He did not believe
that a more effective means than this lay in the proposed plan for a
redistribution of seats in the House of Commons. In one place, he declared it
might be well to lessen the number of voters, in order to add to their weight
and independence; at another, he asks that the people be stimulated to a more
careful scrutiny of the conduct of their representatives; and on every occasion
he demands that the legislators give their support to those measures only which
have for their object the good of the whole people.
It is obvious, however, that Burke's policy had grievous faults. His reverence
for the past, and his respect for existing institutions as the heritage of the
past, made him timid and overcautious in dealing with abuses. Although he stood
with Pitt in defending the American colonies, he had no confidence in the
thoroughgoing reforms which the great Commoner proposed. When the Stamp Act was
repealed, Pitt would have gone even further. He would have acknowledged the
absolute injustice of taxation without representation. Burke held tenaciously to
the opposing theory, and warmly supported the Declaratory Act, which "asserted
the supreme authority of Parliament over the colonies, in all cases whatsoever.
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