1735-36. Anno 9 Geo. II. bution among all the Freeholders of the County; and it will not fignify much to eafe the Landed Gentlemen of a Shilling in the Pound Land-Tax, if by the Controverting of Elections they shall be obliged, once in every Parliament, to tax themselves, perhaps in ten Times that Sum, for fupporting the Rights of their Country. Injustice may, 'tis true, be fometimes done by the Returning Officers for Counties, as well as by the Returning Officers for Boroughs. But as there are fuch a great Number of Voters for every County, as almoft every Freeholder's Right of voting muft be examined into, before the Injuftice of the Returning Officer can be detected, and as the naming of that Returning Officer depends entirely upon the Minilters of the Crown, the Election for all the Counties in England is certainly very precarious. And when any Injustice is done, the Discovering of it is fo troublesome and expensive, that no private Man can well undertake it: In fuch Circumftances, it will always be eafy for the Ministers of the Crown to appoint who fhall be the Knights of any Shire, whenever they have a Mind; for if the Returning Officer makes an undue Return according to their Orders, it is almost impoffible to difcover the Injustice done by him, fo as to fubject him to the Punishment inflicted by Law; and if the Returning Officer fhould happen to difobey their Orders, it is but making their Candidates pétition, by which the Gentlemen rightfully chofen, and duely returned, will be put to fuch an Expence in defending their Right, that no Man will thereafter choose to ftand for any County in Oppofition to the Court-Interest. This Injustice in the Returning Officers, as well as this Expence to the Gentlemen chofen or petitioning, might, in my Opinion, be eafily prevented by a few small Amendments to the Laws now in Being for regulating Elections; for if the Oath to be taken by Freeholders, on occafion of their coming to vote at any Election, were made a little more full and explicit, no Man would dare to take it falfly, because it would be eafy to convict him of Perjury; and thofe, against whom he voted, would always be ready to be at the Trouble and Expence of the Profecution; in which Cafe the taking of the Oath might be made final and conclufive as to the Perfon's Right of voting, fo that the Right of any Freeholder to his Vote at an Election would never come to be controverted at the Bar of this Houfe; and then it would be eafy to detect the Returning Officers, if they committed any Injustice, and the controverting of Elections would not be near fo tedious, troublesome, or expenfive as it is at prefent. As the Cafe now ftands, Sir, the Expence of controverting a County Election is moft grievous and moft terrible ; and 1735-36. he County of Norfolk is one of the largest and moft Anne 9. Geo. IL s Counties in England, the Expence of controverting tion for that County must be much greater than hers; but if you appoint the Petition from that to be heard in fo few Days, after the Day on which e appointed the Yorkshire Petition to be heard, you greatly enhance even that greater Expence; because e fitting Member and the Petitioners for Norfolk, ave their Lawyers, Agents, Witneffes, and all the mplements of a controverted Election, attending in and living at their Expence, during the whole Time Controverfy about the Yorkshire Petition. This, I muft be the Cafe, at leaft of the fitting Member, mund Bacon] because I am pretty well convinc'd he any Concert, nor knows any of the Secrets of the ers for Yorkshire; and the laying him under fuch an linary Expence, or indeed under any Expence, is e unneceffary, because the only Gentleman, whofe Teems to be controverted, is now dead, [Mr Wodeby which Means the Petitioners and their Friends if they pleased, have an Opportunity of trying their in the County by a new Election, without putting ves to the Trouble or Charge of controverting the ; but it feems the Petitioners know that the Expence troverting the former Election, great as it must be, lefs to them than the Expence of a new Election ; by the by, Sir, feems to me to be a Demonstration eir natural Intereft in the County is not much to be ed on. t to this, Sir, I must add, that I have been informed, lly believe, that the Petitioners could not make near Ia Show upon a new Election, as they did upon the ; for every one knows that on fuch Occafions many es are made by thofe, who do not depend upon their Intereft, but upon the unnatural and acquired Inhey may have