The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-01 00:00:00

ceived. We do not see on the whole that
this discussion is to be regretted, because
the change which it will involve will serve
to carry out the principles of the bill, and to prevent
some of those evils which have been so glaring in
small constituencies. The value of small boroughs
in themselves is not to be overlooked, and it is only
the shortsighted politician who objects to them.
They serve many purposes more or less important, and
they could not be struck off the list without great in-
jury being inflicted on many interests. Mr. LAING
took a comprehensive view of the question, and
pointed out the anomalies of the present system of
our representation. He desired also to group 14
very small boroughs. Mr. LAING was very fair in
his scheme, for he declared that the county repre-
sentation was not adequately arranged in propor-
tion to that of the boroughs. Considerable
ingenuity was displayed in this plan of
redistribution, and although there were some
discrepancies in it, still the House showed,
by its decision, how highly it was appre-
ciated. Considerable amusement was created by
Mr. Sergeant GASELEE, who declared that the hon.
member for Wick had taken his own proposition
out of his hands, and by somehow placing a notice
on the paper, taking precedence of his, and by doing
it in more technical terms, had jockeyed him out
of his claim to priority. During the course of
his remarks, the honourable and learned member
took occasion to pay a tribute to the Chancellor
of the Exchequer for the dexterous manner in
which he had carried the bill through the House to
its present stage. " Through good report and
through evil report the right hon. gentleman had
met hon. members with a temper which he
wished they could all imitate, and a courtesy
which they could never forget." The Chancellor
of the Exchequer made some remarks upon the
subject, in which he pointed out the errors into
which they might fall by a too hasty adoption of
Mr. LAING'S plan. No doubt there was a good deal
of truth in the observations of the right hon. gentle-
man, but we hope and believe that he will find some
of his predictions not verified in the future. It is,
indeed, extremely difficult to draw a correct line of
distinction, and it will often be found that those
who are apparently the most acute have made
some error, and displayed some inconsistency, as
Mr. DISRAELI showed, when you begin to talk of
remedying defects and diminishing " anomalies,"
you may perchance while removing some create
others. " Nor," said he, "to maintain that it is
an intolerable anomaly that a town of eight thou-
sand inhabitants should return two members to
Parliament, while a city of half a million returns
only the same number, is scarcely consistent
with recommending that a town of ten thou-
sand should be placed in the same position."
Great care and attention will be necessary in deal-
ing with the " different schools of representation"
which, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer truly
remarked, are now springing up in the country.
Perhaps a great deal of the difficulty that lies in
the way of those who are propounding these schemes,
and commenting upon the various propositions,
might be done away with if it was not
tacitly agreed upon that the aggregate number
of the House of Commons must be fixed at
658. There is no valid reason for this, and it
might be a very good thing if it were done away
with in a great measure, for it would introduce more
freedom into the arrangements, and tend to develope
a system more in accordance with the progressive
spirit of the age. Mr. GLADSTONE'S speech
afforded some consolatins,3nthers rcaSe who con-
sidered that the constitUciac.r.;3 would become
too uniform in their character through the
proposed changes, because he said that they might
follow the example, but division and redivison of
counties, would re-act upon a more extensive scale.
Th 3 right hon. genntleman expressed his satisfaction
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the part
of the Government, did not make any of those
"significant announcements," which might lead hon.
members to believe that in the event of Mr.
LAING'S scheme proving unsuccessful a serious
disturbance of the procedure of the House
would be the result. The Ministers have, in fact,
shown great discretion on this point throughout
the whole of the debates which have taken place,
and resisted the temptation of adhering too closely
to their own favourite plans. This is a very com-
mendable resolve on their part, for no progress
worthy of the name could have been made by the
house had a fixed and arbitrary course been
determined upon. Of course, the decision
arrived at yesterday will occasion no more
delay, but it need not be of more than a
trifling character ; and we entertain no doubt that
the Government will be able to adopt the wishes of
the committee in a manner that will not materially
affect their own measure, and thus finally to bring
about the result so ardently defered, and so long
anticipated, of passing a Reform Bill which shall
satisfactorily dispose of the vexed question in a
,asting form and after a desirable fashion.

The dissolution of the Croatian Diet is not a
matter of surprise, and though its necessity may
be on many accounts an occasion of regret there is
good reason to hope that another assembly of
Croatian and Sclavonic representatives may lead to
more satisfactory results. A new election will pro-
bably send to the Diet less turbulent members. We
may judge a little of the tempers of these gentlemen
from a little anecdote told respecting the forthcom-
ing coronation. It seems that the mound on which
the ceremony of coronation is to take place is to be
composed of earth sent from all the different comi-
tats of the kingdom. The Croatian supply
is prepared, but it has been decided that it
should not be sent until the questions in
dispute between Pesth and Agram were satisfactorily
settled. So much for Croatian independence. The
EMPEROR, in his rescript, says that he had hoped
they would have "acceded legally to the resolutions
agreed upon with the Hungarian Diet as to the
political position of the countries of the Hungarian
Crown with regard to common affairs." The rescript
goes on to sum up the effect of the resolution passed
by the Hungarian Diet, which invited Croatia to
send representatives to its sittings for these express
objects, and promised to secure the legal rights of
the kingdoms of Dalmatia, Croatia, and Sclavonia,
and left the Diet at liberty to elect the mem-
bers to be chosen as common delegates for
the Hungarian Crown, and recognised the
right to sand the Deputies in any man-
ner the Croatians might decide upon. The
acceptance of these proposals on the part of Croatia
should not, the Hungarians promised, be considered
as in any way affecting the settlement of the still
pending questions. The EMPEROR expresses his
surprise and regret that the address adopted by the
majority of the Croatian Diet was altogether dif-
ferent from what he had expected. Demands were
put forward peremptorily by the majority of the
Diet, which were not only unattainable, owing to
the shortness of the time, but were plainly in-
tended to render all constitutional agreement im-
possible. The consequence is that the EMPEROR,
having determined no longer to delay the generally
desired coronation, finda himself compelled to dis
0

lye the Croato-Selavonian Diet, having no hope
of any prosperous result under the influence of tha