HC Deb 19 February 1830 vol 22 cc734-43
Mr. Stanley

begged to call the attention of herein before-mentioned in respect of those boroughs where the right of voting depends upon estates held by burgage tenure, and then in respect of those cities or boroughs where there are the fewest number of electors, and to proceed in such order throughout the whole of the cities and boroughs in the United Kingdom that send a Member or Members to serve in Parliament. And as soon as it shall be declared in the Gazette that any city or cities, borough or boroughs, or any cinque port or other town that now sends a Member or Members to serve in Parliament, has ceased to send a Member or Members to serve in Parliament, it shall be the duty of the said Committee to select, and report to the said Secretary of State, that they have selected such populous, unrepresented, or inadequately represented town or place, including such hundreds, districts, or parishes surrounding such town or place as the said Committee shall think proper to point out, in order to fulfil the object and intentions of this Act, so that the said electors shall be fully equal to bear the burthen of paying a Member or Members the wages of attendance according to the value of money at the present day, and that there shall be no immediate danger of the franchise being abused by misuser or non-user. And it shall be the duty of the said Committee to point out in such report who shall be the the House and the right hon. Secretary of State for the Home Department to a Petition, which was of no inconsiderable importance, although it proceeded from a single individual, and that individual in a very unfortunate situation. As far as he was aware, the case was altogether new. The circumstances were these:—In 1824, the Petitioner was convicted under what is called Lord Ellenborough's Act, of stabbing with intention to commit murder. The Judge before whom he was tried accordingly ordered sentence of death to be recorded. Afterwards, however, being impressed with the notion that the prisoner, at the time of committing the offence, was not sane, he commuted the punishment to one which, as far as he (Mr. Stanley) was informed, was altogether new, and in the strictest sense of the expression, illegal. He had consulted many professional men on the subject, and they had uniformly declared that it was not conformable to the practice of the law nor consistent with the Constitution, for the Judge to commute the sentence of death to a sentence of imprisonment for the prisoner's natural life, accompanied with hard labour. If the case of the prisoner's sanity had been returning officer or officers of such town or place. And be it further enacted, that in all such cases the right of voting shall be, and is hereby declared to be, in all the inhabitant householders assessed to any rate or tax, parochial or Parliamentary, within such town or place, or within such hundreds, districts, or parishes surrounding the same; and all such electors shall be assessed by the returning officer or officers thereof, for the payment of such wages as aforesaid, and of all expenses attending the return of a Member or Members to serve in Parliament, according to the value of the houses inhabited by such electors. And it shall be the duty of the said Secretary of State upon the receipt of such report from the said Committee to cause the same to be forthwith published in the Gazette, and to transmit a copy thereof to the Lord High Chancellor of England, to the Speaker of the House of Commons, and to the returning officer or officers of such town or place, with directions forthwith to make the same as public as possible therein: and such report so made by the said Committee to the said Secretary of State according to the directions of this Act, shall be deemed and considered to be the Charter of enfranchisement of such city, borough, town, or place as shall be therein mentioned, for the purpose of sending a Member or Members to serve in Parliament. put to the Jury and they had determined that at the time of committing the offence he was not sane, the prisoner would then have been detained in custody until his Majesty's pleasure respecting him was known. But that was not put to the Jury, and by their verdict of guilty they established the prisoner's sanity. The proceeding was exclusively that of the Judge, whose motive no man could for an instant question—for that Judge, was Mr. Justice Bailey; than whom a more humane man never sat upon the bench [hear, hear]. He should be glad, however, to know if the learned Judge was justified in the course which he had adopted? The Petitioner had now been five years in prison, although frequent applications had been made to the right hon. Gentleman opposite by respectable individuals, by the Grand Jury, and he believed by the Judge himself, for a remission of his punishment. It was well known that the right hon. Gentleman was always ready to attend to applications of that nature; but the circumstances in which he was placed with respect to the subject were so full of difficulty, that it had been thought desirable that the Petitioner should lay his case before the House. The difficulty And it shall be the duty of the Lord High Chancellor of England, in the event of a new Parliament, and of the Speaker of the House of Commons, while Parliament is sitting, to cause such writs to be sent to the Sheriffs of every county in which such town or place shall be situated, for the return of a Member or Members to serve in Parliament, as shall be in conformity with the provisions of this Act. And it is hereby enacted, that the wages of attendance, as aforesaid, shall be well and truly paid to the said Member or Members, and that any agreement or understanding to the contrary shall render void the election of any Member that shall have entered into the same; and the amount of such wages, according to the present value of money, shall be deemed, and taken to be, after the rate of a day for every Member of any city, borough, town, or place, and a day for every Member of any county; and the same shall be assessed upon the electors, according to the value of the houses they inhabit, or of the lands, tenements, or hereditaments, which afford the right of voting. And be it further enacted, that as soon as the said Committee shall have proceeded in manner as aforesaid, to have enfranchised such populous unrepresented, or inadequately represented cities, boroughs, or towns throughout the United Kingdom, in place of those that was this;—the sentence having been once commuted, could not again be commuted for transportation; for if the prisoner were to return from transportation without leave, he could not be punished for that act. On the other hand, to the liberation of the prisoner, the prosecutor would not consent, conceiving that in that case his own life would not be safe; and thus his fate mainly depended on the opinion of one individual, and that individual his prosecutor. It was undoubtedly a case of hardship. He should be glad to be informed if there were no means of affording the Petitioner relief, either by a pardon, conditional on his immediately leaving the country, or by some other mode which would insure his going abroad. He was a young man not above three or four-and-thirty; and his anxiety to avoid passing his whole life within the walls of a prison was by no means surprising. He moved for leave to bring up the Petition.

