The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-18 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

POST.—By the small majority of eight the Go-
vernment succeeded, last evening, after a brief and
hasty discussion, in negativing Mr. Laing's amend-
ment that six of the vacant seats should be given to
the boroughs of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield,
Birmingham, Leeds, and Bristol. Each of these
boroughs had a population exceeding 150,000, and
the suggestion was therefore not an unreasonable
one. Mr. Disraeli, before the house went into com-
mittee, threw out a hint that if the proposal of the
member for the Wick burghs was adopted it would
become necessary for the Government to reconsider
their position in respect to the entire bill, and this
implied threat was notwitliout its effect. The Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer has discovered that there is
a considerable section of the House of Commons
which would assent to anything rather than jeopar-
dise the bill, and he has more than once turned this
Useful knowledge to account. Last evening he em-
ployed the power which a Ministry always possesses
over a recalcitrant house with the happiest effect.
There was no attempt made to combat the arguments
advanced by Mr. Laing in defence of the interests
of the more populous boroughs ; the Ministry con-
tented themselves with relying solely on the fears
of those who regard a dissolution, or the postpone-
ment of a Reform Bill, as the greatest of evils.
The debate, if debate it could be called, on a mea-
sure of vast national importance was concluded
almost a 3 soon as begun. It was considered on
all hands that an hour and a half was quite suffi-
cient for the discussion of so trivial a matter as
the comparative merits of six of the most impor-
tant cities in the kingdom, and of as many coun-
ties, to an increase in the number of their repre-
sentatives, and hon. gentlemen were anxious to settle
the question before betaking themselves to their
dinner. The result was, as we have already said,
that the Liberals were beaten by a small majority ;
the victory on this, as on previous occasions, being
due to the accession of many of their own members.
The disappointment of their leaders was intense,
and it is not to be wondered at that Mr. Gladstone
should have intimated his intention on a future oc-
casion of seeking to obtain what would be a practical
recision of the adverse vote. The amendment of
Mr. Hughes for the establishment of cumulative
voting, hi the event of three members being given
to the above-mentioned boroughs, necessarily de-
pended on the adoption of Mr. Laing's proposal, and
the latter being rejected it necessarily fell to the
ground. Having negatived the amendment of the
member for Wick, the committee then proceeded to
consider the clause providing for the creation of
two new metropolitan constituencies, and the result
was that Chelsea and Hackney have been added to
the list of parliamentary boroughs. The clause pro-
viding for the division of a certain number of
counties in half, with an increase of two members
to each county, was next agreed to without debate,
an ineffectual attempt to report progress having
first been made by the Liberal party, the motion to
to that effect having been withdrawn without a
division. The united Universities of London and
Durham have narrowly escaped being raised to the
rank of a Parliamentary constituency. Mr. Laing's
proposal to give a third seat to half a dozen boroughs
with a gigantic population proceeded on the very
intelligible ground that both in respect to the number
of inhabitants and to their material prosperity they
were entitled to a greater quantum of representative
power than constituencies not one-tenth as populous
or as wealthy as their own. And if numbers or
wealth were to be accepted as the true test for de-
termining the exact number of members which any
given constituency should send to the house of
Commons, there can be no doubt that the conten-
tion of the member for the Wick burghs was un-
answerable.

THE " WESTMINSTER GAZETTE" ON THE ABSENCE
OF INDUSTRIAL KNOWLEDGE IN IRELAND.—There
are few countries whose cause has been more
frequently debated than that of Ireland, and for
whose social and political amelioration, greater
efforts have been made, and yet very few of the
schemes devised for her benefit have been attended
with satisfactory results. It is a fact, recognised
by every one who knows anything of the present
condition of that country, that one of the greatest
impediments to her material advancement is the
general absence of industrial knowledge. As it is
generally conceded that the Irish people are not

