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      Untitled Article

      THE WAKKPFELD INQUIRE . ' The revolutions of the Walcofield Election Coinmission confirm—if any coniirm-. ition were needed —the belief that , if the ordinary principle ; - * of jurisprudence wore applied to parliamentary bribery , it would not . be . difficult to obtain convictions of the principal offenders / and they ' moreover ^ afford additional proof of tlie necessity for requiring a bribery oath or declaration from every member of Parliament . Mr . Charlesworth , the late candidate at Wakefield , is by no means an exceptional person , and hid conduct only differs in degivo from the prevailing custom of our so-called representatives of the people . At a dinner-party , just before the election , he cautioned his friends _ aiiaiust bribery ; and his cousin , who relates the incident , says , " it was about that time he gave me the bond . " No process could be more simple— -he delivered himself of his morality lirst and of . his money afterwards . Candidate Charlesworth having thus furnished Cousin Charleswort / h with thu means nf corruption , t he latter hands it over to Mr . Fernaudes , "in a small room in the fttnflbnK-Yrms . J ^ o oilier person was present when it was paid , and lie never received from Mr . Feminities any statement of the manner in which it wns expended . " Cousin Charlesworth kept no accounts of his electioneering disbursements , but he , remeinberod most of them ; and confessed that he gave Mr . Brear . £ 1 , 400 , and " of course lie knew what the money •\ vns required ; for . "

      Now it is a positive disgrace to our jurisprudence that it should be safe for hundreds of persons to 'bohavo at every general election juSt lrke the two Charleswortlis and their friend , Mr . Fernniules . There is not one case in a hundred in which bribery take ; a place without the consent of the party who is to profit , by if , nnd it is perfectly absurd to suppose that ; my candidate hands over a large sum of money to persons who aro not to account for it without boin «» perfectly well awnre of the purposes to wliioh it will be applied . When sumo low wretch is indicted for receiving stolen goods , our law courts do not admit frivolous excuses , but are snlirtliod with

      evidence which proves tliat the accused must have known thu articles-to he stolon if ho had exercised ordinary and reasonable care in tlio transaction . So fur j ' roni following this coupe , House , of Commons committees will never , if thoy can help it , convict a member of bribery 5 and they not only tolerate but oncouraao a loosenoss of conduct that is inconsistent with innocence , nnd only intended as a clonk for guilt . In fact , olection bribery is not regarded among tlio M . I ' , elnsu as an olVenoo against their yonvun ' tloiinl code of honour . Thoy consider it a gentlemanly vice , and Jo not soruplo

      to speak of it without any symptom of disapprobation . If it were known that a man obtained other kinds of honour by means so base , his social standing would be lowered ; but by buying himself into Parliament he forfeits no one ' s esteem , and if found out is extremely unlikely to suffer any more unpleasant , result than a temporary exclusion from the position he has sought . The M . P . class are not particularly to blame for this state of things , for the general opinion of the public is supremely indifferent to it , and it would be diflicult to find a single town in which the majority of the electors would take any trouble to obtain an amelioration . It is not a matter in which the people are inclined to reform the Legislature , or in which the Legislature is inclined to reform itself .

      Something will no doubt be done next session , but no one is so imaginative as to expect an honestlvdevisud measure . / What the present race of JM . IVs want is to repress the scandal , but preserve the 'fact . It . may be said that they would be better oil if bribery were abolished , because . 7 would stand on an equal footing , and with less i .-.-: -ei ^ e ; but this is precisely what they do not wi < h . Were their claims to rest . upon appropriate talent or efJk'ient service , a large proportion of our senators " would never again sit in the Palace of "Westminster '; - but by making M . P .-ship purchasable by profligate expenditure they ¦ keep it within their own reach to the exclusion of other anil honester men .