by Means of the many Pofts and Prets they have at their Difpofal: And I have heard, any Promifes were made upon the laft Election for the of Norfolk, which have not been performed; from it is to be prefumed, that the Perfons to whom thofe es were made, and who were thereby induced to vote y to their Inclinations, will upon a new Election vote ing to Confcience. This, Sir, I am afraid, is the true a for renewing the Petition from that County, notanding its being certain that the Hearing of thefe Pewill coft them more than a new Election can naturally hem; notwithstanding its being certain, that a new on would bring their Candidates fooner to their having Seats 1735-36. Anno 9. Geo. II. Seats in this House, than they can be by the Hearing of the Petition; and I must say, that the Motion now made to us feems calculated for nothing, but that of laying the fitting Member and his Friends under a Neceffity of yielding to the Petitioners, rather than be at the Expence of trying the Merits of the laft Election at the Bar of this House. Mr Winnington. To this it was anfwered by Mr Winnington, Sir William Yonge and other Members, That it was impoffible to foretel how long the hearing of the Yorkshire Petition would laft; but they could not imagine it would laft near fo long as the honourable Gentleman feemed to intimate; for as the controverted Votes on both Sides would be very much reduced, and fully ascertained, by the Lifts that were to be mutually delivered, they could not think that Dif pute would take up many Days, much lefs feveral Weeks: That they would readily join in any Measures for preventing the Injuftice of Returning Officers, as well as for making the controverting of County Elections short and eafy; but the controverted Elections then depending could not be regulated by any fuch Measures: And as many of the Freeholders of Norfolk had complained of Injustice done them at the last Election, it was a Duty incumbent upon them, as Members of that House, to hear their Complaints, and give the Complainants fuch Redress as they fhould find them intitled to: That this they were obliged to do with all poffible dispatch; and if the hearing of the Yorkshire Petition fhould last two or three Days, which might probably be the Cafe, it would be doing Injuftice to the People of Norfolk to put off the hearing of their Complaints for two or three Weeks: That they knew no more of the Secrets of the Petitioners for Yorkshire, than any other Gentleman of that Houfe, fo that their moving for having the Norfolk Petition heard, fo foon after the Day appointed for hearing the Yorkshire Petition, could proceed from nothing but their great Defire to do Juftice to the Norfolk Petitioners, and the fitting Member, with all poffible Difpatch: That if the Petitioners, their Lawyers, Agents, and Witneffes fhould be obliged to attend in a few Days before their Affair could be brought on, it was an Inconvenience which could not be avoided; it was an Inconvenience which People had always been, and must always be fubject to, in all Courts, and in all forts of Caufes; for unless People were fubje&ted to fuch an Inconvenience, every Court of Judicature in the Kingdom would often be put to a full Stop, which would make it impoffible to administer Juftice to all those who might be obliged to fue to fuch Courts for Juftice; but whatever Inconvenience there was in this Respect, it lay heavier in the prefent Cafe upon the Petitioners than it could do 4 1735-36. do upon the fitting Member; because the Petitioners would Anno g Geo. It. be obliged to attend in Town, from the Day appointed for hearing their Petition, which they were not otherwise obliged to do; whereas the fitting Member was otherwise obliged to be in Town, in order to attend the Service of the Houfe: That they knew of no Promises made upon the former Election, nor any Difappointments People had fince met with; but believed that fuch Reports were without Foundation: That a new Election might perhaps be less expenfive than to try the Merits of the laft Election; and likewife Gentlemen might perhaps come fooner to their Seats in that House by a new Election, than by having their Right upon the former Election determined; but if any Gentleman had a Right to a Seat in that Houfe upon the former Election, it was not reasonable to expect that he should give up that Right, which he muft do by fubmitting to a new Election: That befides, if Injustice be done to him as well as the County upon the former Election, it was a Duty he owed