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Leader (1850-1860), 5th March 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 23, ¦ ¦ Ho. 467. Mabch5,1359/] THE XEIDEB. 3...

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      ¦ ¦ Ho. 467. Mabch5,1359/] The Xeideb. 3...

      ¦ ¦ Ho . 467 . Mabch 5 , 1359 /] THE XEIDEB . 311

      ^^Mmasai^^^ "¦ _ - — ¦ . . ¦ ¦ . ,. . Th...

      ^^ mmasai ^^^ " ¦ _ - — ¦ . . ¦ ¦ . ,. . THE NEW BEFOItM BILL .. _ THE following is a brief outline of the contents of the above important measure , introduced on Monday in'tlie House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer : — ¦ . ¦ AS TO THE FBASCHI 8 D . . No one is disfranchised . Every existing right is 16 little more than a page of print the future rights of voting are defined . The 40 s . freehold remains on its old basis . The franchise derived from the ownership of copyholds , lifeholds , and long leaseholds , is reduced from 10 / . per annum to Si . per annum . The occupation franchise is fixed at one uniform rate for counties and boroughs , of 10 Z . yearly value . New franchises are created in favour of—Lodgers , -or occupiers of part of any house , whether furnished or unfurnished , at the rate of 8 s . per week , or 20 Z . per annum . Persons in the receipt of an income from personal property invested in Government funds or annuity , East India Stock , or Bank Stock of of £ 10 | per annum ; or in receipt of a pension or superannuation allowance for services rendered in any department of the army , navy , or civil service , and not on active service , of . £ 20 per annum . Depositors in a savings bank to the : extent of ., ¦ - ¦ £ 60 . " ¦ ' . . ¦ .. ¦ ¦ ¦ .. ¦ " ¦ ; And certain educational qualifications are cheated , including—Graduates . Clergy of the Church of England . Ministers of all other denominations . Barristers , pleaders , and conveyancers . . . Solicitors and proctors . Medical men . Certified schoolmasters . The future rights of voting are to be exercised in all cases for the county , or borough , as the case mny be , where , in the ca . se of aqualification arising out of lands or tenements , the property- is situate ,, or where , in all other cases , the -voter shall reside .

      fact that between the years 1851 and . 1856 , notwithstanding the growth of population and the increase of wealth , there has been a decaying county register to the extent of 45 , 000 votes , arising solely from the omissions to claim and the absence of any machinery for placing the names of persons , on the register without claiming . / A concurrent right of claiming is , however , still reserved to the owners and occupiers , if they think fit to avail themselves Of it ; and in addition to this , if , upon publication of the lists on the 24 th of July , any name should appear to be omitted , or incorrectly described , or any person wishes to amend his qualir fixation or his residence , he will have , the ' power to do so by sending in a supplemental claim before the 24 th August . . ¦ . . ¦ ¦ ¦ ' • j Lodgers must send in an . annual claim , and claimants in respect of the other new franchises must send in a claim in the first instance , but with these exceptions the operation of the registration system will be almost selfr-wprking . . ¦ Th e days upon which the several stages in the process of registration arc to be completed are made more uniform and intelligible , as follows : — Precepts to be issued ... ... ... May 24 . ' - . ¦ Qualifying year to end ... . ... ... June 24 . Lists to be published by overseer .. July 24 . Supplemental lists 'and lists of objections Aug . 24 . Poor-rate to be paid before 24 th June , which became due before ... -.. Dec . 25 . Register to be completed by clerk of

      far more than counterbalance the advantage he will receive by having the places in . which tlie poll is to be taken provided for him by the county free . 2 . "Voting papers . . : These are to be issued by the returning officer , upon application in writing by or on behalf of the voters . They are to be sent by post by that'officer as prepaid registered letters , directed to ' . the- voters at the address given in the application , and arc to be returned direct to the returning officer in the same way . Proof of transmission each way is thus secured . The forms contain clear instructions for filling up the voting papers , which must be signed by the voter in the presence of two witnesses , one of whom must be a householder , who are to sign their names , residences , and descriptions . the

      The voting papers are to be opened on day of pollmg by a deputy specially appointed for the purpose in the presence of the candidates or their agents , and the votes are to be recorded from them , and no voting i > aper is . to be rejected for informality , if it is properly signed and witnessed , and contains the surname of the candidate . The expense of issuing-the voting papers is to form part of the election expenses of the candidates . These increased facilities for voting render travelling expenses unnecessary , and the payment of them is therefore declared to be an illegal act , under the provisions of the Corrupt Practices Act . The right of voting by voting papers is extended to the Universities . . Important provisions are introduced for the en largement of the boundaries of boroughs which have outgrown their limits . .

