The Express.
London, England, 1866-03-13 00:00:00

THE GOVERNMENT REFORM BILL &ND MB.

GLIIDSTONES SPEECH.

The Times thinks it would be insincere to pro-
fess any fear of the hastily adopted proposals of the govern-
ment Reform Bill, but adds that no one could apparently be

more eonecione than Mr. Gladstone himself of its imper-
fections. The right boo. gentlemen refused to look into
the future. All he could say was that the House of Com-
mons would be competent to *arty reform further. At
the beat, therefore, we shall have a Scotch Reform Bill
next melon, en Irish Reform Bill the session after, a re-
distribution of goateed an indefinite time to come, and a re-
settlement of borough boundaries to follow ;at the worst
we shall get nothing, sad this, although, se Mr.
Laing truly said, the ratans of Saturday prove the
neeesoity for a redistribution of seats to be greater, and for

a reduction of the franchise to be less tins was supposed.
There am be no economy of time, ea Kr. Gladstone
pleaded, is dealing with the question is this fashion, by IL.

Mohawk* for we shall no soomr be quit al ea* secitioa
of it than we stall have to deal with mother, sad the risk
is that me will come, and now will follow. The Be-
form Bill of 1832 we. two yams is dialing with the

question an a whole ; that of 1866 may be four yeah
dealieg with ik by instalment■. Of coarse, there is
a abeam that the first instalment will suffer ship-
wreck, especially when there is no enthusiasm to push it
forwards, and only twelve nights, as Mr. Gladstone showed,
for its discussion before it will be neoemary to send it to
the Lords. The ooneemative party might well make a feint
of oppoaitioe, knowing that if it passed the small boroughs
are their own ; but the Times, which does not desire such
an end, cannot approve the means which would mean it.
Above all it would look further into the future than Ines
am do whose only objects are the triumphs of to-day. It
may 'suit the present Rouse of Commons to adopt the
sophism that a radical change can be made in the number
and proportion of electors without resigning to the new
electoral body the right of electing a new seeemWy, but
that a dissolution must precede the next step in Reform is
evident to all free to form an impartial opinion. The
great, the pressing duty of effecting a redistribution of mate
would then have to be secompliahed with new forces, and
in the sight of anomalies more grievous than any yet knowe.
The Daily News observes that parliament and the
country now ohms the responsibility of the Ministers, and
must do their part. The government proposes a memos°
which will add to the constituencies a larger number of
perms, than was brought in by the measure of 1832, end
will include a class of voter. then entirely 11111souldonol.

