The Sun.
London, England, 1840-02-29 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF Tills DAY.
(From the Globe.)
'l'he present tactic of the Tory Opposition is making
a species of catspaw of a small section of the Liberal
p irty ; and setting Messrs. Hume, Leader, and Co.
to pick tie it chestnuts from the fire. With this some-
what unequally Ihrthed alliance (for, were its objects
:nice, s fill, the catsp tW3 -would simply find them-
selves singed,. while the chestnuts would accrue to
the Torici)—_-a:id with the negative aid of the
oct a:ienal or ch ince absence of another section of the
parry who are arrayed agains't them on every decisive
vote, the Tories have contrived (pare the Post). to
swindle a few majorities after lcsing the decisive one on
the quiet 'on of confi leuce. What the puldie have to
consi ler, in this new play of political faction, is simply
whether it tends to promote any besides factious ob-
jects. If it ha l, no legitimate bearing upon public in-
terests, the public will do justice on its authors,
and defeat its purpose. The object, says Sir
James Griham, i,-. to pass a vote of censure
on Ministers. The object, says Sir Robert Peel, is
to sccus e the independence of Comptrollers of the Ex-
chequer. The object, says Mr. Leader, is to establish
the principle. that Governments shall give offices, not to
their pArt's ins, but to their opponents. Nosy which of
these laudable objects is realty served by the resolutions
of Thursday'? A vote of censure they are not ; for their
authors thirst not so frame them as to express a direct cen-
sure of the pension given to Sir John Newport. They do
not secure the Independence of future Comptrollers of the
Exchequer ; because that is secured already by the
1 act on which they are appointed, so far as legislation
can secure independence to those who receive promo-
t'on. And finally, tl.ey do not establish the principle
that fu we GOreinments shall promote their party Op-
ponen's instead of promoting their friends, because no
parry, uh ) act on that principle, can ever become, or
r •rnain—a Government.
(From the Standard.)
The Ministerial journals, unable to deny the defeat of
their patrons on Thursday night, try to palliate that sig-
nd disgrace by: ascribing it to an un on of the Conserva-
tive and extreme Radical parties. It may be well to
expose this fallacy at once, and we can easily do so
'
iby ' 6 -
reertirr, too the list of the majority. In that list,
it is true, will be found the names of Mcssrs.
Grote, Hume, Leader, Sir William Molesworth, and
\%ald'Y, and, perhaps, one or two other Radicals of
less note, but certainly so many as nine Radicals are
not discoverable in the list—whereas, in the minority
we see, besides Mr. °Connell and the whole of the
T tit, without any omission, all the British Radi-
cals, ,accept the few we have named, dovvo,:even
to the lately elected Radical Mem'ler for Southwatk,
M-. Wo d. and the Republican Mr. Muntz. If, then, the
Radicals who voted in the majority had abstained alto-
gether from voting, Ministers would still be in a
minority of about twenty. If these Radicals had
voted with their party, Ministers would have' hccn'
in a minority of at least ten, and is not a nii
nority ot• ten upon a vote censuring an
act o f h
Government a sufficient disgrace ? In other times
Ministers, who upon such a vote could not command
majority at least exceeding the number of their pia,ttheea
imen (aboutfi.rty) would feel the necessity ofurresiegtngt;
and no longer ago than last May, Lord Melbon
w
up office, or pretended to do so, upon a discomfiture far
Iless unequivocal than that of Thursday— a discomfiture
1 upon a questiott too involving no censure upon his Gcrern-
I merit.