The Press. — London, England, 1857-12-05 00:00:00

1180 THE WEEK. THE opening of Parliament on Thursday has been the event of the week to which the country looked with no inconsiderable interest. The Royal Speech as a political document will bear analysis, but not interpretation ; as an effort at good English it is below par. The subjects upon which it touched are of considerable importance. The suspension of the Bank Act, operative distress, the reconquest and reorganisation of India, our foreign relations, and Parliamentary Reform. Neither Lord PALMERSTON nor Lord GFUNVILLE would give any explanation of the line of policy Ministers were prepared to follow upon these great questions. They were not disposed to accept the respoxsibilities of a declaration of policy. They prefer that prudent inaction which admits of indolence and puts off responsibility. With regard to Parliamentary Reform, Lord PAL3IERSTON wishes to offer something as a redemption of his positive pledge. The country, there fore, is in the dilemma of being offered a measure which may prove nugatory, and which may not be accepted as a settlement of a great subject which the Liberals have thought proper to keep in constant agitation. If a violent measure of anti-constitutional change were allowed to pass, there would be serious danger to the empire ; but there is no likelihood of such a plan being accepted. There is no democratic .excitement in the country ; and Mr. DISRAELI was well warranted in saying on Thursday that " it is no longer in the power of " any political combination to force a measure through Parliament " for the object of increasing the following of a party." The dilemma of the Government is that a moderate and safe measure of Reform will not be taken by their supporters; and, on the other hand, if a sweeping measure of a violent character were intro duced, such a scheme, in the present temper of the public mind, would be likely to produce a vast Conservative majority against it, and the settlement of the question on a Parliamentary basis might be allowed to pass into the hands of the Conservatives. What, then, does Lord PALMERSTON propose to do ? He placed in the Queen's Speech a para. graph which says—" Your attention will be called to the laws which " regulate the representation of the people in Parliament, with a view " to consider what amendments may be safely and beneficially made "therein." The plain meaning of that paragraph seems to be that Ministers will throw upon Parliament the practical responsibility of the new measure. Lord PALMERSTON will propose a Bill, shaped in slick a way as to admit of an infinite number of " amendments." Some of its provisions will sound with a democratic tone, and others will seem to echo the feelings of Conservatism :—" There is our Bill for " you," our Premier may say ; " if you do not like it you can help us to "make it better. Is it too large for the Conservative gentlemen " opposite ? If that be so, they must only see about making it smaller. "Is it too small for the gentlemen behind me? Then let them see " about making it larger, if the House of Lords and the calm feelings " of the country will allow them to get up steam. Let gentlemen to " the left or right of the Speaker's chair work away at their amend " ments.'" Such is the tone likely to be taken by the Premier ; and with his jaunty air and great personal confidence he may thus get out of his pledge. What is this, then, but to confess that the Cabinet has no real policy of its own upon the sutject of Reform ? It will give the subject to the House of Commons, and let Honourable Gentlemen cut it short or lengthen it out as they please. But we must warn our readers that there is a powerful and influential section of the Liberals, who are desirous to use any Bill that may be granted for further objects. The proportion of representatives to the landed interest of the country, and the character of the representatives elected by the large towns, are serious questions bound up with " Reform." It has been confessed in the pages of our contemporary, the Economist, that young men cannot be introduced into Parliament by means of large constituencies ; and it has been felt that the old Parliamentary stagers have had a practical monopoly of administration under the working of the boasted system introduced by " the Bill, the whole Bill, and " nothing but the Bill." In short, there are questions both of a repre sentative and administrative nature involved in" Reform," and it would be unwise and impolitic to take the tone of levity set upon this grave subject by the Premier. To any measure brought forward by the Government Lord DERBY has announced that the Conservative party will give " the most deli " berate, impartial, and dispassionate consideration." The great point, in our opinion, to strive for will be that the country should have a settlement of this subject, and that the public mind should not be disturbed by repeated threats of a measure which may point to a revolution. " The distribution and disposition of political power in "England" (to use the Words of the Right Honourable Member for Bucks) cannot be left in permanent uncertainty. We must bear in mind that our Constitution is fixed as well as free. The Conservative Loader in the Lower House earnestly recom mended the attention of Honourable Members to the consideration of the important returns obtained under the head of " Property Tax and Population." Those returns were given on a motion of the Right Honourable Gentleman, and were ordered to be printed on the 25th of August. On their first appearance there was an extraordinary rush to obtain them, and the journals throughout the country began to dis cuss them. We had ourselves entered upon their study, but the excitement produced by the Indian intelligence compelled us, along with