"That it be re-committed to the former Com

mittee:" and "That it be an Instruction to the Committee to lower the qualifications of the Commissioners and electors, so as to make the same in conformity with the qualification for the Parliamentary Suffrage."

In moving that Amendment, he desired to offer such observations in support of it as he thought were called for, and no more. It was probably known, in regard to the question of the franchise of Harbour Commissioners, that in many instances, in different places, such franchises were based upon arrangements made in Private Bills; and, of course, Private Bills were promoted by the persons in possession of the Harbour Trust for the time being. The result of that system was, that the gentlemen who now composed the Harbour Board of Belfast deemed it more convenient that there should be a narrow, rather than an extensive, franchise. It was only natural that gentlemen, already in possession of the franchise, should think it was a very good world they lived in, and that there was no necessity for extending it, or for admitting any other persons into their Body. Nor were they at all desirous of extending the vote; and, as a necessary consequence, a great number of persons who were interested in the management of the Docks and Harbours were not represented. Last

year, the Harbour Commissioners of Belfast promoted a Bill which gave them borrowing powers to the extent of something like £900,000. On that occasion, he (Mr. Biggar) opposed the Bill in that House, on the ground that these gentlemen were elected upon an extensively narrow franchise; and he thought it desirable that the inhabitants of Belfast should have a fuller opportunity of expressing their opinion, with regard to the franchise, before the property and rates of the borough were so heavily mortgaged. On that occasion, a compromise was made on behalf of the Harbour Commissioners, that this year they would promote a Bill to extend the franchise, and, in pursuance of that compromise, they had brought in the Bill now before the House; but he considered that that Bill did not at all con

form with the spirit of the age. In fact, political Parties in England to extend it had long been the principle of both the franchise in regard to Parliamentary and Municipal elections; but these gentlemen, the Harbour Commissioners of Belfast, still continued to argue in favour of the exploded idea of close corporations. He would not attempt to argue in that House, whether the franchise should be wide or narrow. They all knew that it had been the theory of the so-called Liberal Party, for the last 50 years, to extend the franchise very materially in connection with the election of public Bodies. They knew that the lowering of the franchise was used in almost all cases as a Party cry, for the purpose of bringing about an extension of the franchise. Even the late Lord Beaconsfield-an extremely wise gentleman in his generation-thought it was judicious to propose a much more extensive franchise for Parliamentary boroughs. The Harbour Commissioners of Belfast, however, thought themselves much wiser than the late Lord Beaconsfield, or all the reformers of the last 50 years, and they proposed a franchise which was altogether insufficient for the purpose for which it was required. He found upon inquiry that, in the majority of cases, the franchise in regard to Harbour Boards was based, not on the rating of the inhabitants of the places in which the harbour was situated, but on the payment of dues in the port. In Belfast, the principle had always been different, and the franchise, up to the present, had

been based on a certain contribution per annum to the police rate, and also upon the ownership of vessels in the port. He did not desire to criticize the qualification of the ownership of vessels; but he would confine himself to that part of the question which related to the qualification of those electors who were ratepayers of the borough. The qualification of a Parliamentary elector of the borough was a contribution of £4 per annum to the police rate. The Town Council of the borough had power to return certain members upon the Board. But the qualification of an ordinary elector to vote for a Harbour Commissioner was the occupation of premises within the borough rated at £50 to the relief of the poor. That was considered an insufficient franchise, and the Harbour Commissioners, in furtherance of their promises, proposed to lower it. He, himself, had always been in favour of a very wide franchise, and he did not see on what ground persons entitled to vote for a Member of Parliament, should not be as competent to vote for the members of any local Board. It was upon that ground he asked for a further extension of the franchise. It had been argued by the Chairman of the Harbour Commissioners, who gave evidence before the Chairman of Ways and Means in Committee upon the present Bill, that it was desirable, seeing that so large an amount of property was placed under the control of the Board, that the Commissioners should be persons of respectability, and should, therefore, be elected by the large ratepayers. That might be very true; but he failed to see, nor had he seen from past experience, that gentlemen elected on a high franchise managed affairs better than those who were elected on a small franchise. He also failed to see that the Harbour Commissioners of Belfast, who were elected on this extravagant franchise, had been more honest in dealing with the Trusts reposed in them than Commissioners elected on a much smaller franchise. He was able, from personal experience and the knowledge he had possessed all his life of these public Boards in Belfast, to say, without hesitation, that although most of the Boards in that town had made mistakes, and done things which they ought not to have done, yet the worst managed Board, and the one in which the most extensive jobbery had pre

