The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-13 00:00:00

POLITICAL GOSSIP.

It is reported (says the United Service Gazette), that Sir
Maurice Berkeley having expressed his unwillingness to•
leave the Adthiralty at present, the successt:r to Adrairat
Sir W. Parker will be Vice Admiral Sir Pairington
Reynolds. The latter gallant officer was in town a few
days ego, and dined with Sir Charles Wood at the
Admiralty.
The Spectator observes that the House of Commons is
prevented from doing its work, not only by having too much
work to do, brit work of kinds unsuitably combined. It is
debarred from fulfilling the rational 'expectations of the public,
because it spends its time in fu'filling the behests of private
and local interests. The member himself it ":selected
less for his fitness to conduct the business of the
empire—that is, the proper business of the House
of Commons—than the business of the county or the
borough which puts him in. parlament. The consequence is,
" that the imperial business stands, while the local agents
assembled in Westminster under the name of members
of parliament finish off the business of their employers. The
reform which would enable the House of Commons to get on
With its proper work would be to send back the county bnsiness
to the county, and the parish business to the paid). No new
reform bill could ever set the House free from the discredit
which clings to it year after year, until it is relieved from that
incubus."

Rumour declares (according to the Weekly Dispatch)
that the Premier is alteady prepared With a political pro-
gramme that will be extremely popular. Re has been
known to declare that he means to make an annuity of the
Premiership. It is said that he does not intend for one
moment to resist reform, even organic charges of a broad
character ; that he is prepared with a Reform Bill, one
principle of which will be to give only one member to one
dlittict ; not two as in counties, or four as in London ;
that he will take members from mere little pocket
boroughs, and give them to large unrepresented towns; and
that probably ho will give more representatives to the coun-
ties, which it most be admitted are at present most dis-
proportionately represented in comparison to the towns.
indeed, on contrasting the urban population with equal
numbers in the rural districts, it will be found that the
former have twice as many members in proportion as the
latter.

The Economist wisliz'S to throw out a consideration con-
nected with a new reform bill, " for the country to rumi.
nate upon at leiure." It ig this:—" The prevalent notion
among nearly all who contemplet? a new reform bill, is to
transfer the elective franchise froth gmall constituencies to
large ones—from Caine and Westbury; for example, to
Birkenhead and Chelsea. Have those who look forward
to such a change rkftmted on the inevitable ininoverishment
of the House of Commons for officio/ and ministerial
purposes which must be the consequence?" The INtiornist,
however, does not expect any parliamentary action n'e the
subj'ct of reform this year.
The Saturday Review says that the Premier has scarcely'
a speaker to put up on behalf of the government on the
great field days of debate. " With the exception of Mr.
Lowe, who has never succeeded in obtaining the ear
of the house, and of Sir George Grey and the
Attorney General both of whom mar by a vicious
utterance oratorical capabilities of a vtry high order—
the ministry cannot show one single debater whose per-
formance is not a punishment to his hearers. Such a
predicament would be tolerable if there were only the
regular opposition to deal with; for Mr. Disraeli opens himself
to retort so often as almost to neutralise the advantage which
he gains by his cleverness, and Lord .Palmerston's real talent
lies in handling an antagonist who has previously made a fool
of himself. But if Lord John Russell, Mr. Gladstone, and
Sir fames Graham aid the attack, each in his peculiar style,
the melancholy spectacle of the Chinese debate will be
repeated again and again; and the government, alWays winning
in divisions, always losing•in debates, will have a paled of
'Uncomfortable power, which can only terminate in disgrace."
The iohn Bull warmly supports the plan of episcopal
appointment put forward by the Manchester Church Society.
The leading features of the scheme referred to are as follows T.

—" 1. To restrict the power of appointment by the crown—
that is, virtually by the minister of the day—to selection from
among a number of nominees to be chosen by the church ;
2. The choice of such nominees to be in the members
of the church in the dioctese over which the bishop is to
preside, giving to the communicant laity, as well as to the
clergy, a voice in the matter 3, the prevention of the evils
incident to clerical blection, by requiring from each voter
a declaration that he has held no corcununlcatiuu whatever
with any person on the subject of the filection, but that he
gives his vote as the unbiassed result of iris conscientious
conviction."
TUE SPEAKERSHIP.—The Right Hon. M. T. Baines
writes to the Times—" There are two points in your article
of this day on which I beg leave to say a word, as they are
calculated to create anxiety on the part of my constitu-
ents and friends. The writer appears to be under the
impression that my health is now bad, and, moreover,
that I have been visited with an extraordinary infliction
of shortsightedness. As to the first, lam sure my friends
will be glad to know that I was never better in my life ;
and as to the second, that with the aid of an ordinary pair
of shortsighted glasses I can see as well as any man.
The Times publishes a letter from Mr. T. P. Crosland,
the chairman of Mr. Ackroyd's committee, in reply to Mr.
Winans, and bearing upon several points in reference to
Mr. Cobden's defeat. '
Of the 654 members who will form the New House of
Commons 630 have been already returned, leaving 12
Irish counties to select the remaining 24 representatives.
At present there is net gain of 42 seats, equal to 84 votes,
in favour of the Liberal party. The new Parliament will
comprise 171 gentlemen who bad, no seats in the last
House of Commons. Of the displaced members 105 voted
or paired upon Mr. Cobden's motion which produced the
dissolution. Of that number 62 voted i;::k the majority and
43 with the government.