THE REPLY OF THE PEOPLE TO THE ICING. — A correspondent suggests
to us, that in many instances in the Tables published last week, we have given to the Anti-Reformers an advantage to which they are not entitled, by setting down to their account the population of the close boroughs ; whose inhabitants, he justly remarks, have not only no in- terest in the returns made by the handful of voters, but are most de- cidedly opposed to them. We are quite aware of this fact ; and if our correspondent will turn to the introduction to the Tables, he will see it alluded to, in speaking of the English boroughs, and again in speaking of the Scotch returns. We did not attempt any distinction between the actual and virtual electors in the smaller and corporation boroughs, how. ever desirable it might have been, because it was impossible, from the materials in our possession, or indeed from any document extant, to ex- tend that distinction to all cases. Perhaps the only case in which we could, without impropriety, have acted as our correspondent wishes we had done, was that of Scotland, where the number of actual voters is as.,, certainable. Had we done so, the balance of population there would have appeared, where it really is, on the side of Reform. The fact is, it would have so appeared, even according to our plan, had it not been our deter- mination to give to the Boroughmongers, in every instance, all that the most exigent among them could possibly venture to ask. We gave there Edinburgh, though, saving the sacred 17, Mr. Dundas could not have commanded, perhaps, a couple of hundred unbiassed voices in that ci. We gave them a large portion of Glaseow, because a large portion a what is so denominated lies without the borough. To show how irt Lanark, as in Edinburgh, the Anti-Reformers seem to have so large a part of the population, we give the calculation at length ; it will show the principle, and it will also convey some notion of the extent of the labour bestowed on the "Reply."
The Dumbarton District of Burghs consists of
Dumbarton 3,481 , Glasgow ... 147,043 Deduct Barony 51,919 and Gorbals 22,359 74,278 72,765 Renfrew •,, 2,646 Rutherglen ....... • . • •.... 4,091 Total, as stated in the Tables ... . 82,983 Lanarkshire has a Population of ...... 244,387 Deduct Glasgow, as above .. 72,7E5 — Lanark ...... 7,08.5 — Rutherglen ........ 4,091 83,941 And there remains, as stated in the Tables 160,446 In this case, as in all others, the Boroughruongers receive the benefit of the doubt. Had the population of the Barony and Gorbila of Glasgow been added to the burgh, and deducted from the county of Lanark, Scotland would have exhibited a balance of 24,286 of populatiort in favour of the Bill, instead of 104,270 against it.
The only erratum we have discovered in last week's Tables, is in the name of the member for Cromarty—it should be "Duncan Davidson," not "Donaldson."
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