The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-11-18 00:00:00

FORMS OF GOVERNMENT.

The DAnt,r, replying to sonic ointments of the Con-
tittitioo upon a hinder article, denies that its respect
for the English Constitution leads it to crave for the
establishment of a restrict,i suffrage and an hereditary
peerage in Frame. "We do," it says, " whnire, very
touch admire, England. '0 stio dint I,f the flexibility of
its Constitution, and el...daily liecause of that practical
good sense by means of which it has during the last
two centuries increased its liberties and its riches,
which now assure the enjoyment of these precious
possesions without bloodshed or the destruction of
fundamental laws. Once again we must express our
regret that during the past century the French nation
has not brought tic bear upon reforms of its laws and
C7orntitutii in that spirit of calculation and compromise
without which no durable political institutions can be
established.
. .

But this ailtuirati,,n on the one hand, and this regret
,e 1 the other, do not Llin,lll,l tA, the fact of differences
of raee, customs, and traditions which distingush a
Frenchman from an Englishman, and which do not
permit the application of exactly similar institutions
in both mutes. Who i tl'. i., France who is capable
sAwh confusion except tine,: intrepid logicians who
w•ed•lprescril* laws for the wile world, who frame
~r renew the "rights of man." and of whom we are
the ed adversaries? Where do we find those
thecrid. At ho seek to wake men sidsirdinate to their
•• .4, t• •t among the ltd. .ds,,f whom the Coe-
, les i,scif Gm organ? 1,, the legislator
the titut, 3, Ile larlerstood by
, not exist. 1 ley know that he is
.roan a I 'r,•netiman, or an American, but
•
t Ott I v ignore, awl wisely so.
• •• theretot-, we invite the atttntion of our
• I' any prilitical act in England, it is not to
' the cdisolete idea of creating in France an
;. , • •,,,,,ry peerage and a limited suffrage, lint solely
them with that practical spirit to which
tr. •'l ;, neople are indebted for the greatness and
, heir country. Our content's. ary has been
• theces designs to us by an error which
'•ny. its it believes we have decided
, Monarchial form of Government, and
; ; - • ;sty Monarchy must decay if not Flls.
.Lirol ly abinited suffrage and an hereditary peerage,
it ha. 4 arrived at the logical conclusion that we desire
to ',tore a second Chamber after the English model,
,tral to redst the popular suffrage. England is a M.i-
narchial State, where the right of voting is not yet, it
is true, poe‘i,sed by every Englishman, awl where
the mernis•ni of the Upper Chamber have hereditary
rights; I tot Royalty has existed for the last forty years
in Belgium, notwithstanding an elected Senate ; and
the Second Empire, which W 2,9 wanting in the support
of a restricted suffrage and an hereditary peerage, did
not 'we its fall ti those defects._
' ' •

That is not all: -If 1-in;it....;171-iirage and sai heriditary
peerage are, AA the Corialti itti,a insists, neep4ary to
royalty, every entensi.m of the suffrage and every pdtack
made upon the her, libay principle must diminish the
..idluence of the crown. I Mt, according to the npintm
of the best judges, the two electoral reforins in England
Lave in no de:free prejudicially affected the prt.lifie of
the (mum, whose influence has never been greater than
at present. It will therefore be seen that a partisan
of Monarchy is not necessarily a zealous advocate of re-
etncted suffrage and an hereditary -Upper Chamber.

For hur own part, who have no blind affection for uni-
versal suffrage, nor any baseless hatred for the here-
ditary prhuipal, we should regard as dangerous any at-
tempt now maf le materially to restrietthe right of voting,
and 149 imprudent any attempt to establish an here-
ditary peerage among us. The Constitution is mistaken
if it considers that we have any other object than
that of assisting to establish a Goverment, the name
of whirl. is 14 little importance, pros hied that it be
dctluitit, for the laws and the country. ' I ha re
always th sight,' wrote ll ill Constant, in I Mr.,
' that liberty is possible under all forms ; that it is the
end, and that bolus are the means; that there are in-
dividual rights, sacred rights, indispenwilde guarantees
which. must be regarded under a Republic as under a
Monarchy, and without which a Republic or a
Monarchy would lie equally intolerable, awl with
whirl, both are equally good.' Such is the present
belief of the Liberal Conservatives. That party in.
eludes, doubtless, many members who hold that
Monarchy is the fittest form of Government to insure
to France the reign of legal liberty, but as they place
liberty before all other things, they are the friends of
any Conservative and Liberal reyinie, whatever may
Is its title or Rs fonn."