THE REFORM AGITATION.

MR. BRIGHT AT BB.ADPORD.

Mr. Bright kept his appointment with the Bradford reformers and duly appeared in St. George's Hall on Monday. That large chamber was "densely crowded" by some 5000 persons among whom were deputations from the principal towns in the West Reding. Mr. Henry Brown, the Mayor, occupied the chair, and a resolution heartily welcoming Mr. Bright to Bradford was moved by Mr. Titus Salt, and seconded by Mr. John Crossley. Then Mr. Bright spoke. His speech occupies many columns of close type, and contains a sketch of part of the measure he proposes to submit to Parliament He began by thanking his audience for their kindness, and by com- plimenting them in return : they were "the flower of the active minded politicians and reformers of the great West Riding of Yorkshire." Then he spoke of the vast importance of the question and of the necessity of knowing at the outset "what we want,' so that we can detect any im- posture that may be offered. He had been met by a "rancorous opposi- tion" from the press ; some members of the Peerage have been thrown into a silly panic. The attacks of the press have not been dictated by an honest desire to point out his errors; the noblemen referred to do not wish the people to understand the question of reform, and therefore at- tribute to him objects which he never approved. With this exordium he went to the great question, which he divided into three parts : 1. Exten- sion of the franchise ; 2. mode of exercising it; 3. "whet steps shall be taken to withdraw members from places and populations wholly incom- petent fairly to exercise the right of election ; and to what new, or old, or great towns or industries, and populations, shall these members after- wards be distributed ? " The third head was the main object of his speech, but he dealt with the franchise itself at some length. All earnest reformers object to "fancy franchises." Thus they object to giving two members to a special constituency of lawyers: the object of giving the lawyers two members "is that the people should not get those two members." Earnest reformers object to enfranchising doctors, or giving a vote to all who have 501. in the savings-bank. "The fact is that all these propositions are submitted by men who have not really considered the clued- tion, or who have considered it so much that they are finding out by what means they can manipulate the representation so as to avoid conferring it upon the actual citizenship of the kingdom." The franchise as it now ex- ists is fixed at a point which necessarily excludes the most numerous class of all. "The occupiers of 10/. houses do not generally receive wages from -Week to week or from fortnight to fortnight. The object.of the Reform Bill of 1832 was to exclude the wages receiving class." Mr. Bright then re- ferred to his proposal of a rating franchise. In Bradford they prefer house- hold suffrage ; Mr. Bright has no objection, except that he thinks house- hold suffrage would exclude persons who have no house yet who have offices, warehouses, factories—much more important members of society than many who are householders. He was willing to take the franchise proposed by Mr. Grey and Mr. Fox in 1797, and by Lord Durham in 1832. There "will not be among a large portion of those who are now enfranchised a full contentment with any measure which shall deal pusillanimously with a distinction, be its privilege or a right, which must ever be very dear to the citizens of a free country." Now. the actual extension he proposes would be threefold in "certain boroughs " •' and twofold in those not manufac- turing." But what would they do ? All talk of turbulence arises from an ignorance that is incomprehensible. Mr. Bright has always imagined that the vote is "a symbol of moral as opposed to physical force. I always imagined that, when a member was entitled to record his vote in favour of a particular candidate, the idea of violence vanished from his mind, and the club dropped, as it were, from his helpless hands." The speaker treated with derision the idea that the new voters would swamp the old. As to the county franchise, he briefly intimated that the 10/. franchise would satisfy him at present; and with similar brevity he stated his belief that he should be conferring no benefit on the now unenfranchised, if he gave them the vote without the ballot, and that he "has not the smallest doubt of the passing of the ballot within the smallest period. "Let us now step on to the distribution of members."

