The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1884.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 4173, 5 December 1884, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1884.

The cablegram that appeared in our issue of "Wednesday, furnishing the outline of Mr Gladstone's Redistribution of seats Bill, closely assimilates to that which was publish el by the Lond'.n Standard last Ott >ber, and which received an official denial. The snlient features of the Standard's draft were these:—l. Seventy-two boroughs, with a population under 10,000 to bo merged in the counties. 2. Forty boroughs with a population under 40,000, now returning two members, to lose one member _ each. 3, Fifty-four new members to be.given to the counties. 4. Forty-seven seats to be given to the large towns, twenty-five of which are o-iven to London, two to Dublin, three to Glasgow, and two to Edinburgh. 5, Seven new borough constituencies to be created in England, two with two members each, and five with one member each. 6. The three-cornered constituencies to be extinguished everywhere except in the City of London. 7. Where constituencies return four or six members they are to be divided into wards, each returning two members. The provision's of Mr Gladstone's measure, according to our cablegram are—Boroughs, with a population under 15,000 will be merged in the counties ; those under 50,000 will" return single members, while larger boroughs will be divided into single member wardships. Tho number of members for the metropolis will be increased by thirty-seven ; Liverpool by six ; Birmingham and Glasgow by four; and Manchester by three; the City of London will be reduced by two. On tho whole England gains six members and Scotland twelve ; Ireland and Wales are unchanged. It will be seen thut there is very little difference between these two schemes, and as the Pall Mall Gazette said at the time, there was at least one reason why the guess of the Standard was not far off the mark, and that was it was exactly what any Redistribution Bill brought in by Mr Gladstone's Cabinet would be. It is the effect of a compromise with Lord Salisbury's party, and ie consequently a two-penny-half-penny milk-and-water measuro, which proceeding on the old lines leaves almost asmany anomalies standing as those which it removes. The Pall Mall. Gazette'eays :—" That the Radicals will be enthusiastic over it, is not to bo expected. Half a loaf is bettor than no bread, and as wo cannot get more we must c'en be content with what Mr Gladstone gives us. But of course it will be distinctly understood by all concerned that the Advanced Left only accept it as. a temporary makeshift, which will pass the time until the county householders are enfranchised. After the new voters have felt their power, they will complete the work by adjusting representation to population much more thoroughly than can be effected m the present Parliament. The questions of equal electoral districts, proportional representation, and decennial readjustment are held over to be settled by the new electorates. All that is to be done next session is to do a little more patchwork, so as to render the existing system tolerable for a little time longer."