Lord Ripon yesterday week altered the hours within which the
poll is to be open under the new Ballot Bill, so as to extend them to 7 p.m. between the 1st of April and the 30th of September inclusive, and to make them close at 5 p.m. in the other half of the year, between the 1st of October and the 31st of March inclu- sive, and this is to hold good for counties and boroughs alike, so as to assimilate the rule. Lord Shaftesbury, on behalf of the working-men, accepted the amendment, though not satisfied with it, on the ground that half a loaf is better than no bread, and the House of Commons agreed to it yesterday- The effect of the change will be that the working-class will probably exercise more influence over summer elections than over winter, or at least will exercise their influence at less cost to themselves in summer than in winter. One would have said, on a priori principles, that voting which shuns the light should have had a natural preference for the dark hours, and therefore for the dark months. Nicodemus, we know, was the first Christian to secure himself against inti- midation, by secrecy,—and he preferred the night to the day for giving his suffrage to his master.
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