The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

THE " SATURDAY REVIEW" ON PARLIAMENTARY
REFORM.—The intentions of the country and of the
House of Commons with reference to Parliamentary
Reform might furnish metaphysicians with a new
illustration of the pardox of free will and necessity.
With absolute control over its own actions, the com-
munity is content blindly to wonder whether it is
about to effect a great constitutional change. What
statesmen can do, and what they will do, is doubt-
ful, especially as the officialleaders of opinion openly
ask for guidance and pressure from their followers.
It is generally agreed by all, except the consistent
adherents of Mr. Bright, that no improvement in
legislation or in administrative practice is to be ex-
pected from an extension of the constituency. The
demand for additional hands to the rope is preferred
exclusively for the satisfaction of those who are at
present debarred from a share in the labour of go-
vernment. There is no doubt that there may be an
advantage in -providing employment for a certain

lumber of discontented. idlers. The mobs which have

lately disgraced several towns by their violence I
probably consisted of non-electors, and it is possible
that the possession of a vote might devclope the
rudiments of decency and self-respect. The class,
however, which is supposed to desire enfranchise-
ment is too respectable to create disturbance, except
under the influence of genuine political excitement.
The workmen of great factories in the North are
often intelligent, and they are said to feel a corpo-
rate desire for a share of electoral power. At the
same time, it must be remembered that a mechanic
or artisan with an income of £lOO or £l5O a year
generally takes little trouble to acquire, or even to
register a vote. When the working classes are told
that they care little for the, extension of the fran-
chise, they always denounce the statement as a
calumny, but it is evident that in their individual
capacities they are almost indifferent to the privilege.
If a certain number of seats could be given up to
the manufacturing operatives, all parties would be
inclined to settle the question by a rough empirical
compromise. The existing constituencies are willing
to be diluted, while they reasonably object to be
swamped. No practical scheme has, however, yet
been suggested for buying off the most formidable
claimants of the suffrage. Although nine-tenths of
the House of Commons would be glad to leave things
as they are, there are wide differences of opinion as
to the prudence of total inaction. Mr. Bright and
Mr. Lowe agree on the probable tendency of any
considerable measure of Reform. They believe that
the present constituency maintains a political and
social system which is obnoxious either to tha in-
terests or to the prejudices of poorer classes. It
would follow that a large extension of the franchise
would lead to important consequences, and Mr.
Bright especially hopes that it would cause a redis-
tribution of landed property. If Parliament were
once thoroughly convinced of the soundness of Mr.
Bright's judgment, it would be useless for any party
or for any Government to propound a scheme of
Reform. English society is not prepared to undergo
total reorganisation in a time of unprecedented
prosperity. There may be many advantages in a
subdivision of property, but accumulation is more
consistent with the national habits of thought ; and
the rapid increase and wide diffusion of wealth and
of luxury every day multiply the natural supporters
of an aristocratic social system. It happens that the
theories of commercial freedom which were once ad-
vocated by Mr. Bright are at present chiefly supported
by the upper and middle classes who exercise political
power. Mr. Lowe commanded the assent of his
audience when he vindicated the legislation of the
last thirty years as thoroughly enlightened and
beneficent. He inferred, like Mr. Bright, that the
representative body had expressed the convictions
and principles of the constituency, and that a new
body of electors would probably introduce sweep-
ing modifications of financial and general policy.
A few years ago Mr. Bright announced that a re-
formed Parliament would throw the whole burden
of taxation on the class which would have been pre-
liminarily deprived of all electoral power. He now
adds that the public expenditure would be largely
reduced ; but even if his anticipations were well-
founded, the prospect of stricter economy can never
furnish an argument for organic revolution. The
same House of Commons which is asked tointro-
duce promiscuous suffrage has absolute power to
reduce the estimates according to its own judgment
of expediency. While democrats in England con-
sult public opinion by promising a diminution of
expenditure, their American allies are proving, to
their own satisfaction, that a national debt is a bless-
ing ; and, amongst other reasons for their conclu-
sion, they dwell on the advantage of high customs
duties in affording incidental protection to domestic
industry. The House of Commons is, on the whole,
not prepared to adopt Mr. Lowe's belief that a mode-
rate reform would promote the designs of Mr.
Bright. There is a general feeling that the danger
of revolution would be diminished by some
limited concession, and almost every prominent
Liberal politician, with the exception of Lord Pal-
merston and Mr. Gladstone, took the opportunity
of the election to intimate atheoretical concurrence in
a moderate Reform Bill. As Lord Russell could not
appear at the hustings, Lord Amberley, with amiable
simplicity, informed the electors of Leeds that his
father had just published a new edition of his well-
known work, with additional notes or appendices in
favour of Reform. Lord Palmerston probably in-
tended to discourage constitutional changes, but the
silence of Mr. Gladstone may bear an opposite in-
terpretation. His former imprudent defence of
universal suffrage gave sufficient notice to the ex-
treme Liberals that, if they had a chance of power,
they would not want for a leader; but, for the pre-
sent, Mr. Gladstone is willing to act with his col-
leagues, reserving himself for the choice of a policy
when he assumes the chief conduct of affrirs. Some
of his political opponents have more definitely fa-
voured the projects of the moderate Reformers. Mr.