The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-01 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

It has been announced, says the Times, in the usual
phrases that Lord Cairns has issued cards for a grand
banquet to the most eminent Conservative peers on Mon
Clay next, and the question has been asked whether this
deans that the Opposition in the Lords will be led by the
katne chief this year as last, or whether Lord Cairns
4inner is a final act preceding the transfer of his officeinto
otlftr hands, The first question suggests the truth. The
ex-Lord Chancellor will continue during the ensuing session
to occupy the post of honour opposite to Lord Granville,and
it will he his duty to give expression to the united opinior
of Lis" uartY, so far as it may have a united opinion. After
canvassing 4.119 claims of every conceivable candidate,
bas come
to be j:,nfessed that Lord Cairns remains tin
best of all possible chiefs: Ills leadership may not be per
feet, but who satisfies all den.. rids? But why not Lori'
Derby ? it may be asked; and why not ..r.ord Derby ?
be repeated. Lord Derby carries weight enC‘ligh to face
the dissidents below the gangway, and to meet on nd 1111
equal terms the opponents across the House. The Peer,
who would have sat behind him were prepared, witl
w:iatever misgivings, to accept him, at least on
probation, as a leader. Lord Derby, however
wJuld rather not lead the Conservative Opposition:
in the Lords. The cares and duties of a great lanCowner
are said to sit heavily upon him. But why seek for at-
explanation of a reluctance easily intelligible? The
cDurse of the Lord Stanley of the last few years frirnishe.
the solution of the difficulty. Lord Derby prefers the
freedom of mere association with a party to the responsi-
bility of leading it, and contrives, without deceiving girl
one, to be at once Liberal and Conservative. The nation
cannot regret that Lord Cairns should reassume the
leadership of the Opposition in the Lords. The fact that '
he does so proves that the Conservatives, as a whole, ap
prove his decision at a critical moment last year, and Libe
rats cannot remember what he did without satisfaction
It is improbable that ho will be exposed to any such trial
in the coming session, and, indeed, there is special ground
for believing that on the Land Question the knowledge h(
brings to the debate will facilitate legislation. He comes
from Ulster, where the claim of the cultivator is recog-
nised by a custom having the force of law. He knows the
moral grounds which have given such validity to the far
mer's lien on the land he cultivates, and he would be
acting in strict consistency with his training if he advo
cated the recognition by law of the custom of his provinc,
and the legislative application of the principles involved in
it to the whole of Ireland.

The Standard thinks it is impossible for us longer to
disregard the assertions made on all sides, that the army
is to be again considerably reduced. Doubtless many o:
the current rumours are incorrect, and the exact method
of reduction to be employed may still not be thoroughly
settled ; but that the Government has resolved upon
diminishing to a very considerable extent every branch
of the service seems to be acknowledged, not only by
the military papers, but by those journals which
profess to have the confidence of the present
Administration. Why is the army to be reduced? Ic
there any strong feeling in the country that we arc
overridden with troops, that the power of the Crown
is growing too strong ? Has any cry been raised that the
forces we possess are more than required for the dignity
and welfare of the nation ? Has any complaint been
heard, or any desire ex' rased, in this matter? No. Ic
this a time to practise such economy, when no one is
calling out that the expenditure is excessive, when the
drain on the army for troops to keep Ireland in order is so
large as it is, and has not by any means reached its highest
point ? If the lawlessness in Ireland requires so many
troops now, what will it need when the crash comes next
session,and the tenants learn that the wild visions of becom-
ing masters of the land they rent—visions fostered by the
speeches of more than one strong Government supporter—
are baseless fabrics ? Are our relations with America so
thoroughly well established that we can leave Canada
entirely to herself ? Have our reserve forces been so
satisfactorily organised, and so strengthened and trained,
that we can by them supply the place of discarded regular.
forces? Where, in short, are the grounds to justify this
so-called economy? On all sides the warning signal is
hoisted that bids us be prepared. Burnt into all our
brains in letters of fire arc the examples that teach the
evils of neglecting such warnings. And this is the time
chosen to reduce the army by the men who boast of being
the Government chosen by the people.

