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    628

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    Monday, June 29th. ' " Tthe Mutiny In In...

    jected . to the House being treated as nursery children , and told to ' open their mouths and shut their eyes , and see-what the noble Lord would send them . He asked for a plain answer— - yes or no — to the question -whether the contemplated Reform Bill would include the ballot . If the answer was in the affirmative , he had nothing to do but to sit down ; if in the negative , he must submit his case to the House . £ Mr . Berkeley here paused for a short time ; but there was no definite response , though the Chancellor of the Exchequer rose to his feet , and began , " If my hon . friend is really serious in asking "—when cries of " Order ! " compelled him to sit down again .

    Fearful of losing his right of continuing his speech if he sat down , Mr . Berkeley had continued on his legs ; so that it was impossible for another member to make any lengthened address . Mr . Berkeley then resumed . ] He supposed , after the little preliminary nourish given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer , that the answer could not be plain yes or no ; and he must therefore interpret silence in the sense of a negative . He then went over the arguments already adduced on previous occasions in favour of the ballot , and alluded to the appalling features of the last general election , such

    as corruption , intimidation , and coercion , remarking that , at the Kidderminster election , the candidates had only , to look to the thickness of their skulls for the protection of their brains . In the colony of Victoria , the ballot bad been most successful ; and so it had been wherever it was tried . The ballot was the Alpha of reform ; that being granted , all the rest would speedily follow . Mr . Bright and Mr . Cobden had declared that , with the ballot , the people might have carried the abolition of the Corn Laws thirty years before that result was attained . —Sir John Shelxey seconded

    the motion , and mentioned cases W pressure upon voters , and of non-exercise of the franchise , for want of the protection which the ballot would afford . The Chancellor of the Exchequer said that the ballot , after passing through the didactic and the humorous periods , had now reached the practical . And what had experience taught ? In France , according to the testimony of M . de Tocqueville , the ballot was resorted to in order , to protect the voter from the despotic powers of the " "trorernment ; but it is a failurefor it is

    not difficult to know how anv one has voted . There ia not difficult to know how any one has voted . There ia a strong centralized bureaucracy in France ; and this overawes the elector , in spite of the ballot . There is no analogy , therefore , between that country and England ; nor is - there between England and America , the latter being a" young community . Besides , in the United States the voting is not secret , being in tbe presence of the friends of tbe candidates , and effected by coloured tickets . The voter can conceal his vote if he chooses to do so ; but secrecy is not essential to the 3 ystem in that country . He ( tbe Chancellor of the Exchequer ) believed that the great majority of the electors are willing ' , and even desirous , to avow their vote ; but , in order to protect all voters , secrecy must be made compulsory , for , if it were optional , a landlord might coerce his tenants by saying that , unless they gave proof of voting for his candidate , it would be assumed that tbey had voted against him .

    Mr . Greek , amidst continual cries of " Divide , divide ! " supported the motion , contended that all practical experience is in favour of the ballot , and asked if the Government would concede the option of the ballot where it is needed . —Lord John Russell opposed the motion , and doubted whether a Parliament elected under the ballot would have introduced Free-trade any the sooner . He had heard Mr . Cobden and Mr . Bright—whose loss to tho House he every day more deplored—(/ tear , hear )—state that at first there was the greatest unwillingness on the part of the country to receive their principles . Freeholders and 10 J . voters should not be an irresponsible body , released from the criticism of the public by secret voting , while the Ministers of tho Crown , and others

    holding high offices , are subject to public opinion . Why should not the acts of the voters be canvassed as well as the acts of those for whom they voted ? It is sometimes said that voters have acted in a manner calculated to provoke indignation ; and why should they not bo liable to the censure which they deserve ? Under the present system of voting , liberty had made greater advances in this country than in any other country in Europe , and he believed there was more freedom hero than in the United States . ( Cheers . ) They had gained Parliamentary Reform ; the corporatjpns had boon reformed ; tho Corn-lawa had boon repealed , and many othor ' oxcollont measures carried under what was called a corrupt mode of voting , —Mr . BunKKLar having replied , tho House divided , when there appeared—for tho motion , 180 ; against , 257 : majority against . 08 .

    REGISTRATION OF NEWSPAPERS . Mr . Ayrton moved for a copy of tho enso submitted to tho law officers of tho Crown respecting- tho registration , of newspapers and other printed papers , and thoir opinion thereon . —The Chancellor of tub Exchequer said it was well known that it was not the hubit of the House to roquiro tho production of uny opinions given by the law officers of tho Crown , which woro confidential ; but he gave explanations respecting tho case , which woro to the effect that , in tho opinion of tho law officers , tiio law ia nob at all in doubt . If any

    complaints were made as . . its application , they should be investigated . —The motion was then negatived without a division . .

