The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-11 00:00:00

THE POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT.

The Earl of ABERDEEN having moved the adjourn-
ment of the house, their lordships were all rising to leave,
when

The Earl of DERBY said—Before the house adjourns,
I trust her Majesty's Government will allow me to put a
question, or rather to make a single remark, which I
hope they will not think an unnecessary one. Under
ordinary circumstances at the commencement of the ses-
sion, as your lordships are aware, it is the practice, and
I venture to think a very useful practice, for the Minis-
ters of the clay, through the medium of the Royal Speech,
to explain more or less, though notdescending into minute
particulars, the general measures which it is the intention
of the Government to submit. lam well aware that at
the present moment we are not at the commencement of
a session, and that we meet under circumstances which
deprive us of hearing through the ordinary channel what
the intentions of her Majesty's Government may be, but
it is not the less necessary those intentions should be
promulgated. (Hear, hear.) Your lordships are
aware that at the present moment, Parliament having
been adjourned and not prorogued, and a new Govern-
ment having succeeded to office since the delivery of the
Royal Speech, we have no indication of the specific
measures which it is the intention of that Government to
submit to Parliament. Ido not put the question in any
hostile spirit, nor am I about to ask of her Majesty's
Government any expression of the general political prin-
ciples on which legislation will be conducted. The noble
earl opposite gave some explanation on his first assump-
tion of office ; and although that explanation did not
throw any great light on the general policy of the Go-
vernment, but left us in a state of as much uncertainty,
as to the course- which will be pursued, as before that
speech was delivered, and although, certainly, we are
unable to form any possible conjecture as to the line of
policy, or the general political principles, from the ante-
cedents and previous opinions of a portion of those who
compose the Government, I suppose if I put the question
I should receive much the same sort of general explana-
tion. My lords, I am not therefore anxious to ask on
what principles the Government is about to proceed ; but
I think I have a right to ask for a statement of the mea-
sures they intend to propose, as it is more desirable the
Government should be practically tested by those mea-
sures which they will submit to the consideration of
Parliament than by the vague generalities in which the
First Minister of the Crown may veil the policy which
it is intended to pursue. (Hear, hear.) This question
would have been rendered unnecessary by the noble
earl opposite- volunteering to state to yottr lordships
what are the specific measures and the principal mea-
sures he means to submit, and to which he thinks the
attention of this and the other House of Parliament
may be the most profitably and most usefully directed
in the course of the present session. The noble and
learned lord on the woolsack has given notice that on
Monday next he will inform the house what the Go-
vernment intend to propose with regard to the question
of law reform. With regard to that question I trust
they will follow the course which has reflected so
much credit on the assiduity and industry of my
noble and learned friend near me (Lord S.. Leonardo),
which assiduity and industry I am glad to find,
from the statement he has just made, he has not aban-
doned with that office from which, I may venture to
say in his presence, and even in the presence of the noble
and learned lord on the woolsack, this country has great
cause to regret his removal. I hope the course of law
reform entered upon so actively and energetically by my
noble and learned friend will not suffer by the transfer
of the seals to other hands than those of my noble and
learned 'friend ; and of this I am quite certain that to no
hands could they have been transferred with less proba-
bility of those reforms being prejud:ced than to those of
the noble and learned lord on the woolsack. But, my,
lords, I am informed it is the intention of the Govern-
ment, if that intention has not already been carried into
effect, to make a statement in the other house of Parlia-
ment in the course of this evening, by the mouth of one
of the noble earl's colleagues, indicating :the measures
which her. Majesty's Government will :troduce ; and
although it may be quite true that we shall probably
have the opportunity, by the usual breach of privilege,
r;cyft certaining to-morrow morning, through the ordi-
04Dnels hfforrnation; the course the Govern-
intend to pursue, I think it would be more con-
\t with: parliamentary practice, and would show
eufikleration fur yew. lordship house, if the head

