The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-27 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNAL"

The Saturday Review believes that the difficulty which
lies at the bottom of the whole question of the pro Per
functions of the House of Lords is far too deep and Wide
to be met by resolutions of the peers not to do this et
that except at their own time and on their own conditient
This difficulty is, that legislation is not now the enactment
of measures which wise men think the best for the nation,
but the enactment of measures which the nation, through
its representatives, wishes to pass. All legislation iraPite
change, and the instruments of legislation will 014
according as the motive power of change resides
is
one set of persons or in another. The Lords may
possibly represent some classes in England, but they do nc'"
represent the classes in which the motive power of chill
resides. They are thus necessarily cut out of the sphere °
legislation, and every day their exclusion becomes In°l'R
,5
complete. Theoretically, it seems as if the Cabinet would
do wisely to bring some of its measures forward in tl:6
Lords, and some in the Commons, but each measure
io
turn seems important when the leaders of the Ministry
examine it ; and, if it is irnportant;it is important because
some considerable section of the classes in whom tbve
motive power of change resides wishes for it and needs
But if people care about it, they naturally wish their OP
representatives to discuss, modify, and improve it °o
their behalf ; and so each measure in turn seems as i'',
must go to the Commons first. With regard to the too
bills which the peers have succeeded in obtaining there
are many objections to their introduction in the 1711°,
House. The Sotch Education Bill, indeed, is likely to "'
passed with little alteration. But this is only re,gisterl
an edict of the House of Commons beforehand ingot' °R
afterwards. The Lords will but -declare that they are
prepared to assent to what they understand would Please
the Scotch members in the House of Commons. This 4
not legislation in the sense in which the House o-f
Commons legislates. It is only such an arrangel33eZ,
of sham legislation as seems to keep up a little t`i:
dignity of the peers. When we enter on so difficet
an investigation as that of ascertaining the trs
function of the House of Lords in modern England, We
necessarily begin by clearing the ground and discovering
the direction in which efforts to give new activity to the
peers will be futile. It is not without regret that we art
forced to the conclusion that the peers cannot emerge °I;
of their present false position, either by any resolution not
to proceed with business sent up after a certain date,
_ll
by getting one or two minor Government bills entrusted
to them at the beginning of the session.
The Spectator thinks it is quite certain that before 1011,
that is within three years, the House must consider whetherit will or will not equalise rates throughout the metroPowd.:
and Mr. Goschen on Monday hinted very clearly that he'
Majesty's Government is inclined to the affirmative lief;
As a matter of justice, we cannot allow West Londee "-
grow for ever richer through the labour of East Londetrjo
yet reject all share in the burdens East London has e r
bear; as a matter of local policy, we cannot for °Di
exempt the educated, the wealthy, and the powerful frog
any responsibility in the taxation of the poorer quarters W 0
their own city ; and as a matter of national safety'
cannot for ever go on heaping rates upon the poor W to
the rich are comparatively exempt. It is all very weilar
suggest palliatives, but when an East-end greengr;
pays rates on a rent equal to half his whole profits, 411',.,
West-end doctor on a rent equal to a tenth of his recell);
taxation must not be carried too far, or there will
eh
resistance. Pending, however, any general reform
will involve terrible questions, such as the moral Pa
bility for the relief of the poor, the political liability' sijof
the legal liability, together with the actual incidence oh
taxation, it is possible to pave the way for fo,
greater measures by equalising the bases of
lation. It is of no use to say every Londoner 0131' r:lt
3s. 4d. on his rental, if the parishioners of St. Judas °¢e
decree that a half or quarter of the true rent shau is
accepted as rental for the purposes of the Act. T 111414
what happens now. St. Judas, being rich, and hallso
few poor, lowers its assessment, i.e., its legal valuatioafiv
far as it dares. Of course, its poor rate is nonlills t
higher, needs more pence in the pound ; but it is IRITP
really higher, while all general rates are actuallY
much lower. The Marquis of Hampshire, say, wite-rol
house worth £l,OOO a year, poor rates of 6d., and
rates of 25., ought to pay £125 a year. But
assessed at £5OO, his poor rate will be is., his generP r-to
as before, and his total payment £75, very little wore tbo.,
half. This is, of course, a very extreme case ; bnt,_
ouse
Goschen quoted an instance of a house assessed for
brr
duty by the Exchequer, and, therefore, it is to ell. e
sumed, fairly assessed, at £6OO a year, while its oectil;ed
was paying poor rate and county rate on only £370 ;hole
much smaller variations than that spread over scßers
parishes will make a vast difference in the returns. ifh 0
°
are twenty parishes which under local acts can 'exit,
disposed, play almost any trick they like about assuseps
-
and we only wonder that under the system they are ed e
fair as they have been. This anomally must be redressed
before anything larger can ba done, and it will be redressort
by Mr. Goschen's measure, which Las evidently the OP'
of both sides of the House.
AnPt
The London Review considers the best means to
in order to improve the electoral system, and declares t;io
nothing can be more exorbitant than the sum charge",ery
candidates at the last election for agency. In almostljto
account these expenses figure as the largest item, .„a ,
many cases are only a colourable pretext for engagl's
certain number of votes. A remedy for this maY besot
gested, not only easy of application, but lying reau,t of
our hands, and, if successful, it strikes at the very r°-
indirect corruption. Let the county court indge'ssor
better still, the revising barrister, act as judicial ass'e-recl
in taxing all election accounts, and let him be emPesviiet
to strike out and report upon any excessive items. they
the number of agents employed be limited, so that the
shall not bear more than a certain proportion te 001.
number of the electors. The abolition of the day of aiziacia
nation, and of the practice of placarding the poll, We teese
something to limit both the opportunities and the e"Dio'
of electioneering zeal. The forbidding the use a Pl.l rot
houses as committee-rooms would probably do the
these and other amendments might safely be left IsTeriaX
progress of the bill, if only a different mode of regle' ops.
the votes could be carried through the House of C°l33l:aeceat
To the new-born zeal of the Government, to the ./.0 the
experience of the members, and to the numberlieptli
majority pledged to support the Ballot, we coon"object
commit the care of an inquiry, which has for its tio
little leas than a revolution in a system alresSille/
astonishment of educated Europe, and without a I)"

