The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-15 00:00:00

effect of having no public meeting. What a dif-
ferent thing it would be to send a nomination to
the clergyman, and to nominate in an open meet-
ing. What influence a clergyman could use in
sending round the voting papers, how opponents
of his projects might be accidentally passed by,
and _how especially, in the scrutiny carried on by
himself in his own library, many names might
be dropped as disqualified, though disqualified
only by the prejudices of the scrutineer. How
few comparatively, however, would vote when
they had to exercise the privilege, from first to
last, under such surveillance ; and in how many
cases, where now there is no pretext for attempt-
ing to reverse the decision of the show of hands,
and where it would incur odium to demand a poll,
a poll, under every disadvantage to the Liberal
side, must, according to this Bill, be of necessity
taken. Parishes are by no means, however,
ecclesiastical divisions of the country ; they are
notoriously secular districts. The churchwarden,
too, has no properly spiritual duties ; he needs no
ordination ; he is a teacher for secular purposes
only, and is, according to the highest legal autho-
rity, a merely temporal officer. There are not
wanting places in England and Wales in which
the churchwardens are the only constituted pub-
lic officers, and the vestry the only parish meet-
ing. In numerous cases, " the carrying out of
public objects," as Mr. SMITH remarks, " depends
entirely on the readiness with which the Church-
wardens will summon vestries when desired, and
carry into effect the determinations of the vestry."
The proposed Bill is nothing less than an attempt
to subvert completely the freedom of parish elec-
tion to get rid of all the well-known safe-
guards of free 'election—and. to hand our parishes
over, bound, so far, hand and foot, to the manage-
ment of the priesthood. We have ourselves known
several cases in which the parish, asserting -vigor-
ously its right to choose a right-minded Church-
warden, has put an end to priestly interference
with parish meetters, and kept the parish in com-
parative peace and quiet. In modifying Church-
rate exactions alone, the people's right to choose
freely their own churchwarden has been of the
greatest service. Most earnestly de we hope that
this Bill is not a part of the secret treaty by which
the new Ministry has, according to report, suc-
ceeded in numbering among its majority in the
House of Lords the whole Bench of Bishops. We
cannot forget that in the present Cabinet and
Ministry, are many who attribute to Bishops
supernatural powers, and would assign to them
plenary rights, in which the vast majority of the
ten-pound householders have no faith at all.
The present Ministry must, therefore, be closely
watched in Episcopal and all Church matters,

Tha Directors of the Bank of England have
presented a pleasing ^" New-Year's Gift" to the
'trading and commercial 'interests of the United
Kingdom.. The phrase is that of our respected
contemporary, the Manchester Examiner, which,
in an, article of great ability, comments upon the
strange and almost inexplicable proceedings of the
elderly dowagers who manage the affairs of the
" Old Lady of Threadneedle-street." The Board
has decided on an adTance of the minimum. rate
of interest from 21.. to 2/., 10s. per cent., an in-
crease of 25 per cent. on the rates previously
charged, and it is more than probable that
a further augmentation is under consideration..
If the concern could be considered of a
private character, and that the welfare and pro-
sperity of the industrious classes were not to be
in any degree affected by its acts, we should
allow the twenty-four Directors to mismanage
their own affairs without any observation on our
part. Tlie kradUal diminution of the dividend
would speedily induce the proprietors to call for a
total change in the system of management, and
the evil might be allowed to suggest its own re-
medy. But, unfortunately, the Bank is invested
with peculiar privileges, which constitute it the
Controller of the National Currency. It may,
at the mere will and pleasure of the twenty--
four oligarchs, reduce the circulating medium
to the narrowest limits, and create dismay and
panic throughout the entire country. If matters
were left to themselves, they would go on well
enough ; but the Board deem it essential occa-
sionally to exhibit symptoms of vitality, and now
and then to make a move, in order to show that
they are an existing body.
The most extraordinary part of their conduct
is, that these movements are generally in the
wrong direction, and that they are made at the
merest hap-hazard, without any directing rule or
principle. When there was but 10,000,0001. of
specie in the vaults, and the notes unemployed
were beneath the 4,000,0001, considered neces-
sary for carrying OR the private business of the
establishment, every possible facility was afforded ;
but with more than 20,000,0001. in their coffers,
and 10,000,000/. of idle capital, the " screw" is
again put on—as if they could arrest the pro-
gress of speculation, and send down the shares of
the various companies, by an addition of one-half
per cent. to the rate of discount.

