THE Tony Parma MINISTER AND HIS Psaxs.—Earl Mansfield is des-
tined to fill the highs office of Premier, in the event of next Parliament's rejecting the Reform Bill. Sir Robert Peel will resume his old place as Home Secretary and leader of the Lower House. As the Tories have had few desertions from their standard, and of these few several have again gone over to them, the other arrangements will not be very diffi- cult. The King and the People are to be managed as the Cabinet best can. The Press is to be subjected to a censorship : the members of the Central Board, in England, will be the Editors of the Morning Post, the John Bull, and the Deputy Licenser ; in Scotland, one of the Lord Ad- vocate's Deputies will perform the duties of Censor-General ; in Ireland, the Catholic department will be managed by Sir Harcourt Lees—it has not been settled whether the Protestant may not be suffered to manage itself. Considerable alterations in the interior arrangement of the jour- nals are contemplated. Weekly papers, except such as are purely lite- rary, are to be suppressed ; on daily papers, the stamp is to be raised to 9d. The editor and all the contributors are to be regularly entered in a book, which is to be deposited, together with the MSS. of every week, in an office to which the censors will have free access. The Press is to be the first object of the new Ministry's care. When its power has been redniced within proper limits, the subject of Reform is to be gone into. The close boroughs which have above one thousand inhabitants are to remain undisturbed ; of those that fall below that number, two will, in future, return a member alternately. The members thus set free (fourteen) will be bestowed in this way,—Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, and Leeds, will get two each; the remaining six will be given to the five largest counties, York getting two. In counties, the fran- chise will be raised from 40s. to 251.; which, it is supposed, will very
much diminish the cost of elections. In non-corporate towns, the fran- chise will be exercised by persons renting houses or warehouses of 501. or upwards. Preston is the only place in favour of which an exception is to be made ; Mr. Hunt's singular services have purchased immunity for its potwallopers for twenty-one years. In corporate towns, the members will be chosen by a council elected by householders having the legal qua- lification; the council in no case to exceed twenty-five, nor to fall short of twelve. In Scotland, the only change contemplated is the extension of the franchise in counties to the Commissioners of Supply. In Ireland, the county franchise will be raised to 501. ; the town franchise will be the same as in England. It is said that the Duke of Newcastle is disin- clined to some of these changes, which he is afraid may lead to greater; and Sir George Clerk has protested for Scotland, and Mr. North for Ireland, against any change whatever in those kingdoms ; but Sir Robert Peel is decidedly of opinion that relaxation is called for in some cases, and regulation in all. It was proposed by the Marquis of Chandos, that the Catholic Emancipation Bill should be at once repealed, as the best and shortest reform that Ireland could receive ; but Sir Robert and the Duke, who takes the Horse Guards with a seat in the Cabinet, are most averse from agitating that repeal at present. The New Police will be immediately augmented to 15,000, and armed with pistols. and swords, as in Ireland. It is proposed to extend this force to the whole of the country.
Previous page
