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PRINCIPAL BUSINESS OF THE WEEK.

Moon or LOBOS; Monday, Feb. 13. No business of Importance. Tuesday, Feb. 14. The Eastern Question; Debate on Lord Clanriearde'e Motion

— Assessed Tax Amendment Bill, passed.

Thursday. Feb. 16. Transfer of Testamentary Jurisdiction; the Lord Chancellor's Statement; Entreat/Fa first time.

Friday. Feb. 17: Royal Assent, Assessed Times Act-Amendment Bill—National Education (Ireland); Motion for Select Committee agreed to—Landlord and Tenant, Compensation for Improvements, and Consolidation and Amendment of Leasing Powers (Ireland) Bills, read a first time. HOUSE or COMMONS. Monday, Feb. 13. Soldiers' Rations, Question and Answer

— Reform Bill ; Lord John Russell's Speech and Motion.

Tmeeday, Feb. 14. New Members; Lord Paget for South Staffordshire, Mr. Wyndham for West Sussex—New Writ for Cardiganshire, in the room of Mr. Powell —Law of Succession Bill; leave given—Public Prosecutor Bill; leave given—Re.„ duction of 'wine-Duties; Mr. Oliveira's Motion withdrawn.

Wednesday, Feb. 15. No business of importance. Thursday, Feb. 16. Letter of the French Emperor; Question and Answer—Re- form Bill, read a first time—Prevention of Bribery Bill; Sir Fitzroy Kelly's motion for leave—Truck Act Amendment Bill ; leave given—Tenants' Compensation (Ire- land) Bill ; leave given—Charges against Irish Members ; Committee of Privileges appointed. Aiday, Feb. 17. Assistant-Surgeons in the Navy ; Colonel Boldero's Motion negatived by 216 to 104—Relations with Russia ; Mr. Layard's Speech on going into Committee of Supply: debate adjourned—Property Qualification of Members Abo- lition Bill ; leave given—Bribery Prevention Bill, read a first time.

TIME-TABLE.

The Commons.

Hour of Hour of Meeting. Adjournment,

Monday 4h . . 911 30m Tuesday 4h 9h 30m Wednesday Noon ... 12h 30m Thursday 4h .... 11h 30m Friday 4h .(ss) 12h 30in Sittings this Week, ; Time, 27h 30m Sittings this M eek, 4; Time, 14h 20m

— this Session. 14; — 63h 15m — this Session, ii; — 28h Min Tim NEW REFORM BILL.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL, in moving for leave to introduce a bill further to amend the laws relating to the representation of the people, began with this exordium- " It is very usual for those who have to bring forward a measure in this House, to magnify the importance of the subject which they are about to introduce, and the measure which they propose to lay on the table. Sir, it is not my intention to take any such course. On the contrary, I think the importance of the measure which I am about to introduce has been already somewhat unduly magnified in public apprehension. The name of a Reform Bill recalls to persons a period of great excitement—a period when we de- liberated amid the flames of Nottingham and Bristol—when there was a col- lision between the two Houses of Parliament, and the measure was ulti- mately passed with the obviously reluctant assent of the House of Lords. Sir, I do not contemplate that the present measure will lead to any disturb- ance, and I trust it will not be passed amid similar excitement. It appears to me that we may fairly and duly consider the provisions of the Reform Act with a view to supply what is defective, to amend that which needs amendment, and to improve that which stands in need of improvement. It appears to me, likewise, that at the present time we can do this, I trust with calmness, but at all events with deliberatMn ; and that we may modify or vary the provisions of any measure that is before the House with the view to make as perfect an act of legislation as it is possible for us to make."

He met an objection in limine.

