On Tuesday, Mr. Chamberlain spoke at Wolverhampton, chiefly on the
county franchise. He said that he was completely unaware of the divisions in the Cabinet of which the newspapers said so much. "To the best of my belief, every member of the Cabinet is anxiously pursuing the same general objects, is governed by the same principles, and is actuated by -the same loyalty to the great chief whose long experience and -commanding ability entitle him to influence and authority .among his colleagues, and whose long-tried sympathy with the popular rights has given him the confidence and the admiring affection of the great majority of his countrymen." Mr. -Chamberlain went on to argue for the right of Ireland to a full :share in the proposed electoral Reform, in language which we have elsewhere quoted and dwelt upon ; and then he insisted -en the advisability of separating the Franchise Bill from the Redistribution Bill. This was right as a matter of principle, because whether the Redistribution Bill were bad s'for its Radicalism or for its Conservatism, whether it went too -far or did not go far enough, still the county householders were :entitled to their vote. Doubtless, without Redistribution, that vote would give them but a small fraction of the power they :ought to have. Still, the fact that they were entitled to more . power than it would give, was no good excuse for refusing them .:as much as it would give. As to Redistribution, Mr. Chamber- "lain pointed out that in the House of Commons forty Members -for certain constituencies represent a quarter of a million of persons, while forty other Members represent more than six - millions and a quarter; so that the six millions are thrown in,
• as it were, to be represented implicitly, and not explicitly by -any representative machinery at all. As for the Lords reject- ing the Franchise Bill, Mr. Chamberlain expressed a pions "hope that the nobility might be endued, in the language of the 'Church, "with grace, wisdom, and understanding."
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