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    Untitled Article

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    PROLONGED DEBATE ON TH E SECOND READING.

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    . FRANCE AND THE HHLNE.

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    Untitled Article

    PEOPLE who dp not give themselves the trouble to think before they talk , have been heard to express their -surprise at so many adjournments of the debate on the second reading of the Reform Bill ; and some of them have not scrupled to add the expression of a suspicion that such protracted discussion indicates insincerity on the part of Parliament to deal with the question at all . The suspicion thus expressed is as silly as the surprise . So far from its being extraordinary that three , or four evenings should have been consumed in the general discussion of

    so grave a subject , it would have been an exceedingly bad sign of the condition of public feeling , if the second reading of the Bill could have been carried without it . In spite of all the ignorant and idiotic joking in certain quarters about the " littleness " of the measure , it turns out that twice as many new electors will be created in towns , and three times as many in counties , by the present proposal , as were added to the register of voters by the Act of 1832 . This calculation , be it observed , is not founded upon the rubbish statistics of Mr . Edwix James , or the rhodomontade assertions of Lord Eobetit Moxtaguk ,

    but on the carefully sifted and scrutinized statements pi-epared lander ' direction , of Government , and laid upon the table by command of the Queen . The total number of borough electors added to the constituency of England and " Wales by the first Reform Bill , . was Sl ; 859 ; while the minimum estimate of the number that would be added by the second , as : stated by Sir George Lewis in his speech of Monday last , is 167 , 000 ; yet the first Bill is always spoken of as " the . great , measure of enfranch . islnnent , " while that now pending is undervalued by reckless and stupid chatterers as . a " little Bill . " The truth is that it is , in many respects , a great and important step in advance , and one which ought ' . certainly not to be taken without full aiid deliberate discussion ; and we hardlv think that six

    Lewis is probably the one . man . in Parliament who has never been caught in an inaccuracy as to a matter of fact . He has , therefore , a great character to 'support for knowledge and fftithwortliincss .. The returns in { question , were prepared b 3 r his direction last antnmn , and relied on by him . as the draughtsman of the Bill . If errors had crept into them , as of coui'Se was not impossible , it was his interest as well as his duty to repudiate the blunders of ¦ his subordinates as soon as they were pointed out , and to disentangle himself at once from the difficulties into which they might have betrayed him . The prolongation of the debate from Aveek to week afforded unusual time for re-examihation , and reference back to the localities ; and Sir Geouge Lewis volunteers the avowal that such reference and re-examination was made . Far , however , from deprecating criticism , or qualifying his official endorsement of the returns , he has deliberately and unreservedly renewed it , demonstrating the nttor irrelevancy of the odds and ends of facts relied on by his opponents , and ' trampling underfoot their incoherent and incredible assertions . Instead of admitting that Lord John Russell had understated the number of newly -enfranchised electors in cities and boroughs ,, the-Home Sechktary told the House of Commons that . his noble- friend had rather overstated their probable number , lie pointed out distinctly tho reasons why it would be simply ridiculous to count all names of the masculine gender on the Vate book as . new electors where tho ; tenements were rented at and over £ ( $ . lie showed by " reference to the verv cases relied on by his rash , assailants thathot one . limn in three who occupied a ' . tenement-worth £ 10 or upwards appeared oii the burgess list ; and he asked , in a pardonable tone of sarcasm , whether ' the causes that contributed to keep -so . ¦ m any of the classes- ' now ; enfranchised off the roll would be / w likely to prove operative respecting the less opulent class between , six and , ten pounds . We think it must be admitted ^ therefore , that the ultimate success of the Bill lias been greatly promotedrather than retarded by the prolonged discussion on the second reading .

    months hence any rational man will be found to allege that halfa-dozen sittings of the Legislature ought to be deemed too many to be devoted to its consideration . It is of the utmost importance to the success of the measure that all that can possibly be said against it should be said as soon as possible . There is no other " way in which delusions can be dispelled regarding its real character and tendency , or thorough confidence as to its wisdom and safety created in the minds of all classes . Take , for example , the manner in which' the preposterous misrepresentations begotten by Whig apostacy or Tory fear have been publicly tried , condemned , and executed during the course of the present

    debate . Every form of exaggeration has been recklessly reiterated for weeks respecting the numbers by whom it was said property and intelligence were about to be swamped in towns . When Lord John 11 u 3 sell , on : the 1 st of March , estimated that number at about 800 , 000 , the obstructors were dumbfounded at his moderation . They dare not aver that such an addition was excessive or unreasonable , and to all the other leading points of the Bill they were committed by their votes of last session . What , then , was to be done to get up a cry ? There was nothing fpj , ' : it but to impugn tho accuracy of the Poor Law statistics , and to impeach the fidelity of Lord John ' s

