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-N,i T-I. BRIGHT-S PROPOSED…

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-N,i T-I. BRIGHT-S PROPOSED REFORf BILL. i. On Mo,idav last Mr. Bright met an audience of about 5000 persons in the Town-hall, at Bradford, and laid before them and the country an outline of the llefonn Bill which he has promised to bring forw ard du. mg the ensuing session. The speech is one of great importance, and we therefore present the leading portions of it, niacin" them in divisions for the convenience of our readers Our remarks on Mr. Blight's propositions will be 'found in another part of our jour-,al — D e %ILt. BITIGTIT A, 'rile If then everybody is for reform, why, it may be asked, warn people against an imposture ? Have you observed the comments whii.n have been made by the press upon the question of let rin, and upon the course which we have taken during tile last three months ? I am quite willing to al.ow it to he assumed that my expressions have not always been judicious, that I may have com- mitted some mistakes but still ttie comments of a consi- deidOiC portion of the press have been dieted, not by an honest to point out with a friendly finger the errors into which I may have fallen, but by an intense feeling of hostility. (Hear, hear.) I know not whether the press which represents the present Government, or the press which represents the last Government, is more open to the charge of rancorous opposition. (Hear, hear.) THE FRANCHISE. My main objection to the franchise as it now exists i3, that whi'e it is distributed with considerable freedom j among all other classes of society, it is fixed at a point which necessarily excludes the most numerous class of all. (Cheers.) The occupiers of Xio houeiJ do not generally receive wages from week to week or from fort- night to fortnight. The object of the Il-form Bili of 1832 was to exclude the wages receiving class. I am not blaming that bill or its authors, nor have I ever denied that it was a great measure, considered as the first step taken in this country with a view to extend political rights among the btit it is a fact that it does so exclude the great wag s-receiving class of the kingdom, and that exclusion I maintain to be an injury to all other honest classes and an enormous grievance to the class which it more imrnuJiately affects. (Cheers.) It is not in the least necessary t:>at everybody should vote, but it is necessary, for the satisfaction of common sense and justice, that the franchises should fairly, and with such equality as we can ariive at, be distributed among all classes of the people who are called upon to obey the law. (Cheers.) llow shall we accomplish j this object ? It must, I think, be by something different from franchise founded upon deposits in savings-banks as well as from votes given especially to colleges and professional men we mint adopt some more broad and general, and indeed all-encompassing principle. I have recommended, as many of you know, that all persons whose industry is called upon to contribute some portion to the maintenance of the most indigent and lic!lp ess sick class of the people should be admitted to the Parlia- mentary franchise. I understand that in Bradford there are many gentlemen in favour of household suffrage. I confess I am not able to discover any real difference between the two propositions, and I would not ask any- body who was in favour of household suffrage to go with me for a rating suffrage but I will go with the greatest pleasure with him for the household suffrage which he prefers the only difference, if it can be called such, which I can discern, seems to be in favour of the proposal whfch I value. A household suffrage would exclude every person who did not himself occupy a dwelling-house, although he might have a warehouse, an office, or a manufactory, and, measured by wealth, bj a much more important member of society than many of those who are householders. I presume toat the advo- cates of household suffrage do not wish to exclude from the franchise the occupier of one of your warehouses, although he may happen to live with his friends and himself not be a householder. (Cheers.) I am willing, as I have said before, to take the iranchise which Mr! Fox and the late Earl Grey proposed in 1797, which L >rd Durham proposed at the time of the Reform Bill in 1832 and which almost every leading Reformer of the last 60 years has advocated. I belit.,ve that if suco a franchise were established there would be felt through- out the kingdom a consciousness which nothing could disturb, that so fir as that matter at Jeast went, Parlia- ment had done full justice to all classes of the people. (Cheers.) THE COUNTY FRANCHISE. The county franchise has hitherto always been of what is termed a more Conservative or select kind than that of the borotighs. It was before the Reform Bill a franchise based on the ownership of land; the Conservative and landlord party broke in upon that principle