The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-26 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, FEB. 26, 1867.

When a fortnight ago Mr. DISRAELI introduced
The 'rouse to the Government Resolutions on Re-
form he expressed a wish that the House of
Commons would rise to the occasion before it, and
this was not an unnatural hope, considering the

importance of the subject. We regret, however,
to state that in some respects the House did not
fulfil this desire, for the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer and his colleagues had to stand the fire of
a hostile assault from many quarters, and one con-
ducted, too, with great energy and determination.
Of course, no one expected that anything like una-
nimity would be come to, but still it would have
been very easy to make what objections were neces-
sary, as were deemed so at any rate, without intro-
ducing into the tone of the discussion that bitter
and acrimonious spirit of party which has been the
ruin of so many noble projects, and has caused the
destruction of much that was good and great. Mr.
DISRAELI is no novice in Parliamentary affairs ; he
has often had before this to withstand hostile
criticism, and has had to witness the failure of
schemes which might have been rendered conducive
to the welfare of the community. We do not
think, however, that upon any preceding occasion he
had brought forward a measure so deserv-
ing of the support of the House and
the sympathy of the public as that of
last night. We do not profess to be the
champions of the measure in its every detail, and to
assert that it could not possibly have been better de-
vised, but we do say that it is a great deal better than
many had a right to expect, and that it goes further
than had been anticipated in the right direction,
while it also affords a prospect of settlement in
many awkward matters, and seems to have grappled
with every leading difficulty in a very successful
style. Many of its prOpositions are broad, states-
manlike, and well-considered ; many of its changes
have long been called for by the growing intelli-
gence of the people ; and the rapid changes, and
most, if not all of its provisions, seem actuated by
a spirit of fairness, and animated by a sincere de-
sire to do justice to the various classes of the com-
munity.

Perhaps there is no question which of late years
has engaged the attention of the House or occupied
the labours of our statesman more arduous than that of
Reform, and of the many times when the matter has
been before the House and the country not one has
been so awkward in many respects as the present
one. The Government of Lord DERBY has the luck of
finding itself constantly brought face to face with
the most complicated measures. No matter at what
time the Conservatives are suddenly called into
office, they are told that they must immediately
come to a decision on this or that subject, and high
above all others in importance and interest towers
the vexed question of Parliamentary Representation.
We would warn those, however, who think that
they may run down their prey at this convenient
season that they will have to bear a heavy respon-
sibility in so doing, and that in the face of the
house and the country they will have to answer for
their conduct. There have been many indications
during the last few months that the country at large
is getting heartily sick of the way in which Reform
has been treated by Parliament. Those who con-
sider, and with justice too, that their privileges are
concerned in this matter, and that their interests
are at stake while the settlement lies dormant, feel
very naturally hurt and indignant that year after
year should glide by and nothing definite take place,
and that session after session should see one bill
after another introduced with pomp and ceremony
only to be consigned in its turn to the limbo of
darkness, and add another to the numerous lists of
failures which pass to the land where all things are
forgotten. It becomes, then, snore important than
it has ever yet been that this year should see the
settlement of the Reform question ; and, indeed, so
significant have been the signs manifested in respect
to this that we think that a measure in many re-
spects faulty and imperfect had much better be
passed than that nothing should be done in the
matter. Not that any one has a right to apply
such terms to the scheme last night brought forward by
Mr. DISRAELI, but we fear that many care not for the
right or wrong of the thing, but only look to their
own individual prejudices and particular fancies
not being thwarted or interfered with at all.
Mr. DISRAELI made a very lucid statement of
the several plans of the Government last night, and
entered into an elaborate explanation of its details,
which, so far as we can judge at this brief space of
time, seem fair and impartial. We say again, as
we said before, that the
Wright hon. gentleman was
not, met in a spirit of confidence and good faith
by many. Mr. LOWE and Mr. BRIGHT agreed for
once in their deunciation of the project before them ;
and Mr. ROEBUCK, we regret to say, also showed
himself adverse to the plan. Considering all
things, we may come to the conclusion that Mr.
LOWE is the most formidable of the Ministerial
opponents, and, therefore, it is well to look to some
of his chief arguments. lie begins by saying that
the Government scheme is like a " balloon in the
air; they have no contact with it." Then the right
hon. gentleman seems to feel some compunction for
the hard measure he and others dealt out to Mr.
GLADSTONE last year, and thinks his reserve was
openness itself compared to the manner in which
the Chancellor of the Exchequer has carried on his
explanations. Mr. LowE expended all the powers of
his considerable eloquence in an earnest appeal tothe
House not to consent to the motion that the Speaker
leave the chair, and used illustration after illus-
tration, heaping precedent upon precedent, to show
the danger, the folly, and the injustice of the
scheme of the Government. All ended, however,
in the decision that a bill must be substituted for
these Resolutions. " Let us call upon the Govern-
ment to bring in a bill after the good old English
fashion, and then let us deal with it in our own way."
We have no doubt whatever that " all our way"
would very soon settle the matter, and send the bill
of Lord DERBY after those of last year and the
years before. " Touch the nettle gently, and it will
sting your hands," says Mr. LowE, but " grasp it
firmly, you are unhurt, and may tear it at your
leisure." We think, however, that this is very
much what the Government has done, for they
have acted with sense and spirit, and seem to have
taken every possible precaution to prevent failure.
Mr. BRIGHT followed in the wake of Mr. LOWE,
and condemned the cause of Government, and de-
clared that a bill must be brought in at once and
without delay. He taunted the Ministers with
the convenient manner in which they changed
their opinions to suit the purpose of the
hour. Mr. BRIGHT concluded by asking the
house not to falter in its duty, but to allow such a
measure to be passed as would settle the matter, and
relieve him and others from the necessity of ever
again opening their lips on the matter of Reform.
We may well ask, however, could such a scheme
ever be fuund, and if it were, would it please Mr.
BRIGHT any the better ; would he not find some
excuse, and see some plan at the eleventh hour in
the vaunted
it.tedscheme which compelled him to put his
veto

