shadow of britain

Chapter 179 Confrontation in Parliament (7K4)

With the intervention of the security officer, the two congressmen who made a fuss were quickly pushed to the ground.

After the two of them were pushed out of the council hall, the boiling hall finally returned to a certain degree of calm.

The Duke of Wellington watched as the two MPs clamoring for a duel at a later date were escorted out of the parliament hall, and then took his cronies to the front row seat reserved for him in advance.

However, before he warmed up his seat, he saw the Whig camp on the opposite side raise their hands.

Taking advantage of the time when the Speaker of the House of Commons reaffirmed his discipline, the Duke of Wellington asked Sir Peel beside him, "Robert, what is the situation with the King's Pension Act?"

Sir Peel held his forehead with some headaches and said: "The situation is not very optimistic. The Whig Party is still clinging to the financial expenditure and corruption of officials. Judging by their posture, this time they may have to put the "King's Pension Act" no matter what. Amendment passed."

If Sir Peel's words were given to ordinary Londoners, most Londoners would not understand what he meant by them.

But when the same words fell into the ears of the Duke of Wellington, they had different meanings.

The so-called "King's Pension Act" refers to a bill passed by the British Parliament in 1697.

It stipulates that the parliament will award the king's annuity every year according to the actual situation, and the main purpose of the king's annuity is to pay the salaries of government civil servants in addition to paying for the living expenses of the royal family.

Cabinet members such as foreign ministers and interior ministers are generally called political officers.

Positions such as the Permanent Undersecretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are called Affairs Officers.

The main difference between the affairs officer and the administrative officer is that the administrative officer is an elected non-professional government official who is responsible for leading the department and making decisions in the actual governance process, but not responsible for specific implementation.

On the contrary, affairs officers are appointed rather than elected, and are responsible for implementation rather than decision-making in the governance process.

It is precisely because of the unique nature of the work of officers and their salaries are paid by the king's annuity that the current appointment of officers in Britain is also called the king's gift system.The allegiance of all stewards is actually the king, not the cabinet.

Therefore, although the king and the ruling party cannot control the election process of political officials, one of them has the right to pay the officials' salaries, and the other has the right to appoint and remove personnel.And mastering these two powers is equivalent to mastering all the affairs officers.

The reason why the Whig Party proposed the amendment to the "King's Pension Act" was to completely separate the royal family's living expenses from the government affairs officer's salary expenditure, so that the affairs officers' salaries from now on will all be paid out of the treasury, while Not paid out of the King's Annuity.

In this way, the king who wears a pair of trousers with the Tory Party can be limited to the greatest extent to exert influence on the officials, and prevent the future Whig Party from being stumbled by them when they are in power.

Of course, more importantly, in this way, many of the idle jobs that the Tory Party secretly used to bribe various cross-bench MPs will also be exposed more clearly.

After all, it is easier to check the accounts of the Ministry of Finance than the accounts of the king.

As the speaker's gavel fell, the council hall finally returned to calm.

I only heard a long shout from the speaker: "Lord John Russell!"

As soon as the voice fell, a young and middle-aged man in a tuxedo with parted hair walked up to the speech box with the materials prepared in advance.

"Mr Speaker, what I want to say here is that this corrupt and incompetent chaotic government has turned our country into a mess. Everyone knows how serious the problem is now, and it broke out in London, Birmingham, Manchester, etc. last month After protests and demonstrations, the rural famine became more serious, and the Swain movement continued to expand in the south of England. All citizens of the country, whether businessmen, workers or farmers, were demanding parliamentary reform.

Yet our Prime Minister, the brilliant Duke of Wellington, has only ever known himself to be holed up in his 'London One' Apsley House in front of an agitated public.I don't see the government doing anything effective to deal with the biggest crisis since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, other than replacing our windows with iron ones.

I do not doubt that your lordship has the best generalship in the world, but I doubt that a general who knows only military discipline can manage the greatest country in the world in the same way.My question is, does the Prime Minister really understand what he is doing now?Did he know that to continue resisting reform was to destroy the democratic tradition that Britain had gradually established since the Glorious Revolution.

