Mr. Sclater-Booth moved the second reading of - his County Boards
Bill on Thursday, and Mr. Stansfeld commenced the debate with an amendment which means that the Union ought to lie' the electoral area, and that the boundaries of Unions and -counties should be reconciled, so that no Union should stand in two counties, before the Bill is- pressed further. The de- bate; which was protracted and discursive, seems to show that• the Squires- have no particular objection to the 'Union area, that they will give way about the pro- portion of Magistrates, reducing it to one-third, but that they will fight hard against direct election, which they think, quite wrongly, as we believe, would end in the election of talking agitators. The debate was adjourned till Monday, but there is little doubt that the Bill will enter Committee, and that Government will then make considerable concessions. We dis- trust the county Liberals about direct election, but we hope that even they will adhere to the Union area as the unit of voting. We-shall then, at all events, have the bases for county munici- palities, the Union districts containing populations with common interests, common leaders, and the habit of meeting together. Mr. Sclater-Booth's excuse for his Petty Sessional districts as areas is merely a refusal to take a good deal of trouble.
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