PATER'S CHATS WIIH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 84

PATER'S CHATS WIIH THE BOYS.

O PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. Several tinier lately I have been tempted to write a short series of Chats, adopting "Progressive Politics," or "Parliamentary Progress," or "Parliamentary Evolution," or some much more ot less dry heading. But though the heading might be a dry one, the study of such subjects is necessary if young folk are to become intelligent voter.-. Though I may not write the .-f-ries now, J 11 write a Chat that might % 'ell 02 „p introductory one to it. Perhaps you might a-sk, Why write one fist now ? Well, I have several reasons. The agitation going on at Home for "votes for women " and the abu?e being heaped upon Mrs Pankhur&t and others who are advocating this act of equity, because they are adopting what appear to some to be questionable means to make their cause prominent — this is one. The assertions that women, who do such things are unfit to be onti'iisUd with a vote is untrue compared wi*h what men have done, ami this is another leason, though I touched upon tli o some time a^o._ And another

reason is this : I have been reading ih.6 handy three-volume edition, just published, of the Life of Queen Victoria, and the two-volume edition (also just published) of Morley's Life of Gladstone. These lives appeared before, of course, but the cost was beyond niy purse. Perhaps some day soon I'll give an idea of their contents, but it will have to be a very sketchy one, because the five volumes run into over 2500 pages of fairly close type. - But Parliamentary Reform is my topic. And where shall I begin? Not very long ago I referred to the Chartist movement, so shall leave that out of my sketch. Perhaps I had better take two or three historical landmarks, and then, at some future time, you can. fill in details according to your own bent. ' First, we might say. that all -English (or British ? — formerly the former ; latterly the latter) parliamentary reforms pass through three stages. — the study; the platform, and the Parliament, and then we may say that, generally speaking, the transfer of power from sovereign to people is, or was, marked by two steps — (a) the struggle between sovereigns and the nobility, as illustrated, for instance, by the actions of Charles I and James II (not to go farther back) ; and the struggle between the nobility (the landed class) on the out hand and the middle and the lower classes on the other. In 1689, we have a (good example, dearly defined, of the straggle between the King and the nobility, who, of course, by Te6isting a monarchical despotism were paving the way for a wider diffusion of "power. James II was driven from the throne, which was declared vacant and offered to William of Orange. When the crown was tendered to him, and his wife Mary, who was James's daughter, there was handed to them at the same time the Bill of Rights, which, among other provisions, had the following : — 1. It is illegal to suspend laws without the consent of Parliament. •2. The pretended power of dispensing with laws is illegal. 3. It is illegal to levy taxes without thai consent of, Parliament. 4. It is illegal to maintain a Standing army in times of peace without the concent of Parliament. / 5. Election of members of Parliament "ought to be free (that is, free from monarchical influence). 6. Freedom of speech and debate in Parliament ought not to be questioned out of Parliament. 7. For the redress of grievances Parliament ought to be held frequently. This and other enactments transferred the power from sovereign to Parliament, I and as the two Houses represented mainly j the nobility and landed interests, power i was transferred from the sovereign to the upper classes. Now, let us cross over to America for a moment. When the American colonists broke out in rebellion against the Motherland a step further was gone. In then own provincial affairs the colonists wert pf etty well allowed to govern themselves ; but they had over them provincial governors appointed by the Motherland, and all external affairs — foreign trade, their relations with other countries, etc. — were in the hands of the British Parliament. The colonists chafed under these restrictions, for, as an instance, their import and export trade was checked because the British M.P.'s discouraged any colonial trade with foreign countries if that trade appeared in any way to tell against British trade. The aim was to force all colonial tiade through British channels. The American colonists were less inclined than the average settler . would be to put up with these restrictions, becauee they had actually gone to America to escape from, civil or religious disabilities; or were descendants of such; or were foreigners, mainly Dutch, 'who had been conquered by the British— should I say English this time?— and who were- at all times^ ready to harass the British Government; or were of that class which at all times wish to ©scape from any taxation or any other restrictions. The resistance, however, was largely narrowed down to the one cry, "No taxation without representation." And this is the basis I shall go upon now. BEFORE THE 'REFORM! BILL OF 1832. For the next paragraph or two it wiil ba just us well to refer to -am atlas. In the days of Allied, and for centuries onwaids, the greater portion of the population of England was in the wrath, and when iron industik* were established they ware firhl established in the south also. The population was there, forests for conversion into charcoal weie there, and until aboat the 'rime o£ the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) the process of smelting by coke mode irom coal instead of charcoal made from wood had not been discovered. The Romans had built three roads leading from London north to Newcastle, north-west to Chester, and weet to Exeter, but the population along these loads was comparatively sparse. Yorkshire, for instance, was a sheep walk — made up of fcbeep stations we would say now ; but it had no woollen manufactures. The. wool was sent to Flanders, but in after years restrictions placed upon the export" of wool and the importation of broadcloth caused the merchants to cross over and erect mills in Yorkshire, amd so vras inaugurated the woollen industry, Avhich lias meant so much for England. In time the forests of the south were cut down, and the iron industry would have died out probably if the means of smelting by coke had not been discovered. By a combination of circumstances the woollen industry of Yorkshire, the cotton industry of Lancashire, and the coal and iron industries placed England far and away the first among the manufacturing nations of the world. But this growth affected parliamentary representation. Previously, with the population mainly in the south, the representation v. as there, too. Now, however, by tlis migration, large populations ia

the north had no representation, while < depopulated towns still were represented. By the Reform Bill of 1332 two Changes took place : (1) Some places in the south ■were disfranchised, and others in the middle and th« north received the franchise; and (2) the voting qualifications •were modified and a great deal of the parliamentary power passed from the landowners and the nobility to the middle and manufacturing classes. Nest week I'll tell how the change was brought about.