The Committee on the Reform Bill was not resumed till
Thurs- day, when Earl Grosvenor withdrew his amendment imposing a 5/. rating franchise, in a few words unintentionally indicating both by tone and manner, the high importance he attached to his own
position as a sectional party leader,—and Mr. Ayrton's amendment to reduce the two years' residence required by the Government from the new occupation voters in the boroughs, to the one year which is all that is required of the present electors, came on. Mr. Ayrton's speech was, as usual, clear, able, and to the point. He showed. that the analogy of the two years' municipal franchise had misled the Government, since the municipal franchise must be exercised within a few months of its being acquired, while the Parlia- mentary franchise is usually not exercised for two or three years after it is acquired. Thus, a man might enter his house in August or September, in which case he would be nearly three years before he got on the Register, and probably another two or three,—if he had not moved again,—before he had an opportunity of exercising the franchise he had acquired. Mr. Ayrton would have preferred six months as the term of residence required in all cases, but he proposed a year as a compromise. Sir John Puking- ton made a very weak reply, in which he only quoted the Reform Bill of Lord Aberdeen in 1854 as his precedent for proposing two years, and alleged that a long period of residence and of ratepaying was necessary to defeat corrupt enfranchisement&
