New-York tribune., 1867-08-08

Middlesex election Horace Walpole says HnaiitS ai
Fox, not yet 81, answered bmke VIII ,iSI Eli nraroa
ness and parts, but with confidence equaly piei"'-
The necessity of Parliamentary reform was ooyl,
ous early in the last century 1nlneaateIy on % the
oossiay ~ tbe Honse of Hanover to the British
Grown (which took place on the ISL Oh Ausust f,I9,
Walpoe the greP9teSe Pr Pmnster to George L. and,
Gnngb Sometimes out of Office, from the ehD ana
dow of politics and party had large share III g9v
eTnin0 fhe British Empire during y years, ana qIu
%is nv largely bribing members of Parliament. lie
declared. 'all men have their price; ADDING, anu
ali women. too. l knew only one lady who refused
money, and she took a diamond necklace" In time,
the sons and relations of nobemen, elected iOr
counties cities and boroughs, by the influence OF
property OF by open and extensNTe nIdDeiy' Ia
men, who had extensive borough property, IN
sisted that their tenants should vote LOT
such Parliament men as they should favor, ana
rhe elector who dared vote for the man Of his choice
against his landlords nominee, knew tat the pehaty
would be TO be turned out of his holding. Farmers,
i'm the counties were equally at the landlords mercy
In cities and borOughs the bulk of the electors were
"burgesses' or reemen, by hereditary descent Dut
these, who could afford to be independent were
much addicted to selling their most sweet voices
to the highest bidder and that this system OF cor
rupton still exists, is shown by the revelations re-
specting the recent elections at Lancaster uIe3t
Yarmouth, and Reigate, where even cleIgymen toof
brbes. The rich cOmmoner who ,ha1 sulnclcniS 51,,i
county on borough property to enable nm 10 seiu
members to Parliament, did not remain conloIhv ne
long for il was usual, during the relgns OF tGo i
Georges and still later Tor peeages 10 be gwen III
payment of votes given TO the Ministry by members
for rotten boroughs one peer III tnSSS no on,n9ns
days Olened sixteen seats in the House oil commons,
and so on down to him who could return eInRkro R
member Some boroughs, which had deemed III INC
course of centuries, continued 10 setu wv ISb
each, and Cation in the County OF surrey, W@1lCn @
had about 200 inhabitants IN 49,, returned wv, IVY
members, and so did old SaTum IN Nltshre, %hlch
had three voters and not even one h0use Such lr
naces as Birrnin gham Manchester, Ialford, Leeds,
HuddersfeId WOlveThamptOn and other places
which have grown mp since the reign OF the Stuarts
I,,1,, ,r.No ain rio MOI mi
In 1S45. The first William Pitt made the first of
several proposals to disranchiSe the nomination DOT
Oughs, which he describes as the rotten part ol me
Constitution" lie did not succeed. Neither dld ms
son. the second Pitt, who, III u.s. brought IN he
form bill which proposed TO transfer the rght OF
choosing members of Parliament from So OF such
borougbs as had fallen decay to such chief cities
and towns as were then Tepresented the owners ana
holders of such bOrOughs TO be paid by the treasury
in compensation for their loss. FOX voted 1Or tlllS
Reform biI which was defeated by majority OF ~,
and similar motions voted down by stil larger
maOrtieS in 1893 and l7e5. Various motions IN Iyor
of Parliamentary Reform were mace Dy MI CIey
(afterNard Earl Grey and defeated by large MAORI
ties between the years 1872 and 1886 From tins ast
date until the downfall OF Napoleon IN 49, little was
said about Reform.