Under this head Mr. Bright, before he came to his own proposal, stated several other modes which might be adopted, and of which.he did not ap- prove—such as the adding of country parishes to small existing boroughs in order that Lord or Mr. Somebody might be the entire constituency ; or the grouping of boroughs, which he described as binding three dead bodice to- gether in the hope of making a single living one out of them ; or the pro- posal to give to the counties the seats of disfranchised boroughs. " Now, the Reform Bill of 1832 gives sixty-three seats to the boroughs' and I think sixty-five to the counties, and I believe generally from that time to this that there has been a feeling among all those who are in favour of reform, that the Reform Bill gave too large an influence to the counties and the landed interest in the distribution of members which are made by it. I wish you and your countrymen every where to watch this point with the .keenest eye possible—to repudiate without mercy any bill of any Govern- ment, whatever its franchise, whatever its seeming concession, if it does not allot the seats obtained from the extinction of the small boroughs mainly among the great city and town population of the kingdom. (Cheers.? This -question of distribetion is the very soul of the question of reform. ' Mr. Bright propsed to go on the principle of the Reform Bill—but "to travel a little more "- to disfranchise all boroughs (56) not having 8000. inhabit- ants, thus obtaining eighty-seven seats or more; then to step on to 16,000, and give to each borough showing this number, one member—this will give thirty-four seats ; then he goes to 25,000' and upwards, as far as 54,000. "There are a number of boroughs with a population of between 16,000 and 2000,5 some of which have one member, and I think about a dozen or thir- teen of which have two members, and without wishing to make more change than is necessary, I propose to leave those boroughs exactly as they are. There are sixteen boroughs containing populations between 25,000 and -54,000, and returning one member each; they are Gateshead, Walsall, Monmouth, Chatham,, South Shields, Rochdale Tynemouth, and North Shields, Ashton-under-Lyne, Huddersfield, Leith, Bury, Cheltenham, Gieenock, Dudley, Swansea, and Paisley. Now, under my plan all these places would return two members. When I get to a population of 64,000 I take a step upwards, and proceed with the list of -boroughs—that should henceforth return three members, and they are these—Bath, Nottingham, Leicester, Bolton, Sunderland, Norwich, Preston, Brighton, Portsmouth, Oldham, Stoke-upon-Trent, Hull, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Bradford, Green- wich, and Wolverhampton. There are sixteen boroughs, all of which would under this scheme return three membere to Parliament. We come next to four boroughs which ought to be included in that list, but which at present return only one member—viz., Merthyr Tydvil, in Wales ; Sal- 'ford, in Lancashire ; and the City of Aberdeen and the town of Dundee, in Scotland. You will observe—and I ought to explain this first—that in framing this scheme I have known nothing of the river Tweed, and no- -thing of St. George's Channel. I wish to treat Scotland and Ireland pre- cisely on the same principles, in every respect, as I would treat England and Wales. These boroughs which I have.just named bring me up from 54,000 to 135,000. All these calculations are based on the census of 1851. Beginning at 135,000, and going up to double that number, which is 270,000, I propose that nine boroughs shall hereafter return four members. They are Sheffield, Bristol, Leeds, Southwark, Birmingham, Westminster, Lambeth, and the Tower Hamlets, which I propose to divide, its popula- tion being so enormous, into two complete boroughs—to each of which four .members shall be given. Then I come to a very select, but very large and most important list—a list which comprises but five cities or boroughs, but of the very largest in the kingdom, and entitled, as I am sure you will see, to exercise a very powerful influence upon the Government of the country. They are the boroughs of Manchester, Finsbury, ldarylebone, Liverpool, and Glasgow, having a population at the last census, of more than 316,000, and now, doubtless, of 400,000. I propose to give to each of these five bo- roughs six members of Parliament. Well, then there comes the question of the new boroughs. [This list is not presented as complete.] Of these boroughs five are to have one member each—Gravesend, Leamington, Staleybridge, Burnley, and Birkenhead. Now one of these boroughs puts in a claim for two members • that is a point to be considered. I have put it down for_ one member, because my information did not lead me to think that I could, at this stage, take any other course. Then there are two bo- roughs which Lord I. Russell in 1854 proposed to unite and make one—the parishes of Chelsea and Kensington, in Vest London. Their population is 80 large and so rapidly increasing, that I think they ought to be two be- roughs, and that they ought to have two members each. These few bo- roughs, therefore, will absord nine members." [With regard to Scotch burghs he proposes to divide some of the groups and gives a member to each division.] Now one other point,—what sl3011 be done "if anything shall -be done," with the distribution of members to counties ? He proposes to give the 'West Riding of Yorkshire, four additional members, two more to South Lancashire, one to North Yorkshire, North Lancashire, South Devon, West Kent, South Stafford, West Cornwall, North Essex, South Essex, West Norfolk; East Solnerset, West Somerset, and that portion of Lincolnshire which is known by the name of the Parted Lindsey. "Now, these have been selected on account of their great population and because within them there has grown up not only a large population, hut very large interests that are net exclusively connected with the land. As to Ireland, where the boroughs are lees than in England. "I have proposed that nine of these boroughs, beginning with Portarlington and ending with Bandon, should be disfranchised, and six of their members dis- tributed in this way—two to the city of Dublin, and one each to-the town of Belfast and the town of Kilkenny, and the cities of Limerick and Cork. Then, looking at the vast population of many of the Irish counties, I pro- pose to give from the boroughs of England five new members, which, added to the three saved from these disfranchised boroughs, will give one member each to six of the principal Irish counties, and two members to the county of Cork, which may be termed the Yorkshire of Ireland. (Loud applause.) . . . . Now, it is possible that somebody may think that I am unreasonable in proposing four members for certain boroughs, and six for certain other boroughs; but what is to be the basis of your representation ? Population ? No. Some may say property. Yes, property has something to do with its taxes. Taxes have a great deal to do with it. I will give you, then one or two facts. I propose to give to Manchester and Liverpool six members each, twelve members to the two. What do they pay annually to the Govern- ment in income-tax in schedules A and B, towards the property and house- faxes, the assessed taxes, and land tax ? They paid in the- year 1857, 897,0001., and all the boroughs that I have proposed to disfranchise under 8,000/. The constituents that now have 87 members, what did they pay in that year ? They paid 221,000/. (Cheers and laughter.) The constituencies with 87 members paid 221,1001.; the constituencies with four members now and in past time, but with 12 as I have proposed to arrittige it, paid 897,000/., or morethan four times as-much again, compared with Manches- ter and Liverpool, with the schedule B; as I propose to leave it, being 69 boroughs still returning 69 members, those 69 members' constituents only • paid 386,000/, in 1857, and, if I added to the 69 members from 69 boroughs the 55 members from other 41 boroughs—that is, taking all the boroughs under 25,000 population,rthe whole of it is only 857,000/. of taxes, against 897,000/. paid by Liverpool and Manchester. I am not afraid, then, that any one who tools into these schedules will charge me with giving undue influence to the population or to the property of