The Press. — London, England, 1858-09-18 00:00:00

~I T act would have been much better amended as part and parcel of a wore comprehensive measure of parliamentary reform. I regret especially the conduct of the House of Lords in withdrawing tat esistance which they had fur so many years unswervin h r gly maintained, in accordance, I believe, with the real feelings of the country, to the admis siou or Jews into Parliament. But, when I look at the general policy of the Government, 1 must admit— Übi plum nitent in carmine non ego panels Uftentlar maculis, quas aut ineuria fudit Aut humans martini cavit nature. When I recognize, as I do, a sound but decided progress ; when I see the statesmanlike ability of the leaders in both houses, and the talent which distinguishes all the Ministers, from the highest to the lowest, I think that it 'Mould have betm altogether unjustifiable if I had withdrawn from them my support, or placed in them only a timid and wavering confidence. 1 will now for a moment pass on to one or two measures in which I took an active part during the past session. I will not enter into the merits of the Agri. cultural Statistics Bill, which was the only bill introduced which affected the agricultural interest, but I think I may fairly congratulate you upon the spirit in which the House of Commons rejected that measure, as affording a proof that the agricultural interest is no longer considered by them as a species of target for every experimental legis lator to wing his arrows against, but that its importance is duly recognized, and that in legislating upon it, it will be met as it is entitled to he met, in a spirit of impartiality and fair play. On the subject of his opposition to Mr. Locke King's measure for the extension of the county fran chise to ten-pound householders, Mr. Du Cane said : I trust I shall not be understood, by oppositg that measure, to be opposed in the main to any further change in our representative system. On the contrary, I think that resistance to progressive improvement forms no true item in a Conservative creed ; and if we persist in op posing all improvement under the name of innovation, the day will soon come—as it came in 1831—when we shall he compelled to swallow the innovation divested of the im provement. I have every hope that in the next session Parliament will be enabled to devote its time and attention to the settlement of this great question. It will be a great and Herculean task, for on one side are those whose desires are boundless, and on the 'ther are those who would fain act on the principle of " leaving well alone." What the provisions of the new Reform Bill will be it is impossible for anyone to speculate upon, but, at all events, I will say this much, that while, on the one hand, I trust the question will be dealt with in an impartial and com prehensive spirit, so, on the other. I trust it will be settled tio as to be regarded in the country in the light of a final settlement. There is, in my opinion, nothing more detri mental to the progress of sound legislation than reopening and tampering bit by bit and piecemeal with so great and vital a question as that of parliamentary reform. The recent visit of the House of Commons to Cher bourg afforded another topic for observation : All that I can say is that, as far as I was individually concerned, we had one of the most delightful excursions it ever fell to my lot to enjoy. I neither went there, as did that able man Mr. Lindsay, who is one of the most impor tant and best informed of our shipowners, to make prac tieal observations, nor like Mr. Roebuck, as a cynic. I think that both the English ships and sailors showed to great advantage in the spectacle ; though much as I ad mired our noble forest of yachts, forming, as they would at ally time, the nucleus of an admirable navy, and though I cannot indulge in the rash and intemperate language of Mr. Roebuck, I cannot help saying in the concluding words of an able article in Blaektcood's Magazine, that " to be forewarned is to be forearmed." You may depend upon it that the visit of the House of Commons to Cherbourg will be, as I heard remarked by more than one ultra- Liberal member of Parliament, the occasion of considerable expense ultimately to the people of England. When the navy estimates again come before us, I think we shall hear very little more of a cheese-paring economy, and I, gentlemen, promise you for one that, though 1 will not !end myself to a rash and wanton expenditure of the public money, I will never, so far as my humble votes go, be the means of rashly lowering the national defences. Several other toasts of a complimentary nature having been given, the proceedings were brought to a close. MR. FEN LEY, M.P., IN OXFORDSHIRE. THE annual meeting of the Oxfordshire and Ban. bury Agricultural Association was celebrated on Tuesday, at Banbury. In the afternoon a dinner was held in the Town-hall. Colonel North, M.P., presided, and vas supported by the Right Hon. J. W. Henley, m.P., Lord Leigh, Mr. J. H. Langston, M.P., the lion. W. Fiennes, Colonel Cartwright, M.P., Mr. J. J. Healey, the Mayor of Banbury, and a large number of the gentry and farmers of the district. The usual loyal toasts having been given, Mr. Cmtrwttioffr proposed "The Health of the Members et the County of Oxford, South Northamp tmshire, and South Warwickshire," and took occasion to advert t the appointment of Mr. Henley as President cf the Board of Trade, which he was sure was regardid by the country, as by the right hon. gentleman's constituents, with satisfaction. Mr. HENIEY, M.P., who