The Press.
London, England, 1858-04-10 00:00:00

sit in the Council to which a Vernon Smith,
or a Talbot Baines, te- a Lord Clanricarde,
may be admitted ! The thing is an absurdity."
Even the constitution of a simple Com-
mittee of the House of Commons on a ques-
tion of importance is far more "intricate,"
and " complicated." and " ingenious " than
people suppose. The established rules require
that " variety of construction " should be
strictly attended to in nominating a com-
mittee. Gentlemen of great talent and ex-
perience submit to have their names removed
from a committee, and are compelled to
" stand aside" to make room for others who
are associated with particular interests. A re-
presentative character is strongly impressed
on all our executive departments, and the idea
is carried out in detail through all the com-
ponent parts of our political system. Magis•
tildes for a shire are selected by various
means, though all are compelled to have the
same legal qualification ; and if the magistracy
of a district are too one-sided, there is a de-
mand that their composition should be
" mixed." Let any public body of a large and
popular character be compelled to delegate
the' carrying on of its affairs to an executive
council, and instinct will teach it to use
" variety " as a principle in the choice of
names to be placed on " the management."
To combine central energy with local repre-
sentative experience in the Councillors was
the problem before the Cabinet, and we hold
that such an end can only be accomplished by
an " elaborate " and " ingenious system." The
Crown, according to the Cabinet's proposi•
tion, would name ex officio a certain number of
Councillors, and variety would be introduced
by admitting other Councillors selected by
qualifications of different natures. A repre-
sentative force not dissimilar to what can be
seen in the Queen's Cabinet would be obtained
in a Council for India thus constituted. Ad-
mission being made dependent upon various
qualifications is strictly in analogy with the
constitutional construction of many great ccr-
porate bodies, both political and ecclesiastical.
But if people wish to find fault with any
proposition, it is easy enough to raise a cry.
It could not be expected that the Palmers-
touians would approve of a measure emanating
from Lord DERBY'S Cabinet; nor could the East
India-house be expected to give approval to any
scheme with such objects. Nevertheless, it
will deserve the attentive consideration of
Parliament whether the principles of repre-
sentative variety and personal experience, pro-
vided for in the Ministerial Bill, are not most
valuable ingredients; though people may differ
ai to the degree in which they should be in-
troduced. We believe, from the necessity of
the case, that any scheme fur the government
of India must be open to the objections (if
such they are) of being " elaborate," and " in-
genious," and " complicated." Those expres-
sions may be lightly used as terms of reproach ;
but let us not think that other schemes are
necessarily simple merely because they are
crude; or that they would be more prac-
ticable mei ely because they display uo thought-
ful workmanship in their details.

"THE DISORGANIZATION OF THE

LIBERAL PARTY."

THIS " disorganization," says the Saturday
Review, "is a great fact." it is accounted
for by the Spectator in the following way :
" The main body of the Liberals, merged in
the laxly-recruited and laxly-led horde whieh
has lately passed by the name, has been
weakened under the twofold process of division
in its own ranks, and a demoralizing union
under false colours."

The deputation of the Reformers' Union of
Birmingham, after visiting P. nd conferring
with the leading members of the Liberal
party in Parliament, reports that
" The Liberal section of the House is dis-
jlinted ; it has no constructive unity of action.
Occasionally powerful to overthrow, it is power-
less to construct."

And the Daily News, after lamenting that
" Party combinations and party ties seem to
be altogether dissolved;' adds, that " there is

growing up, in the heart of the nat--
ion, an.
earnest longing for the creation of a truly
popular party."

The " great fset," then, of the Saturday
Review. is pot a dream or fiction of its own ; its
reality Is recognized on all sides.
But surely it is a reinukable occurrence,
and one which deserves Ivestigation. The
cause Is not to be biutui hs the hostile assaults
of the Conservative party ; the decay of the
Liberal strength and organization must be laid
to the charge of the Liberals themselves. Mr.
Hoasmas has already borne witness, that
" ever since the late Government was formed,
" the opposition to it had been conducted
" with a moderation and forbearance to which
" he remembered no parallel in all his 'ltalia-
" mentary experience." It is, too, hilt a
single twelvemonth since " Lord PALMERS.
TON'S House of Commons" was elected ; and
great was the rejoicing when it was found
that " the Liberals " were nearly 400 in num-
ber, while the Conservatives scarcely ex-
ceeded 250. With such flattering prospects
did the " Liberal Administration" and the
" Liberal House of Commons " commence
their reign ; and now, before a single year has
been completed, it is admitted by their own
journals that the whole party is " disor-
ganized," " divided," ;" disunited "; and that
" the nation longs for the creation of some
" new party" in its room.

There cannot well be a more important
subject for investigation than this. A
great
party exists and triumphs in 1857 ; in 1858 it
melts and vanishes like a wreath of snow !
What has caused its dissolution? Chiefly, we
answer, that with which they untruly charge
the Conservatives. Their journals have been
unjustly laying it to the charge of the present
Government, that " it has no creed, no policy."
This is not true of Lord DERBY or his Cabinet ;
but it was most unquestionably true of that
conglomeration of incongruous materials
which constituted "the Liberal party of 1857,"
and which, its own friends now tell us, " has
"no constructive unity of action." In other
words, when you call upon it to move, its
answer is, that it has not yet decided which way
it will be right to move. The 250 or 260
Conservatives are men who, since 1841, have
been generally voting together. They know
each other's minds, and their opinions are
known to the House and to the country. The
350 or 360 Liberals, on the other hand, are
men who are often found voting against each
other, and on all great questions they hold
many different opinions. Hence, as the Bir-
mingham Reformers say, they are "occasion-
" ally powerful to overthrow ; but they are
" powerless to construct." This last charac-
teristic explains, in one word, why the Liberals
are cut of office, and why they ought to remain
so. The functions of a Ministry are not to
" overthrow," but to "construct." A party
which is " powerlesa to construct" is, for that
very reason, unfit to gorern !
Two of the above witnesses entirely agree
in their description of the cause of this dis-
organization. The Spectator tells us that the
nominal union which did exist was " a de-
moralizing union under false colours." The
Birmingham Reformers add, that the Liberal
party "is disjointed ; it has nu constructive
unity of action."
In a word,—elected under. " a cry " of " sup-
port Lord PALMERSTON," and calling them-
selves by the vague and general name of
Liberals, this " great party " had not agreed
on any creed, or set of principles. It might
be halloed together—it may now be halloed
together—" to put out the Tories" ; but when
that is done, what is to follow next? Among
the 350 or 360 Liberals, are there 200 who are
agreed on that point?
What are the leading principles of Libe-
ralism ? Who can give us a definite answer
to that question? In what measure, or series
of measures, shall we find the answer? Is it
" Reform " ? Unquestionably not his but some
three or four years since Lord PALMERSTON him-
self, the great Liberal leader, resigned, rather
than go on with a Reform Bill. And in the pre-
sent session, by postponing his Bill till " after
Easter," he clearly showed that he had no
real intention to pass any such bill this year.