New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-10-18

90
Westminster Abbey were. by virtue OF ,so,.
occupations entitled 10 the franchise Il, a..
boroughs the system was still more connpIic,,s
There were scot and !Ot'' bOroughs ra,,s
from Cation. with six houses. 70 the great cn,,
munities OF Westminster and NOrthannnfo, :
matter how big or how Iittle-entitIed ,o -
members each and more. There were "po.,r,T
Ioper" boroughs, in which every man wa,
voter who had a pot and food 70 cook in Z, a,I
a doorway to his dwelling. Worst OK all va-,
the "burgage" bOroughs. In some Of then.
forty days residence was required for the fra,
chise in some not forty minutes. Women could
not vote. but in many cases they could coDfa,
the right Of voting upon men: wherefore such
women were often sought In marriage ana
others sold the vote privilege for high price
In the freeman bOrOughs, freeman os,
orally meant membership in a trade g,rI
Marriage with the widow or daughter OF a free
man conveyed the right 70 vote Chief aroo,,
the abuses in these bOroughs was the crea.i,,
of freemen for electoral purposes. CrJ-,7vau
was made freeman Of Cambridge and Tim,
eligible not only 20 vote but % be elected n
Parliament. on his contributing one penny 70
the pOo- fund At Bedford in 1863 Eve INN,
dred men were made freemen on the eve -
election At Maiden. In 1S2G a thousand free
men were created while the election was actual
4 r.
centuries voters took to delegatins their fran
chise to a few select men, and thus arose thu
system of election by municipal corporations
which survived until 1921. and was defended On
the ground that it avoided the danger Of pop
ular tunults at elections. The corporation sys-
tenn was succeeded By that OF PATRONAGE. Taa
patrons, who were landed propr.et1-s or Other
men Of wealth and influence. first gained con-
troll Of the corporations BY bribery and when
the system Of election b corporations was a5o,-
ished they extended their control by s.n-!Ia-
means to the voters. who then received back
/ their franchises from the corroratious
Concurrent with patronage control q Tia
voters fourished the abuse OF packing the House
OF Commons with government ofTceho.ters and
contractors. As early as the time Of Edward
/ III there was a movement TO ex-.-le oTca-
| holders from Parliament, but il did not becor,a
effective until after the Revolution. Indeed the
situation became worse and worse down 20 tia.
| time, especially under the Stuarts. Charles n
packed the House with his pensioners. so tia.
IL was known az the Pensioners Parliament.
After the Revolution oflceholde-z pensioners
and contractors were gradually excluded piece
meal But IL was tedious process long drawn
out. At every step the reform was opposed ty
| Sir Robert Walpole with all the ingenuity a11
audacity at his command It was b. who ruu.-
II
by the trick OF keeping the pensions secret and
he three times defeated a bill requiring mem
bers to declare under oath whether or not they
were in receipt Of pensions Indeed. WalpOls
may be regarded as supremely typical OF such
corruption Of the House. as well as u the cor
ruptiOn OF the franchise in rotten b0-0Ughs. and
thus, above all men. as the exponent OF the
Unreforned House The syvarrning OF contractors
in the House eliminated in the reign Of George
III. who was notably expert il manipulating suCh
abuses to his own advantage. But the American
Revolution. which was largely precipi-at4d By
Just such abuses. proved powerful for the reform
Of them In 1872 a sweeping law against con-
tractors in Parliament was enacted. II 1714
there were 81 members OF these Objectionable
classes in the House; in 1920 there were Still
100, but since 1S32 there have been practically
none.
The patronage system, as II was fOstered BY
Walpole was doubtless corrupt To the present
generation IL seems little short OF infamous.
Yet it had some good features. For half cen
fury before the Reform act half Of the members
Of the House owed their seats TO patrons. Among
these were some Of the greatest and best men Of
their day Sir James Lowther was The patron
Of nine members. who were called "LOwther's
ninepins." One of these was the younger Pitt.
who was elected member for Appl=by without
his ever having visited the place. and when he
made his first speech it was LOwther who was
congratulated upon it, The elder Pitt and STRAIT