text:  He brought in a bill to remedy what was said to be the great defect in the registration laws and it was not his fault that it was not carried; he proposed to extend the franchise and he was denounced for doing so by the advocates of universal suffrage; he has promoted the formation of railways; he has issued a commission to enquire into the oppressions said to be perpetrated on their tenantry by the Irish landlords; and he has subjected Irish absentees to the payment of the property tax