It is not the speculators who suffer in the
first instance. They cannot be reached until in
enormous amount of injury has been inflicted on
the commercial, trading, and working classes. A.
trifling change in the terms of the Bank, any
indication of " the screw," will greatly enhance the
charges for monetary accommodation to the sra4ll
fry, by those favoured members of the moneyocrady
who have " discount accounts" at head-quarterls.
Those parties calculate their profits so nicely—the eX-
traordinary competition renders it necessary thi,t
they should do so—that a comparatively trifling
change in the rate of interest will transfer the
balance to the wrong side of the ledger—will rs-
- a prosperous firm to ruin and bankruptcy,
and throw the numerous employes out of work.
On the other hand, a person dabbling on the
Stock Exchange, with many open accounts, wl
think nothing of paying 20, 30, or even 40 per
cent, for the short time that may be necessary to
carry his undertaking to a successful termination.
He will most probably profit in due time by the
change, by being metamorphosed from a bull to a
bear, and becoming a speculator for a fall in place Of
a rise. It is manifest, therefore, that the shaft
flies in the wrong direction—that it wounds those
who should be supported, and assists the very
parties against whom it was aimed.

But should a power so recklessly exercised be
permitted to remain in such hands ? Certainly
not. If the Bank of England is to continue so
closely connected with the State, it should be
placed under the control of Statesmen of acknow-
ledged ability, responsible to Parliament and the
people for their conduct. The approaching ter-
mination of the existing Charter will afford a fitting
opportunity for the change. As a private Bank-
ing Corporation the proprietors will reap
even larger emoluments than:heretofore. No-
thing will be pulled down save the inflated vanity
of the " twenty-four." An able and responsible
Minister will not injure the trading community
on trivial or inadequate grounds, nor will the
secrets be suffered to leak out before the proper
time to parties who derive large profits from
SURREPTITIOUSLY OBTAINED INFORMATION ! ! It
is but too notorious that such information
is obtained at present. By what means it is not
necessary to specify. We do not impute any
direct complicity or wilful venality to the Direc-
tors. Although they might directly or indirectly
profit, very largely by the priority of information,
we are willing to believe that they do not do so--
that they are rather subjected to the " pumping"
process by men of greater acuteness, who pick up
valuable information when the venerable gentle-
men are "vino ciboque gravatus." It is known
that, as a body, they are not insensible to the
charms of turtle-soup, and that old tawny crusted
port path charms in the eyes of some, at least, of
the august confraternity. Some indication of the
'mighty cares,' the exciting topics urged at "the
parlour" in the morning, will ooze out on the
Thursday afternoon—which will be taken full ad-
vantage of by the acute listeners, and' twenty-
four different companies will profit by the sybilline
v,aticinations that, fall from theig lips in moments
.of relaxation, .without, perhaps, a notion on their
part-of the extent to which they haVe committed
themselves.

Without then assailing the motives of the Board,
we must be permitted to question the utility of

placing so important a department of public affairs
under the sole ianagement of gentlemen selected
solely for their supposed wealth or convivial
capabilities. There is nothing on which the wel-
fare and prosperity of the corn:Airy so greatly
depends as on the discreet management of its cir-
culating medium, which has been styled " the
very life-blood of industry." Why, then, not
transfer the important duty of regulating that im-
portant matter to a responsible Minister of the
Crown, who would have to answer in Parliament for
any abuse or indiscreet exercise of power
that might injuriously affect the commercial,
manufacturing, or trading interests of the com-
munity. There would surely be a better guaran-
antee for sagacious and prudent management
under such a system that with that now in ope-
ration.

