MR. HUME'S REFORM MOTION.* Oun expectation of fruitful results from
Mr Hume's motion is very moderate. The appeal to the country, for which the occa- sion was furnished by Lord John Russell's " offensive little speech" of the Finality genus, has no doubt obtained in response some angry condemnation of the Minister's tone, and a number of petitions; but it has failed to elicit any truly national "cry," or to remove the circumstances adverse to practical success.
For there are other Unfavourable circumstances, besides the original flaw of factitious prompting. Mr. Hume himself is an unfavourable circumstance: with all his well-meaning industry, he is deficient in the faculties of influencing other men ; he cannot stir the spirit with enthusiasm, or set forth a cause with attractive eloquence, or satisfy the judgment with the comprehensive grasp and logical closeness of his reasonings. Not only is there no spon- taneous movement towards Representative Reform,—not only is the "leader" a chieftain possessing little hold 'on the intellect,— but in fact, no greater diversity of opinion on the elementary and cardinal question at the bottom of the whole affair—the true basis of a franchise—has been witnessed in any previous discussion, either before or since the Reform Bill of 1832. There is no agree. ment even as to what sort of franchise is the best—whether it is a franchise based on numbers, or on property, or on tenure, or on rent, or on assessment to the poor-rates, or on tax-paying—whe- ther it should be a household suffrage, an equalized suffrage, a mixed suffrage, an universal suffrage : the very nature of the basis for a franchise and the method of applying it are as much contest- ed as the nature and reality of mesmerism. Another impediment is the very prevalent feeling of mistrust created by the organized agitation and " got-up" look of the movement, as well as by the source whence it emanates. Right or wrong it is a fact, that very many who desire organic changes distrust this proposal, because they regard it as another "middle-class movement": : they presume that it is selfish, and that it is calculated only to in- crease the power of the middle class. There is no faith that any tangible good will flow from it ; and on that point the pro- mises are not very explicit or distinct. It does not appear of what advantage it would be to change, the constituency, unless it were to create a renovating change in the body elected,—unless it were to introduce, not men of the same order that is there al- ready, but men or a new Class, whose counsel and activity would enable the House of Commons to evolve better measures. If such men are not to be found, there is no great advantage to be ex- pected from change of forms : but while large sections of the educated classes are virtually excluded from active participation in state affairs—while 'the working classes have no man to repre- sent their opinions and feelings in their own mode of thought— it would be presumptuous to predicate that no new orders of men could be procured, to introduce into the representative assembly new ideas, unhacknied modes of discussion, and the living earnestness of direct sympathy with the people. Other adverse circumstances derive strength from the dead weight of a reactionary spirit, which cannot be overlooked : there is a conser- vative feeling, amon' Reformers as well as "Tories," to wait in order to see what cones of the movement in other countries. And all impediments will 'derive further weight as a drag from the vie inertial of the HOtise itself.
Yet the Commons cannot pretend that there is no need for ac- tivity of some sort. To say nothing of many long-deferred mea- sures to improve the material and moral welfare of the people, the state of the representation alone is too discreditable to be left to "private" Members and small Commissions of inquiry. More- • over, the spectacle of what is passing in other countries has stimu-
lating as well as sedative effects : the people," who have made such sudden advance in political importance on the main land of Europe, feel in this country that they should like to enjoy corre- sponding importance and advantages. It is the business of true statesmanship to study how any very general feeling may be gratified consistently with national safety ; and assuredly, in the present instance, it would be scarcely safe quite to disappoint the sentiment. Many measures of substantial improvement might be, and ought to be, carried on by public men with the legislative machinery that already exists, without invoking the people to assist in the process, and without waiting for popular unanimity. If, indeed, any statesman should aspire to advance and carry some great organic improvement, it must possess the attributes of greatness, or it will not be worth the adoption of true statesman- ship. It must not be a compromise between several parties each * "Mr. Hume--' That this House, as at present constituted, does not fairly represent the population, the property, or the industry of the country; whence has arisen great and increasing discontent in the minds of a large portion of the people: and it is therefore expedient, with a view to amend the national re presentation, that the elective franchise shall be so extended as to include house- holders; that votes shall be taken by ballot; that the duration of Parliaments shall not exceed three years; and that the apportionment of Members to popula- tion shall be made more equal.' [Tuesday, 20th June 1848.]"—Notice-paper V the House of Commons. of whom is too little in earnest or too feeble to enforce its own views ; a compromise being always feebler than the things com- promised. It should be something that would be hailed by more than a mere section of the people. It should involve in its very enunciation the surety of a striking success. It should be ade- quate to open a new tars. The characteristic of the times is an unsettled agitation ; and to command any attention at all, a mea- sure should have such attributes of greatness. To attain a prac- tical and glorious success in operation, its nature should be dic- tated by the actual state of the country, and by those wants which are practically felt. The corruption of our elective system, the exclusiveness of the representation, the narrowness of facul- ties displayed in the Commons, should suggest as the basis of an or- ganic reform, thorough purification, and such extension of the repre- sentation as should make it take in new classes, and introduce into the Legislature men of a new order. A Legislature so extended would be more truly national, and it would enjoy a greater confi- dence from the people. It would probably be incited by higher motives than mere electioneering expediency or trading maxims. It would administer the public affairs and the public treasure with juster ideas respecting the relative importance of national objects and of " interests," and would seek to fulfil the necessities of the nation, rather than to compel a mere penny wisdom. It would attend more in earnest to the material and moral wants of the people. Such a reform would be original, and yet practical— based on actual circumstances, and yet striking. The statesman who could devise and originate such a measure would be immor- talized as a man possessing a real lawgiver's grasp of affairs, as the institutor of a new aim, the author of a political change which should lead, through a development of peaceful energy, to the social and material happiness of his country. For such a measure the country might be invoked : we imagine its response—we ima- gine the spectacle of such a revolution—the record in history of such an epoch and such a statesman!
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