The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-04 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, 4, 18G7.

session.

We may congratulate alike the country and the
Miuigry on the changes that have taken place dur-
ing the last few days in the construction of the
Cabinet. Not that any one of any party has any-
thing to say against the administrative abilities of
those who have retired. On the contrary, they
were particularly distinguished for their zeal and
efficiency in their several departments. All this,
however, was quite secondary to the important work
of Reform, the settlement of which has now become
a matter of moment, and concerns the best interests
of the community. It was evident to all that last
week was a trying time to Ministers, and that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer in particular was
greatly puzLled and perplexed as to the course which
should be taken. The tone of his remarks in re-
plying to the ceaseless queries put to him on the
subject of Reform was not reassuring, and the
worst of all was that he seemed himself uncertain

and undecided. Now, however, a change has
taken place, and we feel convinced that it will
prove to be a salutary one, and well calculated to
promote the ends in view. Since Mr. GLADSTONE
and some others of the Opposition have evinced the
laudable desire to further by all means in their power
the great work which lay before Government, it
would indeed be disastrous and deplorable if the
Ministry failed from internal dissensions, and did
not carry out their task to their own satisfaction or
that of the house and country. Although very able
and efficient in their several vocations, we do not
think that the Ministry, on the whole, will be
weaker in consequence of the retirement of those
members who resigned on Saturday.
Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE will succeed Lord
CRANBORNE in the India Office, and we feel
.full
confidence in his likelihood of success in the dis-
charge of his important and onerous duties. No-
where do we require the infusion of energy and ex-
ercise of enlightened judgment more than in the India
Office, which was too long weighed down and ham-
pered by the timorous, and yet hasty procedure of
Sir CHARLES WOOD. During the short time he has
been there Lord CRANBORNE has done a great
deal of good, and we hope and believe that his suc-
cessor will be equally fortunate in rendering impor-
tant services to the Crown and country. The Duke
of RICHMOND will be the new Secretary of State
for the Colonies, and no doubt will prove equal to
the task. His well-known abilities and ,his great
energy will have ample scope in the various
changes that are taking place in our
colonies, Lord CARNARVON has had the honour of
associating his name with the great work of the
Confederation of the North American Provinces—
a work that will last to be the admiration of suc-
ceeding generations ; but there are many other im-
portant and interesting tasks to be effected, if not
quite so momentous, which now appear before us.
General PEEL is a decided loss in the capacity
of Secretary at War, but although the services
of Sir JOIIN PAKINGTON in that depart-
ment are as yet untried, we hope that he may be
as successful in dealing with our army as he has
been in improving our navy. He will fiad plenty
of room for hard worA in the removal of abuses
and the introduction of needful reforms. Mr. CAVE
will succeed Sir STAFFORD NORTRCOTE in the Pre-
sidency of the Board of Trade, and as he has fully
established his character for efficiency by the ren-
dering of many useful services, we need not be
doubtful on this score. Sir JOHN PAKINGTON has
won so much-deserved approval that the gentleman
who steps into his place will have rather an un-
gracious task at first, but Mr. CORRY will be in a
more congenial sphere in the Admiralty than at the
Education Office. He has been Secretary at the
Admiralty on two previous occasions, and has in
consequence gained ample experience. We do not
pretend to say that no inconvenience will be felt by
these changes, which have been considerable, taking
all things into account, and are rendered more
vexatious in consequence of the Ministry being, to
all intents and purposes, in full working order; but,
as we said before, all these considerations are
secondary to the passing of a Reform Bill this

