The Express.
London, England, 1867-06-19 00:00:00

FROGRR99 OF THE REFORM LILL.

Taxed almost beyond its powers, the House of
Commons, says the Times, is rushing towards the end of
the Reform Bill at a pace which is, perhaps, too swift to be
altogether circumspect. The coupling together of the
Universities of London and Durham was so audacious that
no one thought the proposal serious, and the conflicting
decisions of yesterday, when it was found that
the government were determined to abide by it,
my little for the discretion with which the business of
the committee was conducted. The result is that, in de-
fiance of grammar, but in obedience to good sense, the
House of Commons has determined that the new univer-
sity member shall be elected by the " I7niversities of Lon-
don," and nothing more. Such discussions must make
every well-wisher of the House of Commons rejoice that
the debates on the Reform Bill are drawing to a close.
Already it becomes a question what will be the complexion
of the Reform Bill as it finally passes, or perhaps it would
be better to say before the motion is put that it " do pass"
the House of Commons. Must it not betray such marks
of haste, of want of design, or of premeditation that in
the interests of good government it ought to be reviewed
before being finally sanctioned ? If sent to the House of
I Lords with all its faults upon its head, will that august
assembly venture to prune its excesses and supply its de-
ficiencies ? These are grave and serious questions, which
every member of each branch of the Legislature will do
well to weigh.
The Daily News addresses itself to the task of proving
that, whatever might have been the case before the second
reading of the bill, at the present stage there is not only
no reason for the liberals to fear the consequences of de-
feating the ministry, but there is every reason for con-
fidence that such a result would hart nobody so much as
Mr. Disraeli himself, and could have no effect but to
strengthen his opponents. There would be no rest or
refuge to be found for the ministry if they abandoned
reform without dissolving, and if they dissolved at once
on an adverse vote, Mr. Disraeli's scheme of redistribu-
tion—the question on which they would appeal—would
have no popular element in it.. But the truth is that Mr.
Disraeli will not damage his party by a dissolution when
all the chances are against him. Whatever he can squeeze
by these vague threats out of the present parliament be
may count as so much clear gain for his party in a future
one. But those who do not desire him to have a majority
in anew parliament will do well to exercise their present
majority to stop arrangements devised for the purpose of
reversing it hereafter.

The Stamford has altered its opinion on the subject of
coupling the Universities of Durham and London in the
most abrupt and extraordinary manner. As late as Friday
last it spoke of the proposition in the following terms
"We cannot but regret that the Chancellor of the
Exchequer should have yielded to the pressure put upon
him, from whatever quarter, in favour of so unfortunate
an alteration. In the first place, we are not aware that
Durham possesses that kind of character, standing, and
influence as a university which entitles it to repre-
sentation. It has long since been so entirely eclipsed by
Oxford and Cambridge that it has retained very few
students but those who could not go to the two superior
Universities, and but for its endowments would
probably have altogether ceased to exist. And if
it needs representation, it should not have it at the
expense of the London University. The latter is agreed,
by common consent, to be the first medical university in
the world. If for this reason only, it is fully entitled to
a member of its own. It differs from Durham in every
respect, even more widely than either differs from Oxford
or Cambridge ; there is and could be no bond of sym-
pathy, no community of ideas, sentiment, or character
between the two, and to combine them in one constituency
is to produce an utterly unnatural and incongruous com-
bination—a sort of political Barnum's mermaid—which
cannot possibly act as a living whole. It would be far
less unreasonable to group Rochdale and Arundel, or to
combine a Roman catholic constituency in the South
of Ireland with an ultra-presbyterian Scotch borough."
To-day the Standard lands Durham University to the
skies, and describes the rejection of the proposal as unjust
and absurd, and the division as a victory of the principle
of exclusion and disfranchisement. The whole of the
debate on the subject is reviewed by our contemporary in
the same spirit. The Herald, however, is on the other
side, and argues at some length this morning that in no
case could Durham and London ferns a joint constituency
likely to act together rationally or harmoniously.
The Star comments on Mr. Disraeli's repudiation of
Mr. Mowbray's statement that the government would
empower to vote for the member for the university, all
graduates, whether dissenters—that is, admitted to the
governing body—or not. The moral of the scene, as
pointed by Mr. Lowe, was, that when a colleague of Mr.
Disraeli, sitting by his side, makes a concession which
is meant to win votes, and which is not by word or gesture
repudiated by him, the house is not at liberty to believe
the declaration honourably made, and has no reason for
supposing that government will feel bound by it.

ICS TOPICS.

The Times describes the report of the London and
Brighton Committee as furnishing the most extraordinary
instance which has yet oome before the publio eye of the
manner in which sound property has been squandered,
and of the fatuity, if not downright dishonesty, by which
the disaster has been caused. The directors have very nearly
ruined their own company, and would have ruined it quite
if they had bad their own way, and they have gained
nothing from these lines themselves. On the contrary, as
the nominal shareholders, though they have never yet paid
• penny on their sh►res, they seem to be legally liable to
refund to the Brighton Company no small portion of its
losses. The committee doubt whether it will be advisable
to insist on this claim, but the liability exists, and it ap-
pears to be the sole personal result of the directors from
their wild schemes and disingenuous manteuvres. The
only persons who have profited are the contractors, the
solicitors, the engineers, and, perhaps, the subordinate
officials by whom the idea of the lines was originally con-
ceived.

The Post, Herald, 'Standard, and Star have each an
article upon the interruption of the conservative meeting
at St. James's-hall. The Pod says the Leaguers may have
the satisfaction of knowing that they have struck a very
effective blow at the right of free public meeting of which
they profess to be the special apostles. If it is really reduced
to a question of physicid force, the Mandard cannot doubt
but there are among the loyal subjects of the Queen some
stout aims who will be ready to maintain the good cause
when the occasion comes. The Star is of opinion that the
conveners of the meeting ought to have been allowed to
hold their assembly, and would be sorry to say a single
word which might seem to convey an approval of any pro-
ceedings which directly or indirectly tended to interfere
with their unquestionable right.
The Telegrapls fixes on Mr. Whalley and Col. Brockman
the responsibility of what has occurred since the first
lecture delivered in Birmingham.
The Standard has no sympathy with the particular mode
of serving the cause of protes.antism adopted by Mr.
Murphy and his followers, but nevertheless cannot too
severely condemn the 110018/11 committed by the catholic*