The Express.
London, England, 1857-11-19 00:00:00

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RONDOS', THURSDAY. NOTEMIRR 19.

Tut course which Miabbres will propose for the
madutt of public balms in the forthcoming Sea
situ of Parliament is a nutter of far more than
ordinary importance, seeing that the consideration
of the great question of Parliamentary Reform is no
longer objected to on the ground that the country
dose not care about it. or that it is Lord JOHN Ree-
se:La.'s hobby, but that there will be " no time " to
think about it, to discuss it, or to legislate on it,
now that the Bank Act troubles have come on the
back of Indian embarrassments. That, we answer,

depend, altogether on the coons Lord PALVEIVTON
chooses to adopt far the conduct of public business.

The Goveniment have at last been compelled to
non the Legislature. When so compelled, they
have certainly lost no time in calling Parliament
together. So far good. They have done what
was unavoidable properly and constitutionally.
The earlier portion of the Session, to commence on
the 3rd of December, will of coarse be occupied—
first, by a general consideration of the state of the
empire in the debate on the Speech from the
Throne; and, senoodly, by providing an indemnity
for the QuEves Ministers and the Bank of Eng-
land, for wisely violating, on a greet emergency,

the law of the land. In the coon of the latter
discussion will be included, at least, a considered=

of the policy of making permanent changes in the
Act of 1844; and whether, and to what extent, it is
neemsary to increase the power of issue of the Bank
of England.

There may not be time before Christmas to legis-
late on that question. Ai however, reasonable men
have made up their minds that an obstinate adher-
ence to the strict provisions of Sir ROBEIIT
Statute, as if it contained the whole sum of human
wisdom on this 'abject, will only subject the country
to the risks and dangers of marring panics and tries@
each ea its temporary relaxation has again eased and
dragged us through, the true question now to be
decided by Parliament is not one of principle at all,
bat • matter of detail, and most important detail we
quite admit Ihat whether the power of the Bank
of England to Os= credit notes shall be limited to
fourteen millions and a half sa it is now, oe be ex-
tended to sixteen millions; whether it should ham
power to Uwe in excess of its normal amount of
credit notes, whatever that may be tired at, when-
ever the rate of discs®b omen& to a given point
these are not matters requiring the whole theory of
the earrency to be anripped in Parliamentary debate.
The theory of oar currency is settled. What is now
wanted is, that its details should be squared and
adjusted to the altered condition of the commerce of
the country, and to our fatal experiences of the
operation of a law which iatoo limited and restrained
be that commerce.
With a view to procuring still further materials
for satiefeeterily adjusting these details, and mom
especially be the purpose of thoroughly investigat-
ing the pliesseasaa of the great monetary crisis from
which we ma es yet seemly flatter ourselves
we have escaped, It will probably be easel-
dewed desirable to teappsist the Select Commit-
tee of lest Swiss 40 the Heok Aeta. The borineses
of the asselem ease opened and begun ought to be
steadily sad pereevetiaglymemined and followed up.
A bet test of Lord Pettinsrotes zeal and
earsostasse in the combat of public business will
be the period for whack be will propose, after
the Act of Indemairy has been passed, the
adjoessmumt of the Session. That adjournment
wet be too brief; and the Epiphany Quarter
Seim one, it is to be hoped that the
Legislature will again immediately ease mble
br the transaction of ordinary basin's. Con-
sidering the unavoidable prolongation of the
Session nowti-days, and the anxiety of everyone at
the end of July and in the beginning of August to
escape from London--an anxiety which throws far
too much power of legislation into the hands of
Ministers—an earlier meeting of Parliament has of
late yean been • favourite suggestion. Her
MAJC9TY, it is known, very naturally desires the
adoption of some plan by which those encroach-
ments of legislation on the summer, which are equally
hurtful to public affairs and to personal freedom,
should be avoided : and everyone would gain by the
prorogation of Parliament a month earlier than is
now usually the ease. Circumstances have again
compelled Government to summon the Legislature
for a short winter sitting, and the public will very
properly expect to see the experiment of an earlier
amnion fairly and fully tried.
When, then, the ministerial organs till us that
there is so much unavoidable business to transact
that we most not expect Lord Pn t.m Eimer/ to
fulfil his pledge by bringing in a Reform Bill, the
answer to that plea in abatement ia—let Lord
PALM ERnTON. now that he has summoned Par-
'lament in December. only go to work vigorously ea
the ordinary business of the country in the NOM
week of .January, and there will be ample time Sr
India, the Bank question. Military Improvement,
and the Reform Bill too. But if Lord PiLoturox
refuse to pursue that obviously natural and useful
course, if he have only summoned Parliament
to release the Government and the Bank from the
legal consequences of violating the law, if he mean
afterwards to adj ourn the Legislature us til February—
then we may be pretty sure that his policy is to escape
from the honourable fulfilment of the most unpleasant
undertaking he ever contracted. It is iu this sense that
we mast understand the article in yesterday's Times,
which so soddenly changed the ground on which the
postponement of the Reform Bill is advocated, from
the indifference of the country and the pertinacity of