The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The republication of Mr. Disraeli's
Speeches on Parliamentary Reform, without the
withdrawal of a word, the change of a single
phrase, or the modification of a sentiment, is a
crucial test of the speaker's powers. We could
have tolerated, and perhaps desired, some amend-
ment here and there—the removal of an obnoxious
sentence, or the correction of some blemish of taste,
but the editor has been audacious, and possibly at
the same time discreet, in reprinting these speeches
just as they were delivered. Few of us, for ex-
ample, would have complained if last year's blunder
of importing Mr. Gladstone's boyish escapades at
the Oxford Union into the final speech of the great
Parliamentary debate had been quietly effaced, but
it is reproduced without the attempt to soften the
outrage on good taste. Some future readers, again,
may be puzzled to understand why Mr. Disraeli
should have spoken of himself in 1860 as the leader
of the Opposition, " the Quarterly Review notwith-
standing ;" for though Mr. Disraeli's editor, Mr.
Corry, faithfully reproduces the phrase, he adds no
note to explain its meaning. Ephemeral allusions
and blots such as these might have been removed
without offence, but their presence proves the
fidelity of the reprint, and they serve by contrast
to bring out the real merits of Mr. Disraeli's
speeches. They are like the patches worn in the
age of hair powder, though we can scarcely suppose
they were designedly adopted, as those devices
were by the artful beauties of the Augustan period.
The most striking characteristic of these speeches
is their completeness and consistency. They ex-
tend over a period of eighteen years, and it would
almcst seem that from the commencement Mr.
Disraeli had thoroughly studied the subject, and
had arrived at definite conclusions upon it. The sin-
gularity of this merit becomes most apparent when
we compare Mr. Disraeli with our other public
men who have treated the same subject. Eighteen
years ago Lord Russell was still resting on the prin-
ciple of finality. It is needless, and it would be
invidious, to enumerate all the phases Mr. Glad-
stone has gone through in the, interval. Mr.
Bright's career has been tolerably consistent with
itself, though even he at one time advised his
friends to " repudiate without mercy" all propo-
sals for reducing the franchise unaccompanied by a
redistribution of seats, and was last year the special
patron of a mere franchise bill. Mr. Bright's consis-
tency, too, such as it is, has been maintained at the
cost of very narrow and partial views of the reform
question. But whatever faults we may charge upon
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and he has many,
we cannot deny him the merit of complete and con-
sistent opinions on this subject. It is plain he must
have taken great pains to master it at the outset,
and he has not neglected to consider the arguments
and suggestions which have been advanced from
time to time since. It is a natural consequence of
this study that he should always have insisted upon
the necessity of a comprehensive measure, in oppo-
sition to tinkering proposals of partial amendment ;
and it is doubtless due to the broad view he takes
of the existing constitution that he has protested so
emphatically against what he once called the feeble
and dangerous policy of merely reducing county
and town qualifications. There can be no doubt he
was right in using this language. There is a cer-
tain plausibility in recommending that the occupa-
tion qualification should be reduced, but this plan
of meeting the cry for reform is but a stopgap, the
resource of men at once shallow-minded and timid,
who are content to accept anything which will last
their time, careless whether the deluge or any other
catastrophe comes after them. No reason can be
adduced for stopping at any proposed line ; on the
contrary, the arguments which supported the first
step lead, by an irresistible chain of inference, to
others in the same direction, until we have com-
pleted the enfranchisement of all. The Chancellor
of the Exchequer is honourably distinguished by
his careful study of the reform question,
and yet he has hitherto failed as a refor-
mer. To what are we to attribute this
apparent contradiction ? It is impossible to sup-
pose that a merely factious opposition has denied
him the opportunity of solving a problem which so
many desire to see settled. The obstacles to his suc-
cess are deeper, though they are, perhaps, not irre-
movable. Ile has advocated lateral extension,
rightly insisting upon the necessity of devising qua-
lifications which shall correspond as far as possible
with the varied circumstances of modern life; but he
has failed to appreciate and to satisfy the popular
movement which is equally characteristic of our
time. It is true, as Mr. Disraeli has often declared,
that the English Constitution looks upon the Fran-
chise as a privilege to be obtained and exercised for
their country's benefit by those who show them-
selves worthy of the honour, but who can say that
our tests do not include as many entitled by all
moral considerations to vote as those who are now
admitted ? The Franchise is a privilege, the right