vailed, was the Harbour Board of which he was now taking cognizance. The members of that Board were more or less confined to certain sections of the Conservative or Whig Parties. There was not on the Board, as far as he knew, a single individual who could be called a gentleman of Liberal principles. They were Party men; but he did not mean to assert that they were gentlemen who took an extremely active part in political affairs. So far as the Harbour Board was concerned, they were all of one particular Party, and they were of opinion that it suited their purposes best to get elected upon a high qualification, and that it was desirable for things to continue in their present position. It was also argued by the Chairman of the Harbour Boards, that the Harbour Commissioners had been able to borrow money upon more favourable terms, and that if the franchise were extended, they would not be able to borrow from the public on the same favourable terms. Now, hon. Members knew, from personal experience, that that statement was not founded on fact; because they knew, and he knew, that there were other Boards in Belfast, with much lower qualifications, which had been able to borrow money on the same terms. There was no evidence whatever in support of that contention, and he had not heard any argument in favour of the contention of these gentlemen, who said the Harbour Commissioners should continue to be a thoroughly exclusive Body, elected by a very limited number of electors, and should also be able to declare themselves qualified by fixing a very high property qualification. He would state what the qualification proposed by the Bill for the electors was, and also the qualification proposed for members of the Board. The qualification of an elector proposed by the Bill was of a very peculiar nature. In the first place, he was to be a registered owner of a vessel belonging to the Port of Belfast, engaged in the Coast, Channel, or foreign trade, of not less than 50 tons, net register, or of two or more such vessels, having an aggregate tonnage of not less than 50 tons; or the registered owner of shares, amounting to not less than 50 tons, of vessels registered and engaged in that manner. With that qualification he would not interfere, because he did not pretend to understand the shipping business. But the rating.

qualification of an elector was, first of all, that he should be rated as the occupier of premises within the borough of Belfast of the net annual value, according to the Government valuation for the time being in force for the destitute poor of Ireland, of not less than £20, which meant a rental of more than £35 a-year. Then, in addition to that, there was a multiple vote. Occupiers rated in respect of premises were entitled to vote according to a scale set forth in the Bill, commencing with one vote for premises of £20, and less than £50 net annual value; of two votes for premises of the value of £50, and less than £100; and so on up to six votes, where the premises were of the net value of £250, and the net value might be made up by joining individual holdings together, and connecting together property situated in different parts of the borough. The consequence of this system was, that it placed the entire control and influence in the hands of persons who were large ratepayers, to the detriment of those who were rated at a lower annual value. He contended that such a franchise was altogether contrary to the spirit of the age, and that it involved a principle which ought not to receive the sanction of the House of Commons, and especially by the so-called Liberal Party, who possessed a majority of votes in that House, Then, again, as regarded the qualification of members of the Board, that also, he contended, was entirely unreasonable. The principle of the property qualification involved in it was of a highly absurd nature. And for this reason. Experience proved that anyone who wished to become a member of a public Board, and desired to evade his obligations in regard to a property qualification, was always able to evade them, and get elected. This question of property qualification was discussed at very great length in that House some years ago, and ultimately the Liberal Party carried the abolition of property qualification in regard to Members of Parliament. Now, he thought that if Members of Parliament, elected without property qualification, were capable of managing the Public Business of the nation, involving the expenditure of many millions of money per annum, and of legislating and making laws to protect the lives and liberties of the people, a public Body whose simple duty was to manage

