The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-12 00:00:00

different. As it was of no conseque nee if it passed
one session or another, so long as it. was satisfac-
torily arranged at last. The Reform. Bill is, on
the contrary, most important, and suggests that no
time should be lost about it. Lord Derby, we
fully expect, will advise the Lords to agree to the
reasons of the Commons, and thus obviate the ne-
cessity for a discussion, and the result would be, of
course, that the bill would soon become law.
It would be out of the question to
suppose that the House of Commons
could not agree to the voting papers or to the £lO
copyhold or leasehold franchises, because it must be
remembered that they have twice decided against
them already. Such a concession is not to be
expected nor even desired, for it would be un-
fitting to the dignity of that assembly. The
house of Lords have done something as it
is, and they had better rest content with
what they have achieved, and not attempt
too much. The representation to minorities
which they have given to some of the
largest constituencies is a change of an important
kind, and one that will introduce a new state of
things into the House of Commons. With the ac-
complishment of this great scheme, the Lords must
make up their minds to give up their other plans,
and they had better do so with a good grace. If
the only wise course that lies before them be taken,
and we have no doubt that it will, the bill will
speedily become law, and the chief want of our legisla-
tion supplied. People have become so accustomed to
seeing one session go by after another with nothing
done in the way of Reform, that it will be, indeed, a
startling change to find that this year has seen the
realisation of the hopes of many preceding ones.
It often happens, when a work of this kind has
gone on for some time, that as it nears its conclu-
sion some drawback occurs in it, and the progress
of the Bill in the House of Lords has not been so
satisfactory as could have been hoped. There
was, on more than one occasion, reason to
fear that it might, at the eleventh hour,
follow the long train of defeated mea-
sures that had preceded it. When, at last, the
measure had left the Upper House, the Commons
started new difficulties by disagreeing with the last
amendments sent down to thew. We feel confident,
however, notwithstanding all these hindrances, that
the end is near, and that a satisfactory one. The
House of Lords will have too much sense, and too
much anxiety, for the passing of the mea-
sure to agree to any act which would
interfere with that one, and they will
choose the only safe course which lies before them,
namely, that of accepting the reasons of the Cora-
mittee of the Commons, and thus remove the last
obstacle that stands in the way of the measure.
Not till the bill has become law will the relief be
experienced of having this vexed question settled.
For long years it has stood in the way of other
useful and important acts of legislation, besides
being the bugbear of statesmen and the shipwreck
of Cabinets, the fruitful source of agitation,
and the source of anxiety to the wise and far-seeing.
The Government of Lord DERBY have indeed
accomplished a great work, and now it will he
universally recognised when it is a settled thing.
They have effected what their predecessors could
not do with a large majority in the House of Com-
mons, and what the former Cabinet could not
and would not do with many and great
advantages around them. While a few may
murmur at this, and find fault with that,
the general voice of the community will be
in favour of the measure as it stands, and
that is the best that can be hoped for ; for under no
circumstances can everybody be satisfied, and no-
thing is more difficult than to pass a measure of
reform.