    SUPERANNUATION ACT . Lord Naas moved for leave to bring in a bill to repeal the twenty-seventh section of the Superannuation Act , 1834 . The civil servants had been made the victims of a cry . which was raised for a reduction in the national expenditure , the pretence in their case being to create a superannuation fund . The grievous injustice was not felt so acutely at the time as it had been of late years , in consequence of the Act of 1834 having reserved the rights of all officers appointed prior to 1829 . Those officers whose appointments dated after 1829 are subjected to the loss . The Royal Commission , to whom the whole question was referred , had recommended the abolition of the impost , without making any corresponding reduction in salaries . The plan , would no doubt involve some expense to the country , but he ( Lord Naas ) was

    sure that that difficulty might easily be got over . —Mr . Thomson Hankey seconded the motion . —The Chancellor of the Exchequer maintained that every civil servant who accepted office since 1829 knew that he was liable to a deduction in his salary , and that he would become entitled to a certain scale of pension . There was no such thing as a ' fund' in the case , nor any pretence for complaining that the Civil Service had paid more than had been received . —Sir Francis Baring ( who rose at one o ' clock ) remarked that the question could not be discussed at so late an hour ; and suggested that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should allow the bill to be introduced . —The Chancellor of the Exchequer complied , on the distinct understanding that the principle was not conceded . —Leave was then given to bring in the bill , and the House shortly afterwards adjourned .

    Wednesday , J-aly 1 st . THE MEDICAL . PROFESSION ( NO . 1 ) BILL . In the House of Commons , Mr . Headlam moved the second reading of this bill . The main feature which distinguished it from Lord Elcho ' s with the same title ( the next upon the orders of the day ) was the institution of a General Council of Medical Education and Registration , to consist of persons chosen by the medical and surgical colleges of the United Kingdom , certain medical societies , and the Universities , with six persons to be named by the Queen ; the regulations of this council in respect to examination of . candidates and registration to be carried out by branch councils . —Mr . Craufurd moved to defer the second reading for six

    months . —The debate which ensued turned chiefly upon the comparative merits of what were considered to be the principles of the two bills , —the one proposing a representative , the other a nominee , council . Mr . Headlam ' s bill was preferred by Lord Bury , Mr . Hatchell , Mr . Grogan , Mr . Neaie , Mr . Vance , and Mr . Briscoe ; Lord Elcho ' by Mr . Ewart , Mr . Black , and Mr . Blake ; while Colonel Sykes and Mr . Duncombe opposed both bills . —Lord Elcho having spoken in favour of his own measure , and Mr . Napier in support of Mr . Headlam ' s , Mr . Cowper opposed the moasure before the House . —Mr . IIeadlam replied ; anil , a division being taken , the result showed 225 in favour of the second reading to 78 against it . —Lord Elcho then withdrew his bill .

    TUB LATE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH . In the course of the previous debate , Mr . Deasy , the chairman of the Cambridge Election Committee , reported that the Marquis of Blandford had been absent from tho committee on account of tho illness of his father , whoso death was just announced ; and , upon the motion of Mr . Deasy , the Marquis ( now Duke of Marlborough ) was discharged from further attendance .

    THIS ROCHDALE ELECTION , Sir J . Y . Duller , chairman , reported from the Rochdale Election Committee that Sir A . Ramsay was duly elected to serve in Parliament for the borough of Rochdale . He further informed tho House that the committee had agreed to the following resolution : — " That it appeared from the evidence of Abraham Rothwell , Richard Hughes , and Martin Daly , that they were bribed by various sums offered to them , but that the evidence was so unsatisfactory that no reliance could bo placed upon it ; and that there was no evidence to show that such acts of bribery woro committed with tho knowledge of tho sitting member or his agents . "—Tho report was received . Tho Houso adjourned at live luinutea to aix o ' clock . Thursday , July 2 nd . ADMIRAL OF TUB FLKET .

    In the Ho us 15 of Lords , the Marquis of Salisbury naked why tho offlco of Admiral of tho Fleot has not boon filled up ?—Earl GitANVii . Lia thought it would bo detrimental to tho public service to reply to tho question , and respectfully doclinod to answer it .

    GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY CAPITAL BILL . On tho motion for tho second reading of this bill , which was Introduced to onablo tho directors to moot tho losses auataincd by the company t | irough tho misconduct of Rpdpath , Lord St . Lhonaiips culled attention to tho injuatico which would bo inflicted on tho proforonoo shareholders . by tho provialons of tho monsure . By pursuing tho course proposed , n groat number of families would bo plunged into serious difficulties , having considered tho revenue derivable from preference shares to

    be as certain as the bank dividends . It was proposed to take the whole of the half year ' s revenue and appropriate it to the payment of the losses , but there was no reason why the whole amount should be charged on the half year in which the loss was discovered . —Lord Wensleydale also thought the bill very nnjust . —It was read , however , a second time . The Adulterers' Marriages Bill—the" object of which was to confine the marriages of adulterous persons simply to a civil contract—was thrown out on the second reading ( moved by Lord Redesdale , with whom the measure originated ) , by 62 to 23 . On the motion of the Earl of Clarendon , the Sound Dues Bill was read a second time . —The House adjourned at half-past seven o ' clock . THE PAPER DUTY .

    In the House of Commons , in reply to Mr . Ricardo , the Chancellor of the Exchequer said he had communicated with the Commissioners of Inland Revenue upon the subject of the hon . member ' s question , and had been informed that the reason the drawback was allowed on the Jacquard Loom Card , did not apply to the paper used in the pottery manufacture . It was not therefore proposed to allow the drawback in the latter case . —Mr . Ricardo gave notice that he should take an early opportunity of bringing the subject before the House .

    A QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE . Mr . Dumcombe moved , us a question of privilege , a resolution to the effect that , where a seat shall have been declared by an Election Committee void , on the ground of bribery or treating , no motion be made for the issue of a new writ without seven days' previous notice . — The Speaker was of opinion that this was not a question of privilege , and therefore was not entitled to priority over other motions . —After a short discussion , it was arranged that the motion should stand as an ordinary motion , at the head of the orders of the-following day .

    MILITARY EDUCATION . On the motion for going into Committee of Supply , Mr . Warren called attention to a General Order issued by the Commander-in-Chief , directing that in future every soldier , after being dismissed from drill , shall attend school , and that no fees shall bejrequired . —Sir John Ramsden said that the War Department had been advised that the order in question did not violate the law ; but , as there were objections to it , it had been recalled , and another had been issued , simply recommending officers of regiments to use every encouragement to soldiers to avail themselves of the facilities offered for education . —»

    STATUTE LAW COMMISSION . Mr . Logke King drew attention to the large sums of public money which bad been expended by the Criminal and Statute Law Commissions without the consolidation of any branch of the criminal or statute law , and moved that an address be presented to her Majesty to dispense with the present statute law commission . —Mr . Hadfield seconded the motion . — Sir Fitzroy Kelly said this great work of law reform , the consolidation of the statute law , which , from the time of Sir Nicholas Bacon downwards , had bullied the efforts of successive law reformers , was at length in active and successful progress . Some of the bills were already on the table of the Lords j and there was a fair prospect

    that , in the course of eighteen months or two years , tho work would bo brought to a successful termination . Besides tho criminal law of England , tho laws relating to patents , to agents , and to some nine or ten other subjects , were already consolidated . —Mr . Whiteside complained of the dilatorjnoss of tho Statute Law Commission , and argued that tho laws of England , Scotland , and Ireland should bo united , instead of being treated separately . One code of laws should be made for tho whole empire . —Sir Fitzkoy Kelly was satisfied that , if tho last speaker would introduce into tho bills on tho criminal laws already prepared such words as would be necessary to mako them applicable to Ireland , tho Statute Law Commissioners would fool highly indebted to him . —Mr . Baines , as ono of the Statute Law Commissioners , said ib was tho desire of tho Commissioners to assimilato clio

    laws of tho threo countrios . —Mr . Napier objootod that tho Commissioners are not men , who can devoto thoir whole time to tho duties referred jo thorn . —The Attoknky-Gknkkal , after renewing his pledge that a department of Public Justice should be instituted , appealod to Mr . Locko King to withdraw his motion . —Lord John Russell said lie waa prepared to give further time , though ho thought tho subject was in a very unsatisfactory state An amendment of the statutes ought to precede a consolidation of them . With regard to tho appointment of a Minister of Justice , a groat oxponao would bo involved ; but tho funds might bo provided by tho abolition of tho Lord Lioutoimnoy of Ireland . —Mr . Hadfiwlo having briefly oondoinncd tho unsatisfactory state of tho law , tho motion was negatived without a division .

    TUN COMPETITION FOR TIIIO PUBLIC OFFICES . Mr . BiutUMFouD Ho 1 'ifl rose for tho purpose of calling tho nttonti 6 n of tho House to tho award of tho judges ) of tho competition for tho public ofllcos . Ho had not tho least intention of finding fault with the decision of tho judges , and lie thought tho Government desorvoil great prniso for submitting the plane to competition but he must eay tho competition was driven on with

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    THE LEA DE Bu _ [ No , 380 , Jvuy 4 , 1857 .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 4, 1857, page 628, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_04071857/page/4/