by establish- ing a franchise based on a X50 occupancy. It has now been proposed for many years to bring down the franchise in the counties to the same level ns it now stands upon iu the towns. That, I think, is the opinion of th ma- jority of the present House of Commons. I believe it meets with a large amount of acceptance throughout both the boroughs and counties of the kingdom and as I have no intention whatever of advocating or proposing a mea- sure which is far in advance of public opinion, but rather going along with and acting in harmony with that opi- nion, I shall be perfectly satisfied with regard to the county franchise now, to see the i:10 franchise estab- lished in all the counties of the country. THE BALLOT. eS(, Now when all these men get their votes by 1 iw it be. comes a question of interest to know whether they shall proceed to the exercise of their right as we have done in pas lnics, and up till now, or whether they shall have w is e\cr security, whatever shelter from influence and trom menace, can be afforded by the adoption of vote by ballot. (Hear, hear.) In almost every country in the work, where a representative system exists, tho ballot is tae mode ot voting that is practised. I remember read- tng in the work of some historian of, I believe, the United States, aud I hope nobody n i<l be'alarmed at this refer- ence (i laugh), that freedom depends upon repre- sentative institutions, and the freedom of representative institutions depends upon the ballot. (Cheeis.) The rich generally, though some of them certainly are not very courageous (a laugh), do not need, and do not ask for, the but almost all those who arc not rich re- gard it as absolutely essential to enuble them honestly to perform their public duty in giving their votes at the poll. (Cheers.) I would rather tatce the opinion of those who ftiel the necessity for the ballot than I would take that 01 those to whom it must ev.r be unessential. I am satisfied, from no little experience during the last twenty years in parliamentary electims, that I should be confer- ring no advantage whatever upon my fellow-countrymen who are now unen.ranchised, if I could give them the vote without giving them with it the protection of the ballot. (Hear, hear.) I have not the smallest doubt of the passing of the ballot within a short period, (Cheers.) There arc now in the House of Commons more than 230 I forget how many more, members who have voted for the ballot; and every election without a Reform Bill will add to that number—and an election with a Reform Bill even if it were possible for Parliament to grant a Reform Bill without the ballot, would add, I believe, very largely to the number of that vote and I am as satisfied as ono can be of anything that has yet to come, and I believe I express only the opinion of every intelligent man in the House of Commons when I say it, that the ballot is st this moment almost within the reach of the constituencies of the united kingdom. (Cheers.) DISTRIBUTION OF MEMBERS. I wish you and your countrymen everywhere to watch this point with the keenest eye possible—to repu- diate without mercy any bill of ar.y Government, what- ever its franchise, whatever its seeming concession, if it does not allot the seats obtained from the extinction of the small boroughs mainly among the great city and town population of the kingdom. (Cheers.) This question of distribution is the very soul of the question of reform. (Renewed cheering.) Unless you Watch that, you will be deceived, and when the Bill is passed you may turn back and lament that you are not in the position in which you now find yourselves. (Hear, i,a*r'i! T -nave undertakeii on this occasion to explain whit will do as briefly as I can, the mode in which I should propose to deal with the franchise, the extent to which it sbould be carried, and what I wold recommend should be done with the members and seats obtained from the extinguished boroughs. (Cheers.) The nil] of 1832 laid its hand upon 56 boroughs, and totally ex- tinguished them these boroughs returned 111 or 112 members. It laid its band on 30 other boroughs, some of which you would not have found bad you travelled through the country to look tor them. (A laugb.) It laid its hand on 30 other boroughs, and took one mem- ber from each of them, and it gamed two members from the union of three or four boroughs. Altogether it ob- tained 143 seats. Now, I propose to proceed on the same principle as the Bill of 1832, but to travel a lutle more yet I hope and believe not more than is required by the necessities and the wishes of the coun ry. By the Reform Bill of 1832 every borough with a population under 2,000 was utterly extinguished, while every borough with a population under 4,000 lost one i»em er where it had previously returned two. In the Bill w IC Dord J,Russell introducedin 1854,and which,asyou linow, f n°t pass, it was proposed to extinguish all boroug s whose population was under 5,000, and to take one mem- T>r f'lose whose