4 FEBRUARY 1871, Page 2

Mr. Muntz, the Member for Birmingham, during a speech to

his constituents on Monday, brought out a very significant fact. He was on the Commission of Inquiry into the purchase system, condemns it utterly, but believes that it will cost £7,000,000 to abolish it in an equitable manner. He explained this to his con- stituents with great clearness and some peremptoriness, and asked them to tell him clearly whether they were prepared to pay the money. The question was put in the most formal manner to the meeting and elicited an absolutely unanimous vote. Not a single hand was raised in objection, though the pecuniary difficulty had been most forcibly explained.