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

Mexican expedition. It is time, as the E3IPEROR
said, that there was no discredit attached to the
French forces. The events in Germany have not,
we are told in the Imperial address, caused France to
depart from a "calm and dignified" attitude, and she
relies with justice on the " maintenance of peace."
The latter portion of the EMPEROR'S Speech is very
interesting, since it holds out a hope of more liberal
institutions being introduced into the public life of
France. The " excitement of a small minority "
has not, his MAJESTY states, prevented him from
hoping for this much-desired result. The temporary
stagnation which has occurred in commercial affairs
has not shaken the confidence of the industrial
classes, and, on the whole, the EMPEROR seems to
take a hopeful view of things in general notwith-
standing the existence of some drawbacks.

Mr. DILLWYN has been addressing his consti-
tuents, and has succeeded in making out a very
good case for himself. He declared his opinions
pretty plainly, and said that he was glad to avail
himself of this early opportunity, after the close of
the session, of explaining his actions to them. The
hon. member has sat during thirteen sessions, and
has therefore had some experience of Parliamentary
tactics. If more of his party acted in accord and
with the views expressed in. this speech we should
find that the public would greatly benefit
thereby. Mr. DILLWTN claims for himself " perfect
liberty of action ; he supports measures, not men ;
and is quite agreeable to accept any good measures
from any party by which they may be offered."
How much wiser this is than the misguided course
which some pursue of pinning themselves to indi-
viduals, and ignoring all else but the prosecution
of certain plans, reckless if they are the best or not,
so long as they serve the ends of party and gain
the object immediately before them. Mr. DILLWYN
was opposed to the Reform Bill introduced by the
Conservatives in 1859, neither was he in favour
of the one proposed by Mr. GLADSTONE last
year, because he thought that they excluded
" class "in an arbitrary manner. In the epitome
of the session which he gave his hearers, the hon.
member exposed the inconsistencies which had been
displayed by the leaders of the Liberal party;
for, in the first instance, at a meeting convened
at Mr. GLADSTONE'S, they were told that the
best thing to do would be to let the Tories
pass the bill, but all of a sudden they changed
their minds, and the word was passed to their
followers that the Government must be displaced.
All unprejudiced persons will think that Mr. DILL-
WYN and his friends were right in condemning
this uncalled-for change, and in considering
that it savoured too much of the old Whig game
" of bringing up an important question to a certain
point, and when there was a fair chance of getting
the measure passed of shelving it and passing it
over to the country for another year." We think
that Mr. DILLWYN has every reason to be proud of
the part he played during the most memorable
period of the Session, namely, that before Easter,
when the goodsense and firmness of his party stopped
Mr. GLADSTONE in his dangerous career.
Referring to the celebrated " tea-room scene," he
said that he attended that party, and proud was he
of having done so. The small party there assembled
resolved what to do, and were quite aware of the
difficulty before them. They said that the question
of Reform must not be played with any longer,
and certainly when we calmly consider the events
of that time there seems ample cause to believe the
assertion here made, that the bill would have been
thrown out if it had not been for that tea-room
business. Had such been the case, as Mr. DILLwYN
very truly observed, the Liberals could not have
passed such a measure as that which has now
rc,:e:ved the sanction of.-s' Parliament, even y
they had been united; because they could
have not got it through the House of Lords.
The consequence would have been years of agita-
tion, and class would have been set against class,
ill-feelings would have been engendered, and a
stoppage put to the progress of many useful and
important questions. Mr. DILLWYN has every
right to vindicate the course then taken by himself
and those members of the Liberal party who acted
with him, they did not adopt that line of action
without fully weighing over the consequences o.
that act, they felt that they had great respons

bilities devolved upon them, and that they
dared not throw back the bill then and there
offered to them for fear of the result of such
a e:ttastrophe as its rejection. No doubt a good
deal of blame has been passed upon those indepen-
dent Liberals for the bold and spirited course they
then took, but they can very well afford to disre-
gard it, and they have ample grounds for satisfac-
tion in the proud reflection that their work that day
was the chief thing which decided the scale in favour
of the passing of the measure; and it was unde-
niably in consequence of the very determined stand
they then made that the Reform Bill became the
law of the land. Disappointed partisans may
be indignant, and prejudiced individuals may
rave about their unfaithfulness and ingratitude to
the ties of party, but the country has been the
gainer. It must be admitted that the Liberal party
has had opportunity enough in all conscience before
this year to have settled the matter had they been
so inclined, and if they thought it was their especial
right to do so. With respect to the affair with
Colonel Tar Lou, Mr, DILLWYN explained that he
was anxious to know the fate of some amendments
that his friends thought necessary to the passing of
a good bill, and, regarding Mr. GLADSTONE, be
said that nobody respected the right honourable
gentleman more than he did, and appreciate him

more as a financier, but he hardly regarded him as
the leader of the Liberal party. On the whole, the
lion. member's explanation seemed to be well re-

ceived, and at the conclusion a vote of thanks was

passed to him.

Under circurnitances of great diffi-

culty we think that Mr. DILLWYN acted in a con-
scientious manner, and the thanks of all interested
in Reform are due to Lim, and those friends who

then came forward with him, and by their spirit,

foresight, and determination withstood the attempts
of faction, and saved Parliament from the disgrace
and the country from the disappointment of another

Reform failure.

The question of our national cotton supply has of
late years been a favourite topic of discussion, and,
although the time of dearth and exorbitant prices
has now happily passed away, there is not much
fear that our manufacturers will again be deluded
by false security. It would be difficult, indeed, to
go ba'k to the state of things existing before the
grand catastrophe of 1861, since so many sources of
supply have been open that it would be impossible
to close them all. Even if no further exertions
were made to extend our resources the pro-
ducers have discovered the value of the commodity
and would not be likely to give it up. It seems
at the present time hard to realise the fact that ten
years ago we were content to depend wholly on one
iOlll-CC, and that a foreign one, for the supply of
cotton, and this although we had possessions in
every part of the h.tbitable globe ; and cotton, as
has been shown, can thrive iu many very different
localities. At the present moment we are getting
excellent cotton from India; Queensland is likely
to become famous ; the Brazils and neigh-
bouring parts have furnished a good supply,