The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 12, 1867.

and heartily for the common good. Every English
Minister, whatever his unpopularity, knows he may
rely upon the support of his most inveterate oppo-
nents for any exceptional measure which he may
declare necessary for the public safety ; and so the
first rumour of a possible attack upon our shores
bands together peer and mechanic, employer and
employed, Tory and Radical, in spontaneous cor-
diality. Why should not this feeling animate our
own politicians and statesmen in dealing with so
important a question as a change in our Parlia-
mentary system ? Very certainly the interests
affected by it are not insignificant, nor its influ-
ence transitory. To the Refor,n Parliament of
1832, notwithstanding all its failings, England is
deeply indebted ; and the great national progress
in wealth, in prosperity, in all that makes the
happiness and welfare of the masses of ths people,
date from that time. Are we, then, in ren owing
that enterprise, to renew with it the violence, the
intolerance, the mutual hatreds and jealousies which
so greatly impeded its passage, or to profit by the
p nmrocrsee
t elevatedday
to
discuss
and enlightened tolerance of the
nthisgrea t question in all its bear-
ings fully, honestly, anddispassionately, not with the
rancour of disappointed place-holders, the prejudice
of selfish oligarchs, the recklessness of speculative
agitators, but temperately, deliberately, and patrio-
tically, in a spirit worthy of men whose representa-
tive body is, with all its drawbacks, the purest, the
most independent, and the most national consti-
tuent assembly in the world?
The method of proceeding by resolutions is not,
as Mr. DISRAELI last night observed, very flatter-
ing to the pride of the Ministry. No doubt it would
have been more gratifying to have brought forward
a clearly defined measure, to have been carried
triumphantly through the House, and to have
been able to boast that, notwithstanding Liberal
professions, the Conservatives alone bad been able
to deal with the question of Reform. But in the
way of such a course there were great and insu-
perable difficulties—difficulties within and without
the Cabinet—difficulties in both Houses, and out-
side the walls of Parliament. By proposing certain
fundamental resolutions, and then proceeding to
consider the details in an impartial and conciliatory
spirit, the Ministers will be able, should the House
give them the support to which they are fairly
entitled, to frame a Reform Bill faithfully
representing the patriotism, the intelligence, and
the population of the country. Should they suc-
ceed in doing this they will have attained a higher
distinction than can attach to the wording of a
particular measure, or the carrying of a forlorn
hope through the division list.
By declaring their readiness to listen to sugges-
tions from without, to be guided by the learning, the
genius, and the experience of the House of Com-
mons, the Ministers show that they are not fettered
by any party
trammels, or pledged to particular
technicalities, such as have often proved fatal to the
success of previous measures. They lay down, in-
deed, certain principles by which they desire to
abide, and these,
as yet indicated, are reasonable
enough. The first resolution is to affirm that rating
is to be the basis of franchise, and this, after the
last division on Lord RUSSELL'S Bill, can hardly be
rejected by the House. The second point concerns
the distribution of seats, always one of the most
troublesome points of a Reform Bill. Mr. DISRAELI,
on this point, asks the sanction of the House to two
principles. First, that no borough should be
wholly disfranchised ; secondly, that the chief
consideration of a reapportionment of members
must be to supply representatives to places
unrepresented. These principles, again, are not
as yet likely to provoke much antagonism,
because if no borough is to be wholly disfranchised
on mere theoretical grounds much of the unpopu-
larity necessarily attending this part of the Reform
d
pbuolauac
odo
randr iioenfsg, e
ItMeo
vree.
existing
BDt
millionsns eg Aasrer ta
aurnge
demmai ne
he
sl df twhheaes Houseoun county
y
that
repre-
sented
a
question will be avoided. Coming to the question
while the borough
ofpo
a half was andlof62ninmeemnbliellrsionosnly,
popula tbi oyn
repre-
sented by 334 members. If, as he should propose,
there was a considerable reduction of the county
franchise, portions of the borough population would
become county electors, and it would, therefore, be
necessary to revise the boundaries of the Par-
liamentary boroughs, when, according to the
Government proposal there would be a diminution
in the amount of the existing county population of
some hundreds of thousands. "The great objec-
tion," said the Chancellor of the Exchequer, " that
has been brought against such a revision has been
that it would throw the county members entirely
into the hands of the landlords, their tenants, and
labourers." But, deducting the two millions who
come under these heads, there still remains, said
Mr. DISRAELI, a scattered or village population,
which does not live in towns, of even 1,500 popula-
tion-7,000,000. These 7,000,000 Mr. DISRAELI
declares to be the backbone of the country,
remarkable for independence, industry, and deep
religious convictions, whatever their outward
form, and he attributes much of the prevailing dis-
content to the disfranchisement of the 40s. free-
holders by the Bill of '32. It was the freeholders
of England, added the right hon. gentleman, who
carried that measure, and yet a large proportion of
them is utterly ignored by the House of Commons.
On this point of the representation we may add that
we hope in the new Reform Bill recourse will be
bad to a very simple means of adjusting
inequalities. Why should the House of Com-
mons be rigidly restricted to 658 members ?
Is there any special charm in the three
figures in that particular sequence, that although
our population has so enormously increased we aro
to have no increase of representatives ? Why not
raise the number to 700 at the least, and thereby
provide additional representatives for the intelli-
gence and industry of the country ? If 658 was
an adequate representation of the population of
1832, very certainly it cannot be an adequate re-
presentation of the population of 1867. The adop-
tion of such a plan will lighten some of tho difficul-
ties attending the apportionment of members, and
we hope the house will have the good sense to make
the experiment.

Whatever the changes or modifications ultimately
decided upon, we have little doubt that the public
verdict will be substantially in favour of the Go-
vernment proposal. All classes are weary of per-
petual discord on this theme ;
and, in fact, all the
effervescence of party-spirit haslong since evaporated
from a struggle in which all sides have mingled and
deserted from their ranks. The country at large
will be thankful for a settlement which is no lees
loudly demanded by the accumulation of negt:eted
questions than on behalf of the unrepresented mil-
lions, who include so much of the intelligence, the
judgment, and the public spirit of the country.

-
The American bibliographer, has published a
catalogue of six thousand and seventy-throe books and
pamphlets relating to the groat civil war.
A new process for cleaning the fagades of public
buildings and dwelling-houses is now being experimented
on in Paris. A steam-engine supplies pipes of gutta-percha
with a constant stream of vapour. These are applied to
the stone or brick surface of buildings, ono man directing
the steam jet and the other using a brush. The building,
after the application of this system, looks as clean and new
as when erected. A couple of men in three days will thus
wash the fagade of an hotel.