The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-06-19 00:00:00

THE PALifERSTO.,Y MLVISTRY.

THE Government is just now in that state of
transition which among fowls is described as
moulting. No one from its present scrubby appear-
ance can guess what its plumage is likely to be in a
few weeks hence. It has lost its old feathers before
its new ones have begun to spread. and while shivering
from 'a sense of its destitution it still continues to
pluck itself bare.
Lord Palmerston, with a kind of instinct that he
cannot get rid of his old garb too soon, is pecking
away, as Premier, that system of policy which he cor-
dially approved as Home Secretary. Lord Aberdeen
had no more faithful adherent in his Austrian policy,
and Lord Aberdeen has no opponent more ready to
cast it off. It was to be the salvation of Europe. It
is a mere illusion of pacific dreamers. Lord John as
Secretary of the Colonies is equally ready to discard
all the notions he held as President of the Council
(we think that is the place he occupied under Lord
Aberdeen, though lately he has shifted so often that
we do not pretend to be positive), and more recently
as Minister plenipotentiary. They have discarded
their old sentiments with their old offices, and with a
kind of unnatural cruelty for which we can find no
parallel in gods, men, or brutes, they are eager to hiss
their exploits in their old parts that they may have an
opportunity of condemning the whole performance,
and of reviling the actors with whom they played in
amicable concert.

If war were a mere affair of the mimic scene, as our
Premier by his jocularity seems to suppose, this sud-
den change would be of no great consequence. But
it is of vital consequence to the nation, and may influ-
ence our state for years to come. Lord Aberdeen,
to give dotage its due, was consistent. He was all
for peace ; but his successor has not yet been able to
make up his mind what he is for. A Premier. in
search of a policy rightly describes his position. He
is becalmed, and whistling for a breath of wind to bear
him in some direction or another, no matter where.
At this moment the policy of England is at the mercy
of any chance current which may set in to influence it.
It is open to a bid from oppressed nationalities, or
from the houses of Hapsburg and Hohenzollern.
We are in the midst of war and of discontent at the
same time, and the people seem hardly to know which
is most their foe—their own Government, or the Power
with which they are at war.
Those persons are greatly mistaken who imagine
that the ferment will subside until its cause is removed.
The very cry for Administrative Reform is some pre-
sumption of a grievance experienced. A blind man
may feel an injury though he knows not who in-
flicts it, nor can see his way to a remedy. The wrath
which is indiscriminating is the most dangerous ;
there is no conjuncture more threatening to the safety
of a free State than a people enraged against the
Government which is the creature of its will, and de-
pendent on its breath.

Among us there is a certain class of politicians,
reared in those doctrines of expediency which have
been too prevalent of late, who imagine that the whole
art of Government is to yield to popular impulse, and
that they are sure to be right, or at least safe, if they
follow its latest changes. They are under a fatal mis-
take. The people are content to be honestly governed,
but sooner or later they will discover the fraud which,
pretending deference to their wishes, profits by their
trustfulness, and drives a lucrative trade in political
chicane.

Since the Reform Bill the Liberal interest, as it is
called, has proved itself the strongest in the country,
and no marvel, therefore, that abuses have clustered
thickly round it ; but this sham must have an end,
and it is one favorable omen for the cause of good
government that the Opposition, whenever it is called
to power, will come in unfettered by pledges, bound to
no interest, and free to follow that course of action
which it judges best for the public advantage.—The
Press.

HOUSE OF COMMONS "PARTIES."

