The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-28 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1867.

The more one considers the state of things the
more important does it seem that the question of
Reform should have been so far advanced and put
in so forward a stage. There is enough, and more
than enough, for the House of Commons and for
the public to think of in the various details of the
bill during the time that will elapse before its going
into committee. Notwithstanding Mr. GLADSTONE'S
extraordinary conduct, when the Chancellor of the
Exchequer announced his intention of bringing
on Lis Budget next week, we do not see
that the interval is any too long to afford hon.
members an opportunity of considering the scheme
more calmly and carefully than they have hitherto
been able to do with the confusion that has pre-
vailed. In short, Mr. GLADSTONE himself has been
the chief defaulter, and in consequence of the
outcry he has raised it has been quite impossible
for any one to turn their attention from watching
his proceedings. What with speculating upon his
chance of success in turning out the Ministry, and
what with making surmises as to the course Go-
vernment would pursue, the Bill itself has been made
quite secondary. Now, however, that the pro-
jects of faction have virtually failed, we
may hope that nothing will interpose to
prevent that fair consideration being given to the
measure which it demands and deserves. There is
nothing in its construction to prevent its being
converted into a measure well calculated to secure
the end in view, the improvement of the repre-
sentation of the people, but, on the contrary, much
to approve of. In the first place, it is by far the
most comprehensive and liberal Reform Bill that
has been offered since the passing of the measure in
1832. It goes further, and takes in more claims
and requirements than any of the vaunted schemes
of Earl RUSSELL, to which he referred the other
night with so much self-complacency in the House
of Lords ; and it is incomparably better than the
joint production of Mr. GLADSTONE and Mr. BRIGHT,
which was last year introduced to the House of
Commons, and which was thought so wonderful by
some that all who opposed it were to be classed as
traitors and recusants for ever.

Perhaps one of the chief recommendations of the
measure now before Parliament is that it is no
" pet project" of the Ministers, and they have no
special regard for any part of it. This is a much
safer prospect than when a scheme is prepared con-
cerning which it is resolved to fight to the utter-
most, so that this clause may pass, and that idea be
carried out in its entirety. We may depend upon
it that the country is more likely to suffer from the
introduction of a one-sided scheme, backed up by a
Government commanding a majority in Parliament,
than when those in power really seek to attain the
sanction of the Legislature for those proposals
which are intended to satisfy the wants of the
people, and not to gratify any ambitious desire, or
fulfil the ends of party. Far from thinking that
the present Government being unfitted for the
task of bringing in a Reform Bill, we believe that
they are the best adapted for the purpose, for they
enter on the work free from prejudice, and unfet-
tered by the trammels of party. It is not at all to
the credit of the leaders of the Liberal party that
they should have set their faces so determinedly
against the measure put before them, and declared
that it was almost impossible to amend it. We hope
for better things from the party itself,:however, and
feel convinced that they will not follow in the
wake of Mr. GLADSTONE and Mr. BRIGHT when
they make their endless objections in committee.
In fact they have already virtually ignored the
command, entreaties, and objurgations of the right
hon. gentleman the member for South Lancashire.
Had his wishes been realised the second reading
would not have taken place on Tuesday, and the
Ministerial scheme would now be at an end. They
must not think, however, that they need not be on
their guard any longer, because a great deal of
mischief may still be wrought notwithstanding the
advantages gained.
It is very difficult to decide exactly what Mr.
GLADSTONE'S plans are. It is true that the points
he was especially opposed to no longer threaten
him, but who can tell what his crotchets may in-
duce him to do, and to what lengths he may not
go in the furtherance of some fresh undertaking.
With care and foresight on the part of all who
really desire that a Reform Bill may pass this Ses-
sion there is no fear whatever of the result being
satisfactory ; but to obtain this success the care
must be taken. Nothing could possibly have in-
spired more confidence than the speech of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer's the other
night. It stated that the passing of the
measure was the ono thing needful in the eyes
of the Government, and that all other mattets should
be secondary and subservient. His remarks must
have been wormwood and gall to Mr. GLADSTONE,
who bad hailed the dual voting and the lodger
franchise as patent auxiliaries in his cause. What
other weapons he has in his armoury we know not,
but they cannot be sc effective as those doomed
projects would have been. We gather more from
the language of Mr. DISRAELI than that wisdom
reigns in the counsels of the Cabinet, for we find
that they are animated by the right spirit, and are
fully resolved to go through with their work. We
cannot overrate its difficulty, but neither can the
importance and interest of the undertaking be for-
gotten, and in wishing them success we are only
desiring to secure to the community at large the
boon which they have so long and so ardently
desired.

We should imagine that by this time every one
has heard nearly enough of German unity, but
they must not expect that they have by any means
done with it yet. On the contrary, it seems to
threaten us with its intrusion more and more as
time goes on, and enables Count BISMARCK to con-
tinue his ambitious desigba, and to complete his
audacious schemes: The last grand exploit of his
policy that has been made patent to the world is the
treaty he has been making with South Germany,
and of this it seems that his admirers are very pleased.
There never was a man so overrated as this Prus-
sian Minister is, and he will be, we presume, until
he meets with failure. It is not in the nature of
things that his career should be always co graiul as
it has been, and the pages of histori are filled with