in the history of the world.
,P

, if
it i' °-,-11°

The Saturday Review wants to know whether , 14
not the fact that all the appointmentso of tallies
1,-;lthe,
Guards, from the highest to the
awseseto,manarearinclii:jerrebielf
GeneralA for the time being, acting
if it is so, with what fairness can Mr. Carctivell;?
that the dual system is not at this moment mane
Every_eDepartment
duplicate office in the Horse Guards and the or
tDai:edr mhent is, we are now told, a duplicate 0111°11:par
the authority of the Minister, for the e'gr' the
diselnentyof some petted soldier at the expense °.depart'
country. A chief is wanted to supervise the svhole a
ment of supply, and what do we find? Why, ft. e 1101°'
PI
two generals, Sir Henry Storks and General -1-'%iiiril
magnificently-paid
to this work at the War Office, ancl,A ~- rol'
general ,called a Quartermasterl-0-e, cu.
to do substantially the same work at the Horse 113;
‘,O/1
Of these three only one is wanted, and it is well 1131" •
al 1°
that the principal duty of the Quartermaster-Gent 110
to make routes, and to send requisitions for stores t°l3e pi
twin department which exists at the War Office. hens
again,rclell
and there is a Military Secretary at the Horse 1-111—the
his counterpart at the War Office , ill ea
shape of an Under-Secretary of State,
out of what once
was called the Secretrfe6o
offices Military
Correspondence. The necessitY for l'Ptp
uot twer;
. is created by the dual system, and one, if
ofnlight be dispensed with if the general wielding the l'elv of
the Commander-in-Chief were placed at the ell ",00
the Minister as his military adviser. Then, agiatt is
to have at the Horse Guards three adjutant-generals--tu" is
say the adjutant-general of the army, 'he' ;1:11:1;:en'
'
needed, and two deputy adjutant-generals, quite • c4m
..
dent of the first, who report direct to the puke c'f and-
bridge as the immediate commander of the Engine er° d
develoPfor
Artillery respectively. Not only are all these needless l'll,l
costly offices established as a consequence a theddotirse
government, and of the quasi-independence of the 1"; the
Guards, but a very large percentage of the work of the
two departments consists of tedious correspondence '.,.
wrangling about trifles between Pall Mall and Wilitell3.-Pe
For all this waste and mischief Mr. Cardwell says tbA.t. St
alone is responsible, and should he fail to annihilate 1".070
once, his responsibility would be heavy enough if Ali
terial responsibility were less of a farce than it is.

-...---=-- 00
On Monday next Mr. Gly w
n ill
Moemv for A ce
writ for the borough o
for f Bradford, and oel will 00
a writ for the borough of Bcwdley. rrlrish
RELEASE OF A FENIAN CONVICT. --- The cot/
Government have unconditionally released Augin '
lya
Costello, who was under penal servitude for
I"eiligw.-
and whose writ of error recently failed. f Leect4
A crowded meeting of the inhabitants °'
la.
was held in the Victoria Hall on Thursday in favour of the
leaset. of the whole of the Irish political prisoners. iles:tie
s were adopted by the meeting hailing 'with 6 Act
faction the intention to restoro the Habeas Corinis, ,00
in Ireland ; considering the determination to re'oe;cei
forty-nine of the political 'prisoners as a gratifying ev,i,;c1,..0 tO
thofethe intention of her Majesty's Ministers to do jas"Q. of
Irish; and expressing the belief that so long as Asl3i;6
the political prisoners remained in the gaol it °l2l,- ioasa
=roe of disaffection to the Irish, and that their(3" 0
would .p, .
- rcllllQt° tho Peace coteutztott, witcl ,PPP4-44
OW .t442ire. _. -- ---- ' - . , '