The Daily Xeres considers that Colonel Beresford, the
Conservative candidate for Southwark, being a military
man, is presumably a good tactician. If he be so, he must
look with some gratification and hope at the present posi-
tion of electioneering matters in the Borough. Sir Sydney
Waterlow and Mr. Odger, like the allied forces of Au stria
and France at the siege of Angers, are firing directly into
each other's mouths. Colonel Beresford looks on, in the
hope that when each force has sufficiently weakened
the other, he may step in and carry off the prize.
Other things being equal, it is certainly an advantage
when a man who is fit to represent a particular constitu-
ency, indirectly represents something more than this.
Mr. Mill represented Westminster, but he represented
also the interests of literary culture and philosophic
thought. Sir Roundell Palmer and Mr. Russell Gurney
represent Richmond and Southampton, but they represent
also the profession of which they aro among the most re-
spected members. In the same way, if Mr. Odger is in
himself fit to represent Southwark, his claim upon
general support is rather increased than diminished by
the fact that he would represent also the ideas and feel-
ings of the working classes. Allowing only a subordinate
influence to class questions, the rule for each constituency
is to choose the best man who will permit himself to be
chosen, whatever his rank and profession. As between Sir
Sydney Waterlow and Mr. Odger, it is, as we have said,
for the electors of Southwark, and for them alone, .1,0 de-
cide this nice question of relative merit.
The Telegraph thinks the account given of the Barnsley
miners is singularly unflattering. Although they earn
wages which a Somerset labourer would think princely, n
correspondent tells us that they are ignorant, brutal,
sensual, and idle. Many families earn £6 or £7 a week; al
a large family cart live on £2; and too often the difference
between these two sums is spent in wild debauchery. To
all their reckless and extravagant self-indulgence is joined
appalling ignorance. Many of the miners can neither read
nor write. Since their scholastic deficiencies have never
hindered them from earning good wages, and since an over-
seer never asks a man whether he can spell, but only whether
he can hew, they do not see what is the advantage
of education to their children ; and as their children can
earn good wages in the pit, the fathers grudge every hour
given to school. So whenever a child has reached the age
at which he may legally be employed, down the shaft he
goes, to spend eight hours a day in the mine and the
darkness. The boy is then destined to be a pitman for
life. His schooling is at an end; he claims the right to
idle during the hours of the "off shift ;" he learns to
swear, to gamble, and to drink. The great majority of
the miners use their abundant wages and leisure
only to idle, game, drink, and gluttonise. Their
evil propensities are intensified by the isolation
of pit life. A pit village is nothing but a pit
village. Built by the proprietors of the colliery
for the men, it affords accommodation to no other kind of
labourers. So the miner works, lives, eats, drinks, smokes,
plays, and fights only with miners ; he speaks of nothing,
knows of nothing, cares about nothing, beyond the mine.
Such are the main features of the pit districts; and the
picture is certainly the reverse of cheering. Looking at
the Barnsley riots, the brutality of the miner's life, and
the dense cloud of ignorance which hangs over that com-
munity, we hear the question, What has the State been
doing, and where has the Church of England been, when
the people thus " perish for lack of knowledge?"

The Pall Mall Gazetk believes that the answer of Lord
Granville to the " Emigrants and Colonists' Aid Corpora
ton," declining to commit Government to the support of
any scheme of emigration at the public expense, expresses
the opinion of thinking men in general, except a few of
that class who are proverbially wedded to a single
idea. Now, let anyone imagine the results which
would have ensued if Government had done at the
outset what zealous emigratienists are urging it to
do now, on:an incalculably slighter occasion. Suppose it
had pledged the public revenue to carry off the whole
'surplus population of Ireland. All self-reliance, all pri-
-vate contribution, all the zealous efforts of friends on
the other side of the Atlantic, would, of course, have
been utterly prevented by anticipation. What' is
true on a great scale in matters such as this
is certainly true on a small scale also, and
Government aid for the purpose of occasional
local emigration must inevitably tend to dry up the source
both of charity in givers and exertion in recipients. But
we:must take another occasion for returning to this
division of our subject, as likewise to the most important
consideration of all—the value of emigration, in the
present state of affairs, not as a measure of local relief,
but to promote the increase of general wealth.
The Post quotes Sir Roundell Palmer's remark, that
public opinion has scarcely been sufficiently educated upon
the question of married women's property. It has thus
far been formed upon the utterly false theory that because
some husbands neglect their duty and abuse their right it
is necessary to alter the whole law of married
life. There could not be a more preposterous
mistake. If there are exceptional cases in which
the stronger vessel abuses his legal rights, they aro
balanced by eases in which the weaker vessel abuses the
influence she derives from the beauty of her person
or the vigour of her temper. The married life of
England which lies between these extremes is a very
happy one. Cases of injustice are the excei,tion3, and if
we are to legislate at all upon this subject we must legis-
late for these cases especially, and without disturbing the
ties of the mass of the married population. There
is no doubt that, at present, when a husband neglects
his duty to his wife and children the law gives
him a power he ought not to possess. The
question comes to this—that when the husband
fails in his duty to his wife she ought to have a more easy
and summary mode of obtaining protection as to her earn-
ings or her property than she has at present. To that
extent Sir Roundell Palmer professes his willingness to
go ; but there, at least for the present, he stops. This is,
the true basis on which the question should be laced.
We have not to revolutionise a system of matrimonial law
which has been tried and has been found wanting. We
have only to legislate for some exceptional cases in
which the abuse of the power which law and nature gites
4_04 AuabliaAal 119_tie_94-PlPTidal. aga .a