VOTE BY AUCTION.

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 757, 16 July 1853, Page 2 (Supplement)

VOTE BY AUCTION.

(From Punch. 1

It is e*asy to see what bribery at borough elections will come to. You can't prevent it; so you had better permit it. Open dealing in votes is better than clandestine corruption. Englishmen hate all underhand transactions ; and the spirit of frankness that reigns in British boroughs will, if unrestricted, very soon assert itself in the sale of electors, without reserve or secresy, by public auction. We foresee the scene which will, ere long, be exhibited before the polling booth at Bribery. That respectable borough is in course of discharging the electoral trust which has been confided to it; which ft does by an arrangement analogous to Messrs. Tattersalls. Mounted in a pulpit, hammer in hand, behold Mr. Edward Coppocks, the constituency's auctioneer ; below him stand the candidates, their agents, and the multitude. On the end of a barrel, set upright before the assembty, is stationed the lot to be disposed of, consisting of a £lO householder, not a little inebriated. The crown of this gentleman's hat has been knocked in, and his coat has been torn in a constitutional struggle \ his knees bend a little under him, and he blinks and grins with a pot of beer in one hand and a pipe in the other. Mr Coppocks proceeds to appraise the valuable commodity in an oration of this kind : Lot One hundred and one. A free and independent Elector, inhabiting a house rated at Ten Founds per Annum ; Plumber and Glazier. What shall we say for this free and independent Elector } Renting a house at Ten Pounds per Annum, and paying Kates and Taxes. Plumber and Glazier. Shall we say One Thousand Pounds for this free and independent Elector ? An independent Glazier. Nobody say One Thousand Pounds for this indepandent Glarier I An unbdught Elector. Five Hundred Pounds for this Ele.ctor unbought. An intelligent Elector at Five Hundred Pounds. Four Hundred I —Three?— Two l —One s—An intelligent Elector, and only one hundred pounds. Walk the intelligent Elector down a few paces—and back. One Hundred Pounds only is asked for this intelligent,unbought, free, and independent Elector! His principles are more straightforward than his steps. Only One Hundred Pounds—and nobody bid": and his principles straightforward. Set him up again—if he can't stand, let him sit. Fifty!— Thirty I Twenty I— Ten ?—Five ?■—One \ Thank you, Sir. One Found is bid for this incorrupt Elector. Only One Pound for this Elector, and incorrupt. Replenish the incorrupt Elector's tankard. Going at One Pound. Two I Two Pounds offered for this incorrupt Elector—a British freeman. Going at Two Pounds. At Two Pounds, and a British Freeman. A British Freeman for whom Sydney bled—at Two Pounds—and Hampden fought, going at Two Pounds. At Two Pounds only—and—Three ? For whom Hampden fought and Sydney bled, at Three Pounds. And Ten!— Three Pounds Ten. And Hampden and Sydney —only Three Pounds Ten—Hampdm, Sydney, and Russell, going at Three Pounds Ten Shillings —bled—Three Pounds Ten ! Four ! Going at Four. Assist the British Freeman to hold up his heap. A'ld his birth-right is Magna Charta—and going at Four Pounds 1 Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights—and—Five Pounds ! At Five Pounds going!—this incorrupt, intelligent, unbought, free, and independent Elector, incorrupt, and Five Pounds only—and intelligent, and only Five—and unbought—for Five only ; and free and independent, and going at Five Pounds. Six ! Seven! Going at Seven. And his birth-right Magna Charta ! At Seven Pounds ! And his inheritance the Bill of Rights i Supply the Inheritor of Magna Charta with another pipe. And Seven Pounds. Eight! Nine ! Nine Pounds for this unbought Elector* Going at Nine—going—going ! Ten Pounds! Ten Pounds for this incorrupt Elector I Going at Ten Pounds ! For whom Russell, Sydney, and Hampden bled—at Ten Pounds! Going!—and his inheritance the Bill o"' Rights!— Going! And his birth-right Magna Charta. And Ten Pounds ! And Habeas Corpus ! Going ! Habeas Corpus and the Bill of Rights ! Going at Ten Pounds. Going ! Bill of Rights ! Going. Magna Charta Going—going—going—going—Habeas Corpus ! —Gone ! And Mr. Edwardes Coppacks knocks down the precious lot, who thereupon roll off his barrel amid the cheers and laughter of the spectators.