New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-05-06
urpnp11lllN IaM I'M ENGLAND.


The most interesting feature OF the news
from Great Britain fer some weeks past has
been the fact that in q dozen unexpected
and startling ways the waning power OF
the aristocracy and the growing power Of
the people has manifesteditsef, Itsbould be
remembered that although household suf
frage now exists in England. by law, no
general election has been held since the
money qualification for voters was re-
moved !; and the Parliament now in ses-
sion is composed wholly of members
elected under the old law, which gave the
right of voting only to those who held a
certain amount of property or paid Ger
tain amount of taxes. The present Par
lament, consequently, represents only the
landowners, the nobility, the clergy, the
manufacturers, and the merchants of the
kingdom, and is for the most part COM
posed Of noblemen or the sons Of noble
men, country squires, manufacturers, and
bankers. The next Parliament, which will
be the first one chosen by universal suf-
frage, will represent the whole people, and
may be safely trusted to legislate for the
whole people, but the present Parliament,
so far from manifesting any desire to post
pone necessary reforms until the reformed
Parliament can meet, has shown its anxiety
to perfect them al once. There is, perhaps,
selfish wisdom in this, but still there is also
manifested in it very creditable degree of
magnanimity, The people of Great Britain
will have what they want sooner or later;
and the only question for the present Par
lament to decide was "Shall we wait until
the people snatch these privileges and
rights from our hands, or shall we grace
fully yield them by our owl free will? "
The Parliament has displayed good breed
ing as well as good sense by taking the lat
ter course.
Among the reforms thus gained by the
people is the abolition of the law compell-
ing the payment of taxes levied for
the support OF the Established Church
in England and Wales. The taxes are
still to be assessed, but no one need
pay them who is not disposed to do SO, and
no penalty is to be exacted for non-pay-
ment. The effect of this will simply be
that those who are members of the Estab-
lished Church, and who desire to maintain
it, will pay their church taxes, while all
others will let it alone. Hitherto, every
one has been compelled to pay; now no one
is compelled, but those who wish to
pay can still continue to do SO.
Another reform is the abolition of fog
ging as a punishment in the army For
thirty years efforts to effect this has been
made, but until now they have failed. The
punishment of Jogging was retained partly
because itset wide and impossible gulfbe
tween the men in the ranks and the gentle
mem in command. Now that it is abolished
better class of men will enter the service,and
promotion from the ranks will become pos
sible.
Still another reform has been effected in
the House of Lords. 1t was one of the
privileges of peer of England that he
could vote in Parliament without being
personally present, and by giviHg his proxy
to some brother lord. This has been the
custom for centuries, but now, since the
people complain of it, 1t IS done away with,
and absentees no longer can commission
others to vote for them.
These are but straws, perhaps, but they
show how the wind is blowing. They are
but trihes compared with the great reform
of the total abolition of the Established
Ceurch in ireland, which is Low also de-
creed. But all these things are Indications
Of the rising tide of popular freedom, which
swells all over the world, and which no
earthly power can successfully oppose.