The Express.
London, England, 1867-05-29 00:00:00

THE lATIBT STAGER OF THE REFORM BILL.

Observing that the despatch of yesterday after-
noon was shown in the summary excision of clauses, the
Times suggests that the house may have been led by its
desire to get through the work, to reject additions to the
bill which might have been accepted had the time avail-
&ale for discussion been unlimited. Half regretting the
rejection of Mr. Scrape's proviso, and reminding its readers
that the fancy franchises had been abandoned, out of de•
ference to prejudice rather than reason, the Times concludes
by urging the Chancellor of the Exchequer to a bolder
plan of redistribution. The enfranchisement bestowed by
the bill u ample and generous ; let the redistribution of
seats ►nd the reform of our electoral machinery be as
statesmanlike, and the bill of 1867 will settle the problem
of reform for a far longer period than did its famous prede-
cessor of 1832.

The rapid progress of the measure, the Daily News says,
shows lees Mr. Disraeli's command over the House of Com-
mons than the command of the House of Commons over
Mr. Disraeli. He does not manage and control it. It
manages and controls him. It insists, and he gives way.
The process which is called passing the measure is really the
proems of transforming it. It is ncdergoing day by day •
metamorphosis as extraordinary as that which has eon-
verged the tory party into radical reformers of a deeper
dye than Mr. Bright himself. Almost everything that
the government originally proposed is gone ; almost all
that the opposition has insisted on has been adopted.
The fancy franchises the Daily Newsregerds as superfluous,
and Mr. Serope's amendment would have placed a premium
on the building of houses below the limit of 41. rating,
thus imposing the worst kind of restriction upon house-
hold suffrage.
The Post assumes that there is no question of principle
involved in the redistribution of seats, and therefore the
rejection of the government scheme, if it take place, will
not in any way jeopardise the bill.

The Standard insists that the forcible enfranchisement
of the compound householder is solely due to the oppo-
sition, and it is on them that the displeasure of those who
will suffer by the abolition of a cheap and convenient
system of collection should in common justice be visited.
Their ultimate object, no doubt, is to get rid of the direct
rating principle by making its operation burdensome and
oppreasive ; but in this it, the Standard, is assured they
will fell

While rejoicing to record the wholesale conversion of the
ferias, justice demands from the Telegrapk the statement
that the bill now before parliament is the pro-luet of un-
faltering liberal exertions, while the conservative share in
the measure is limited to an unexpectedly intelligent
acquiescence. We have not heard, however, the last of
rating. When the government deals with the intricate
question of compounding, and tries to overcome all the
obstacles that will beset the path, it will probably find
that there is no practicable way out of the difficulties save
by abolishing the personal payment clause.

TAE EX-EMPEROR

The Timms considers the correctness of the intelligence
that J uarez hits ordered Maximilian and his officers to bo shot
but too probable. This Mexican enterprise was not only
wholly French but imperial ; and was, from first to last,
the conception of the Emperor Napoleon. His Majesty
was greatly influenced by the supposed collapse of the
American Union, and the Federal', perceiving this, and
taking it as • warning of the diminished importance of
their country should they acquiesce in secession, were
impelled to carry on the war even more 'trent'.
ously. The weakness of the unfortunate prince in
accepting the office of • vassal of France, in such a
country, is inconceivable ; yet it must be admitted that
he has acted nobly in his position. Front the departure of
the French, however, the issue could not be doubtful.
The Mexican empire is at an end, and nothing remains
but for the successful chief to reorganise the government,
or to let the country gradually sink under the power of
the United States.

The Daily News cannot at present believe the solitar►
newspaper report that the ex-Emperor is to be shot. It
is not so very long since that Maximilian, presuming upon
delusive appearances of success, ordered the execution of
all who might thenceforth be found in arms for the inde-
pendence of their country ; and immediately afterwards
General Artega, a true patriot and a man of unblemished
probity, was shot in cold blood, with several republican
colonels. It maybe hoped that a milder policy will actuate
President Juarez, who has never been accused of inhu-
manity, and that Maximilian may be restored to recount
to his European friends the incidents of one of the most
foolish enterprises into which unsuspecting simplicity was
ever betrayed by craft.

THE SENTENCE OF TREASON.

After pointing out the many differences between the
procedure in the case of treason and that in other crimes,
and commenting on the barbarous and grotesque sentence,
the Times recommends that the old law of treason, to con-
ciliate prejudices, be left in its present state for historical
illustration, and that we turn our attention solely to the
law of treaaon•felony for use. A simple addition to the
act, m►king treason•felony punishable with death, would
effect all that is required. We should gain greatly by the
change. The prisoner guilty of treason would be tried
like any other culprit. No special t....l,eieslities would
impede the course of justice, no arbitrary rules obstruct
the proofs. No barbarous and disgusting sentence
would excite sympathy on behalf of a great criminal, or
shock the feelings of a fastidious and sentimental age.
Instead of striving to find punishments more dreadful
than death, our ingenuity would be better directed in
seeking some farm of seclusion suited to the case of those
whose offences have only just fallen short of the point at
which that penalty should be inflicted. It is not fitting
that such persons should be treated as mere temporary
inmates of a prison. There would be more solemnity,
more terror, and, perhaps, less inhumanity were solitude,
not solitary confinement, the immediate consequence of
the sentence, and if the criminal ware to disappear almost
as completely from among his fellow men as one already
numbered with the dead.