The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-17 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

THIS DAT.—Morning, Bh. 30m.—Afternoon, 9h. 10m.
To-Moußow.-Alorning, 9h. 45m.—Afternoon, 10h. 22m.

rtl)7 41
I+-*0 P"- un

LONDON, MONDAY, JULY 17, 1865.

An opposition has been got up at the eleventh
hour to Lord ELciro, which, it is to he hoped, will
prove unsuccessful, for the defeat of the noble lord
will be a great loss to the House of Commons.
Lord ELcuo made a long speech, in which he fully
stated his views on many important subjects, re-
specting which some misapprehensions had been
entertained. He declared that he had been erro-
neously styled a great anti-Reformer, but nothing
was further from the fact. lle had said in his pre-
vious address that the time had come when " this
question should not be kept dangling before the
people in the way it had been, but that it should
be definitely settled on a firm and secure basis."
'There is no doubt that this is the exact truth now
as it was then, and the noble lord showed his dis-
cernment and discretion in thus expressing himself.
In the course of his explanation Lord ELCHO made
some remarks which did not meet the views of
some of his hearers, and several amusing interrup-
tions took place. When his lordship declared that .
he was in favour of government aristocracy, in-
stead of " inconsiderate democratic change," there
was a general outcry, but the noble lord explained
his real meaning by showing them the derivation of
the word " aristocracy." It comes from the Greek
word " aristos", which means" best," and therefore he
waft in favour of the government of the best, but he
denied that he meant only the rich by this, because
the upper, middle, and lower classes could all come
under that denomination. There was great force in
some of the arguments met with in this speech, and
the discrimination here evidenced contrasts favour-
ably with the wild extremes into which some rush
in the excitement of the hour.

Lord ELcuo considers that the best way to deal
with the great and all-important question of reform
will, be to treat it as minor questions are settled. He
proposes that all that is done in the way of Reform
should be done after "full inquiry," " that it should
be taken out of the domain of party, and that we
should get information on the subject through a
Royal Commission, so as to enable Government to
deal with the question in the most satisfactory
manner. Many will disagree with this proposal ;
but the noble lord has vindicated his right to
be considered a Reformer, and not the
bigoted old Tory that some had thought fit to de-
clare. For many reasons Lord ELCHO is an acqui-
sition to the House of Commons, and his services to
the Volunteer service alone entitle him to the re-
spect and gratitude of the community. The noble
lord is a deep thinker, and such men are required
in the House at present, where so many rush to
extremes in the pursuance of their various plans and

projects.

East Kent has become the scene of an animated
controversy, Sir NORTON KNATCHBULL having come
forward in the Conservative interest. In these days
of tame subserviency to Ministerial proposals it is
rather refreshing to find a candidate who declares
that if they return him, he " shall go to Parliament
as the direct opponent of the present Government..”
If there had been more to say this, and to have
acted upon it, affairs would have been better con-
ducted at home and abroad than they have been
during the last six years. Sir NORTON KNATCII-
BULL made an amusing speech, in which he ridi-
culed the course pursued by the Ministers and their
friends in taking the merit of all advantageous
measures to themselves. Thus, he went on to say,
they claimed the benefit of steam communication,
railways, improvements in science, the discovery
of Australian and Californian gold. It reminded
him of the tale of " Puss in Boots," where the cat
went on telling the people of the country,
" If you don't say that everything belongs
to the Marquis of CARABBAS you shall
all be chopped into mincemeat." Really
this is very much the way in which people go on,
and it is just as well for some acute adversary now
and then to expose the fallacious system employed.
No one can say that the Ministers who now claim
the support of the country are popular, with the
exception of Lord PALMERSTON, and one of them

can boast much, and even he, be it is said, will not
long continue his exertions in the foremost place to
defend his colleagues and make up for their many
deficiencies of divers sorts.

Sir B. BRIDGES very properly censured the course
pursued by the Government with respect to Den-
mark In this, as in many other things, Ministers
have gained by the time that has elapsed since the
occurrences took place. Had the dissolution
happened last year they would have come in for
several sharp hits, and heard some home truths
more profitable than pleasant. Sir B. BRIDGES, in
criticising the members of the Government, de-
clared with truth that Lord PALMERSTON "had a
rum team to drive." The noble lord was famed, he
said, for supporting his friends, right or wrong, but
the pursuance of this plan, as the hon. baronet said,
often led him into a defence of jobbery, and "had
lately pressed upon a noble and learned lord to
retain an office which he had much better have
given up." In common with almost all the candi-
dates of both parties, Sir B. BRIDGES is in favour
of an extension of the franchise. The Liberals
have waited so long that they have lost this grand
card, which they once fondly hoped they could
keep exclusively to themselves, and the utmost that
they can do is to vary the theme, and make some
alterations for themselves. Sir E. DERING did not
say much that requires particular attention, some of
his friends or supporters had gone beyond him, and
he had seen a placard which said, " Vote for DERINd
and Universal Suffrage." Now, he stated, this was
incorrect, because he did not advocate universal
suffrage or anything approaching to it. It really
comes to very much the same thing in the end which
party is returned so far as Reform is concerned,
because there is nearly a unanimity of • opinion on
most points ; but, of course, it suits the purpose of
some to make the most capital they can out of the
affair, and announce themselves as the only true
disciples of progress. The community should judge
for themselves, and not be deceived by fortuitous
circumstances and flattering appearances.

