The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-24 00:00:00

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vernment has acted on those p • iplgrA-iir:/? .sl,,e4,i'•
policy, lagree that we should remai titolea‘k946.44llefe
the safety or the honour of the countiO•repaes thia wo
should make war. But I deny that it conduces either to
safety or to honour that our Minister should interfere in the
quarrels of other nations by threats never to be fulfilled,
d met with insolence and scorn ; by advice never asked
and rejected, or passed by with silent contempt ; by encou-
raging the weak to take up arms against the strong, and_
then deserting them at their utmost need and leaving them
to perish ; and, in the end, that his Government should
appeal to their fellow-countrymen for their approval, and
declare that the foreign policy of England is non-interven-
tion. I have assisted, and, if elected, shall continue to
assist, in maintaining the stability of the Church of Eng-
land. The Government has not merely permitted, but
countenanced and supported almost every act of hostility
against the Church done or attempted during the present
Parliament. Great questions are impending, upon which
the very existence of the Church of England in Ireland
may be threatened. In the meantime, it is satisfactory to
feel that we have successfully resisted the unconditional
abolition of church rates, and that if the Government should
be displaced by the results of the approaching elections a.
Conservative Ministry would be enabled to propose to Par-
liament a measure which would justly satisfy the Church,
while it would relieve the Dissenters of every denomina-
tion from the necessity of contributing to a tax which.
many of them conscientiously think oppressive and unjust.
It is almost useless to speak of the extension of the Elec-
tive Franchise. In 1859 the Ministry of which I was a.
member, though unconvinced of the necessity for any
change,brought forward, in deference to the alleged wishes
of great numbers of the community, a scheme of Reform
which would have conferred the franchise upon 200,000 of
the people, and which was open to no objection which
could not have been removed in a committee of the House
of Commons. The party now in power opposed and threw
out that bill, and came into office upon its defeat, pledged
to another and a better measure of Reform. In the next
session they brought in their bill with hesitation and reluc-
tance, and then abandoned - it with ill-concealed
satisfaction. From that time to this the subject of
Reform has been dealt with in the House of Commons
in a way but little calculated to obtain for that assembly
the respect or the confidence of the people ; and if the con-
duct of the Government upon this momentous question has
done credit to their character as enlightened statesmen, or
honourable gentlemen, or honest men, let those who think
so support them in this great electoral contest which they
are now at last compelled to encounter. For myself, I can
only repeat what I said to you in 1853 and in 1852. lam
ready to concur in any scheme of Reform which shall ex-
tend the franchise to all who are qualified by property,
education, or condition to exercise it with intelligence and
independence. But the Government have claimed not
merely the assent, but the applause of their country for
their financial policy. Happy is-the statesman whose for-
tune it is to administer the finances of -a nation which by
the natural increase of its population, its wealth, its com-
merce, and its resources must acquire a large and inevitable
surplus in the revenue in every year of its collection. Let
us rejoice that such is the destiny of England, and that
whether our Chancellor of the Exchequer shall be minded
to remit the duties upon incomes or insurances, upon wine
or malt, on tea or paper, the mighty and ever-increasing
population and wealth of his country will provide him with
an adequate and an ample surplus. Gentlemen, I do not
comp lain of the remission of taxation upon income, the
source of subsistence, or upon any of the necessaries or the
comforts, or even the luxuries of life. But let these sub-
jects of remission take their turn in just and equitable suc-
cession. I maintain the claim of malt to priority ,before
paper, or wine, or tea, and, now, before income."