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out of doors , and to render the workhouse as distasteful as possible . Then , under these circumstances , could it be desirable to employ persons on a farm or garden attac hed to the workhouse , and to give them better food , clothing , and shelter than the independent labourer could obtain ? Such a system , he did not hesitate to say , was entirely opposed to the workhouse test , and would be a most fatal one to adopt . He warned Irish gentlemen that no temporary advantage which they might gain from a reduction of rates for the time would countervail the loss which would be inflicted on the labourer and the ratepayers , if they abandoned the principle of making the workhouse test as severe and distasteful as possible . ( Hear , hear . )"
Mr . Henley pertinently replied that nothing could be more dangerous for Ireland than to break down the workhouse test ; but he could not understand by what connection of terms employing persons within the workhouse necessarily destroyed the labour test , for he could see no difference in the principle whether a man employed in picking oakum , did it in such a manner as that it should be reproductive , or that it should be worth nothing . ( Hear , hear . ) Mr . Labouchere said , what was to a great extent true , that every gentleman who intended to support the motion seemed anxious to explain away its obvious meaning . " He certainly thought that whatever temporary relief might be given to the ratepayers by making the Irish poorhouses a colossal workshop , the ultimate injury that it would entail on Ireland in all respects , morally and otherwise , it was impossible to calculate . " It was obvious , throughout the debate , that there was a disposition to shirk discussion of the question of reproductive employment . The compromise being —that it was allowable for one board of guardians to sell any surplus to another , but not in the public market . When the House divided there were—For the motion , 42 ; against it , 64 . Majority against , 22 . Tuesday evening is notable in the Parliamentary history of the week for two additional victories gained over Ministers . Apparently they flourish upon minorities , for the more they are beaten the more closely they stick to the Treasury . The first defeat was given by Lord Robert Grosvenok , the champion of that distressed and persecuted class of her Majesty ' s subjects , the attorneys and solicitors . He made his annual motion for leave
to bring in a bill to repeal the certificate duty . There was no debate . The Chancellor of the Exchequer resisted the motion on the intelligible ground that he had reduced taxation on articles of consumption until he was blamed for it , and now he was asked to repeal a tax which he did not by any means think deserving of their earliest consideration . The result was striking . The legal interest mustered strongly . The House at once divided ; and there were—For the motion , 1 G 2 ; against it , 132 . Majority against Ministers , 30 .
Mr . Henry Berkeley then moved for leave to "bring in a bill for the protection of the Parliamentary electors of Great Britain and Ireland , by taking the votes by way of Ballot . Mr . Berkeley is one or the most daring of those speakers who seldom trouble the House , but who might do so oftener much to its advantage . The interest of the debate did not of course lie in the arguments advanced upon this hackneyed topic ; yet Mr . Berkeley contrived to say some very striking things . He boldly taxed the House with condemning purity of election by refusing the Ballot . He told Lord John Russell that without that protection the proposed Parliamentary reform would be a nullity ; then , in a rapid sentence , he characterized the system which Lord John Russell had said worked so well : —¦
" But he asked him , could that system be said to work well the terrors of which deterred a full third of the electors of this country from recording their votes while it permitted the corruption and intimidution of the majority of those who did vote ; which allowed forty-eight peers of the realm and seventeen wealthy members of Parliament to return to that House ninety-eight members by direct unconHtitutional interference , in spite , too , of the sessional orders made annually against the interference
of peers ; which converted our agricultural voters into a mere electoral flock of sheep ; which , once in seven years or oftener , converted this country into one vast arena of drunken confusion and corruption of all kinds ; which was one great lie throughout ; which grunted to a man in theory that which it denied him in practice ; and which complimented a man upon his liberty while it rendered him a kIuvc ? ( Hear , hear . ) Yet that was the syatem which the noble lord thought worked well . "
Mr . ll !< : itK . Hi-. KY then run the round of the disgraceful elections und noted bribery boroughs ; ho pointed ¦ out that where bribery was not resorted to , intimidation was ; he especially referred to tho condition of the tenant fanners hiding in haystacks und strawfltacka to escape from their landlords upon polling days ; and quoted Defoe ; in fact , inude just thut kind of . speech which ho makcH ho well every year , varying the illustrations with the times . Tho 1 louse seemed decidedly inclined to shirk tho debute . Mr . llujvti :, "who hud given notice that ho would movn hit * well'knowii parliamentary reform resolution as an nmemlinent , made a parliamentary reform speech , and then 'declined to preHH his amendment , because it might Create division in tho ranks of tho Liberals . The
junior Lord of the Treasury , and moved " that it be an instruction to the Committee to provide for the abolition of any qualification for members to serve in Parliament . " And then he innocently observed , that he should be quite content to leave the question in the hands of Lord John Russell to be dealt with in the new Reform Bill ; " but he thought he might be excused if he took this opportunity of bringing the question before them . He then entered into the whole question , whither there is no need for us to follow him . The interest of the evening turned upon the extraordinary reply of the Premier . Lord John Russell commented on the