your great towns and cities ; if any man tells you that this will do mischief, or that it is wrong or unfair at heart, he is not for a representative system at all, or he does not in. the leastcomprehend it." Some people would say he had not treated the counties fairly. Now the county seats are landlords' seats. The peers represent the land, just as mach as the Bishops represent the Established Church. Representing the land they have another advantage—" they don't sit with us ; I was almost going to say I wish they did." All laws must pass through them ; they are one great interest. To show their power Mr. Bright alluded to their refusal to admit Lord Wensleydale as a life-peer, and to their refusal for so many years to allow a Jew to sit in the House of Commons. "Now whenever the counties shall claim and shall obtain a proportion of members of the House of Commons in accordance with the population which they show upon the census then the time will come, inevitably it will come, when the towns will ask why the counties should be the sole constituents for the members for the House of Lords, the constituents, not by open election, but in fact. You have on this platform tonight two gentlemen who moved and seconded the resolutions which you have been so good as to pass welcoming me to this meeting. If the House of Lords is to be a representation of all the great interests of the country, and not of the land exclusively, where would you find them but sitting there as the barons, the marquises, the dukes— nay, the princes, of manufactures and of commerce ? ((xreat cheering.) I don't wish to open this question. I am so far Conservative as to be willing to retain the institutions which I find in my time, so long as they can be made to work without obvious and serious detriment to the interest of the empire. Let us go on with the House of Lords by all means ; but let us have a real representation in the House of Commons ,• and when you have a real representation in the House of Commons, depend upon it you will find that the Lords will wake up, rub their eyes and find out that they have been mistaken in several important particulars. They will not exactly turn their backs upon themselves, but they will look upon popular interests and popular sympathies with a different eye, and feel towards them with a dif- ferent heart, and you will have for a long time—I know not how long—is much harmony between the two Houses in legislating for the country as you have ever had in times past." Was the bill he had described worth moving for ? He did not desire to prepare a theoretically perfect bill, but a practicable bill. " A bad bill—I am but repeating what I said the first time I spoke on this question, three months ago—a bad bill is a revolutionary bill ; a little bill, though it may not be revolutionary, is of no good, and is very perilous ; if either of these is passed you will have to begin again." . . . . " I do not want any bill with which I am connected to be merely the subject of a night's debate, and then thrown into the waste-paper basket of the House of Commons. I bring it forward because I believe such a measure is necessary and ought to pass, and I trust the people of England will so support it that Parliament will not refuse to sanction it. Now, the towns of England have the ques- tion in their own hands. Will they resolve, will they petition, will they represent to their Memberswhat are their wishes upon this great question ? It has been decided by several editors of newspapers that I am not a states- man. I never pretended to be one. I am a citizen one of yourselves. (Cheers.) I am powerless in this matter, if alone. Lord Grey, with his high rank, his surpassing abilities, his great reputation, and his influence in the country, would have been unable to pass the bill of 1832 if the people had not with one voice demanded that it should become the law of the land. Do not suppose that I shall be alone. If the people will speak out, there are eminent men whose sympathies are with us, watching the signs of the times, looking for the reports of such meetings as the present, which will go far to decide their course. If there is a great army, there will be captains, and leaders. . Do not suppose that there are not among the aristocracy fami- lies more than one or two which will not betray or belie the historic reputa- tion which belongs to them. (Cheers.) Let the nation speak out, and its fiat will certainly be obeyed. For myself, I have been for three months past the object of much misrepresentation and of much slander ; but I have gone through all that before, and in another cause. (Cheers.) When I last addressed the people of Bradford I was cooperating with a man of deep sagacity, of clear judgment, of extensive knowledge, and persuasive speech. Were we not exposed to the same charges and the same slanders? Yet, did we not succeed, and have we not now, as a compensation for all we endured, the priceless thought that there is no hand in this country that wipes the sweat from the brow of toil whose labours are not lightened, and whose re- wards are not increased by the sacrifices we were content to make ? (Cheers.) In those speeches which I have lately delivered I have abstained from as- sailing any single individual. I have been met by several members of the aristocracy in a manner I scarcely expected. One Scotch lerd, told a greet audience that I was afflicted by a visitation of Providence, and that I was suffering from disease of the 'brain. (" Shame!") His friends can tell whether that is a complaint with which he is ever likely to be afflicted. (Laughter.) Another nobleman says that I am a destroyer of property and a traitor to my class. I stop not to answer language like this. (Cheers.) There are some great men and there are many good men in the ranks of the English aristocracy. There are among them some who would be nobles though coronets and privilege were things unknown, but even their virtues cannot long sustain their order against the perilous defence to which it is now exposed. (Cheers.) I therefore warn them to call back the champions who in every display of their powers exhibit hereditary nobility allied with intellectual poverty, and members of the Peerage wanting in the manners and likeness of gentlemen. (Cheers and laughter.) I cannot consent to arrest the progress of this great debate to take part in personal conflicts. I brush aside the miserable detractors whose nature it is to bark anti bray it the protectors of every. great and good cause. I address a great nation upon a great question. I am in earnest, and I speak because I believe. I have no eloquence but that which consists in a hearty love of truth, and the facts and arguments I use enter the understanding and reach the hearts of my countrymen. .(Cheers.) I am powerless as an individual; my countrymen are the nation and omnipotent, and to them and to you I commit the issue and fate of this great question." (Loud and protracted cheering.) On the motion of Mr. W. E. Forster, seconded by Mr. Jelin Priest- man, the .meeting adopted a resolution declaring that "the country is ripe for a large and comprehensive measure of reform that will include the admission of 101. occupiers to the county franchise; the esta- blishment of household suffrage in boroughs, vote by ballot, and a mom equitable distribution of representatives to population." A conference of reformers was held in St. George's Hall, on Tuesday, Mr. Titus Salt in the chair. Mr. W. E. Forster expressed a general concurrence in Mr. Bright's plan ; "trilling defects" can be remedied in committee. Mr. Buck of Burnley said the disease is ignorance • the re- medy an educational test. Mr. Fair of Bradford wanted to know wh), Dewsbury and Skipton, places not connected with the land, are omitted from the schedules. Mr. Moss of Bradford wished no know what Mr. Bright intended to do with populous and important villages. In reply, Mr. Bright referred the gentlemen to the schedules, and then proceeded to repeat the substanee of those tables. As to populous vil- lages, we know from a sorrowful experience that the land has had a predominating influence. It seemed, therefore, that the constituencies of counties should be increased by the addition of voters who live in vil- lages and small towns. It would be injniidne to withdraw them from

