The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-09 00:00:00

~;~~

LONDON, SATURDAY, FEB. 9, 1867.

Last night in the House of Lords, in answer to a
question from Lord DUDLEY, Lord DERBY made
some remarks concerning the procession which the
Reform League contemplated for next Monday, and
expressed his regret at the affair. lie quite agreed
with the noble earl that it is much to be regretted

that those who have the conduct of the vast org
nisation " should not have taken a more correct Paid
a sounder view of the duty they owe to the public,
and the interests of the country generally, than V ,
persist in holding a procession, whieb, althoug h
within the law, was certainly liable to prOdir tee
very great inconvenience, and perhaps talso
acts of illegality." No condemnation can, 'al act,
be too strong to distinguish the course thus per-
sistently pursued in defiance of reason a nd com-
mon sense. What object, it may well 1
have the leaders of this movement in vi eur -when
they go on in so ill-judged an affair ? a far the
idea that special constables would be swore in., Lord
DERBY showed that it was an erroneous or .e, be-

cause no one can be sworn in as a special
constable except upon a sworn information
to the effect that he believes a breach t of the
peace is imminent ; and thus those wht form
part of the procession, believing that all -will be
peaceable throughout the proz.cedings, camacd con-
sistently make such declaration. There was! great
force in the observation of Lord DERBY when he
reminded those who urged forward the movement
that although the procession itself might not be
illegal, yet that it might become illegal through the
circumstances attending it ; and in that case, added
he, " those who so recklessly expose the metropolis
to danger cannot escape from the responsibility they
thus incur."

At the best great inconvenience must result from
the proposed arrangement, and also great loss. The
operatives will lose a day's wages, and the shop-
keepers must suspend business. And all for what ?
To make a demonstration in favour of Reform.
Nothing can be more correct than the observation
of the noble Premier that the calmness with which
so important a question ought to be submitted to
Parliament is little promoted by such demonstrations
as this one now proposed. In point of fact, the ob-
ject which the leaders of this movement se,k to
further would, if carried out in their entirety, be
subversive of the Constitution of this country, and
no Government could possibly agree to them. How
idle and mischievous it is then to proceed in so
contumacious a fashion, and to seek to frustrate
the efforts of those who arc really striving to do
something practical, and to the purpose. Lord
DERBY expressed his opinion that the House of
Commons would not be influenced by the de-
monstration, so as to be intimidated into consent-
ing to extreme measures. He only hoped that it
might not be productive of a contrary result, and
hinder them from taking a deliberate view of the
matter. As for what the Government intend to
do, they will, said the noble earl, confine themselves
within the limits of the law. The procession in it-

self is not illegal,*notwithstanding that it may lead to
loss of property and life, and therefore so long as
it is conducted peaceably, it will not be advisable to
interfere with it. We agreee with the noble Pre-
mier ;that it is much to be regretted that this pro-
cession should take place at all, and that it is the
duty of every good citizen to use his influence, if
possible, to stop it.

We do not believe that those who are so sedulous
in pushing on the affair really believe that any good
can result therefrom to the interests of the country;
and, on the contrary, they must know that the
advantages are very problematical, and the incon-
venience very certain, but they all wish
that they should be put down from their pedes-
tals, and that OTHELLO'S occupation should be gone.
Patriotism has nothing whatever to do with their
enthusiasm or their excitement, and only very
ignorant or very simple persons can be deluded into
thinking that it has. The projected affair will, we
hope and believe, pass off quietly. We should
greatly desire that it may even now be abandoned,
and in so doing the promoters of the movement
will really merit respect and admiration. There is
no credit in being obstinate and perverse, and they
would further the cause of Reform much more by
showing that they, its most extreme advocates, can
exercise due discretion when it is called for.

The Government is apparently determined to
lose no time about the necessary social reforms,
and although the session is not many days old
some very important topics have been brought
under the consideration of the House. The Bill
which Mr. GATIIORNE HARDY introduced laat
evening dealt with a matter of very great and
pressing interest, and although it was one on
which legislation is by no means easy, it appeared
to give general satisfaction to the House. The
condition of our sick poor in the metropolitan
workhouses has long been felt as a burden on the
national conscience. Every fresh investigation
confirmed the painful impression created by
one or two special revelations, and as
the blame could not in fairness be ascribed
to the inhumanity or misconduct of particular indi-
viduals, it was manifest that the system is radically
at fault. Some years ago nothing was heard of the
management of these infirmaries, but no sooner did
a band of volunteers, at the suggestion of Miss
TWINING, attempt a regular system of visiting the
sick paupers than a thousand evils came to light.
Still the public remained comparatively unmoved
by the recital of grievances they did not realise
until the harrowing details of the quickly succeeding
eases of TIMOTHY DALY and-RICHARD GIBSON ex-
cited the deepest indignation and the strongest
sympathy. They then began to understand that
a system which might work very well in keeping
out vagrants and idlers who were glad to live at
anybody's expense but their own was ill adapted
for the infant, the infirm, the aged, the imbecile,
and the suffering. Yet whatever the theory of
workhouses, which, by their very name, are pro-
perly intended for the able-bodied, the actual fact
is that such physical or mental incapables form by
far the largest portion of our metropolitan in-door
paupers. The statistics given by Mr. HARDY in his
very able and luminous speech last night forcibly
illustrates this fact. In the metropolitan work-
houses, said the right hon. gentleman, we have
about 26,240 persons, which are thus classified :
Temporarily disabled, 7,046 ; old and infirm,
13,685; able-bodied, 2,899 ; children above two
years of age, 2,150; infants, 1,015; 1,977 are de-
scribed as imbeciles and idiots, who are also returned
under one' of the other heads. It will, therefore, be
seen that less than one-eighth of the in-door popu-
lation of our Unions can be described as able-
bodied ; and we can only wonder, in face of
such an aggregate of physical and mental
weakness and suffering as is presented
by the remaining figures, that under a
system originally framed for the repression of
thriftlessness and vagrancy more disasters do not
occur. The fact is, that the new Poor-Law has
answered so well as a deterrent that by far the
greater number who seek shelter under its provi-
sions are actually compelled to do so, and common
humanity demands that they should be treated with
every care and consideration possible. The linger-
ing diseases, the incurable complaints which our
hospitals, owing to their limited space cannot ac-
commodate, are necessarily driven to the work-
house ; and what chance of relief or remedy they
meet with there, with a pauper nurse and a
doctor too busy to look at them and too
poor to supply them with the medicines they re-
quire, may be matter of speculation. Ls Ur.