The Express.
London, England, 1851-03-06 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDA 1", .V.IRCII 6.

IT behoves the liberal party in the present con-
juncture to hold together, to take counsel, and to be-
ware lest they be the
.only parte which derive no
benefit front the crisis just over. 'ln external appear-
ance and to the superficial observer it may seem that
each of the aristocratic parties in parliament has
been much shaken, and that all have declined in
strength. This may he doubted. In the tint place,
the trade rs of the country party will ultimately
have gained more thus be.t by the frank
exposwe of what • mere abstraction and
nullity protection is, and by the necessity
thus demonstrated of the party rallying to another
cry. The Ptelites have certainly gained by the
num in prcali.or: office in pledged to them. *Lord
fonv Itusstia. has certainly gained ground, as
bolding, in the language of the French, " the key of
the piwition." Rut what is moresigniffiunt than the
gain M all is, that the ties of amity and mutual an-
derst.inding have been drawn closer between the
thn mi.amnitie sections. Sir ftur.s and Lord
Joust embraced aemss the house: Lord STANLEY and
the %logs blew compliments to each other through
the lo!.hy that divide s the houses. We do not say
that there is any ticason afloat, or that there is need
on the ;surf of due radicals of beingsavagely or earl-
riously suspirious. But the popular party should
look sharply to their interests; in other words,
should "stand by their order."
'I hi- bast. we must say, that the thorough liberals
ought to demand of the whigs and Peelites this
aeweion is the pawing of a bill in the' untie of Mr.
finest: minion. Lord Join ItessEt.r. and
Kir .1,m,,s (Autos have both, no doubt. made
declarations in favour of an extension of the
franchise ; but from the way in which
they guarded it, there is too much reason
to fear that the extension will he carefully
linuited to changes in constituencies, mien as
will Men u.se their numbers without altering their
character. Towns would thus have more voters, lacy
by time adoption of household or rate-paying sulfa-age,
and counties would have mom But can would he
taken that the new county voters should be of the
agricultural class, and not the extramural town pre
iodation burgesses by habit, trade, and conntx iun
though dwellers in country.
't ilk is evidently the gist of Lord 'IOM'S grown,
111,m1 of Sir JAW Es Gam ‘Ne's rescreen. Now, what
tin' liberal mune, as well us just iee, requirmis not so
mud. the lowering of the suffrage in towns —al-
though that too is meessary—as the inereased action
of a min-agricultural populat hat upon rowdies.
t'ounties iollutnee towns: then• are some towns us
notch in the agricultural interest, as any MIL farm
holders. Why should not towns in turn influence
counties' And why should not the best hiformed
of all classes, who form the true link between
town and country, have their vote and their weight
ha the counties they inhabit ?
With rcspcet to towns, actual towns, of good size
and impt,rtant populati . now minim...witted except
by theirfreeholders in the county. the legislation must
make up its I, and speedily, us to what category
their burgesses are to lie included in. 'fu exclude
than, permanently from both town and county will
lie impossible : and if possible. dangerous. Air the
plainest justice being flagrantly denied would drive
such numbers to avail themselves of the facilities
Of the Freehold Land Societies, that mantic,: may he
swamped 17 a league, and of most determined ene-
mies', even under cover of the immutable law.
It strikes us, however, as by no means the interest
of the mutiny party either to repudiate that mixed
population which dwell extramurally, or even the
actual population of small towns. Malting can be
more a %idea than that, as a separate interest, with
all their unjust eleetoral advantages, the country isuety
has been beaten. And it has been beaten chiefly
by one caner, its being behind the rest of the
country in intidlipzetwe, in "Nod sense, modera-
tion. and practical views. The' example which their
party has just offered, of commanding so large a
sunder of votes without king able to make any use
of them, to eommand leaders, form a cabinet, and
fairly try a pal ey - this alone is sufficient proof that
an red country party is nut lit for parhanumtury
action or political ascendancy. The agricultural po-
pulation is diminishing, and so is the' number of
electors. The commercial population is inenusing.
and it is utterly impossible in the hue of such pn %MSS
for M hip, and writ,' to unite for the purpose of ex-
tending the franchise in smoking, but in reality pi-u-
-nerring to the agriculturists their present numencul
ameenduncy.
Although well known, it is still neceton7 to reflect
that more than half of the House of Commons is
elected by purely agricultural electors: there are Vat
county members, and from tits to KO members still
returned by local influence. Amongst the districts
which thus return a landlords' ',ornament dwell
large number., connected indeed with the agricultural
interest, too closely connected with it to be its
enemies, butt still viewing disputed questions and
class struggles from a more impartial point of view
than the leaseholders. There the most previous ele-
ment of the (doctoral body is at present swamped.
And it is precisely this that Mr. Leeear. KING would
call into life. Whatever he the future scheme medi-
tated by Lord Jim,: Itrssr.t.t, and admitted by Sir
J awns *Gam fw, this should make part of it. If it
did not. that scheme must he worse than nothing. And
it behoves refOrmers, by pushing Mr. lAX'KE KaNn's
motion, either to carry that. or have some plain and
satislautory explanations, that the injustice which it
seeks to rvinvtiv will surely be' met and done away
with in the bill which we' are promised for next
aession.

E (Rt. GREY contrived ma Tneaday to commit in his
own lier.on a fault while wrongfully imputing it to
others. It had been observed be laird Nlox on
presenting a petition against the continuance of eon-
vict transportation to Van 1 hemen's Land, that "how- I
ever expedient it might be to wend convicts to Van
Diemen s Land, that was a matter of far less import-
ance than the question which had been raised as to
whether the government of this country had or had
not been guilty of a breach of faith towards the in-
habitants of that (ninny." Eurl GREY denied that
faith had been broken with the colony. and alleged
that a case had been sought to be made out against
government by citing detached portions of sweeties
and despatch., that seemed to support such an impu-
tation. inmeadortaking them in conjunction with the
context. whereby it would appear that government
had so t falsified its promises. A little examination
will show that Earl Garr resorted to isolated pas-
sages to explain away the impression fairly resulting
Man the entire contents u the public-documents
referred to.

It may he added. that Earl GREY'S Frech in reply
to Lord Mov rit NILE COntradirted itself. The charge ,
is. that government. having suspended convict trans-
portation to Van Diemen' Land for two years, and
baying pledged themselves that it should not be re-
rived, to rots Diessen's Land. after the expiration ,
of these two years, did nevertheless re‘ive it to that
colony. and to that elobory cry/m.1...4y. What said
Karl ORItY to this?—that it was always intended
that transportation should be continued to " the Aus-
tralian colonies." But this is a very different thing
front rcriting it to mw of those colonies which has
nut moat for another comiet ; to a colony in which a
ple harts of convicts, attended by gross mismanage-
most of them. had rendered the temporary suspension
of transportation an obvious necessity.
Hut, waiving this consideration, us look at the
entire of the speeches and despatches referred to by
Earl GREY to see whether their natural and obvious
meaning is what he alleges. 11e admits that they
conveyed a promise that trunpurtation. as formerly
conducted, was to be abolished. For the future the
eons lets. instead of being placed wider control in
one colony. were tot* dispersed as free men through
various colessies. They were not to be sent to any
eakay talkatively, inlarge numbers. [See Sir d.