The Press. — London, England, 1858-07-03 00:00:00

636 THE WEEK. is to THE PRESS, JULY 3, 1858. The Times and Globe complain that a "run of luck" attends the pre sent managers of our Foreign-office. This is the common phrase of men who are envious of superior skill. 'We are quite willing to concede to them that either Lord MALMESBURY conducts our Foreign Affairs with great talent and discretion, or else he is very lucky. The American dispute, which had a threatening appearance a fort night since, has now passed over, and excites no more alarm. And the outrage committed on the British Consul at Belgrade has been amply atoned for. The regiment has been withdrawn; the soldier who made the attack has been sent to Constantinople for trial ; a salute has been given to the British flag ; and the Pacha has been desired to call on the Consul to express the regret of his Government at the occurrence. The Hon. W. G. E. ELIOT, First Paid Attache at Constantinople, is appointed in the same capacity at St. Petersburgh. And Mr. BULWER LYTTON, First Paid Attache at St. Petersburgh, takes Mr. Emoz's place. The Church-rate Abolition Bill has been rejected in the House of Lords, by the large majority of 187 votes against 36. The contrast is a strange one, between the reception given in the House of Lords to the Oaths Bill and the Church-rate Bill. The majority of their Lordships dislike both these measures. But the Oaths Bill, di luted by Lord LUCAS, is to pass, because it is the tenth time of asking; while the Church-rate Bill is dismissed in a summary manner, because it is the first time of its appearance in that House. The Jew Bill, when it made its first appearance in that House, was repelled in as positive and abrupt a manner as the Church-rate Bill is now. The majority against it was nearly as large. But mere pertinacity has gradually subdued their Lordships, and at last they end the contest with Baron Ronisciithn by an absolute surrender. This brief history ought to teach us one lesson. The House of Lords either cannot or will not maintain a merely defensive position for more than a certain number of years. If it contents itself with simply rejecting Bills for tho extinction of Church-rates, it will probaby have to repeat its nega tive every year ; until, after three or four years, it will grow weary, and the question will be asked, "How long will you carry on a struggle in which you are sure to be bestas at last P " The House of Lords, then, must not do, in the matter of Church rates, as it has done in the matter of Parliamentary Oaths. Utterly dislik ing the Bill sent up from the Commons, it must meet it, not merely by a bare negative, but by a counter-proposition. No one can wish the Church-rate question to remain in its present position. A law exists, which in at least four hundred parishes in England is set at nought. Supposing, therefore, that the Dissenters were altogether passive—supposing that they presented no petitions, and proposed no Bill, Churchmen ought still to wish for some fresh legislation, in order that one law might prevail over all England. Let the Lords, then, take up the question. It is one in which they are largely concerned ; for they are large proprietors, and the Church rate is levied upon their property. Let them propose some better plan than that which now exists—some plan by which all property shall be taxed alike—while Dissenters, for the most part, shall be exempt. This may easily be done by charging the rate upon the proprietor, instead of upon the occupier. Such a Bill as this might be sent down to the Colli sions, year by year, in reply to their tender of a Bill for total extinction. If the present agitation is to be met, it must be met by some practical pro position. And such a plan as we have once or twice hinted at, would commend itself to the judgment and feelings of every sincere friend of the Established Church. The East Norfolk Election gives favourable promise for the Conser vative cause. That division of Norfolk is such a " Whig preserve" that it was given up without a contest by the Conservatives at the general election of 1857. The name of Coke is all-powerful in Norfolk, and that division swarms also with Gurneys, Windhams, Buxtons, and other Quaker and Dissenting Liberals. Besides which, the Wodehouse interest has latterly passed over to the Whigs, and a leading Conservative I'eer refused his support, on personal grounds, to Sir HENRY STRACEY. Yet, in spite of all this, the vote was only slightly adverse ; being, for COKE _ _ _ STRACEY It is remarkable, too, that in the two great towns of the division, Norwich and Yarmouth, the Conservatives had a majority; that is, in Norwich—STRACEY -- ----- COKE 772 Yarmouth —STRACEY COKE 496 While Major COKE'S majority was entirely gained in the rural districts. THE affairs of this empire have grownup to such an enormous magni tude, that they are getting almost beyond the power of any Ministry to conduct them, however great may be their wisdom, their talents, or their energy. Everything connected with this empire is colossal ; and the great danger to be apprehended in our future career is that our affairs may become so vast and unwieldy as eventually to prove un manageable by human capacity. It is well known that a Minister in the present day has his time so absorbed with the urgent and imme diate business which is brought before him, that he has no leisure to look around him, and forecast for the future. His official duties alone are almost enough to overwhelm him ; but to these must be superadded his Parliamentary labours. The consequence is, that the object too frequently ,r.; A rid of questions for the moment, rather than to settle them wisely for a permanence ; so that this nation is really "drifting"—the wisest cannot tell where—it may possibly be into the open sea, but it is far too probable on unknown rocks and hidden quicksands. We well know that it is impossible to check that enormous and continuous expansion in every branch of industry and commerce which has developed itself during the last half-century, nor should we wish to check it if we could ; but what we do want to see is a just sense amongst our rulers of the magni tude of the interests