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of the Government were to indicate the measures which
it is the intention of the Government to introduce—more
especially as I presume that the statement will be made
in the other house upon the joint responsibility of the
noble earl and his colleagues. (Hear.) I think it fully
as important tliat that statement should be made here,
because, from the circumstances of the present year, the
early part of this session must be more than ordinarily
occupied in the other house with business of a descrip-
tion in "which your lordships do not interfere, and that
will necessarily. postpone legislative measures, .how-
ever pressing, to a period of the year when it is very dif-
ficult to obtain the approval of your lordships and of
the other House of Parliament. Easter this, year occurs
at an unusually early period, and before the recess the
Government can only command a very few days for
bringing forward those necessary measures essential for
maintaining the army and navy, and during that time I
'am not aware of anything being before your lordships'
house. A quantity of valuable time is consumed in the
early period of the Session, without any business being
transacted, and the result is a hasty and imperfect per-
formance of legislative duties at the close of the session,
to the great disadvantage of your lordships, and to the
great disadvantage of the country. I think it desirable
that your lordships, should, as early as possible, be in a
position to judge practically of the confidence you are
able to place in the present Government—that you should
be informed what are the subjects to which, as I presume,
in the last six weeks they have directed their attention
—what are the subjects on which the Cabinet have
made up their minds, and what are the subjects they inten d
in the present session to submit to the consideration
of Parliament. (Hear, hear.) As I have already said,
I do not ask for the assertion of any general principles,
but I ask for a declaration of the measures the Govern-
ment intend to submit to Parliament. (Hear, hear.) I
think, more especially in the present state of parties, that
nothing can be more desirable than that the Government
—if they are desirous of conscientiously performing their
duties and proving by the practical measures they intro-
duce their capacity to govern—and yet not their
capacity, for of that there can be no doubt, as there
has seldom been embodied a larger amount of talent
than in the present Cabinet ; but I will say—proving
that the talent they possess is turned to its full pur-
pose for the service of the country, and that whatever
political, differences of opinion may have subsisted be-
tween them on former occasions, they are able to
combine and co-operate together for the purpose of
bringing forward measures which are useful and valu-
able to the country—that the Government should have
an opportunity of earning the confidence of the country
and establishing its claims to that confidence in a man-
ner far more satisfactory than can be achieved by a mere
declaration of principle, or by any announcement of the
views which they individually entertain. They will
have to be judged by their practice and performance,
and not by their declarations of principle, and I venture
to say on the part of myself and of those friends with
whom I have the honour of acting, that if they bring
forward such measures as we in our consciences, can

support and approve, they will receive from us not
only no opposition; not only no desire on our parts
to disturb the positions they hold, but nothing will
give us_ more satisfaction than to find we are able to
co-operate With them for the purpose of carrying
measures useful and beneficial to the country. (Hear)

On the other hand, weC)ught to know what course it is
the intention of the Government to pursue—we ought to
know how far they will adopt and carry out those mea-
sures partly shadowed forth by the noble earl opposite,
and whether he is inclined to bring forward measures 4
such a character as it will be impossible for a Conserva-
tive Opposition to approve.
Earl FITZWILLIAM, who spoke from the cross
benches, queStioned whether it was particularly conso-
nant with the 13iecedent and practice of former times to
Calf on the Administration, formed under the circum-
stances under which the present Administration was
formed, to declare the particular measures which they
intended to-propose. • His noble friend (the Earl of
Derby) would recollect that on the formation of the Go-
vernment, the noble earl at the head of it did declare dis-
tinctly the object' of the Administration was to main-
tain, support, and extend free commerce. So far, then,
the principles of the Administration had been declared.
How far it would.be expedient, at the present moment,
that -her Majesty's Ministers should enter into a state-
ment of the particular measures which they intended to
propose, was another question, and one into which he
should abstain on the present occasion from entering.
The question of law reform appeared to him to have
been taken up by the late Government, and to be now
resumed by the present Government. The public had
nothing further to expect than that the present adminis-
tration should carry into effect those reforms which
were prepared by the last administration, and which
they• had taken from those to whom they succeeded.
Notwithstanding, therefore, the curiosity of his noble
friend, he hoped the noble earl at the head of the Go-
vernment would not give too much satisfaction to that
curiosity, and not excite in the public mind too early a
consideration of measures which it might be afterwards
more prudent to abstain from pressing. He trusted that
the noble earl, from prudential considerations, would
not listen too hastily to the question which had been put
to him.

