The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-23 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, FEB. 23, 1870.

I So it is to be one of the Dukes after all. After
much and long negotiation during which Lord
CAraNs has resigned, resumed, and again resigned the
leadership in order to give time for Lord DERBY to
accept it, this nobleman has declined it. In his letter
to Lord COLVILLE, the Conservative Whip in the
Upper House, Lord DERBY says that he has
been prompted alone by the consideration that he
is young to the Upper House, and that he is
not by temperament fitted to be a leader. Of these
two considerations the second is weighty. Inexpe-
rience of the mere forms and usages of the House
cannot be of much importance to a statesman of such
large parliamentary experience as Lord DERBY. There
is far more weight in the objection that his tempera-
meni is not such as to qualify him for political leader-
ship. In saying this he has taken the estimate of
his own character which is generally taken. He is
coool, cautious, sagacious, but he has no en-
thusiasm. On the one hand, he would never
talk glaring platitudes about the altar and the

throne ; on the other, he would never take a leap in
the dark. He has neither that religious reverence
for existing institutions, nor that audacity necessary
for making perilous experiments in a time of emergency
which his father had. Therefore if the present Lord
DEBBY had undertaken the leadership, Conservatives
of the, old school would have been for ever contrast-

ing the son with tho father, to the disadvantage
of the first. But, then, are the Conservatives
of the old school to rule the party ?
That is the real question at issue—that is
the question which ought to be decided before the
leadership is decided. If the answer is in the affir•
mative, there can be no doubt that Lord DERBY has
done wisely to decline. lie is not a Conservative of
the old school. lie cannot repeat the old watch-
words; he repudiates eagerly attempts, such as
have been made by the favourers of reciprocity, to
put the political dial back ten degrees. Ills politics
are those of the Whig of 1865 with a little more of

Liberalism in him. But if, as we imagine must be
the case, Conservatism will cease to be obstructive,
will bo merely watchful and cautious, then we con-
sider that Lord DERBY is the best possible leader.
Personally, he is not perhaps the man to attract;
is certainly not the man to inspire enthusiasm ;
but he is able to inspire confidence, and for that
reason he is well qualified to lead a party situated as
the Conservative party now is.

Even those Conservatives who could wish a better
man must admit that Lord DERBY is the best of
all who offer. Lord SALISBURY is out of the ques-
tion for the present, for there is too much of bitter-
ness between him and the other chiefs to allow of
cordial co-operation. Lord CAIRNS has not the
health necessary to enable him to fill the post, and
it is manifestly impossible for anyone to occupy it
who has to spend one-half of the session seven
hundred miles away. There is nothing to be done
now but to fall back upon the Dukes ; and of these
it is not too much to say that they aro all so much
alike, all so much on the same low level of mediocrity,
that the country does not know one from the
other; they are, in fast, but 1111j33. That the
Conservative party should be reduced to selecting
its chiefs from men of this calibre is certainly a
lamentable contingency. This is what comes of taking
leaps in the dark.

Mn. CHILDERS has made haste to appease the
dissatisfaction arising out of the somewhat
rigorous discharge of employes, by publishing the
Navy Estimates, and Mr. CARDWELL has fifflowel
the example of his colleague. Last year there was a
reduction in the cost of the two services to the extent
of almost two millions; this year the amount of re-
duction is nearly as great. Taking the two
services separately, we find tnat the saving in the
Navy Estimates is £746,111. This reduction is the
more creditable because everyone will admit that our
fleet was never so po*erful as it is now, and because
there has been a considerable increase in the payment
made under the heads of half pay and pensions. The
saving has been effected by a decisive and vigorous
dealing with the useless ships and yards wherewith
the country was burdened. The late Government per-
sisted in building wooden ships, though these must
be perfectly useless in an engagement. Perhaps the
object was to use up the enormous stores of timber
which had been accumulated by previous Adminis-
trations. The present Government knows well that
such conduct is merely throwing good money after
• bad; that it is better to sell timber than to expend
labour and money upon converting it into vessels
which are useless for purposes of defence, however
much they may swell the numerical list of our ships
of war. Another source of saving has been the sale of
several ships that are no longer of use to us, and
which were costly to maintain. The three largest
items of decrease are victuals and clothing for sea-
men, victualling yards, and transport establishments,
and steam machinery and ships built by contract.
These amount together to £712,000. The reduction
in the personnel of the navy is comparatively small,
being only 2,000, or about 4 per cent. The
marines, whom rumour condemned to annihila-
tion, remain as they were. The army shows
more important changes. • In that service there is a
decrease of 12,308 men, more than six times as
numerous as the reduction in the Navy. This
circumstance is due to the recall of troops from
our colonies, and it enables Mr. CARDWELL to effect
a saving of £407,558. Warlike stores shew
a reduction of £136,000; works and buildings, one of
£179,800; and provisions, one of £260,400. In the
clothing establishment the diminution is small, under
£lO,OOO. Probably when Mr. CARDWELL intro-
duces the system of purchasing for the army
which Mr. BAXTER has introduced into the navy, there
will be a larger saving under this head. Altogether,
we see no reason why reductions should not con-
tinue in both services, although it will of course be
impossible to maintain the present rate of decrease.
The estimates for the year 1871-2 will probably shew
a saving of five millions as compared with those
brought in by the last Conservative Government.

HER MAJESTY'S STAGHO UND S.—Yesterday ('rues-
day) the Royal pack met at Farnham Royal, the first day
after a fortnight's suspension occasioned by the frost.
Harry King, the Royal huntsman, finding the ground too
hard for the day's sport, from the previous night's frost,
the deer was taken back to the paddocks and the hounds
to the kennel.

SHOOTING DOWN THE lIAP.FS IN THE HOME
PARK.--In pursuance to an ord,?,. of Colonel Maude, tip.)
deputy-ranger of the Horne Park, Hampton Court, and
under the sanction of the Marquis of Ailesbury, Master of
the Queen's Horse, the head-keeper (Mr. Bainbridge) has
shot down the hares in this Royal demesne. The priinv y
cause which led to the destruction of hares is the frequent
importunities made by coursing men to sport in this park.
The privilegewas withheld for two years, but subsequently
granted under certain restrictions, and two days coursing
has been allowed this season ; but the riotous conduct of
London betting men, and the threatening language used
by them towards the coursing judge, led to the decision to
destroy the materiel which formed the sine qua non for
coursing, and over 60 brace of hares have been killed dur-
ing the last week and many leverets destroyed, and cours-
ing meetings in the Home Park may now be regarded as a
bygone pastime. It is intended to turn in more deer into
the park from Windsor.