A brief correspondence, which passed between
Mr. STUART MILL and some of his friends, has just
been published, in reference to that gentleman's
opinions on the Ballot. In the instance that was
especially brought under his notice, the new mem-
ber for Westminster had undoubtedly reason on his
side, but it is a matter of regret that so- advanced a
Liberal should rank himself among the acknow-
ledged opponents of one most substantial reform.
Mr. MILL was asked if he approved of the conjunc-
tion of the Ballot with open voting in districts where
a demand was made for it by a large number of
tradesmen and persons in a subordinate position. It
was shown by the querists that many persons belong-
ing to thes classes purposely kept their name off the
register so as to avoid the inevitable canvassing
which might, if they were made, put them in the
awkward position of offending one of two influen-
tial customers. Mr. MIDL'S answer was logical
enough, though it was by no means exhaustive. He
observes that an optional secrecy would be liable to
all objection of the -Ballot without its advantages,
since the fact of a hardly pressed elector declaring
that he was going to give a secret vote would be
accepted by the party demanding his support as
evidence that he intended giving it against him.
Further, Mr. MILL considers that "the in-
fluence which is strong enough to induce
him to vote against his convictions, would be strong

enough to compel him to give his vote openly as
long as he had the option of doing so." Mr. MILL

seems to form so correct a judgment as to the ex-
tent and nature of illegal influence that it is only
wonderful he should so resolutely oppose a measure
so consistent with his character and principles as a
Reformer. The arguments against the adoption of
secret voting are far more theoretical than practical.
We are told that the elector's vote is a public trust,
but it is a better way to fulfil a trust to sell it for
money, or to yield it to intimidation, than to exer-
cise it faithfully in secret ? We are told that it is
un-English, but, however inconsistent the theore-
tical character of the British Lion, it is certainly

more adapted to secure a fair representation of the

people, one of the fundamental principles of the
English constitution, than our present system. We
do not act on this theory of excessive frankness in
every-day life. No one, however little given to
falsehood, would care to live in Mdme. de GENUS'S
famous Palace of Truth for long together. In fact,
the quick-witted Frenchwoman knew very
well that such an establishment would
prove intolerable, and accordingly the kindest
thing that the good genius could do at the

denouement was to transform the inconvenient tale.

telling Palace into a more discreet and silent
dwelling-place. It is undoubtedly true that men
should be superior to all personal or family con-
siderations when the good of the country is at
stake ; but, in spite of the declamations of rival
candidates, no quiet tradesman or tenant-farmer
can suppose that the social system will be much
affecte I by his individual vote, so that we need not
wonder to find our lower middle classes susceptible
of influences to which our statesmen and
moralists themselves do not always rise su-
perior. No one pretends to say that our
present mode of conducting elections is imma-
culate ; no one denies that bribery, corruption,
intimidation, and influence play a large part in
furnishing the Parliamentary quota. We shall
probably find a good many striking illustrations of
the defects of our electioneering system in
the revelations of the new Parliament ;
but gentlemen go on denouncing the
theoretical objections to the Ballot as if the
evils of the existing plan were merely fanciful or
visionary. The matter, however, goes much deeper
than that. It is not the question which party shall
get the predominance, whether money shall bring
in this undivideal, or influence exclude that. The
whole tone of our political life is lowered by the
dishonest system of electioneering which prevails.
It is a prolific source of evils, and no lectures on
political morality, or good faith and upright con-
duct, will be of the slightest service so long as we
place men in positions of great temptation without
the slightest shield. A prolonged experience has
shown that our present arrangements are most
faulty. Why, then, not make the experiment which
has for years worked successfully in the clubs with-
out our upper ten thousand being designated as
cowardly," or " un-English ?" It is the fear that
the ballot will succeed too well in securing the inde-
pendence of voters that makes all parties shrink
from it. This secret Mr. MILL will discover before
very long.

The Federal authorities at "Washington are them-
selves suffering from the suddenness and violence
of the reaction. With some millions of famished
and impoverished people, black and white, thrown
upon their hands, with anarchy reigning triumphant
throughout large districts, and life and property
spared by the law, sacrificed by the robber or the
incendiary, with the fertile fields and granaries of the
South still bearing traces of the ruthless course of
the victorious Northern armies ; with the whole
line of SHERMAN'S march marked with ruin and de-
solation, the coveted supremacy has not brought
them very substantial blessings. The task which
they have assumed is diffitult and dangerous, but j
they have brought it upon thenmelva, and while I