The Press.
London, England, 1854-03-25 00:00:00

M.kncn 5, 1854.

strongly—that can extricate him from the position in
which he has been placed."
Meeting the objection so often urged by Ministers,
that no criticisms should be offered upon Ministerial
conduct unless the critic were ready to follow it up
by immediately proposing a vote of want of confi-
dence, Mr. Disraeli remarked that it was apparent
the Government had no confidence in the house or

evert in themselves, anti contrasted the expressions
of different Ministers on different occasions and
subjects to show how loose and conflicting had been
their opinions all round
" I Litow there is a retort to which I am open. I have
heard it already during the session, and, fur aught I know,
the right hun. gentleman may jump up and use it again.
He may say, ' Well, if that is your opinion, why do you not
come forward boldly and propose a vote of want of con-
fidence in her Majesty's Ministers?' (Loud cries of
' Hear, hear.') I believe the retort has already been made
six times during the present session, and probably not less
than six hundred times in this and other Parliaments.

But, sir, these are good reasons why we should offer
criticism on the conduct of the Ministry, or a branch of the
Ministry, and why we do not come forward to propose a
vote of no confidence. There is no necessity fur proposing
a vote of no confidence in the present Administration. I
think it is a useless ceremony. (Cheers and laughter.) It
is quite unnecessary, in my mind, to waste the time of the.
House of Commons by such a vote, for this simple reason,
that it is apparent, notorious, and proved to all, that they
have no confidence in each other. (Cheers and laughter.)
Let us look a little at the conduct of our Ministers. I
shall treat the subject, whatever answer 1 may receive, with
fairness. I will not have recourse to any little test. I
will try them by a great test. In deciding the question
whether the present Government have confidence in them-
selves, I will take the greatest subject which we have at
the present moment—l will take the vast question of peace
or war. What confidence, what possible confidence, can
we have in this Cabinet, who have involved us in that
extraordinary position in which the country now finds it.
self? (Hear, hoar.) Is there a man among them who
can tell us what we are going to war about? Is there a
man among them who can tell us what is the object at this
moment of their councils? I will not quote a single person
except themselves. Why, there is the noble lord who is
not here, but who generally sits opposite to me—a Secre-
tary of State—he has declared his opinion upon this great
subject of foreign politics. He told us at the end of the
last session of Parliament, in almost the only speech of
ability and spirit which we have heard upon the subject,
that we were going to war, and what we were going to war
for. He said, `We are going to war because we believe
the independence and integrity of Turkey are assailed, and
because we believe the interests of England to be involved
in maintaining the independence and integrity of
Turkey. We look upon the independence and integrity of
Turkey, said the noble lord, ' as facts, and our opinion is,
that there is as much vitality and life in Turkey as in
ether countries, our allies, our competitors. or our rivals.'
The noble lord said more than that ; he said, ' Not only
do I believe that Turkey is as active as she was, but I be-
lieve she is absolutely progressive. (live her a fair trial:
her maintenance is easy, and is most profitable to the
interests of England, to the cause of freedom, and to the
civilisation of the world. A.ll the highest impnlses that
should influence men ought to induce them to support at
this moment the independence and integrity of Turkey.'
Loud cheers followed the speech of the noble lord. Well,
what happened a short time after that? Why, there was
the statesman whose conduct T have bad occasion
to
criticise this evening; he went about the country and paid
a visit to the great commercial city of Manchester, at a
time when there was great depression in the country with
respect to the affairs of Turkey, and when men with
resolute minds began to think that that was occurring
which would prove most fatal to the supremacy of this
country, and to the cause of justice, of truth, and of free.
dom. What did the right honourable gentleman say upon
that occasion? Did be agree with the Secretary of State?
Not at all. He said, ' Things look very bad; but what can
von expect? You must prepare yourselves for the worst.
the independence and integrity of Turkey, which people
talk about, are not facts—they are fantasies and
phantoms. You must not consider the independence and
integrity of Turkey as anything like European questions.'
The right honourable gentleman quibbled away the
independence and integrity of Turkey—( Hear, hear, hear)—
and seemed to have in view that plan of partition
which has but recently come to our knowledge. (Cheers.)
And this is the Minister of Finance who to-night is
going to double the income tax in order to maintain the
independence and integrity of Turkey. (Cheers. )
Then a noble Secretary of State in the other House of
Parliament told us the other night what we were going to
tight for, and I was grateful for a moment to a member of
her Majesty's Government. ( A laugh.) He said, 'We
are going to fight for the rights of the Christian subjects of
the Porte. That is our cause. We are resolved, and we
shall stipulate that there shall be equality of rights and ,
privileges between the Christian subjects and all other
subjects of the Porte.' I believe loud cheers followed that
speech also. What happened the next day? The noble
lord the Secretary of State in this house, who is supposed
to have some knowledge of our foreign policy, said in the
most distinct way, and in tones that he knew would re-echo
through all Europe, that he did not imagine for a moment
that any man would entertain the idea of our obtaining
privileges for the Christian subjects of the Sultan—that
that would be acting as badly as the Emperor of Russia
himself—and that, if we obtained au equality of privileges
between the different subjects of the Sultan, we should put
an end to the Turkish empire. And yet, when those gen-
tlemen have no confidence in their mutual opinions, I am
•to be taunted and told it is my duty to propose that the
House of Commons shall so stultify itself that we are Rh-