only other speaker was Captain Scobell , the new member for Bath , who confined himself to detailing in an effective way the evils suffered by the people of Bath for the want of the Ballot . The House divided , when there were—For the motion , 87 ; against it , 50 . Majority against Ministers , 37 . At the sitting of the House on Wednesday , a singular scene took , place , and a species of Ministerial pose plastigue was executed . Mr . Hutt has a bill before the House called the Colonial Property Qualification Bill . When the order of the day was read to go into Committee upon it , up got Mr . Tufnell , late
" singular shape in which the proposal came—a proposal which had nothing to do with the bill before them . " But , " said he , "it is quite a different question whether or not there is any utility in keeping up a qualification for seats in that House as it at present stood . " There was " great weight" in Mr . Tufnell'sarguments . The distinction between " knights girt with , a sword , " and " burgesses resident in boroughs , " was no longer a " reality . " " But in the reign of Queen Anne the landed interest being very jealous of the advance of trade and
commerce , bethought them of a new qualification , a new restriction , utterly at variance with , the ancient qualification , because it provided that those representatives of cities and burgesses who were formerly persons resident in those cities and boroughs , and who had no property except their own trade or what they made by merchandise and such manufactures and wares as they disposed of , should all be landowners and have such a qualification . In his opinion that provision was very unadvisable . ( Hear , hear . ) No doubt it was intended to strengthen the landed interest in that House . ( Hear . )"
And he asked whether , since the alterations made in the qualification by Mr . Warburton ' s b'll had taken place , " there was in fact any security in a property qualification as it now existed ?" " Was it not notorious , as his right honourable friend said , that persons elected to that House who had any credit at all , or connections who would help them to a qualification , had no difficulty in obtaining one , and in sitting in that House by a qualification perfectly good in law , although , in point of fact , they were not persons holding the exact qualification ? "
Another notorious fact was , tlmt Scotch members required no qualification , and they were quite as good as < my other members . He therefore thought that the question of qualification ought " to be ttken into consideration " b y Parliament , but not in the way now proposed : — " Either it should be by a special bill for that purpose introduced , with the view to abolish property qualification altogether , or by a bill for general purposes relating to our representation , in which it nii ^ ht form a clause . In either way in which it might be introduced , he certainly was willing to give that question a favourable consideration . ( Ilear , hear . ) Then it was to be considered
whether there would be any danger at all , supposing all qualification was done away—whether inembeis returned to that House would not be , in fact , perfectly as well qualified a 8 the present members to sit there . It appeared to him that would form in fact , a very real qualification ; whether u desirable qualification or not mi ^ ht be matter of dispute , and he dared to say that an honourable gentleman whom he saw opposite might dispute it ; but he thought what did form a real qualification was , that no person without some considerable means , who was not resident in London , was able to maintain a seat in that House , and to go to the expense of coining to live in London and leaving any business in which lie might be engaged . "
And then ho instanced the case of a tenant-farmer , or a small tradesman , neither of whom , ho thought , would be able conveniently to quit his farm or his business to reside in London ; and that in fact would form " a very real qualification . " " If , " said Lord John , in his closing remarks , " they had the People ' s Charter , and members were paid , they would not have that necuiity ; but he never meant to give his vote in favour of the payment of member * . ( Hear , hear . ) They did much better without it ; but , with rogiud to the subject of qualification , though he could not vote for the present motion , yet he could assure his ritfht honourable friend that when the subject wan brought forward as a whole and separate question he should give his support to it . ( Hear , hear . )"
The opposition were surprised . Mr . 'Nkwdkuatk Httid there appeared to bo a " perfect scramble " as to who should bo the author of the future Reform Hill . Mr . Hkni . kv " protested " ugtuiiHt the doctrines of Mr . Tufnoll , and defied him to prove that the people had ever possessed tho right of unlimited choice . Mr . Vkunon Smith
" Thought the present qualificat ion was an idle ground of objection to persons , and , though considered to be a serious impediment , was , in fact , none . The noble lord said the occasion on which the motion was brought forward was singular ; but the noble lord forgot that hi 3 right honourable friend had only just recovered his independent power of speeeh . ( A laugh . ) His right honourable friend had always been an eager reformer , and therefore took the earliest opportunity of showing it . ( A laugh . )"
And the result ? Just what might be expected from the bland suavity and gentleness of Lord John Russell's speech , and Mr . Tufnell ' s yielding good , nature , and Mr . Hutt's confidence in the Premier — both bill and motion were withdrawn . The whole thing seemed " up" for the purpose of giving Lord John Russell an opportunity of saying something liberal . The House then passed to the second reading of the Home-made Spirits in Bond Bill . The history of this bill is well known . Twice Ministers have been beaten upon it ; but on Wednesday , with , a strong " whip , " they avenged their defeats . After some discussion the House divided , when there were —• For the second reading , 166 ; against it , 191 . Majority against , 28 .