with which we have to deal, and such a preparation on our parts for dealing with them as, with GOD'S blessing, may afford a fair prospect of their being dealt with wisely and successfully. But what do we witness day by day in the proceedings of the House of Commons? Does there appear any strong sense amongst its members that they are engaged in one of the most tremendous and difficult tasks which ever fell to the lot of any set of human beings since the world began? Is there any desire manifested to free themselves from the care of dealing with petty or local details, in order to brace themselves for the nobler work of dealing with imperial interests ? Take any one day's work in the House of Commons; for instance, Tuesday last. The morning sitting of four hours was spent in a wrangle about the Galway freemen. These freemen had been guilty of corrupt practices at the last general election. We do not deny that the prevention of such corrupt practices is a very fitting subject for discussion ; but the difficulty was to believe that corrupt practices were really uppermost in the minds of the debaters; and the question naturally arose in the mind, who amongst them was innocent enough to believe that the generality of the constituencies which returned the speakers were free from the practices which they con demned? The sentiments put forward did not appear to be the real ones. At the evening sitting, much time was consumed in discussing the management of one of the Royal forests—chiefly whether 3/. or 4/. per acre might not have been saved in conducting the improvements; and at the close of the debate a claim was put in, that before similar improve ments were undertaken by the servants of the Crown, the 654 members of the House should have an opportunity of examining and sanctioning them ! Next came a discussion on the endowed schools of Ireland—a topic, we readily admit, well befitting the attention of Parliament. And lastly came the most lengthy debate of the evening—the question whether a gentleman, who had been appointed to a small place of 1201. a year in Ireland, ought to have been appointed to it, being, as he was. Secre tary to an Orange Lodge. The House very properly negatived the motion; and Mr. WurrEsinE naturally regretted that, at a moment when " great questions awaited the decision of die House, and useful measures lay upon their table," their time, at this late season, should be consumed in discussing such a trivial affair. Such were the topics which filled the mind of the House for a whole evening, when the gravest measures of imperial policy were awaiting their decision ; and such, we lament to say, is the too frequent tendency of their course. We believe that it will ultimately prove a fatal one ; we are convinced that the House will not eventually be able to hold its own, if it do not make up its mind to confine itself to its truer and nobler functions. It; unhappily, it shall decide to try and assume to itself the duties of the Executive, and to meddle with every trumpery matter involved in the administration of public affairs, it will ere long find ott that it is attempting to do that which its organization renders it impossible for it to do. If petty details occupy the minds of members, it mist be to the exclusion of imperial interests ; and whilst fancying that they are grasping all power to• themselves, they will, in fact, be retaining none. Rarely indeed is it given to a single man to be at once grand and minute, but it may be safely predicated of a popular assembly that the union of the two is impossible—one or the other it must choose. If it choose minuteness, it will lose greatness; and if it lose greatness, contempt and loss of power is the sure and inevitable consequence. Our readers must not imagine that the whole extent of the frauds perpetrated in connection with the Weedon Establishment have been dis closed ; and no pains will be spared by certain powerful individuals to veil the truth from the public gaze. The Crown, it is true, has promised a Royal Commission to inquire into the matter; and we have no doubt that the present Minister for War will act as a man of honour, and do his best to mete out to deception and fraud due meed of punishment. We trust most sincerely that he will act for himself, and not on the advice of any of his subordinates, however high their position may be at the War Department. Colonel BOLDERO and others have told the House of Com mons and the public how the soldier has been robbed; how Mr. Eli.torr, the principal storekeeper at Weedon, who has since levanted, received " loans" from contractors, and forced his subordinates to sign receipts for goods not received ; how he kept no accounts, and the Accountant-Gene ral's Department failed to discover the fact; how stores were sold by Government on one day, only to be purchased by the State on the next at double the price for which they had been previously sold. But there is one, and that an important, point of which no mention was made in the debate on Monday night. We allude to the evidence of Messrs. GRAY and MuNno, to the Committee, relative to certain threats alleged to have been made use of towards them by Mr. RAMSAY (a nephew of Lord PAN MURE), for whose special benefit the late Minister for War actually made a nice little place, of 8001. per annum, at the expense of John Bull and the welfare of the British soldier. Mr. GRAY, who was formerly employed at Weethin, and who seems to have been discharged for being too honest, states :—" 1 went to Mr. RAMSAY for employment. He told me that I " had no business to come to the Committee at all. I said the first time " I came was out of curiosity, and I found I had been summoned by " General I'Ent., and he said it was a lie. When I showed him General " PEEL 's letter ordering me to collie here, he said that altered the case. " Ile said if I did not mind what I was about I should never get any " employment in the Government service; and it' I came up before the " Committee I should be very cautious in what I said in mentioning any " thing about the Weedon Department." Here, it' this witness's statement ' be correct, vi e have the Minister for War ordering a man to give evidence I