The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-02 00:00:00

erIBIT OF ',EHE PUBLIC JOURNALS•

The Times thinks that the House of Commons on
Thursday night established an extremely valuable pre-
cedent with regard to the Norwich Commission. Two of
the representatives of the county declared the corruption
at Norwich to be trivial. Fortunately for the reputation
of foe Lower House, Tar. Hardy intervened in the discus•
Dion and set the matt( :r at rest. He pointed out a truth
which became self-e vident as soon as it was indicated,
that when a. judge reported his belief in the prevalence
of extensive corruption, the House of Commons could
not question the report, or affect to diminish
its weight and disregard it as unimportant, with
out entering upon a task fatal to its character.
There can be no question that the principle
enunciated by Mr. Hardy is that to which the House of
Commons ought rigidly to adhere. If the judge reports
that corruption has prevailed in a constituency, it will be
the duty of the Attorney-General to take up the report
and move the House to address the Crown to act upon it,
and the House upon such motion must as a rule assent to
the address without opposition. Mr. Howes declared that
the results of tb e Norwich inquiry would prove so trivial
as to make the House ridiculous, but it is not the House
of Commons which would appear ridiculous ; the fault—
if there was any fault, and we shall not believe
in its possibility until it is established—would
be with the judge, who misapprehended the
amount of the corruption that prevailed. Another
argument, which -seemed to have more weight with the
House of Commons, was founded on the 'supposed hard-
ship to Norwich of having to bear the expense of a corn.
missions of inquiry, butwe think it will be seen, on a little
consideration, that the direct punishment of a constituency
for corruption practised within it is oue of the most pro-
mising means of repressing corruption.
The Standard declares that the House of Commons has
been wont to .rote a commission when one of its own cap
mittees has reported that there is reason to believe giat
corrupt practices extensively prevailed at the late election.
How much the more is it bound to accept the report of: a
judge, who must be assumed to be impartial, especially
when the Attorney-General undertakes the responsibility
of endorsing it? Indeed, as the right hon. gentleman
said, the statannent of bhe judge should be conclusive in
favour of the commission without its endorsement by the
Attorney-General. If the result of accepting these state-
ments of the judges should prove mischievous it will be
for Parliament to provide a remedy. So a come
mission will inquire into corrupt practices at Norwich.
We believe that Mr. Itead that it will do no practical
good, and that its principal result will be'to rake up a lot
of old and wretched scandals. Sir Henry titracey and
the Conservative leaders in Norwich, however, have reason
to be thankful, so far as they are personally concerned.
that the House of Commons has asked the Queen to grant
it. The very short debate was a complete admission on
the part of their political opponents that Sir Henry
Stracey and his committee did their utmost to prevent
any corrupt proceedings, and that if the hon. baronet has.
been held legally responsible for the acts of a few of his
supporters, he is morally innocent of all complicity in the
paltry transactions which unseated him, and will deprive
the capital of East Anglia for some months of its due
share of representation in Parliament.
The Times in discussing the clerical agitation which hat
now begun in Ireland, says that in Parliament the course
of the Irish Churchmen and their English allies is clear.
On the principle of the bill there can be no compromise
whatever. The Church must be disestablished, and it
must lose the endowments which adhere to disestablish.
went. But in the details of so important a measure there
must be many things open to criticism, and long debates
will give opportunities for successful interposition. To
speak in plain terms, the Irish Church must be content to
direct its efforts to keeping as much of its property as pos-
sible, and to this the action of the Opposition must
come at last, whatever protestations and denunciations

may be indulged in at present. The Government would
probably be willing to conciliate the Irish Churchmen,
and would yield more, perhaps, than strict justice sane•
tions. The Catholics will get their Maynooth money,
their right to which is very doubtful, simply because there
is a disposition to content everybody in such cases as this.
So the Protestants may even better the very liberal terms
which the Government has offered them. On the other
hand, " No Surrender " will he utterly ruinous in com-
mittee. We may as well inform our Irish friends that the
dresentrHouse of Commons will not tolerate for a single
evening amendments the object of which is plainly to
defeat or delay the bill. If the House be provoked by any
such tactics, it is quite capable of rejecting the amend•
ments of the Opposition in mass, and Irish Churchmen
will have only their own mistaken zeal to thank if they
:receive but bare justice.
The Post refers to the successful start of the Suburban