The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 746 - 357: What’s Even More Terrifying Than a Civil War?

The spider had woven its web in the palace of the empire, but the owl had already sung its night song atop the tower of Aflahsiab.

—Mehmed II

"After the last reform bill was rejected, we had contemplated and supplemented the bill thoughtfully and hoped this new bill would receive broader, more substantial support. Although the reform bill had been widely discussed, due to the legislative process needs of the Parliament, I need to restate the stance on reform to the gentlemen in the House of Commons here.

Firstly, under the current electoral system, in the southern 10 counties of England, 3.26 million people hold 325 seats in the House of Commons. In contrast, the northern six counties with 3.6 million people only have 68 seats. In Cornwall, which has the most decayed constituencies, they only have 300,000 people but hold 44 seats in the House of Commons. Meanwhile, in the emerging industrial area of Lancashire County, 1.33 million people only have 14 representatives.

Some new industrial cities, such as Birmingham and Manchester, under the current framework have no right to appoint parliament members at all. The imbalanced seat distribution between north and south, rural and urban, has lagged far behind the development of the times, impacting the realization of social justice.

Secondly, there has never been a clear, unified standard for voter eligibility. Not only do urban electoral districts and county electoral districts interpret voter eligibility differently, but the interpretation of voter eligibility also varies significantly even among urban districts due to historical status and development sequence.

The current regulation for county electoral districts still follows an ordinance issued in 1430 by Henry VI, which required freeholders of agriculture with an annual net income of 40 shillings or more to have the right to vote. However, with the arrival of the industrial age and the development of the agricultural revolution, the number of freeholders in rural areas has dramatically decreased, consequently reducing the voter count in county electoral districts. According to our incomplete statistics, by 1831, the number of county electoral district voters in England and Wales combined did not exceed 250,000.

In urban electoral districts, the existing voter eligibility regulations are highly complex. Since the Middle Ages, various urban electoral districts have made their distinct regulations. Generally, urban electoral district eligibility can be classified into four types:

The first is based on having a residence in the district, paying parish taxes, and not receiving relief funds as conditions for voting.

The second is based on owning real estate rights in the district. However, because of urban development, those properties eligible for voting rights are confined to a very narrow old city area, while newly built properties in new city areas do not qualify for voting.

The third is determined autonomously by the district’s municipal bodies, where the conditions for issuing voter eligibility usually involve having good social reputation and some economic foundation, which are rather vague requirements.

The fourth is so-called ’freemen’ who have voting rights. There are three ways to obtain these rights: one is by signing a seven-year apprenticeship contract in a specific industry and completing the service. The second is through blood inheritance. The third is granted directly by the municipal bodies.

With all this in mind, we believe that to reform these imbalanced, unfair, and outdated electoral systems, we should eliminate the seats in 60 decayed constituencies, reduce the seats in 47 decayed constituencies, and reduce a further seat in one joint constituency. Of the freed-up 168 seats, 97 would go to England, one to Wales, five to Scotland, three to Ireland, with the est eliminated.

If the reform bill is ultimately implemented, England’s seven new industrial cities could each gain two seats, and 20 medium-sized cities could each gain one seat. Regarding voter eligibility, we adopt the enthusiastic suggestions given to the reform bill after the last one was rejected by the gentlemen.

We fully understand your concerns and agree with your call that ’the nation should be entrusted to those with sufficient learning and insight to govern.’ Therefore, we give up the demand for universal suffrage and instead support lowering the threshold for voting rights rather than eliminating it outright.

According to the suggestion of the Duke of Buckingham, we will add a supplementary clause to the bill, granting voting rights in county electoral districts to landowners with an annual income of over 10 pounds or any tenant farmer with an annual net income of over 50 pounds, and to urban residents with an annual rental income or annual paid house rent of over 10 pounds in urban electoral districts.

After the reforms are complete, the bloated House of Commons seats will be streamlined, which will help us to eradicate malpractices and reduce seats to balance the party forces in the House of Commons and allow Britain to move towards the new era better equipped..."

Rustling...

In Arthur’s office, where the Earl Grey’s speech in the House of Commons had just finished playing.

Leaning back in his chair with his eyes slightly closed to rest, Arthur raised his head to look at the gentleman sitting across from him, dressed in a tailcoat with a goatee.

This was not the first time Arthur had met him, although the last time they met was four or five years ago.

Arthur stood up and shook hands with him, smiling.

"Hello, Mr. Price. The last time we met was on the university campus. Although our time at school was brief, your speech left a deep impression on me."

Price spoke, "Mr. Hasting, Bentham and Lord Brougham have mentioned you to me, a distinguished young man. Let me guess why you invited me to Scotland Yard today, it must be because of the National Political Alliance I lead, right?"

Arthur nodded slightly, and he took out the list already prepared from the drawer and placed it in front of Price.