on rising to respond was received will loud cheers, said he would adhere to the rule of . the axiety which prohibited the introduction of poli tical topics, and then proceeded to touch on THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 18, 1858. those an which no differences of opinion were likely to arise. Having congratulated them on having empty workhouses and gaols, which afforded evidence of increased prosperity and diminished crime, the right hon. gentleman passed on to subjects of public interest : Our prospects in India, where there is scarce a man among us who has not some relative or friend about whom he is anxious, are much more cheering than they were when we met on a similar occasion twelve months ago. Our women have, at least, been all removed to a place of safety, and, so far as I can judge from the accounts which we receive front the disturbed districts in that distant country, there is every reason to believe that things are growing daily better and that the trouble is fast subsiding. (Hear, hear.) It is also a matter of congratulation to us that the war with China, however it may have been begun, has terminated. A war with 3J0,000,000 people at that vast distance must always have necessitated the main tenance of a large naval force at a considerable distance from this country. I do not intend to say a word about Cherbourg, for the simple reason that I was not there; but with every disposition to believe in the good intentions of our neighbours and the good feeling which it is the mutual interest of both countries to maintain towards each other, 1 honestly confess that 1 think it is a great relief to every Englishman to find that about a fourth part of the naval forces of the country, which has hitherto been occupied some 15,000 or 10,000 miles away, will, in consequence of the treaty with Chine, be enabled to return, and, at all events, if not altogether discharged, be engaged in cruising nearer home, ready for any emergency. The entering into a war with 300,000,000 people at such a distance was a serious responsibility, and no human being could have foreseen when such a war would be terminated. Fortunately we have now reason to believe that it ia ended, and that circumstance alone is a matter of mutual con• gratulation for all of us. Mr. Henley in reference to the position of the Government said : Perhaps it would not be becoming in me, in the office which I have now the honour to fill as a servant of the Crown, to touch upon any general political topics, nor would it be in accordance with the rules of this society. Nevertheless, there are some questions upon which we don't disagree, on which I may possibly be excused if I say a few words. At many of the meetings which have lately taken place in various parts of the country there has been a considerable quantity of loose talk by what I might almost term louse fish in reference to the Government. Persona who are now occupying similar positions to that which I have the honour to fill have been subjected to somewhat coarse remarks. Some have abused us for being Conservatives, and others have abused us because they soy we are Liberals. Now, I am old enough to rememoer when the name " Conservative " first came up , for unfortunately lam not a young man. I believe, how' ever, that the three points which were then raised, and the defenders of which were called Conservatives, are now scarcely known. At any rate they have long ceased to be attacked. Those three points were, first, an indiscriminate attack upon the Irish Church; secondly, a demand for Church property to be put into secular pockets; and, thirdly, the independence of the House of Lords. Those were the three points on which the Conservatives stood. Two of them were attacked furiously fur many years, but now all of them have died away. I certainly don't see why we should be abused for being Conservatives and for not going whooping and hallooing snout these matters when nobody makes any attack upon them. Ido not think we have any right to be abused because we have stood still solely because those parties who were opposed to us have given up attacking the questions which originally constituted Conservatism. If similar questions should ever be raised again I do not think that the Conservative party will be found wanting in their defence. In alluding to the question of Parliamentary Reform, Mr. Henley thus spoke : With regard to the future, I am sorry that I cannot pre tend to say anything at all. You know very well that the Government are in this position. The parties who made the Reform Bill have chosen for the last six or seven years to find fault with their own work. Mind you, it was no work of the Conservatives. It was no child of ours, and therefore we have had nothing to say to it; but the parties who constructed it have been themselves the very men who have amused themselves tor the last six or seven years in singing out all over the country that it must be altered. In fact, they have dirtied their own nest to such a degree that they have felt most uncomfortable in it. (Laughter and cheers.) They have never attempted to mend it them selves, but nevertheless they still sty it wants minding. The cry has now gone on for some years. As I said before, the Reform Bill was no child of ours ; but, at the same time, if there is any possibility of our mending it so as to satisfy all parties, I see no reason why we should not make the attempt. (Hear, hear.) I hope I. have not trespassed on the rules of the society in what I have said. (Cheers.) I don't think, as a public man, appearing before many of my constituents, that it would have been fair fur me to say less. I can only say that so long as I have the honour of being in a position to serve the county I shall be most happy to d) all in my power to promote your interests, and to do my duty according to the best light that God gives me. Hitherto I have always experienced a kind reception from all my friends in this county and neighbour hood, and I have no doubt that so long as I hold the same course and " keep the dish even " I shall be similarly received. The right hon. gentleman resumed his seat amid loud cheers. Colonel NORTH, M.P., and Colonel CARTWRIGHT , M.P., also responded. 