Mr. Secretary Peel

said, that he believed the hon. Member had correctly stated all the facts of the case, as far as the Petitioner was concerned. The Petitioner, whose name was Wild, was capitally convicted in the year 1824, under shall have been thus declared to have ceased to send Members to serve in Parliament, it shall be the duty of the said Committee, if any number of seats remain unfilled-up, as aforesaid, to select such counties in Scotland as are at present subject to alternate representation only, and afterwards such other counties in the United Kingdom as the said Committee shall think stand most in need of one or more additional Members, and thereupon to make their report to the said Secretary of State; and it shall be the duty of the said Secretary forthwith to publish the same in the Gazette, and to cause copies thereof to be sent to the Lord High Chancellor of England, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and the Sheriffs of the said counties for the purposes aforesaid; provided always, that before the said Committee shall thus add to the representation of any of the counties in the United Kingdom, save and except to those counties in Scotland, now unrepresented as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the said Committee to select such hundreds, parishes, and districts, surrounding such cities or boroughs where the inhabitant householders now have the right of voting, and which city or borough shall not fall within any of the reasons above-mentioned, to justify the said Committee, according to the meaning and intention of this Act, in making any report concerning the same to the said Secretary of State, so that the inhabitant householders in Lord Ellenborough's Act, of stabbing his uncle, in whose employment he was. He (Mr. Peel) would purposely abstain from detailing the evidence on which the Petitioner had been convicted, in order that he might not create a prejudice against him. Sentence of death having been recorded against the prisoner, the Judge before whom he was tried afterwards entertained some doubt whether he was sane at the time of the commission of the offence. That Judge, as the hon. Gentleman had stated, was Mr. Justice Bailey, whose complete knowledge of the law, and whose great humanity in the administration of it, every one must acknowledge. [hear, hear] Under the influence of the doubt which he had described, Mr. Justice Bailey determined not to leave the Petitioner for execution, but commuted the punishment to imprisonment for life with hard labour. The hon. Member said that was illegal. He (Mr. Peel) did not think that its perfect legality could be questioned. He entertained this conviction because he had received eight or tea letters on the subject from Mr. Justice Bailey himself; and he was sure that if the learned Judge had entertained any doubt of the legality of his proceeding, he the said hundreds, parishes, and districts, assessed to any rate or tax, parochial or parliamentary, shall, together with the present electors in such city or borough, be fully equal to bear the burthen of paying the' wages of attendance as aforesaid; and upon such selection to report the same to the said Secretary of State; and it shall be the duty of the said Secretary forthwith to publish the same in the Gazette, and transmit copies thereof as aforesaid, and for the like purposes. And it is hereby declared, that all such inhabitant householders shall be electors at the next, and at all future elections for the said city or borough, and shall be assessed accordingly, in manner aforesaid. And be it further enacted, that if, notwithstanding the obvious intent and meaning of this Act, to confer upon every householder as aforesaid, in the United Kingdom, the right of voting for a Member or Members to serve in Parliament, any such householder shall find himself not included in any of the hundreds, parishes, or districts, selected in any case by the said Committee as aforesaid, it shall be in the power of such householder to vote at the next and all future elections for a Member or Members to serve in Parliament in the city, borough, town, or place, that shall happen to be the nearest to the residence of such householder, provided he shall not be entitled to vote for the county at large, and that before would have conferred with the other Judges on the subject, and would have communicated the result of that conference. Capital sentence having been passed upon the Petitioner, he (Mr. Peel) could not understand why to commute that punishment for imprisonment for life was illegal. He had submitted the case to the Law Officers of the Crown; and they entertained no doubt of the legality of the commutation of the punishment of death for any punishment of less severity. In treating of the general doctrine of pardons, it was observed by Blackstone, "A pardon may also be conditional; that is, the King may extend his mercy upon what, terms he pleases; and may annex to his bounty a condition either precedent or subsequent, on the performance whereof the validity of the pardon will depend; and this by the common law." He believed, therefore, that the sentence was a perfectly legal one. He had referred the whole of the facts to the hon. and learned Gentleman who was then the Attorney General and his learned colleague, and they never had a doubt of the legality of the proceeding. But they stated, that after a Judge had commuted a punishment, it tendering his vote, he shall have given notice in writing that he is ready and willing to be assessed as aforesaid, and such notice shall be given to the returning officer of such city, borough, town, or place: And whereas, when the right of voting for Knights or Members for counties to serve in Parliament was limited to freeholders, leaseholds for long terms of years were unknown, and copyholders were absolutely dependant on the will of their lords: And whereas, in that part of the united kingdom called Scotland, a system has crept in of separating the freehold or superiority from the property, whereby voters have been created who may possess no land whatever within the county, and moreover much landed property is now held by what is called feu-right for long terms of years, and quite independent of the will of the Lords or superiors; and all such property, like the said leaseholds and copyholds in England, is entirely unrepresented, contrary to the fundamental principles of the Constitution: And whereas, many freeholders, whose lands, tenements, or hereditaments happen to be situate in any city, borough, or other place, which is a county of itself, may be unrepresented: Be it therefore further enacted, that all such freeholders last above mentioned shall he entitled to rote at the next, and all subsequent was not in the power of a Secretary of State to make a further commutation. The hard labour, however, had been remitted. A word on general cases of this kind.