The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-15 00:00:00

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LONDON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1869.

Lord HALIFAX has had a pleasant time of it in the
town he represented for so long, and he seemed to
appreciate the compliment that was paid to him.
His speech at the entertainment in the Town Hall of
Halifax on Wednesday was characterised by grati-
tude to his friends and magnanimity to his opponents.
In some respects the noble lord's remarks present
some novelty, for he discoursed upon the party politics
of past years, and no doubt to many of his hearers
the reminiscences of the Reform Bill of 1852 were
quite as out of date and as mythical as those of the
great measure of 1832. Lord RUSSELL seems to be
the object of Lord HALIFAX'S admiration, for he
strove hard to bring his services before the company
assembled on the occasion. First of all, the noble
earl had essayed to bring in a measure upon the
Irish Church, and was only prevented by adverse
circumstances from being beforehand in that stu-
pendous undertaking. The Reform attempts of the
great Whig Chief called forth encomiums from
his friend and colleague, and the noble
lord reminded his hearers that he himself had intro-
duced a franchise clause, which had won approval,
only that in common with the Government Bill it was
too much in advance of the times. Lord HALIFAX
made some interesting allusions to middle class Par-
liaments, and declared that they had ceased to exist,
hut that their memory was crowned with honour
They had established civil and religious liberty, they
had destroyed Protection, and put a stop to class
legislation. Z hey had besides passed an excellen
Reform Bill, and in his commendations on that mea-
sure the noble lord was more liberal in his tone than
some of his friends have been. Ile acknowledged,
however, that he did not like the manner of its pass-
ing, so far as it affected the character of our public
men ; but he never himself feared the adoption of
the " Democratic measure," as it was the fashion to
style it. We commend the feeling which prompted
Lord lIALIFAx to say that he had as great a
concern in the reputation of his political
opponents, as he had in that of his friends, for he
thought that the public character of all leading men
belonged to the country. We consider, however, that
he was mistaken in the opinion that prompted him to
the utterance of that sentiment, because no public
character suffered through the passing of the Reform
Bill ; and the only disgrace that can appertain to the
affair remains with those who impeded its course, and
sought to frustrate the just expectations of the people.
Further on, we find the noble lord recognising the
justice of Mr. DISRAELI'S act in resigning office with-
out waiting to test the strength of an adverse ma-
jority. By this means, said he, all bitterness and
acrimonious feelings have been avoided, and the late
Government can join with the present one in con-
certing those measures which will be necessary for the
public good. The noble lord concluded his interest-
ing speech by adverting to the changes which
would be produced in the country by the great alte-
ration of the representative system, and expressed his
belief that they would conduce to the more extended
government of the people by themselves. He did
not seem so very sanguine, however, as to the suc-
cess which the new Parliament would meet with in

dealing with the measures which lay before it. There

is some truth in the remark notwithstanding its appa-
rently unsatisfactory nature, for there is great diver-

sity of opinion among many of our It ailing statesmen.
Lord HALIFAX thinks that even among those who are

associated together there exists a good deal of dissi-

milarity, and as he must be behind the scenes to some
Extent this does not sound very encouraging, but
time must prove if these warning words at Halifax
are like the skeleton at the Egyptian feasts, to fore-

-- -
tell the impending doom of the Ministry, that is to

share the fate of a house divided against itself, or if
they are merely the passing utterances of one who has

- -
been too long engaged in the turmoil of State to care

to speak platitudes, and therefore comes out wi h

something that may be more plain than pleasant. A

any rate, Lord HALIFAX may be congratulated upon

the compliment paid to him by his old constituents,

and his speech comes as a refreshing change, after

some that have been delivered lately, for it is devoid

of the bitterness of party spirit, which it is at al

times undesirable to introduce on such occasions as
the one referred to.

On Wednesday a very important meeting took
place in Marylebone, in reference to the administra-
tion of our Metropolitan Police Force. It proves
how general and how well-founded is the conviction
that our police system needs a thorough revision,
that the whole of the metropolitan vestries and
district boards should have appointed delegates to
consider and take action upon its inefficiency.
Honesty begins to feel that it is worsted in the
struggle with roguery, and, Eo far from our
efforts for social improvement resulting in the
diminution and repression of crime, it is actually
gaining ground upon us. We are heavily taxed to
maintain our police force; its ranks are yearly aug-
mented ; its members are undoubtedly active and
courageous in the performance of their arduous and
often dangerous duties ; yet, with it all, our streets
are notably unsafe, our night watch admittedly in-
sufficient, offences of a desperate nature grow pain-
fully common, while minor acts of dishonesty are so
constant and so common that we hardly note them.
The memorial which the Marylebone meeting re-
solved upon presenting to the Home Secretary sets
forth some very striking facts, and Mr. BRUCE can
hardly afford to disregard so urgent and so well
founded a claim. There is, it is urged, a considerable
increase in the number of indictable offences, although
the increase in the number of police is more than in
proportion to the increase of the population. The
cost of the force has also augmented. The whole
cost per man in 1859 was £72 2s. per annum,
while it is now £79 153. 6d. " Your memoralists,"
so runs the petition, " also invite attention to the
significant fact that, with all the extended means for
".e repression of crime, the police return for 1867
- that there are 2,280 houses of receivers of
goods, 5,689 houses which are the resort of
and bad characters of all kinds, and 112,403
persons of the criminal class at large. That the num-
ber of recommitted prisoners shows an increase of
2,034 as compared with 1865-6. That the proportion
of the recommitted to the total number committed is
38.5 per cent. ; and, what is worthy of the gravest
consideration on the part of the Government, is that
of these 1,601 had previously been sentenced to penal
servitude." The memorialists pray for the total abo-
lition of the ticket-of-leave system. They suggest
that a much stricter supervision should be kept over
the receivers of stolen goods, who are such powerful
allies to thieves, and that it should be necessary for
marine storekeepers, refiners, and others who dispose
of the plunder, to hold licenses. They desire also that
crimes of violence should be punishable by corporal
chastisement, after the fashion which has proved so
successful with the garotting fraternity. With re-
spect to the more direct object of the meeting, the

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