Britain is a great democracy, not a poor horse driven forward by the whip of His Excellency the Duke, who is gradually transforming Britain into his personal military autocratic kingdom.If he doesn't admit it, then at least he has to be able to rationalize his sluggish responses and passive behavior! "

As soon as Lord Russell finished speaking, a large group of Whig backbenchers stood up, and they cheered and cheered for the speaker, Lord Russell's questioning.

The speaker's eyes turned to the right, and he shouted: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister!"

The Duke of Wellington stood up with his cane like a sharp sword, but before he could take a step, he heard Sir Peel who was sitting on the side pleading in a low voice: "Your Excellency, if you encounter a problem that you really can't deal with, Just turn it over to us."

Unexpectedly, the Duke of Wellington just raised his hat when he heard the words, and he said: "Robert, have you forgotten what I told you before? I am really not good at debating, but I am not here to debate today , I’m here to scold people.”

After finishing speaking, the old Duke walked up to the speaking box in three steps and two steps. According to the tradition of the parliament, he did not reply directly to Lord Russell, but spoke to the speaker who was the middleman.

"Dear Mr. Speaker, I think a true patriot must abandon religion and identity concepts, and his opposition in parliament must be aimed at bills rather than individuals. Just now Lord Russell believed that soldiers cannot lead the country well. This is true. is a funny point.

Who, I ask Lord Russell, preserved for us the democratic powers of Parliament when the King dissolved it?It's soldiers, it's Cromwell!
And who resolutely and boldly opposed Charles II's intervention in parliament and led the parliamentary movement?It's a soldier, it's William Cavendish!

Or who, after monopolizing the power, resolutely welcomed the king back and restored the British constitutional tradition?Also a soldier, it was George Monk!
It is because of these soldiers that we have the parliamentary tradition we have today, and it is possible to have people like Lord Russell in Parliament.But people like Lord Russell are already so bad and uninformed, and now he intends to let a group of people who are not as good as himself into Parliament.

I think that if we make a decision like passing the "Parliamentary Reform Act" to add sand to Parliament, the only people who can benefit are people like Lord Russell.Because when the level of political decision-making in parliament is reduced, I am afraid that even his ridiculous remarks will be set off in the future.This is literally the worst thing I've seen since I was born! "

As soon as the Duke of Wellington finished speaking, there was another burst of applause from the Tories camp.

And General Sidney Smith, who stood on the second floor of the parliament and watched the questioning, laughed and sarcastically said: "Your Excellency, I don't agree with your point of view. You think the Parliamentary Reform Act is the worst thing in the world." Well, that's because you haven't seen Lord Russell's new five-act play, "Don Carlos." Compared with that play, I think even the Parliamentary Reform Act becomes acceptable. "

Lord Russell, who was originally sitting in the audience, had a cloudy face because of the Duke of Wellington's taunt, but at this moment he heard the taunt from General Sidney Smith, and couldn't help but bounced up from his seat. Pointing at him and yelling: "Smith! What are you talking about?"

General Codrington, who came with General Sidney Smith, also changed his face. While pulling General Smith's trousers, he begged in a low voice: "At this time, the atmosphere in the parliament is already tense enough. Don't make any more trouble."

General Smith nodded when he heard the words, as if agreeing to General Codlington's plea, but he turned his head and said again: "Lord Russell, I don't mean to offend. Actually, apart from that play, you It is not always so bad. Gentlemen, I have always believed that Lord Russell has many talents. I think he can remove stones from patients, build St. Paul's Church, or replace my friend General Codrington. Great Britain's Channel Fleet..."

Speaking of this, Lord Russell's ugly face eased a little, but soon, General Smith's voice was heard again.

General Smith laughed loudly and said: "But you should be able to see from his demeanor that the patients he treated have died, the church he built has collapsed, and the Straits Fleet under his command has been beaten seven times." It's all gone."

General Smith's remarks immediately caused a burst of laughter from the Tory camp, while the Whig MPs all stood up indignantly and criticized loudly.

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control again, the speaker, whose neck was full of veins, had to pick up the gavel again and demanded discipline: "Silence! Silence! Security officer, please get the idlers out of the council hall!"

However, General Smith on the second floor was obviously more interesting than the two congressmen who were thrown out just now. He said, "Don't bother Mr. Speaker, I've had enough of being in the same room with Lord Russell. I'll go out by myself."

After finishing speaking, he walked out the door with his cane shaking three times under everyone's gaze.

