§ Mr. Littletonsaid, he had several Petitions to present from Staffordshire, and four of those petitions came from places the inhabitants of which prayed that they might have the elective franchise extended to them, and the right of returning Members to represent them in Parliament. Those petitions were signed by Whigs and Tories, poor and rich, and by persons of all classes and conditions. The first of those petitions was from the township of Bilston, in the parish of Wolverhampton. There were 50,000 inhabitants in the parish, and 10,000 in the township. The next petition was from the town of Dudley, containing a population of 25,000. It was nominally situated in the county of Worcester, but was imbedded in Staffordshire. The fourth of those petitions was from the town and warren of Walsall, containing 15,000 inhabitants. It was not wonderful that the inhabitants of the south-west part of the county of Stafford, containing a population of 150,000, or 200,000, should be anxious for Representatives, for there was no borough situated in that part of the county, and those persons could be said to have no other Representatives than the county Members. Another of the petitions which he had to present came from the Staffordshire Potteries, situated in the northern part of the county, and connected with which there was a population of 65,000. The last petition he had to present was from Burton-upon-Trent, and it was in favour of general Reform. The county of Stafford, he considered, had a fair claim to an increased number of Representatives. It contained 400,000 inhabitants, and, setting aside the metropolitan counties, it ranked as the third, so far as regarded commercial and manufacturing skill, and employments connected with machinery. With the exception of the Members for Tamworth, and the county members, this great county had no Representatives. The hon. Member concluded by observing, that he stated these facts for general information, and should reserve himself on the general question till the measure of his Majesty's Ministers was brought for- 1036 ward. The hon. Member concluded by presenting the petitions.
§ Sir J. Wrottesleyexpressed his entire concurrence in the prayer of the petitions, and also in the observations which had fallen from his hon. Colleague in presenting them.—Petitions to be printed.