The Valuation ( Ireland ) Bill , after considerable opposition , passed through Committee pro forma . The principle of this bill is to value lands and tenements in Ireland on a scale founded upon the prices of agricultural produce in that country , and to take the value for the next fourteen years , according to those prices as fixed in a scale by the act . The House had a short morning sitting on Thursday , at which the Merchant Seamen ' s Fund Bill was passed , and they met again at five o ' clock .
Mr . Baillie Cochrane asked whether any official information had been received with respect to the French army of occupation in Rome , who were fortifying their positions , and showing every indication of an intention to occupy Rome permanently . Was Lord John Russell prepared to consent to the permanent occupation of Rome by the French ? Lord John Russell had received accounts from Rome differing materially from those received by Mr . Cochrane . As to the question of the permanent occupation of Rome by French troops , all he could say wa 9 , that the recent communications of Ministers with the Government of France led to quite an opposite conclusion . The occupation would be temporary , not permanent .
Mr . Hume brought on his motion for an address to inquire into the proceedings of Sir James Brooke , especially into the celebrated attack upon the Dyaks on the 31 st of July , 1849 . Mr . Hume supported his motion by a long speech plentifully studded with extracts from private and other correspondence . Tho charge brought against Sir James Brooke is , that he advised and directed the attack upon the Dyaks , of the , 'ilst of July , which was a barbarous . and cruel massacre , in order to destroy his personal enemies as Rajah of Sarawak . The whole question turned upon this point—were the slaughtered Dyaks , pirates or not ? Mr . Hume held that they were not , and fortified that opinion by extracts from statements made by merchants and others conversant with the habits and customs of the tribes who swarm in tho Eastern
Archipelago . On the other hand Mr . Hkaolam , who led the defence of Sir James Brooke , and those who followed him , asserted most positively that the Dyaks attacked were " piratical Dyaks ; " and asserted that the object of the attack was to frustrate and prevent the execution of their piratical schemes . Mr . Uhquhaut varied the debate slightly ; he did not state that the DyaltH were not pirates , but he stated that then : was no evidence to prove they were ; and then lie took up the ground that if they were pirates ,
still the attack upon them was a violation of the law of nations . Therefore , he demanded inquiry . Mr . HiiNiiv Drvimmond took anew line , he attacked the character of Mr . ( Hume ' s authorities in bus quaint , picturesque , and not over scrupulous fashion , but it served to make tlio House laugh . Mr . Hmi . uk Cociiuank said ho knew Mr . Hume ' s good nensewas opposed to tho speech he hud made as the advocate of a certain party , whereat Mr . Hume cried out . Pooh , nonsense ! and the House laughed . Mr . ( j 1 jA . dh . tonk was nimble to vote , for tho motion , but
he did justice to the iairiiesH with which Mr . Hume had brought it forward . Lord Pai-mkhhton and Mr . (' oiiDioN had a single-handed contest . Lord Pal-MKitsTo . N reduced the question to the point , were the attacked Dyaks pirates or not ? And he argued thus : — Piracy it . is well known prevails in the wits round Borneo . Is it likely that these two tribes <»' Dyuks , the Surelms and Snkarrans , alone are guiltless of the crime ? Then he asked : — " What in tho necessity of an inquiry ? ( Hoar , hear . ) is
What good can result from it . ? ( Hear , hear . ) Them nothing to inquire into , except we havo an inquiry hucIi as I don ' t wish to pursue , an to what could be the reasons for this serious , and perm-vering , nn < f malignant — ( cheers ) -I don ' t apply thai , word to anything in Hub Houne ; but this malignant and prrHeveniitf persecution of an honourable num . ( Uenewcd chv . ern . ) Sir , 1 urn convinced this IIoiiho will , by an overwhelming majority , negative the motion of my honourable friend , and thut by ho doing they will proclaim to the world that fciir J lunea
Untitled Article
July 12 , 1851 . ] &i ) C ILcabCV . 647
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 12, 1851, page 647, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1891/page/3/
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