The Earl of ABERDEEN said—On the last day of
the meeting of the house I laid before your lordships, in
general terms, the principles on which the Government
had been formed, and on which they intended to act.
In addition he alluded to the principal subjects which,
would engage the attention of her Majesty's Govern-
ment, with a view to future legislation. Those subjects
have since that day occupied the attention of the Cabi-
net, and on those subjects, or the greater part of them,
I trust legislation will take place. But as that legisla-

tion must for the most part originate in the House o:

Commons, I believe that it would not, as the noble earl
states, be following the precedents in this house to an-
nounce to your lordship 4 measures which are to be
brought forward in the other house. With respect to
law reforms, my noble and learned friend (the. Lord Chan-

cellor) has already given notice of his intention to state
the measures which he has in readiness or preparation to
lay before your lordships. Notwithstanding what has
been done on that subject, I believe there is much yet to
do, and no doubt the measures prepared by my noble and
learned friend will sufficiently show that her Majesty's
Government have occupied their attention with that
subject. lam glad to know that the noble earl opposite
is prepared to examine these measures with impartiality
and fairness ; and if he should be able to give them his
support, undoubtedly it will very much facilitate their
passing into law ; but should they not meet his approval,
I still trust the measures now announced, or about to be
announced, will be such as to merit the support of your
lordships' house. (Hear, hear.)
The Earl of DERBY—I rejoice to hear that measures of

law reform are in a forward state of preparation for legisla-
tion ; but though I receive that statement with considerable
satisfaction, I am somewhat disappointed by the answer
given by the noble earl opposite, in which his Conclusions
differ from those of the noble earl on the cross benches.
The noble earl on the cross benches appears to consider
any statement of the intentions of the Government would
be wholly premature. No doubt, after the intimation
of the noble earl (the Earl of Aberdeen), that no infor-
mation will be given to the House of Lords by the Mi-
nister of the Crown, my noble friend (Earl Fitzwilliam)
will look with as much curiosity and anxiety as I shall
to the morning papers, for the purpose of discovering
through them that information which'l still venture to
think it would have been more respectful to your lord-
ships' house to have communicated by one of the Mini-
sters of the Crown ; and my noble friend on: the cross
benches will there find, by the consent of a united Go-
vernment, a colleague of the noble lord at the head of
the Government, in detail and in. extenso, making that
statement to the House of Commons with regard to the
intentions of her Majesty's Government which the noble
earl thinks it imprudent and premature to make in the
House of Lords. (Hear, hear, and a laugh:)_

Earl FITZWILLIAM said there was a difference be-
tween a Minister in the House of Commons declaring
what measures he would propose there and his noble
friend (the Earl of Aberdeen) declaring here the mea-
sures which his colleagues would propose elsewhere.
(A laugh.)
The Earl of DERBY—I have always understood that
colleagues in one house were ready to answer for their
colleagues in another ; and I am sure that the noble lord
in the other house would not take the step of announc-
ing in detail the intentions of the Government without
the consent of his colleagues here. Butt will limit my
question to asking the noble earl opposite what measures
he intends, upon the part of her Majesty's Government,
to submit to your lordships' house in the course of the
present session ?
The Earl of ABERDEEN bowed, but returned no
answer.

The Earl of DERBY—Does silence mean none ?
Does the noble earl, on the part of the Government,
mean that no measures are to be introduced into your
lordship's house this session
The Earl of ABERDEEN again bowed, and appeared
to give some monosyllable answer to the question, but it
was not heard in-the gallery.
The tarl of DERBY—May I may be permitted to
ask again what measures will be introduced into this
house this session ? I have the sanction of my noble
friend upon the cross-benches (Earl Fitzwilliam) for put-
ting at least this question. (A laugh.)
After a pause,
The Earl of DERBY—StiII no answer.

Another pause of a few seconds ensued, during which
a peer moved that the house do adjourn ; and their lord-
ships immediately adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS--(YESTERDAY.)
The SPEAKER took the chair at a quarterto four
o'clock.

THE NEW GOVERNMENT.

The •following members of the new Administration
formed themselves round the table, and took the oaths
on their re-election :
Lord J. Russell.
Lord Palmerston.
Sir James Graham.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Sir W. Molesworth.
Mr. Cardwell.
Mr. Baines.
Mr. Villiers.
Mr. S. Herbert.
Mr. Strutt.
Mr. Monsell.
Mr. W.: Cowper.
Mr. Charteris.
The Attorney-General.
The Solicitor-General.
Admiral Berkeley.
Lord E. Bruce.
Lord A. Hervey.
Lord Mulgrave.
Mr. Fitzipy.

Norly all the aave right hon. and hon. members
were introduced by Sir: Hayter and NU. BepaA Osborne.

NEW MEMBERS.
Sir George .G Tey and Mr. Thos. Baring also took the
oaths and their seats—the former for Morpeth, and the
latter for Himti ngdon.