THE   ELECTION   OF   PARLIAMENT	191
Such, at least, is the campaign in an urban constituency. In
the countryside there is the same process, but the excitement,
however great, is not so obvious. There will be small meetings
in villages and long journeys for the candidate; the influence
of landlords and employers will be greater. The assembling of
votes for the count will take longer and the results usually
appear on the following afternoon. A wintertime election in the
North of Scotland is a grim task for the party worker, and the
elector cannot hope to see much of his candidate.
Since there is so much work to be done, much money is spent.
The law states that there may not be spent, on behalf of any
candidate, more than 5d. per registered elector in Borough, or
yd. in county divisions. The agent has to submit accounts shortly
after the election to show that he has not exceeded this limit.
"Corrupt" practices—e.g., bribing or threatening voters, are
heavily penalised, and the less serious "illegal" practices, e.g.
hiring cars to carry voters, involve large fines and the
disqualification of the ioffender from voting or standing at any
Election for a period of years. When a successful candidate is
believed to have broken the law his opponents may bring a
Petition, and the case is heard and decided by two judges.
Petitions, however, are rare, and successful Petitions still rarer.
The electoral laws, in which an agent needs to be expert, have
removed the most serious of the abuses which were common
in the i8th century; but the dice is still loaded in favour of
the wealthy candidate. Cars may not be hired; but those well
enough off to own them may lend. The total sum to be spent
is limited; but only a-wealthy candidate or party can approach
the legal limit. More serious, the man who intends to be candidate
can, for years before the election, give freely to all the local
charities, football dubs, outings and the like; so long as he calls
himself only prospective candidate, all this need find no place
in his election expenses. The central organisation of a party
may cover the whole country with posters; so long as they
recpmmend the party in general and not the particular candidates