The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-13 00:00:00

Mr. Stansfeld, M.P., on Reform.

world upon the subject of reform. The Liberal party
had been returned to Parliament in a decided majo-
rity; it was bound to bring in, and it could carry, a
measure of reform. (Hear.) Its character depended
upon the attempt. Its immediate future depended
on the success of that attempt. He did not believe it
would fail, but he thought that the Government
would bring in and carry a reform bill. The time
had come. If he entertained any doubt about the
reform policy of the present Administration, it would
be his duty to say to his constituents that, in his in-
dividual opinion, the Government of a Liberal party
could not live, could not continue as the Government
of a united party, save on the terms of grappling
with, and attempting to solve, and standing or falling
upon the solution of, the question of reform. (Ap-
plause). Look at the composition of the Ministry.
Did it not give the Liberal party some confidence
that the Ministry would not shrink from that task ?
Who was our Prime Minister ? A man whose name
stood among the most illustrious in the history of
this country in connection with the progress of con-
stitutional liberty. In his own person that Minister
had been associated with the great, though partial,
measure of reform of 1832, with all our legislative
progress, and with all the measures—legislative, ad-
ministrative, social, and political—which since that
day had done so much to raise the condition of the
people of this country, and to prepare them for the
extension of the franchise. (Applause.) Lord
Russell had said that, in his opinion, the time had
come. He had said, too, that come weal, come
woe, he would be true to the principles which he
had always professed. It was impossible to conceive
that a man of historic name, like Lord Russell, and
of his known character, could be otherwise than
alive to the noble ambition of graving his name still
deeper in the hearts and memories of his country-
men and on the tablets of his country's history.
(Hear.) Because of these considerations, because
it was the only right, because it was the only hon-
ourable and straightforward course, he believed that
Lord Russell would bring in a Reform Bill. (Ap-
plause.) And if he (Mr. Stansfeld) wanted to make
doubly sure, he should turn his eyes to the house of
which he was a member, when he should recollect
that the new leader of that house and of the Liberal
party was a man who, added to the greatest and most
universally-acksowledged genius in debate and in
administration—and especially in that financial ad-
ministration upon which so much of the fortunes of
modern Ministers depended—the powers of a mind
more versatile, and full of more varied and of wider
sympathies, and which had so far progressed more
decidedly than the mind of any other living states-
man. (Hear, hear.) A Ministry led by two such
men as Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone could not
disappoint the Liberal party on this question. They
would fairly grapple with it, and they would pro-
pound upon it some measure, not his (Mr. Stans-
feld's) measure, or the measure of his constituents
at Halifax ; but a measure which, to begin with,
would be bona fide, and which should be something
like a fair representation of the condition of opinion
of Liberal politicians in the country. He believed
they would bring in such a measure, and that they
would take their stand upon the verdict of the
house, or, if need be, of the country. (Hear.) That
meeting seemed to have agreed to discuss rather the
necessity of introducing a reform bill than its terms
—and yet there was something he would say about
the terms of a reform bill—(hear)—for he thought
he could venture to prophesy he would not say its
extent, but some of its essentials. There were many
admirable things which a reform bill might do. It
might remedy and redress some of those great in-
equalities in the representation of various consti-
tuencies which required remedy. It might, by the
addition of certain franchises, include within the
pale of the franchise many individuals of classes
already represented, who were now unnecessarily,
if not injuriously, excluded. For counties the bill
might, and he hoped it would, do something to ad-
mit the crowd of intelligent and independent men
who at present had no votes, because they were not
freeholders, and did not occupy to the extent of
£5O a year. But beyond all doubt, above and be-
yond all those questions, lay another which was the
necessary eggeneo of any new reform bill. -It was
this--that it should do something for the first time,
in a deliberate manner and intentionally, to admit
to some degree the working classes of this country
—the industrious, prosperous, progressive artisan
population of our towns and cities—to share in the
rights and duties of political life. (Applause.) Some
persons feared this kind of franchise extension.
That was human nature. Some dangers accom-
panied all progress and all change ; but there were
people who did not seem to know that, if the law
of the life in which they lived was progress, and if
everything around them was moving onwards, the
most dangerous thing was to standstill. (Laughter.)
Some people feared this progress, and he would try
to give them a name. Should he call them Conser-
vative Liberals—(alaugh)—or should he name them,
if they feared the people, liberal Conservatives.
(Laughter.) He said frankly that to such men he
had not one shade of antagonism. He would meet
them, and would desire to satisfy, to permiade, and
convince them, because he had a theoretical faith in
progress, but one founded upon some little study of
his country's history, and of the characteristics of
his countrymen. To another class he would not
give a name, but they did not sit only one side of
the house when they got there. They were persons
who did not so much fear, or did not only fear but
they disliked, the progress of the people. They
talked about the working classes being kept in their
proper places—(laughter)—by which they meant
not in the same boat with themselves—(laughter)—
and not at the same table with themselves ; or if at
the same table, then decidedly below the salt. (Re-
newed laughter.) He would haveno terms whatever
with such men. They yielded only to force. He
could conceive of nothing which would be more cer-
tain to insure a comprehensive measure of reform
than a defeat of a Ministerial bill, and an appeal to
the country. (Hear.) But that, he thought, would
not be the policy of such a party, who were more
likely to endeavour to defeat reform by emasculat-
ing the measure. They had got a trick of finessing—
a very dangerous trick in statesmanship. After some
further observations, Mr. Stansfeld resumed his
seat, and the motion was carried.
Several gentlemen, including Sir F. Crossley,
M.P., subsequently addressed the meeting.