population was under 10,000. n.e Ilf»es newspaper suggested that we might very V. g0„uP to the Hne of 10,000 inhabitants, and disfran- chise all the boroughs beloW that line, thus obtaining a consIerabl number of seats to divide among the larger constituencies. Well, I thought the measure of Lord J. Russell was not sufficient, I considered it was not ne- CnlS&TJ- .aWJ h,ne 88 hiSh 88 that recommended by Ihe lanes, and, on looking over the list of voters, and begiumng with tho smallest place, which is tho town of «airn«—M—1™ Arundel, having a population of 2,748, I found that if you come down to the limit of 8,000 inhabitants you in- clude the borough of Woodstock, and take in altog-'ther 56 boroughs, the precise number comprised in Schedule A of the original Reform Act. Of the boroughs 25 re- turn one member, and 31 return tivo members, and the whole schedu'e of these 56 boroughs includes 87 seats or more. Then there was another point to consider-if all boroughs are disfranchised whose population is under 8.000, where should be the limit below which you should allow no borough to return more than one member ? If I am not mistaken, the same article in The Times recom- mended that boroughs of less than 25,000 inhabitants should not send more than one member to Parlia- ment. I have not exactly taken that suggestion, and bear in mind that every proposition which I have now to explain has been decided, I believe, without reference to any of those other suggestions, for I did not happen to see them or to Imo, of them at the time when they were published. I propose to disfranchise -,Ali boroughs under 8,000 inhabitants. Then to step on to populations of 16,000, and to say that all boroughs having less than that number should henceforth have only one member. This will yield 34 seats to be added to the other 87, and if we add four more seats for the two corrupt boroughs of St. Albans and Sudbury, which were some years ago disfranchised, we shall have a grand result as far as England and Wales alone are concerned, of 125 seats to dispose of. I pro. posed to explain to you how these seats should be allotted, which, after all, is the pith of the whole question. (Hear, hear.) There are a number of boroughs whoso population is between 16,000 and 25,000, some of which have one member, and, I think, about a dozen or thirteen which have two members. Not wishing to make any more change than appears to be necessary, I propose to leave this class of boroughs precisely as they are. I begin, then, at the limit of 25,000 inhabitants, and I give to every borough having above that amount of and now sending only one member, an additional seat, until I come up to populations of 54,000. I will re;.d to you, for they are very few, the names of tho boroughs comprised in that list. There are 16 boroughs containing populations between 25,000 and 51,000, and returning one member each they are Gates- head, Walsali, Monmouth, Chatham, South Shields Rochdale, Tynemouth and North Shields, Ashion-under- Lvne, Huddersfield, Leitli, Bury, Cheltenham, Greer.ock Dudley, Swansea, and Paisley. Now, under my plan all these places wouid return two members. When I get to a population of 54,000 I take a step upwards, and proceed with the list of boroughs that should henceforth return three numbers, and they are these :—Bath, Nottingham, Leicesier, Liolton, Sunderland,Norwich,Preston, Brighton, Portsmouth, Oldham, S -'['rent, Hu! New- castle-upon Tyne, Bradford, Greenwich, and Wolver- hampton. There are 16 boroughs, ail of which would under this scheme return three members to Parliament. We come next to four boroughs which ought to be in- cluded in that list, but which at present return only one member,—viz., Aiertiiyr Tydvil, in Wales Salford in Lancashire; and the city of Aberdeen and the to vn of Dundee, in Scotland. You will observe,—and I ought to expLtin this first,-that in framing this scheme I have known nothing of the river Tweed and nothing of St. George's channel. (Hear, hear.) I wish to treat Scotland and Ireland precisely on the same principles, in every respect, as I would treat England and Wales. (Cheers.) Tnese boroughs which I have just namHl bring me up from 54,000 to 135,000, All these calculations are based on the census of 1851. Beginning at 135,000, and going up to double that number, which is 270,000, I propose that nine boroughs shall hereafter return four members They are Sheffield, Bristol, Leeds, S.uthwark, Birming- ham, Westminster, Lambeth, and the Tower Hamlets —which I propose to divide, its population being so enor- mous, into two complete boroughs—to each of which two members shall be given. Then I come to a very select but very large and important list-a list which comprises but five cities or boroughs, but of the very largest in the kingdom, aId entitled, as I am sure you will see, to exercise a very powerful influence upon the government of the country. They are the boroughs of Manchester Finsbury, Marylebone, Liverpool, and Glasgow, having a population