a county was, that it went to destroy that feeling by.
viiiich the freeholders,' when collected together, were
"babied to give a popular impulse to the election. He
stgreed that this spirit was very proper, and ought to
be preserved; nor did he think it would be taken away
•by the change which he proposed. They might stall
Pray*. all the freeholders assembled together at the nouti.'
nation of the candidates, and again at the chairing of
•the Members when they were chosen. There were two
• ways in which the object he proposed might be carried
Ipto effect: the one was, to have the persons authorized,
t Ito receive the votes at the different places; the other, to'
let the Sheriff make a circuit •of-the county. He did
Pollnow which of these word be found to Pre.sbos the
fewest difficulties of detail; but he. was satisfied that in
•
: either those difficulties could be. get over. •He would
• mot detain the House further upon this occast.n. He
• bad strewn a grievance, which he thought no one
''odd deny, and he had stated what he thought would
.M a remedy for it. All he asked was, •thae a Commit-
tee should be appointed to enquire how far.that or any
other remedy could be applied. The Noble Lord
concluded by moving—

6' That a wise Committee be appointed to take into considera.
Nos the mode at taking the pen at County Stemless; and to report
to the Home whether any Immures ean be taken to diminish the
expense incurred by Candidates at seek Elections."

Mr. W. SMITH said, that the Noble Lord had his
best wishes for the success of his object: He thought
that the evil in cities and boroughs would be much
easier corrected than those of counties, by means of
some arrangements respecting out-voters. The city
which be had the honour to represent contained nearly
4000 voters, and the election was always decided it► one
41ay. He. had sometimes known the poll to be kept
open for a few hours on the second•morning, but never
with any change as to the choice of the candidates ac-
cording to the first day's polling. This arrangement
. went to complete extinction of party violence, and was
felt to be such an advantage on all sides, that no one
dared to propose a departure from it. He thought the
best remedy which could be applied to elections gene-
• rally, was.that of shortening the time now allowed by
law. He hoped the Noble Lord would be successful
in his attempt to lessen the expense in counties, but he
• thought the difficulties would be very great.

Colonel MABERLET said, that the voters in the
Borough *hitt) he represented did not amount to halt
the number of the conctituentsof the Hon. Member for
Norwich, yet unfortunately the election always lasred
tight or nine days, and in tine instance the poll was
-open foe fourteen. He thought there could be no clif-
• ie. mace of opinion to the- advantage: in every point
o: view, of: lessening the time, and urciting other ar-
iartseaitnts by which the most disgraceful part dour
vh cum prottedings would be removed.- •
• The CHA*CELLOR o( the EXCHEQUER said,
4 Ise did net rise to throw any obstacle in the way of his
Noble Friend's motion: He should, indeed. be gird. if
means could be fognd of diminishing thee:pence and the
unnecessary picieraitination at elections. With regard
to the taking of the poll at different.garet, he was not

so certain that that would be desirable. He consi2ered
it one guest advantage in our cbunty elections, that
the candidates must stand to be badgered for a certain
number of days, by those whom he sought to represent.
laugh.) lie really thought this an advantage in
a constitutional point of view, and should be sorry to
see any change which would separate the candidate and
the voter, and prevent that soil of intercourse which
• served to keep them in mind of the wishes and feelings
of their constituents. He was aware that these things
' were sometimes not very pleasant to Gentlemen when
they occurred, but they increased the honour of those
who succeeded ; and, those who failed, had at least the
glory of a spirited contest. He should not like to see
them removed from that species of questioning and
answering which he thought did all parties a great deal 1
of good.
Lord MILTON said, that the House and the country
were much indebted to his Noble Friend' for bringing
forward this subject. Perhaps, of all Members in the
tiCtlltit, he had the most experience in the expenses of
contested Elections. He agreed with the Right R. in.
• the Chancellor of the Exchequer entirely, as to the good
effect of what be had called the badgering, which took
place upon the basting% but he did not think that tak-
ing the poll at different places would have the effect of
doing h spray.
,Gentlemen Who put themselves forward
as Candidates were obliged to go about previous to tbel
Election to canvass their votes, and it was then that
they came most in Collision with the voters, and were
most exposed to their questions. At the election, the
candidates did not appear upon the hustings until the poll
had closed each day ; and then the persOds before *horn
they appeared were not•those who bad to choose their
Representative, but with as had already polled, and came
there either to support or oppose a particular candidate.
He did not think that those adiantages of a Constitu•

tional nature which depended upon the intercourse be-
tween the Candidate and the Freeholders, would be'
endangered by the plan proposed•by his Noble: Friend.
On the other hand, he was very much disposed tothink
that great benefits would accrue from taking the poll
at different places. The principle was not at all new,
as had been shewn by his Noble Friend. He himself.
snryt time ago brought in a Bill for taking the poll in
e ch of the three ridings of the county he had the ho-
nour to represent. In the county of Hants he believed
that Candidates had now the right of adjourning. ihe
poll to the Isle of Wight, to take the votes of freeholders
resident upon the island. He did not think it would
be necessary to extend ,any measure to the smaller
t counties ; but with the exception of four or'five, he be-
„lir Lend that
.to all the other counties in England the
;change Would be a great advantage.
. _