Lord Russell stared wide-eyed and pointed at his back and cursed: "Smith, when the questioning is over, I must ask you for an explanation! The reason why we want to promote parliamentary reform is to eradicate your ignorance of good and bad for Britain. moths."

The speaker saw that today's topic was about to go off track, so he hurriedly asked: "Next! The Duke of Bedford!"

The Duke of Bedford first pushed the emotional brother beside him back to his seat, then quickly walked up to the speech box and asked: "No matter how the prime minister quibbles, we still hope that you can see that the dictator standing in front of us His Royal Highness is defying public opinion and trying to concentrate all the power of the country in his own hands. Although I have always opposed anarchism, if I had to choose between anarchism and despotism, then I would rather choose anarchy doctrine!"

When the Duke of Wellington heard the words, he almost didn't even think about it and shot back: "If anyone wants to experience anarchism, there is no need to leave Britain. You only need to go to the territory of the Duke of Bedford, and you can see it. What is the state of governmentism? As far as I know, the Swain movement of the peasants has always been carried out smoothly in the Duke's domain. The Ludd movement that destroyed the textile factory machines in the past, Bedford is also important disaster area."

As soon as the Duke of Wellington said this, the two brothers, the Duke of Bedford and Lord Russell, were immediately blushed and their necks thickened.

And the supporters of the Tory Party were also very surprised by the performance of the Prime Minister today. No one thought that the Duke of Wellington, who has always been reluctant to debate, would be full of firepower today, even in the face of Russell, a well-known Whig party debater. The brothers did not fall behind either.

Amidst the applause from the Tory Party, Earl Gray, the leader of the Whig Party, finally couldn't sit still.

"Lord Charles Gray!"

Following the speaker's roll call, Earl Gray shot onto the speaker box like a fired shell. He held up a thick stack of materials in his hand and announced loudly.

"I am not here today to have fun with the Prime Minister! We hope to be able to show everyone this material in my hand. Many people simply don't understand the urgency of Britain's passage of the "King's Pension Act" and parliamentary reform!
According to a survey by the 'Friends of the People' association, today's Parliament is not representative of British public opinion at all. Among our 203 constituencies in England, only 20 constituencies have more than a thousand voters, and England has votes The number of voters in the country is less than 4% of the population.

In Scotland, the situation is even worse. There are less than 33 effective voters in Scotland's 3000 counties, and an average of less than [-] people elects one member of parliament.

If we take this perspective to the whole country, only 2400 of the 40 million people in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland have the right to vote, accounting for less than 3% of the adult population.

In addition, in each small electorate, nepotism is intricate, and the seats of parliamentarians are almost bound to the land, which has become part of the inheritance of some local nobles from their ancestors.Lancashire MPs have been named Danby since the 17th century, and Cumberland MPs have always been Lanced.

If there are two rich families in the local area, then they will send two candidates by convention. This kind of two-choice election is meaningless for parliamentary politics!

And in canvassing activities, all kinds of fraud and corruption are not uncommon!In this case, the behavior of picking up and dropping off in a carriage, entertaining voters, and presenting money and gifts is considered relatively civilized!
What's even more shameful is that some big landowners even threaten their tenants that if they don't vote for a certain person, they will raise the land rent in the next year, or even directly deprive him of his right to rent.

There are even families who bring their servants to fight with competitors for the seats of parliamentarians, causing people to be disabled!Yet our government is deaf and deaf to similar situations!Is this the behavior of a responsible cabinet? "

The Duke of Wellington frowned even though he was as calm as he heard this.

But fortunately, he knew early on that the Whig Party would definitely take the opportunity to attack, so he also had a plan in advance for how to deal with this situation.

The Duke of Wellington flipped through the materials in front of him, and dealt with it while flipping through the materials provided by the Permanent Vice-Secretary.

"It is of course shameful to use violence and bribery in the election process, but I don't know where Earl Gray got the information. As far as I know, the current situation of violent elections and bribery in Britain Compared with more than a decade ago, it has improved greatly, and the process of parliamentary democratization has steadily improved.

Today's candidates are more likely than their gruff predecessors to lobby voters in person, go door-to-door, and the wealthy to hire lawyers and writers to endorse their policies and campaign ideas in newspapers months before the election. Publicity, and many of the candidates' good wives also took to the streets to support their husband's cause at campaign rallies.

