The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-13 00:00:00

this point, and had resolved to come to a conclusion to rfered so far as to give positive instructions to '
as speedily as possible. Five hours of the afternoon G eneral SHERIDAN to extend the time for the
were occupied with the consideration of the mea- registration of voters in Louisiana until fur-
sure, and two or three later on in the ther notice. Governor BROWNLOW, in Tennessee,
evening. Finally, the Chancellor of the Ex- appears inclined to produce a tumult if he can. He
chequer, amid cheering, announced that the third has issn ed a proclamation declaring that the
reading of the Bill would be taken on Monday. county courts have no power to appoint officers for
This is indeed an end worth stirring for, and it the State elections, and has ordered his militia to
cannot be too much rejoicedat. Only those who have enforce the new franchise law, excluding all parti -
taken part in those discussions, and who have cipant I in the rebellion. The Reconstruction Act
watched their course from day to day can fully ap- has, iu. fact, given a fresh vigour to the disputes
preciate the difficulties that arise when they are all about Southern rights. SHERIDAN and SICELES
apparently surmounted, and the work that must be are regarded as prime leaders of one party as the
done when the uninitiated imagine that everything, PRESIDENT is of the other, and at the recent Re-
or nearly everything, has been accomplished. Al- public Convention in Pennsylvania resolutions were
though the sense of the House had been pretty passed thanking the Generals for their opposition
plainly expressed as to the desirability of passing to Mr. JOHNSON, and asking General GRANT to
the bill of the Government during this session, follow the same course. GRANT, however, seems to
still its passage through the Committee has been an be cautious of committing himself. He has not of
arduous task, and the exertion required to arrive late taken any prominent part in the political
at a satisfactory end cannot be overrated. Some struggle, and he possibly thinks that by prudence
of those who have abstained from bringing forward he may secure the votes of the moderate party,
factious motions at the earlier part of the session which would not be likely to be given to an ultra-
considered themselves privileged to be as obstruc- Radical. The negro suffrage question is a severe
Live as possible during the subsequent stages of trial to most of the Republican Conventions. They
the affair, and their conduct in the Committee was are divided upon it, and are perplexed what to say.
most wearisome and vexatious, Mr. DISRAELI In Pennsylvania, where the Radicalism was
must, indeed, be glad to have reached rampant, and the support given to the
this part of the proceedings, for it was only by dint proceedings of Congress was unqualified, bee
of hard work, combined with tact and discretion, resolutions were absolutely silent coneerning it.
that he has done so, and as it is well known the The Maine Republican Convention was more una-
effort required for such a task is great and difficult nimous, and 'demanded universal negro suffrage
to sustain for a prolonged period. throughout the county—a demand not likely to meet
The right hon. gentleman showed his sense of the with a very enthusiastic response. One of the first
sacrifices that have been made by private members acts of Congress has been to introduce bills em-
in the progress of the Reform Bill, for, he said, that powering the military commanders to remove
he would consider the state of affairs and compensate all civil officers at discretion, so that the
as far as possible those members who have subordination of civil to military law seems to
waived their rights for the furtherance of the be a recognised part of their programme. The
measure before the House. Nothing of particular Radicals do not appear to perceive, or if
interest took place yesterday, for it was more the they do perceive it, they are indifferent to
desperate attempt not to lose the last chance that the fact, that by all such acts they are paving
prompted those who spoke, rather than the ex- I the way to a military dictatorship, which is usually
pectation that any change would take place. Mr. the death-blow to all Republics. The Mexican news
H. BERKELEY brought up a clause to provide for is as yet very meagre, save that the fact of the
capture of the city of Mexico on the 20th is
taking vote by Ballot, but he must have known
known. The American Press generally express
full well himself that that was not the time for
reat sympathy for MAximILIAN, though no public
the discussion of the subject. Mr. OSBORNE notice has as yet been taken of his fate.
made one of his extraordinary speeches on the
matter, stating that though, as yet, he had
only been a lukewarm supporter of the
proposal, he now felt that it would be doubly neces-
sary, in order to protect workmen from the intimi-
dation of their own class. It is certain that Mr.
OSBORNE can always find something astonishing to
say, and this last speech is not an exception to the
rule. Lord E. CECIL'S clause for disfranchising
persons convicted of felony was negatived. Mr.
GLADSTONE was against its being carried out, stating
that it belonged to the criminal law to consider such
points, and did not appertain to their province.
Mr. BOUVERIE very unnecessarily commented upon
the lodger franchise, but the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer very wisely forbore to renew the discussion on the
subject, which provoked some comments from Mr.
GLADSTONE not of the most flattering kind, for he
seemed to infer that Mr. DISRAELI'S silence arose
from the fact of his not feeling very strongly on the
point. This was most extraordinary on his part,
seeing that the right hon. gentleman was the first
to propose it, and that the House of Commons has
been almost unanimous in its favour this session.
We do not entertain any apprehensions of the
character that seem to influence Mr. GLAD-
STONE, and to make him fear that the
other House will not consent to this clause. By
this time the matter has ben so well analysed that
there will be no excuse for arriving at another de-
cision, and it is quite idle to indulge in chimerical
notions of this kind. We fully agree with the
Chancellor of the Exchequer that it would have
been most unwise to have disturbed the schedules
by the substitution of Wandsworth, Tooting,
and Streatham as a Parliamentary borough, in lieu
of Darlington. If anything were wanting
to prove the truth of this assertion, it
would have been the diversity of opinion that
prevailed on the question. Mr. L. KING, with jus-
tice, declared that he knew Surrey, and that if it was
to have a new borough it should be Croydon. There
has been plenty of time given to the discussion of
this measure, and it would have been most unfor-
tunate if any hindrance had been put in the way
of progress yesterday. The worst may now be said
to be fairly over, for there is no likelihood of any de-
cided opposition being made in the House of Lords.
It is always a mistake to make too certain, and dan-
gers often arise when least expected, but in all
human probability the Reform Bill of this Session
may be said to have been virtually decided upon
by this time ; and it is no exaggeration to declare
that such a result is one most earnestly to rejoice
at, for it removes from the arena of discussion a
most vexatious subject of controversy, while it
confers great benefit upon the community by the
enlightened spirit in which it has been carried out.