"I am told, however—and the objection is a very common one—that we are now on the brink of war, and that Mr. Pitt not only declined to proceed with measures of reform he had formerly introduced, but actually opposed reform when in a position of a similar character. Now, if I professed my- self to be bound by any master on these political questions, Mr. Pitt would not be that master : but Mr. Pitt himself first introduced the subject of Par- liamentary reform in 1782, in a period of war, and a period when he himself represented the country to be in the greatest peril from the forces of the combined enemies opposed to it. But, looking rather to those with whoa principles I more cordially agree, I find that in 1793, immediately after the commencement of war, Mr. Grey proposed to this House to consider the question of the reform of Parliament. In doing so, he made a remark which I have often had to make in this House—that there is no time for the consideration of the question of reform that appears fit to those who are the opponents of reform. If everything is quiet they say, 'Can free men be more than free ? can men who are happy be more than happy ? ' If, on the other hand, it is a time of war and alarm, they then appeal to that state of war and alarm as a con- clusive reason against the consideration of the question. Mr. Fox sup- ported Mr. Grey on that occasion. In 1797, when the war had pro- ceeded for some time, and when its character, as one of the most hasardous and costly in which this country could be engaged, could not be mis- taken, Mr. Grey renewed the measure for reform, and was again supported in a most powerful speech by. Mr. Fox. Nay, more than this, when Mr. Grey became a member of the House of Lords, where it is not, certainly, in- cumbent on any one to introduce the question of the representation of the people, he, in 1810, as Lord Grey—in bringing before the House of Lords the state of the nation—pointed out the defects of the representative system of this country ; declared that his principles on that subject were not changed ; and, though he was perhaps less warm and sanguine than he had been, yet he thought that a temperate and gradual correction of the abuses in the representative system was necessary in order to restore'the country to a state of content. At that time the country was in the greatest danger. The sun of Wellington had not yet risen to its meridian, and Lord Grey de- pleted in most gloomy colours the situation of the country, stating that during the war the burdens of the people had risen from 16,000,000/. to 80,000,000/. Many men may differ from the opinions then expressed by that noble lord, but no one can doubt the courage, constancy, and consistency of Charles Earl Grey. That which in the midst of war he attempted in rain, he lived to aocomplish in a time of peace. But I am told that the peculiar position of present affairs makes it eminently inexpedient to introduce into Par- liament the question of the state of the representation. I own I cannot see that. I can very well imagine, that if we were in the same state of circumstances as existed in 1803—if there were an apprehension of immediate invasion, and people were engaged in collecting together militia and volunteers, and calling upon their neighbours to prepare and resist a foreign enemy,—I Call conceive that then neither this subject, nor the state'of the University of Ox- ford, nor of the Ecclesiastical Courts, nor of the laws relating to the settle- ment of the poor, would properly engage the attention of this House ; and our thoughts would be directed to nothing but the means necessary for the defence of the country. But, much as I abhor war, much as I deprecate the evils of war, I confess I do not vie* war with that apprehension with winch some honourable gentlemen seetn to regard it. I can conceive that we should be able to provide all the means necessary to carry on wrir with vigour—and, if carried on at all, it ought to be carried on with vigour— mid, at the same time, have full Hine for deliberation on those of oar do-

The Lords.

Hour of Hour of Meeting. Adjournment.

Monday 5h . 514 30m Tuesday 5h .(.1) its Um Wednesday No sitting.

Thursday 5h it 35m

Friday 5h Oh Mm

mastic conoerns which appear most to require consideration. This appre- hension of our being unable to attend to those topics from the time war

should be declared, if unfortunately war ehould be declared—this idea that there ie such danger in Russian armaments and forces, appears to me. I con- fess, one of those thoughts which may be described as one part wisdom and three parts cowardice ' ; and I must say it does not affect me." Lord John proceeded to a survey of what had been done since 1793 towards attaining a full and fair representation of the people.

