The Press.
London, England, 1858-05-08 00:00:00

"BIT BY BIT" REFORM.

IN the great struggle of 1831-2, Lord BROUGHAM
produced great effect by denouncing all projects
of "bit by bit Reform ;" and other persons be-
sides the Liberals echoed the wish that if Reform
was to take place it should be finished and
made an end of so as to save the State from the
risk of perpetual meddling and constant altera-
tion. The Liberals now-a-days have changed
their course, and each section of them is bent on
some particular scheme. One wants to lower
the county franchise, and another is enthusiastic
about secret voting. Others desire to recast the
Parliamentary system, and have new electoral
districts. To such a mode of action every
sound Conservative should be opposed. Re-
form, if attempted, must be dealt with as
" a whole," for our Constitution cannot afford
a series of perpetual alterations. In order
to do things well in politics the public mind
must be concentrated on them ; but popular
attention is frittered away by trying to fix it
year after year on detached measures. It is not
an English course of conduct to be perpetually
changing. " Make a change after due delibera-

" tion, if it is forced upon you, and then adhere
" to it," is a sound rule in most things.
The difficulties of the Liberals on this question
of " Reform" are immense. Lord Jonx RUSSEL!
first adhered to, and then broke through the
implied compact which existed since the time
the First Reformed Parliament, when the Con.
servatives frankly accepted the new state
things, and relied confidently on the good sense
and reasonableness of the people at large. But
on this question of " Reform " the Liberals are
all at sixes-and-sevens. One of the shrewdest
and most independent Members of the House
Commons observed, not long since, " Reform
"to the Liberals what Protection used to be
" the Conservatives ten years ago. It gilt(
" them a rallying cry, but it will make their
" official position very difficult, if not untenable.'
The Liberals, however, are bent on using " Re-
form," and squeezing it a little further—with what
advantage, tune will show.

In the meanwhile let us observe what occurred
this week in Parliament. Mr. CAiRn brought
forward a motion on Thursday night for the assi-
milation of the English and Scotch County
Franchises. The plan was rejected, and
very properly. The Conservatives of the towns
in Scotland are completely swamped in the present
system, and if Mr. CAIRD's proposition was car-
ried, the balance against the Conservatives would
be still further depressed. To all such " bit by
bit " propositions we say, that Reform must be dealt
with as a whole. We must know the terms

which our political system is bound together
We do not want to be taking down the stairs
the spring, altering the dining-room in the sum•
mer, and then changing all the chimneys in the
winter, besides going to the expense of a new
portico before the hall-door, when we know that
in a year or two we are certain to have a new
roof, besides new wings to the edifice, and -
additional supply of plate-glass windows. Let ,
have the architect, with his bricks, and mortar,
and scaffolding, and then let us make a good
piece of work, and have done with it, and live
comfortably in the old house improved.
There is little doubt that the country is indifferent
about Reform. People think that the public will
can be abundantly manifested under the present
system ; they do not deny that it can be im.
proved, but they manage to get on very well
it is. Such is the feeling of numbers about
"Reform." Mr. EDWARD Ewes. spoke the
other day about "the difficulty of carrying out
" any reform now-a-days," and stated also that
" the House of Commons, apathetic as it way,
" was in advance of the feelings of the country.'
Significant words from such a quarter ; but we
do not forget that in 1827 and 1828 there was
great " apathy "on " Reform." What helped '
excite the feeling so powerfully in 1830 and
subsequent periods was, that a great portion
the Conservative classes had been disgusted
the conduct of the Wellington Cabinet in 1829
and the arbitrary way in which the Ministry
that time dealt with Parliament, convinced
numbers that the time had come when Reform
should take place. A large portion of the
Protestant interest became temporarily detached
from the Conservatives ; and we cannot forget
the

that afterwards, by means of "Reform,"
Church was endangered, until the Conservative
reaction decisively vindicated the cause of Pro-
testantism and the Constitution.
But, although the Constitution is safe, yet
grievous injustice has been done to the Conser-
vatives in the working of the Parliamentary
system ; and it is probable that if the subject
" Reform" is fairly brought before the Legis-
lature, some more favourable adjustment
may take place. Hence sonic of the Liberals
are disinclined to have the cry of " Reform
revived, while others would wish to have the
" bit by bit" system—that is to say, a plan
action for using the Radical pickaxe and shovel
so incessantly that the foundation walls would
be undermined gradually, while an appearauce
of safety would be preserved. Let Reform
honestly proposed, and Conservatives will kno‘
how to deal with it ; but they dislike the pro-
posal of " bit by bit" Reform, which would keep
the public mind in a constant state of uncertainty
and detract attention from the social measure (
improvement demanded by the intelligence
the age.

