The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-04 00:00:00

number of seats in the House of Conimons are ob-
tained by the expenditure of considerable sums of
money sufficiently accounts for any absence of poli-
tical spirit which close observers may have detected.
Men, however wealthy, do not throw away five or
ten thousands pounds. Everybody knows that com-
mercial objects and social advantages enter into
these transactions. The Reform Act, by disfran-
chising nomination boroughs, and preserving rotten
boroughs, or boroughs which in the nature of things
would become corrupt, destroyed the balance of re-
presentation which it is now proposed to re-estab-
lish by some extension of the franchise. It follows,
then, that Reform, so far from being the property
of Mr. Bright, may be disposed of by any Govern-
ment possessing the confidence of the country.
There is, however, one consideration which Mr.
Newdegate will readily acknowledge. He wishes to
lose no time in coming to a settlement, which is pro-
per, as far as it goes. But if the problem is not one
that should be pressed to a hasty solution, it is
almost equally undesirable to seek to resolve it by
the mere force of a political party, as the late Go-
vernment did. Lord Palmerston, it cannot be
doubted, wished to bring about an understanding ;
and, in forming his Administration, Lord Derby
endeavoured to keep the same end in view. Some
arrangement on the equitable footing suggested by
Earl Grosvenor would commend itself to the great
body of the nation. We confess we do not see how
it may be compassed, but nothing is impossible. If
the idea is to be dismissed as impracticable, all we
can hope is that the responsibility of rejecting it will
not be misapprehended. What course Mr. Glad-
stone may think fit to take remains to be ascer-
tained, but the course which the Ministers of the
Crown have to pursue is indicated by their duty.
The greatest caution should be used with regard to
any measure of Reform. To quote the rule which
Lord Russell laid down and ignored, it ought to be
" revolved, planned, and matured." Mr. Bright
once said that a Reform Bill "could not be carried
unless there existed such a feeling out of doors as
would act like steam upon a locomotive, and force
the House of Commons to do something it would
not otherwise do." That he has now discovered was
a fallacious conclusion, for the house will not be
forced to do anything, though it can possibly be led
even to the adoption of a measure which the mem-
ber for Birmingham may denounce as full of
" mystifications and conundrums." But it is not a
subject to be approached rashly, nor, on the other
hand, timidly. What is done should be done del,
liberately and firmly. The Constitution under
which we live has handed down to us liberties we
hold in trust, and they must be transmitted to our
posterity intact as we have received them ; the prin-.
ciple of our parliamentary representation is that
every class in the community shall be represented,
not according to numbers or fitness, but generally
with reference to all that is calculated to give weight
and influence, and so that no one class is over-
whelmed by other classes ; and these being the con-
ditions on which a reform Bill should be framed,
it does appear extraordinary that a common obliga-
tion should be treated as a party question.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE-TUESDAT.

- -- -
A small supply of wheat, but a fair sale of both new and
old, at an advance of is to 2s per qr on the rates of this
day week. Malt, beans, and peas rather higher. Oats,
particularly Scotch, again Gd to is up. Flour advanced 18
per sack.