By this time the Ministry must have made up
their minds as to the extent to which they will go
in proposing the various changes in the representa-
tion to the House, and hence we are fully justified
in concluding that the present members of the
Cabinet are united. Nothing can possibly be done
with any chance of success if ' there is any
doubt or difficulty in the way of working
together, and as to think of passing a Reform
Bill in the present state of public feeling,
and in the present complications of party,
unless complete. unity reign among those who
attempt it, is quite out of the question. Lord
DERBY and Mr. DISRAELI have long been known
to be in advance of their friends and followers in
some particulars relating to this question, and it
would indeed have been absurd and inconsistent for
the majority of the Ministry, which was divided in
opinion, to yield to a minority, more especially when
that majority comprised the head of the Cabinet,
as well as its most important members. Next in
importance and influence to the Premier are Mr.
DISRAELI and Lore STANLEY, and their more
ready perception and natural inclinations
alike incline to make them anxious for a settlement
of this vexed question par excellence among all the
obstructions and hindrances of the day. We do not
presume to know the exact particulars of the forth-
coming Ministerial measure, or to declare the actual
changes concerning which the division took place in
the ',Cabinet Councils, but we feel convinced of
what is of far more consequence, that the chances
of success to the Ministry have thereby greatly in-
creased, and that the cause of Reform has gained
by the struggle that has just ensued. We
may now look forward with confidence ; in-
stead of anticipating coming events with appre-
hension, we may now rely upon the Government
bringing forward something which the Opposition
can conscientiously support; and which those who
condemn it will betray themselves by so doing.
The Ministry have a grand chance before them ;
they may by taking care and employing diligence
succeed in passing a measure of Reform which will
associate their names in an honourable manner
with the progress and intelligence of their
own generation, and remain as a lasting
memento of their public services when their
connection with the whirl and excitement of
political life is over. That they are equal to the
emergency we do not doubt, and that the leading
members of the Opposition will offer no hindrance
of a substantial kind we feel convinced. The way
is then so far clear, and we shall look to the intro-
duction of the scheme with expectation, but not with
anxiety, and await the fresh explanation that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer will have to make, in
the full assurrance that it will prove the b?ginning
and the end of this troublesome and vexatious work.
Reform has been made a party question too long,
and it has now been dragged through the mire of
agitation and paraded about in an undesirable if
not au unseemly fashion. This session must see a
stop put to all this ; and notwithstanding all that
has been said as to the unworthiness and incapacity
of the present House of Commons, we look forward
to its entering upon the work now so imminently
before it in the firm conviction and with the most
entire faith that it will accomplish it satisfactorily
and successfully.

The Atlantic Cable has been busy of late, and
during its first year of active work it is sending us
materials fcr the history of a great national crisis.
The intelligence of Sat&day and Sunday is most
important as indicating the state of parties,
although such is the peculiarity of the political re-
lations that it is difficult to see what action can be
taken on it. The news of March 2d tells us that the
PRESIDENT has vetoed the Bill for the Reconstruc-
tion of the South, and the telegram of March 3d
states that Congress has passed the Military Recon-
struction Bill and the Tenure of Office Bill over the
PRESIDENT'S veto. The uncertainty and contra-
diction of the American legislation is possibly
shown by this news. Setting aside the individual
merits or demerits of the Bill, we may look at its
course. The Congress passes it, the PRESIDENT
puts his veto upon it, the Congress passes it again