A town's meeting, on parliamentary) reform, was
held at Halifax, in the Oddfellows' Hall, last even-

ing ; the Mayor (Dr. Wightman) in the chair. The
meeting, which was an enthusiastic one, had been
convened " for the purpose of urging the Govern-
ment to bring forward a Reform Bill at the ap-
proaching session of Parliament." Mr. J. D.
Hutchinson moved the first resolution, which
was as follows :—That this meeting believes
the present time to be particularly favourable
for the introduction of a Reform Bill, and
trusts that, during the ensuing session of Parlia-
ment, her Majesty Government will bring for-

ward a measure to amend those defects in the re-
presentation which are admitted on all hands, and
which successive Ministries had declared themselves

anxious to remove." Mr. Akroyd, M.P., in se-
conding the motion, said opinions differed upon re-

form as on all other subjects on NI hich men thought

earnestly and deeply,and this difference was a sign of
a healthy state of public opinion. Hitherto at least
there had been no predominant opinion on the part
of the working classes to force any particularmeasure
upon Government. Moreover, we had arrived at a
period peculiarly favourable to legislation. If any
measure could be introduced by the Government
which would call forth a general approval of the
working and middle classes, he should be ready to give
up any pre-conceived notions he might have on the
subject of reform. (Applause.) He would have
that measure so framed that, whilst it placed
the franchise on a broader and more solid founda-
tion, and gave the working classes their due share
of electoral power, it should at the same time afford
a full and fair representation of all classes without
giving any one class undue predominance. (Ap-
plause.) The resolution was passed. Mr. J. Snow-
den, a working man, moved :—" That this meeting,
believing the existing electoral system almost totally
excludes the working classes from the franchise, and
considering such exclusion an injustice, is of opinion
that the principal object of any reform bill which
may be brought forward should be to give the work-
ing classes their fair share in the representation."
(Hear.) •
Mr. J. STANSFELD, M.P., on rising to second the
motion, was received with much warmth. He said
his townsmen had met once again upon that great
old question of reform (hear)—that question
which was to most of us like an old battle-cry,
and an old affection. The inhabitants of Halifax
had met to act upon that question in some dif-
ferent cue, with some better hopes and clearer
views than those which they could venture to enter-
tain at any time during the last six years, in fact
since the period when he was first entrusted with a
share of speaking for his constituents in the House
of Commons. (Hear, hear.) Upon the causes
which had hitherto kept reform in abeyance, and
the causes which led reformers to think and hope
that at last a measure of reform might be car-
ried through Parliament, he should like to say a
few words, because he had to take his share,
as an individual, of the responsibility—an un-
willing responsibility—of the inaction of the late
Parliament. The administration of the late Lord
Palmerston was undoubtedly an interregnum upon
this question of reform. (" Painfully so.") He had
of ten felt it "painfully so." (A laugh.) But it would
be a great mistake, and a mistake pregnant with
evil consequences to a liberal policy at the present
time, were he to suppose that during that adminis-
tration, with that exception, liberal policy had no
sway, and liberal ideas gained no victories, and made
no progress. He knew full well the great things that
had been accomplished. There was no doubt that
reform, the wing of our army—if he might use the
expression—had rested, and even piled its arms
(which was not quite the thing to do in the face of an