Liberals in parliament and in the nation must be as true
to the precedents of the MOMS Aot as the Ministers.
They must be prepared, if need be, to insist upon
" the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the
A 101. county franchise would have been preferable to the
higher limit fixed, but a 141. same will be • imbstaatial
gala, and it is well that it should not be endangered by
hinting for more. The provisions se to the county fran-
chise and the saviour bank suffrage will increase the middle
der element in the electoral body, and it is therefore equi-
table to redress the balsams by • re-adjustment of the
conditicee of the borough franobio, and this is done by
the bill. The afoot of all these gauges will be,
if Mr. Gladstone's calouhstious prove well-founded,
to add 4C),000 person, to the total constituency of
Ragland and Wales, raising it to 1,300,000, and giving a
vote to one in four of the adult seal= of the kingdom. Of
there 400,000 new electors, half will be taken from the
middle classes and half from the working classes. The in-
crease is more by 100,000 then the addities made to the
constituocies by the Reform Act of 1832 It mimes
the working-clan voters from 128,000, as they
are at present, to 330,000; but leaves them still
• minority in the towns and cities, and • still smaller
minority in the representation of the country at Wee. It
thus rectifies without reversing the balance of power ; ad-
mitting the claims of the hitherto disfranchised closes to
• share of political influence, but still leaving the prepos-
d•r. nee with those who have hitherto possessed It. So far
as could be judged, the receptions given last night to the
government measure was eneoungieg. If the bill did not
raise enthusiasm, it met with approval from 01 real
reformers. The objections urged against it were for the
greater part self-refuting, or had boa refuted beforehand
by Mr. Gladdens.
The Post apprehends that the bill in its present Rem will
fail to satisfy the cravings of those who expected a temporary
settlement of a great question. The Post fully endorses
the sentiment which Mr. Gladder*, so 'Squatty ex-
pressed, that we should receive the working classes
as friends, in whom we had confidence, and not as
enemies whom we feared. But, if it is ill becoming to
exhibit distrust, may not the IX householder com-
plain that he is excluded from the privilege which the oc-
cupier of a V. house enjoys' If, on the one hand, it is
right that the working classes should be duly represented,
may it not be doubted whether it is right to plus them
in a position which will give them an asceodsecy, and One
ender a system of government by majorities disfranchise
those who are their superiors by wealth and education?
The Post will not now, however, canvass Use merits of
this bill ; but them are difficult, if not insperrable, emu-
One which must suggest themselves to the mind of every-
one who considers its province.% and to which, it is to be
hoped, satisfactory answers on be given.
The Herald soya the bill is even more sweeping than
that of 1832. It would effect a complete revolution in
the constitution of Use country, end so far does it open
up further controversy that its stresses would cause the
sett four or five yore to be equally given up to reform
debates. Mr. Gim lets. gave, the Herald admits,
very good reason why • bill shor'd not have
been introduced this session dealiNr with the
whole object, but there was no obligation to introduce one
at all. The measure is a fraud upon the House of Gons-
moms and an insult to the country, and cannot possibly
pus. 'The conservatives certainly must offer the strogest
opposition to a measure which, instead of settling the
question of reform, would only aggravate it ; and although
they form only a minority of the Rowe of 00/110101114 there
are a sufficient number of gentlemen sitting epos the
liberal benches who will unite with them in insisting upon
a settlement of the whole question or its postponement to
a more convenient season, to assure the speedy burial of
this premature, misshapen, and maimed offspring of the
Ministry.
Is another article, the Herald expenses its gratitude to
and admiration of Mr. Reesman and Mr. Laing, who
exposed the fallacies of the bill so ably hat night. It
remarks, that with the exception of two quiet speeches by
Sir J. Ferguson and Lord R. Montage, all the denuncia-
tions of the bill have emanated from the treasury benches.
The Advertiser describes Mr. Gladstone as the
mere mouth-piece of a divided Cabinet, and his
bill as one which provoked laughter in the
house, and which has little chance of posing through it.
Its first fault is in dividing the question, owing to Mr.
Bright's recommendation ; aid the county and borough
franchise are transparent compromises. The measure
offered by Mr. Gladstone is a smaller one than was offered
by Lord John Rumen in 1852 and in 1880 ; and in one
important point it is less liberal than the conservative bill
of 1859.

The Telegraph pronounces it to be a good bill, an honest
bill, and a bill for every enlightened and loyal citizen of
the realm to support with might and main until A become■
law. The second reading will be fixed for the 12th of
April, between which day and the middle of July every
available government night will be barely enough to discuss
the great rang* of topics. Considering, then, that in 1832
fifty nights were consumed in pealing aee•tbird of the
' immure of that period. and that above one hundred
nights pawed before the debate was finally concluded,
Mr. Gladstone and his colleague have wisely retuned to
Loa I their bill with a freight which another measure clan
, very well carry, and which must have Busk this one—ship,
cargo, end crew together—under a pettedly unmanageable
load of clauses. Those, of course, who wished nothing

1866.

