The Express.
London, England, 1866-04-13 00:00:00

OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

(THIS DAY.)

LAST MONT% DZBATIL —THE =POW SILL.
In the view of the Times the Chancellor of the
Exchequer spoke last night with a vehemence which con-
traded strangely with the tone in which he intro.
dined the Franchise Bill, implying • suspicion that his
provincial campaign had been a failure. The coldly
dispassionate speech of Lord Grosvenor, the admirable
argument of lord Stanley, left nothing to be
desired, and when the latter sat down there was
not a man in the house but felt that the defences
of the ministry had crumbled away, and left their
legislative proposals exhibited in all their original and in.
defensible crudity. The arguments adduced in support
of Lord Grosvenor's amendment were, indeed, unneoes-
eerily strong;the speech of Lord Stanley in particular being
a model of political rearming. Every argument which
could be advanced against him was tidy stated, and he
grappled with them in all their strength. The support
which under pressure the ministry may obtain will not
secure the sitcom of their illoonsidered scheme, and the
government will be forced at last to do what they would,
if better advised, have done at first—submit a complete
scheme of reform for the adoption of the legislature.
In another article the Times says that all Mr. Glad.
stone will be able to say if he obtains a majority on Lord
Groavenoes amendment will be, not: "Ora opinion has pre-
vailed," but: " My tactics have been successful ; you see the
determination of the government and how easy it is to
make the radical party in the boroughs put the screw on
their representatives. You had, therefore, better sur-
render your opinions, if you still profess to have say.
Vote for my measure, and you may keep your seats°
Such arguments may have a certain success a :th men
anxious to avoid electioneering &Scuttles. But
to adopt them is to destroy the confidence between
leaders and folios; ers which is the basis of parliamentary
government, and though regretting a change of ministry, the
Tina contends there would be less evil in that than in the
=tam of a system of official dictation by which men in
power should override the judgment of their own per.
lismentary supporters by fostering local agitation and elec.

torsi strife.
The Daily Ness says that Lord Grosvenor and Lord
Stanley were placed at the head of the parliamentary
resistance to reform because a doubtful manoeuvre needs
the shelter of respectable character and good intentions.
According to general report, Lord Grosvenor, the tethered
bird employed to bring others within reach of the fowler's
mare, has tried to escape the position, but has not been
allowed to get free. Perhaps in choosing these noblemen, re-
presenting great houses, for opposing the body of the nation,
the adverearies of reform are paying too high • price for a
temporary advantage. At any rate they ought to be
thankful to the government for partially neutralising their
suicidal policy by assigning to Lord Hartington the duty of
answering them. His lordship showed that at the last
election Lord Grosvenor declared himself against any re-
duction in the borough franchise, and does not take the
same ground now simply because such a course would be
inconvenient to a party by whom he is being used. From
Lord Grosvenor to Lord Stanley the interval is great. But
even Lord Stanley's dexterity could compass nothing more
than a skilful restatement of plausible, but already ex-
ploded, fallacies to which it is tedious to recur. Lord
Stanley repeats the assertion that by leaving the question
of distribution to the future the government commits
matters to the chapter of accidents ; but this is to assume 1
that a 71. franchise is injudicious and unsafe, and if this
be so, why is not the government bill met with a direct
and honest negative? The clear issue before the country is :
Are, or are not, the classes upon whom • 71. franchise in
counties would confer electoral rights, fit, in the mass, for
the exercise of those rights? If they possess the necessary

qualifications, admit them first and distribute them after.
wards.
The Daily News also twits Mr. Lowe upon the uneasiness

which was produced in his mind by the effect of his rash .
speech on the 13th of Much. The right hoe. member's
explanation last night leaves the case just where it was,
namely, that be most distinctly argued a month ago that
the most corrupt portions of the constituencies were those
nearest in social position to thaw whom it is proposed to
enfranchise.
Ina third article the Daily New cordially thanks Gene-
ral Peel for his speech last night, which indirectly shows
how wide is Lire divergence between his political ideas and
those which have governed the legislation of the country
since the lest Reform Bill.
To the Pod all the explanations of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer are unsatisfactory, and the issue which wee
raised when Earl Grosvenor gave notice of his amendment
remains unchanged.
The Herald devotes three articles to the subject of the
Reform Bill. In one it criticises in contemptuous terms
Mr. Gladstone's speech last night, while it sees in the
addresses of Lords Grosvenor and Stanley conclusive
arguments in support of the amendment. The Marquis
of Hartington's exposition it characterises as simply
puerile. The unexpected opposition of Mr. Pim is also
dwelt upon by the Herald. Last night's debate can only
have inspired with confidence the most sanguine and
exulting of the ministerial party, while it encourages the
confidence of the Herald that the bill is not, in its
present shape, or under the existing influences, destined
to become the law of the land.
Criticising the debate, the Telegraph finds the soundest
reasoning in Mr. Gladstone's speech, and is at a loss to
sec what Mr. Lowe's statement about drunkenness and
venality had to do with the question of extending the
suffrage, if we are to accept his latest explanation. The Tate-
,graph speaks also of the boyish sing-song and the hesitating
and uneasy words with which Lord Grosvenor introduced
his amendment ; and of Lord Stanley it says the cold and
' precise intellect which he has is liberal, though by force of I
' logic, and not naturally ; and unless he sees his way to a
' conclusion by syllogisms, the light of Heaven itself would
never lead him there.
The best that can be said, the Star observes, of a night's
debating, which from the Buntline of the amendment,
could hardly fail to be in the main dull, is that it did not
discourage the hopes of those who believe in the success
of the bill. It disclosed no new defections, and anyone
, who supposed there was anything formidable in the argil-
- meats producible against the bill must by this time be
eonvinced, by the constant references to "the hoe. member
for Birmingham," that the vain endeavour to create ma-
! just and unworthy prejudice is their only expedient.