enemy) butit moved on with its other forces, which
gained new positions, and held them, to the ad-
vantage of the country. (Hear.) He would show
all this in one moment. Look at the brilliant and the
pre-eminently successful financial policy of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer. (Applause.) Did not that
add immensely to the wealth and prosperity of the
country (hear, hear) and did it not indirectly, but
still palpably and sensibly, lighten the burden of
taxation upon the people ? 'Were there not some
direct and positive economies accomplished ?
Did not the late Parliament gain that great and
inestimable boon for the people, and for the
cause of all liberal progress—a cheap and untaxed
press? (Ilear, hoar.)• Did they not pass the bill
which was necessary to follow up that French
treaty, the work of that first and greatest of the
apostles of free trade, the loss of whom the corm-
' try so lately mourned ? Though he said this last,
it was not the least of its merits—did not the
Government succeed in preserving this country in
conditions of neutrality and peace with the people
of the United States, when there might have been
the danger of being dragged into a war, and on the
side of the slaveholder—(applause)—against men
who were our brethren ; men who had shown
their capacity for using gigantic efforts, and
making gigantic sacrifices to preserve, as they
had preserved, the integrity of a re-united country,
and who had shown, in the hour of their victory, a
clemency such as the world had never before wit-
nessed. (Cheers.) That people had shown an
example to all the monarchies of the old world—a
capacity of returning to all the conditions of peace
by the disbanding of their naval and military forces,
retrenching their expenditure, and admitting the
rights even of those they conquered. This no other
nation in the world had as yet approached in its

history. (Applause.) So much for the general
liberal policy under the late Administration. It was I
nevertheless true that as far as reform was con-
cerned, it rested entirely in abeyance ; the Ministry
did not fulfil its pledges ; the Parliament did not
grapple with the question upon which, and for the I
solution of which, it was returned by the country. I
(Hear.) Those were the facts. Some of their 1
Conservative friends had a theory about those facts.
It was a theory, a kind of fiction which it was not
easy to understand, but it possessed natural attrac-
tions to those who had been out of office and power
for some time, and who did not quite see their easy
return. He was not quite sure whether the Con-
servatives had not lost a little faith in that theory
of late. This was the theory—though the Liberal
party was in office, ;yet the Conservative party dic-
tated the policy of the Liberal Government., He
(Mr.Stansfeld) would direct attention to those mea-
sures which he had enumerated, and which consti-
tuted, as it were, the title deeds, for the gratitude
of the country, of the administration of the late
Lord Palmerston. Was not every one of those
achievements, and the whole of that policy, opposed
by the Conservative party ? (Hear, hear.) The
Conservatives opposed the brilliant financial policy
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and did their
best to keep from the people free trade, the in-
estimable boon of a cheap press, and the French
treaty—(hear)—and it was no fault of that party
that the country was not dragged into a war with
the United States. (Applause.) But, how about
the question of reform? Ile did not know why he
should quarrel with the Conservative party, if it
claimed the credit of having prevented reform. (A
laugh.) But he could not help thinking that, on the
eve of a new era, it was well not even to take those
little advantages in argument which he might, but to
endeavour to look at them full in the face, and re-
cognise the
hitad
the truth. Therefore he was at that meeting
to say that the Conservative party had not even the
it
scarcelyw ere ao icnuerrrietTaonf
any occasion
on
preventing reform.
that subject came before Parliament that he did not
take some part in its discussion. He had never en-
deavoured to throw the exclusive burden of the pre-
vention of reform upon the Conservative ranks. He
had never, on the other hand, joined in the cry of
ministerial treason, as if the whole Liberal party had
been eager for the fray, but betrayed by those to
whom they had confided the power of leading them.
In the Liberal party of the late house of Commons
there was not that unanimous determination, essen-
tial to secure success. It must also be admitted that,
when that became evident the country permitted the
postponement of reform. What was the moral he
wished to draw from this? Reform was in abeyance
because the Liberal party and the country were not
ready to come to conclusions upon it. But all that
was now changed, and we seemed to be in a new