our contemporaries, to postpone our elucidation of their figures. Now, however, their consideration becomes a matter of necessity, for if Reform is to be left to Parliament, and if the new Bill is to be manu factured by a process of "amendments," it is necessary that the publio mind should be thoroughly enlightened upon the conclusions estab lished by those most valuable returns,lwhose accuracy and authenticit cannot be disputed. The debate last night on the Bill of Indemnity and the appoint ment of a Select Committee hss resulted in the confirmation of the views put forward by Mr. DISRAELI on Thursday. The Right Hun. Gentleman and Mr. GLADSTONE concurred in the opinion that the ap- pointment of a Select Committee was unnecessary and injudicious, and they succeeded in compelling the Government to separate the two questions, and appoint a separate night (Friday next) for the consi • deratiou of the Select Committee. It will then be seen whether Government is to be permitted to enjoy all the privileges of °thee without bearing its burdens, to evade responsibility while the issue of events is uncertain, and to claim all the credit when others have concluded them successfully. This has long been Lord PALMERSTONS game. But if he be refused the Select Committee on Friday next, which he trusted to cover his retreat, he will be compelled to fight in open ground, and his real power will be tested. We suppose we may, for once, be permitted to say, without fear of contradiction, that the two most notable speeches on Thursday last were delivered by the Leaders of the Opposition. Tbere can be no doubt that the consciousness of the ordeal which awaits them on the opening of Parliament must exercise a very salutary influence upon the conduct of Ministers during the recess. And, so far from being a merely formal display, we doubt if this initiatory criticism upon the conduct of the Government be not one of the most valuable duties which an Opposition is called on to discharge. By it Ministers are recalled after a period of unc Necked authority to a sense of their re sponsibility and dependence, and reminded on the threshold of the session that they are watched by a vigilant censor. It happens that on the present occasion there was more than usual need for the exer cise of this office. We had been visited with great calamities both at home and abroad, and it was surmised that in one case our disasters had been, and in the other case might be, aggravated by the ig norance, the inertness, or the timidity of those in power. Under these circumstances the strictures of Lord Danar upon the conduct of Mr. VERNON SIIITFI cannot be considered too severe, while his observations on the possible fallacy lurking in our trade returns during recent years may conduct us to profitable inquiries. The vacillating and yet pug nacious character of our foreign policy was the subject of some bitter sarcasm from Mr. DISRAELI. The humorous representation of the Premier's sentiments by the Right Hon. Gentleman recalled to our minds the picture of the dissatisfied gentleman in " Piekwick," who was so immeasurably disgusted at finding his friends had settled their differences without a duel, that he endeavoured to persuade every man on the ground that he himself had insulted him, in order to prevent an inglorious termination to the affair. It would be gratifying to receive assurances from Lord PALMERB. TON and Lord GRANVILLE that the state of our European foreign rela tions is eminently satisfactory, if the assertion were only borne out in fact. At present the friendly feelings would appear to be all on one side. Take, for instance, France. Lord PALMERSTON eulogises the sympathy and offers of assistance by way of expediting our troops to India made to this country by the Emperor of the FRENCH as a proof of the cordiality existing between the two Governments. Last week Lord CLARENDON received a deputation from the Anti-Slavery Society, and, referring to the recent effort of the French Government to obtain free African immigrants for their West Indian possessions, designated the scheme as . the slave trade unmitigated and undis guised." That, at all events, was not a very friendly interpretation of the sentiments of the French Government. Neither did Lord CLA RENDON mend the matter by expressing his confidence that the Emperor of the FRENCH would not " reopen this execrated traffic " in opposition to—" the sentiments of this country!" If we are to accept these public statements as expressions of the sincerity of the cordial relations upon the part of Ministers towards France, why, taken in connection with the "iron heels" and "steel scabbards" of Mansion house notoriety, that paragraph in the Royal Speech which declares that " nothing seems likely to disturb " the peace of Europe would appear, after all, to bear well the interpretation put upon it by Lord DERBY and Mr DISRAELI, and that it was not exactly " an intense feel ing of pleasure " which dictated the words . The neglect of the Government to despatch the troops from India by the shortest route or by the most rapid means was very forcibly exposed by Lord DERBY on Thursday night, as well as the gross, and glaring, and lamentable ignorance of Ministers on the real nature of the Indian crisis. We have upon more than one occasion pointed out the indolence of Ministers to avail themselves of the offers of allies or the applications of science. It was in the middle of June that the Sultan expressed his readiness to grant the required finnan for the transport of troops across the Isthmus; it was in July that the Penin sular and Oriental Steam Company offered to make immediate arrange ments for the transport of troops to Calcutta via'. Suez ; but the Govern ment would have nothing to do with either of these projects; and as to THE PRESS, DECEMBER 5, 1857.