In our Tory Party, we also encourage all candidates who are interested in running for parliament to contact the local parish priest to combine the preaching activities of the pastor with the campaign for parliamentarians, so that voters can participate in the country while listening to the gospel. future decisions.

Just now Earl Gray mentioned that his information came from the 'Friends of the People' association. According to the knowledge of the cabinet, this association should be sponsored by Earl Gray himself.As for whether their data sources are reliable, I don't think I can jump to conclusions here.

Perhaps what they say still exists, but we Tory MPs have always been law-abiding, electing in the spirit that has passed since the Glorious Revolution.I therefore implore Earl Gray not to apply to every part of the country what happens in the Whig constituencies. "

The tone of the Duke of Wellington sounded calm, but in fact every sentence was full of guns and sticks, trying to anger Earl Gray.

But Earl Gray, an old fritter that has been beaten by generations of Tory party leaders, is obviously not as easily irritated as Lord Russell.

Earl Gray said: "Is that so? Your Excellency thinks that the Tory Party does not have the above-mentioned conditions I have listed?"

The Duke of Wellington replied: "The situation has improved greatly."

Upon hearing this, Earl Gray just flipped through the materials and stated: "Then let's differentiate slowly from far to near. As far as I know, in the 1784 general election, Lord Falmers of your party spent three seats. 9000 pounds, Lord Montague spent 6 pounds for 13000 seats, and Lord Montague was more shrewd, he only spent 4000 pounds to win 2 seats. The above materials were not independently investigated by 'Friends of the People'. Does the Prime Minister admit that such a situation exists?"

The Duke of Wellington said to the Speaker: "Mr. Speaker, I think you have to remind Your Excellency the Earl that it is 1830. If he really wants to talk about it, he can definitely refer to the period of William the Conqueror. And I just said Indeed, corruption of all kinds still exists.

But in addition to corrupt constituencies, we have many model constituencies.The most typical ones are the two constituencies of Cambridge University and Oxford University. All students studying in Oxford and Cambridge will automatically obtain voting rights in the university constituencies.Is there any parliamentary voting system that is more relaxed than this in the world? "

When Earl Gray heard the Duke of Wellington mentioning the two university constituencies, he seemed to have grasped the magic weapon for victory. He immediately fired: "Okay! Since the Prime Minister is willing to take the initiative to mention the university constituencies, then I have two more. The question needs clarification from you. Oxbridge is indeed a model election for the whole of Britain, but I don't know if the Prime Minister is aware of such a situation.

That is, Oxbridge students can not only vote at the university, but also go back to their hometown to vote at the same time.The same is true in other places. As long as someone owns enough real estate in several places, he automatically obtains voting rights in many places.This kind of election system is not distributed according to head, but judged only according to property. Does the Prime Minister think that there are loopholes? "

When the Duke of Wellington heard this, his palms couldn't help sweating. Although he knew that Earl Gray was difficult to deal with, he didn't expect him to be so difficult today.

He flicked through the materials at hand impatiently: "I hope that Your Excellency the Earl can learn about Britain's election complaint and reporting system before asking questions. Regarding these unfair phenomena, such as multiple votes, inaccurate vote counting, bribing voters, Intimidation of violence and other acts, unsuccessful candidates and their supporters can submit reports to the parliament anytime, anywhere.

As long as the Election Committee of the House of Commons finds out that the situation is true, it will naturally punish members who have committed fraud. In the past, the disqualification of members has also occurred frequently, and this is well-documented. "

When Earl Gray heard this, he couldn't help showing a smile. He had been preparing for today's battle for too long. How could he let the Duke of Wellington play haha ​​and muddle here?
He faced the Speaker and said: "Then, Mr. Speaker, please ask the Prime Minister for me, what is the success rate of the Election Committee's handling of reporting cases? If the Prime Minister does not know, I can give the answer directly here. According to the records of the House of Commons, Such reports have a success rate of less than one percent.

However, according to the 1787 election report, in the investigation of 513 members of parliament, at least 370 people were suspected of using improper means.

In 1827, John Crocker, the political commentator of your party, found that 658 MPs were suspected of being controlled by large landowner patrons based on a survey of the social relations of all 270 MPs in the House of Commons.