THE IRISH IN THE FEDERAL ARIIY.—The follow- I
ing letter from the United States Consul in Dublin appears
in the Dublin Evening Mail:—" The Irish press would con-
fer a great benefit on many of its readers, and especially on
the humbler classes, who may have claims on the United
States Government for pensions, arrears of pay, county
prize money, &c., as parents, widows, or next of kin of its
deceased soldiers and sailors, by the publication of this
letter, informing such persons that their claims will bo pre-
pared and presented by me to the proper department of my
Government on receiving the necessary instructions and
information ; and that documents executed in this country
to be used as evidence in America are worthless without
the seal and signature of a United States Consul. I am
constantly receiving claims and other papers that have
been returned from the United States as defective, being
without such seal and signature, thereby causing much un-
necessary delay and expense ; and, inasmuch as numbers
of poor people travel long distances (one poor aged woman
having lately walked from Galway) to give their personal
attendance at this Consulate, it would save much hardship
and expense to many poor creatures wore it known that
nearly all consular business may be done by correspondence,
and that letters seeking information on any subject what-
ever connected with America, if directed ' United States
Consul, Dublin,' will come safely to hand and receive a
prompt reply. I would respectfully call the attention of
clergymen, justices of the peace, landlords, and solicitors,
whose advice is usually sought by those having such
claims, to the foregoing information; and I am also anxious
to give publicity to the fact that to the poor in particular
I am always ready to render every service in my power.
In conclusion, permit me to state that I have reason to
know that there are many thousands of pounds in the Trea-
sury of my Government awaiting claims from the next of
kin of those slain in battle; &c., and that there aro hundreds
of such claimants in Ireland suffering from poverty who
are totally ignorant of there being any money due to
them, or of the means of obtaining it, which I am ready
and willing to procure, and the Government is most de-
sirous to pay."
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if bilious attacks be allowed to continue without using
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tion, rendering each tributary organ perfect in its function
and stimulating the kidneys.

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 13, 1865.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The object and limits of Sir Henry
Storks' mission to Jamaica are clearly stated in the
special order of appointment, which we republish
from the Gazette of last night. It is there premised
that in the Commission of Governor Eyre, which
was doubtless framed in the usual form, due provi-
sion had been made for the government of the island
in the event of his " death, incapacity, or absence,"

but not for the delegation of any Other person to
conduct the government " during his presence
therein." The order goes on to recite " that it is

alleged that great disaffection has prevailed in our
said island, and that sundry evil-disposed persons
have concerted the destruction of other our subjects
resident therein," and, further, that " grievous dis-
turbances have broken out in our said island, and

have been suppressed, and the said disturbances and
suppression have been attended with great loss of
life, and it is alleged that excessive and unlawful
severity has been used in such suppression." It
then recognises in ample terms the necessity of a
full and impartial inquiry into the origin, nature,