• ; the counties, and make county representation again exclusively land re- presentation. But there are seven seats reserved, and their claims will be fairly considered. "I have been asked why, in the village of Pudsey, and some others, a man should not vote if he did not occupy a 101. house, while in Bradford he would vote if he occupied a 51. house ? That evidently is a discrepancy. It is a state of things which exists now, and would exist after my bill be- came law, if it ever should ; but it arises from this fact, that you have al- ways between your county and borough representation an entire difference. The public do not appear to have made up their mind as to the point at which the franchises should be equalised. Your agricultural labourers are entirely non-political. In the purely agricultural districts, the newspapers to a great extent have been and are unknown among the labourers. There is, therefore, no particular object to serve in inviting some hundreds of thousands of persons, whose attention has never been turned in the least to political questions, who have never apparently been able to manifest an in- terest in such questions, to share the representation. The time will come in all probability when the franchise will be equalised, and when that is considered advisable on the part of the public I should not be one of those who would be disposed to stand in the way of any equalisation which may be thought desirable, but I want now to propose that which as far as I can judge meets the existing requirements of public opinion, taking into con- sideration the timidity that exists on the one hand, and the earnestness and the ardour which prevail on the other. Unless you do that your bill will not be practicable."

Mr. Bright recommended the formation of local associations; and the loading of the table of the House of Commons with petitions. That is a process the House of Commons will understand. "By making a grand, persistent, united, and resolute expression of opinion on the part of the great middle and working classes of this country—now so happily united—you will find what the House of Commons, and ultimately the House of Lords, will become in your hands, and I believe you will find that within a year or two you will have done one of those great things for liberty which will stand forward for ever as a bright spot in the annals of your country." Questioned as to what he would do with "lodgers," Mr. Bright said he should have no objection to seeing their names on the register, but he could not state the precise mode in which that can be done.