When the French war ended high prices came
down, and q reduction of rents ought TO have ioI-
lowed To prevent this, the landlord interest; lm-
mensely strong IN Parliament passed the C0rh Laws
as protection TO British agriculture Inc next
fifteen years between that event and loO saw lood
dear distress great. and growing desire among the
non-represented industrial classes for such reform
as would give them direct voice III choosing the
members who imposed or repealed taxes. mere IN. was
Gals applied to the party. In 1872 Lord John Russei
brought in a moderate plan OF reform, whlch lhe
House OF Comm Ons rejected. In July, 1850, the
French revolution encouraged the Radicals, VINO
had little to do and small wages. In Yorkshire ana
Lancashire the manufacturing operatives reeeiYed
only six TO eight cents for days labor OF more than
- hours and Mr.. OConnel stated in the House OF
Commons that In Ireland 1000 persons were trying
to subsst ON three cents day heioIh was eeneIanS
/ Il for Gg mo
/ content The accession, at that Crlsls ol new
monarch William " had made il necessary TO sum
! mon new Parliament. The Duke OF Wellington,
! disappointing all expectation that he would gave
members to the unrepresented large towns declared
! positively against all reform. Beaten ON motion
for the reduction of the civil List the Wellington
administration resigned Office IN November, lSU, and
Earl Grey formed new ministry. taking Reform,
Retrenehment and Peace as its motto. On March ],
1S91 a Ministerial Reform bill was introduced 10y Lord
John Russell. Between that date and the 1th OF june
1852, two other Reform bills had been proposed VI
the three one passed. only by the Lords not voting
on the qucstion-fOT the King bad consented to LOrd
Greys creating even seventy Peers 10 Obtain a ma
/ Ority for the bill, and the Lords did not hnaiy
oppose the passing the bill, rather than see their
order swamped" In fact, during more than eighteen
months Reform bill excitement England nearly All
hut went through the throes of revolution. Lords
/ GREY and Durham, Broughaip and Russell were the
XVat tbe Refor1n measure of 1882 was can easily be
shown Its object as stated in the preamble, was 10
correct divers abuses that had long prevailed il the
choice of members of Parliament; 10 deprive many
beIs; 10 grant such privilege 10 large pOpi9ls ana
| wealthy towns to increase the number Of knights
of the shire; 10 extend the elective franchise 70 many
! persons who had previously enjoyed it, and TO di-
! minish the expense OF elections.
| 10 effect this, 56 bOroughs III England and Wales
were wholly dlsiIanchised, and 30 which had preyl-
Ousiy returned two members were restricted 10 one
| each. FOrty-two new bOroughs were created, of
which 2 were each to- return two members. and ~
single member each. OF the counties, - were di-
yided, each division returning two members, and
seven counties received an additional member each
So Scotland gaining eight and Ireland gaining live
members, the House OF CommOns, 10y the Reform bll
of 1892, consisted of the old number OF GjS members
A large number OF new voters were made by giving
the suffrage to every forty-shling fTeehOlder, 10
copy holders Of SO year and to persons paving ESQ
year rent in the counties. In the bOroughs existing
treemens rights were maintained, 70 die with the
present holder but every Occupier of hOnse paying
flQ year rent got vote I'm Ireland, the county
and borough qualification made lower than this.
Scottish peers cannot sit if elected in the Commons
but Irish can,
The Reform bill equally falsfed the hopes Of its
supporters and the fears of It's opponents. The knife
had been spared Too many rOttOn or insignificant
borOughs had been allowed TO remain and il was
said that the Liberals had avoided cutting off their
| own friends pOcket-bOroughs. Not long after the
| bill was III operation, it proposed to amend It,
but Lord John Russell declared that this must not
be done as II was "a final measuTe'-hence it was
niclnamed Lord John Finality. Then Mr. Hume
took a step further, and in 1854 Lord John
brought in a bill 10 extend the suffrage
but the Crlmem war broke ont and Il
fell through. Mr. Bright published in 1853 but
did not bIlng before Parliament, a broad but not
very practical measure OF Reform, In 1859 Mr. Dis
raeli introduced Reform bill which. after debate
OF seven days was defeated by majority of 80, in
House OF 62l meinbers this contained the first pro-
posa for giving dodgers power to vote and was lib
eral though Tory measure. In 1860 when again in
office Lord John Russell brought in a new Reform
bill, which went so slowly that early in June he
Withdrew 1T. From that time until February 1866,
the Reform question was shelved. Lord PalmeIstOn,
who was Premier, objected to Reform and, from 1860
TO his death in October, 1865. his Parliamentary
power great that it was considered useless to
press measure he objected TO-
Lord Russell succeeded Lord Palmerston as Prime
In nnfn ln.I IL