EARL GREY ON THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. E ARL GREY has
added to his book upon Parliamentary Government, republished this week, two new chapters upon reform in the popular representation. If they do not create any present stir, which, considering the dearth of topics, is not at all probable, they will influence deeply the debates upon the Reform Bill which Mr. Gladstone, unless he is false at once to his promises and his intellect, must one day intro- duce. Recognized by all thinkers as one of the most farsighted and constructive of English statesmen, Earl Grey is always sure of a hearing, and this time his audience will be a large one, for he has postponed the crotchetty criticism which beguiles an over-fertile intellect to a working and intelligible plan. That plan, too, is original, strangely original, not indeed in detail, but in its careful union of conservative motive with democratic machinery. Almost every portion of it has been suggested before, either by Radical, or Tory, or independent thinker, but no one that we know of who accepts either half has as yet dreamed of advocating also the other. We should not be surprised if in the next debate on the sub- ject Mr. Bright were heard hurling unanswerable quotation& from one page as the best reply to Mr. Bentinck's random selections from another. The scheme proposed may be imprac- ticable, we fear many of the details are, but Earl Grey has at least this claim to a hearing, that his proposal removes the most plausible of the democratic objections to the existing system, without surrendering us, or placing us in danger of surrender- ing ourselves, to a mere numerical power. Throughout Earl Grey is Whig, bitterly scorning democracy as democracy is now understood, but determined whatever the clamour that the whole nation shall rule.
In stating his scheme we must premise that any condensed account, however full or however cautious, will make it appear a little more hard, a little more definite than its author intended it to seem. That is a little unfair to him perhaps as author, but it is in its hard, dry aspect as reduced to an Act of Parliament that his proposal will be considered by poli- ticians, and the business of an Earl Grey after all 313 to be statesman and not litterateur. His view, then, as we under- stand it, is on points democratic to a degree which will startle many who have regarded him of late years as among the most thoughtful of Conservative statesmen. He lays it down as an axiomatic truth that a Reform Bill to be useful must be extensive, must remove the objections which are fair enough to be used as levers against the new combination, and there- numerical rule. But he would reduce it in counties to ten to the opinion of the nation, and not of anycontemptible section pounds, apparently for the sake of finality, and not from any within it, which when a national policy is at stake may choose to dislike to the 20/. compromise, and allow forty-shilling free- indulge in sectarian twaddle about twopence halfpenny holders a vote in the towns as well as the country—a rule granted under a contract to Maynooth College. Sir Robert which, if we are not mistaken, would in places curiously Peel held such a seat for life, Lord John Russell had one modify the constituency. These are both as far as they go always at his disposal, Lord Palmerston occupies one now, apparently democratic reforms, which would be acceptable to and each of these statesmen has been the better and the Mr. Bright, and the reasons given, some of them very elaborate bolder man for his comparative independence. Nothing would and all worthy attention, may be summed up in this :—Very at this moment be more beneficial to the country than for Mr. unequal distribution of seats and very great disparities of Gladstone to own a pocket borough, and election by the House franchise are opposed to common sense and the ideas of would give the nation the same result without the corrupting justice patent to ordinary minds, and are sure therefore sooner influence of the means now employed. Earl Grey would fix or later to be removed, the number and allow each side of the House to fill up They had better be removed, thinks Earl Grey, while it is vacancies by election in turn, but the admission of all Princi- possible to accompany the removal with other and Conserve- pal Secretaries of State who had served for five years to seats tire changes which shall preserve to the country the advan_ for the remainder of life would answer just the same end. tages which this sweeping abolition of anomalies might, and 4. Lastly, Earl Grey decides for the plan so often discussed, in his judgment would, tend to abolish also. Nearly a dozen the admission of artizans to the franchise qua artizans, so as such changes are recommended, some of them with a grave not to swamp the remainder of the community. He would force of argument which almost conceals the difficulty of ap- grant them votes not as citizens of special towns but as plying them, but they may for our purpose be practically workmen, collecting the suffrages of the highest workmen in reduced to four. Earl Grey would, firstly, make all votes each trade as we collect those of University graduates. He "cumulative," so as to represent minorities, on Mr. Marshall's says :—" I am not aware of any reason why those who have principle ; secondly, increase considerably the direct repre- worked in certain trades for a given time should not be sentation of educated men ; thirdly, invest the House of registered and formed into a corporate body, with the right of Commons with the power of conferring on its own most dis_ electing members of the House of Commons. By that arrange- anguished members seats for life ; and fourthly, concede to ment the working class might have the power given to them working men a right of selecting directly, as working men, a of choosing enough representatives fairly to express their portion of the general representative body. wishes and feelings in Parliament, without the risk of giving 1. The first suggestion, which is the key to the whole, and them a monopoly of the representation by a large reduction in its author's opinion the essential corrective of any demo- of the franchise." cratic change, is perhaps the most valuable in his