Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1857-08-06

Tne UrfnOCrots OF tuo ssVtrN IoWuSUips III Wv
County, are requested TO send delegates to County
TO be holden In the City 81 Davenport
on Saturday the Cad Inst. At the Court House At ,
oclock H. for the purpose Of selecting delegates TO
attend the sTATE GoNvESTIos, and the transac-
sion Of such other business may be presented.
RATIo.-One delegate To every Township, and on.
for every Taenfy Democratic votes poei at the last
election ami one for every fraction over.
Davenport August S. 1867.
AUSTIN CORBIN,
Chairman Scott Co. Dem. Cen. Com,
ausu,tSitd
British Heiorm--- representation.
There is a critical period approach
ing for England. The whole nation is
pregnant with the hope, and the deter
mined expectation that at the next
Parliament a plan OF Reform will be
proposed by the Premier, which will
strike at the root of the existing evils
Of social inequality. The barrier raised
in feudal times, between the higher and
lower classes, have been assaulted by
Reformists, in parliament and out Of it,
for manv years, and as vet, no states
man has seemed to comprehend the
real cause Of the evils, which the people
wish reform TO prevent. All reform
has been blindly referred TO the res
trictions placed upon the representa-
tive system; and from time to time the
warnings OF the people, have been fed
upon the delusivc Reform of extending
and cnlarging the elective franchise,
and in cqualizing representation, so
that rotten boroughs should no longer
control the Lower House. Nainly
laXe .9ga.tt9sIs sought to explain the
plete freedom in the exercise of the
elective franchise, for every male sub
lect of Great Britain would not reach
the wrong. The House of Commons
may be the most complete body of
Representative Democrats in the world
and yet the freedom Of Englishmcn
would be as far removed from them as
it is now. When there is a class Of
citizens occupying an exalted social
elevation, from which the great body
of the people are absolutely excluded,
there is such an abri igemcnt Of free.
dom as causes an Unsuitable yearning
that will make an intelligent people
restless and unsatisfed. Such is the
case in England. Royalty environed
by bulwarks Of hereditary aristocracies
and impregnable to the ambitious aspi-
rations of exalted genius, cannot exist
in any government without keeping
alive burning desires and restless activ
tiles, which are devising methods to
break down the enclosures which shut
out the people from the possible at
tainment Of the highest places ofhonor.
Parliamentary Reform has nerer been
directed to,canis tie House of Lords.
1t has heretofore been strictly confined
to the House of Commons, and with it
there has been seeming contentment.
But this incessant cry of Reform, comes
mp from deeper place than the desire
for an enlargement Of the elective
franchise. The Tory journals insist
that those who are now clothed with
this franchise do not exercise the right,
and that in 1852 at a general election
there voted in London only $500 ont
"a constituency Of 2O,OOO--at Lambeth
5000 out Of ls,OOO-at Manchester
oOOo out Of Is, ooO-at Edinburgh $500
out OF 69O0--and at Glasgow 5000 out
of l6,5oo, and from these figures they
argue that the mere possession Of the
franchise is not greatly valued by those
who have it. This is not true. They
value the franchise anu could not be
deprived of it without causing instant
revolution. But they wisely consider
that so long as Royalty and Aristocracy
cannot bemodi6ed or abolished by the
House Of Commons, there is little need,
Of exercising the franchise IN ordinary
elections. The House Of Lords being
hereditary, and beyond any vote Of the
Lower House, and Independent of the
people, it can veto any reform measure
coming to it from the Commons, that
threatens to weaken or impair the
exclusive privileges Of the peers.
Reform in England does not there
fore signify anything tangible and sub
stantial for the body Of the people. 1t
always ends in some patching of the
semi-representation system, by which
the Commons are elected. The lars
Of rr;moysa;tsrs and the Asriditary
rssrsSr, i the Sebastapol which must
Be- asssilsd before any real good can be
obtainsd by reform agitations. "A few
statesmen understand thia, but they
have - ,ths nosal courage 70 propose
~ - plaa. Il voaA lhaks nag.
~ - slaAss y ei,sail1sssee
- ~ 0ete ysbssdlsSl ssasnh
1o11A snoneRa : 80 lsulk Z ~