Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-07-05

The Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain,
the leader of the English Radicals, made
a speech at the recent reception to Johh
Bright at Birmingham, in which ne
sounded the keynote for his party-''Ihe
extension of the franchise and equalized
electoral districts" 1t is generally sup
posed in this country that the great
reform bill of 1882 put an end to ''rotten
boroughs' and established popular rule
in England on basis such as 1t never oc-
cupied before. While the reform bill did
much toward liberalizing England, it was
but half way measure, and representa-
ton in England to-day is but little I'M
proved compared with its status half
century ago.
Mr.. Chamberlain's singularly clear eX-
PLANTATION of the existing system, es-
pecially its defects, has more than a
passing interest. Four millions of men
or five out Of eight of the adult males OF
Great Britain-have no votes. 1t is in
the counties Country districts) that the
greater number are denied the privilege
of suffrage. In the borOughs, out OF
population of $1,000, 900, 1,S50,OOO are
electors; in the counties, out of popula-
ton of 20, 0O0, 600 only 100000 have votes.
The proportion is one to eight in the
boroughs, and one to seventeen in the
counties. Mr.. Chamberlain declares that
there is no reason whatever for this dis
tinction-we Americans will certainly
agree with him-and the Radicals would
wipe it out. Agricultural labOrers and
~ of
not happen to be in Parliamentary
boroughs are as much entitled to voice
i'm the affairs of the nation as the people
Of the larger towns.
But there is a greater evil in the Eng
lish system than this inequality Of rights.
Owing to the peculiar arrangement of
electoral districts; a vote in one place may
be equal to a dozen votes in another
place. One-fifih of the voters in the United
Kingdom now elect half of the House of
Commons. a population of 100000 in
eighty-five counties returns 1876 menu
bers, and a similar population of eX-
actlv the same number in 2l7 bOrOughs
return 200 members, and third popula-
tion also of {, 000, 900, but residing in six
teen great constituencies, only returns
thirty-six MEMBERS and so ''the last of
these 5000, 900 has only One-eighth of the
political power which is conferred upon
the 100000 in the other boroughs; 1t has
| only about One-fourth of the political
power which is conferred upon the 6,OOO,-
900 in the countless
As an illustration of ''this fraudulent
thing called representation" Mr.. Cham
berlain points out that Warwick, with a
population of only $4,000, elects two men,
bers, while Birmingham, with 100000, re-
turns only three; so that a voter of War
wick has thIrty-fOur times the
political power of voter of
Birmingham. To style such a
system representative government"
! is a misnOmer. The Radicals demand
impartial suffrage and equal electoral dis
tricts in order that every vote may have
| an equal value. Mr.. Chamberlain's speech
was received with the liveliest demOnstra-
| tiOns OF approval, and it seems to have
created tremendous stir all over the
| United Kingdom, being regarded as the
| first gun of a vigorous Radical campaign
to make the parliamentary system ga gov
eminent of the people, by the people and
for the people"