      it . may be urged that , after all , the members by purchase are " " the whole not more than ni-ost other folks ; but even if it be so , there is this . special disadvantage to the country , that their conventional code of honour approves of jobbery as well as bribery ; and when a man has bouglii him self j-nto Parliament , he thinks it all riflii that his . party should buy'themselves into power . the army promotions , or appointments which purchase " the interest of an aristocratic family ., being equivalent to the . £ 10 that- bought ihfi -vote of Tom Stvles . It is not true to

      say that bribery is ji vice of English democracy ; it is tlie crini- " wealth , not of poverty , aiid is nhruys kept in countenance by the upper classes of tlie-community . The Church never preaches aynintft it , the lawyers abet it , anJ the aristocracy and the rich mi ' ldle class practise it . Were picking pockets so petted and stimulated , there would ° be robberies without end ; and although , looked at from one point of view , ' the amount of electoral corruption is ho great as to be a national disgrace , the fact that with such abundant encouragement it is not greater , speaks volumes in praise of the character of the people .

      If those bishops and others who are so scand . ilised at Sunday excursions upon the railways would devote a portion of their religious indignation against the demoralising Irailic in human consciences , which election corruption carries on , they might assist in shaming the Leg islature from its evil ways ; but upon these practical questions of Christian morality the episcopal voice is dumb . Passing , by a natural transition , from the Church to its opponents , we might . ask , what arc Mr . to its opponents , we migncasiv , wiuu ure xu . r .

      Bright and his friends doing ? Why do not they devise and introduce a good bill for purifying elections '? Thoy must bo well awtCre that the ballot , good as it may be , is by no means _ all that is required to stop bribery , while against the equally mischievous offence of treating it would oiler no security at all . ' There ' may be fifteen or twenty members of Parliament whom the Manchester school could lead ; and in the present state of parties s-udi a body would be quite sufficient to force the Government to take some steps

      in thu right direction- The country wants something practical from its , would-be lenders —it would like to see their wisdom in serviceable measures , and not merely hoar of it in occasional orations . The benches of the various Inns of Court might also do noniething to make elections more respectable , by discouraging the practice of barristers hiring themselves out to make spocohe , s in honor of any candidate belonging to the party they espouse , and willing to pay lor their venal praise . ISlr . Thomas Serle , a barrister , told the Wrikofield Commission that "ho wftH engaged ostensibly to advise upon legal nnittura . but . really , to defend the party through

      the nroHs , nnd to niuko speeches on Mr . Charlesworth ' s behalf . " An the uloetion wont on this gontleman " carofully avoided asking questions , ns ho suspected ho migjit lenru something ho

      did not want to know . " It appears from Mr . Fernandes statement that he paid Mr . Serle . flOO—a nice little fee . The employment of barristers for these purposes is very common , but it is an objectionable practice , and one which constituencies should not tolerate . If the candidate is permitted to hire a man to speak for him at an election , the next step should be to let him hire somebody to speak for him in the Housea plan so advantageous to wealthy blockheads , that we wonder it has not been added to the numerous shams which the British Constitution contains .

      Untitled Article

      No . 504 . Nov . 19 , 1859-1 THE LEADER . ' - 12 7 3

      Untitled Article

      FRENCH ANIMOSITY . —OUlfc WINE DUTIES . If the French be so embittered against us that nothing will satisfy them , as the Times has forcibly represented , but a war of mutual extermination , the mere existence of such feelings is a subject of unspeakable importance . The best pens and the best heads now in existence could not be more worthily employed than in allaying , if possible , such rancorous " feelings . ' A war between the two nations would engulph all Europe in its terrible vortex , and be a- dire calamity to mankind . The evidence , however , -which the Times has given oi such embittered feelings is very slight . It says that it draws its alarminjr conclusions from many

      independent sources , but it mentions none , except tlie lievue 1 ' ndejienduntc , the production of French exiles on our own shores ; and it warns its readers not to-trust its . only authority . At the very time , too , that it is making these sweeping and frightful assertions , t \ vo of the best political writers of France , Messrs . Chevalier and Peyrat , are publishing splehdid'eulogiums oil . us and oi ^ r insti tutions , and expressing no sentiment so forcibly as regret that France is not free like England . If tbo sentiments of the French were universally , as

      hostile as our contemporary represents them , it would be impossible to .. exonerate the Government of France—which has a-commanding influencefrom ihe charge of exciting this hostility . But the-charge against the . Government , made by our . contemporary " , vanishes if . the hostile feelings be not uniform and universal ; and we have quoted a striking proof that they are neither . Though we cannot > v " accuse the Times of a p lot , because it has striven to excite alarm , we believe that its own fears have led it grossly to exaggerate , on the authority ofparlius * , i politicians ^ ofeal-od by-the Emperor , the hostile sentiments of the French towards thepeonl : of England .

