The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-06-16 00:00:00

MONDAY, JUNE 16, 1866

Tna bland spirit of acquiescence which has dis_
tinguished the two Houses of Parliament for the
last few years is about to explode. War, with all
its great national exigencies, fairly stifled the voice
and rancour of party. " Union and defence " were
the watchwords of the community in 1854, and the
patriotism of the Imperial Parliament was placed
upon its trial. Recreant faction, to escape uni-

cersal oppr

as obliged to make common

cause with

le bitterest opponents of their party
ity of the war left no back door

ihe pops

ough which old rivals and enemies could make
real. The present state of affairs
chat Ministerial secresy which

an assault or re
is far cliff,-rent

held to be essential to the public weal is now

ght to be signally dangerous to the maintain-

ante of a popular peace. It is necessary that the

authors of the troubles in which we are involved

with the United States should be made known

to this country, that we may not be dragged into

another brutal

struggle

by the obstina

,y of a

second MENSCHIKO

West,

we were by

that of the fir
East.

of that name, in the

The difficulties which led to the late contest

were not of our immediate creation, and conse-
quently the occurrence of war, although viewed as

a great natic

al calm

ty, was engaged in, by all

classes, with avidity and determination But in
the American question, we are in a very differ

ent position, and ninty-nine men out of every
hundred will be found opposed to the thoughts of
engaging in a conflict in which we have millions
to lose, and nothing beyond a series of diplomatic
budgets, and moral negatives to gain. Where such
dangers are impending the doctrine of withholding
official information on the score of safety to the
glaringly fallacious, and so it is
public service is
generally thought the Cabinet will find it, when
Lord JOHN RUSSELL brings the United States
squabble More the House of Commons to-night .
Viscount PLLMERSTON endeavoured to stave off
enquiry on Friday night, by putting in the old
plea of " silence is safety," but Lord JOHN was not
satisfied with the soundness of this theory in the
altered state of affairs, and while the London
Times, and the other hireling newspapers of the
Met? ,tpolis, were alarming the people at home, and

1 towards Great Britain in the
States, the noble lord gave notice that he would,

cxeiti

I
this day, ask the PREMIER whit course her
MAJESTY'S Government intended to pursue with

THE

regard to the American Minister at this court, and
whether his Cabinet will enter upon the negoci-
ations proposed by the American Government.
Lord JOHN prefaced his remarks by these
words :—" I am so persuaded that this House,
" and the whole nation, earnestly desire the

continuance of peace, that I think it is most
" desirable that my noble friend (Lord PALMER.
" STON) should take an early opportunity of stating
" the views of the Government." Lord Jour;
RUSSELL, it appears, was not at all singular in his
desire to know what the PALMERSTON Cabinet have
in store for us ; for while he was questioning the
First Lord of the Treasury,in the Commons, the Earl
of DERBY was puttin g precisely similar interrogations
to Lord CLARENDON in the Upper House. Mr. H.
BAILLIE, the Member for Inverness-shire, having
previously fixed upon Thursday next for his motion

on the American Question, it remains to be seen
whether Lord JOHN RUSSELL means by a side-wind
to leave Mr. BAILLIE with the certainty of a " count
Bo this as it may, the British public are
sure to have the fullest information of every subject
connected with the American difficulty. The
people of the States will have the whole corres-
pondence laid before them, and the despatches
which are refused to Parliament, will be given in
the Trans-Atlantic newspapers. By the next
steamer from IsT,:w York we may have all that Lords
DERBY and RUSSELL and Mr. BAILLIE wish to
know, all ready to our hands to insert in the
columns of the NORTHERN TIMES. Lord PALMER-
STON then need not be npprehensive of any danger
to the public service by laying before Her MAJESTY'S
faithful Commons the diplomatic correspondence
between Washington and London ; unless, indeed,
the temper and general tone of Lord CLARENDON'S
missives will disclose his and his colleagues views,
and the dangers which will threaten the continuance
of peace should they pursue the course they have
marked out for themselves.

If the PRIME MINISTER. be the victim of any
apprehension of the kind, and succeed in getting a
majority of the Commons to share it with him,
Lord JOHN'S queries will be answered vaguely,
and the inquirer will find himself in a minority on
a division. But America will assuredly come to
the Noble Lord's rescue. We shall have the
whole of the correspondence some ten or twelve
days after it has appeared in the States, where the
public do not seem to understand the philosophy of
keeping matters, which interest all classes alike,

bottled up as though it were so much deadly
poison. President PIERCE and Mr. MARCY will not

pon themselves to carry on a secret corres-

pondence on a matter of such transcendent impor-
tance to American citizens of every denomination.

We must receive all the information now sought,

.lating to the course out
end to follow with respect to Mr. DALLAS
that gentleman is dismissed because Mr. CRAMP

zovernment
If

TON has made himself objectionable to the
Americans, diplomatic relations between the two
countries will have been broken off, and there the
whole affair should be allowed to drop. If Lord
JOHN RUSSELL'S object be to arrest the " drifting"
policy of the PREMIER, and approach the pending
difficulties iu the candid spirit in which his des
patches, relative to the Central American question,
are couched, he is certain to carry popular opinion
with him, and the London Times and its Foreign
Secretary may find that the Peace Party of to- day
is as strong as the war party of last year, and
with Lord JOHN for their leader, there will be no
unholy bloodshed between England and her
offspring.