The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-11-14

law has been, almost WITHOUT 'N''l''loH'
arbitrary. unjust, tyrannical, unprnrirled.
II must be repealed.
What Registration Reform Means In
England.
The McCarthyites rs we'll as the Glad
stu,ltans are agreed that Mr.. GLADSTONE
ought not TO appeal again to the electors
until he has ut least tried to pass lone
man. one vote" bill and n measure for re-
forming tho existing registration laws.
The serious defects of the arrangements for
registration in England are but imperfcctly
understood IN this country. and 1t is Salts
factory 10 find them clearly set forth by Sir
CHARLES dixie in II recent speech.
The defects in the rcgist ration laws may
he grouped under two heads: First. anom-
niles in the franchise. and. secondly. e.
ccssve length OF residence. In London and
! other large towns the poorest OF the poor
got upon The register as OccupirrS OF tHEe-
mentS, whereas men who are technically
dodgers cannot get upon tho register unless
they pay 60 or fifty dollars. year for UNI
furnished rooms. In rural districts. to
which tho same franchise was extended i'll
1884, .e10 or fifty dollars. n year is Il high
rent, and tho consequence is that few
rural dodgers have been cnfranchiscd.
Sir CHARLES dixie protests against the
inconsruity OF bestowing the suffrage on
tenement occupiers and withholding it
from sons who live with their mothers, or
with their fathers. aud from younger
brothers who live with their elder brothers,
because the law has regard to tho technical
structural severance of n house. In view OF
al; f,v, M
tends that no reform Of the Parliamentary
franchise will be complete until the last
vestige of the pretended property qualitlca-
ton is swept away.
As regards the period OF residence re-
quired by tho registering laws. this is
nominally twelve months. but in practice
Is nearly two years. This year. for in
stance the general election was held on
register which was twenty-three months
old. The effect was to disfranchise n null
titude Of men who have to move from place
to place in order to follow their work. 1t is
now generally admitted that the time has
come for a material change In this particu-
lar. Last year a bill was introduced by
Mr.. STANsFELD which. it is expected. will
DO again brought forward at the coming
session. This bill proposes to shorten the
period Of residence to three months. but
Sir CHARLES dixie points out that the re-
duction is not so good rs it seems. for in
| practice the three months will still mean
| nine months. This would. however. be a
| vast improvement on the present unjust
arrangement.
As to the principle on which the franchise
might be extended, Sir CHARLES dixie
said that logical basis might be found.
either in manhood suffrage or in giving the
franchise to all grown-up men and women.
Up to the present time the question of
woman's suffrage has not been put forward
in this way. All that has been asked for is
the bestowal OF the household and lodger
franchise upon women. Sir CHARLES dixie
docs not believe that success can be achieved
upon the latter principle. because it vir-
tually asks tho working classes to consoli-
date property basis for the suffrage.
whereas they wish to abolish a property
basis altogether.
This opinion. we should remember. is ex-
pressed by the man who seconded the mo-
ton for a Woman's Franchise bill on the
| only occasion on which it was carried on a
division in the House OF Commons. Sir
CHARLES seems to think that sweeping
demand for a concession Of the franchise
to oil Grown-up men and women would
have n better chance OF success. When
we bear in mind. however. that Mr.. GLAD
STONE has changed his views upon this SUBJ
ject. and is now opposed to the enfranchise-
ment of women. we are probably justified
in concluding that the reform OF the Parlia-
mentary franchise undertaken at the mp
preaching session OF Parliament will he
based upon manhood suffrage