wanting in ability, this circumstance must, no '
doubt, be mainly ascribed to the want of superior
examples of industrial activity. The inferiority
of the Irish to the English workman does not
arise so much from any natural difference of cha-
racter as from the difference in the motives and
opportunities enjoyed by each in the pursuit of
his employment. The abilities of the Irish work-
man, mental and physical, are cramped by the
conditions under which he is obliged to carry on
his labour. Insufficiency of food has affected his
capacity for manual labour, and from the general
absence of almost every species of superior in-
dustry in Ireland, he is left without the means of
acquiring practical skill. Hence it is, when they
are desirous of effecting any imprOvement, either
in manufacture or in agriculture, the Englishman
or the Scotchman is invariably called in to execute
it. This preference of strangers is, no doubt, gall-
ing to the feelings of Irishmen, but the employer,
whose object is to forward his own interest, will
be little swayed by ideas of nationality. But it is
not the workmen, or thoz-3 engaged in active
industry alone, that are deficient in industrial
knowledge. The great, as well as the mechanic,
are alike wanting in the experience and accuracy
of information requisite to develope the resources
of the country, and to make them subservient
to the interests of all classes of the people.
Possessing by nature everything calculated to
render a country prosperous and happy,—a fertile
soil, fine harbours, and an almost superfluous
abundance of water-power—we may well wonder
at the spectacle of a nation living in wretchedness
and discontent amid so many bounties of Provi-
dence. The errors of government in the past have
had, no doubt, a depressing effect on the charac-
ter of thelrish people ; but, with the best Govern-
ment in the world, no solid advance in prosperity
could be expected until the Irish themselves have
learned to cultivate more practical habits of busi-
ness, and have attained to a truer appreciation of
the principles which regulate the progress of in-
dustry. Though a poor country, the spirit of
speculation is strong ; but it is a spirit unaided
by the care and wisdom which are the best fruit
of experience. Those who have travelled much
in Ireland have not failed to observe the number
of unfinished or unsuccessful schemes which mark
the commercial history of the country. Specula-
tion there does not want in boldness, but in pru-
dence which counts the costs and calculates the
consequences of any work before engaging in it.
While business is pursued in this way, can we
wonder if repeated failure be the result, or can
we wonder if the force of such unsuccessful ex-
amples operate injuriously upon the spirit of enter-
prise in others ? Should we wonder if, in the end,
the whole cause of Irish enterprise suffers; and if
the hope of prosperity should appear at times to
have died out in the hearts of the people ? The
Englishman does not fail in many cases to avail
himself of the rashness or incompetency of Irish
capitalists. From his vast experience he knows
what is likely to pay him well, and he invests his
capital accordingly, while he has the firmness to
resist the pressure of temporary evils for the sake
of the consequences, which his sagacity has enabled
him to foresee. From these causes almost every
species of successful industry in the country is in
the hands of Englishmen. And yet, with all the
expenditure of English capital, the great mass of
the population is in the utmost poverty, and the
splendid resources of the country are only half de-
veloped. Such is the present condition of things
in Ireland, and as long as the ignorance of indus-
trial enterprise on the part of Irishmen leaves an
Opening for the advantageous investment of capital
amongst them, they cannot in justice complain if the
most valuable portions of Irish industry be mono-
polized by English or Scotch speculators. It has,
however, been said that the want of capital, and
not any deficiency either in the knowledge of the
people or in the fertility of the soil, is the great
reason why a more superior industry has not been
carried out in Ireland. But the actual state of
things is a direct contradiction to this statement.
Why has not the intelligent activity of the people
created the necessary capital to enable them to
commence the work of national redemption ? How
did England and other countries first acquire capi-
tal? Was it by brooding over their wrongs, and
contemplating the impossibility of national prospe-
rity through the want of some supposed right, or
the existence of some imaginary evil? No. It was
first by acquiring a knowledge of 'business, . and
then accomplishing that business with energy, assi-
duity, and determination. We know the Irish
people have much to complain of, and many things
to contend with, which no doubt throw a heavy dis-
couragement in the way of strenuous application
to business. We believe the working classes in
Ireland to be worse fed, worse clothed, and in a
state of greater wretchedness and destitution than
those whom we see daily loitering in the streets of
this metropolis. Surely their condition demands
the interference of the Legislature. If, however,
they intend to ameliorate their social condition,
they must do so in the face of manifold grievances,
under which, beyond all question, they drag out
their existence. A steadfast adherence to business
—a determination to develope the resources of
their country—a practical knowledge of the arts
of life—have won for Englishmen their national
greatness ; and if Irishmen intend to raise their
country in the scale of nations it is by following
such an example.