Mr. GLADSTONE'S speech is quite a relief after
those of the two gentlemen who preceded him, and
he seemed to be actuated with the full desire to
do justice to the propositim of the Government.
lie did not promise any unqualified support,
but be did promise to do nothing hastily or
harshly against the measure ; and on that we must
rely, as we suppose the Ministers will do, as their
best chance of getting over the great difficulty of
the task before them. Although he did not approve

of the Resolutions in the abstract, Mr. GLADSTONE
admitted that if the Government decided that mode
of procedure to be indispensable he would waive
his objections.
Mr. DISRAELI, in the brief reply he made to the
speeches before the House, did not show any
desire to put needless obstacles in the way, for he
said that they would not insist upon any special
Resolution that would lead to idle controversy.
With his usual tact and discernment the right hon.
gentleman declared that he was not surprised to see
the union that had taken place between Mr. LowE
and Mr. BRIGHT, because it was perfectly evident
that neither was very anxious that the bill should
pass, and hence the hostile spirit displayed by both
was very easily comprehended. All we can say
on this, the latest scheme of Reform pro-
pounded to the House of Commons, is that we
earnestly desire it to pass. Modified it may be,
improved it certainly can be, and altered in some
respects it can afford to be to meet the views of
some, but at any rate it should pass. We would
urge upon those who are not entirely pledged to
extreme views upon the matter to waive their ob-
jections, and put the honour of the house, the
welfare of the country, and the wishes of the
people before the lower, meaner, more tri-
vial, and more selfish ends of party and of
prejudice. We think that Mr. GLADSTONE
means to act worthy of his position,
and we hope that his influence may secure
a majority for Ministers. As for the Government
they may feel the satisfaction that they have done
their duty under very trying circumstances, and we
consider that the responsibility now rests with the
House of Commons. Of one thing we are assured,
the loss of the measure will not be the gain of those
who oppose it, and the country will learn who to
blame for the failure. Let the Resolutions be taken
in committee, and there subjected to whatever
change may be deemed necessary ; but let not the
whole thing again fall through, and the country
witness anew the disgraceful sight of a lost session.
Of all conjunctions of circumstances this will be the
least propitious. And why should it be brought
about because hon. members prefer the fight of fac-
tion to the task of legislation with fairness and tem-
perance. Let not the House generally be deceived
by specious sophistry and studied declamation, but
let it follow the path of duty, which will assuredly
in the end conduce more to its greatness and glory
than any efforts to assert its own supremacy.