"The petition to the House of Commons in 1793 by the association of the Friends of the People stated that•at that time 70 Members were returned by burgage tenure—electors none : in 1854 no Member is so returned. The petitioners stated, that 90 Members were returned by places where the number of electors did not exceed 50: there are now no Members so returned. They stated, that besides 160 so returned, 37 were returned by places where the number of voters did not exceed 100: there are at present no Mem- bers so returned. Besides these 197, they also stated that 52 were returned by places where the number of voters did not exceed 200: I believe that there is not now more than one Member so returned. They stated, that 20 Members for counties in Scotland. were returned by less than 100 electors each, 10 by less than 250 each : .there is no Member for a Scotch-county so returned at present. They stated that there were 13 districts of burghs not con- taming 100 voters each, and 2 not containing 125 each, returning 15 Members : this state of things no longer exists. They stated that in this manner 294 Mem- bers were chosen, being a majority of the House. Well, instead of these small places returning Members to Parliament, there are now Members returned for Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, and other places, which are the seats of wealth and industry. They went on to state that there were distinctions which perplexed and confounded the rights of voting. Those distinctions have mostly been abolished ; and the rights of

voting which are established are comparatively easy and simple. They stated that there were freemen resident and non-resident—

freemen by redemption, by election, and by purchase : in respect to the right of voting, these distinctions have been abolished. They stated, that religious opinions created an incapacity to vote—that all Papists were excluded generally, and, by the operation of the Test-laws, Protestant Dissenters were deprived of a voice in the election of representatives in about 30 boroughs, where the election was confined to corporate officers alone; the laws excluding Roman Catholics have been repealed, and by the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts corporations have been opened to Protestant Dissenters. They stated, that householders generally were ex- eluded: at present the ten-pound householders are admitted by the Reform Act. They stated, that in Scotland superiority without property gave a ti- tle to vote: this was entirely altered by the Reform Act. And they stated,

lastly, that the polls for counties were taken in one place, and lasted fifteen days: this too has been altered ; an instance occurred only last Saturday of the poll for a county being taken in one day and in many polling-places. I mention these things to show that great improvements have been made in the condition of this House as representing the people, since 1793.

"I need scarcely state, because the House must have them fresh in recol- lection, the important measures which have passed during the period that has elapsed since the Reform Act was carried—namely, the abolition of slavery, the opening of the trade to China, the reform of the Irish Church, the re- form of the Corporations in England, Scotland, and Ireland, the measures taken for the reform of the Tariff, the repeal of the Corn-laws, the equali- zation of the Sugar-duties, and the repeal of the Navigation-laws. These are only some of the measures which occupied Parliament during the period that has elapsed since the passing of the Reform Act." What remains in order that the House of Commons may still more fully represent the people at large ? The Reform Act had three defects. First, although a very large disfran- chisement took place, there still remain several boroughs which hardly con- tain a sufficient number or electors to justify their retaining the power of sending Members to Parliament. In stating that opinion, he did not concur in the opinion that there ought to be anything like an equal number of electors in every place returning Members. A fair representation of the people can hardly be got without some variety. In the Free-trade agita- tion, at an agricultural meeting the cupidity of the manufacturers was de- nounced, at a meeting in a manufacturing town the landed aristocracy were held up to odium as monopolists. But a great portion of the people thought that the landed aristocracy were useful to the stability of our free institutions, and likewise that the country derived great benefit from the in- dustry of the commercial and manufacturing classes. If, then, a plan of reform were adopted giving the representation only to counties and large cities, that mediating element, that infusion of moderate men, returned neither by towns nor counties, would be wanting. Nor did he think it would be possible to prevent the great proprietors from exercising a natural influence on the returns for counties.