Finally, the meeting resolved to form a Reform Association, and a com- mittee was appointed for that purpose.

MR. BRIGHT'S BILL.

• One part of Mr. Bright's bill—that which he deems the most essential, his plan for the redistribution of seats—has been officially laid before the public. He expounded it in his speech at Bradford ; but the reader will • like to have more precise information, and a concise summary of the schedules.

Schedule A. This schedule contains a list of sixty-five boroughs in England and Ireland, having a population below 8000, and twenty-one "contributory boroughs" in Scotland, which it is proposed to disfran- chise. They are—

(English.) Arundel, Honiton, Ashburton Lyme Regis, Thetford, Tot- _nes, Harwich, Dartmouth, Evesham, Wells, Reigate, Richmond, Northaller- ton, Marlborough, Caine, Leominster, Lymington, Thirsk, Ludlow, An- dover, Knaresborough, Petersfield, Tewkesbury, Malden, Horsham, Abing- don, Launceston, Brecon, Ripon, Cirencester, Liskeard, Huntingdon, Chip- penham, Bodmin, Dorchester, Great Marlow, Devizes, Hertford, Radnor, Guildford, Malmesbury, Lichfield, Midhurst, Westbury, Droitwich, Wy- combe, Wareham, Cockermouth, Bewdley, Helston, Christchurch, Eye, Bridport, Bridgenorth, Malton,Woodstock. (Irish.) Portarlington, Dungannon, Downpatrick, Kinsale, Mallow, En- niskillen Coleraine, Lisburn, Bandon. (Scotc11.) New Galloway, Kintore, Dornoeh, Culross, North Berwick, Inverberne, Inverary, Lochmaben Lauder Fortrose, South Queensferry,

Crail, Pittenween, kinghorn, Whithom, Lauder, Oban, Cromarty, Live-

rury Sanquhar, Kirkcudbright. , 8;hedule B. In this schedule are the names of sixty-nine boroughs which it is proposed shall only return one Member. (Several now return