to return members of the house of Commons is a
privilege—such and such men have the one, such
and such places are endowed with the other ; but
we may as well confess at once that it is impossible
in this age to defend privileges which are arbitrarily
conferred. 'There is a sentiment of equality which
asks why this man or this place should be favoured
while another man and another place equally worthy
are neglected, and though we may try to avoid such
questions, we shall find the attempt as wise as the
action of the ostrich thrusting its head into the sand
to avoid seeing its pursuers. A refusal to recognise
facts is always suicidal, and one main cause of Mr.
Disraeli's failure is that he has refused to acknow-
ledge the tendency to equality exhibited all around
us, which may be shaped to useful ends, bu t cannot
be directly counteracted or safely neglected. The
Reformer must face the necessity of reducing the
electoral qualifications. So much is incumbent upon
him. He must further face the necessity of redis-
tributing the seats. A Reform Bill might be de-
sirable if these things were not wanted, but these
are the requirements which make a Reform Bill
inevitable. If there were no one discontented
because he failel to reach time existing electoral
qualifications, if there were no mass of men
complaining that their influence on legis-
lation was overborne by the influence of a
smaller number of their fellow-citizens, we might
go on without a Reform Bill at all. This is im-
possible; and, since it is imposslle, it is clear that
no Reform Bill will correspond to the exigencies of
the time which does not allay these two prime
sourm of dizeontent. flow is it possible to devise
a scheme satisfying this condition which will not,
directly or by necessary inference, deprive large
classes of their present share in the Government ?
Mr. Bright, in his hasty passion against things as
they are, does not recognise the difficulty, and
would put the country under the denomination of
the most numerous class. The Chancellor of the
Exchequer sees what is to be done, but the scheme
he has hitherto advanced would fail to accomplish
it, and would succeed in provoking the resentment
of those still unenfranchised. His plan of securing
the representation of different interests, while con-
ceding the franchise laterally and, to some extent,
vertically, turns upon an adjustment of boundaries
and a weeding out from the county registers of all
who may be suspected of borough interests. In this
way he would still provide for the representation of
the landed interest by counties, and of the men of
commerce and of wealth by borough districts, while
the more popular towns would be given up to those
who can secure their suffrage by professing Demo-
cratic opinions. This was the essence of the scheme
embodied in the bill of Lord Derby's Ministry in
1859 ; it was the plan shadowed forth by the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer in his criticisms on the two
bills of last year. But it has already been rejected,
and if brought forward again would be again re-
jected. It would leave one blot of our system—the
unequal distribution of representation—unaffected,
and it would carry the different Parliamentary con-
stituencies behind sharp lines of antagonism. We
should see in England something like what is seen
in Scotland, where all the county members are
ranged on one side, and all the borough members
on the other. 11' e cannot afford to test the stability
of such an arrangement. A legislative scheme
which aggravates the divergence of classes is self-
condemned. We must adopt some more simple,
some less invidious way of securing the representa-
tion of all sections of social life.
HERALD.—It would be very unjust to attribute
the cold reception which the new constitutional re-
forms have obtained from the Parisian press to the
perversity of the old parties. As our correspondent,
who recrards them as of the highest importance and
of the most beneficial character, observes, the dis-
appointment and suspicion are general. Sharing in
the main his views, we must yet add they are not
unnatural or unfair. Of the four reforms which the
Emperor announces, the character and scope of two
only are definitely known, and the more important
of those two is undoubtedly a diminution rather
than an extension of the liberties the nation enjoyed.
The debate upon the address may have often been
protracted au unreasonable time. It may have
caused the Government inconvenience and embar-
rassment, but it was a right precious to the country.
Since 1861 the Chambers have had the rights and
vthe r
npnol e-Inv et
.r to
Tchrei criticise
minority e
vuhl°le express their views,
a
policy of the Go-
even when most hostile to the course taken by the
Emperor
clo
any
France passed, as it were,
dthe
advantage was not
wholly on the side
'unhdee under h
n o\
annual anybody.
The e situation
review, of
without asking leave from anybo
of the Opposition. Although the
great orators of the
they often served the cause of
off most of the glory,
4‘ old parties naturally carried
the Government by the revelations. which their
speeches made of old-world. opinions which the ff
na-
tion generally had long tnrown , d of the very