At the time of the Reform Act, Lord John had stated that all boroughs should have at least 300 electors. There are now several which fall below that number, and others which, though they exceed it, are not considerable places, the population in fact falling below 6000. There are others with less than 500 electors, and others with less than 10,000 population, which return two Members each. "Taking the double scale of electors and population, I find that the number of boroughs which have less than 300 electors, or having 300 electors have less than 5000 population, are 19; and the number of Members which they return to Parliament is 29. The number of boroughs in the next table which have less than 500 electors, or less than a population of 10,000, is no fewer than 33. If the first class of boroughs were entirely disfranchised, and one Member taken from each of the boroughs in the second class, the numbers of this House would then be reduced by 62 seats." The next defect of the Reform Act was, that it tended to divide the coun- try into two opposite camps, according as people are connected with land or trade. He thought a great advantage would be derived from a change advo- cated in periodical writings and pamphlets,—namely, that means should be devised for giving some representation to the minority. "In looking

over the numbers that have voted for some of the larger countiea, and for some of the great cities, I find that there are 2000, 3000, and 4000 who vote for the unsuccessful candidate, while perhaps 100 or 150 more are found on the side of the successful candidates. It appears to us that many advantages would attend the enabling the minority to have a part in these returns. In the first place, there is apt to be a feeling of great soreness when a very con- siderable number of electors, such as I have mentioned, are completely shut out from a share in the representation. In one county it may be the Liberal Party—in a great tbwn it May be the Conservative party ; but, if these electors form a very large body I have been told—I don't know it from Poetical experience—that there • is very great irritation and anger at their Perpetual exclusion. In the next place, I think that the more you have your representation confined to large populations, the more ought you to take care that there shall be some kind of balance, and that the large places returning Members to this House shall send those who represent the community in g'nerol. Now, when there is a very large body excluded, it cannot be laid that the community at large is fairly represented.. Our plan would only be stlopted when three Members represent a county or city. When that is the. 928!'i supposing there be a decided majority, even of 100 or 150, that ma- jority should at all events have two Members out of the three, so that in this

House there might be two to one on any division that might take place. I think, besides, that such a provision would have a great tendency to prevent angry contests." He proposed to divide the West Riding of Yorkshire with its 800,000 in- habitants, and South Lancashire with its 500,000 inhabitants, into two parts, and give three Members to each. "Going on with counties and with towns, we shall propose to give an additional Member to each county and to each town which has more than 100,000 inhabitant/1 Then we shall propose that, in giving their votes, the electors shall vote as they do at present, only for two candidates out of the three ; so that when the minority exceeds two- fifths of the whole numbers of the electors they will be enabled to have one representative out of the three who are to be returned. The consequence of taking this rule will be, that four Members will be added for the West Riding of York, and four for the South Lancashire division ; and there will be I think, 38 for other counties ; making 46 altogether. There are also eight towns having more than 100,000 inhabitants, and the borough of Salford with more than 80,000 inhabitants, which at present return representatives ; without including the Metropolitan boroughs—for we have considered the Metropolitan boroughs as parts of one great city, and not as separate towns of themselves—(Cheer8 from the Oppositicm)—and to each of these towns we propose to give one additional Member. We shall propose also to give ono Member to each of three towns which have more than 20,000 inhabitants each—Birkenhead,'Staleybridge, and Burnley. " We shall then propose—what has been often asked—that Kensington and Chelsea shall be formed into a borough, and that two Members shall be sent to Parliament from that district. There is another kind of representation which has been often advocated, and which we propose, at least in some degree, to recommend. I will first mention the Inns of Court. (Cheers and laughter.) I know some honourable gentlemen think that we have already a sufficient number of lawyers in this House. (Laug)lter and continued cheering.) But, Sir, my own persuasion is, that when we have put the re- presentation in the position in which we propose to place it, it would be most beneficial that we should have two of the most eminent lawyers in the country returned to this House ; and I believe, while, of course, lawyers would have as good a chance as any other candidates, if not a better, in boroughs in general —that the lawyers who belong to the Inns of Court would take a pride in choosing two of the most eminent of their profession to represent them in this House. I cannot but think, and I am sure the House will agree with me, that it would be a great advantage to have some of the most eminent lawyers to assist in our debates ; and if we are in any degree liable to be misled with regard to legal doctrines by those who have not enjoyed so much experience and who have not attained the same eminence, the opinionsgiven by- the first lawyers of the day are sure to sway the House, and to prevent its being led to adopt erroneous views. We propose, therefore, to give two Members to the Inns of Court. We propose, likewise, to give one Member to the University of London. Considering that the two great Universities, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, are so much connected with the Church, I think it is only fair that a University which opens its doors to the whole country should have the power of sending a Member to this House." (Cheers.) There is still another defect in the Reform Act that requires correction— the franchise. In abolishing all the intricate franchises that then existed, and fixing on a 10/. rating, Lord John thought they had too much confined themselves to one species of franchise. " We propose, then, in the first place, that there shall be several franchises common to the counties and to the towns ; and that these qualifications shall entitle a person to vote in the place in which he resides, whether he be resident in a county or in a borough. The first qualification we propose is 100/. salary, derived from any employment, public or private. It is provided that such salary shall be paid