Sir JOHN WROTTESLEY said he did not object
to the Noble Lord's motion, bathe feared the difficulties
of the question wpre beyond reined y. If the Noble Lord
a.complisbed his object, which he much doubted, there

important subject.
be done in lessening
member of polling
against the saving of travelling expenses, and that very
lirb could be saved in that way. But it would be most
lOstifahle•to have the law•amended upon the subject of
treating, so as to relieve Members from the unpleasant
situation tin which they were now placed.
• Mr. WI NN sighed all possible strewn to the Noble
,Lord in tho pursuit of what he considered a most desirable
ctbject.—thit diminution 'ache expense incurred at elec-
tions. As to the question of treadbg, he thought it not ,
'tight to be entertained by a *Committee now, because
any tilteratimi might go to affect Returns for Irish
Counties, agaiust *NA there titre Petitions still re-
maining to be detidel The lessening .of the time for'
which the poll was kept open he thought most desirable.
The of the la* upon this point was very doubtful
and
eite
bsctsre. In the year 1784, in consequence of the.
W inster Election having been spun out to 40 der so
an Act was passed, limiting the time' f polling to if
days. By some construction, the grounds of w
he could not comprehend, II had since ;bees hfd
that .the bringing up a few votes each day might
protract the poll fee that period.. Another evil in the
present system requiring remedy was, the necessity of
proving assessments under the Land Tax • before the
Sherif: ibis was every day becoming more and more
the very worst eriterion 9f good votes. TfieSheriff bad
no power to enforce the attendance °iv/ironies to nicer•
min the facts or statement; and many real freeholders
were prevented from votiug. 14e thought, therefoie.
that that test :bight be done away with advantage.
Whether the learning' of tithe could be best *acorn- ,
pushed by adjoulning the poll from hundred to hun.
deed, or from taking it cotemperaneously, it would be
far Ile Combine' to inquire. He thought that taking
the votes cotemporaneously by different officers sp.,
peared to be most practicable. He should not ptessair
to speak with any confidence as to the 'Met upon con•
tested elettions,beeause,although he hid had the honour
to represent a county tor fight and twenty years,he never
had experienced a contest. He should be ready to give
the Noble Lord every assistance in his power, although
he did not of course pledge himself to the support of
any measures which might come out of the Committee.
Sir T. LETHBRIDGE offeted his thanks to the
Noble Lord for the motion he had brought before thej
House. He was not so fortunate as the Rig* Honour-
able Gentleman who badlbst sat down; for he had been
engaged in•several contests, and could blear testimony
to the evils of the present system. He fully agreed
or ithathe Right Honourable Chancellor of the Exchequer,
that the kind of b.cloring to which candidates were
obliged to submit did them a great deal of goofs end
had a beneficial influence upon the people. He had bad
some experience of it, and he was not ono to shrink
from it; but be thought that there would be sufficient
opportunity for this sort of collision between the Re-
presentative and his constituents at the nomination,
Iwhere there would be enough of cross.eaantinaticsand
cross-questioning to enable them to Corns to something
like An understanling. He exp-cted that great ultimate
advantages would be derived tibia the labours of the
Committee, and the Noble Lord -Lad his most cordial
thanks.

Lord NUG NT wished to add his thank to those
which on all hands had been so properly given to
his Noble Friend. He was glad that his Noble Friend
confined his object for the present to Elections for Coun-
ties, because he thought that Would be sufEcient to
occupy the attention of a Committee at one time. It'
would be remembered by some Members that he moved'
for retnrcs before the recess, to shew the number of
non-resident freemen in the different cities and boroughs,
with a view to placing them under some regulationi
which should remove the present •difficulties. It had
been considered impracticable to get at the returns,
but he thought he could now p-opose a plan by which
it could be done, and he should shortly submit a motion
to the House for that purpose.
Lord LOWTHER said, he had had his share of
contested elections, and ne was too well convinced of
their evils tO offer any obstacle to the Noble Lord's mo
tion. He hoped the inquiry would lead to some means
of remedying the defects of the present system. He
saw one objection to taking the poll at different parts
of the county at once, which was, that it must increase
the number of those persons called Isw yeti, who were
already sufficiently numerous in the conducting of
Erections. There must be an Assessor for every hun-
dred, and every Candidate would have to employ his
barristers at each place where the poll was taken,
reatly to the increase of the expense and confusion of
the proceedinis. He differed from the Right Hon.
entleman, who proposed to dispense with the proof of
Land Tax. Assestments.• He considered it the best
criterion which could be applied, and in his exper4nce
of three contests he never saw any difficulty in proving
the Assessments. He opposed his practical imperiesce
to the Right Hon. Gentleman's theory, and should be
sorry to lose the old English fashion of proving the
freehold by this test. He thought, however, that much
good might be doge, and should throw no obstacle in
the Nohle Lord's way.

