The Express.
London, England, 1866-04-07 00:00:00

THE WEEKLY PRESS.

The Examiner thinks that some of the gentle-
men who, before the holidays, are said to have privately
given amturanoes that they were ready to desert with Lord
Grosvenor must by this time begin to feel very thankful
that they did not publicly commit themselves too soon.
The praxes of denudation is not a pleasant one, even to
see performed upon another ; and, without disparaging
the reynard-like persuasiveness of Messrs. Horatian and
Lowe, we do not suppose that, after what has happened to
them, many of their intending confederates will at the last
be found ready to cast off their political tails. Even
the butler's pantry at Caine is in mutiny, and for
whom Mr. Hossinsa will henceforth undertake to speak
the Examiner hardly knows. The Examiner will not be
surprised if Lord Grosvenor resorts to the strategy of
allowing the second reading of the bill to pass without di-
viding, deferring the trial of strength until the motion to
go into committee, by which time the redistribution bill, as
promised, will be upon the table of the House of Commons.
The humiliation involved in such a falling back frau a
lately defiant position need give the liberal party little
concern. As time, however, is of importance, it will be
but fair to demand, before the debate on the second read-
ing begins, whether it is to be a sham battle or a real fight.
To the friends of reform it can matter nothing at which point
their adversaries will ultimately take courage to make a
stand.

Although it cannot be said, in the opinion of the Satur-
day Attica, that the meet,nn which have been held in
various parts of the country to support the Reform Bill
have shown that the measure excites any great enthusiasm,
yet they have elicited an expression of sympathy with re-
form the sincerity of which is not to be questioned. With
many of the views expressed the Saturday Retitle
entirely concurs, but the speakers generally make
no attempt to deal with the real difficulty that
is raised by the character of the government measure.
It is very possible that the government may secure •
majority for the second reading by making liberal members
afraid to separate from their party until it is quite certain
that the boroughs they sit for are to suffer. But, on the
other hand, the difficulties of the government will
probably be much increased. The members who find
themselves affected by the bills for redistribution will
think they have done their duty to their party, and may
now begin to look out for themselves ; and the diecunion
for which Mr. Gladstone allows so very small a number of
nights will be sure to become desultory and diffuse when
the reoviiioas of the bill are taken in what each speaker
will consider to be the proper degree of connection with
other measures not directly under elionumeion. But this is
a very mill part of the impolicy of the muse taken by
the goverment. How members will vote is supremely
important to government whips, but not to the outside
world. The real impolicy of dealing with reform by halves
lies in the want of regard to the consequences that can
scareely fail to flow from leaving it to a new parliament to
decide what the arrangement of electoral power shall be.
Scarcely any way of providing for the disfranchisement of
mall boroughs could be so bad as first to increase the
number of voters in them boroughs, and then to take
aristy aliegether the right in the borough to return a
ruffloseutetive.
The Rposigaer quotes Itonis Blanc as to what should be
the idol of representation, and adds that this ideal is not
appeseslssd through a bill which reduces the suffrage
without attetition either. to circumstances or to principles,
to the het that low suffrage in Manchester and Cake are