—No situation could be more painful than that of a man acquitted of a crime on the ground of his insanity; and the present was a case similar in its character. If so acquitted, he still became a prisoner for life. He regretted to say, that many unhappy persons were in that condition. Now a man might be acquitted of murder, or some other capital offence, on the ground of his being insane at the time, and might be imprisoned in consequence; but he might afterwards become perfectly sane, and apply for his discharge. The Secretary of State had then a very painful duty to perform; a duty which required the exercise of much caution. He remembered the case of a woman tried for arson, and acquitted on the ground of insanity, who was released from confinement by his predecessor in office, on its appearing that she had become perfectly sane. The first thing however that she did after her liberation, was to return to the place where she had committed the offence for which she had been tried, and in the most extraordinary and deliberate elections, for the county at large, within which such city, borough, town, or other place, shall be situate, the same as if their lands, tenements, or hereditaments, were situate in the said county, and that all persons who shall hold lands, tenements, or hereditaments, by copy of Court Roll, or under and by virtue of any leases, or feu-rights for ninety-nine years, or for any other term of years, provided such leases or feu-rights for such other term of years shall be renewable from time to time for ever at the will of the leasee or feuar, or by virtue of any lease or feu-right for any term of years, whereof not less than twenty-one shall be to come and unexpired at the time of such persons tendering their votes, shall be entitled to vote at the next and at all subsequent elections for a Member or Members to serve in Parliament for that county within which such lands or hereditaments are respectively situated in the same manner as if such persons had a freehold estate in such lands, tenements, or hereditaments. And it is hereby declared, that the right of voting in any county for a Member or Members to serve in Parliament, shall in no case whatever be hereafter created, by any such contrivances of separating the superiority from the properly, nor shall such right be hereafter exercised by any person not in possession of the property, as well as the superiority; but all persons now in possession of such rights of manner again set fire to the same premises. Another, who had been acquitted of murder on the ground of insanity, and afterwards liberated when it was presumed that he had become sane, had been detected in a contrivance to murder three persons. A person in confinement might appear perfectly in the possession of his senses; but when he returned into the world, and was exposed to all the irritation resulting from mixing in society, his insanity might return, as frequently happened. In his description of his own case, the Petitioner stated that he had formerly been wounded in the head, and that when he took a little liquor he did not know what he was doing. Some caution was necessary before such a person was again let loose upon society. He (Mr. Peel) had applied to the prosecutor for his consent to the liberation of the prisoner; but the answer was, that he had a wife and nine children, and that he should not consider his life safe if the prisoner were released. He (Mr. Peel) would most willingly have commuted the imprisonment for transportation for life, had such a commutation been legal, but having consulted the Law Officers on the subject, they decided that he had no authority to do so. He had voting as arise from the superiority alone, distinct from the property, shall be entitled to vote at the next and at all subsequent elections for the city, borough, town, or place, that shall be nearest to the place of residence of such persons, provided such notice shall be given to the returning officer thereof in respect of assessment, as is hereinbefore mentioned. And be it further enacted, that no Burgess, or other person now having a right to vote in any city, borough, or place, for any Member or Members to serve in Parliament, shall again be allowed to exercise such right, unless he be resident within the same; and as it is not the intention of this Act to disfranchise any person whatever, it is hereby declared, that all such non-resident Burgesses, shall be entitled to vote at the next and all subsequent elections for the city, borough, town, or place, that shall be nearest to the place of resilience of such persons, provided such notice shall be given to the returning officer thereof, in respect of assessment, as is hereinbefore mentioned. And whereas, it is expedient to prevent the present enormous expense often attending elections both in towns and counties; be it therefore further enacted, that it shall be the duty of the said Committee to make such regulations, as to counties, respecting the places in each county at which the poll, if demanded, shall be adjourned after the two intimated to the prisoner, that although he could not commute his sentence, yet that if he could obtain ample security that the prisoner would immediately embark for New South Wales, and would remain there, he would consent to such an arrangement.

