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IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. .

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INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION.

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THE REFORM LEAGUE AND THE…

PARLIAMENTARY JOTTINGS. I

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PARLIAMENTARY JOTTINGS. I DURING the first and facond weeks in August all has been excitement in Parliament. In the House of Lords the very principle of the Reform Bill has been attacked, and the old Whigs have been termed the obstructives. Earl Grey tried very hard to carry an amendment which would have completely upset the bill on this, however, he was not backed by the leader of the Opposition-Earl Russell—and it was negatived without a division. Then came Lord Halifax with an objection against the new distribution scheme, and proposed an amendment for the purpose of effecting a settlement of the question in a more adequate manner, so as to give more representatives to large and important constituencies than are given in the new bill. Lord Derby was absent upon the latter occasion, in consequence of a severe attack of gout, and the Earl of Malmesbury led in the absence of his chief. His lordship said all he could in support of the bill in its original form, and a long discussion followed. At length the bill was negatived by 100 votes against 59. Then came a surprise. The new Tory peer, Lord Cairns, deemed to be one of the greatest supporters of the Government, moved amendments, firstly, that the lodger qualification be raised from X10 to £ 15, which was carried by 121 to 89 the second was what was called his three-cornered franchises, which affects certain boroughs and counties where three members were re- turned, no voter should vote for more than two candi- dates, and should elect which candidate he would record two votes for. This was intended more especially to apply to the boroughs which would have additional members under the new bill, such as Manchester, Liver- pool, Birmingham, and Leeds. The Earl of Malmesbury objected to this because it was new-fangled, and that Englishmen had always been accustomed to obey majori- ties, and, further, that if this was carried they should be accused of giving with one hand, and taking away with the other, for the large boroughs which were now to return three members, the minorities could always return one member by duplicating their votes. Strange to say, Earl Russell supported this amendment, saying that he did not see that they should reject every novelty because it was a novelty, and he thought that by its adoption they would be more likely to get men of moderate views who would give the weight of their influence and votes to moderate party action, and in that way the House of Com- mons would derive great advantage. After this Whigs and Tories seemed uncertain which way to vote. Of the latter, several expressed themselves unfavourable to the amend- ment; whilst many of the supporters of Earl Russell folio wed the late Premier in his views. On a division, the amend- ment was carried by a majority of 142 to 51. At this stage all parties seemed to be getting into sixes and sevens, and the fate of the bill was said to depend upon the health of the Earl of Derby, for in his absence no leader of the Conservative party could carry the measure through the House of Lords. On Thursday Earl Grey had an- other amendment on the paper, which struck at the very root of the bill it was to disfranchise wholly very small boroughs, and to take one member away, where there were two, from all constituencies under 12,000, instead of 10,000, as the clause at present stood, and to set aside the proposition of grouping small towns to return their members jointly. By the first proposition there would be twelve seats for disposal, and the group- ing would give eleven more, making twenty-three in all, of which three were to be given to the Inns of Court, and the remainder to the most populous boroughs and counties. All counties, and divisions of counties, having more than 150,000 inhabitants, were to have a third member. This would affect twelve counties and eight boroughs, and would consequently, if carried, require a reconstruction of the bill, and postpone it at any rate for this Session. It was known that all the strength of the Liberals and the Cranborne Alley" party, or the seceders from the Government, would be brought to bear upon this amendment, and there was evidently a feeling that, even at the very last stage, the Derby-Disraeli Reform may be shelved. The day was looked forward to with some anxiety the Lords on the Opposition side assembled early, and on the Minis- terial side there was evidently a whip-up going on. Presently a cheer was heard in the lobby. The entrance- door of the Lords was flung open, and in limped the Prime Minister, who was received with cheers by his party, whose faces seemed to change from gloom to sun- shine. We had not long to wait for the debate. Earl Grey soouintroducedhis amendment, and the Earl of Derby, looking very pale and weak, rose to reply. He leaned upon the table at first for support, but gradually feeling stronger with the energy of his address, his lordship stood up, looking bold defiance at Earl Grey and the