The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-21 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

" THE SATURDAY REVIEW" ON MR. D ISRAELI
AND REM RM.—ln its peculiar way, Mr. Disraeli's
speech on the Redistribution of Seats was a valuable
contribution to the study of the great question of
Reform. It is a question on which he has reflected
long and anxiously, and which he has pursued into
detail further, perhaps, than any other man in the
House of Commons. In all that he said on group-
ing, on boundaries, on local interests, on the claims
of rising centres of population, on the functions
which the house has to discharge, there was evi-
dently present a well-informed, subtle, ingenious
mind. He had also the opportunity so dear to every
competent leader of an Opposition—the opportunity
of being magnanimous. lie was himself master of
the subject; he had even got private but reliable
statistics which showed him that, so far from the
working-man being a fly in the ointment-pot
of county voters, the ointment-pot was full of
flies, and that great county proprietors were in
a large measure dependent on the support
of hedgers and ditchers. Of the whole
subject of reform the Government was totally ig-
norant; and not only that, the Government was so
ignorant that it did not know it was ignorant. But
having beaten down his foes, Mr. Disraeli scorned
to kick them when down. On the contrary, he
seemed willing to raise them gently up, and to tell
them what to do. They have brought in a bill
equally vexatious and useless, but they may retrieve
their position if only they will accept the advice of
one who is not ignorant. Let them withdraw their
wretched and abortive attempt at a bill, and bring
in a proper bill next session. And Mr. Disraeli had
the courage to define what he meant by a proper
bill, and to state how its details were to be settled.
Supposing the present bill withdrawn, he suggested
that more statistics should be obtained, statistics
that the Government would recognise as trust-
worthy, and that should show how the county con-
stituencies would be affected by any reform bill, as
well as the constituencies of the boroughs. He pro-
posed that special commissioners should determine
the proper limits of boroughs before any change
was made ; and this being done, he declared him-
self in favour of a scheme of reform that should be
based on these principles—no total disfranchise-
ment of any borough, no addition to the repre-
sentatives of counties, but a transfer of a
certain number of the second seats of small
boroughs to new constituencies formed by grouping
large contiguous Northern towns. It is a great
thing that the leader of the Opposition, instead of
contenting himself with mere destructive criticism,
should have had the boldness to put forward a
scheme of his own ; and it must be acknowledged
that much that he had to say against the scheme of
the Government deserves anxious consideration, and
that there is a captivating simplicity and air of fair-
ness in his own proposal. Any possible manner of
dealing with the smaller boroughs is open to some
objection, and it is not therefore wonderful that Mr.
Disraeli should have been able to urge many excel-
lent objections against the Ministerial plan of group-
ing together boroughs now represented. But on
other points Mr. Disraeli's remarks were at once
novel and triumphant. We do not, for example, see
any obvious answer to his criticism on Mr. Glad-
stone's proposal to allow the dwellers in the suburbs
of great towns to become voters for the boroughs if
they wished this, and were also willing to place
themselves within the boundaries of the municipa-
lity of the towns. As Mr. Disraeli truly re-
marked, one great object of these dwellers in su-
burbs is to evade the payment of the rates to which
they would be subject if they were under the
control of the municipality ; and the permission
given them to join the Parliamentary borough
would thus be nugatory, for they would never take
advantage of it. There were also in his speech
traces of a great audacity and of a comprehension
of the whole subject in throwing away the usual
Conservative claim for an increase of county mem-
bers, and in saying that all that is wanted is a re-
cognition of the growth since 1832 of many large
towns in the North which ought to be represented,
and which might easily receive representatives if a
few of the smaller boroughs ceased to send a second
member. Mr. Disraeli knows far too well the
situation of his party to think of opposing a Re-
form Bill altogether. He acknowledges that a
change is necessary because new towns have come
into existence during the last 30 years. Let these
towns be represented, and then the only remaining
question would be the question of the amount of
the franchise ; and this point ought to be settled by
referring to the guide which new statistics, carefully
drawn up, would provide. If there were really no
difference at bottom between the proposal of Mr.
Disraeli and that of the Government, except that he
suggested what he had decided on after long and
mature deliberation while the Government was only
floundering and delaying through its inherent weak-
ness and ignorance, the wisest thing would be per-
haps to follow Mr. Disraeli's advice, and to wait till
another session. But there is a fundamental differ-
ence between the two proposals, although it is
veiled in some obscurity. The basis of the Govern-
ment measure is something wider than the mere
enfranchisement of a few northern towns or groups
of towns. The Liberal party has a further motive
in desiring a considerable redistribution of seats. It
wishes that the franchise should be given to as large
a number as can be supposed to be fit to receive
it. 'This is an aim which Mr. Disraeli altogether
overlooks. It is no part of his programme to inte-
rest as large a number as may be in the return of
the representative body. He only looks at the
representative body itself, and wishes it to be a
faithful reflex of the interests and opinions of the
country. His opponents, if they know their own
case, will deny that this is enough. They will say
that it is a great aim to have a good representative
body, and that it is also a great aim to have this
representative body returned by all Englishmen
who are capable of taking an honest and intelligent
share in politics. This is why so largo a dealing
with the less important boroughs is to be justified.
TIIE " ANGLO - AMERICAN TIMES." " the
Secretary of the Treasury is considering the
subject of issuing a loan, at five per cent.,
which he has ample power to do." Such is the
purport of recent information from Washington.
This measure will be of the utmost importance, and
there is no doubt that, under proper manage-
ment, such a loan can be popularised, and by that
means sufficient sums be procured to pay off the
loans which are rapidly becoming due, and
thereby effect a great saving in the interest account
of the nation. There will be $1,021,335,732.80 due
in 1867-8, as follows :

