Page:A Few Plain Observations Upon the End and Means of Political Reform.djvu/28

 If these claimants were compelled yearly to register their names and the nature of their respective claims with the town-clerk of such Borough, and to pay a moderate fine on every renewal of such registry, on pain of forfeiting their franchise, such a regulation would be productive of two good effects—first, it would enable the returning officer in almost every case to decide with certainty upon the validity of the suffrages, and thus obviate the necessity of those tedious and expensive appeals to the House of Commons, which generally occupy so great a part of their time on the meeting of every new Parliament.—Secondly, it would perhaps, by degrees, cause a considerable number of the most objectionable and non-resident voters to forego the exercise of their franchise, in order to avoid this annual expence.