The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1878-06-11 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY WHITSUNTIDE,

Parliament's Whitsuntide holidays this year are but
short. The Home of Lords are considered rather
luxurioua and sociable because they get • Meer week.
The House iif Commons have to be content with the
enjoyment of three dims' relaxation from their work, in
addition to the Saturday and Sunday which they would
have bad in any case. or. indeed, is there rough result
to chew for all this appearance of severe labour. Parlia-
ment met W. year souse three weeks before its usual
time, at bast, before the time that has been usual of lots;
and it might lime boon supposed that a strenuous Session,
full of work arid actilevemmt, was before our legislator&
Tubs Ministers justice it must be anti that the Royal
Speech dot n it promise much in the way of domestic
legislation. Perhaps the Government, censured in former
years for begin:aim with vast and vaned schemes of
and ending with little achienuent of any
kind, were determined that this time, at least, no one
should accuse Oath of having promised too much at the
aufacc. The Royal speech only announce I some eight or
nine measures of domestic legislation. Hardly any one
of these coul I be regarded, even in anticipation, as of
capital importance. Perhaor there were two or three
which might in other hand. have become measures of the
first magnitude ; but it was soon found that, as Ministers
proposed to deal with the subjects, there could be
nothin.; in the Bills ti excite much hope or fear. The
County Government Bill, for example, might have been
a measure of great interest to the country in general.
But the Idovernment so dealt with the subject that even
the moat friendly critics could not be got to say any more
In favour of the Bill than that it was better than nothing,
and was at least not • step in an absolutely wrong
direction. Only lind iy the Chancellor cif the Exchequer
main announced he did not think it prothble the Bill, which
has not yet got into Committee. c sold he passed this
Session. The Attorney-General's Bill, to esteblish a
code of indictable offences, or, as it was described in the
Queen's Speech, "to simplify "and express in one het
the whole law and procedure relating to indictable
offences," is • measure that, in • more businemlike
Phasion, would command much attention and be regarded
as of grave importanoe. The Cattle Dtseases' Bill is one
which, even in so exciting a mason as the present, it Is
not feasible for the cous.try to look on with indifference.
But the truth is that, even in the matter of domestic
legislation, the Legislature has been too Olsen indulged
in excitement to settle down to the steady discussion of
quiet and practical measures. The Irish Sun lay Clueing
Bill bee been the us`CmliOn of more emotion and of more
surprising scenes and stratagems than would he needed to
distract the attention of • Parliamentary Laps.* far
fresher to its accomplishment than the Home which broke
up ma evening for its abort holiday.
The Eastern Question, of co-one, and the policy of the
Government in regard to it, have been the subjects
principally diverting attention from the steady buanem
of domestic legislation which her Majmay s present
advisers, when they came into otßoe, specially ['mallard in
Parliament The progress of use Session thus far has
been merged chiefly by successive surprises. In surveying
the history of a country one soinetiMel nem IM epochs as
If marked out only by wars and revolutions The
chronology of more thau one important km rMILIS town is
rattled :hirer ILthie dates id its great firm. So the
retrospect of this on thus far seems to show but the
aucceasive explosions of p,iitical mines under the feet of
Parliament by the adventurous hand M the Prime
Minister. rim Queen's speech announced that up to the
oionisg of the Session [totting had occurred in the
kastern war to infringe the condition, oa which linglialt
neutrality was founded ; and declared that so Wag as them
conditions were not infringed the attitude of lingleind
would remain the same. Nothing did occur, so far as the
outer world yet knows, to altar the state of things on
which our neutrality was based. Yet within a very few
days after the reading of the Royal Speech the Chancellor
announced his intention to move for • supplementary
estimate of six millions fir the military and naval
services Our Fleet was moved up to the Dardanelles,
and then moved lack and &gait, finally pared through the
Straits and into the ma of Marmon'. Mach ea:agave
movement was naturally the occasion of sew palpitation
in Pediment Lord Cana:via and Lord Derby sent In
their resignations at once ; but Lord Derby was Persuaded
to esthete for yet a little while a member of Government
One memorable night the Heade Commons were for
• considerable time under the induence of what we can
hardly describe as anything but a "scare." Some wild
rumour telegraphed on by the English Ambassador at
Constantinople, to the effect that, despite the &athletic*.
