TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.
Upper Gloucester Street, 19th November, 1830.
Szn—The change of the Administration should not lead you to relax in your efforts to give to the public the complete. Anatomy of the Com- mons House ; it should rather excite you to double your efforts. The reform of the House now engrosses the public attention. It is gene- rally agreed that there must be some reform. Your object I consider to be that of the public weal, and not to serve any particular party, Whig, .Tory, or Radical : therefore you should pursue your course with undi- minished zeal. The declaration of the late great military Premier, that there should be no reform whilst he was Minister, has led to his dis- missal from office : that of the Earl of GREY, that the best mode of re- moving public discontent was by an attention to the grievances of the people, and by reforming Parliament, has placed the reins of Government in his hands. There are still many persons who are not so enlightened asto see and feel with the noble Earl that reform is absolutely necessary—who are not willing to acknowledge with him that there is danger attending its refusal—that "the storm is even yet in the horizon: it therefore becomes you and evety public journalist to demonstrate, by the constant exhibition Of the present diseased state of the Commons House, how ill adapted it is to work well for the peo- ple's interests. It is not by displaying it every now and then, as a
i
whole, but by continually exhibiting it n its every part, that you will show this. You must dissect it limb by limb, until the most ignorant and heedless pupil shall become fully conversant of its nature, and be capable of applying the proper remedies for bringing. it to a healthy state. It is not by an extraordinary exhibition on some, particular show-days that you can communicate this general knowledge. You must not neglect the Minor points while you notice .the major ones. Great injury is occasioned by neglecting the lesser Symptoms of disease, which command no party attention, and which, consequently, are un- observed; but as Your views are directed not to serve any partyipur- pose, but to promote the interests of the nation, the reformers conjtire you to take such measures as shall enable you to give regularly to the public the Anatomy of all the minor and daily divisions, and by no Means to neglect those which more particularly relate to what is termed " Private Business." The public are often more seriously, aggrieved by such mea- sures,which apparently command no general interest, than by great leading questions, which arouse the whole body of the House. Some of the most obnosiona ActS,ehich, infringe most seriously upon the liberty and pro- perty Of the sultieet, are smuggled surreptitiously into private acts: These acts are sometimes passed without opposition, or With tion as not to excite attention. It is fully as important to demonstrate how ill the present system works as to our individual happiness, as to show how it affects our general political welfare. I therefore trust that you have made such arrangements as will secure to the public au unremitted exhibition of all the divisions that take place, and not content yourself with those of great state occasions. The public require to know those members who are absent as. well as those Who are present—the drones as well as the workmen. In my view of the matter, the division on Sir MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY'S motion for delaying the petitionsuntil after the Christmas holidays, would be as interesting as that on Sir HENRY PARNELL'S motion. It appears to me to be a desi- deratum, that the House should have an official officer to note down the daily attendance of each member, and to give an authenticated report of the votes of every member ; and that it should not be left, as it now is, to any individual member or members to make lists for party pur-
poses, and publish them to the world for their own immediate object— particular gratification. The lists might be regularly made out by coun- ties and these should be regularly transmitted to some officer who should be Charged to give them publicity in his respective district. A seat in Parliament would not then be senght, as it now is, for interested mo- tives, or as an introduction into society, or as a coffeehouse and club : members would then be much more cautious than they now are of mak- ing motions for interested ends, and of assisting each other in personal jobs.
Since your plan has been published, a great improvement has been effected, particularly in the Morning Chronicle and Herald, in the man- ner of giving the divisions that took place on Sir HENRY PAux.ELLIs motion ; but consider you can carry the improvement much farther, and, as a weekly journal, place all the divisions on historical record.
In examining the division, we are greatly struck with the proportion of English county-members, and the representatives of populous towns, who voted against Ministers : of county-members we find for the mo- tion 48, against it .14, and 17 absent.
The Welsh appear to be nearly proprietary : for the twelve counties, we find 2 for the motion, 4 against it, and 6 absent ; for the boroughs, 4 for it, 1 against it, and 7 absent.
In Scotland, the necessity of reform is most evident and cOnclusiVe-- but we need not pursue the recapitulation. • •
The Irish Catholic Members were all at their post, and voted in favour of the motion: 'Public opinion is very declaratory in the votes of the Irish representation. The sons and sons-in-lawAnd lawyers of the Marquis Of .CLEVELAND adhered to Ministers. Lord GROSVENOR'S opposed.' The Marquis of HiatTroftn's appeared indifferent. The Earl of LAUDERDALE'Scon- neilons hang'steadily.With Ministers against iinproYethent. The Duke ... of NEWCASTLE has not forgiven, as he Assisted, in the defeat. Only :one LOWTHE Veted. It *ill be ctiriOtis'to !attend to the. "voteis of.-gte Ultra-Tories, as Welles quondam Whigs. There As
some defection on the part of some of these personages. ;Some members;
showed great prudence ; some great gratitude--a rare, but invaluabla quality. These must be looked after.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, LESLIE GROVE JONES.
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