New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-03-04

rorrs-MR GLADSTONE OPPOSES AN
AMENDMENT LOOKING TO REFORM IN
THE IRISH APPoRTIONMENT.
r,rdon. March SIN the House of Commons
..d.v the Right Hon. James Stansfield. Member
,or Halifax, in moving that the House amend 'he
Electoral law by enacting that nobody can Vo'e
:, moro than one electoral area, that the term
ouaifying q person to vote lie reduced 10 three
months and that the act of registration be slmpI-
fed argued that the present system Is eh'lrcV
nut Of date. Continuing, Mr.. Stanslied SAID thaV
The present system OF voting in Great Britain
,r;cinated in q time when the electoral franchise
was deemed class privilege, and not oi,lzen
,;oht When Parliament passed the HouSehoiu
Suffrage act the idea of lone man, one Vo'e
naturally followed But as the law now s'oou
a man could vote in every county ana every
borough where he held a house. In other "oiu''
the present plan meant that the man haVlh6 'N'
most means would have the right to return iioio
members of Parliament than ono wlth sui"N''
means These outvoters, according to the spe"Aei,
often turned an election against The 'e"' u
the majority Of the resident electors.
Henry II. Howorth Conservative, Member ior
South Stafford. submitted an amendment "Hi0h'
in brief, meant that any alteration in the law was
fQeXDeGlenJ.
parts of Great Britain and Ireland should be repre-
sented in Parliament in proportion TO Ihelr popu,
lation. This motion, said Mr.. Howorth, reopeheu
the whole question Of electoral reform. IfeIahu'
added Mr. Howorth, is grossly over-represeh'eu'
II is absurd that one small Irish town mas elsh'
times as much electoral power as city Ike Jun
dee: six Irish burghs each returning memuei''
have q combined electoral vote hardly equaliins
the constituency l represent. Taxing lne iiiS"
electorate as whole, the representation lar eN
cseds what is allotted to England ana oco'lanu.
II is here that reform is necessary, II anywhere
lCheers)
Mr. Gladstone held that the amendment
xirtuallv admitted the necessity of amending regis
+ration and the acceptance of the prlnclpie vi
" One man. one vote" The Conservatives, he salu.
ouqht not TO prevent the removal OF cohiesSco
grievance, but. when resolution pecauie 'n
bodied in a bill, they should exclude what was
deemed dangerous in committee Inc COUNTY,
would not long tolerate plural vote wheh con'
WINGED that it enabled the upper classes to throw
their weight against the Judgment of the WORK
;nr classes. Hear! Hear) Possession OF a
nlural vote was Objectionable because it had no
connection with virtue wisdom. character or pup
lie services Property was not entlted 10 extra
representation. He was unable TO see 'hat 'he
con nvictions of the great mass OF the people WeIe
,ess sound than those of the higher classes Inc
character. knowledge and education they en-
loved were of themselves an extra weight III
elections for it was the entire disposition OF the
neonle 70 do full Justice TO these qualities
The amendment was not legitimately connected
With the motion. 1t was refusing to remove
one grievance until another ceased to exist. ii
Ireland had eighteen members more than 1t was
entitled to on a strictly numerical basis, how long
had this been? How long had England been
greatly oyer-represented, compared with other Ma
fians Only now England found she nag a,aeI 1eT
still held twothirds of the voting power, and IN;
sisted that the whole business of the National
firm should be transacted at her own hreside
(IIear, hear England certainly had no title To
complain, looking at the vast power she possessed
other portions of the Kingdom not by their senti-
ments, but by her own. II there eXisted
grievance. it was not hers. Cheers go
Mr. Chamberlain said he agreed with
much of what Mr.. Gladstone had said about plural
voting Sooner or later there must be uniformity
in suffrage but it was perfectly iegi,Hia,e 10
meet the proposal for an incomplete settlements
by an amendment demanding complete settle
Sir George Trevelyan said that nobody would
think of permitting plural vote to citizen SIT
ting in Parliament personally; and why permit IL
70 a citizen sitting by proxy? Inc grievance
rose to colossal proportions in counties near Lon
don The amendment, he declared had no reia-
tion TO the subject matter Of the resolution.
Mr. Stansiield's motion was rejected DN a. wore
of Dol 10 $50. The largencss of the majority
was due to the absence of Irish members; Inc
announcement of the vote was greeted WIN pro-
longed cheers by the Conservatives.