at the last census of more than 316,000, and noiv, doubtless, of 400,000. I propose to give to each of these five boroughs six members of Parliament. (Cheers.) Well, then there comes the question of the rie.v boroughs. I ought to say here that I do not consi- der this list to be absolutely complete, because there are some places from which I have not information sufficient to enable me to judge. But if ever this Bill or any simi- lar Bill-and you have on!y to will it and it will be so (o.ieeis) —if ever this Bill should pass the second reading of tne House ot Commons, there will be no difficulty in ad ling to this list three, or four, or balf-a-dozen other. if a good case can be made out for them. Changes of that nature were made in the passing of the Ilefomi Bill of 1832. 0: these boroughs five are to have oue. member each—Gmvesend, L-auiington, Staleybridge, Burnley, and Birkenhead. Now, one of these bo- roughs puts in a claim for two members; that is a point to be considered. I have put it down for oue mem- ber because my information did not lead. me to think that I could, at this stage, take any other course. Tuen there are two boroughs which Lord John Russell in 1854 proposed to unite and make one—the parishes of Chelsea and Kensington, in West London. Their po- pu.ation is so large aud so rapidly increasing, that I think they ought to be two boroughs, and that they oa";lt to have te, o members each. These few borough?, therefore, will absorb nine members Now there comes one other point, and that is, what shall be done, if anything shall be done, with the distribution of members as regards the counties of England ? I pro- pose to take a course which was adopted, or nearly like that adopted, by Lord J. Russell in his last Bill, in which he would divide the West Riding of Yorkshire, and divide Lancashire into district divisions. I shall give to the West Riding of Yorkshire four additional mem- bers, to South Lancashire two members—1 am assuming South Lancashire divided—to the North Riding of Tturkshire one, to North Lancashire one, to South Devon one, and to the rest that I shall read over, one:—The West E>nt, South Stafford, Weit Cornwall, North Essex, South Essex, West Norfolk, East Somerset, West Somerset, and that portion of Lincolnshire which is known by the name of the Parts of Lindsay. Now, these have been selected on account of their great popu- lation, and because within them there h is grown up not only a large population, but very large "interests that arc not exclusively connected with the land', and there- fore I t'.ittk they have a right to some extension to the ntHbers of members in any re-arrangement of the representation that may take place. THE COUNTIES. Some persons will tell you—and you will see it before the week is over in many newspapers (laughter)— that I am treating the counties in a manner which is not fair, considering their population and the great property which is comprised, within their borders. Now I will give you in a few sentences my opinion upon that mat- ter. Count j- seats, as you know, at present are landlord seats, with the exception of some three or four counties where other interests have grown up so largely as to overshadow t,lte territorial power. Lord Derby says the same of them. He told you some years ago that it any- body would tell him what were the politics of three or four of the great landowners of any county, he would undertake to tell what weie the politics of the members for that county. (Laughter.) But ask any farmer in the united kingdom whether they return the members in their county. Nobody knows better than the farmers and there is one thing that I long for more than any other in connection with the qm-stion—that the time should come when the honest, the intelligent, and the constantly improving and advancing cultivators of the farms of England should be as independent in the ex,.r- cise of their political rights as is the corresponding class in the cities and boroughs of England. (Cheers.) MR. BRIGHT'S PERSONAL DEFENCE. It has been decided by several editors of newspapers that I am not a statesman. I never pretended to be one. I am a citizen, one of yourselves. (Cheers.) I am powerless in this matter, if alone. Lord Grev, with his high rank, his surpassing abilities, his grcatleputa- tion, and his influence in the country, would have been unable to pass the Bill of 1832 if the people had not with one voice demanded that it should become the law of the land. Do not suppose that I shall be alone. If the people will speak out, there are eminent men whose sympathies are with us, watching the signs of the times, looking for the reports of such meetings as the present, which will go far to decide their course. If there is a gteat aimy, there will be captains and leaders. Do not suppose that there are not among the aristocratic fami- lies more than one or two which will not betray nor belie the historic reputation which belongs to them. (Cheers.) Let the nation speak out, and