(English.) Newport, Wallingford, Buckingharojavistock, Rye, Wilton, Tamworth, Chichester, Peterborough, Banbury, Stamford, St. Ives, Poole, Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, Shaftesbury, 'Windsor, Lewes, Haverford- west, Morpeth, Beverley, Frome, Bridgewater, Newcastle-under-Lyne, Truro, Grantham, Warwick, Whitby, Tiverton, Newark, Barnstaple, Cli- theroe, Pontefract, Salisbury, Bedford, Cardigan, Kendal, Stafford, Here- ford, Great Grimsby, Sandwich, Beaumaris, Scarborough, Hythe, Durham, Penryn and Falmouth, Winchester, Bury St. Edmund's, Taunton, Roches- ter, Berwick.

(Irish.) Athlone, Carrickfergus, Armagh, Cashel, Youghal, New Ross, Dundalk, Ennis, Dungarvan, Carlow, Wexford, Tralee, Sligo, Newry, Clonmel.

(Scotch.) Stirling ; St. Andrew's, Cupar, Anstruthers, and Kilrenny ; Wick, Kirkwall, Dingwall, and Tain ; Dunfermline and lnverkeithing. These boroughs now return 102 members. They are to return only sixty-nine.

Schedule C, contains forty-one boroughs, now returning fifty-one Members. It is proposed that they shall return fifty-five. They contain a population between 16,000 and 25,000. They are—

(English.) Lancaster, Denbigh, Pembroke, Hastings, Boston, Lincoln, Gloucester, Montgomery, Canterbury, Kidderminster, Flint, Whitehaven, Carmarthen, King's Lynn, Colchester, Shrewsbury, Cardiff, Wenlock, Maidstone, Reading, Wakefield, Carnarvon, Dover, Warrington.

(Irish.) Drogheda, Londonderry, Kilkenny. Scotch.) Dumfries and Annan ; Haddington, Dunbar,Jedburgh, Mus- sel urgh, and Portobello ; Ayr; Hamilton, Lanark, and Linlithgow; Inver- ness, Ferree_ , and Nairn ; Elgin, Banff, and Peterhead ; Kirkaldy, Burntis- land, and Dysart ; Kilmarnock; Dumbarton, Port Glasgow, Renfrew, and Rutherglen; Irvine, Cambeltown, Wigton, and Stranmer; Falkirk and Airdrie ; Arbroath and Brechin •' Perth ; Montrose and Forfar.

No change is proposed in these boroughs : except that three of the largest Scotch groups are to be divided and have one member each; and that Kilkenny is to have two members. Schedule .D. There are forty-three boroughs under this head.

(English.) Gateshead, Wulmll, Carlisle, Monmouth, Northampton, Aylesbury, Worcester, Chester, Cambridge, Oxford, Chatham, South Shields, -Rochdale, Tynemouth and North Shields, Ashton-under-Line, Shoreham, Huddersfield, Yarmouth, Bury, Wigan, Ipswich, Halifax, Cheltenham, Southampton, Cricklade' Stroud, Coventry, Dudley, Maccles- field, York, Derby, Exeter, Swansea, East Regard, Blackburn, Devonport, Plymouth, Stockport.

(Irish.) Waterford, Galway. (Scotch.) ' Leith, Greenock, and Paisley. These boroughs have a population of from 25,000 to 54,000; return seventy Members ; are in future to return eighty-six.

Schedule F. Here are twenty-three boroughs with populations ex- ceeding 54,000 and not exceeding 127,000. They return forty-two Members ; they are to return sixty-nine, or three members each. They are—

(English.) Bath, Nottingham, Leicester, Bolton, Merthyr Tydvil, Sun- derland, Norwich, Preston, Brighton, Portsmouth, Oldham, Stoke-upon- Trent, Hull, Salford, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Bradford, Greenwich, Wolver- hampton. (Irish.) Limerick, Belfast, Cork.

(Scotch.) Aberdeen, Dundee.

Schedule F. This enumerates twelve boroughs with_populations above 127,000, below 270,900. They return twenty-four Members; they are to return forty-eight. They are— (English.) London, Sheffield, Bristol, Leeds, Southwark, Birmingham, Westminster, Lambeth, Tower Hamlets, A, Tower Hamlets, p.

