The Press.
London, England, 1856-07-26 00:00:00

71:'3

. 6.98

• the Goderieli after the death of MI:.
' CANNING. Our present Prime Minister is the
" Goderieh "of the situation. Lord DERBY,
Mr. DISRAELI, and the Cousarvotives menace
him on one side, and he should resolve to
" plunge ahead," hloycl*ms tole accepted at
a real Reformer wilibe disputed )4 Lord Joint
Resszta, and Lord anat. Need rye recal the
situation of Lord GieDERIOH between the Dukt
of WELLINGTON and Sir Moatnv ftiaL, and the
Whigs headed by the late Lord GREY?
A statesman of vast moral power, of majestic
dignity of character, might in such a situation
rule England with grand effect, if his force and
genius enabled him to tower over his contem-
poraries. But Lord PALMERSTON never towered
over any party, and was passed in the race for
honours by most of the contemporaries who
• started along with him. Even Lord Mat-
SIiSOURNE, not a first-class statesman, passed
4,itim in the race. So did PEEL, and BROUGHAM,
Juand Lord Jour; Russou. l Nor could Lord
fliktusEawrom ever have got his present position
•. ,but for the intemperate precipitation of Lord
Seas Rossaxt's conduct. Chance, not merit.,
nor the weight of his following, made him a
Premier.
It is that this autumn can pass
•,11way without the country intimating its dissa-
mtisfaction with a mongrel Ministry that neither
represents parties nor produces measures.
There is no confidence in. the Cabinet, and
great subjects of foreign policy aro rising.
The Italian question, the relation of Austria
to the.other Powers in Europe, the complexity
of Spanish affairs, and the possible policy of
the Emperor of the FRENCH with regard to the
Peninsulai demand more moral calmness in
'their treatment than such a statesman as Lord
'',lPamaziurtei4 can give them. Our official
.09SYstetn also requires judicious amendment
riefibeted in hII sincerity, and with reasonable
loprOmptitude; and it is vain to look for such
','Pesults while Lord PALMERSTON gives the tone
II in the Ministry.
.4.l''' And whatik'and has been through life, the
tone of Lord PALMERSTON ? He has never
'llispired iiiiher than being a clever man of the
world. lie has flied all parties by turns.
He has been nearly always in place. He
has been a Tory iu Tory times, a Liberal ia
Liberal times, and A hbilow neutral in a period
of compromise. As Leader of the House of
Commons he is jocose, bantering, and undig-
ipilied, and sometimes is downright coarse.
"In his function of uttering the general
il'qpinions of the House, and in his demeanour
-Ito members generally, he contrasts most un-
with his predecessors in his part ;
"rind a change of-Premiers would contribute as
much to the dignity of the House of Commons
• as to the advantage of the country.

.W HZ GOVERNMENT AND THE CIVIL
bi 0.,,, •,,, ILIJ • SERVICE.
lit tg
~.,1 pill pOilie"nilet have long since ceased to
.2.,p4iNct administrative energy from Lord
payI,44IIAMTON'S Government. In the presence
meiotic& frequent proofs of weakness, and such
,'Ofildttlifold examplettOtitiespacity, it were vain
v-io'4le to stippOie upon any subject of
ui
ill
.wgqevity or of cliffigulty is Cabinet 11,111 avow
ii:gityudiatinct principle or adopt any definite
imilicyi.! But; in spite of all that had occurred—
'', It did-knees had been continuous and
qui ( LT, , .
b ypdermigAa4;heen uniform—we certaiply
i
si wevestetoundod at the course it has pursued
title regard to the Civil servants of the Crown.
~o.Anything.more incomprehensible, more insen-
sate, or inure unjust than its mode of dealing
ldwitli the important and urgent, question, con-
boneated with the interests of that largo class, it
.1. weiald be impossible to iinagiiiew The metro-
-ippelitan press, of all shades of opinion, and of
.utevery political eonneetion, ,denounced the
It pmeasure submitted by the CMARCELLOR of the
i 1 Br en EWE a with unsparing reprobation. From
. the House of Commons it has met with a
similar reception, and MLR withdrawn amid
the derisive cheers of that assembly.
si , But., although the odious Bill has been thus
1 , arrested in its course, and has shared the fate
„, of all Lord PALMERSTON'S other attempts at
legislation; it may be worth while, as the

TeilEi IP R. RS S.