list. It The effect of these four suggestions therefore unencumbered provides with the smallest shock to the existing method of by details would be to redistribute the seats so as to remove voting for the just representation of every influential minority, all ground of complaint on the score of unequal representation ; At present, supposing a constituency to elect three members, to restore minorities to their just place in the system ; to as most constituencies would after Earl Grey's redistribution, diminish if not to abolish the unjust influence of money and each voter possesses threo votes, and can vote for his own territorial sway; and to admit the working men to a clear and three candidates. But he can give only one to each, and if he definite share of representation and power ; without diminish- likes one better than all can only serve him by voting for him ing the influence of the cultivated, or substituting for govern- alone, giving, as it is styled in hustings' slang, a "plumper." meat by the nation government by a single class. They may Earl Grey proposes to make the " plumpers " effective by not be the wisest conceivable,—we are doubtful about the allowing the voter to give all three votes to one. In that boroughs ourselves, even with all these correctives,—but they case a minority of less than one-third instead of being silenced tend directly towards the ends all thoughtful politicians desire. and, so to speak, killed, would have at least its full voice. It is much when a statesman like Earl Grey admits that those "To make this clear, suppose that there is a constituency of ends are expedient, more when he argues that the time for 3,000 electors having to return three members of Parliament, securing them has already arrived, most of all when he strives and each elector having a right to give three votes on the to indoctrinate the public mind, lest it should be compelled to cumulative principle. There will be 9,000 votes therefore to decide before it has even ascertained its own will. Earl Grey's be given in all, and if these were equally divided among four plan may not be accepted, but it is one more contribution to candidates, each of them would poll 2,250. But 750 electors, that body of thought on which we shall one day call as the or one-fourth of the whole, if they gave all their votes to one only barrier against an otherwise inevitable and ruinous candidate would give him just 2,250 votes ; so that if even a numerical rule. single additional vote were given in his favour the remaining votes could not be so divided as to enable three candidates to ACADIA. poll as many as himself; that is to say, he could not stand TR. resolutions of the "conference of delegates" ap lower than third on the poll, and must therefore be returned." pointed to draw up a plan for the union of the N h That immense variety of representation therefore now secured American Colonies have at length reached this country, and through small boroughs, money power, and other partly inde. deserve the most careful attention of every politician., The fore proposes two great democratic changes. He would in fensible means would be ensured even amidst concessions the first place give up now and for ever the defence of the highly gratifying to the sense of natural justice and equality. small boroughs and of excessive county inequalities. It is, he Minorities, too, which at present cannot get represented at all, says, almost too hard to have to " defend on the principles of such as the Catholics of Lancashire, who are obliged either to common sense and justice " the equality of little and great remain silent or speak through some Irish Ultramontane—men boroughs, the " extreme inequality in the shares of political like Sir J. Acton never gaining even in Ireland secure seats— power assigned to different portions of the nation." He would would have the power of making their already conceded right therefore redistribute the electoral districts, not indeed by rule of audience real and effective. This is the idea which under of thumb, as the Chartists wanted to do, but by abolishing the one form or another has for the last five years been permeat- small boroughs, and so revising the county divisions that " a ing society, the only one, we think, which statesmen have tolerably equal share of political power should be given to the seriously considered. several constituencies in proportion to their respective impor- 2. Earl Grey would assign members to the remaining tance," so that, to use an illustration on another page, Rutland Universities—though his proposal to couple London and should not, qua Rutland merely, be as influential as the West Durham is a bit of Oxford impertinence—and give separate Riding. The little boroughs should be cut away remorse- members to all the learned professions—a proposal which lessly, if only because, as he says, the seats are in fact sold only needs to be stated. The educated classes have adopted by constituencies, surrendered to money in some shape or other, it for the last ten years, and nothing he can say or we can whether paid directly, or used for remissions of house- say would make it palatable to the ten-pounders. If they are rent, or employed in purchasing land and conciliating tenants. to accept it, it must be either when bribed by other changes The little boroughs gone and the redistribution effected—are which they approve more heartily, or when overborne by the we in error in thinking that Earl Grey would not quiver as artizans, who on this subject are curiously fair, and would, we statesman but only as man of taste if the redistribution fully believe, support a measure which tended to give culti- were mathematical ?—he would re-arrange the franchise both vation the ascendancy over money. in counties and boroughs. Not that he would reduce the 3. Earl Grey would enable the House of Commons to create borough qualification, that he contends, with a force which is life seats for this very clear reason,—the House would then per- his own but in words which seem borrowed from our columns, form the only great function now performed by the pocket is only to establish the principle which leads direct to mere boroughs. They do enablestatesmen to sit and act with reference
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