The Express.
London, England, 1867-03-22 00:00:00

THE LIBERAL PARTY AND THE REFORM BILL.

The Times is glad that Mr. Gladstone and Mr.
Bright have deferred to the wish of the majority of
their party, and have determined to delay their de-
cision till the Chancellor of the Exchequer has de-
clared, on the second reading of the Reform Bill,
what portions of it the ministry are willing to re-
linquish. The dual vote, of course, must go, and some
enfranchisement of lodgers is absolutely essential. The
objections to the portion of the bill which deal' with the
compound householders can be perfectly well met in corn.
mittee—the Times thinking it open to debate whether the
best solution of • difficulty which is felt on b"th sides of
the house may not lie in • reduction of the limit of fit.
fixed by the Small Tenements Act to what is practically
found lobe the limit of the personal responsibility of the
householder, and in making the Small Tenements Act,
thus modified, one of universal application. The other
questions which arose on Mr. Gladstone's " interpella-
tion" last night were eminently such as should be con.
sidered in committee.
The Daily News also thinks that the deliberations issued
in • very sensible and prudent conclusion, though
it still feels it to be doubtful whether a reasonably good
measure can be made out of the bill. If anything is to be
made of Mr. Disraeli's measure, it must be treated like
Sir John Cutler's silk stockings, of which Martians &rib-
leen tells us, which were darned until not a thread of the
original texture remained. Of course there are certain
provisions which cannot be left to the chances of ►mend-
ment in committee, and some expression on the part of
the government of its willingness to renounce or reconsider
them must be required. The fault* of the new franchises
to which in committee the main attention of reformers
must he directed are that they facilitate the manufacture
of faggot votes and establish invidious distinctions.
The Post finds it difficult to understand why the oppo-
sition to the bill should not be made in the usual and
constitutional way upon the motion for the second read-
ing. The fact th►t the ministry may be prepared to Rive
up one of the objectionable features makes no difference
in the case, and ought not to be counted upon as • reason
foe departure from the ordinary rule. What should be
required is that the ministry should bring to the second
reading a bill such as substantially and essentially they
intend to abide by, and if the bill proposed is not such as
can be accepted in its substantial and essential parts it
should be then and there rejected.
The Standard is shocked at the inconvenience to which
members were put at yesterday's meeting. One would
have thought, it says, " that a party leader would live in
a house big enough to hold any guests that he might in-
vite, or that, at the least, he could find • friend, who
would 'pare him the annoyance of turning • number of
gentlemen who responded to • pressing invitation, into
that outer coldness and desolation which is the portion of
servants and supplicants." Both Standard and Herald,
however, congratulate tho liberal party on their decision
to permit the bill to go to • second reading. The Herald
adjures the conservatives to be f►ithful to their chiefs. If
they are not to be deprived in future of all active part in
national affairs, then it behoves them to stand by Lord
Derby in the present emtrgency.
The firm conviction possessed by the Star that the
liberal party will have to reject the bill at last, makes it
little inclined to applaud a course which seems to accept
delay for no purpose, and to invite danger where certain
safety lies in prompt and decisive action.