New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-12-26
REDIaTRlDUflON,
CHIEF FEATURES OF THE NEW ELECTORAL
SYSTEM OF GREAT BRITAIN

and tho Redistribution OF seats pii' mo Wv" 49,
before Parliament by Mr. Gladstone In speoch OF
but City minutes Perhaps the unusual position III
which no found himself chilled tho Prime Minis
ters flow of words lie has not been used to acting
as spokesman for Lord Salisbury. Whatever tho
reason be- the speech IL not example of Mr. ulad'
stones best manner nor has 1t much OF That ucld
energy of exposition whichi Is Characteristic OF him.
Nor is the bill so large a measure rs was expected
Tho Radicals are already saying OF III
pretty much what they sad OF tho
original Ministerial scheme lt Is
not inaliU II is makeshift Yet, such az IL
is it rcvolutonlzes the representative system OF
Great Britain. The least attempt to go into details
would take mo beyond bounds, but will state the
leading principles and provisions of the bill
The electoral districts Of Great Britain have nl-
ways been of two kinds. counties and boroughs'
The right to vote depends different qualifications
III these two classes of districts-a word. may re-
mark. not In use in England. but which Ia CON
ycnicnt enough in discussing tho matter with
American readers Mr. Gladstone prefers to say
electoral areas When the new Franchise Bill
becomes law, tho qualifications of electors In
counties and boroughs will b. nearly the Same.
But tho distinction remains, and there VIII be
borough members and county members IN the fu-
ture ms in tho past. No responsible statesman OF
either party would dream Of proposing to fuse the
two classes into ono 1t would not be very practi-
cable. But when the Radical gets the handling OF
this subject he will probably abolish the dstlnc-
ton. What ho wants is equal electoral districts
with representation In proportion to population all
over the country as IN America. Tho failure 10
create such districts IL of his grounds OF com
plant against the present scheme. step, how
ever I'm this direction has been taken as we shall
| presently see.
4. G,,n1 Hin Pnf
Act of 1867 as any city, place. combination oil
places not beinga county, rcurnin member OF
members to seryein Parliament. Itelectsono or moro
representatives.. Where it elects moro than one
il Is not divided into separate districts, but the
| whole number Of representatives,, two, three or
| four rs the case may be- are chosen by majority
| of the voters Of tho entire borough three cor
| ncred" constituencies excepted There have been
| borough members and county members ever
since Henry III. and Simon dc Mont
fort. and thcy havo always boon re-
turned by different methods or with different
qualifications Each of the ffty-twO counties of
England aud Waos nj tho date OF the Reform Act
Of 1892 constituted ono electoral district, By
dividing certain counties this Act increased the
whole number Of districts t. cighty-two and the
number of county mcmbers from0 to 100. They
vcrc again Increased IN 1857 and ut prcicnt
hc whole number Of county members In England
and Wnlcs IS Ia; tho total IN the tfreo kingdoms
beur 2s3 ont Of u House Of 1872 members
No,r tthrr,o The countless srca;ng broadly
ratr brcn I rr gttorghilds iho rorntr o'rrots
ccrc in-rrlr frrrrti ar1 thr fntu,tf hHtr nlt1ys
| brru ntrolt f8fc ratlf tttri - III y TINT thr
tr.t matte tra 40 fffrfrtF f.'r'li N1ttlt ftbr
.pse.l FurF ~ ths 4-iiH4i9 ~ b hi iht 'sidt''t
| 4.e p.F. u s-eAa ,He.-tFe. ~ h'si epNt q sN'-
g.aiu, last itat Hui tAla NeR piil lNl1siNrri va
| q lhcgai MmiHiel ihg NNNpel ~ Sunny GAfINheIa
| should be merea,ei iglR 4oj' less Inan q
| majority vi the House OF Commons 10 "b'', mHeh
more than majority. Tho obvious e&planalllh 10
that The county OF he future under the new ran
| cli.e BIN Is 10 be very different thing from tho
present county Tho new franchise liil gives the
vote 10 the agricultural laborcr and the number OF
new electors created by this bill Is estimated at
| loco 900 The farmer therefore, will be swampcd ;
| fla laborer succeeds to tho political sccptre his
| EMPLOYER has heretofore welded. Tho Liberals
| believe that this new electorate will bo Liberal or
Liberal in such prcpondcrlncc to turn the scale
| and to ensure q Liberal majority of county MEM
bcrs In future in place of tho great
| Tory majority at present. But since LORD
| Salisbury is also a party to this measure,
| how il his acauiesconcc in this majority of tho
| futnre 10 be accounted fort Well, Lord Salisbury
belieyes It is sald in the Conservative agriculture
loborer lust rs Lord Ieaconsficld when he eStab-
| hshed household suffrage IN the boroughS IN 1867
| holicvcd in tho Conservative wOrkingman. Lord
HcoconsGcd's expectations were not realized. The
| horouchs remained true TO tho Liberal cause
Whether Lord Salisbury will provo moro accu-
ratio prophct remains to be seen. Mr. Chamberlain
il understood to hold the opinion that Lord Sails
| bury. from tho Tory point of view. is making
gigantic blundcr and to believe that the new agr-
cultural constituencies arc going TO yield large Lib
oral maioriies Perhaps 80, but it Is believed also
| hat Mr.. Chamberlain TOR his part does
| not take into account tho probable
DEVELOPMENT of that Tory democracy
of which SO much has lately been heard. The new
electorate is uncducated, and unacquaintcd with
notifies. It is possible that it may vote for tho
| highest bidder and nobody can yet say that the
Tories NAV not be prepared to bid higher than the
Liberals whom he questions in which the labOrcr Is
| most concerned come to the front
These speculatons are, however. though closely
related to the main question at Issue, qnite outside
| of the bill which hogan to explain ana must
| come back to my figures which shall DO as low as
| possible The question raised by this Increase oil
members is Where does MI Gladstone get the seats
| me gives TO the counties and to the boroughs as
! woui The whole House of Commons consists
| At present Of 052 members. This number
| ia to be raised | think unwiSely, to o'o'
bnt this increase only gives eighteen new seats,
while IN point of fact Mr.. Gladstone has Mt his dis
| nosol no lcss than 16O These he has obtained by
| disfranchisng boroughs in whole or in part; re-
| sorting TO the samo process which In 1872 was
Thought so revolutionary when li2 seats were
| swcpt AWAY The process ia simple if not pleasant
70 tho individuals whose seats are to be eglsated
| ont of xistence The Act of 1882 annililated no
| borough with q population over 2,0OO and even
left two solts to b)ronghs with over 1000 which
already had them. II did not create any uslt OF
| electoral representation. B)rougha were lett to
increase or decrease ~ they chose, but thcrnunb Der