The Press. — London, England, 1857-05-02 00:00:00

MAY 2, 1857. conducted if one or more naval officers could be permanently appointed to look after the disci pline of the service, and advise the Minister upon all matters connected with the manning of the fleet. And in like manner the five principal officers might be in direct communication with the Minister upon all questions concern ing their departments. It is contended that it such a scheme were adopted the Minister would be more completely and directly in formed upon the real working of the navy, than by receiving intelligence at second hand, and unconnectedly, as he must now do. This, also, would test the real usefulness of a per manent secretary ; the whole of the strings would be collected together by him, and he would feel a pride as well as interest in being the instrument of assistance to the Minister, without any fear of jealousy or from others who may now fancy that they should be equally consulted with the First Lord. The wheat would be thus separated from the chaff, all questions of detail would be dis• posed of in the departments, but all great questions involving a principle or expenditure would be submitted to the Minister. Are such considerations at the bottom of Mr. PHINN'S retirement? But another question arises, whether, when we have had such au outcry for promotion by merit and reform of the Civil Service, is it absolutely necessary to go to the Inner Temple for men to till such offices as that in question? Is there not in the whole range of the Civil Service a man to be found possessing the requisite qualifica tions and tic to fill this office, and even sub ' mit to the drudgery complained of, to which he has been throughout his life trained? We surmise thiii there must be many such men to be found in the public departments. There may he reasons in the minds of some men for not awarding such a prize as the Second Secretaryship of the Admiralty to a person bred in the Civil Service, but is it not purely a bureaucratic post ? Then why give it out of that class who naturally view it as a post of honour as well as emolument? Mr. DISRAELI was right when he said that the Civil Service wanted the stimulus of more " spirited rewards." We may recur to this particular topic. MISPLACED CONFIDENCE. IN the present number of the Quarterly Review we find in an article entitled " The New Par liament and its Work" the following remarks upon the conduct of those Conservatives who have lotely elected to follow Lord PALMERSTON as their chief:— There is no reason so narrow and so trivial as to be insufficient, in the view of electors of this description, for withholding support from those with whom on every point, except the favourite crotchet, they agree, and so letting into Parliament those from whom on every poiat, including the favourite crotchet, they differ. On the justice of these strictures we need not say that we most fully concur. They are suggestive, moreover, of a few reflections which in no unfriendly or unconeiliatiug spirit we would submit to the consideration of all such supporters of Conservative principles as may have been tempted to reason in a similar manner to Messrs. BENTINCK and TYRELL. It should be remembered that in adopting the Palmerstonian colours gentlemen do but gain the support of one man in exchange for a whole party—even supposing Lord PALMERS TON is all they imagine him to be—and of a man, too, who as a Conservative must always be essentially weak. At the head of the Liberals he can only act as a very partial obstructive for a very brief space of time ; and were he to join the Opposition to-morrow he could never lead the party. In the one case he would be a hypocrite to no purpose ; in the other a proselyte without power. The idea that any party really follows Lord PALmErisroN because of his supposed Protes tantism, can only raise a smile. Messrs. SroosErt and NEWDEGATE know well enough that such men as TRENCH, MILMAN, or Hoox, are every whit as good Protestants as Drs. BICKERSTETH, BARING, and TAIT. That they may choose to arrogate to their own views the peculiar title of Protestantism, is nothing. The nation knows better, and only smiles at the ineffectual audacity with which they seek to monopolise an epithet common to the whole THE PRESS. Church, and to disguise party passions under a plea for purity of faith. This reason, there fore, for supporting Lord PALM ERSTON cannot he accepted as genuine, but it is the best which these gentlemen can find. As a pre tended Protestant, the Premier can pay them well. As a real Conservative, he would aid them little. We think it probable that, blinded by what they try to believe zeal for true religion, their particular party do not quite perceive the aspect under which their conduct presents itself to the eyes of the country. This it is which we wish to lay clearly before them. And we beg them to believe we are actuated by no other than a friendly motive in doing so. Something, too, remains to be said from a somewhat different point of view. Are the ties which unite party so light, the sympathies and associations which bind men together who •have so long fought side by side so utterly worthless, that they are to be snapped asunder fur the sake of a caprice, and whistled dawn the wind for the enthronement of a crotchet? Has all that served to ennoble party connec tions and lift them above the character of a mere sordid combination, been heard of for the last time—the sacrifice of personal partialities— and reservation of individual aims—till both could be gratified by the triumph of the general principle which the party might espouse ? Then, indeed, is the chivalry of political warfare at an end, and the age of cal culators and contractors has succeeded ! The Conservative party can never be weakened by the secession of men of this stamp. We are willing to believe that such have not been the motives by which certain Hon. Members have been actuated. They have, perhaps, been blinded and dazzled, and may still be true to their connection. We only warn them once more that their enemies make no such allowance. That in their eyes their conduct