The Press.
London, England, 1857-06-20 00:00:00

ECONOMICAL REFORM.

THE saying of Madame ROLAND at her execu-
tion might fairly be parodied after hearing a
debate on the Miscellaneous Estimates, and
observing the way in which Liberal Members
conduct themselves. " Oh ! Economy," it
could be said, " how many jobs are committed
" in thy name !"
If the Opposition take exception to the
increase of expenditure, if Lords ELLEN-
BOROUGH and MALDIESBIna succeed in direct-

ing the attention of influential classes to
official extravagance, what could a professional
" Economist," seeking to palliate the "jobbery
of Liberalism," do to avert Parliamentary
wrath ? He would do exactly what Mr.
WiLsox has done. He would read a solemn
lecture to " the House," throwing the respon-
sibility of " the frightful increase " on the six
hundred and fifty representatives of the
people. This is the old Whig system of de-
clining official responsibility. When they
have mismanaged matters they always fall
back on " opinion," and when Mr. WILSON
recently told the House of Commons " that
" the House had frequently exercised a pros-
" sure upon the Government against the
" opinion of the Government," the Honour-
able Gentleman was unconsciously describing
the vacillation and the halting between two
opinions which strikingly mark the conduct
of Whig politicians whenever they attempt to
deal with practical affairs.
It was really ludicrous to listen to the
Honourable Gentleman delivering a pedagogic
warning to the members of the House of
Commons. "If honourable members wished
" to promote economy, it was above all things
" necessary to look with a jealous eye at every
" proposition, from whatever quarter it might
" come, for removing local expenditure and
" placing it on the Consolidated Fund." And
what has the Honourable Gentleman to say
about the " constabulary of Ireland," which
stands at the sum of 639,100/. for the year
1856 ? We have been told that Ireland is so
peaceable that the Viceregal system should be
abolished, and we have heard panegyrics on
what "Liberal Government" has done in
Ireland. If there were foundations for those
panegyrics, why is there not considerable re-
duction in the amount charged to " Miscella-
neous Estimates " for the local police ? One
would think that official ingenuity might see
that in this direction there was vast room for
vigorous retrenchment.
But the whole blame, it is absurdly contended,
must be cast upon " the House." Nobody,
forsooth, was in fault. If the ship strikes upon
a rock, is all responsibility to be cast upon the
crew, and is the pilot, with the helm in his
hand, and a chart in the cabin, to bear no
censure ? The Liberals since 1830 have had
twenty years' tenure of office against some
seven scattered years of Conservative power;
and we insist upon it that the attempt to cast
the blame upon " the House " is unjust. We
must remind Mr. WILSON that if " the House "
is to bear the blame for the faults of weak and
squeezable Ministries, " the House," by the
same rule, must receive all the praise for
various measures which some of Mr. Witsorr's
friends now arrogate to themselves.

Upon this point we must contrast a passage
from BURKE'S " Letter to a Noble Lord " with
the degenerate views of Government advocated
by Mr. Wir.soN:—
Economy demands a discriminating judgment, and a
firm, sagacious mind. It shuts one door to impudent
importunity, only to open another, and a wider, to real
merit. It is a distributive virtue, and consists not so much
in saving as in selection.

Where and when have Mr. WILSON'S friends in
office shown the " firm. sagacity," " the dis-
crimination," the resistance to "impudent
importunity," described by Boom ? " Eco-
nomy" was one of the four watchwords of
Earl GREY in 1830 ; if that Whig Peer could
revisit the scenes in which he acted a distin-
guished part, what amazement the N@ or
of the Whigs would feel at 01 Aix of._ pp
y.,P.t)ps, •
nb'

594

langour which reigns over those departments
where " economy ' is supposed to be most
studied ! _ _

Let it not be forgotten that Mr. WILSON
gave neither " the House " nor the country
any aid as to the best mode of dealing with
the question of " frightful expenditure." The
speech of Mr. WILSON was the apology of an
arithmetician, and not the luminous exposi-
tion of a statesman. It seems plain to us
that the propriety of certain items of tran3-
ferred expenditure will have to be brought
into discussion. It required no wizard to tell
us that the augmentation had grown up under
the two leading tables of " transferred " charges
and " new" charges.
But the country, we suppose, is not to have
the advantages of either Administrative or
Economical Reform until the question of Par-
liamentary Reform be settled definitively and
laid at rest. The State, under the Whigs, is
to be allowed to fall into all kinds of extrava-
gance, and the public expenditure, instead of
being made to flow with an equable and
steady current, is to be swallowed up in a
complete morass of " miscellaneous " profu-
sion. The prospect is a gloomy one for tax-
payers; and we sincerely trust that the Earl
of ELLEssonouon and the Earl of NIALMES•
BURY, who have both done good service on this
most important subject, will not permit the
spendthrifts of Liberalism to act without re-
sponsibility.
The whole question of " Economical
Reform " must be treated comprehensively,
for there is not the least chance that the
Whigs will improve as " Economists." Time,
experience, and former miscarriages seem to
make them worse, not better; and the subject
of the finances is one to which Conservative
statesmanship must be applied. Mr. DISRAELI
was the first Minister who sought to bring all
the income of tho country into the Public
Exchequer. The proposal had at former
periods been suggested by various Indepen-
dent Members, and by some public writers,
but the Right Hon. Gentleman the Member
for Bucks was the first official who assumed
the responsibility of urging the Legislature to
bring the collection of the revenue under the
control of Parliament. Mr. GLADSTONE
frankly and honourably admitted the services
of the Right Hon. Member for Bucks on this
important matter, when the Member for the
University was himself engaged in carrying
out those views. The country wants further
financial improvements of the same kind.
As Mr. WILSON throws all the responsibility
upon "the House," it would be just fetribu-
tion if "the House " were to take him at his
word, and teach him that if "the House " is
to bear the blame of an indiscriminate ex-
penditure, it will also be ready to incur the
responsibility of insisting that professed
" Economists" in power should be more
fertile in practical suggestions for retrench-
ment ; and the result of the division on the
question of " The National Survey," on Thurs-
day night, shows that " the House " is likely
to teach some new lessons to the Secretary for
the Treasury.

INDIAN PRINCES IN ENGLAND.
A WEEKLY contemporary lately attempted to
e3nnect the Indian mutinies with intrigues on
the part of the Indian Princes and Nobles at
present in England. It was stated that they hate
ourrule, that they are surrounded by people who
bear equally little love to it, and that these had
probably transmitted to India those rumours
of the proselytising views of the Government
in which the disaffection of the Sepoys was
said to have originated. That the several
Indian Princes who have come all the way
from India to petition against the injustice to
which they have been subjected there, should
hate the rule of those who have worked their
ruin is a thing to be expected ; and that their
followers should share in their feelings is also
natural. But none of these have any connec-
tion, whether social, territorial, or religious,
with the Hindoo Sepoys of Bengal, the Princes
of Oude alone excepted. Any intrigues, how-
ever, carried on by them with the army would