THE DOOMED BOROUGHS
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HANTS,
Hampshire, or Southamptonshire, is at present represented by 5 County Members, 2 for the Northern Division, 2 for the Southern Division, and 1 for the Isle of Wight. The boroughs in this county are Portsmouth, Southampton, Winchester, Newport (Isle of Wight), Andover, and Lymington, each returning 2 Members, and Christchurch and Petersfield, returning 1 each. The result is 5 county and 14 borough members. Previous to the Reform Act, the county returned only 2 Members; but the eight boroughs named above, with four other boroughs in the county, returned 2 Members each, giving 24 borough members. Mr Bright's proposal is to give Portsmouth 3 Members in place of 2, to take 1 Member from each of Winchester and Newport, and totally to disfranchise Christchurch and Petersfield, with 1 Member each, and Andover and Lymington, with 2 Members each. The result would be 5 County Members as at present, while the Borough Members would be reduced from 14 to 6. Winchester and Newport lose half their political influence, and the other four boroughs the whole of theirs. We shall not say whether this is right or wrong, but allow facts to speak for themselves. ANDOVER has a population of 5395, and 226 electors; and at the contest in 1857 the votes for the three candidates numbered respectively 143, 120, and 102. The Earl of Portsmouth appears to have considerable influence, at least one of the Members is the Hon. Dudley Francis Fortescue, whose wife, is a daughter of the last Earl. Mr Fortescue was a Captain of the 1st Devon Militia, and is a son of the second Earl Fortescue. The other Member is Alderman Cubitt. CHRISTCHURCH has a population of 7475, 297 electors, and the Earl of Malmesbury's influence predominates. Since 1832, its representative has been a Conservative or a Protectionist. In 1844, the votes were 180 for the Protectionist candidate and 84 for the Liberal. The present Member is Rear-Admiral Walcott. PETERSFIELD has 5550 of a population, 333 electors, and the influence is almost entirely in the family of Jolliffe. The present Member is Sir W. Jolliffe, the Patronage Secretary of the Derby Government. This inconsiderable place was contested in 1832, when Mr Shaw Lefevre was returned by a majority of one, the numbers being 101 to 100. He was declared unduly elected, and Sir W. Jolliffe took the seat. In 1835, Mr Hector, a local banker and brewer, beat Sir W. Jolliffe by 16; and, in 1837, the same combatants changed places, the majority again being one ; but the Baronet's triumph was short, for he was declared unduly elected, and his opponent was seated in his place. Since 1837 there has been no contest. LYMINGTON has a population of 5282, 322 electors, and the influence is chiefly possessed by the families of Burrard-Neale and Burrard of Walhampton and of Lymington, Members of which have sat for more than a century. WINCHESTER has a population of 13,704, and 796 electors. The influence was formerly in the St John Mildmay family and the Duke of Buckingham, but it has decayed of late years. In 1832, it returned two Liberals; in 1841, two Conservatives; with these exceptions, it has returned since 1832 one Liberal and one Conservative. NEWPORT, the chief town in the Isle of Wight, has a population of 8047, 693 electors, and, with regard to the influence, it is stated that political parties are so evenly divided that personal influence is seldom sufficient without "pecuniary persuasives."