Bonds 6 per cent. due in 1868 58,908,341.80
Bonds 6 per cent. due in 1867 9,415,250.00
Compound interest notes, duo in 1867 and

1868
Seven-thirty Treasury notes due in 1867

_
and 1868
There are also still outstanding Texas indem-
nity bonds and Treasury notes, &c., past due to
the amount of $1,373,920.00. There is also due
temporary loans, certificates of indebtedness in 1866
and five per cent. Treasury notes, due December 1,
1865, amounting tb $187,549,646.46. This latter
sum has been partially reduced or funded, and Mr.
M'Culloch will be competent to deal with it judi-
ciously from the ordinary revenues, and the adop-
tion of such measures as are within his power. But
in regard to the large sum of over one thousand and
twenty-one millions of dollars, which will be due in
three years, prudence requires that measures shall
he taken to redeem it, or to make such arrange-
ments as will put it in a shape that will be manage-
able. That business having been done clearly
and effectually by the issue of long bonds,
there would be no bonds to be met before 1871.
If the Secretary is enabled to issue and dispose
of long five per cent. bonds, he has the advantage
of offering new investments to capitalists. A long
bond at five per cent. is preferable to a short one at
six per cent., as the investment is not liable to be
disturbed, and persons who desire a permanent and
settled income have a means of making themselves
easy in 'reference to their acquisitions. As money
flows in for subscriptions to the new five per cent.
loan, the old loan at six per cent. would be retired.
The holders would have no option but receive pay-
ment, and, in case of payment to them, the majority
of them would either have to pay premiums for the
purchase of other six per cent. loans, or decide that
it would be better to take the new loans at par. The
reductions in the amount of interest paid by the
United States would be very considerable. If Mr.
M'Culloch could not put out his loan for
$1,021,335,732.80 before 1869, the saving to the
country would be as follows :
__

Upon $830,000,000 of Seven-thirties, 2.30
per cent._per annum sl9 150 000.00

UPon $18,323,591.80, 1 per cent

1;8305948

$20,982,359.18
The compound interest notes will be paid off in
full of principal and interest, to wit :
$173,012,141.00. What the whole saving would
be we cannot compute, as we have no table of the
principal of these notes, but, if a saving of .one
oer cent. on the interest for the whole sum is
made, it would be $1,730,121.41 per annum.
Now, why cannot this important measure be
effected ? It would be a happy auxiliary in reduc-
tion of taxation. Twenty-two millions of internal
taxes could be released, and the industry of the
country would be so much better off in consequence.
A long United States loan at five per cent. would
command attention here and in Germany, now that
the credit of the United States is established firmly
in European minds. It would be superior to British
Consols or French Rentes. It would offer an inte-
rest to Englishmen beyond anything to be realised
from •European securities. It would naturally
attract foreign capital, and become a favourite in-.