The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-29 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

" THE SATURDAY REVIEW" ON THE GOVERN-
MENT AND THE OPPOSITION.—The report that the
Government has determined to meet Parliament
without a project of Reform has acquired consis-
tency 'and general credence. The supposed alter-
native of an appeal to the house of Commons to
assume the initiative is altogether absurd. Minis-
ters in a Constitutional Government are placed in
power to lead, and not to follow ; and to an in-
quiry whether Parliament desired Reform, the only
suitable answer would be that Parliament desired to
have a Cabinet with an opinion of its own. As Fal-
staff told the Chief Justice's attendant, though it be
a shame to be on any side but the right, it is worse
shame to beg than to be on the worse side. Mr.
Disraeli has at least an intellectual conscience, and
some of his colleagues must be too proud to abdi-
cate the functions of a rank which they retain.
Failure to propose a Reform Bill can only be jus-
tified by a belief that changes in the representation
are neither necessary nor desirable. If Mr. Disraeli
differs on so vital a point from the majority of the
Ministers, he would have consulted his reputation
by declining to share in a policy which he must
consider unsound. Nearly all his party have said,
and many of them believe, that a considerable ex-
tension of the franchise is expedient in itself, as
well as for the purpose of escaping from agitation.
So-called practical measures come in natural suc-
cession after the repair of the machinery by which
they are to be effected. It is barely possible that
Mr. Disraeli may have preferred to immediate legis-
lation the scheme of a Parliamentary Commission to
inquire into the state of the representation. With
all his acuteness and versatility, Mr. Disraeli is
sometimes wanting in the instinct of political fitness
and practicability ; and, as he has given much
thought to the details of electoral machinery, he
may perhaps overrate the importance of minute
statistical accuracy. But he ought to understand
that a bill for Commission is liable to the prelimi-
nary objections, that it will never be passed by the
House of Commons. A Commission can never
furnish a suitable tribunal for the determi-
nation of great constitutional tribunals. After
the discussions of the past year, every politi-
cian in and out of Parliament is in possession
of the necessary materials for forming a final
opinion of Reform ; and it is clear that changes
ought to be made at once, or to be immediately de-
ferred. While a commission was taking evidence,
and framing draft reports, the country would be
incessantly disturbed by agitation. The position of
the two great parties cannot be clearly defined until
the intentions of the Government are disclosed. The
Liberals have abstained during the entire recess
from any language which could limit their future
discretion ; and Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone
still linger on the continent, as if for the express
purpose of rendering concerted plans of action im-
possible. No Cabinet had ever so fair a chance of
neutralising a nominally hostile majority, for atleast
a third of the Opposition would prefer a Reform
Bill proposed by Mr. Disraeli to a change of Go-
vernment at the present moment. The House of
Commons professedly distrusts Lord Derby, but it
really objects far more strongly to Mr. Bright.
Common enmities might have sufficed to produce a
provisional friendship, and tolerance might have
expanded into goodwill. Mob meetings and sedi-
tious language incline moderate men to combine,
but those who have most to gain by co-operation