      . No one will deny the fairness of the principle that the population . substantially forming part of the town should vote for . the town with which its interests , feelings ., and sympathies are identified ; but in many instances a large prpportion of the inhabitants of populous . boroughs , residing beyond the parliamentary Jimits , have no votes except for the county ,, with winch" they are altogether unconnected , an > l have no voice in the election for the borough , to winch they reall" belong .

      y „ , ^ It is therefore provided , that the Enclosure Commission shall forthwith appoint special commissioners to visit every borough , and inspect the boundaries and the location of the inhabitants , and before the 1 st of January next report to the Home Secretary whether any an + 1 what enlargement of the boundaries is necessary , for the purpose of including within the area of boroughs the i ) op . u-latibn ; really belonging to them , with a view to the introduction of a boundary bill next session .. : .

      The bill concludes with the usual temporary provisions , and the schedules contain the names of the disfranchised and enfranchised boroughs , and the new divisions of South Lancashire , the West Kiding , and Middlesex , and the various forms applicable to the new machinery created by the Act , which appear to he admirably adapted by their simplicity to effect the objects intended .

      peace by ... ... ... ... Dec . 31 . The register of voters will be in force from the commencement to the end of the year , instead of from the last day of November . The proceedings before the revising barrister are simplified and improved . At present the whole scope and operation of the law is to make the process Of registration as difficult as possible . The revising barrister ' s process is confined within narrow and prer scribed bounds , and technical difficulties arrest the claimant alt every turn . The policy of this bill is to make registration to the bonafide voter as easy as possible , and to protect him from vexatious or unnecessary objections . : ; , Overseers , as well as any other person , objecting ^ to a voter , " ' are required to state the grounds of objection . .

      Power is given to the revising barrister to receive evidence by affidavit . ¦ . . . : . To amend the statement of the qxialification or any other error in all eases where he is satisfied there was no intention to mislead . Power is given to summon witnesses before the revising , barrister , which does not novv exist , and his power to give costs is enlarged from 20 s . to 5 / .,, so as to discourage as much as possible frivolous claims and vexatious objections . The register nt' voters is also more adapted to the purposes for which it is required .

      The clerk of the peace , in addition to the present register , is to make out a voting register according to ; the residences of tlie voters , separating the outvoters or non-residents into a distinct list : thus the voters will not be required to vote henceforth in the district in which their qualification is situate , which may be , and often is , at a great distance from where they reside , but will vote at the polling place appointed for the parish in which they live . The out-voters will bo at liberty to vote at any

      polling pln . ee . Great facilities arc provided to voters to poll : 1 . JJy an increase in the number of polling places . 2 . By voting papers . At yroaenl a vast proportion of the registered voters never vote at all , owing to the necessity for personal jittemlnneo , and the great distance apart at which the polling places are fixed . This will bo felt a still greater evil in proportion a . s tlie franchise is extended . The magistrates at the Michaelmas quartov sessions are required to appoint the future polling places for the counties , and to provide a separate polling place for every parish in which there shall be not less than 200 rosidont electors ; and a pulling place for every group of parishes not having that number in any one of them at somo central and

      convenient pluco where 200 can bo brought together . It will bo unnecessary to erect booths / or this purpose . A convenient room can in nil cases bo hired , or the police stations belonging to the county may bo made so , unless the magistrates . provide suHnblo places belonging to the county . It is prpvided that the charge . lor hiring those rooms for polling places shall bo doi'myert out of the county rate . ' This will not bo any boon to the candidates , as may at first bo supposed . Additional polling plaees aro indispensable . If found by the county they will cost very littlo . If charged to the candidate the expense will bo very great , while ho will , in any ease , have to provide tlio additional stall' in the shape of pollclorks , & e ., and to pay a larger amount to the returning officer for his stall' , rendered necospury by tho increased number of polling places , which will

      In the case of ownership or occupation of lands or tenements the same length of possession is required as by the existing law . In tlie new creations of the franchise twelvemonths' occupation- of tlie apartments , or possession of the income or deposit , and in the two latter eases twelve months' residence , also , is necessary before registration . .. , . - The law requiring payment of poor rates by the occupiers , hitherto in force only in boroughs is extended to . £ 10 occupiers in counties . The occupation franchise is extended to all descriptions of real property , whether a building is or is not included in the occupation .