will seem to have been prompted by motives they would, we hope, themselves be the first to repudiate. That they will bear the reproach of those who sacrificed their party to themselves, and betrayed their principles in order to save their prejudices. DISTRIBUTION OF PATRONAGE. A NEW cry is heard in a portion of the Liberal party, "If the Ministry really be Liberal, let " the fact be boldly proclaimed by the way in " which its patronage will be bestowed." In other words, the choice of public servants must entirely be subordinated to " the last " state of the poll." We believe that Lord PALMERSTON, with all his defects, is too proud a man to truckle to the clamorous cry of hungry outsiders, and there is no part of his administrative rule which will be more vigi lantly scrutinised than his mode of promoting individuals for offices not connected with " party." The Church, the Law, the Army and Navy, and other great departments, should not be degraded by being made refuges for fiercely factious friends, or treated as places of retirement for super annuated partisans. A Minister with a great majority (supposing that the Premier is in that condition) can afford to set at nought the claims of cliquism, and the petitions of ambitious incapacity. Hitherto the Prime Minister has advised the Crown to bestow the ecclesiastical patronage in one particular direction. High blood and Low Church seems to have been his test for assaying the merits of a MoNTAGU VILLIERS, a BARING, BICKERSTETH, and PELHAM. On the other hand, in the law, a different course has been acted on in the selection of non-political barristers (with some exceptions.) For some of these nominations praise is due to Lord PALMERSTON. On others we say nothing ; and this brings us to a consideration of consider able importance. For the first time we have a Liberal party in office which may be said to exist without fear of the Irish popular members. Lord Pat. M EASTON knows well that there are grave objec tions to the mode in which portions of tae Irish patronage have been bestowed, and he must have seen that the elections in Ireland 423 show a strong reaction in favour of the gentry, of propertied classes, and against adventurers . The same system of place-giving which was tolerated in the days cf " the tail," would not be fair now. Nothing stands more in need of practical redress than the system of Irish official patronage ; and imperial interests of high importance are involved in its consi deration. Should Lord PALMERSTON continue a system of mere partisanship, and should he succumb to the importunate demands of thorough going factionists, we believe that powerful influence can le interposed to recall him to a more equitable exercise of the authority given to him by the present dispensation of events. " All power, even the most despotic, rests ul " timately on opinion," and even the largest majority crumbles when undermined by an active sense of public wrong working on the generous instincts of a great community, pa• triotic, spirited, and free. EDUCATIONAL FRANCHISE. THE above question, though we think it un• likely ever to recommend itself very strongly to the public mind of England, is just now being a good deal canvassed ; and this must be our justification for bringing it before our readers at the present time. The advantages of making education a test of fitness for the possession of this privilege are broad and obvious; so broad, in fact, as almost to be with out point. Goodness or cleverness would be a very desirable test also ; but they are qualifications of that intangible class which scarcely admit of being seized, weighed, and classified. And we cannot help feeling that education comes under the same category. To draw the line at the possession of a university degree, though it sounds well enough upon paper, would never be tolerated in practice. Independently of other reasons, there are many persons who still believe that a university education imparts nearly as much prejudice as enlightenment; and though we are not of that number, yet we fancy a con siderable proportion of franchise reformers are. Of special criticisms on this design there appear to be two of more weight than the rest. Fitst, that, as the principle of making re presentation to depend upon property is undoubtedly sound, any measure calculated to tamper with this systen, even in the remotest degree, must be approached with tho utmost circumspection. Secondly, that it is not po pular : and a reform of the franchise that is not popular seems to be nearly superfluous. It has all the evils of change without the benefits of concession. For those who think that the Radical reformer would accept the educational franchise as a substitute for its extension to lower classes of the community, we fear, are deeply mistaken. It would be a denial of their demands coupled with the most pointed reflection on the state of those classes in whose behalf they prefer it. If we turn to the class itself which this measure is designed to benefit, we shalt find little more in its favour. Do they in reality care for the boon ? The very short time which elapses before a man of liberal educa tion is enabled to possess the franchise pre vents him from feeling the want of it to be a very great grievance. While he is poor he is usually absorbed in other pursuits. But if he has a taste for political agitation he can in dulge it almost as well without a vote as with one ; can get up meetings, make himself use ful at elections, and in a hundred ways in fluence the public without making a unit in a constituency of thousands. The press alone has, to a great extent, superseded the fran chise for the really educated classes. It is to be remembered, also, that a scholar, whose means are such as to prevent him from being a householder, is likely to be en gaged in a tolerably severe struggle for exist ence—a very much severer one, probably, than the ten-pound householder is acquainted with. Hence, at once, would arise temptations to political dishonesty, in proportion as his political position was improved ; and if it were not improved, why should he wish for the franchise ? 1