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welewoq 1.101140BiwiloRAPHR, TVA 1 cr 11:i -x at: he; 4 , - i ) (I 4 ''..3.(1 1 t rd ,bsbnst sIncr, sf oI vlfsi% in't!"-`41e 1(7'4- 4 3 ..191:1: Ir134tING.:PeerEP or THE 41,14MONS. ' ' ' -,„11 sNts are on foot abotit,,the-country to reform- the repre- se von by some enlargementiattliefranchise, some creation of eleaors ; betsinless a new sprit beintroduced into the exercise bah 'of the el divesuffrage and of ,the,reproaentative function, mi'addition tp#18 ninnber of voters, whether by, the_purchase of frOiliilds or the enaCirnent of a charter, can ,materially improve th6-14islature and its operations. An immense movement. .to addlhe, more to every score of electors cannoteffe.ct much im- rdirilenteither in thele,giala'tion or administrative infleence.of aq• la-Merit; unless the fatihions of Parliament, are to be altered ; 'slid okihe other hand, without waiting for any electoral Allot- sidqs of land, or anylextension of the franchise, or ,charter,,yeat

""tie, much more ;might be done at once by correcting.alse lax ;em of the Peaple'S House. That spelt a reform, inarnekliate

. effectual, only awaits the will of Members and their masti- thents 'to effect it, is made apparent by tbe facts which an ing,e- isiS compiler has collected and set in order for our present num- be

, he first glance at the accounts of Attendance and Absence thus posted up with every Member„ will iliachise a state of things little expected by most people, either in the excessive laxity of at-

tendance, or the prevalence of this laxity among all parties. The idea of curing it byaddizig'to the number of Liberal Members,

would be as wild as by adding to the number of Tory 9r any other class of Members. All are alike demoralized. In the first table the reader will observe, with astonishment, that nothalf

the Members attend half the divisions ; indeed, that for one divi- sion at s hich so many as half the Members are present, there are ten at which more than, half are absent! Yet rot ing is the tangible function of the Member, the great acCof his Parliamentary-life , the definite, deed by which he is to

be judged. That Members have a consciousness of that fact, in- deed, is betrayed in the solicitude which they show to attend cer- tain divisions, as compared with the'debates that ought to modify

the divisions : an arrangement is specially kept, up to " ring in"

the' Members about the lobbies, so thOtthearray at the division, coniMonly exceeds that at the previous debate. If few attend the voting process, still fewer assist at the preliminary council. The object of the speech is to modify the vote ; but the most copious or effective speakers in any party are..net the most diligent at- teridants. The vast speaker Mr. ChisholniAnstey attended only

5rodiVisions out of 219.;, and .1.tis..,g-reat_leader, Mr..Urquhart, whose advent to Parliament was to have such wonderful influence, onlyiattended ,Iii out 0 the 219. .Mr..Disraeli left the Legislas tune unilluminated by lia presence in 1.57 divisions.; Mr. Widen,. in 129. Mr. George BrzY themade his, attendanee a mere historic

fantasy, for he was absent 20,3 tinieS: ,Mr. Roebuck replaced Mr., Werd, who had attended precisely. one out of every two divisions: Mr. Roebuck attended scarcely one cout of three : according, to the

mere figures, Sb,effield has not gained by the choice- of Mr, Roe- buck. Even Sir .Robert Peel :appears in the-account as a slack attendant-94 to 155 : but perhaps he thinks he has done with any other duties than those of teaching the House by his speeches, sometimes, and protecting Ministers always. Whilesuch is the practice of the House-of Commons, Honour- ableiMembera are,wforining less than half their duty. .It is the vate,*hich actually determinea the laws ; and those grandees of Parliament who make their speeches and . then walk out, may hays done something „towards persuading the House, but they, have thrown away their share of the force which compels the. House. In fact, they are leaving the power of legislation to Mi- nisters and the official people whose set dutits oblige them to stop in their places. , 4,trias- be said that many of these divisions relate to " private" business, routine affairs, and trivial motions. Parliament divides its shusiness into " public " and " private "; the . latter being a cleats thattakes its occasion in private interests, but in its cow-. queseesAffects the public at large. Much of the public business is of sa. -ttiyial or routine character ; but even that should be

watched, einsiemeasures not unimportant for evil often pass in that harmless-looking flock. .Atul if private bills are usually-so unimportant as. to warrant the. neglect of,Members, they ought

not to be intruded Up= an assembly ; whose time is not to be - wasted. Some of, the class ,inight be. conveniently transs ferred to a minor and, auxiliary legislative body. Others are the

result of a slovenly and _barbarous system of legislation, which

tends to deal with everything topically and in detail; and a large. maps /111gb;,Ixe got, rid,of, if Parliament were to determine-broad principles and then toleave the,application of such general mea- surea to en, adwirtigtrAtiyv body, respensible fer a right perform- ance of the duty.