and circumstances of the disturbances-, as well as
into the measures adopted for their suppression, the
expediency of Mr. Eyre being on the spot during the
inquiry, and the impropriety of his continuing to
exercise the functions of a Governor in the mean-
time. Upon these grounds it proceeds to revoke Mr.
Eyre's Commission from and after the time when
this order shallibe duly notified in the island, " and
thenceforth until we shall think fit to determine
these presents," constituting Sir H. Storks Captain-
General and Governor-in-Chief in Mr. Eyre's room
and investing him for the time being with all the
authority belonging to that office. The effect of
this temporary Commission will be that Sir H.
Storks, who sails for Jamaica on Monday next, will,
immediately upon his arrival, assume the whole
government of Jamaica, and that Mr. Eyre will be
in the position of a Governor on leave. He will be
superseded, but not displaced, by Sir H. Storks,
who, in fact, does not cease to be Governor of
Malta, and whose administration of Jamaica will be
essentially provisional. We presume, however, that
a General of high standing despatched on an errand
so exceptional will be armed with one important
power beyond those of a civil Governor. By the
rules of the Colonial Service, a civilian, a naval
officer, or a military officer of inferior rank to that
of Colonel, who may be appointed to a Colonial
Government, is not invested with the command of
her Majesty's forces, though he is empowered to
issue general instructions for the distribution of
troops. On the other hand, a military officer of-
Colonel's rank or upwards holding the office of Go-
vernor may be, and sometimes is, appointed by her
Majesty to the chief command of the forces within
the colony. In the present instance there are mani-
fest reasons why this arrangement should be made.
The existing state of Jamaica is far too critical to
be exposed to the slightest risk of divided counsels,
such as those which have prolonged and aggravated
the war in New Zealand. How far Governor
Eyre and General O'Connor may have agreed
or differed as to the measures to be taken
against the Jamaica insurgents we have no means
of knowing, but it would be highly impolitic to pre-
judice the success of Sir H. Storks' mission by allow-
mg any restriction or encroachment on his responsi-
bility.
Being temporary Governor of Jamaica and
President of the Commission of Inquiry, he ought
also to be Commander of the Forces, nor can any
one of these three duties be severed with safety from
the others. No one but the acting Governor could
duly proseute the inquiry ; no one could be intrusted
with the supreme military command but the person
commissioned by her Majesty to inquire into the
alleged abuse of it by another General officer, and
this person, as we have seen, must also be the Go-
vernor. By combining these three capacities, and in
no other way, we may hope that Sir H. Storks will
be able to pacify Jamaica and to reconcile the de-
mands of equity with the interests of public order.
A more arduous and delicate task has seldom been
confided to a servant of the Crown, and it is due to
Sir H. Storks no less than to those who have selected
him, to express the conviction that it could not have
been confided to one more worthy of confidence.
There are few officers of the same age who have seen
more active and various service than Sir H. Storks;
there are none, perhaps, who have had equal oppor-
tunities of showing that which is the better part of
valour in so many trying emergencies. Again and
again Sir 11. Storks has been called in to solve some
difficulty which was not of his own creation. A great
part of his life has been spent in special services.
He was on special service at the Cape of Good Hope
in 1846, and was Assistant-Adjutant-General for
the two following years in the Caffre War ; he was
afterwards Military Secretary at the Mauritius, and
also acted for some time as the Private Secretary
of the Governor ; he commanded a motley and not
very docile foreign contingent at Smyrna and Scu-
tari during the Crimean War ; having managed to
organise them effectively, he managed to disband
them peaceably when the war was over ; he filled
the difficult post of Secretary for Military Corre-
spondence when the new relations between the
\Var Office and Horse Guards were first established;
lie kept the lonian Islands in good order, if not in
good humour, after the publication of Sir J.
Young's despatch had disclosed our half-informed
intention of evacuatingthem, and he withdrew from
a situation which it was a feat to have held at all

