Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-02-09 00:00:00

UNANIMITY ON REFORM

There never, perhaps, has been a great political
question on which so much unanimity has been
found to prevail, as it is now evident there does on
that of Parliamentary Reform; and. this circum-
stance, one would think, ought to be full of hope
for the enactment of a complete and efficient
measure. Certainly, Reform in Parliament now
presents itself stripped of all those terrors which
once_ it: was thought to possess ; and this cannot
but have the effect of securing it that' more
unreserved, and more thorough practical
application to the case which all now admit it
so urgently calls for. As 'was observed by
the seconder of the Address in the House of
Commons the other evening, "it was scarcely
compatible with the dignity or the constitution
of the House that it should be required to
be patched and tinkered every quarter of a
century." Though, at the same time, as it was
admitted, "in the lapse of time, in the increase
of population, in the advance of education, in the
spread of intelligence, in the extension of some
places and the contraction of others, there -was a
just cause for the introduction of such a measure
of reform as should be sufficient without being
violent." And we believe this is now a national
conviction, and its accomplishment a national
desire.

The notion, it is true, has been suggested—nay,
in certain quarters insisted upon—that only by
those who are popularly called and considered par
excellence " the people," would any real and sub-
stantial measure of Parliamentary Reform be
encouraged and supported. But, as that un-
doubted liberal, the Hon. Mr. BYNG, the member
for Middlesex, observed, in addressing his oia
constituents at TavistOck, a few days since,
"when the four great heads of political parties,
Lord Aberdeen, Lord Derby, Lord Palmerston,
and Lord John Russell, are all prepared to inves-
tigate the question fairly, and to carry out what
they believe to be best for the interest of the
country, what need is there for supposing that the
aristocracy or the upper classes are likely to oppose
it ?" Why, on the contrary, the foremost of
Parliamentary Reformers have been found amongst
those classes. Of course, they do not seek such a
reform as would upset the Constitution, or in any
degree impair it, but one which they believe
would still further consolidate and strengthen, and
thereby perpetuate it. The hon. member we have
just mentioned, quoted the remarks of an old and
tried Reformer, who has said,—" There are some
who are willing that the Constitution like the
ancient temples of the Greeks and Romans, should
remain with all its dust and cobwebs about it, and
who think it profane in any hand. to attempt to
remove the corruptions by which it is defaced ;
and others are the champions of Radical Reform,
who seem desirous to raise their name by applying a
firebrand to a sanctuary which has stood for ages."
But this was the case only when Reform was so apt
to be made a scarecrow of ; and even honest, though
perhaps weak politicians were affrighted by what
they thought it threatened, against the stability of
the monarchy, and the peace and order of society.
Experience, however, has shown them the ground-
lessness of their apprehensions. There is no dan-
ger now to be apprehended in any comprehensive
measure of Parliamentary Reform, if only it is fair
and just to all the settled interests to be affected
by it. As Mr. BYNG further very truly observed,
" the measure could be arranged without exciting
any ill will ; only if they were to be told that
the landed interest was to be deprived of its rights,
class would be set against class, and such a pro-
ceeding was highly dangerous. If they were to
be told that the manufacturing interest was to get
the larger portion of the representation it would set
class against class to a degree highly dangerous.
Their object should be to carry out a good bill, and
they should not upset the old constitutional steamer
of 1832, and place some wash-tub in its stead,
not able to live in a troubled sea." It is such views
as these, we consider, that make the question now
so generally acceptable—that constitute it, in short,
one of the most Conservative questions of the day.
Wr do not mean by Conservative anything s