      An important provision is introduced to prevent the fictitious creation of votes , so that no more than two voters can be registered in respect of any freehold , copyhold , or leasehold interest in the same premises , unless the property shall have come by descent , & c ,, to more than that number , or shall belong to a greater number bond fide engaged as partners carrying on business upon the premises . The effect of this provision , while it will not limit the fair exercise of the privilege of voting by persons who aro really entitled , will prevent the undue splitting of property solely for the purpose of creating fictitious votes .

      Payment of assessed taxes is no longer required as a condition to registration . This condition 1 ms hitherto pressed solely upon tho higher class of occupiers , of , £ 20 and upwards , whilo those occupying £ \ 0 and under . £ 20 have been subject only to tho condition requiring payment of poor rates . The effect of the repeal- is simply to place all occupiers on an equal footing . Though no one is disfranchised , all persons in tho actual servioe of the Government in dockyards or factories connected with tho army and navy aro disqualified from voting while so employod , and for one mon ' th after leaving the service .

      AS TO REaiSTUATlON . Hitherto overy county voter , as well owner as occupier , lias been compelled , to claim before tho SOthJuly . Occupiers in boroughs woxo placed upon tho lists by tho overseers without claim , freemen by tho town clerk . Persons omitted had a power of claiming at a later period . Tito bill assimilates tho borough and county eystem . It roquiros the overseer to put on tho lists the namos of all owners and occupiers who possess the required qualification in his parish , whothor they claim or not . This can easily be don e a groat improvement upon the proaent system ttn w * ' * onauro a tolerably complete register . That some such system is needed is proved by tho

      The Ministry.—In Consequence Of Tlie Dif...

      The Ministry . —In consequence of tlie difference with their colleagues on the subject of tho new lleform Bill , Mr . "Walpole and Mr . Henley have . resigned their offices . Mr . Sotheron Estcourt succeeds Mr . Walpole at the Home Office , while Lord March will fill the post of the former nt tho Poor Law Board . Lord Donoughmore , now Vice-Presiaerrt of the Board of Trade , will succeed Mr . Henley in that department ; and Lord Lovaine , recently a lay Lord of the Admiralty , will replace Lord Donoughmore . Mr . F . Lygon , M . P . for Tewkesbury , succeeds Lord Lovaino at the Admiralty .- ™ Lord -Henry Gordon Lennox has resigned His Lordship of the Treasury . Ho will bo succeeded by Mr . Peter BlackburnM . P . for Stirlingshire .

      , The Chinese insurgents are thus described in a letter from a member of Lord Elgin ' s c-xpodition : — " Tho low estimato somo of us had tonnoil ot the rebels turned but quite correct on a closer inspection . 1 had an opportunity of visiting , somo oi their chiefs , both at Nankin und Woohoo . I wus unite ¦ disgusted with their disreputable ami disorderly appearance . Their pretensions to Christianity arc of the shallowest description , and they da not possess even a superficial knowledge of its tenets , much lossul'lt » i practice They aro polygamists , opium-smokers , ami tho only is hot of tho

      Bible oxamplo thoy seem to fyllow I Israelites in ¦ tho conquest of Cunnnn . lie whole country has boon laid in ruins by them , the women curried oif , the men prossud into their services ana live and Woodshed murk theh- trade uvevywlioro . Thqy seem , howovor , to be on . their Just leys . Alie apathetic " Imperialists aro gradually dosing in upon them , and any , other Government . but that oiloto system which guns by the immejn Chinu would crush tlio whole thing in a wouk . They iiHkod us to soil tliom arms , and wo had soorot applications Jor opium . They live on tho peasantry , whom thoy jsquoozo , ana axo blood-suckers who must bo got . vlclofjl vrointona to establish a healthy circulation , so essential to trade . "

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 5, 1859, page 23, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05031859/page/23/