The great difficulty which undoubtedly exists in
dealing with the question of Parliamentary Reform
received last night a very strong illustration. Out
of doors, on the hustings, at public meetings, it is
always the safe, easy, and popular course to descant
upon the advantages of a comprehensive extension
of the franchise which shall yet have due regard to
the limits imposed by the Constitution. When once,
however, the question comes down out of c]oudland
to a matter of practical detail the case is very dif-
ferent. It is an old saying that nothing can please
everybody, but the misfortune of all Reform Bills
is the same, they can please nobody. Whether the
members of the house and the critics out of doors
are inspired by the vision of an impossible perfec-
tion, or influenced by a secret objection to any
Reform in the representation whatever, it is for
themselves, their constituencies, and their con-
sciences to decide ; but certain it is, that numerous
and various as have been the measures submitted for
consideration, they have been successively and de-
cidedly rejected, and no disposition has been shown
to make the best of them, or to see what can be
made of them.

The proposals which Mr. DlsnAlms last night
laid before the house offer at least the foundation
of a very excellent and really liberal measure. Of
course some points are capable of alteration and
amendment, some suggestions are superfluous
or impracticable, some things are omitted which it
will be necessary to add ; but the substance of the
Resolutions, as proposed to be carried into effect,
give the House the groundwork of a satisfactory
settlement ; and the hypercritical spirit displayed on
so many points, so far from tending to produce a
better measure, greatly impedes the passage of a
good Reform Bill. The principal changes proposed
by the Government are the establishment of four
new franchises, applicable both to boroughs and
counties :-1. An education franchise. 2. A £3O
savings bank franchise. 3. The possession of
funded property to the amount of £59. 4. The
payment of 20s. a year in direct taxation. These
four franchises, it is evident, will admit a large
number of the unenfranchised classes, and they will
not be rigidly limited to certain figures, inasmuch
as education and prudence will, we may hope, go
on increasing among our working classes. The
new franchises will offer a premium to intelligence
and to prudence, and no man who will not take the
trouble to qualify himself for one of them can rea-
sonably complain if his
_opinion is not asked on
questions of broad national importance. Politics
are not child's play, neither does a sound
and clear judgment on complex matters come
by intuition, and theref9re it is useless to suppose
that a totally illiterate man can really be an ade-
quate judge of who is or is not an efficient
member of Parliament. In fact to an ignorant
and uneducated man the possession of a vote can
be of no real use, whatever their political leaders
may say to the contrary. We have always strongly
advocated an educational franchise, and we regard
it as indicative of a desire really to enfranchise the
working classes, not merely to make a nominal con-
cession to agitation, but to train and fit them to
exercise that direct and independent influence upon
public affairs which only men capable of forming an
intelligent and unbiassed opinion can exercise. 'We
are surprised to miss from Mr. DISRAELI'S " fancy
franchise" one which formed a conspicuous part of
his bill in '59, and which has since risen greatly in
public favour. We allude, of course, to the Lodger
Franchise, which the Government will do wisely to
add to their propositions. The Borough Franchise
is to be reduced to £6, the County Franchise to
£2O, both founded on rating, not on rental. We
should not suppose that the Government would
hold themselves pledged to these particular
figures, on which they might safely be guided
by the opinion of the House. The plurality
of votes, which has given rise to some
suspicion was explained by Mr. DisnAELI to mean,
merely that the "fancy franchises" might give a
vote in addition to the occupation franchise, but the
Government would not, he said, insist upon that
resolution. It would be in many respects undesir-
able, because almost every householder would have
under its provisions two or three votes, a result by
no means to be wished.

The awkward and invidious task of redistribution
is dealt with very ingeniously. The four boroughs
which have occupied such unenviable prominence
during the autumn are to be totally disfranchised—
a fate they richly deserve. Twenty-three small
boroughs, with populations under 7,000, are to lose
one member each, so that 30 seats will remain for
disposal. They are to be divided between towns
and counties, 14 being given to new boroughs, such
as Hartlepool, Staleybridge, and Barnsley, and 15
to counties by the division of North Lincolnshire,
North Lancashire, and other large and populous
counties. The Tower Ilamlete is to be divided into