“THE CASE BEING ALTERED, THAT
ALTERS THE CASE.”
TIIERE is something mysterious about Mr. LOCKE
Kiss and his periodical appearance upon the
Parliamentary arena. Generally connected with
a Ministerial crisis, he manages to create con-
fusion and dismay, alike among his friends and
fees, without advancing one whit the peculiar
question which enjoys the privilege of his especial
patronage. In 1851, he carried a motion on the
county franchise, identical in all its details with
that which received the sanction of the House of
Commons on Thursday, the 22nd of April. He
was then (in 1851) fruitlessly opposed by Lord
JOHN RUSSELL, and though no real progress was
made with the proposed measure, the Liberal
Ministry was compelled to resign. Again, in
1857, he all but defeats the Government of Lord
PALsts.swrox upon the same question, backed, in
this instance, by his former antagonists ; and
thus shakes the position and damages the prestige
of a powerful Minister. After having dealt out
such hard measure to his own political friends, it
can hardly surprise us now to meet him again on
the stage, assailing his Conservative opponents
(just new to their official position), for refusing
to concede the reform which their Whig prede-
cessors have systematically withheld. But, Cui
bono ? The question remains just where it was,
taken up as a weapon of offence, wielded for a brief
season, and then suffered to drop. In each case
the increase of the county franchise has been
advocated by independent members of the Libe-
ral connection, and warmly resisted by the re-
sponsible advisers of the Crown, of all parties
and every section. It is as painful as it is humi-
liating to trace through all their doublings and
shiftings the career of the Liberal leaders.
When the increase of the county franchise was
first proposed by Mr. LOCKE KING, by conferring
votes upon ten-pound householders, non-
resident within the limits of Parliamentary
boroughs, it was resisted by Lord JOHN
RUSSELL, upon what appeared, from his own
point of view, irrefragable reasoning. " You
" are going," he said, " to establish uniformity
" of suffrage in counties and boroughs—that is a
" principle to which I can never consent ; I too
" would extend the suffrage at the proper time,
" but not in the mode pointed out by this Bill."
This objection went to the very heart of the
measure : it had, however, but little weight with
his Liberal adherents; and Lord Jolts was glad
to fall back upon the support of his Con-
servative opponents. In 1857, a change takes
place in the posture of affairs—Lord PALMERS-
ToN, the then occupant of office, repeats and
indorses the old argument of his rival, who, in
the new character of an independent member,
gives his support to Mr. LOCKE KING and his
innovating associates. Not that he expresses at
this time any approval of the principle of the
Bill; on the contrary, himself from

guarding
any such supposition;he records his vote on the
special ground that Lord PALMERSTON is evasive
and unsatisfactory upon the general question,
and he supports the measure as one pledging the
House to embark upon the subject of Reform.
The assistance of the Conservatives was again
invoked, and, amidst the cheers of his opponents
and the ill-concealed aversion of his adherents,
Lord PALMERSTON triumphs over his political
friends. Again the scene shifts. Lord DERBY
is Prime Minister, and Mr. LOCKE KLNG presses
forward hitclaim. The motion is as before re-
sisted by the Government, but upon grounds
essentially different to those taken by their pre-
decessors. " The proposed alteration may be
good," says Mr. DISRAELI, "but this is not the
:time to make it. Next year we intend to bring
„ forward a comprehensive scheme of Reform,
„
and your Bill would interfere with the scope
of its general design." Surely, nothing could
be more reasonable than this. The Independent
Liberals, as before, follow in the wake of their