half-yearly or quarterly, so that the qualification shall not apply to persons who receive weekly wages. I conceive that this franchise will bring in a

very intelligent body of men. The next franchise we propose is 10/. a year derived from dividends either from the Funds, from Bank Stock, or from East India Stock. The next is a somewhat similar, though a higher qualifi- cation than that which I proposed two years ago—namely, 40s. payment either to the Income-tax or to the Assessed Taxes within the year. Those who pay the Income-tax will receive votes for the present, and when they lose their votes they will have the oompensation of getting rid of the tax. (Cheers and

laughter.) We propose, likewise, that graduates of any University, in the United Kingdom shall have the right of voting, to which we conceive they

are entitled by their education and attainments. We propose, also, that any persons having deposits of 501. in savings-banks, which have remained in. such banks for not less than three years, shall be entitled to votes. I think if the franchise were given to depositors whose money had been in the banks for a less period than three years, there would be considerable danger of the creation of fictitious votes ; but I have no doubt the House will concur in the opinion that a bon& fide holder of 50/. in a savings-bank has given a proof of prudence and frugality which entitles him to a voice in the election of representatives." (Cheers.) Referring to the franchise exclusively belonging to counties, Lord John showed that in the Reform Bill of 1831, Government did not propose to de- part from the principle that while occupation conferred the vote in cities and boroughs tenure conferred the vote in counties. But an amendment was carried by which all occupiers at a rental of 501. obtained the right of voting in counties; and although he did not object to that class, yet the amendment changed the character of the county franchise, and tended to diminish the power of the forty-shilling freeholders. When that principle

was once departed from, reasons were shown why this occupation-franchise should be extended ; and, seeing that it is now proposed to add only three towns to those sending Members to Parliament, he thought it would be a great advantage that persons who live in towns not sending Members to Parlia- ment should have a vote for the counties. "We propose, therefore, to adopt a suggestion which has more than once been made to this House—namely, that ten-pound occupiers shall have a vote for counties. (Cheers.) With respect to that right, whether in counties or in boroughs, we intend to check an abuse which has prevailed. Under the words any buildings and lands occupied therewith,' persons run up a shed of the value of only 28. 6d. a year, making out the rent in land, and a species of voters was thereby created who were never contemplated by the act. We propose therefore, with respect to this county right of voting, that—with the exception of a dwelling-house, which may be of any value provided the voter lives in it—in all other cases the building must be of the value of Si. a year. Supposing there is e house and land—the house may be rated at I/. or 2/. a year, provided the voter resides in it; but if the qualification is made out by any other building— a cattle-shed, or any building of that kind—then we propose this check, that such building shall be of the value of W. a year. Out of the whole number I have mentioned, I shall propose that 46 Members shall be given to coun- ties; but, as these counties will hereafter include the ten-pound holm- holders, it is obvious that the constituencies will be less of a special charac- ter. ("Hear, 'sear ! ") It does seem to me, that all the endeavours made to run down the agricultural interest or to run down the manufacturing interest are totally foolish and absurd, and that there can be no better s)stera of representation than that which takes into consideration the whole of the great interests of the country tallith eantrilante to its glory and prceperity..! (Cheees.)