

CONSTITUTION AND RESOURCES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 



I 



those infeft as crown vassals, in property of the 

 annual value of 403., to all owners of property 

 worth 10 a year, and to certain leaseholders. 

 In Scotch boroughs, there was also a 10 occupa- 

 tion franchise. 



In 1867-68, another Reform Bill was passed, 

 which is at present in force. It extended the 

 freehold franchise in counties in England from 

 property of 10 annual value to property of $ ; 

 also the franchise of copyholders and lease- 

 holders from 10 to $, and the occupation 

 franchise from .50 to 12. As to boroughs, it 

 swept away the old 10 occupation franchise, 

 and established household suffrage pure and 

 simple giving votes to all occupiers of dwelling- 

 houses paying poor-rates ; also to lodgers occupy- 

 ing lodgings of the clear annual value, when 

 unfurnished, of 10 and upwards. The Reform 

 Act of 1868, in Scotland, extended the county 

 franchise to proprietors of lands or houses worth 

 rent ; and to occupiers, resident or non- 

 resident, of property of 20 ratable value. In 

 boroughs, it conferred the franchise on occupiers 

 of houses bearing rates, and on lodgers, as in 

 England. In Ireland, the Act of 1868 left the 

 county franchise unchanged ; that is, the fran- 

 chise is enjoyed by certain classes of freeholders ; 

 occupiers of land rated for the poor at a net 

 annual value of 12 ; persons entitled to estates 

 in fee, or in tail, or for life, of ratable yearly 

 value of $. The borough franchise was, how- 



er, given to occupiers of houses rated at 4, 



d of lodgings of the annual value of ^10 unfur- 

 ished. The franchise cannot be exercised by 

 peers, or by persons labouring under certain dis- 

 qualifications, from alienage, infamy, felony, &c. 

 Of university constituencies in Oxford and Cam- 

 bridge the electors consist of the doctors of the 

 various faculties, and the masters of arts; in Dublin, 

 the fellows, scholars, and graduates of Trinity 

 College ; in London, the graduates ; in Scotland, the 

 members of the university councils. I n cases where 

 a constituency returns four members, each elector 

 can only cast three votes ; and in Glasgow, which 

 returns three members, each elector has only two 

 votes. The number of electors on the register, in 

 May 1882, was 3,134,801 viz. : 2,591,402 in Eng- 

 land and Wales, 315,121 in Scotland, 228,278 in 

 Ireland. The number of county electors was 

 948,258 in England and Wales, 98,444 in Scotland, 

 166,294 in Ireland total, 1,212,996. The number 

 of borough voters was 1,629,373 in England and 

 Wales, 204,365 in Scotland, and 57,981 in Ireland. 

 The numbers in each constituency vary, from the 

 county of Middlesex with its 34,982 voters, to the 

 borough of Portarlington with its 141. 



In 1872, as a check to illegitimate influences, 

 the Ballot Act was passed, which was to continue 

 in force till 3ist December 1880, and which has 

 since been continued from year to year. It provides 

 that every elector shall vote for his representative 

 in secret. Each elector is furnished with a ballot- 

 paper, on which there are printed the candidates' 

 names, with a number printed on the back, and a 

 counterfoil attached having the same number. It 

 provides that ' at the time of voting, the ballot- 

 paper shall be marked on both sides with an 

 official mark, and delivered to the voter within 

 the polling-place ; and the number of such voter 

 on the register of voters shall be marked on the 

 counterfoil ; and the voter having secretly marked 



his vote on the paper, and having folded it up so 

 as to conceal his vote, shall place it in a closed 

 box in the presence of the officer presiding at the 

 polling-station, after having shewn him the official 

 mark at the back.' Any marks made on the 

 ballot-paper tending to identify the voter, will 

 render it invalid. The only personal qualifica- 

 tions required by a member of parliament are, 

 that he be a native of the United Kingdom, and 

 be twenty-one years of age. Commissioned officers 

 in those departments of the civil service charged 

 with the administration of the revenue, judges, 

 priests and deacons of the Church of England' 

 and the Roman Catholic Church, government 

 contractors, sheriffs or returning-officers, Scottish 

 or English peers, aliens, persons convicted of 

 treason or felony, naturalised foreigners (save 

 when the privilege is specially conceded by act 

 of parliament), are all disqualified from serving 

 as members of the House of Commons. Irish 

 peers are eligible. If any member accept an 

 office of profit from the crown, by Act 6 Anne, 

 his election is void ; but he is eligible for re- 

 election if the office he has accepted be not a 

 new one created since 1705. No member can 

 resign of his own accord ; so, when a member 

 wishes to vacate his seat, he accepts the steward- 

 ship of the Chiltern Hundreds, a nominal office in 

 the gift of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and 

 thus ceases to be a member. 



The House of Commons consists of 658 mem- 

 bers, returned as follows : 



England and Wales Members. 



52 Counties and Isle of Wight 187 



200 Cities and Boroughs 301 



3 Universities 5 



Total of England 493 



Scotland 



33 Counties 32 



22 Cities and Groups of Boroughs 26 



4 Universities 2 



Total of Scotland 60 



Ireland 



32 Counties 64 



33 Cities and Boroughs 39 



i University 2 



Total of Ireland 105 



In England and Wales, in 1883, the proportion 

 of representation to population in the counties 

 was one member to 5170 of the electors, and 

 73,260 of county population. In boroughs the 

 average was one to 5,500 electors, and 42,000 

 inhabitants. The representation of the various 

 constituencies is still very unequal. 



There can be little doubt that the existing pro- 

 portions in which the representation is shared by 

 the three kingdoms, are far from fair at least as 

 regards Scotland. If population is taken as the 

 basis of representation, England should have 476 

 members instead of 493, as at present ; Scotland 

 70 instead of 6p ; and Ireland 112 instead of 105. 

 If the respective contributions to revenue were 

 made the basis of representation, then England 

 should have 514 members, Scotland 79, and Ire- 

 land 65. If both considerations are allowed to 

 influence equally the distribution of representation 

 between the three countries, then, taking the mean 



