NEWS OF THE WEEK.
MR. BInnew, the chosen of the tenant-farmers of South Notting- hamshire, took his seat in the House of Commons on Thursday, in- .
rtrodueed by Lord John Manners. This event forms a much more -important epoch in the history of, our representation than the elee- r*ll of Henry Hunt, or of Cobbett, (who affected to call himself the :ploughboy pitchforked into the House of Commons by the Oldham 7.electors,) before the excitement of the Reform Bill struggle had ...passed away. The influence of the high aristocracy was considered rstronger in South Notts—" the Dukery" as it has been called- -than- in any other -English county ; and yet, notwithstanding " the
Charidos clause," -the farmers have returned a country solicitor, t the combined efforts of the county aristocracy, lay and erical, in support of Lord Newark. That no exertions were -spared by the defeated party, may be inferred from the facts, that -fewer than two hundred voters were left unpolled, and that the :majority was only eleven. The farmers have at last mustered courage to act for themselves, and in time they will learn also to think for themselves.
The night on which Mr. Barrow took his seat was rendered more -remarkable still by the promise extorted from Lord John Russell, that, " if then in office, he will, at the beginning of next session, ;be prepared to invite the attention of the House of Commons to " such measures as may tend to put the representation of the people • throughout the United Kingdom on a more satisfactory footing." The elucidation of his views on the subject of the electOral qualifi- cation, with which Lord John prefaced this statement, was not of a nature to raise great expectations. Moreover, it was made in tile` )iorribie presence of an impending minority on Mr. Locke King's motion for the extension of the ten-pound franchise to counties : by the secession of the Conservatives, leaving the Liber- 'els to settle that knotty point among them, Lord John was out- voted two to one. In short, Lord John's announcement had a sus- :_picions air of being either a desperate bidding for a renewed lease of office, or an attempt to gain credit for intentions which he -Strongly suspected he had little chance of being called upon to carry into execution. His declaration, however, is not unlikely to in- -crease the number of advocates of electoral reform—perhaps to 'impart a more definite aim and greater unity of action to their agitation.
. The business transacted in Parliament during the first four days of the week was of little moment. The Chancellor of the Bache- 'quer's financial statement, which. we have commented on in ano- - ther place, was received in a manner closely bordering on cool con- :tempt. Mr, Herries, in 'the name of his party, proposed to reserve all discussion on it till Friday ; an arrangement in which Lord 'John Russell gladly acquiesced. The only speakers on the occasion • were a few of the Members who are most noted for their inconti- nence of speech, or who were anxious to exhibit themselves to their constituents as foremost in asserting views particularly cherished in the localities they represent. -A milieus indication of want of concert and communication
'among Ministers, in regard to perhaps the most important measure aturounced in the Queen's Speech, occurred on Thursday. In re- illy to a suggestion from_Lord Stanley, that inasmuch as there is -difficulty in finding business for the Peers at the beginning of a session, the Government measure of Chancery reform might with great advantage be first introduced in their Lordships' House, the Lord Chancellor stated that he was not aware in which House of Parliament it was intended to introduce the bill alluded to. Yet, .almost at the same moment that the first Law Lord was making this profession of ignorance, Lord John Russell was giving notice in the House of Commons, that on an early day he intended to bring on the subject of Chancery Reform !
Some progress has been made by Ministers in the initiation of their minor measures for the session. Mr. Hawes has introduced a bill to amend the Passengers Act; Sir William Somerville, a bill to change the mode of valuing land in Ireland for the purpose of as- sessment ; Sir George Grey, one bill for the removal of Smithfield Market, and another to regulate the expenses of criminal prosecu- tions. Lord John Russell has givennotice that he will move the House on Monday to resolve itself into a Committee on the Jewish dis- abilities. Perhaps the Ministerial movement that more than any other deserves to be jealously and closely watched, is one made by Sir George Grey on Thursday Sir George prevailed on the House i of Commons to instruct the "Committee of Selection not to fix the sitting of the Committees upon any bill connected with the sup- ply of water to the Metropolis or any part thereof, till at least one week after Easter. The reason assigned for this delay is that Go- vernment have a bill in preparation to regulate the water-supply of the Metropolis, based on the report of the Board of Health presented to Parliament last session. When it is remembered that the scheme propounded in the report of last session was vague and undefined in the extreme ; that supplementary projects entirely altering its character have been entertained and indirectly cir- culated by the Board ; that a new Commission on the subject was appointed only a few weeks ago ; and that Easter falls this year so late as the 20th of April,—this procrastinating policy must be ad- mitted to be very suspicious. The most noteworthy demonstrations on the part of private Members are, Lord Melgund's notice of a School Bill for Scotland ; Mr. Slaney's successful motion for a Committee on the Law of Partnership, with a view to throw light on the expediency of fa- cilitating the limitation of liabilities; Mr. P. Scrope's motion for a Committee on the assimilation of the Poor-laws of England, Scot- land, and Ireland,—on which the House was counted out ; and Mr. Mitchell's notice of a motion to address the Crown fora Coin- mission to inquire into the management of the Customs. The vir- tual defeat sustained by Government in their prosecution of the London Dock Company gives additional importance and interest to this notice.
The House of Peers reaming inactive. There was a rather long but desultory conversation on the subject of agricultural distress on Tuesday. With the exception of Lord. Stanley's silence, the al- most incendiary language of the Duke of Richmond, and a shrewd nervous speech by Lord Wodehouse, the only remarkable feature of the discussion was a kind of protest made by Lord Hardwicke against the repeal of the duty on clover-seeds, on the ground that it would deprive farmers in the South of England, who grow clover, for seed, of protection. So the agriculturists of the South are to be protected at the expense of the agriculturists of the North and East : this is a thoroughgoing application of the prin- ciple.