over his veto, and then the PRESIDENT having the
command of the army the bill is virtually nugatory.
ft is not to be supposed that Mr. JOHNSON will en-
force the provisions of a bill which he has thought
it necessary to veto, neither can the army dis-
obey his orders. Such a condition of things
is not creditable to the American Government
or satisfactory to the American people. The
government of a great nation is not a thing to be
trifled with, to be treated as a mere matter of
form, and made subservient to the passions or the
moment. If the Congress persist in passing mea-
sures which the PRESIDENT, if he fulfil his oath, can
have no alternative but to condemn, anything like
safe and satisfactory legislation is impossible. It is
beneath the dignity of a constitutional assembly to
keep on passing bills which do not become law. It
is assuredly not consistent with the power or the
character of the head ruler of a people that his acts
and his words should be alike despised and set at
naught. Yet this sort of altercation, attack, and
counter attack has been going on for some time.
At one moment the PRESIDENT became very un-
popular, and his repeated vetoes drove the Radicals
to fury, while it rendered the people generally sus-
picious of his intentions. It was thought by care-
less and superficial observers that these repeated
exercises of his prerogative indicated a desire to
grasp too much power, and to assume the office
and functions of a dictator. There were so many
interested in calumniating the PRESIDENT that
the worst interpretation was put upon all his
actions; and the more cautious and observant critics,
who perceived that, however decisive the PRESI-
DENT'S acts, they were always directed against the
assumption of arbitrary power by any political
authority, found it difficult to make themselves
heard. A little time, however, showed more clearly
the arrogance of the dominant party, and the dis-
affection felt in Congress itself was speedily com-
municated to the outer world. The Tariff Bill, too,
has shown the commercial circles, at least, how
little reliance can be placed on the public spirit or
common sense of these reckless agitators, who are
either totally unobservant of the lessons of the past
and the signs of the present, or altogether indifferent
as to the consequences of their proceedings. There
can be no doubt that the power and influence of the
Radicals both within and without the walls of Par-
liament is considerably lessened, and there is dis-
affection and division in the camp. The Senate
and the House of Representatives no longer act in
unison. The Colorado Bill has been the subject of
some difference, and each House has rejected some
measure adopted by the other. Added to this, the
unpopularity of the Tariff Bill has alienated a good
many of the Western members, although there is
now no chance of the present House passing a
tariff at all. All the various influences at work
have left more room for rational counsels to make
themselves heard, and the sentiments of the more
constitutional and sober-minded among all'classes
must inevitably declare itself against the intolerance
and tyranny of the Radicals.

The PRESIDENT'S reasons against the Military
Reconstruction Bill are such as commend themselves
to all impartial minds. He has, he says, no con-
stitutional power to adopt or execute a bill for the
military government of the South, when its object is
not to maintain order, but to coerce the Southern
people into principles they oppose, and in reference
to which they have a right to use their own judg-
ment. No one pretends that the Southern States
are now in open or concealed rebellion against
authority, or that there is any actual necessity for
the establishment of martial law. The South
is in too extreme a state of destitution to be
anxious about another struggle. With her people
dying by hundreds of actual want and suffering,
hardships unknown in the Northern States, the first
necessity is to find them food. So extreme is the
poverty to which some of the larger States are re-
duced that the people cannot raise money sufficient
to fetch the supplies of food from the free depots
on the border! The cost of transit becomes so for-
midable an obstacle that unless the food is actually
brought within their reach they cannot profit by it.
It seems absurd to talk about the esta-
blishment of martial law over people

in this condition. If conspiracies had
been discovered, if the white population of the
South had refused to ratify the national decision re-
specting the abolition of slavery, if they would not
recognise the authorities at Washington, or if their
former leaders attempted to get up a new scheme
for independence, and endeavoured to enlist foreign
sympathies and foreign aid, there might, indeed, be
reason for proceeding to so harsh an extremity.
But the extent and population of the Southern
States, as well as the character of the people, would
even then render such an alternative possible, as a
temporary resource. The idea of governing by
force instead of by civil law is one which the
Americans themselves would be the first to censure
if applied to another civilised country. More
especially is the notion extravagant and uncon-
stitutional when the Southern leaders, so far from
stirring up rebellion, have set the people an ex-
ample of order and obedience to the law, and when
the only disturbances which have occurred in the
South had been due to the violence of faction or
the manoeuvres of political intrigue.
President JOHNSON, at the conclusion of his
veto message to Congress, reiterates his recom-
mendation, that all loyal representatives should be
admitted to Congress, thus plainly reminding his
hearers that it is to the old-established forms of a
free civil Government they must look for the resto-
ration of the South and the re-development of its
industry—not to the sudden and violent subversion
of all the cherished liberties of a constitutional
people.