(Irish.) Dublin. (Scotch.) Edinburgh. Each is divided into two distinct wards returning two members each.

Schedule G. The boroughs in the schedule are five in number. They now return two, in future they are to return six members. Population exceeding 316,000. They are to be divided into wards returning three members each.

(English.) Manchester, Finsbury, Marylebone, Liverpool. (Scotch.) Glasgow. Schedule H. New boroughs : five ; Gravesend, Leamington, Staley- bridge, Burnley, Birkenhead, populations above 15,000 and under 25,000, to return one member ; Chelsea and Kensington, population ex- ceeding 25,000, to return two members each.

Schedule I. gives eighteen additional members to fourteen counties and divisions of counties now returning. twenty-eight members. They are— West Riding of York, two divisions, South Lancashire two divisions, York, North Riding, North Lancashire South Devonshire, West Kent, South Stafford, West Cornwall, North Essex, South Essex LincolnshiM, parts of Lindsey, West Norfolk, East Somerset, West Somerset.

Except West Yorkshire, which obtains four additional, and South Lancashire, which obtains two additional members, the remainder obtain only one additional member.

Schedule K. gives an additional member to the following Irish coun- ties now returning two members—

Wexford, Limerick, Antrim, Tyrone, Down, Tipperary, and two addi- tional to county Cork. Schedule L deals with Scotch counties. It unites Selkirk and Peebles, giving them one instead of two members; and gives the abstracted mem- ber to Lanarkshire. Uniting Sutherland and Caithness, a member is abstracted and given to Aberdeenshire. Bute and Arran are to be added to Argyleshire and the united constituency is to return two members.

• Abstract of Schedule A shows that the eighty-six disfranchised bo- roughs had a total population of 411,890; paid direct taxes to the amount of 141,100/., possessed 20,812 101. electors, and returned ninety-six members.

Abstract of Schedules B, C, and D, (boroughs returning not more than two members each), shows that they had a total population of 3,081,621; paid direct taxes to the amount of 1,822,8631., possess 125,810 10/. electors, return 152 members ; and will under Mr. Bright's plan re- turn 210.

Abstract of Schedules E, F, G, (boroughs to return more than two members,) shows a total population of 5,951,784; direct taxes 6,615,119/., 101. electors 278,651, present number of members 40; proposed 147.

The following Abstract, says the official statement, shows the Borough population of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by the arrangements pro- posed in the foregoing Schedules; the number of Ten-pound Electors, the number of Members, and the population for each Member. In the proportion of Members for England are included seven Members not yet appropriated, and for which additional new Boroughs may be ad- vantageously created—

Population in 1851. No. of 10f. No. of Electors. Members.

England 7,319,961 417,441 301 Scotland 1,107,918 48,577 40 Ireland 827,284 28,075 38 Total 9,255,163 494,093 379 Several minor meetings have been held to promote the reform move- ment. At Exeter, with the Mayor presiding, the meeting asked gene- rally for extended franchise, ballot, redistribution of seats. At Glouces- ter the demand was not more precise. Mr. Jelinger Symons declared for an educational franchise as opposed to a rating or property franchise. An attempt to carry a resolution for household suffrage failed. Chester- field asks for a Member, and a 5/. rating franchise. Rochdale desires a large extension of the franchise, "redistribution of members to popula- tion," and ballot.

Pudsey has held a meeting to protest against its exclusion under Mr. Bright's scheme of a rating franchise. Pudsey desires that all persons, whether in town or country, who are rated to the relief of the poor, shall have a vote.

A meeting has been held at Cardiff; Mr. E. A. Freeman being among the speakers. This borough adopts the Bright scheme except in one particular. Mr. Bright allots one member to Cardiff; and Cardiff thinks itself entitled to two.

The committee appointed to obtain extra Members for the metropolis have accepted a scheme projected by Mr. Kit, a well-known ultra-Radi- cal Islington shopkeeper. He asks for thirty additional Members for the metropolis and four for the outlying parishes ; making a total of repre- sentatives for the metropolis offfly. He would subdivide existing con- stituencies into boroughs returning two Members and in some cases one Member each ; and create two or more new constituencies. The basis of this calculation is property, population, rateability, and houses.

Population for each Member.

24,318 27,697 21,770