both to himfelf and his County, to prosecute the Authors of that Injuftice in fuch Manner as the Laws of his Country direct; and as that could not be done, but by bringing the Merits of the former Election to be tried at the Bar of that Houfe, they thought that the Petitioners were in the Right to infift upon it: That this was certainly the Duty of the Petitioners, and it was their Duty, as Members of that Houfe, to hear and determine the Affair as foon as poffible, by agreeing to the Motion.' ; Hereupon the Motion was agreed to without a Divifion and the Lifts of controverted Voters were ordered to be mutually delivered by that Day Month. The fame Day Mr Walter Plumer prefented to the House a Petition of John Neale, Efq; complaining of an undue Election and Return for the City of Coventry; and the fame being read, Mr Plumer ftood up again and faid, That tho' by the Forms of proceeding in that House, it was neceffary for the Petitioner to present a Petition that Seffion, in the very fame Words with the Petition prefented by him upon the fame Subject the preceeding Seffion, yet he had now given him Orders to acquaint the Houfe, That in order to fave Trouble to the House, and not to take up their Time any longer than was abfolutely neceffary, he was wil Debate on a Pe- tition of John due Election for ling to pafs from every Complaint in his Petition mentioned, Mr W. Plumer. except fo far as related to the Qualification of John Bird, Efq; one of the fitting Members for the faid City; which was the only Complaint he intended to infift on at the hearing of the Petition: And as the Determining of that Point could not take up above half an Hour of their Time, he VOL. IV. P would 1735.36. Anno 9. Geo. II. would therefore move, that the Petition might be heard at the Bar of the Houfe': But upon the Question's being put, it paffed in the Negative, and the Petition was referred to the Committee of Privileges and Elections. A Petition of An complaining of an Hampshire. Debate thereon. Mr Lifle. Jan. 21. A Petition of Anthony Chute, Efq; complainthony Chute, Efq; ing of an undue Election and Return for the County of undue Election for Southampton, was prefented to the House and read; and it was ordered, That the Matter of the faid Petition be heard at the Bar of the Houfe, on the 9th of March; after which it was moved to order, That the Lifts, with respect to the faid controverted Election, be delivered by that Day five Weeks: Hereupon Mr Lifle, one of the fitting Members for that County ftood up and faid, That he would willingly fubmit to any Order the House should make upon that Occafion, and would be ready to deliver his Lifts by any Day the House should prefix ; but as the Design of delivering fuch Lifts was to fhorten the Difpute, and to prevent taking up their Time with Inquiries into Objections against Voters, which were either falfe or frivolous, the longer the Time was which was to be prefixed for delivering fuch Lifts, both the Petitioner and he would be more enabled to abridge their Lifts; and therefore, in order to give the House as little Trouble as poffible, which he was very much inclined to, he hoped the House would give him and the Petitioner as much Time as poffible for making up and delivering their - Lifts: That with refpect to the Objections against the Voters of either Side, they were obliged to depend upon the Information of others; and in order to prevent their being excluded from objecting against any Perfon, who was really a bad Voter upon the other Side of the Question, they were obliged to put every Man's Name in their Lifts, against whom they could hear of any Sort of Objection; but that if he had Time, he would, by himself and his Agents, inquire particularly into every Objection; and would put no Man's Name in his Lift, if upon fuch Inquiry he fhould find that the Objection was not fufficiently fupported by Reason and Evidence, by which Means he might probably very much abridge the Lift he was to deliver; and he did not doubt of the Petitioners doing the fame: That as there were already Petitions from Yorkshire, Norfolk and Flintfhire, appointed to be heard before the Day appointed for hearing of the Petition against him, it could not be prefumed, that the hearing of the Petition against him would come on apon the very Day the House had appointed for hearing it: That therefore he thought it would be better for the House to fufpend making any Order, for delivering Lifts of bad Voters for the County of Southampton, till after the Deter |