the Russians were inivanciag on that city, so strollibi
upon the Hume that a stranger might have supposed an
enemy's advanced guard was within sight of L in on, The
debate on the vote of the six millions was marked by
various emotional incidents, and by a good deal of rather
slurp lenenage. Mr. Cross, usually • cool and moderate
person enough. tot so far eats talk of a " lying spirit"
being abroad—among them who didered from Lim on the
Bata= Question of course When Kr. Cross spoke thus
It can Maly be goosed that Kr. Hardy, as be then
was celled, did rat show any lack of vigorous expression.
Soon after the nte and the debates on it came the calling•
oat of the 'Beare, ol the Army and Militia, and the
✓esigamion 51 ord Derby. parliamost had scarcely
meovereal from
the Olaneethe Meth of this surpass when the ROOM
of 0.0,1"....41mr55ed for • Midday. oa the eeseramee
el llogal the
was =lO essi. imeZif oral Partiouhar
dee was b, Ihrir.xt

most bad determined to summon troops from India for
service In Lampe. It might seem that idter this her
Kaieetes Ministers had left totting more to he done in
dace great Wu.** to their inmnutly. boldness. and
resource. It bad still to he anuottao that the Prim*
'
the way of surmise. But such • supposition would have
Minister and the gorelgh Secretary were to leave England
in order to be present rt, the meeting of the Congress in
Berlin No Endlish Prime Minister ever before went
from this c Untry on such an errand. Even Lord
Bmcousdeld himself did not try to discover • precedent
H. cry, we :oust not say his sear.ery,ls e /krfia, and
there is nothing more to be said. The First Napoleon,
when signing some decree in Moscow for the rettillabon
of the Pelle theatre; congratulated himself on the Net
that he carried the Government of Prance with him into
the beset of Russia. Lord Bemoristleld is anxious perhaps
to be able to say ea mueh for the Government of this
country when be goes to Berlin
The resignations which we have mentioned of course
brought shout considerable change in the personal consti-
tution of the Government. Within the Cabinet, Lord
Salisbury became Foreign Minister; mr.GechoThe Hardy.
raised to the pserege as Lord Cranhrook. is Secretary of
State for India; Colonel Stanley is War Minister; Sir 11.
Hicks-Beach takes chance of the Colonies; and Lord
auction is President of the Board of Trade. Mr. limes
Lowther is Irish Secretary, without • mat in the Cabinet.
There were minor changes on which we need not dwell.
It is clear that • Section thus enlivened by politic.'
eurpriam, and kept in suspense by so many personal
&angel, could hardly be expected to do much of steady
and plodding work. Thus far, therefore, it tear be
roughly said to have done nothing—that is in the shape of
substantial domestic legislation. There was • good deal of
obstruction; some of it not altogether without • certain
encouragement from the Treasury benches. The Govern-
ment nre • little embarrassed by the sort of promise they
were once persuaded to give to the promoters of the Irish
Sunday Closing Bill Probable if they could have found
any follower, capable of obstructing it out of exietenoe
altogether, they would have been well pleased with the
act. Some of what we may call the annual motions in the
House of Commons have already had their day and their
doom. If this much of the Session had no other title to
remembrance it would be memoralde because of the
extraordinary scene which took place on the night when
Lord Hartington and Mr. Gladstone were hooted and
howled •t by little • rabble of furious Tories because they
opposed • motion which the le der of the House and of
the Conservative port, in it lint supported and then
deplored. Nothing that we know of has gone forward
much in the Set.loo thus far, except perhaps the principle
of personal government, and even that may be found to
have made more haste than speed in the end.