Morning journal and courier., 1880-07-28

How Members of fParliament are Elected [w Fraser Rae in International Review for Augusta
 Suppose, then, that the ancient borough of Bramber is in want of representative, ow- ing to the death or retirement of the sitting member. No sooner is this fact made public than hundreds of ambitious men will consid- CT whether they would not act wisely in be- coming candidates. One of them will cer- tainly have the courage to offer himself, will issue an address to that effect, and will visit the borough. If an entire stranger to the place, he will inquire at the hotel for the ad- dress of solicitor who is liberal in politics. In such borough as the one supposed, the local solisitor, banker and dissenting clergy man, with few of their friends, generally form a self-elected committee for managing political affairs Should the candidate be ac- cepted by this committee the fact will go far to recommend him to the electors of the bor- ough, with the exception of those among them who espouse crotchet which the com mittee will not sanction and the candidate will not adopt, and who will do their best to find candidate to their mind. A public meeting will be summoned, at which the can- didate makes statement of his views. Af- ter he has done so, a resolution will be pro- posed expressing approval of his candidature, and pledging the electors to do their utmost to return him. He will continue to'address public meetings at intervals. and to receive deputations from various local societies. It is the fate of the liberal party to be divided into many small sections. each of which maintains that it's special views ought to pre- vail. One section holds that the butchers son who personated Sir Roger Tiehborne, and who is now expiating his offense in pris- on, should be instantly liberated and put in possession of the Tchborne estates. Anoth- CT section refuses to support any candidate who will not vote for the suppression of the traffic in strong drink. A third makes the disestablishment of the church of England the sole object worth striving after. A fourth will not be satisfied unless women are allowed to vote for members of Parliament A fifth holds the paradox that the repeal of the acts rendering vaccination compulsory is essential in order to stay the ravages of small-pox. sixth demands the repeal of acts passed to mitigate the injury wrought by loathsome contagious diseases. The candidate who thinks that he will command success by promising to vote in accordance with the views of each of these bodies soon finds that he has grievously miscalculated. His readi- ness to take any and every pledge will dis credit him in the eyes of the sensible electors, who think that member of the House of Commons should be representative and not mere delegate; that he should entertain opinions of his own on public questions, and should have the courage to enunclate and en- force them. When the result of the poll Is declared he may learn from his position at the bottom of the list how indiscreet he has been.
 In the event of no candidate appearing to solicit the honor of representing the borough of Bramber, the self elected committee of that borough must endeavor to procure one The area from which to choose embraces nearly nine million square miles, inhabited by more than two hundred and forty million persons. Indeed, the fact is worth noting, that any citizen of the British empire, not under sentence for crime, is eligible for a in of Kingdom. In the case of the imaginary Bramber committee, the difficulty of selection lies in the existence of rivalries among it's members. Most of them consider themselves the proper persons to represent the constitu- ency but none will admit that any one but himself ought to be electeed It Unnecessary, then, for the committee of the Reform club in London to help them.
 Whether a liberal candidate offers his ser vices to constituency, or whether his ser vices are requested by some members of it, the hard task is to get the liberal electors to agree in supporting him. The chance is that he will be distasteful to one of the many sec- tions into which the party is divided; and, even if he should succeed in consolidating of them, he will find himself face to face with an Irish section, which cannot be coneiliated on any other condition than that of giving pledge which is held to be equivalent to ap- proving of the secessions of Ireland from the union of the three kingdoms. The tory can didate has none of these tribulations. His sole fear is lest one liberal only will go to the poll He knows that the majority of the electors is liberal in opinion, and that his vic tory depends upon the extent to which the majority is split up. Probably three liberals, each supported by section of the party, go to the poll the tory obtains the entire vote of his own party, and few votes from ibe rals who are dissatisfied with all the party candidates, and who deem it no evil to help the return of tory, provided that the fail ure of the candidates whom they consider ob- jectionable is thereby assured