But in fact most of these." private" measures do possess an importanefigLif least ln. thege ways. Yirst-they. give Teem to end- less jobbing;. :whereof the apsiala of railway legislation could sim-

ply good samples. Seconally„,-they constitute a sort of " privi- lege," in derogation of the,,lays of the land ; precisely the thing

of .which the Representatives, Sc the People ought. to be most jealous. Thirdly,ha the canvassing of Members to support-them they occasion the most mischievous corruption. This has been

exemplified nut only in railways hut in all kinds of "local pots." If -bribes are not given to Membere ,A4,,the form of .money,they arq.i14,t4e form. of, electioneering,guiport i legislation linc,onsesa, nittMeF.:PferiVoi Imizsakp i . and syssoltsbnesists,aesstragtree into thia, mar OM huv trip and -selling.i,She diligent attention 'of inslemt/d.nts X et') hers, stet .the .divilions . would truth these ccerupt- iniwnWk... e'' .,..—f- s: cc ,mirt....,,71, orni -,::i - , - . 1 'Some Menalsewkwegbict. their mosteeXpress duty,. others ap. pear to lial'Alitt, 011Peted. for .no_purpososat All. -At the first as., pect,ot thteltvinion, ,it is difficult to know whatcan he the use of - such.ettnI4gginv Alt. James ,E-ennetla Howard,. er. siI.. Welsy . 7'4 48131seelAttinded but ;8;divisions s,Mr.,Grantley Berkeley: 7 griaterigiArtien, or Sir Wetkin,Williams Wynn, 6.;.Lord-Albers Celnyinsiarn„Me. Ben bovit,,,ar,Co1attal•Pendarves,L ; Mr. Duncan.-1 11141eill,,or.lgr, Drax, 4 - it.f.rsGeongo Hodson, .3i; Mr.-Maher or Mr. Juba, ennett, 2, ; Jir. Eliot:Yorke, 1. - Some in this listmay I )A, be able to.,,s ow,that tbey have slonneg.00d service in council ; .bee certainly it demands some great merit to compensate dist:uniform , neglect of, work voluntarily undertaken: ;The :titular " Lords), in the House of Commons, _qualifying as eldestsons of Peers, seem resolved to show how unserviceable-is that aristocratic ele- ment ; and, the " Honottrablesi es..a, body, , are ,:iilinost as bad. These. Members are not simply useless—they exclude others who might be practically useful. With some of themit may be said,. that they have involved a constituency in the whole,bustle and. turmoil of an election merely that they-may add " M. P." after their own names : but that is not the objects of the electoral frau.,

chise. ... . , .

Here, then, . is an account which constituencies should use and representatives should profit by; Some may be .able to excuse their. derelietion, —as Mr. Thomas Duncombe, whose electors,preferred to keep him on the chance of his- recovery ; -and Mr. Charles: Wynn, whose advanced years and long service in, the House : may be held to justif,y his repose rather than his exclusion. The.: faet is, however, that if Mr. Wynn is too old to perform the re: .. presentative functions, his case, would be better , met by some honorary distinction. Others, who, have been less flagrant in the.. breach of attendance may be held, by their constituents to have earned their, seats by active service in other fields,—as Mr. Cob-. den among Free-traders, or mr._Disraeli among:Protecticinists: but all should be called upon to, show sante reasons 'for -their ab- sence,either that their presence would have been of MO use, or that some. justifiable accident keptthent -.away, or:t-hat they were _ better, employed. elsewhere. At present, many, a "-victory" fer- tile constituencies ends in returning a Man lot certain opinions,:. and the electors have the satisfaction of thinking that they' have '. lodged him there, as; e put something curious or precious into a public museum ; but nothing comes of his, opinions. They elect, he opines ; and there it ends: Honourable House goes on as bes fore.

There is great danger in this, state of things beyond its .direct mischief. . Our suffrage has. many fantastical; anomalies; it is re- stricted:tO 4sInall fraction-of the sieople-s, andit has now tome-to pass that other countries which were much behind us in repro- sentative institutions ,possess a , franchise much more extensive and also more reasonable in its plan. The safety of our:" glorious . constitution" might be soughtin its workiug; but by the exact accounts which we this week marshal, it will be seen that Mem- bers, reversing a common plea..for old abUses, are suffering the practice M. be worse-than the theory ; and by reelecting the crowd of faineants, the constituencies are conniving. Here then is a field in which Members with sufficient independence of mind and honesty of heart, and sufficient.will, rosy bring about an imme- diate reform.; and in the same field, with the light of these annual accounts, the constituencies also may work, by making the. Mem- bers perform their duty, ox by exchanging neglectful Members for better.