(NO. 179.) SECOND READING. (Hansard, 15 July 1884)

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY
, in moving that the Bill be now read a second time, said, it related to a subject which had a rather singular history. When the Ballot Bill was be 1083 fore Parliament in 1872 the question of the hours of polling, which were then from 8 to 4 for boroughs and 8 to 5 for counties, came under consideration. In spite of some attempts to alter those hours, they had remained the same down to the present date, except that for the Metropolis they were extended to 8 in the evening. An Amendment had been brought forward in that House by which it was proposed that the polling places should be kept open from 8 to 8. A Division took place, and the Motion that the hours should be from 8 to 8 was carried by a majority of 15. The Government at that time had considered the matter again, and the noble Marquess, now Viceroy of India, had moved a clause, which had been adopted by the House, that the hours between the end of March and the 1st of October should be until 7, and during the rest of the year until 5 o'clock. That amended Bill had been rejected by a considerable majority in the other House, and the law on this subject had therefore continued the same. Public opinion, however, had changed since 1872, and a great desire had been expressed that there should be a later hour. The argument in favour of this was an obvious one—namely, that such a change would allow working men to get to the poll with more convenience, especially those of certain trades. The result of consideration on the subject was the present Bill, which proposed that the hour should be 8 o'clock in all boroughs having more than 3,000 registered voters. There had been great discussion on the question of the number of voters, as affecting the question of whether the Bill was to apply or not. It had originally been fixed at 5,000; but finally the number of 3,000 had been adopted. This was a mere matter of machinery, and one upon which it had been desirable to consult, as far as possible, the opinions of those affected, and after considering the views of various borough Members the present number had been fixed upon.

§ LORD ABERDARE
said, that the Bill met with his entire approval. There was sufficient security against fraud and disorder. He would, however, suggest that the Bill should be extended to the 1084 counties, as since the Act of 1867 there had been a large addition of the respectable working classes to the franchise, especially in the mining districts, and the provisions of the Bill would be a great convenience to them.

VISCOUNT ENFIELD
said, he approved of the suggestion that the Bill should be extended to the counties.

§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY
thought that it would be unwise to make such an alteration after the matter had been so fully considered in the House of Commons. At all events, he thought that it would be better to wait and see how the Bill worked in the boroughs to which it was to apply before extending its provisions to the counties.

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY
said, that he would hardly like to give an answer offhand on the point; but if any Amendment should be proposed in going into Committee he would consider the point. He would put the Committee down for Monday.