    representation of the probable effects of the measure . On the anonymous authority of private correspondents ( i . e ., of Tory electioneering agents throughput the country ) , otie gentleman after another was pushed forward to declare his belief that the lleturns prepared at Gwydyr House were not to be reliud on ; and that , under th . 91 pretence of setting the , door ajar , Ministers were preparing to throw it wide open . By way of capping the climax , the hon . and learned Member for jVlarylebune undertook to prove that all tenants whose rates were compounded for would he entitled to vote under tho Bill ; and that , instead of two hundred thousand new borough electors , we should have half a

    million . Had tho debate closed before Easter , these fables ol faction would have passed Cor narratives founded on fact , utid have done their work of perplexing' and disturbing the minds of timid , thoughtless , and trimming politicians of all degrees and parties . Happily this mischief lias been prevented effectually by the opportunity fatally afforded to the nnti-ro (! prmorfi of stilting their casein detail ; and the opportunity «\ t the stunetime afforded for its exposure and utter extinction by the Minister for the Homo Department . "When obliged to go into his proofs , tho groat down Jamisb told tho

    Mat , JPriun practitioner utterly broke . Mr . House iu his own felicitous off-hund way , thai ; he hud looked into the' mutter with his own oyes , written to friends in eighty different towns iit his , own hand , had totaled the columns ^ ol electoral figures in hia own and two or three neighbouring boroughs , the results of which ho would give by way ot sample . But bofovo tho inexorable logio of tho calm and . almost contemptuous Howw ' Snciustauy , tho wholo fabric of middle class jealousy aud aristoorntio apprehension sought to bo based on those rough nnd ready statements vanished into air . Sir QKoitaia

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    mllE state of Europe is so bad , that the mere fact of unsettling X it cannot be / regarded in the light of a misfortune ; but it would comport neither ' with the dignity , the interests , nor the duty of England to take any part in the process , unless with a reasonable expectation of being able to advance the caiise of freedom and of human advancement . When Lord . loiix Russkll threatened a new coalition against France , tin ; Kiupire replied by a pamphlet , suggesting a coalition against England ; ami there is no reason to believe tliat' document lcs . s ollieial

    because it , was repudiated by its authors even before it was produced . The fact is , that ' in France and . in other ^ parts of Europe people are speculating-upon the probability of England ' s repeating some portion of the policy of William Pitt and Geohge ni ., and the French Empire requires a considerable stock of Anglophobia always on hand to deal with if circumstances require . The anm ' xation of Savoy nnd Nice : has not only gratified the passions of the restless , aggressive portion of the French people , but has . stimulated the ; desire for a furllx r" . rectification of frontiers" in the direction of the Rhine . The ( iVrnmns are alive to tliis fact , and a few days ago HerrPunckish , tho member for Berlin , declared ill tli . c Prussian Chambers , that the

    " comuion enemy , " France :, " wns already at the gate . Ho coinpluined that the Knroponn Powers had not found courage to resist the encroaching policy of tho Empire . Russia hi ! pictured as having her own internal difficulties ' ami -her designs on the East ; . Austria , who , by the bye , is pushing her military preparations with the utmost vigour , he ullirnml to be " meditating veugotinco upon the WwWnw parocuin ; " while , according 'to hi * view , England , instead of rallying Europe around her as of old , had , os , ho declared , aljnost " sold her birthright for tliat mess of pottage , the commercial treaty . " Jt is somewhat amusing to hear that our country lias a " birthright" in fighting for continental despota , who have proved , by their trenehery . unworthot

    falsehood , and tyranny , that they won . utterly y support ; but Herr Dl'nckkii proceeded to say tlmt , under tho circumstances he depicted , the Prussia of J < 'it-wut * uiaK tiik ( Jurat ought to render rill alliances superfluous by eruating a union among the German people . This is preeisoly tho . opinion so often advocated in this journal . We believe a united (» ormnny would require no ustornul aid against- French Imperialism or any other marauding force ; but if a real Germany ol the peonhi diet mnuiro our help in . " u righteous enuse , it would ni ^ probability be vigorously afforded . It is , however , to be noticed that Herr DuNCKflit founds a strong argument in favour pf fioriiiMii unity upon the supppsition that tho throe doaon misohiovous little potontutou could not delitnd the country thomsolvos , nor got England to doiend it for thorn , ihis

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    Avniz 28 , 1860 . J The Leader ana Saturdayi Analyst * 391

    Prolonged Debate On Th E Second Reading.

    PROLONGED DEBATE ON TH E SECOND READING .

    . France And The Hhlne.

    . FRANCE AND THE RHINE .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 28, 1860, page 391, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2345/page/3/