Mr. Biggar

the dock rates on a fixed scale, with no power to go above or below that_scale, had no right to claim to be elected upon a high property qualification. He was of opinion that no argument whatever had been adduced in favour of a property qualification in this instance. The property qualification the Harbour Commissioners asked for was of several kinds. First of all, a member of the Board must be rated as the occupier of premises within the borough of Belfast, of a net annual value, according to the Government valuation for the time being in force for the purposes of the relief of the destitute poor of Ireland, of not less than £60; or, as one of several joint occupiers of such premises on a net annual value, according to such valuation, of not less than £60 for each of such joint occupiers; or, he must be seized or possessed in his own right, or in the right of his wife, of real estate in the United Kingdom of a net annual value of not less than £200, or of personal estate of a gross value of not less than £5,000. He had certainly never heard before that a man's means of living should be one of the qualifications for membership of a public Board; but he presumed that the Harbour Commissioners of Belfast considered that they were acting more or less in conformity with the spirit of the age. It would be seen that even the property of a married woman was to form a qualification. It might happen that the wife was very rich, and, at the same time, the husband was nothing more than a lodger, with no personal influence of property whatever. At the same time, he would have power to act upon this Board, and he might abuse the position to the detriment of this public Trust. He could, without much difficulty, point out some of the grave mismanagements of the Board in times past, and he could show what he was disposed to think had been very doubtful operations; but he did not wish to be personal. He was not acquainted with the names of more than one-third or one-half of the members of the Board, and he was not disposed to speak in any harsh manner of these gentlemen; but, at the same time, he said, without hesitation, that their management of public affairs in Belfast had been a perfect scandal, especially in regard to the jobbery which took place. All the sympathies of the Harbour Board were en

had never been a soldier or a distinguished General; and was it ever thrown in his teeth that he did not possess all the information and knowledge which a connection with the Profession would have given him? Was it contended that the Members of the Government who brought in Land Bills for England and Scotland should be great landed proprietors?

MR. SPEAKER: I must call upon the hon. Member (Mr. Dawson) to address himself to the question before the House, which is the Belfast Harbour Bill.

MR. DAWSON said, the Bill provided that one of the qualifications for membership of the Board should be, that the member elected should be a great trader, and should hold property in steam vessels. He had, therefore, thought it an apposite allusion to endeavour to show that a large interest in a particular trade or profession was not a necessary qualification for the administration of public affairs. The present qualification for the Harbour Commissioners was distinctly exclusive. He believed it was, that every person who had a share, to the extent of £100, in a ship or steamboat should have a vote; but here, in this Bill, it was raised to £300, thereby narrowing the qualification in a very important extent. In the Harbour Board of Dublin, which he thought no one could say was a popular Board, there certainly was an extension of the popular element in order that there might be some kind of representation of the interests of the people as well as of the interests of trade. In that case, the Lord Mayor, four members of the Corporation, and the High Sheriff were placed upon the Board; but in the present Bill, with the exception of the Mayor of Belfast, the Corporation had no representation whatever. Upon the Harbour Board of Limerick, the Mayor and five members of the Corporation, or popular Party, represented the interests of the people. There was no such representation here, and he thought it was a matter for serious consideration whether the composition of the Board, as now proposed, would be able to deal properly with the interests of the people of Belfast. It was quite evident that occasions might arise when the interests of the trade would be diametrically opposed to those of the Mr. Dawson

people. He (Mr. Dawson) was an exofficio member of the Harbour Board of Dublin, and he had heard very important cases raised in connection with questions of wharfage and quayage. In one instance, an hon. Member of that House connected with the coal trade was intimately concerned. Without any communication with the hon. Member, it was discovered that exclusive privileges were proposed to be conferred upon the Dock Board, to the detriment of the interests of Free Trade, and the advancement of Monopoly. The case was fully looked into, and the flimsy pretext upon which the transaction was based was removed. If that had not been done, an English Company and an English Chairman of a Coal Company would have been deprived of all the rights they possessed, and a monopoly would have been handed over to the Dock Board. That would inevitably have been the case, if he and others had not been present, as members of the Board, to vindicate the interests of the consumers of coal in the City of Dublin, and one particular Body would have been allowed a monopoly of the trade, and there an injustice would have been imposed upon the ratepayers and the people generally. Now, were they going, in this great town of Belfast, to perpetuate monopolies? His hon. Friend the Member for Cavan had drawn the attention of the House to the principle upon which hon. Members were admitted into the House of Commons-namely, without any properly qualification whatever; because, after all, they found that it was the representation of the people which was the title of their Acts of Parliament, and not the representation of property. If they were to make provisions for the representation of property, then let them give up at once all idea of legislation and debate, and of considering the interests of the people, and tell a man to put down his thousands and tens and hundreds of thousands of pounds, and then add them up to show the extent to which his interests should be credited. He believed that no properly qualification was required in the case of elections to the Corporations of Ireland or of England, and it was a most illogical contention to say that the wider they gave the franchise, in the case of Parliamentary and Municipal elections, the narrower and the more closely were they to draw