8 übjeet is once more left unsettled, to examine
its history and to discuss its provisions. Such
lan inquiry, in eed, eq.nnot be unprofitable or
inopportune, nasal* as it will serve to
clepaonstrate t, e gtiving incompetency of 'le
pipes Governmegt,, and to show that •
griettoces of which the Civil servants
_ .
• be r-

. tin
if tho
plain are eve 4 to . . removed, and IMk ft(' uit a
.f!
recognition of their claims to be conceded y
the Legislature, the reins of power must e
transferred to other hands.
Now, we pray the attention of our readers
to the remarkable f* is of the case. It was
the fortunate result of the exertions of the
friends of the Civil Service, of the investiga-
tions they instituted and the evidence they
produced, that their cause attracted public
attention and enlisted public sympathy. It
ceased to be a question that the system by
which an annual deduction was made from the
salary of every member of the Civil Service
who was appointed since 1829, as a provision-
fund for his retirement, was oppressive and
arbitrary. There was no escape, indeed, from
the cogent testimony to that effect which was
accumulated. The data, collected from
authentic sources and subjected to the
scrutiny of a Government auditor, proved
beyond a shadow of doubt that, even if such
a charge for such a purpose was, in the
abstract, legitimate, the amount levied was
decidedly and manifestly excessive. It was
clear that the tax was out of all proportion to
the contingencies it was intended to meet, and
that it had created an enormous and con•
stantly increasing surplus, which was not—
and could not be—applied to its original
purposes And the conclusion from such
premises was obvious. The superannuation
deductions could only be regarded as a
gross imposition—a cruel exaction, for which
there was no excuse and no justification. The
CHANCELLOR of the EXOHEQUEn, accordingly,
unable to resist an appeal so fortified and so
confirmed, introduced at an early period of
the session a Bill, the important feature
of which was, that it admitted five
per cent. was an undue contribution to
the Superannuation Fund, and proposed to
reduce it by one half. But this measure, as
might have been expected, was not considered
a just or a satisfactory settlement. The Civil
servants contended, and a large and influen-
tial body in the House believed, that any such
fund was vicious in principle and unfair in
practice. It was argued that the State was
bound, without any assistance, to provide for
the old age of men worn out in her service—
that it was an actual duty, a positive obliga-
tion. An adequate retiring allowance was
claimed, therefore, not as a favour, but as a
right, and the select committee to which Sir
G. C. LEWIS'S Bill was referred, made a report
to that effect. So far, then, the cause of the
Civil servants had triumphed. It was a great
victory won after a protracted struggle,
achieved in the face of many difficulties, and
in spite of much opposition. But what does
the sapient CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
now? Why, he endorses the strange decision
of the committee—strange, we say, in connec-
tion with its coincident condemnation of
superannuation deductions—and brings in a
measure, which abolishes these indeed, but
substitutes in their place a revision of all the
salaries of the Civil servants, or; in other
words, a diminution to the extent Of five 'per
cent. I And this is Sir G. C. Letvts's ideit of
justice l He begins by allowing the burden to
be excessive, though just. He proceeds to
admit that it is altogether unjust, and he ter-
minates his sagacious labours by reimposing
the full tax under another name ! This acute
statesman is of opinion, foi Booth, that the real
way of settling the question, of removing all
cause of bitterness and all ground of remon-
strance, is to take away with one hand what he
has given with the other. This is the tender
mercy of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER!
The Civil servants have been robbed by the
State for twenty-seven years-..the fraud is
admitted, the spoliation shall cease. And
those who since that period have contributed
to the Superannuation Fund with uncertain
advantage to themselves, and certain loss to
their families, are to be compensated and con-
soled, after full inquiry and mature delibera-
tion, by a five per cent. reduction of their dala-

. gAtifttsir,

ries ! And now.. the • dexterous financier
attempts to avert from himself the indignation
his measure has aroused by stating, in with.
drawi•lff it, that be wtts only the organ of the
committee, and not a• free agent. • 1141 is a
sintdat position for a etatesmati to'ddcapy
Thai is the way whiok Ministerial duties
are Tieglocted, an 4 Minirial responsibilities
evaded! That is * *Ode in Which public
aff44B app now 4440, that every measure
is t,her defeat . or withdrawn, and often
both ; ox it is referred to a select committee,
of whose views the Minister is afterwards not
ashamed to avow himself the mere. mouth-
piece