      It is ik-oplv to be regretted that the pence of Europe is not firmly consolidated by the intimate union and frieiuUliip between thorn . Whatever may be . the projects of their respective Government ? : , they fori ' n portions of the same great ^ socinl family and ' have a common interest . In 18 . 37 ( we hnvo ' iu'l got the detailed accounts for 1 S 5 S ) the French supplied us—including corn and flour of the value of £ 308 , 000—with useful commodities worth £ 11 , !) G 3 , 407 , and wo in return

      supplied them with similar commodities o / _ our own produce , or brought from other countries , worth , £ ] l , 32 t . » , « 2 a . Last year we have reason to belieye tlmt the trade was still mure extensive , for the worth of the imports from France was 4 * 13 , 911 , 401 . The two people who supply each other ' s wants to the extent , at least , ot £ -2 : 2 , 000 , 000 pi » r annum , nut including their colonial dependencies , have n eomm . ni interest , and war would make both bleed nt many poiys . To refer also to other inters , ovjiy -day , almost , Miturms us of some litcrarv n ^ veffv , ¦' some invention , some discovery , wliiJli oijunlly made use of by both people rives " thorn a common command over additional ^ enjoyment * . Tnqitote- only one example : 1 hoto < mipliy >¦ " lltnv iul' 1 ) " ' dl ) urco ol limo 1 ' " struct ion and amiHi'im-nf , and it wo . il . l be dillicult to any wlit'lhi-i' Frenclunen or Lnulwlnnun have most o .,-ntribut , ed to its suclvms . Lho rail-j way nnd tin ? tek-iji-npli mutually servo both , and it is'iinpo . ' .-iUc to inJlict a l ; Iow on one but the other will lbel it . ' ,,., ., , , Having these material and higher interests in common , if any interest can bo higher than that of ' subsistence , having now been at pence lor forty-lour TirnvH , and the ( Jovirrnmontd having Ijol-u closely III lied for a ounsitlemble part of this period , it oxcilofldooprouTot that therewhouldexist . Ihosmallest foundation fi > r the alarming but much oxuggeratod siatoinont of tlio Tivtus . Perhaps it mny not upric-nr surprising that there bhould bo some

      Untitled Article

      Tliere is : vi : ' ii > iL ; ' so rcviilutionury , bt-caiis ' .- thoro is ; i .. > llnng " so iiii ! i : i { n : Ml : i ) i < l oonvulsivi-, us the strain to kecj ) things . fixed \ v : i ; -ji . ill tho ¦ w . orl-. l is by th-j very Ijiw of its creation hi ¦ ctoi " ii : il i > i : o ;* n s 3-i—Dr . Aknoi > i > .

      Public ^Tt'ti T V R I &¦ . . ' : - &Lt;=* '!¦ ' ¦ * "*~~ "

      fublirr -3 ffairs . -

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      ^ - " ¦ v ^ - ¦ * SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 19 , 1859 .

      ' ^^ S- *Y ^Ts^ ) Ql)H Ci^ Asw- £/ V /*M?4&Gt; Fa Cv%- D% 4\ Y^/ ^ ~ &Gt;^3sm^ ^ €%&Gt; Aj Jc Ms ? &Lt;^ .- " ' {C\ ^- ^

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      OFFICE , NO . , CATHERINE-STREET , STRAND , W . C .

      Untitled Article

      NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . No notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence . Whatever Is intended for insertion must be authenticated by thfi narno and address of tin ; writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is oft . on delayed , owing- to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the communication . We cannot undertake to return ' rejected eommunientions .

      Untitled Article

      SUBSCRIPTION TO "THE LEADER . ' ONE GUINEA PER YEAR , UNSTAMPED , 1 'KEI'AID . ( DELIVERED GRATIS . )

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 19, 1859, page 1273, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2321/page/13/