The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-10 00:00:00

Secondly, ,they have had all along, and
still have apparently quite as strongly, in
aid of them no less, the seeming apathy or be-
wilderment or however else it may be the most ac-
curately expressed of their political Opponents l Of
that expanded and strengthened Opposition, loyally
and constitutionally called, whether it happens to
be strong or weak, formidable or insignificant, her
MAJESTY'S Opposition. Powerful by reason of the
immense personal popularity of the Prime Minister,
powerful by the mere prestige of comprising among
its members statesmen of such European reputations
and of such unquestionably large capacity, as Earl
RUSSELL and Mr. GLADSTONE—powerful by reason
of the very hesitation and apparent bewilderment
of their otherwise intrinsically formidable
antagonists, the serried ranks of an Opposition
la-ger in numbers, and more vigourous in organiza-
tion than any Opposition that has for years con-
fronted the holders of office in the British House
of Commons—the Cabinet has contrived, during the
last five years, with delightful ease, to hold its own
against all comers l The Prime Minister laughing
off all serious opposition with a good-humoured
carelessness sufficient in its way, one might have
thought, to have maddened the more hot-blooded of
the Conservatives confronting him, to what Mr.
HENLEY would have called "an ugly rush" from the
left-hand side to the right -hand side of the Speaker.
Such was not to be, however. Even with Lard
ROBERT CECIL, there, often speaking daggers,
and Mr. C. BENTINCK looking there
occasionally, from the Opposition Benches,
Ministers have, during five do-nothing years,
been fated to dawdle on in office with an air,
for the most part, positively of undisguised indif-
ference. Lord PALMERSTON has had only to crack
his amiable;little jokes ad libitum. Earl RUSSELL has
had only to go on writing despatches ad nauseam.
Mr. GLADSTONE has had only, now and then, upon
any seeming emergency, as, for example, but the other
day in that matter relating to the franchise, to argue,
with his splendid gifts of rhetoric, ad captandum.
Mr. LAYARD hashed only to snarl away any tendency
to over-inquisitiveness, putting awkward queries
aside haughtily ad referendum. And the five years
of no reform at home, and of ultimate meddling and
muddling abroad, have been eked out admirably wel
Talk of the Pear being ripe for the Conservatives

It seems to have tattled sleepy ! Talk of its being
simply ripe! It threatens to be rotten ! Delay upon
delay is all that Ministers need trouble themselves
about. Their one successful system is that of a per-
petual put off. Wait and you will see. Don't ask
premature questions. Negotiations have commenced.

A Conference is about to assemble. The Conference
has assembled—is sitting. Several of the pleni-

potentiaries have Written home for further in.

structioas. Arrangements are on foot with a view
to a pacific settlement. First of ail, there is no
armistice, but there is a hope of one. Then that
long-delayed hope is at last realised. There is an

armistice for a month. The month is just draw•
ing to a close, and at the last gasp of
it, there is a supplementary armistice arranged for

another opportune fortnight. And so—by a sue,
•

cession of wondelfully clever] but painfully trans

parent shifts or dodges, the evil day of open discus-
sion in the House of Commons is put off, week
by week, month by month, until the session is

drawing on towards its conclusion, with not only
nothing done, but nothing even explained. It is a

capital contrivance this system:of procrastinations.
A capital contrivance—for retaining office ! But—
for governing a great country ? Better than any
attempt to answer that very natural inquiry—
better, far better for Ministers still to cry Vice la
Bagatelle !

Mr LAWSON is, doubtless, animated by very
Igood intentions, and is impressed with:the necessity
of doing something to aid the cause he his at heart,
and promote the order and sobriety of the people,
but at the same time it must be borne in mind that
there is such a thing as doing too much for the
furtherance of a desirable end. There is no greater
mistake than to interfere to a great extent with the
privileges, and encroach on the liberties, of the sub-
ject. Such a course of proceeding awakes suspicion,
engenders ill-feeling, and creates a general state of
dissatisfaction, which is highly prejudicial. The
proposal made by Mr. LAWSON could never come
into effect, but at the same time it was well to pro-
test against the notion of its introduction. There
is no saying to what extreme lengths men will net
go in pursuit of their hobbies, and to what extra-
vegant plans they may not devote their time and
thoughts. The idea of any petty tyranny or local
arbitration would naturally incense the community,
and in the end provoke the increase of the evils
sought to be remedied. We cannot make people
all that they should be, and, bon gre rnal gre,
contrive that they shall conform strictly to our
tenets and follow the bent of our inclination, no
matter how contrary its direction points from the
aim of their own desires. Mr. LAWSON'S remedy
against drunkenness is to empower the ratepayers
of a parish to assume the authority to put down
publichouses eventually, by refusing to grant or
renew licenses for their continuance. This is really
a very extraordinary suggestion, and it seems, at
first sight, hardly credible that a man at all ac-
quainted with the world could propose such a mea-
sure. It is impossible to draw a line that can ensure
the prohibition of mal-practices, while human
nature retains its leading features, if an evil is put
out of the way, men will go forth in search of wrong
in some other fashion. Besides, it is going a great
deal too
far to say that the pnblichouse does so much
harm ; and when the hon. member, in the support
of his argument, deelared that eminent judges had
given it as their opinion that "the large majority
of crimes originated at the publiehouse, and that if
there were no drink there would be no criminals to
try," he may be quoting what is said in extreme
alwaysroevil, and
some members of a eom-
munitycases. who
ore aarerepne to
who persist in
wrong-doing.
Such people will not be restrained
by the enactment of arbitrary regulations, and the
forcible endeavour to make them simple and harm-
less citizens. The publichouse is an effect, not a
cause. It is natural that the inhabitants of a particue
lar district should occasionally meet and talk over
the events of the day and the chief objects of inte-
rest that concern their immediate locality. If they
did got assemble at one
place, they would at an-
other, and therefore, unless Mr. LAWSON can pro.
hibit the sale of liquors altogether, he will not have
obtained his object or be nearer his end. Some
very sensible speeches were made on this subject.
Captain JERTIS stated that he had spent five months
in the Maine liquor-law States of America, and hed
" been witness to the total absurdity of such a sys-
tem.'' The fact was, that the law was evaded in
Maine, and persons contrived to get the forbidden
articles by stealth and take them in secret. Such
a mode of proceeding would not suit the straight-
forwardness of Englishmen, but neither would
the restrictive nature of the proposal put
forward in Mr. LAWSON'S bill. Captain
JERVIS very properly denounced it as
"contrary to the whole of our constitutional
system, and one Which would not work to anv
advantage in practice." The gallant member gave
a ludicrous account of the straits to which they.
were reduced in Maine, Ihe pietu; aof a guest