While sincerely willing to give the present Mi-
nistry the fairest play and the fullest scope, and
while believing them to be intellectually com-
petent to all that could be asked of any Govern-
ment, we yet think it the duty of both the press
and the country not to go to sleep through undue
confidence in their new Administrators and Legis-
lators. As a body they will need watching
quite as much as other men in office. Those
amongst the " combination" who are Reformers
more from necessity than inclination, must have
necessity laid upon them ; and those included in
it who are tried and hearty Reformers, must have
their steam kept up by the ardour of popular sup-
port—not perhaps so much on their own account,
though office is somewhat of a refrigerator to men
of the people, as to add the most effective of all
power to their Cabinet arguments. That secret
voting which Cabinets cling to for themselves,
while they refuse it to the people—that secret
voting on which important puts of a Government
measure often depend, depends itself very much
on what a Cabinet perceives the people are deter-
mined to have. We lay it. down as an axiom;
that the present Cabinet will of itself do nothing
hearty and generous in the way of reform. It
will do as much as will content the people,
and no more. Its standard and test for
a Reform Bill will be—What will pass
muster ? It has but one honest Reformer
in i t ; and what is he against twelve others
' who, since ' 1832, have avowed or practised
finality doctrines--against twelve men who, it is
stated, are already sure of the co-operation of a
majority' in the House of Lords, including all the
Bishops. The latter may seem a trivial circum-
stance. With us it has great weight. No clique of
men are, as a body, more averse to popular mea-
sures=none more afraid of their cathedrals and
thgir chapters being invaded by profane eyes
than the Bishops. One Sir BENJAMIN HALL, and
one H.ORSMAN, , are horrible .enough ; and any
measure likely to furnish a tolerable crop of such
legislators would be scented afar off by their spi-
ritual Lordships. Such straws indicate the direc-
tion of the current, especially when we already
pretty well know its natural course.. -It is by no
means in an ungenial and carping spirit that we
thus write-i—it is from a deep conviction that,
with the .present Ministry, as with almost any
other, all that the people will gain they must gain
for themselves. Just as our Judges, in the Superior
Courts especially, always endeavour to escape de--
ciding a great and general principle of law involv-
ing the merits of a case, and seek to ride off upon
some minor point, so our Ministries all evade,
if they can, anything in the shape of electoral'
reform ; especially do they avoid adopting any
great principle as wise, just, and expedient. A
thousand pleas are always at hand. Some ad-
mirable proposition is shelved because they " do
not like bit-by-bit reform ;" now. it is too soon in
the session—they have not had time to consider
it ; now too late to hope to carry it. Now the
Government themselves are considering the sub-
ject ; or, again, it is too busy to attend to it
this session, but will attend to it early in the
next. Sometimes it will " embarrass the Govern-
ment you have hitherto supported ;" at others,
if too feasible to be opposed directly, or even to
be met by the previous question, it must be
shelved by referring it to a committee, and the
Government " will confer with the Honourable
Member respecting its nomination." Now, while
gladly recognising the fact that the greater part of
the present Cabinet are improving and improvable
men, we cannot believe that, unless they think it
will lengthen their tenure of office, they will prove
to be very earnest Reformers. We have had ex-
perience enough of the old Whigs in it ; and the
numerous Peelites have shown no inclination to
reform the Reform Bill. They accepted that
measure when they could not help it, but did their
best to develope those aristocratical qualities in it
which Lord JOHN RUSSELL himself boasted of.
In the subordinate offices, indeed, are found
some honest and ' thorough-going - Reformers
some who even advocate giving the people
independent votes: But what, again, are they
among so many ? We hope and believe that
they will have some weight. We are even wil-
ling to accept their appointment as a kind of
pledge to the public . that something worthy of
their past political conduct shall be done ; yet,
if it be such a pledge," it is still equally necessary
for the country to exact the fulfilment of the
pledge. If the people do not energetically, and
by every demonstration in their power, treat
these appointments as a pledge, they may find
too late that their VILLIERSES, and MOLESWORTHS,
and OSBORNES, have been rather taken as hos'tages
to keep them from holding inconvenient public
meetings, and sending up inconvenient deputa-
tions and petitions to Ministers and - to Parlia-
ment. We are confident that the really reforni-
ing part of the Ministry would thank us for this
advice to the public. They know that they will
need all the moral weight the people can give
them to spur on their colleagues to a reasonable
speed. With the people openly
on their side,
they may, probably without much difficulty, in-
duce the present Ministry to propose, and to pro-
pose early, a substantial Reform Bill, if not such
a one as we should think quite satisfactory.
Sir JAMES GRAHAM, at Carlisle, seemed to cal-
culate upon borough constituencies being left by
the new Reform Bill, sufficiently small to be pur-
chased wholesale by the W. B.'s and. their FRAILS,
even though the Rallot were conceded ; but we
confess that we have been chiefly prompted to
these remarks, ';by the language of Lord JOHN
RITSSELL and of Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT, pleading
for an extension of time for bringing in their bill.
Lord JOHN thinks a Ministry . which has
any title to confidence " may claim forbear-
ance as to the time and manner in which their
measures are brought forward." Mr. SIDNEY
HERBERT, who speaks after nearly every Minister,
is safe again in his seat, appears to explain this
more definitely, when he states, "that, with respect
to the question of Reform, the Ministry
should
seek from the country time to give it a patient and
deliberate consideration." Now, we respect the
plea for time. when a debtor has assets which are
difficult to realise ; but we should look with sus-
picion. on one who made use 'of it when we knew
that he had an imniense deposit at his bankers.
We think the latter is the case with the question
of Electoral Reform. The Bill of 1832 has aw
ust
been twenty years at work without showing
plainly enough its faulty parts. We care not much,
what wide extension of suffrage be adopted, we
would not fight very hard about a five-pound
rating or a five-pound rental suffrage :
it has but
once a qualification is fixed upon, then
country. The
to be honestly applied to the whole .
1 b.
number of in ia i.-
late census gives us the present but when
needed but honesty,
the kingdom, and nothing is ne
tants and houses in every borough
number of members
simple honesty, to arrange the num
only for frau-
dulentand county in
accordingly. Time can be wanted
.
juggleries—no other
pre-
sent Ministry to repeat the
by which
the juggleries
purposes--wanted only to enable the
word is appropriate
boroughs were carved
to please one of the
to conciliate an opponent, or
deed many
out of agricultural districts
"family ;" by 'which, in ) large boroughs
deed
of them put off with a,
single Member, wwere created, buh
ti
som
thel
e
e
most contemptible
honoured with. as many
agri-
cultural te'tv filets :were
votes in the House of Commons as Marylebone or
Manchester. We shall take an opportunity to
display, ere long, a few of these abominations of