The arrival of the China, with news from New
York to the 4th July, brings us intelligence which
shows Congress to be as bent upon mischief as ever.
Prudent men, it is said, view with some apprehen-
sion the assembling of the Legislature at this junc-
ture. They fear that Congress will meddle with
the finances, and repeal the excessive appropriations
which during the last few sessions have so greatly
helped to embarrass the Secretary of the Treasury.
There is a hope that the session may only last for
a few days, required for the passage of certain
laws, and that the moderate members will suc-
ceed in restraining it within narrow limits. So
far as we yet know the members seem inclined,
however, to plunge into all the vexed questions of
the day. The majority of the Judiciary committee
are preparing a report, recommending, it is said, the
reassembly of Congress in October, to consider the
impeachment of President JonNsoN. The meeting
of Congress, too, is regarded as a signal for re-
opening the political canvassing for the coming
election ; and though such a prospect may be well
come to the speculators and those who make their
profits out of times of political excitement, it does
not augur well for that stability of business and
finance which are so grievously wanted.
The PRESIDENT'S tour in the North has been a
decided success, and contrasts favourably with the
result of his last year's excursion. In the New
England States his reception was most hospitable,
al
anndd he
res has
ewromni
ngoldeny
uopinions
all pTohlie
ticNalewfeeElinng7
and receive him with the honour due to his official
position. The PRESIDENT on his side avoided all
dangerous topics, and in Boston especially,
usually
•• supposed to be the very stronghold of Radicalism,
, his visit was an unbounded success. Philadelphia
alone stood aloof and refused to receive the illustri-
ous visitor, and orders were consequently given that
the Presidential train should not even stop in

passing through the city, so that if the ill-bred
Radicalism of Philadelphia intended any expression
of hostile feeling it was denied the opportunity.
It is to be hoped that after this cordial meeting the
PRESIDENT and the New Englanders will be able to
understand one another better, and that there will
be less chance of misrepresentation on both sides.
The Reconstruction Bill continues to give a good
deal o trouble. The PRESIDENT hai actively in.