serious differences in their own camp ; and it must
not be forgotten that M. Billault, and even M.
Rouher, have delivered speeches in these debates
which have done much to conciliate confidence for
the Government both at home and abroad. But
the question is not whether the debates upon the
address were convenient to the Government, but
whether they were regarded as useful by the coun-
try, or even by that minority of opponents of the
Empire who make liberty the price of their complete
adhesion. There can be no doubt they were so regarded,
and that the privilege of interpellation is felt by
them to be but a miserable substitute. What chance is
there of any question being recommended for dis-
cussion by two out of the five bureaus of the Senate,
an 1 four out of the nine of the Corps Legislatif, if
the Government entertains the slightest objection
to the interpellation ? henceforth the Opposition
will depend for their opportunities of criticising the
policy of the Government, of expressing their wishes,
and developing the wants of the country, as they
understand them, upon the favour of the Govern-
ment. The Government wiil probably have tact and
liberality enough to give them, as a rule, the oppor-
tunities they desire ; but indulgences of that kind
must necessarily be regarded as a very sorry substi-
tute for the rights before possessed, and only a long
experience of the liberality of the Government will
remove the painful impression produced by the sup-
pression of these debates upon the Address. And the
change could not have been made at a worse mo-
ment. This year's debates upon the Address pre-
sumed to have a peculiar interest and importance.
Since the great bodies of the State had last an appor-
tunity of expressing their opinions events of the
utmost importance have occurred. To the policy of
the Government has been prettygenerally attributed
a change in the political conformation of Europe,
which is humiliating to the pride and injurious to
the interests of France. It was certain that the
Government would have to sustain in these debates
a rude attack, and rumour weeks ago attributed to
it the design to relieve itself of the difficulty by sup-
pressing the Address. What could be more unfor-
tunate, therefore, so far as the effect upon public
opinion is concerned, than this reform which sup-
presses the Address and provides in its place only
the poor privilege of interpellation ? We quite be-
lieve that the Government has not had the inten-
tion which rumour attributed to it, and which its
acts would seem to confirm. It has indeed declared
that it will invite discussion upon the questions
which the suppression of the Address would enable
it to shirk. To meet difficulty in this way is a
characteristic of the Emperor. But then, if, as we
humbly believe, his intention has been to increase
the influence of the Legislature upon the Govern-
ment, to give greater scope for the prompt discussion
of questions in which the nation interests itself, how.
injudicious to select this moment for it. The country
naturally values the Address far above the interpel-
lation. At any time the change would be unwelcome.
To make it now, to make it in the name of liberty,
is naturally to provoke irritation, and to make men
even suspect the reality of the other concessions
which are promised. Had the Emperor, leaving the
Chambers the right of address, given them by this
decree.that of interpellation thus carefully guarded,
and promised the laws for restoring the press its
liberty, and amending the law in favour of the right
of public meeting, his reforms would have been
greeted with universal acclamation, and he would
have vanquished, for the moment, all opposition.
We quite believe that the restoration of liberty to
the press far outweighs in value any possible injury
which may be done by the suppression of the Address.
It is very improbable that the Emperor can propose
to confide to the tribunals those powers of warning
and suppression which his Ministers have heretofore
exercised. He cannot intend to confide to theist
other than the usual powers of punishment :for
offences against public order and security. They
will fine and imprison journalists whom they maY
find guilty of the offences laid to their charge, but
they will not, we feel convinced, have power to sup-
press newspapers. However, at present, all this is
uncertain. Until the draft of the new law is pub-
lished, or some authoritative explanation of its cha-
racter is given, the newspapers naturally are unable
to determine whether they will be greatly benefited
by the change. Everything will depend upon the
text of the law, and judging what they have not
seen by what they have seen they may be excused •
for doubting whether this new liberty will not prove
a loss. We have no doubt that the laws relative to
the press and to the right of meeting will dissipate
all these suspicions, because we cannot believe a
man of the Emperor's sagacity would mock
France in the dangerous fashion of making all his
concessions—whether real extensions of liberty or
not is not the question—of such a character
as to induce the belief that he took away more than
he gave. In any case, let the new law on the press
make no other change than to deprive the Govern-
ment of all its arbitrary power over the newspapers,
and let the system of suppression be maintained,
the gain would be an enormous one for France.
No journalist can be sure that what he writes maY
not be interpreted by the agents of the Government
into a misrepresentation of its intentions dictated
by a hostile feeling. He can tell pretty well whe-
ther what he writes is likely to bring him within
the grasp of the law. Before the tribunals he can
defend himself, and can explain his meaning with-
out being guilty of servility. If the tribunals have
the power of suppression given them it will be 3
power not to be used at their discretion, but a
punishment to be applied in certain cases defined
with some precision. We believe, then, that France,
and especially the French press, have obtained a
large and real extension of liberties, but at the
. same time we cannot deny that the unfortunate and
most unseasonable suppression of the address, which
is made to head the list of these new liberties,
justifies that coldness and suspicion of the press
and the public, for which we shall before long bear
them denounced as ungenerous and ungrateful.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