Sir W. W.WtNN said, that the motion of the Nuble
Lord bad his cordial support. He was well convinced
that the.alteration of the law respecting land tax asses,-
swots would be of great advantage in the saving of
time, and as removing an unjust impediment in the
way of legitimate votes. He had known cases in which
real boric ids freeholders had been prevented from
voting by the difficulties of proving that they had been
assessed node:. the Land Tax.

Mr. C. N. PALLMER thought the Noble Lord en-1
titled to the thanks of the douse. It could not be
doubted that many evils existed in the present mode of
conducting elections, and it was most probable that the
inquiries of the Committee would lead to some practi•
cable means'of correcting it.
Lord ALTHORP then replied, and the motion was
unanimously agreed to.
Lord NUGENTsave node., that he should, as Tuesday April 9,
move fee a Return of the Noisier of Persson entitled to vote tnt
Caustics, Chit% and Ekes& Is &thud, datleraiabiog the Re-
sident frost the Noe-resident Totem

CORPORATION 01 LRICZATSR.
Mr. SYKES, in rising to move fora Select Commit-
tee to take into consideration the conduct of the Cor-
Oration of Leicester at, land melon; to, the late Ge.

iheit
fraudulent practice!, they converted the loon of Leicester
into a rotten Borough ; and deprived the lee itirnate free.
men of their elective rights. In the year 1822, they of-
fered the freedom of the Corporation to no less a number
than 2000 voters, for no other resorts than to support a
favourite candidate, thus doing away with the value of
the privilege, and grossly abusing their municipal rights.
The Hon. Member read copies of circular letters soli-
citing strangers to become honorary freemen, on no
other ground than "to. support the ceuse *Welt was
identified With, the Corporation"—(Cties of Hear.)—
The expenses of theie freedoms, that is, the fraudulent
application of the fonds of the borough, would ern-
stitute a subject of enquiry to the Committee. Of
these 2000 honorary freemen, but 800 were persons
of any character. There were 404. Clergymen among
them, some farmers, some sons of Noblemen and Gen-
tlemen, but no Noblemen nor great landed pro-
prietors. The Hon. Member entered Soto a minute
history of the election of Mr. C'.vtr Denman
for the Borough ; and deiceibed the great dismay and
efforts of the Corporation, till Sir' C. Hastings carton
forward on the " blue" cans*, in opposition to Mr.
Evans and' Mr. Cave, the advocates bi Catholic Egasee..
cipntioo. The sole end of the Corporation was to eff,et
by any means, corrupt or incorruy, the return of Pro-
testant Ascendancy Candidates. He would prove in
Committee that the Corporation entered into a pledge,
to defray, from the funds of the Corporation, all ex-
penses of their Blue Candidate above a ceataio sum.
There was, precedent in the Northampton ease, for the
House's inquiry, on even less grounds, into the mis-
application of funds by Corporate Bodies. The Ho.
nonrable Member next ccitnplaineJ of the condoct
of the Returning Officer, in imposing his own con-
ditions upon Mr. Cave, Mr. Denman, and Mr.
Evans, and allowing Sir C. Hastings to dicta e any
conditions be pleased. The, result was, to give
S r C. Hastings the advantage at the starting: and to
prevent the other canridates to overtaking him. not-
withstanding their superiority of numbers. He trusted
the House would support him in his inquiry, for the
grieved party bad no other source c f redress. It was
absurd to talk of redress in the Coon of Chaneety, or
in the other Courts of Law, for such remedies as they
could obtAn from the legal ttibunals they had already
sought.
.The Hon. Gentleman concluded by mottos'—
" Mist a Itekct Committee be appointed to take late reassidera-
den the Paitioos of, certain Freemen of the Bormil of Leicester,
*complahslits of the conduct of the Gyration adult town, at aid
previous to the late General liktetion.
Mr. WYNN was opposed to the measure, and con-
tended that the acts of the Cororstion were neither
unconstitutional nor irregular. The Corporation,* f the
City of London voted money ai they liked, and the
privilege ought to be extended to other Corporations.
The only strong presumptive alkga ion was the fact of
the deputation sending money; but the House would
recollect that even in the election far Westminster the
Members had been waited upon to accept even the 25.,
.which they muse teoder to the table of the House on
taking their seats. He could see no Parliamentary
grounds for affoding relief, the allegations not being
such as 'a Committee Of that House could take cog-
nizance of.
Sir C. HASTINGS defended the conduct of his
constituents at Leicester, and, in so doing, observed that I
there existed no grounds for impug6ing the conduct of
the Corporation. kle,wished much that the Hon. Gen•
tleman could be induced to withdraw the motion. The
Pet tion was so slight and vague, that in none of the
allegations contained in them was there matter suffi-
cient for Parliamentary inquiry. The charges in the
Petition were merely upon suspicion, and it was too
much to expect that the House would summon berme
them a whole body of respectable individual!, *pa
mere supposition, as would be the case if the Comities
of Leicester were in this instance impugned. re-
spect to the election, it certainly was a very explinsiot
one ; but the Hon. Member for Hull must know that
few contested elections were carried on without great
Expenditure. At the same time be begged to say, that
it he thought, when he was at Leicester, that the Hon.
Gentleman could have pointed out a way bow to save
expense, he (Sir C. Hastings) would have travelled all
the way from Leicester to Hull to have ascertained how
it was to be accomplished. With respect to the acts of
the Corporation, if they had acted imprOperly. Measly
way to enforce punishment would be 'to take the case
into the Courvof King's Bench; and, by doing so,• it
the Petitioners were right, they Would obtain speedy
justice; but in his opinion, he thought there was no
ground to go upon there, much less in the House
of Commons.

