Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1884-03-25

GINA U8IO ES
The most comprehensive step ever yet
taken to put the Government OF En-
gland in the hands of the people is what
is known as the Household Franchise for
which Mr.. Gladstone introduced his long
promised bill, within the last two weeks,
in the House Of Commons. We believe
it comes as near providing for universal
suffrage as it ought to. 1t appears to
cut off from voting none but Migrants;
and it appears to be extended to all who
have a dwelling place. The slight re.
striction it places upon the franchise
would, ia our opinion, be a wholesome
check in our own country. With us,
the vagrant who has no interest in the
Government and whose vote is dictated,
stands on the same plane, as an %elector,
with the citizen who feels . deep mate
rial concern in the conduct Of public
affairs.
The Household Franchise bill, which,
it is expected, will become q law ulti-
mateIy, if not directly, does not provide
for an altogether new suffrage. 1t al
ready exists in the boroughs and cities
of England, having been extended to
them by the Disraeli administration in
1876. Mr.. Gladstone's bill, when it be-
comes a law then, will simply place the
English counties and the Irish boroughs
on the same footing as that now occu-
pied by the boroughs of England.
From an article Of considerable length
in Frank Leslie's on this subject, we
make the following extract.
In English counties, at present. a man
is entitled to be registered as a voter only
with one or the other of these qualif-
cations: ~ if he have an estate for life of
the yearly value of f5 per annum or up
wards; ~ if he be a lessee for an orig
inal term of 60 years of the yearly value
of ESQ, or a lessee for an original term
of 20 years of the yearly value of ESQ;
81 if he be an occupier, as a tenant or
owner, of lands or tenements rated flor
taxation purposes) at fl2 per annum;
al if he be an occupier of lands rated at
less than fl2, but for which he pays a
rent of ESQ; or, (5) if he be the posses
sor of an inherited estate held in fee SIM
pie of the value of 40 shillings per
annum.
A man may possess one Of these quail
fcations in each of the several counties,
in which case he is entitled to one vote
in each of these counties.
In Ireland, counties and boroughs, the
franchise is very much more restricted.
Without going into details, we shall best
illustrate this inequality between the
existing franchises of the two countries
by the statements that, while in En-
gland every man in ten has the right to
vote, In Ireland, only one man in twenty
there enjoys the franchise. For exam
pie, the County of Mayo, with a popu-
lation of 243, 030 has but 3,0SS qualified
electors; while the county of Lancashire
Northeastern Division), out of a popula.
ton of 23S, 544, has ID, 1873 electors.
The population of Dublin is 273. 2S2.
And it's electorate is Is, $50; while the
population of Sheffield is 2S4,4l0, and
its electorate is 43, $50.
The Household Franchise which Glad
stone proposes to establish instead
of this state of things, con-
sists simply in the bestowal OF
the right to vote on the rated occu-
piers Of any dwelling house; and every
room held separately in a tenement
house is considered 'a dwelling house
for the purpose of this franchise. There
is no value set on the room that q ma
is to occupy to be qualified to vote.