LEEDS-TUESDAY.

The wheat trade is flat to-day, and the sales made are
very few, at about last week's rates. Fine barley corll-
- late prices, but ordinary sorts meet with littlo alto"
ration. No change in the value of oats and beans.
Average prices : Wheat, 59s 11d; barley, 41s lid; oath'
27s 71d.

SHEFFIELD W— .. EDNESDAY.
Th'ro WIIR a NI- supvly of wheat on offer by sample, for, '
which there was a good demand at the full prices of las"
week. A steady trade in beans and oats at late quotations.
Barley somewhat scarce, and selling at extreme figural.
No change in flour and other articles.
Red wheat, per load of 3 imp. bushels....23s 01 to 21s 01
White do do - ....25s Od 27s Od
New red do do ....218 Od 236 01
New white do do „ „24s Oa 264 Od
Beans do do ....20s Od 22s 01
Peas, per qr Ps oa .193 (jd
Grinding ba ley, per qr 35s Od 38s Od
Matting barley, co los Od 48s 01
Oats, do 27s Od 323 Oil
F10ur....1s 101 to 2s t,d per 141 t),

LIVERPOOL—TUESDAY.
At this day's market there was a fair attendance of thetown and country trade, but the business done I°t,
limited, and quite of a retail character. Wheat and /lollr
,
were firmly held, but rather a slow sale. In oats and oal'o
meal there was no change to note. Barley and pea
brought more money, but beans remained without change
•
Indian corn, with scarcely any offering, brought 43s 11°r
4801 b for mixed and white American.

LYNN—MONDAY.
New wheat, 54s to 58s ; new red, 40s to 48s old whiter
67s to 71s ; old red, 59s to 63s per 36 stone. Barley t„
malting-, 46s to 52s ; secondary' 37s to 38s. Oats, rie",,'
24s to 28s per 24 stone. Beans, small, 42s to 445. ro-'
36s to 40s per 28 stone.

MARKET HARBOROUGH.—MONDAY. 36
Old white wheat, 60s to 73s ; new red, 50s to 68s per t.
stone. Barley, fine, 52s ; other kinds, 23s to 36s per 3ua.
Oats, new, 22s to 23s ; old, 30s to 34s per qr. Beans, of
50s to 555; new, 46s to 48s per qr.

BRISTOL—TUESDAY.
At our market to-day there was an average attendao
Good wheat fetched former prices. The trade in middllr.
qualities was suspended till the result of the large salo
vertised for Thursday next is known. Barloy 6d dear°r'
oats the same.

MELTON MOWERAY.—TIMSDAY.
.6
moo'
13„-
White wheat, 66s to 74s Bred, 50s to GGs per 0 fier
Barley for malting, 40s to 52s per qr ; feed, 32s to 31°_,,f0t.
30 stone. Oats, old, 30s to 355; new, 22s to 29s per '
Beans, old, 52s to 545; new, 46s to 50s per qr.
' _.....4

Births.
-
COSTE—On the 22d inst., at 2, Spring Villas, Tottei3ll3°
green, Mrs. Samuel Costo, of a son. Oh
ENGLAND—On the 19th inst., at The Grove, Batheast
near Bath, the wife of Lieut.-Col. England, of a son.

Marriages.
11 111.'
lIANBURY—LAMPEIERE-011 the 17th inst., at Ewell,
rey, Walter George, third son of the Rev. A. 11.0"..0,
vicar of Bury St. Mary, Suffolk, to Isabella,
viving daughter of the late Capt. W. C. La,mpeierel
R.11.A.. of Ewell. 1°
WAVES—MACKENZIE—On the 15th inst., at St. -kgirte•
Church, ltotnford, John, youngest son of the late , the
IVailes, Esq., of Leeds, to Mary, eldest daughter 0' tor
late C. 11. Mackenzie, Esq., of .13rintSconabe, Glutie°
shire. third

Deaths. lkfAr
BucKLrr-On the 21st inst., at Higher Ardwiek,
chester, Edmund Buckley, I;:sq., aged 87. f i'bel
CHAPPELL-0U the 22d inst., J. R. Chappell, Esq., °-
Elms, Wood-green.
Coox-On the 20th inst., at Eastbourne, Susselc, I°4
Ozon Cook, Esq., aged 70. v.ttorl'
FREETII-On the 19th inst., at 80, Coleshill-street,_ :To..
square, Gen. Sir James Freeth, K. 0.13., K.ll, 3.11,---
,-.1- 00
London : Printed and Pubiimhed by WILLIAM A,„ -„ jl-1.
of No. 112, Strand,Pfinier at Tim SUN ()Toe, 'lf 01
Strand, in the Precinct of the Sawn, in the Go°
Middlesex.:-Wednesday, January 23, 1507. J