better thaa sac► • resall—ehe polithal wreckers who
are a comes to the meets d jimundisat and politics
—will vary natecialy deplore sad cisaosaos the
neccity of nine! ere. But the it 'majority of
Eagliuhmun who have nee both partite of the slate soon
mil themesives to it, and who desire to hem the question
of reform dealt with inparielly sad Itemourably, sal
settled to the mithienios of the reds, will applaud the
wise diving's of the @abject, sad address dosneelves to that
which, after all, ie tilt "root of the matter," with sa
earasetnese and sienc.ty worthy of the asisistee to whose
the teak was well e.menittof of 'tending epoeser foe the
manure el 1836.
The St•► reminds its madam that years ago whim In
boroughs meant, with those who nrioualy thought et
&needing the beroegh essetitumey at all, a 01. or 61
suffrage. Now, for the sake if meals; wiling to com-
promise, we add a yearly pseud, and nuke it 71.
The difference, perhaps, It an practically al any
great importance. But the Mame* morally ie
aigailimiet ; &ad it is mot mmenraging. We mast
look, however, at the eiroanietaame under which
tbs bill is introduced sad at the real advantages
it offers. We canon ignore the fact that it is
iatroduted at a time when there is some divines of
opinion even among Ilion by whom the bill has been
promoted, sad whoa there Is • parities defection,
not aanterically nor inelleettatily powerful, but
clamorous and oetentatious is its remedies's, from
the liberal body. The bill does not do so much
for the waking classes as Marl Bengt would
doubtless have wished to do ; sad ILr. Gladstose did not
hesitate to enlace last night that he isdividnally would
have beta willing to go further la their direction.
Bat we must allow for the difficulties of dealing with
the queen= jut at present sad for the aataral andely
of the government to anomplish the passim of
the bill with as little bort& modification as pos-
sible. Thee it has undoubtedly its seal • trantages.
It does mot fall below—out the etioteary, it has rather risen
abov►—what of late there seised some w•som to expect.
It will render ante substantial Nevin and will introduce
some =unbranded alterations. The country walprobably
&wept it, if only for leek of better. If it is mot a manure
to awaken enthusiasm, it at least mance be called unde-
serving of favourable sad hopeful emaidsration

DDMIIIIII DI !LICE.

The Tinges @oatmeal@ upon the lats debates le the French
legislature on the state of agriculturists is Prance. The
Preach farmers cry oat that they esamit get money to carry
on their business with ; and the inoney.limdere explain
that they mane., according to the true priselpiss of beak-
advanes money to them. Aneordiag to the Tema, the
Preneh eyeball of inheritors** is at the bottom of the difli.
salty. We have learnt within the last far yeers what
the business of farming really ragens--how it
sells for capital, therm and skill, sad how, with
them aids, it will yield good returns. But what phase has
gash a predate is a system of mill &Misr uniformly
mertgessit The "immense majority of Preach land-
owners, it mesa d, wars small proprietors ; could they be
expected to compete with the owe-growers of Bawds or
reload? The truth is such holdings ars little more than
equattinp. A rood of ground might, Is primeval times,
Lee maistethed its man, but in these days it would only
do so as a similar plot in Jamaica maintains its sagro.
Small allotanente are luxuries or comfort' is
the them of gardens, bet they yield only •
miserable eathistence In the shape of farms.
Them esonmbered and impoverished farmers look to their
own pockets close, sad thick that if they could get a little
more money for their wheat It would be a great deal better
for them. They do oot underathed that if oae interest is
protected, another must be, sad that the ast result of
universal protectioo would be far worse far them than the
set malt of free trade. They look oily to the matter
helm them ; nor is their oonduet at all surprising. What
would really be surprising would be the adoption of snob
a view by the government, which, instead of looking after
one claw, should look aft. r all.
The Peat also dwells upoa the mate topic, esasurlag the
inoonsietthey of the French deputies, who tried by their
amendment to relieve the temporary distress of a oleos by
making the food of all elegem warm then it was before.
Taking advantage of the protestionist speech of M. niers,
the Peat sake what his party during him years
of oleo, ever did for the nal well-being ink
glary of Frame? iJn ler their rigrime the material MOW;
ass of the country and its greater= among oontieental
Powers languished. Toe Empire, itutead of being the
jealous, sespieions rival of liegland, has become oar fast
frised and ally, sad in consulship with as hes checked the
aggreedve designs of Burris ; it Ma, In Italy, added a
' great. sew, free, sad constitutional Power to the European
system ; and it has made the French nation richer and more
prosperous, happy, and contented than ever it was before.
Facts such as thus must always outweigh any amount of
• debating.olub oratory and camoskied