§ MR. WARTON, who had the following Notice of Motion on the Paper:—
To move, 'That it is desirable that votes for candidates for seats in this House he taken by means of voting papers,'said, that the plan he proposed was that on the nomination day, or on some other occasion, the elector should be at liberty to take his voting paper to the Returning Officer with his vote inscribed. There suit would be that in many cases there would be no necessity for a poll, and so expense would be saved. In other instances only a very small number of polling stations would be required for those who preferred to vote in the present manner. This system would, he maintained, conduce to the purity of elections, lessen the turmoil and unhealthy excitement of such occasions—an essen- 792 tial advantage should women acquire the suffrage—besides marking the distinction between those of the electorate who were not afraid to give an open vote and those who had not the courage of their opinions, but who preferred the system of the Ballot, a system which he (Mr. Warton) regarded as un-English, sneaking, cowardly, and untruthful. The Forms of the House did not allow him to move the Resolution; but as it was the duty of every hon. Member to contribute to the general stock of ideas, he wished briefly to put on record his views as to the desirability of the change he advocated.
§ Main Question, "That Mr. Speaker do now leave the Chair," put, and agreed to.