its fiat will cer- tainly be obeyed. For myself, I have been for three months past the object of much misrepresentation and of much slander; but I have gone through all that before, and in another cause, (Cheers.) When I last addressed the people of Bradford I was co-opeiating with a man of deep sagacity, of clear judgment, of extensive knowledge, and persuasive speech. Were we not exposed to the same charges and the same slanders ? Yet, did we not succeed, and have we not now, as a compensation for all we endured, the priceless thought that there is no hand in this country that wipes the sweat from the brow of toil whose labours are not lightened, and whose rewards are not increased by the sacrifices we were content to make ? te!tSf u *n lllose sPe,'cl*es which I have lately de- livered I have abstained from assailing any single indi- vidual. I have been met by several members of the aristocracy in a manner I scarcely expected. Olle Scotch loid told a great audience that I was afflicted by a visitation of 1 rovidence, and that I was suffering from disease of the brain. (Shame.) His friends can tell whether that is a complaint with which he is ever likely to be afflicted. (Laughter.) Another nobleman says that I am a destroyer of property and a traitor to my class. I atop not to answer language like this. (Cheers.) Therp are some grut I men and there arc many good men in the ranks of the English aristocracy. There are among them some who would be nobles though coronets and privilege were things unknown, but even their virtues cannot long sus- tain their order against the perilous defence to which it is now exposed. (Cheers.) I therefore warn them to call back the champions who in every display of their powers exhibit hereditary nobility allied with intellectual poverty, and members of the Peerage wanting in the manners and likeness of gentlemen. (Cheers and laughter.) I cannot consent to. arrest the progress of this great debate to take part in personal conflicts. I brush aside the miserable detractors whose nature it is to bark and bray at the protectors of every great and good cause. (Cheers.) I address a great nation upon a great question. I am in earnest, and I speak because I believe I have no eloquence but that which consists in a hearty love of truth, and the facts and arguments I use enter the understanding and reach the hearts of my countiymen. (Cheers.) I am powerless as an individual my country- men are the nation, and omnipotent; and to them and to you I commit the issue and fate of this great question. (The hon. gentleman resumed his seat amid great and protracted cheering.) On Tuesday a meeting of Reform >rs" took place at Bradford, at which Mr. Bright was present to give such explanations as might be required. The following took place with regard to a FRANCHISE FOR LODGERS. Mr. Lord, of Bradford, believed the proposed franchise did not include what were called lodgers, and >visb.ed to hear whether Mr. Bright would have any objection to supplement his bill with a provision for the accomplish- ment of that object? (Hear, hear.) Mr. Bright: If I am not mistaken, I had the honour of receiving a letter from the hon. gentleman who has just spoken respecting the point which he ha3 row mooted. It is a noticeable thing that there does exist in Scotland at this very moment a lodger franchise. Tu; practice in Scotland has been that if a person occupies lodgings of the value of £10, he can be placed on the register for a Scotch 1>.■rough, and when I was in Edin- burgh I was informed that 28 persons in that city had availed themselves of that privilege. (Laughter.) I ('an only say that the subject has received the mr,st careful consideration of those whom I have consulted, and I hope to be able to prepare a clause which will en ible a great portion of those who are lodgers and have the am- bition to exercise the right of voting, to place themselves on the register. (Cheers.) But I cannot at present sta'e the precise Idode in which that object can be accom- plished. I am, however, perfectly convinced of its De- i cessity. When I was in Glasgow, tables were submitted to me showing the number of young married men living in lodgings, or with their parents but I have do doubt that three-fourths of them had somebody in their eye— (laughter)—and I hope that is the case also in Bradford. (Laughter and cheers.) Perhaps in the couise of six mouths or twelve months, or a couple of yeai-s, they may be in the happy bond of wedlock, and acquire the natural position of eiectors even under a household franchise. (Cheers.) Therefore I do not think that matter so im- portant as many persons suppose it to be. At the same time, I have not the smallest objection to such persons being placed on the register, and I hope, as I have already intimated, to be able to introduce a clause which will be satisfactory to those who consider the matter more important than I do. (Cheers.)

-----------MR. ROEBUCK ON…

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