Opposition. He said, If their lordships had consented to the amendment, they would have placed the Govern- ment in a condition of great embarrassment; but having listened to the statement of the noble earl, he was con- siderably relieved from the embarrassment, as he could not believe it possible for their lordships to adopt so crude and incomplete a plan, or with a view of settling the question enter now upon a new Reform Bill altogether." Then turning to some of the waverers of his own party, he said, If this amendment is carried, I shall feel it my duty to report progress, in order that I may consult my colleagues in the course which we ought to pursue." It would be impossible in the space allotted to me to show the force of Lord Derby's speech. It was, however, in his happiest vein, severe upon his opponents, and persuasive to waverers. A number of peers followed, and Lord Cairns came boldly to the rescue of his party. THE DIVISION AND MINISTERIAL MAJORITY. Before the division finally took place, Lord Derby again rose, and called upon their lordships by their votes to show that they were disinclined to interpose any obstacle in the way of passing the bill this Session. Now the witching hour had arrived for a Ministerial triumph or defeat. It was known that the Earl of Derby's pockets were almost filled with proxies, and it was known also that Earl Russell was well supplied with those documents which enabled him to vote for absent peers. The Chairman then read the amendment, and said it was proposed to substitute certain words in lieu of those already in the clause affecting redistribution of seats, and continued—"The question is that the words proposed to be left out stand part of the ques- tion. Those who are of that opinion say Content;' those who are not of that opinion say Non-content.' Their lordships having expressed a verbal opinion one way or the other, the Chairman said, "I think the Contents have it." "No, the Non-contents," was cried from the Opposition. Strangers on the floor of the House will withdraw," said the Chairman, and shortly afterwards it was, Those of your lordships who are Content will pass into the lobby on the right those who are Non-content on the left." Now, in the Lords, contrary to the usage in the Com- mons, the tellers stand just within the entrance-door of the House, with short wands in their hands, and as each member enters they say, loud enough for all to hear, One Content, two Content," &c., and on the other hand, One Non-content, two Non-content," &c. Lord Derby was one of the first to enter the lobby and to return to his seat in the House, and he appeared to listen with great attention to the numbers as the tellers recorded them. At last the Non-contents were all told, and the Contents were still coming in; a cheerful smile was ob- servable upon the Treasury Bench, and the noble Premier appeared to be telling his friends on either side of him that it was all right. A cheer broke out such as is not often heard in the Lords when the numbers were finally announced, "Contents to the right, 98; Non- contents to the left, 76." There was no need of proxies on the part of the Government, and Earl Russell did not call for them on the part of the Opposition thus the clause passed through committee, and progress was reported for that day. FINAL PASSAGE THROUGH COMMITTEE. On Friday a proposition was made by the Marquis of Salisbury that the voting papers clause, which was originally in the bill, and struck out in the House of Commons, should be re-inserted the suggestion appeared to be generally acceptable to the House, a division was taken, and it was carried by a majority of 114 to 36. After this there were some sharp words used by members of both sides of the House, and a regular political squabble ensued. Earl Granville inquired whether the details of a motion could not be settled at once. The Lord Chancellor said they would be considered in report. Earl Grev spoke so energetically that he became quite passionate, and protested against a course of proceeding which would preclude the opponents of the plan from dealing with it. In this he was backed by Earl Gran- ville, to whom the Lord Chancellor replied that, if he liked, arrangements could be made at once and this not being promptly accepted, Lord Derby seemed to lose patience, and broke out in almost vehement accu- sation of something like factious action on the part of the Opposition, who appeared determined to be pleased with no course, however accommodating, which the Government could pursue. Eventually the Government had their own way, and the further consideration of the matter was postponed. There was no check to the rattling on with a number of clauses in succession, and before "eleven o'clock some thirty clauses passed through committee. The report was read on Monday, at which [time the Government accepted the proposal of Earl Russell to restore the lodger franchise to the original provision of jEIO instead of X15, as previously movfu and carried in the House of Lords by Lord Cairns: the third reading was taken on Tuesday, and the bill, as amended, was sent once more to the Comm orill.

OUR "CITY" ARTICLE .

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itoitwrn anb Ctfrntfrrr markets*…

Fruit and Vegetables.

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