Mr. CAVE defended the course which had been pur-
sued by his friends at the election, and bore testimony
to the anxiety of the assessors to perform their duty
with impartiality. 1 • • •
Mr. Secretary PEEL said that this was a case which
he trusted the House would meet with its signal repro.
billion, for that otherwise they would be preparing the
way to supersede altogether the provisions of the Gten-
ville Act. He thought that the panics chose this as a
form of having the case discussed more convenient
than that which would oblige them to give in nag-
nixanees, and in all probability would impose heavy
expenses upon them. He thought:that it would
be extremely undignified in the House to• enter into
an inquiry concerning the local politics of borough
electors; and that it was a very unsuitable occupation
of their time to be employed in perusing the htter,
the stateinkts, and the poetry, which the heat of a
contest might give birth to. What was it t• them
whether one candidate rejoiced in the colour of indigo,
or another made choice of sky blue? Let the Corpora-
tion encourage the advocate of what politics they
pleased—they one at liberty to do so. The Hon.
Gentleman talked of the probability of his being told
by one Law Officer of the Crown that this was a case fw
the Count of Chancery, and by another that it was aerie
for Common Law. Now he (hfr.P.) wassure that neither
the Attorney nor Solicitor General would state any mid
thing, for he was persuaded that it was a case fit for
no Court at all; and during his experience in Partin.
meat he never remembered to have seen its attention
claimed to a more trumpery matter than this—(Hear).
What, indeed, couldle thought of tease, one of whose
'gravamina it was. that, forsooth, Sir Charles Hefting%

• tune'
pet rit° I Would suit be many °Weeks found in tarrying such a *send Election, said, that he was" influeacea 14. fin
of their plan into effect. • It appeared to him that the ogly lE. hostility's* the Corporation, bunwarrely withed to Wog
of the visions of Mies oast be. Ant of, Its honchedissed tbotircensereaces before the Hnute rer-Caostitutional
onse to 'then would effete the question al to which handled grew:Nis. lisitate4 the chirps against the above Coo.
,pease; should he takes first,: and how -the 'officers were to .pormiosecontained in a Patinae from dertalnfroensoo
ti cow appointed. He confessed that the obstacles which be 'Cif the Borough, which he some nights %ince pts:meted,
t places saw, left him littlehope of the Itehlelaofd'a spices*. - ware, first, of expending the funds of ode to
se-
by Mr. DICKENSON begged to offer his thanks to the furthering their views of a 'favourite Candidate; se.
by the Noble Lord for calling the attention of the House to ibis ioodly, of misapplying their taaing power, by over-
span it, important subject. He did not *specs that osocitcoold charging their political opponents and undercharg ng
lilt was be done in lessening expense. He- thought drat the their political friends ; and Sdly, of taking the poll in an
unitteix number of polling !establishments vreoW be a set-off unfair sad compulsory manner upon tbeelectors.By their