SCOTCH ROYAL BURGHS.
THE bill for the reform of the Royal Burghs of Scotland, as amended by the Committee, has been on our table for some time; and we intended to call the attention of our readers to the subject, lay a detailed review of the state of the question. We have been prevented, and still are, by the pressure of other duties. As, how- ever, we observe that the further consideration of the report stands for Monday, we must seize the present opportunity of stating, that all we hear from Scotland, of the views of those per- sons who have taken a lead in this great question from the olden time, when reform was not so popular or profitable as it now is, confirms us in the opinion which we had previously formed, that Ike bill ought to be delayed till next session; for if passed in the present, we are sure it will neither be creditable to its framers nor satisfactory to the Scotch people. Before the next session, the par- ties interested a ill have an opportunity of considering its provisions in a deliberate manner; and of suggesting, to Commissioners who ought to be appointed for the purpose of collecting materials for the groundwork of sound legislation on the subject, such altera- tions as may adapt the bill to the circumstances of the different towns. As it now stands, it is crude and incomplete ; leaving the most important point—that of boundaries and jurisdiction—quite unsettled, and to be the subject of a future measure.
Another reason for the delay that we suggest : the Commit- tee on the English Corporations have recommended that the projected measure affecting them should be postponed till next session, and that an inquiry by Commission should in the mean
time be instituted. Our Scotch friends will therefore, if their bill be prcceeded in, lose the benefit which may be expected from the labours of the English Commission ; and on the other hand, the subject as affecting England will be prejudged by this premature legislation as to Sc Aland, and will not be elucidated by the facts which an intelligent set of Commissioners would undoubtedly bring unt by tbe'r inquiry into the circumstances of the Scotch Burghs. Should the postponement of the Scotch bill be agreed to, then vse would counsel the burgesses and inhabitants to select two or three individuals in each burgh, of known Liberal opinions, in whom they.eaa confide (avoiding those who have only of late be- come Reformers), to meet with their brethren, for the purpose Of adjusting either one general measure for the whole Burghs,.—if it be possible to legislate by one bill for communities of such varied interests,--or a set or class of bills suited to the circumstances of the different burghs : &priori, it seems ridiculous to suppose that Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee. can be squeezed into the same shape as the insignificant fishing-town of Cmil.
Previous page