APPEALS FRONt
WITH the papers of the late Lord METCALFE
before us, showing the insecurity of the tenure
by which, in his opinion, we Altretient. hold
M India—with M. FERRIER'S late y-Published
book on our table, in whialvhe tells us how
Russia builds her hopes of ultimate success
there, not so much on the power ot bar attack-
ing force as on the extreme disaffkikidireilst-
ing within our empire—with the factmommu•
nicated by the last India mail that one native
potentate has already prepared embassies to
the most powerful of the continente.l sove-
reigns and to the President of the United
States—with a knowledge that the d,eternaina
tion is daily extending among natives no
longer to acquiesce with patient submission
in the wrongs to which they have, iu many
instances, been notoriously .subjected—with
all these things present tb ear view, Ms, we
confess, with the dedpest ahltiety that Welectn-
template the continued want la alliroOer
tribunal of appeal for oast% Itfrafta
The present state of things I& IN[ 'fides
degree anomalotte—it is to the hig t itittient
perilona—and the longer coritirtusneentlit is
simply impossible. It has beeothe than
ever impossible since the adoption' the
alteration in the standing order4`.of"the
House of Commons, for this prohibits the in-
troduction of hills in future conveying • a
charge on the revenues of India, unless when
introduced by a message from •,the. .Grestn.
Against the wisdom of that order itt itself we
have nothing to allege; indeed, we have over
and over again repeated that the. proper
tribunal for adjudicating on such colity was
not the Legislature. But we have as fre-
quently remarked that a tribunal of appeal in
some shape from the injustice or alleged in•
justice of the Company was a sine vini non ;
and it is a duty imperative on Parliament to
see that such a tribunal be established.
Indeed, it is only by doing this that the object
professedly had in view in making the altera-
tion can be attained—of applying the same rule
to cases from India as exists in regard to cases
that arise in England.
In England, for instance, the rule prohibit-
ing bills being introduced, conveyinoc' charges
on the revenue without permission from the
Crown, is based on a very sound and .good
principle. For, as there are doiniir of law
here to decide upon every pistsible Claim' of
right, such bills could any hadizi-iispilat! of
moneys sought to be ohlainkhuilit Mali* of
favour, and favour should obviouslyilbining
spontaneously from the Crown. 'Bat in
respect to cases frOm IndisiAthin holds riot
good. The claimants in those .easee are men
not: asking for favour, but. sueink for a veobvery
I of' their rights. Their claim* are:fetal* iiiiti-
tntioh of their own property,tieAsed wrongitirlY,
as they allege, and only -a part of the' Boj al
revenue, in the name why ati th& ukd bfßeo-
roaWs estates would be ti them; iflaVbi-
trarily confiscated by the Ortiwit. itserinkitiow.
In England we know that no tittoltitrbitinvy
confiscation could take place. The Minister
could. Ftat Ihjire+ mgsiff4to that
grants of Crown Igo no matter how ancient,
were against pu OHO., lieflie on
any estates that were su derived in 'like bast
inOtemee, sending .49wn. la battalion, of fitnaft.ls
with cavalry and ortillmito,p&foNe 44,4ANc-
tions if the possessor. eined likely to prove
refractory. Nce cotfit of likrnsi6rt
granted ou tho Post-oadoo 'Or excise, in the

JULY 26, 1856.

days of bygone sovereigns, by a stroke of the
pen. He would have to proceed, through the
law officers, before tribunals independent of
him, precisely as if the case were one between
man and man. And in the same way he
-would be liable to be proceeded against if ho
went one inch beyond the point the law allows.
Of course, under such a system, appeals to
Parliament are unnecessary, for there are
properly constituted tribunals to try all such
questions, presided over by judges who are
irremovable, and in no way responsible to the
Minister for the judgments which they give
But in India the whole state of the case is re-
versed. There the agent of the Company in
such matters is removable at pleasure, and
is compelled, under the penalty of forfeiture
of office, to do every act which the Govern-
ment directs. There if the aggrieved party
applies to any of the courts of law for redress,
they tell him that they have no jurisdiction,
as the act is one done by the Government in
its political capacity ; and that, therefore,
there is against it no appeal. In short, if the
Indian system existed in England, the Minis-
ter of the day might confiscate every estate
within the three kingdoms to-morrow, and
ignore every mortgage, lease, or settlement,
or sub•tenure upon them, without let or
hindrance, or means of remedy in any shape.
To seize upon estates in this way, and then
prevent the claimant from obtaining justice
on the ground that his property has now be-
come a part of the revenues of the Crown, is a
proceeding so monstrous that common sense
and common humanity must revolt at it,
unless the closing of the door of Parliament.
be accompanied by the constitution of some
more fitting tribunal of appeal.
The materials for such a tribunal already
exist in the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council. If the question be one of the con-
struction of treaties, then that is a point in
which the followers of the civil law are espe
cially versed ; and the Judicial Committee
embraces within it some of the most eminent
civilians of the land. If, again, the point be
one hinging more on the principles of common
law, or on equitable consideration, or on
Mahomedan or Hindoo law, then the same
tribunal is still the fittest to cope with it, for
there is not one of these points with which its
members have not to deal in other classes of
cases every day. Again, no tribunal occupies a
higher ground in the public estimation, nor is
there one to whose decisions men of all parties
would be disposed more implicitly to bow.
Indeed, a recurrence by the Crown to the
advice of its Privy Council in some shape or
other will be necessary for its own sake now
that by the alteration in the standing orders
of the House of Commons redress for injustice
done in India has become so peculiarly depen-
dent on the pleasure of the Crown. Hence-
forth it will not be Sir JAMES Hoon and his
brother Directors who will have to bear the
odium of such injustice, because the power of
redress in the last resort is taken from them
and vested absolutely in the Minister of the
day. He it is who will alone be responsible
to the country, because it is he who will alone
have the power of remedying or confirming
the injustice by granting or withholding the
Crown's assent to the introduction of a Relief
Bill. For his own protection, therefore, he
will, we should suppose, be desirous of obtain-
ing the assistance so necessary to him in the
performance of a duty which must otherwise
prove so invidious and expose him so much
to hostile criticism on the part of members
sitting on the opposite side of the House.
Whether, therefore, we regard the interests of
the people of India or those of the Minister
himself, we can see but one mode of escape
from the difficulties that surround the subject
at present, and that lies in the constitution of
a fitting tribunal for hearing and deciding on
such appeals.