The Express.
London, England, 1860-07-28 00:00:00

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HAYMARKET.
rarsEvainto, THE OVERLAND ROU'TE. Ileum Chippam
data Compton, Buenwoos, and C. Mathews, Mrs. C Mathews.
HIS EXCELLENCY. Mr. and Mr.. Charles Mathews.—And A
HUSBAND AT SIGHT. Mr. Compton Mrs. E. Fitzwtlllam.

1111110ESSII.

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Mr. H. Wlddlcomb. —Commence 7.

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LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 28.

THE utter failure of legislation during the pre-
sent session is a matter of import so grave as
naturally to fix the attention of the most languid
and indifferent observers of the working of our
Parliamentary system. Some throw the blame on
Ministers, whose unaccountable delays in the in-
troduction of measures of importance before Easter,
and whose strange miscalculations as to the time
requisite for their discussion, have led first to
protracted idleness, then to prolonged confusion,
and finally to a succession of tardy abandonments
and breaking' down, after long but abortive de-
bates, such as never has been witnessed before in
our day. Others lay the blame upon the anarchical
condition of the present House of Commons,
which is truly said to be more wayward,
selfish, and leaderless than any of its pre-
decessors since 1830. We have no desire to
extenuate the faults either of the present House,
or of the present Government. We are sorry to
be obliged to say that we think the interests
of public business have been faithfully and
loyally served by neither. The Pammarros
Cabinet cannot complain that they were
waylaid or beset by their rivals, as former admi-
nistrations have been, before they could develop
their policy. Not a party motion directly or in-
directly implying want of confidence has been
brought forward by the Opposition ; and hostile
though Mr. DISRAELI and his friends may have
been to the Reform Bill, it ought not to be for-
gotten that but six nights during a session of as
many months were occupied in discussing its
merits. It were farcical, then, to pretend that
any sincere attempt was made to legislate upon that
subject ; or that, looking at all that had occurred
from the beginning of February to the end of July,
it was or was believed to be an impediment in
the way of other proposed enactments. On the
other hand, it is unfortunately undeniable that
instead of urging Ministers to greater promptitude
in bringing forward bills while yet there was time
to consider them deliberately, the majority of the
House tacitly aided and abetted the dereliction of
duty on the part of Ministers; and were ever
ready for a count out, or a desultory rhodo-
mooted° de omnibus rebus, in order to
waste the evening. Lord DERBY dissolved
the late Parliament, as he said, in the hope
of getting a House of Commons that would enforce
a policy of efficiency and decision ; and he has
given us a House of Commons on whose votes no
man can calculate, and whose legislative acts are
likely to be limited to the most paltry and insigni-
ficant subjects. As for Government, it has in
fifteen months outlived all reputation for having
any fixed purpose, and any belief, either on the part
of friends or foes, that it will keep its promises.
One after another the most valuable portions of
the cargo with which it set sail have been silently
made away with, or flung overboard amidst
shouts of laughter, and nothing seems now to re-
main but the Customs Duty on Paper and the
Abolition of the Indian Army Bill, both of which,
after a certain amount of angry talk, will in the
course of nature be withdrawn.

We are free to own, nevertheless, that the
impedimenta in the way of getting through
business even were the House of Commons
better constituted and better led, have come to
be very serious ; and that were it for no other
reason than to prevent the evasion of responsi-
bility for the neglect of the public interests, it
is highly desirable that proper steps should be
taken to amend the system of which all parties
have equal cause to complain. We do not
believe that any material improvement can
be effected by means of self-denying ordi-
nances against talk such as Mr. EWA= R:t
commends. Very few important laws have
been passed in our day without a prodigious
expenditure of palaver. Perhaps this is inevita-
ble with an elective chamber of six hun-
dred and fifty-four members, with a strangers'
gallery at one end and a reporters' gallery at the
other. When a leading topic of legislation is
first propounded it is natural that a good
many men of information and ability (to say
nothing of all the bores and blockheads) should
wish to have their say about it ; and so long as
the subject retains anything of its freshness it is
certain that most of these worthies will do it
again. But we see no great harm in this, and
we do see a great deal of good. It is not, after
all, in confabulations of this order that the one
hundred and fifty days of the session are
wasted. Lot anyone cast up the account of
the hours consumed since the House met in
February last in discussing measures of moment
on first readings, second readings, third readings,
or in Committee, and he will satisfy himself that
it has not been in this way that the precious
months have been squandered. But if he
will only take equal pains to calculate the
time and speech devoted to matters which
no other imperial assembly in the world
would entertain, and which no imperial assembly
that ever sat, or that ever will sit, can properly
be asked to dispose of, ho may probably begin to
open his eyes and wonder how it should ever have
come to pass that our House of Commons should
have gradually become the Dionysian Ear of all the
local and personal scandals, contentions, cabala,
and schemes, good, bad, and indifferent, that its