The Portland daily press., 1892-07-26
BRITISH ELECTION ETHICS
Costs of Running for Parliament Are Fixed
by Law.

SOStS Va AsuhuluE LUZ dflittllcllb are L 4ACO
by Law.
In the old days of the hastings the
nomination was often very lively bust
ness and produced scenes of which the
writers of English fiction have freely
availed themselves. Now it is more
orderly affair altogether. Any registered
elector is entitled to apply to the return
ing officer for nomination forms at GER
tain hours in the days of notice. On
these forms a candidate may be pro-
posed and seconded by any two registered
electors of the constituency. But in adj
dition to the nomination, remarks the
Daily News of London, eight other reg
istered electors of the constituency must
sign the nomination paper as assentors.
Only the candidate, his proposer and
seconder, and one other person whom he
names are entitled to attend the nominal
ton.
It is the candidates own business, or
that of his proposer and seconder, to
hand in the nomination papers, and not
that Of his agent. AS the returning Off
CtIS SC0 tU dill cl6CblOA dIG
by the candidates jointly, possibly care
will be taken to demand from the candi-
date security for the payment of these
expenses. Happy is the candidate who
at this simple stage of the election is
relieved from any fear of competition,
and seeing no other person nominated
is allowed walk-over. That advantage
will be enjoyed by an extremely limited
number at this election.
Though elections are. still costly
enough to the candidates, their position
now is far happier than it was before the
Corrupt Practices act was passed by Mr..
Gladstone's Government. The state of
things now and then is briefly contrasted
by Mr.. Weddings in his excellent Prac-
tical Manual thus: eThen the party
strings were pulled by small and often
interested cliques, whose so called know
ledge Of the constituency was often the
merest conjecture; while the candidate
seldom knew what his expenses would
be till the election was over and the bills
were presented for payment. Now, in
spite of defects which are inseparable
from all human schemes, a candidate
has the means of testing his prospects
by the educational work done, and by
the information collected through the
central organization, and he has the fur
Their advantage of being able to fix with
certainty the amount of his expenditure.
The law strictly limits the expendi-
ture of candidate or his agent, or any
one on their behalf, in respect of the
conduct or management Of an election.
A maximum scale Of legitimate expendi-
ture is fixed for them according to the
size Of the constituency. In an English
borough of 1000 electors the limit is
$3.50, and an extra $50 is allowed for
every additional thousand electors.
In a county the limit is $3.50 for 1900
electors, with rise of $50 for every
additional thousand electors. The
returning officers charges and the
candidates personal expenses are not
included in this limit; but if he spends
more than e10O these personal expenses
must be paid by his election agent and
a detailed account has to be sent in to
the returning officer with the other ex-
penses. All charges have to be ascer-
tanned, paid, and the list of them sent
in to the returning officer with solemn
statutory declaration as to their accuracy
within thirty-five days after the election
is over. The election agent himself has
to declare all the expenses, and to say:
81 have not, and to the best of my know
ledge and belief no other person, nor any
club, society, or association has, on be-
half of the said candidate made any pay
ment, nor given, promised, or offered
any reward, office, employment, or valu-
able consideration, nor incurred any
liability on account Of or in respect of
the conduct or management of the said
election.
Not only is the money that may be
spent limited in this way but there are
all sorts of restrictions as to the number
of committee rooms that may be hired
and the number of people who may be
employed at an election, and no COM
mittee rooms can be opened in licensed
houses or in places where intoxicating
drinks OF refreshments of any kind,
whether food or drink, are supplied for
consumption on the premises.
In conveying voters to the polls the
Liberal Party is always at a great disad-
vantage, particularly in the counties, for
they are. not so rich in carriage folk'' as
the Tories, and no hired conveyances are
allowed at elections. If any carriages
are used they must be freely lent. There
are plenty of country Liberals who
would give humber conveyances to
matchand far outnumber the coaches
of theTory squires but many of these
country conveyances, besides serving the
trade purposes of their owners, are from
time to time let out for hire, and the
Corrupt Practices act is very strict in its
prohibition of even the gratuitous use at
an election of any carriage, horse, OF
other ANIMAL if it can be maintained
that it is Ordinarily kept or used for
the purpose of letting out for hire"