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

the Conservatives would never 1
Iv7eht toad the rtht Or
powerful opposition that they brow,
the occasion of that momentous division.
They SLIO'
-----------------------'-1
01
ceeded in running within eighteen of the numb .T 5
the Government because they were strengthet led by
so many seceders from the Liberal ranks. These rrayed
really C ,t issue.
wholly imespe ctive of the question r
apostate \votes, however, were given
Conserve tires in
upon a ground
The secedin,e• Liberals joined the
.e of
the
ostensibly coot lemning the Danish 11
.e bulk of
demo it for its Italian policy, on which t
Government ja st because they really
en found
wilc'ishe dto con-
the Conservative ‘ party would never have te _ cab°.
to unite with the 'in. In a word, the B. ;ma u
i i 5 there-
what been
what had ue:nre done in Italy, and tiN
sure on
Tic
nt e
ainD vote
Denmark.
fmgcraetrlik
.1 dg e, forir
fore took oceaso:Bat
• not appear in any single ilo.,
account of what he,
d the course which. the Cati
re
the Liberal party de
1 most part took. They ga. .
stance to have resents
lice among them for tth
them credit for acting ,npon conscientious convice
tions. There has been ml eort of persecution Co
menced by the Liberal par.` y against these Liberaetc
recusants. No tele has been unseated •en accousit.;.,
his vote; nor he s a single member be: :n dealt sal
in the ha, rsh ee anner in which the '3onservati.'ees
are, we vei atilt, 3 to think, treating Mr. Dutton, 1 .b.e
Conservatie 'e Whigs can hardly e:cpect to po lea _
upon other p, -eserces, and still to leeep every b ead
of their own i ;ame to themselves. Assume tha ton
great queetiot Is of confidence every man is to cote
with the part 3 -to which he nominally belongs, and„
what would ha ce been the result on the occasioi ior
the Danish div. ision P Why, the Government would
have had a maj, )city of 30 or 40, instead of majority
of only 18. W a think the conduct, which Mr. Dut-
ton has experie need from his own party, the more
unfriendly that the question raised in the divisio: I
did not involve any recognised party question. J
was not a quests
trade, between a' un between protection and fr e
trade,
six pound and a ten pound clal is')
or between any ere 'o principles of action on vel Lie t
Liberals and Cone lervatives have avowed t)iert v
selves to be divideA. Had it been so, we could, ha' re
fully understood the resolution of the Con ser vet' is'c
party to throw ON *el ' a representative wino 1
,great principle. Mr. Dut to]
deserted them one gad
may fairly be allegl id to have undertaken to opj osr
a Reform Bill mitt lining' a six-pound clause w bell
he presented himself 'on the hustings at the last ( elec'
tion. But he cannot
~ be alleged to have pledge I bie,
vote on a question t hat had not th en arisen, an
which, when it did , arise, was not to be in-eln ded
within the limits of . any reccgni'3ed party diisti.ecl
tions. To turn out I' 4r. Duteon for saying that
Lord Palmerston and L orel Russell had maintained
the honour of England, as an act inconsistent with
his own pledges, is simply tantamount to dee taring
that the Opposition of t he day hold it as a) matter
of course that the Minis try 7 of the day always d°
compromise the national fi onour. To do tl lie is in
reality to reduce party to fi .ction. If such a prin-
ciple were to be carried on t is would render the
settlement of questions on ti keir own merits impos-
sible, and would greatly a ggravate the existing
difficulties of parliamentar y government. Mr'
Dutton denies that this was really a question be-
tween Lord Palmerston and Lord Derby. Tile saes
that the issue was a much wit ler one, and the,: it was
a question between peace and war. This may, to il
certain extent, be a strained construction ; but to
doubtedly, unless the nation t lesired to g 0 to wan
there was no reason to upset th e existing 1 vlinistrY,
The terms of the motion were n of prc spec 'ive, but
simply retrospective; yet, neve,-theie gs, if it had
been carried, and the country ha d et infirme)ci the
vote of the House, it would generally b eve been felt
that the national voice had in reality pronounced
in favour of war. We think, therefor •E ', that Mr'
Dutton is justified in saying that the qr LE stion, in its
widest comprehension, embraced the a II ernative of
peace or war ; and that it was not me re ly an issue
raised as to whether Lord Palmerston or • Lord Derby
should govern the country. Taking this view of
the case, he declares that he thought 'it his duty to
vote for an Administration which alo) it ' was likely
to maintain the peace of Europe. He g uitted party
grounds for patriotic grounds, and 12 .8 has his re'
ward. We hope Mr. Dutton will fit it I some other
constituency at the next election th a, t will afford
him a fairer latitude of action. The C lonservatives
are apparently determined to reimport ) those obsce
lete notions of party discipline which have at any
rate been found unworkable on. the Liberal side,
and which we thought that the D9rby' des had them'
selves abandoned also. Less e;eact ing constitu"
encies than those of South Hant a VI 'ill cheerfully
accept the services of so able an d c onscientious El
public servant as 111 r. Dutton.

COUNTRY MARE TB.

NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE- -"T UESDAY.

At our corn market to-day the si ip ply of wheat Wad
moderate, and sold at about former ro •tei ; but we may el
pect the farmers to bring in new w 1 iea t rapidly, as they
have almost got the fields clear of gre in. even iu the most
backward districts.