The Scotch Reform Bill was brought in by the Lord
Advocate on Monday. It extends the borough franchise to a household rating suffrage, the county franchise to a 121. rating suffrage, as in England; and guts the counties of "all manufacturing and mining —not strictly agricultural—towns having a population of 6,000 and upwards," which it groups as contributory boroughs to return one member. The boroughs so proposed to be grouped are Ardrossan (population, 7,574), Coatbridge (10,501), Wishaw (12,000), Barrhead (6,018), Johnstone (6,404), Helensburgh (6,000), Kirkintilloch (6,096), Pollockshaws (7,648). Hawick and Galashiels are to be grouped, in spite of the protest of the crowd at the Galashiels railway station on Mr.. Disraeli's journey to the North,—with the Haddington burghs,. and Alloa is to be grouped with the Stirling burghs. The seven new seats to be given to Scotland are thus appor- tioned :—One to the first-named group of new boroughs ; two to the Universities ; one to each of the three counties, Lanark- shire, Ayrshire, Aberdeenshire ; and one is appropriated as a third seat for Glasgow, with the minority provision adopted in the English Reform Bill for the unicorn boroughs.