WE shall perhaps excite some not very favourable
surprise when we express our wish to see an increase in
the number of " parties " in the House of Commons.
Those who are in the habit of paying much attention
to what passes in Parliament will no doubt think we
have sections " enough, and too many, for the public
good. But it is indeed a " Public Good " section that
we desire to see originated and increased, both in
numbers and in zeal. We have a " Ballot "
section, a " Chartist" section, a " Tenant Right"
section, an " Anti-Maynooth " section, and an
" Anti-Church-Rate " section—one of the most mis-
chievous and successful of all, perhaps. We would
not impute wrong motives to any of the sec-
tions which we have enumerated. No doubt each
would protest that the peculiar views they severally
advocate are, in their opinion, precisely those the most
connected with the public weal. They are of a tem-
perament to make us dispair of enlisting them in any
other cause while their crotchets are unsuccessful.
But we do most earnestly appeal to those quiet, unob-
trusive, and reflecting members, who sigh over evils
which they think it hopeless to endeavour to remedy,
because there is no " party " to bring them perse-
veringly before the attention of Government, to
bestir themselves, and to show that united action is
not confined, to demagogues and others, who fight
tooth and nail for measures, many of them hurtful,
and all of doubtful good, Why is it that gigantic
and notorious evils are seldom noticed in the House
of Commons ? It is to the House of Lords we must
look for any endeavour to remedy what we may term
home evils. In the House of Commons every man
imagines himself capable of directing an empire, and
nothing which is not on a grand scale, or which will
not excite popular applause, can secure attention. It
is useless to point out even the greatest social evils to
men who are disposed to shine in discussing affairs of
war and diplomacy (of which they know nothing) to
the entire exclusion of subjects which they can com-
prehend, and which are of the highest importance.
One or two such subjects occupied the House of Lords
last week.
Lord Lyndhurst, with much earnestness, called the
attention of Government to the very great evils brought
upon the country by the " ticket-of-leave" system. He,
as well as Lord Campbell, had confidently predicted
that the result of this measure would be a great in-
crease of crime. He was, therefore, not surprised at
results which must have produced a profound sensa-
tion when h e narrated them to the House. From the
evidence of one of the Inspectors of Police, it appeared
that there were not less than forty convicts who had
been liberated by ticket-of-leave, residing at this time
within a stone's throw of the Bow-street Police-court,
where they plied their thievish vocation, and instructed
others in the same. In fact, it has been shown by the
officers and others who have good means of forming an
opinion on the subject, that those criminals who obtain
their freedom by the " ticket-of-leave" system are ge-
nerally the worst and most dangerous class of thieves.
It is only by the most detestable hypocrisy that they,
or the greater part of them, obtain their liberation ;
and having done so they are in position to inflict
greater injury on society than ever. They can teach
their pupils not only how to steal, but what course of
conduct to observe when in prison, so as to secure the
good word of the chaplain, and thus to obtain a
"ticket-of-leave." We have on a former occasion ex-
pressed our opinion that the mere expense of re-pro-
secuting these men would amount to more than their
keep in prison. Mr. Jardine, in the observations
quoted by Lord Lyndhurst, said :

" Society is not safe with the present system in operation.
It might be a desirable thing to clear the gaols of these men,
but it was a bad thing for the public when they returned to a
life of crime, having escaped more than half the punishment
which it had been thought proper to award to them for pre-
vious offences. The expense even of re-prosecuting these
men when detected must amount to a formidable sum."
We confess it is to us inexplicable that this tho-
roughly vicious system could have been allowed to
continue so long notwithstanding all that has been
said about it. It is one out of many questions to
which we have endeavoured to draw the attention
of the House of Commons, and which deeply concern
the public welfare ; but which, as they are common-
place, and within the abilities of most men to deal
with, are, for that reason, almost totally neglected.
Our American friends have lately formed a " Know-
Nothing" party—composed of men who know nothing
but what is genuine American, in men and measures.
We should be glad to see a party among ourselves,
and especially in the Legislature, who would "know
nothing" but what bore directly on the physical, moral,
and religious welfare of the people—a " Public Good"
party, as we have termed it—men who would give
vigilant, earnest, and constant attention to those non-
political, but most important points which practically
affect the daily lives of thousands, and which are almost
daily brought before us in the newspapers, and in our
streets.—English, Churchman.

THE LATE BA vs FAILIIRE.—The Times of yesterday says :
—lt was mentioned on Friday last that the revelations daily
taking place in connexion with the affairs of Strahan Paul
and Co., seemed likely to put their failure before the public as
one of the worst upon record. At that time there was no sus-
picion that it involved anything beyond misconduct such as
comes within the jurisdiction of the Court of Bankruptcy, but
it is now actually reported that certain securities belonging
to customers and deposited under lock and key have to be
accounted for, and that the members of the firm admit their
inability to produce them. tinder these circumstances, the
case seems as if it would become far more painful and notorious
than could possibly have been feared.