Among them, 203 MPs belong to the Tory Party, and the 8 British nobles control 57 of them. Regarding this, how does the Prime Minister plan to respond? "

When the Duke of Wellington heard this, he just remained silent, but Earl Gray did not intend to let him go, but pursued the victory.

"The Prime Minister has just regarded the Election Commission as the most fair and powerful election monitoring organization in Britain. Could it be that he has forgotten the two serious election fraud cases that broke out when he first came to power in 1827?

At that time, the spokesman of our party, Lord John Russell, demanded the permanent disqualification of those two corrupt electorates, and many people in your party demanded that these two seats be handed over to the areas controlled by the ruling party, and unfortunately passed away not long ago Mr Huskisson, of the New York Times, advocated transferring at least one of those seats to Birmingham, which has a growing population.

In the end, your decision is to divide the two seats directly between the two parties without election.However, out of publicity, I believe that this method of direct division without election is contrary to the tradition of parliament, so I take this opportunity to revisit the "Parliamentary Reform Bill" that was under consideration decades ago.

But your reply at that time was: As long as I am still in the government, I will always resist such a motion.

So, my question today is, even if several years have passed, even if the current situation has changed, even if priests, businessmen, workers, and farmers all over the country are demanding reform, what is your attitude now? Are you still so firmly opposed to parliamentary reform?

Prime Minister, please answer my question directly!This ain't Waterloo, and you don't have to play those battlefield intrigues on the public all over Great Britain! "

As soon as Earl Gray finished speaking, the noisy council hall suddenly fell into dead silence.

Whether it was the Tories or the Whigs, everyone held their breath, and their eyes were all focused on the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington.

The Duke of Wellington, who was flipping through the materials just now, suddenly stopped, his body trembled suddenly, and the old Duke's laughter sounded in the silent hall.

There was only a slap, and the Duke of Wellington slapped the case in front of the case, causing everyone present to tremble in fright.

The Duke of Wellington turned his head to Earl Gray, and instead of sending a message through the speaker, he raised his right arm and pointed at Earl Gray.

"I never play any tricks, I only defeat the enemy on the frontal battlefield.

Gray, as I said earlier, I am a very simple person. I hate being Prime Minister because it is not for me. I am just a straight man, so I am not good at hiding my intentions. "

Upon hearing this, Sir Peel hurriedly stood up and said, "Your Excellency, Duke."

But before he could speak, the Duke of Wellington interrupted him with his hand: "Robert, mind your own business! This has nothing to do with you, and it has nothing to do with the party members you lead. This is a private matter between Gray and me." .”

After finishing speaking, the Duke of Wellington pointed to Earl Gray's nose and said: "You are right, Gray, my attitude has always been the same. I will firmly oppose parliamentary reform in the past, present and future!
Politics in Britain is not a nonsense, if you want to let other people come in, I respect your ideas, but you don't want me to stand on your side!
Did you hear me clearly?As long as Arthur Wellesley lives, as long as my legs can move, as long as I stand in the chamber of the Palace of Westminster, you will not pass a Parliamentary Reform Bill! "

Earl Gray trembled with anger when he heard this.

Behind him, the flushed Whig party members threw the materials in front of them into the sky.

Papers were flying in the parliament hall, and Lord Russell and others took the case.

"It just doesn't make sense!"

"Wellington, we ask you to resign immediately!"

When the cronies who followed the Duke of Wellington heard this, their eyes were tearing apart. They subconsciously wanted to draw their knives, but when their palms touched their waists, they found that they had nothing with them. .

But this did not affect the generals who had been away from the battlefield for many years rolled up their sleeves to help the old chief.

But before they rushed up, several generals were pushed down by Sir Peel and others.

Sir Peel held the Marquess of Anglesey on one leg, gritted his teeth and comforted him: "Don't be impulsive, this is all arranged by His Excellency the Duke, if you go up and punch him, it will be tantamount to wasting all his hard work today .”

And Viscount Palmerston, who was sitting directly opposite Sir Peel, just smiled slightly when he saw this.

Afterwards, he quickly restrained his face, stood up, raised his arms and shouted at the Speaker: "Henry Temple Palmerston, I would like to ask the Speaker that the Whig Party requires that when the Parliament convenes next week, it will formally launch a counter threat." Motion of No Confidence in the Killington Cabinet!"

(End of this chapter)