Sir C. Wetherell

confirmed the statement made by the right hon. Gentleman. The case had been referred to him officially when he was Attorney General, and he had given it as his opinion that a sentence of death might be commuted for perpetual imprisonment; but that any second commutation would be illegal.

Colonel Davies

said, that this individual had been wounded in the head, and when in liquor he was insane; as the persons in New South Wales had an equal value for their lives as the people of England, it was as absurd to allow the prisoner to go free in one country as in the other.

Mr. Peel

said, that no man was in any danger from the prisoner, except an individual against whom he entertained some, particular feelings of revenge. The House, he trusted, would pause before they asked for papers in a matter so exclusively belonging to the prerogatives of the Crown.

Mr. Stanley

read a part of the Petition; first days of the election; and as to large and populous towns, respecting the manner in which the numbers of the electors in each town may be increased and apportioned, or such other regulations as the said Committee may think proper for the sake of putting an end to all great expenses, and of rendering the right of voting as convenient and as efficient as possible. And such regulations shall be reported to the Secretary of State, to be pub-listed in the Gazette, and transmitted to the Sheriffs of the said counties, and returning officer of the said towns, as aforesaid. And be it further enacted, that an Act passed in the 9th year of his present Majesty, entitled "An Act to regulate the mode of taking the poll at the election of Members to serve in Parliament for cities, boroughs, and ports in England and Wales, and all other Acts whereby the expense of erecting booths or polling places for the election of any Member or Members to serve in Parliament, is put upon the candidate, or on the person putting such candidate in nomination, are hereby repealed. And whereas, by repealing a modern Act of Parliament, namely, the 1st of Geo. I. commonly called the Septennial Bill, and by the repeal of another Act still more modern, namely 14th George III. c. 58, which repealed the wise enactments of the 23rd Hen. VI. c. 14, and the 1st of Hen, V. requiring the electors and after an explanation from Mr. Peel, it was ordered to lie on the Table.