amid the grateful applause of the whole population.
He has now been transferred for a time from the

government of Malta to that of a colony which at
this moment engrosses the whole attention of the
Colonial-office, and is distracted by troubles that
have caused violent agitation in this country. To
this great trust he was only summoned by a tele-
graphic message to Malta on Wednesday night, and
it deserves to be recorded as an act of prompt de-
votion to the call of duty that Sir H. Storks was
on his way in the course of the next day, and
actually reached London from Malta in three days
and a half. To Governor Eyre himself such an
appointment is the least unfair or humiliating that
could have been made, while it ought to be satis-
factory even to his accusers. With a Bill of In-
demnity passing, if it has not already passed,
through the Colonial Parliament, it would have
been necessary to institute some independent in-
quiry, even bad no suspicious facts come to light.
It would be idle to deny, however, that facts of this
kind have come to light—facts which are probably
capable of modification, which are possibly capable
of explanation, but which, if left unmodified and
unexplained, would reflect deep disgrace on our
Colonial Government. For their own sake Go-
vernor Eyre and his subordinates must be virtually
placed on their trial ; they cannot be examined
here, for all the evidence against them is in the
West Indies ; nor can the Governor be so exa-
mined there so long as he is clothed with the high
prerogatives of his office. It is not easy to see
what else could have been done than what has been
done, and, if it was to be done, it could hardly
have been done with less harshness or more judg-
ment. Pending the result of the investigation, Sir
H. Storks is still Governor and Military Com-
mandant at Malta; his Commission, therefore, bears
an ad interim character on the face of it, and may
be terminated at any moment. No one but those
who feel a cruel pleasure in the dishonour of their
countrymen can fail to wish that his Report may
clear Governor Eyre from the worst charges that
have been made against him. No one but those
who are blinded by a false patriotism to the dic-
tates of humanity and justice can desire that any
particle of the truth should be sacrificed to motives
of policy.
POST.-With the new year will be inaugurated a
scheme for the better management and disposition
of fire-engines throughout the metropolis. The
establishment hitherto known as the London Fire
Brigade will cease to exist, only to spring, phoenix-
like, from the ashes of its dissolution into an organi-
sation more imposing and, effective. Foreigners
have never been tired of expatiating on British
anomalies, and amongst these the organisation of
our metropolitan fire department has puzzled them
not in the least degree. With an accumulation of
perishable wealth that has no equal, for an equal
area, in any other city of the world, London has
hitherto put up with a fire organisation the construc-
tive basis of which is so defective that it does vio-
lence to the quality an Englishman is supposed to
plume himself upon in the highest degree—sound
common sense. Whilst in Paris the fire depart-
ment is military in its rank and organisation,go-
vernmental in its origin ; whilst its corps are trained
to regard fire broken out beyond limits as a common
enemy, that of this city—the London Fire Brigade
as it has been called since the late Mr. Braidwood
took the metropolitan engines in hand—regarded
fires from a personal point of view. The London
Brigade engines, we need hardly state, were sup-
ported by the various assurance offices ; the revenue
from that source being supplemented by fines re-
coverable from the owners of chimneys on fire.
From this statement we of course exclude the small
parochial engines, never of much avail, and becom-
ing less and less useful each succeeding year,
owing to the increased elevation of new metro-
politan buildings. It is almost unnecessary to
discuss the tendency of the above organisation.
The principle of it is wholly vicious, and whenever
this happens the tendency will evolve itself to con-
elusions m practice. True policy dictates that fire
beyond bounds—a conflagration—should be looked
upon as a common enemy ; but the tendency of
influences to which the London Fire Brigade is
L subject is to invest conflagrations with a greater or
a lesser importance according as the premises on
fire may be insured or uninsured. The case might
frequently happen when the Metropolitan Fire
Brigade might find itself called upon to decide be-
tween public interests and private influences,--we