§ Mr. Denisonpresented a Petition from St. Mary, Newington, which parish contained no less than 40,000 inhabitants. The Petitioners expressed their gratitude to his Majesty's Ministers for the proposed measure of Reform, and implored the House to pass it into a law. The Petitioners further expressed their implicit confidence in his Majesty's present Ministry, and declared it to be their opinion, that the measures which were constantly pursued and contemplated by the late Ministry, were those which had inflicted so much distress and misery on the country. He had seen a great number of his constituents since the measure had been brought forward, and of all that he had seen, only one person had expressed his dissent from it. He hoped that the hon. member for Guildford would not fail to attend the County meeting, which would be held at Epsom next Saturday, in order that he might inform himself of the opinion of the majority of the freeholders with respect to the boroughs. He hoped that the measure of Reform would receive the sanction of the House, as it had that of the country.
§ Mr. Bethellobserved, that there were many meetings to take place in the West Riding of Yorkshire on the subject of the present measure. The hon. Member read a letter from a person in that county, which described the people as highly pleased and satisfied with the measure, but expressing at the same time, their fears that, in the present condition of the House, the Ministers would never be able to carry their intentions into effect.
§ Mr. Briscoebegged to offer his mite of gratitude to the Ministers for the measure 110 they had proposed, and to congratulate the House and the country at the prospect of a Reform in Parliament being at length carried into effect. The creation of a new body of half-a-million electors, would, in his opinion, have the effect of raising a National Guard, the moral force of which would in future form a safeguard and a bulwark to the nation, and ward off all future danger to the Constitution. He begged to support the petition, and to remark that of all the petitions that had come before the House on the subject, only one had been opposed to the measure, which was represented to be so strongly condemned, and so greatly dreaded.
§ Mr. Hart Davisobjected to hon. Members' reading to the House private letters addressed to themselves. He had received many letters full of the most fearful forebodings as to the consequences of the measure now under consideration, but he had refrained from reading them, or any part of them, to the House.
Mr. Warburtonobserved, that it was not only perfectly right, but absolutely necessary, that the opinions of hon. Members' constituents in the country, on a measure of so much importance, should be stated to the House. He had a petition to present from the town which he had the honour to represent, which was signed by most of the Corporation and 200 of the inhabitants, who were to be disfranchised by the measure, and who had expressed their entire acquiescence in it. They hoped that it would be found to promote the future glory and welfare of England, and that the House would carry it into a law as it stood.
Mr. Labouchereobserved, that the pot-wallopers of Taunton, together with all the classes of his constituents had received the scheme of the Ministers with regard to Reform with the utmost satisfaction. He did not believe that the pot-wallopers considered themselves injured or aggrieved by the measure.
§ Petition to be printed.
§ Mr. Adeanepresented a Petition from the City of Ely, in favour of Reform. The petitioners stated it to be their opinion that the measure of Reform would tend to give stability to the Throne, and a due weight to the other branches of the Legislature. This being the first petition he had had the honour to present in favour of the Ministerial measure, he considered it right to express his approval of that 111 measure, and his opinion that the principles upon which it was founded were sound; but, at the same time, he feared that they were carried a little too far; and though he approved of the soundness of the principle displayed by the Bill, and should support it, he did not hesitate to say, that his support would only be extended to it up to the second reading; and unless some of the provisions were greatly modified whilst the Bill was in the Committee, he did not think it would be in his power to continue his support. The petition he held in his hand prayed that the measure should pass into a law.
§ Sir Charles Burrellconcurred in what had fallen from the hon. member for Cambridge, and would support the Bill in all its stages up to the second reading and committal, when he intended to look into some of the clauses very narrowly, and such of them as were objectionable he should oppose, and substitute such other provisions as might be better suited to the Constitution, which he was anxious to see amended, and not destroyed.
§ Sir M. W. Ridleypresented a petition from Tynemouth and its vicinity in favour of the Reform Bill. A meeting had been convened of those persons who were the friends of Reform, in order to express their approval of the measure now before the House; and the Radical Reformers of Tynemouth and its vicinity, had, in the course of four hours, put their signatures to the petition to the number of 3,000, and many more would have been added but for their anxiety to lay the petition before the House as soon as possible. They stated their entire approval of the outline of the Bill, by which the country would possess an equal Representation. They expressed their satisfaction that the holders of rotten boroughs were to receive no compensation, and they hailed the measure as one which promised the commencement of a new and happy era, when the Throne and the House of Commons would be placed on a footing more stable and constitutional than had ever hitherto been the case. The Radical Reformers of Tynemouth expressed their regret that the Vote by Ballot was not contemplated. They, however, hoped that the Parliament would support Ministers in the measure until it had passed into a law. The hon. Member expressed his concurrence in what had fallen from the hon. Baronet behind him (Sir C. Burrell), and also from the hon. 112 member for Cambridge (Mr. Adeane), and thought with them that some alteration in the Bill, when in the Committee, would be, essential towards rendering its operation beneficial. This was not, however, the time for making such observations, and he should therefore abstain from offering any more remarks until the Bill was in that stage when they could be useful.
§ Sir Charles Forbesasked, how this measure could be called an extension of franchise when the effect in many boroughs would be, to reduce the number of electors, and that too in a manner as unexpected as unpleasant? Every means were used, both in that House and out of it, to deter hon. Members from doing their duty, and be would take that opportunity of saying, that neither threats nor arguments of any other description should deter him, whilst he sat within those walls, from pursuing that path which he deemed the right one. It was his duty, as an independent Member, notwithstanding he was only the Representative of one of those boroughs which, he might say, the noble Paymaster had denounced, to express his hopes that the true friends of the country would not allow that measure to succeed which was so defective, and so well calculated to defeat the wishes for Reform. It was radically bad, as well as deficient in its chief enactments. Of all the speeches that he had heard on the subject of the noble Lord's Motion, that of the hon. member for Preston was most to the point, and contained the strongest arguments. That hon. Member said candidly, that the Radical Reformers would certainly take this concession thankfully, but that they would come back again and ask for more; "The people," said the hon. Member, "will not be satisfied; they will have you proceed step by step to grant them Universal Suffrage, Annual Parliaments, the Ballot, and will never stop until they have overthrown the Constitution of King, Lords, and Commons." Most unwarrantable threats, the hon. Baronet observed, in conclusion, had been held out against those who opposed the measure. He for one was not prepared to shut out all measures of Reform, but the measure proposed was so radically bad, that he thought it ought to be put aside.
§ Mr. Hodgsonrose to observe, that the town of Shields, which had been referred to, had a population of between 16,000 113 and 17,000 souls. He believed it would be found that the number of householders assessed over 10l. would not fall far short of from 1,000 to 1,200 persons. He expressed his satisfaction at the measure proposed generally, reserving himself, however, upon certain of the details when they were brought forward. The principle of the measure, however, should have his most strenuous support.
§ Petition to be printed.
§ Sir John Wrottesleysaid, that petitions were coming up to town in great numbers, approving of the measure proposed by his Majesty's Ministers. He had received such a petition from a meeting held at Wolverhampton, attended by above 12,000 persons, which had been called as soon as the measure proposed by Ministers came to their knowledge. The petitioners emphatically expressed their gratification at the measure proposed, and that they considered it temperate and decisive— just in principle, and practical in all its details—tending to bring back an alienated people to respect for the Government, and to restore the country to prosperity. He had no doubt that all the populous districts in the neighbourhood of Wolverhampton would shortly transmit petitions to the same effect.
§ Petition to lie on the Table.