HL Deb 13 May 1886 vol 305 cc894-8
THE EARL OF LIMERICK

, in rising to call attention to the "Ireland (Electoral Statistics) Return," recently laid on the Table of the House, and to ask whether Her Majesty's Government proposed to introduce any measure for the further protection of voters and to insure the secrecy of voting? said, that this Return gave the number of registered electors in each county, city, and borough in Ireland, the number who voted at the late General Election, the number who abstained, and the number who appeared to be illiterate. The summary of the Return showed that there were in the counties 631,649 registered electors, and in the contested divisions of the counties 489,250, of whom 373,863 went to the poll, leaving 115,387 who abstained from voting, and of the 373,863 who voted no fewer than 92,882, or 25 per cent, were illiterate. In the boroughs there were 102,047 registered electors, of whom, in the constituencies in which there were contests, 77,043 went to the poll, 25,404 abstained from voting, and 5,582 were illiterates. He brought forward this subject with the object of pointing out two things—first, the great number of illiterates; and, secondly, the large number of electors who stayed away from the poll. It appeared that in East Clare, out of 10,128 electors, only 6,642 went to the poll, of which 1,186 were illiterate. Therefore, 3,486 abstained from voting. In the county of Cork there were six contests, the number of registered electors in the contested divisions was 43,604, and the number who voted was 30,047, of whom 11,557 were illiterate, and 13,557 abstained from voting. Even a more extraordinary state of things was shown in South Donegal, where the registered electors were 7,864, and the number who voted 6,466, of whom 3,358, or more than half, were illiterate. He would call attention to only one more set of figures, and that with regard to the City of Cork, represented by Mr. Parnell. In that constituency there were 14,569 registered electors, of whom only 8,376 voted, and of that number 1,297 were illiterate. It was an extraordinary thing to find so many illiterates in a city like Cork. The number of electors who abstained from voting was no fewer than 6,193. It was evident that with such a large body of illiterate voters the secrecy generally supposed to attend the Ballot did not exist, or, at all events, the illiterate voter might be influenced as if it did not exist at all. After the Elections of last year two or three letters appeared in various papers, one of which, taken from The Times, purported to be from a gentleman who described himself as an Irish candidate. He stated the case very clearly, observing that a very large proportion of the voters in the three Southern Provinces abstained from voting altogether, and that went far to prove that there was the greatest apathy with regard to Mr. Parnell's proposals for separation. He did not think he exaggerated when he said—"In this country 25 per cent abstained from voting." That bore out his statement. The writer went on to say— As things now are, under the wonderful organization of the League, the voters are literally driven to the poll like so many sheep, and numbers of Loyalists were afraid to vote all over the country. Of course, it might be said that that was an expression of opinion only by a gentleman who was an unsuccessful candidate; but where illiterate voters went into polling booths and saw, perhaps, their priests, and the chairman and secretaries of the local branch of the National League acting as agents for candidates, though they might be sworn to secrecy, could they help fearing that the declaration of secrecy which those gentlemen had made might not be adhered to, and that the voters would imagine that their votes would be known to all? Under the circumstances they would be pretty certain to vote in a certain way. It had even been stated that in some districts the voters had been directed to vote illiterate whether they were so or not, and in that way pressure was brought to bear upon them. He thought that the Report, to which he had called attention, showed that where there was strong popular feeling the Ballot Act was no protection to the voter, as it was intended it should be. He ventured to think that was the case in Ireland.

THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Earl SPENCER)

said, the subject brought forward by the noble Earl was, no doubt, one of great interest and importance; and he had thought it right to endeavour to obtain information on the points raised by the Return referred to, with regard to the illiterate voters who were represented to have come forward in such large numbers at the recent elections in Ireland. Certainly, the large number of illiterate voters, as stated in the Return, was surprising. He was unable to follow the noble Earl in the particular instances he had quoted. No doubt those of Donegal and Cork were very remarkable; but he was unable to make any special inquiry with regard to any particular locality. He was unable either to confirm or to deny the statement of the noble Earl that numbers of voters were ordered to declare themselves illiterate in order that it might be known how they voted. He had, however, made inquiries upon the point; but the result of them was not sufficient to enable him to answer the noble Earl on that point. The proportion of illiterate persons in Ireland was 21.8 per cent at the last Election. At the last Census the proportion of illiterate men of 21 years and upwards was 23.5 per cent. That was in 1881, and the Election took place in 1885. It might be said, however, that, the Election having taken place in 1885, it was not fair to compare the two years. The only way of getting a fair comparison was by comparing the number of males married in 1881 who signed the register by marking with the number in 1885. In 1881 the proportion was 26.1 per cent, and in 1885 23.5 per cent. Correcting the Return of illiterates in 1881 on the same basis, the proportion of illiterate males in Ireland last year worked out at about 21.2 per cent. which was almost exactly the same figure as the proportion of illiterates who voted at the last Election. The latter figure was 21.8. That was a remarkable coincidence, and really seemed to show that the proportion of illiterates who voted was the right proportion. What he had stated, no doubt, gave the impression that education in Ireland was at a low ebb. As regarded Donegal, he was well aware that education was very low there; and there was the Irish-speaking population, who might possibly have misunderstood the directions, and have declared themselves illiterate because they could not understand the regulations, which were made in English. He had made inquiry as to the proportion of illiterates over 21 years of age in Ireland as compared with those in England, and it was certainly not satisfactory. At the same time, there had been, with respect to general illiteracy, a satisfactory improvement during the last few years. In 1841 the proportion of illiterates was 52.7; in 1851 it was 46.8; in 1861 it was 38.7; in 1871 it was 33.4; and, finally, in 1881 the proportion had fallen to 25.2. No doubt, the independence of the voter at elections was very important. He did not think he had anything more to add, except that he was not prepared to say, on the part of the Government, that they intended to introduce any measure with regard to this matter, though he might say that Her Majesty's Government would be prepared to consider any strong facts which might be brought to their notice showing the necessity for a change in the law.

THE EARL OF LONGFORD

said, that the proportion of illiterate voters, according to the statement of the Lord President, did fairly correspond with the Educational Census; but the mode of taking their votes had not been noticed. It was quite obvious that when an illiterate voter was brought into a polling booth and saw three or four extreme local politicians before whom he was to state his vote in office there, although he was told that those gentlemen had made a declaration of secrecy, he could not leave the booth with the idea that his vote would remain secret, and that was the prevailing impression. There might be a difficulty about amending the law, with only the experience of one General Election conducted at high pressure; but the present state of things showed a change to be necessary.

LORD ASHBOURNE

said, that when the recent Reform Bills were before the House of Commons attention was directed to the subject of illiterate voters. It was suggested from various parts of the House that it was undesirable to maintain the distinction referred to any longer—that if a person had not sufficient intelligence to sign his voting paper he ought not to complain if he lost his vote. He thought ample ground existed, and that there was much in the Return to suggest the importance for reconsidering the whole question of the status of illiterate voters. It was melancholy to reflect upon the fact that of the 373,000 voters in Ireland who voted at the last Election, 93,000, or one fourth of the total voting at the last General Election, were unable to write or read. It was the result of voting of this kind which had returned to Parliament 85 Members of a particular Party pledged to a certain course of action. It was because of the significance which had been attached to such a vote that the matter which was now being considered with such painful anxiety and interest throughout the country was brought forward. Copy of selection from the representations made to the First Lord of the Treasury by public bodies, in response to the invitation for the free communication of views on Ireland, contained in a letter addressed by the First Lord of the Treasury to Viscount de Vesci on the 12th day of February, 1886, ordered by the House of Commons on the 16th April last to be printed, No, 117; Ordered to be laid before the House (The Lord Ashbourne).