895 Mr. B. BROWN proposed the health of the members for the city of Oxford and the borough at Banbury. Mr. LANOSTON, M.P., responded, and said that, being a sincere Reformer, he was extremely happy to hear that a Conservative Government were really disposed to try their hands in giving the country a better Reform Bill than that which had been passed under the auspices of the Whigs ; and he now hoped to see ail parties united in carrying a really good measure, such as would prove ultimately beneficial to the whole country. Several other toasts having b3en given and re sponded to, the meeting separated. THE COUNCIL OF INDIA assembled at the India. house on Wednesday for the transaction of business, and remained in deliberation until shortly after three o'clock. At the meeting L•ird Stanley is understood to have brought under the notice of the Council the scheme for the revision and arrangement of the two establishments of officers and servants at Leadenhall. street and the Board of Control. This document is understood to indicate the manner in which the per manent establishment of the Secretary of State in Council is to be constituted for the future, and the manner in which the present retiring officers are to be pensioned, and his lordship, exercising the powers conferred upon him by the statute, is believed to have made such reductions in the existing establishments as seem to him consistent with the proper and eff►- cient discharge of the public business. The ratifica tion of the scheme new rests with her Majesty. Both Sir George Clerk and Mr. Baillie, M.P., the late Secretaries to the Board, have removed their official quarters to the India-house, and there, on one spot, the whole Home Government of India is now con ducted upon a scale of simplicity never known under the system which has just begin abolished. The energy and self-devotion evinced by Lord Stanley in the discharge of his high functions is already a common subject of remark among the officers of the establishment, and his unassuming demeanour and urbanity not less so. It is not an uncommon circumstance for the Secretary of State to present himself at the India-house so early as ten o'clock in the morning, and on more occasions than one he has remained at his post there until seven in the evening. It may be added that his lordship is assisted, ir. the capacity of private secretary, by the Hon. Gerald Clietwynd Talbot, formerly in the civil service of Ceylon, and appointed private secretary to the Govenior-General of India in 1852. The principal offices in the new establishment of the Secretary of State for India, as proposed to be constituted by Lord Stanley, and the names of the several gentle men in charge, as secretaries, of the various depart ments, are as iollows Revenue—Mr. Prides= Judicial—Mr. Hawkins. Political—Mr. Kaye. Railway and Telegraph—Mr. Danvers. Public Works—Mr. Thornton. Public is General —Mr. Bourdillon. MILITARY DEPARTMENT. Secretary—Not yet known. Assistant-Secretory—Mr. Fade. MARINE AND TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT. Superintendent—Mr. Plowtlen. Accountant-General—Mr. Friend. Auditor—Mr. Sandoz. Cashier—Mr. l)unamure. lnspector•General of Stores—General Bonner. Agent to Administrator-General—Mr. Clarke. Statistical Department and Keeper of Records—Mr. ornidge. Chief Clerk—Mr. Onslow. OFFICERS OF COMMITTEES. Secretary to Finance, Ilome, and Public Works Com mittee—Mr. Danvers. Secretary to Rerenue and Judicial—Mr. Prideaux. Secre'ary to Political and Military—Mr. Eade. The gent:men named as secretaries above have, we believe, all been in charge of the duties which they have now to perform under a different denomination. It will he observed that two distinguished men— namely, Mr. John Stuart Mill and Mr. Philip Melvin —both retire from the public service, with which they have been long and honourably identified, the former as the head of the Examiner's Department, and the latter as the Military Secretary. THE SELF-DEFENCE OF BRITISH COLONIES is thus alluded to in the following despatch from the Right Hon. Sic E. B. Lytton to the Governor-General of the Leeward Islands : Downing-street, July 31. Sir,-1 have replied generally in another despatch to the explanations with which you have favoured me on the Antigua riots; but am anxious to direct your attention to one consideration in particular arising out of these distur bances. I desire to impress upon you, and through you upon the colony which you govern, the extreme importance of raising and maintaining from local resources, and by local efforts, such a military force as will by its presence guarantee the safety, dignity, and internal peace of the country. On a reference to the records of past years, I have observed that in many of the West Indian co l onies local corps were established, and, as [ believe, efficiently kept up. It is with a feeling of mortification that I per.