The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-07 00:00:00

most important things for the last, and accordingly her
Majestyre Government, after having kept the house and
the public on the tenter-hooks of expectation through
many long preceding paragraphs, at last COM tO the topic
which is at present most exciting the attenti( n of the
public, namely, the subject of Parliamentary Reform. I
take the last paragraph in the speech to n can that her
Majesty's Government have a bill ready I repared upon
that subject, and that it is their intention, without the least
delay, to lay it on the table of the house, in order that the
house and the public may have an opportunity of consi-
dering its provisions. I think that is a proper course for
them to pursue, and quite consistent with the usual course
of procedure."
My right hon. friend the then Chancellor of the Exchequer
(Mr. Disraeli) had the satisfaction of informing the noble
lord and the house that we had that bill in readiness, that
we were prepared to lay it on the table at a very early
period, and that there was only one subject which pressed
for more immediate consideration before it—namely, the
large augmentation of the nary which was then in pro-
gress. But then the noble earl opposite was not satisfied,
and he sought rather to improve upon his leader's liveli-
ness on that occasion. He accordingly delivered himself of
the witticism which lam about to submit for your lord-
ship's consideration. (A laugh.) He said:—
"Sir, there is another subject which the right hon. gen-
tleman touched upon somewhat tenderly, and which ap-
peared just at the end of the Speech from the Throne.
(This was the gravamen of the charge against us.) It cer-
tainly appears to me as if her Majesty's Ministers had gone
through all the topics upon which they thought Parlia-
ment would expect to be addressed, and that then some
member of the Cabinet said, Is there nothing forgotten ?
We have not left out Mexico, have we ? No, there it is.
There is also a passage about China and Japan. I cannot
think of anything that is omitted.' But at last some inge-
nious member ofthe Cabinet perhaps said, There is one
subject forgotten—there is the Reform Parliament; we
must put that in.'"
(Laughter.) Now, my lords, all this was founded on the
circumstance of Reform being the last paragraph in her
Majesty's Speech, and that occurring on the 3d February,
our bill was laid on the table on the 28th of the same month,
and was then read for discussion, we having gone through
the question with regard to the navy. But the noble earl
said, with his usual humour :—" The right hon. gentle-
man (Mr. Disraeli),
" Now fitted the halter, now traversed the cart,
" And often took leave, but seemed loth to depart."
_ _ _

(Laughter.) But earlier in his remarks the noble earl said :
—" The right hon. gentleman seemed as unwilling to touch
on that subject (Reform) here as the Cabinet were in
putting it into the Speech. Heaven knows how it has
fallen into their charge !" (A laugh.) Well, be that as it
may, we know at least how it was taken out of what a
member of the other house the other day, with great cour-
tesy of expression, called our " dirty and unhallowed
fingers." (Laughter.) Our predecessors had on more than
four separate occasions pledged the faith of the Crown that
such a measure should be submitted to Parliament, and be-
cause in endeavouring to carry that pledge into effect they
had so completely bungled and mismanaged the whole
question that they could come to no conclusion at all, that
1 they left everything in confusion, and the whole country
in an agitation on the subject of Reform, we sought to put
an end to that state of things by a fair, an honest, and a
conscientiously-framed measure, proposed with an earnest
intention to fulfil the solemn and repeated declarations
made from the throne. (Hear, hear.) How that bill was
encountered, defeated, and got rid of perhaps the noble lord
has now forgotten. (A laugh.) But in those remarks of
his in 1859 which I have been quoting the noble lord, ad-
dressing the House of Commons, wont on to say :
"I do not see that there is any subject which the Govern-
ment intend to bring forward that will furnish them with
any excuse for delay in this matter. . . . If they have
made up their minds to introduce a Reform Bill, let them
lay. it on the table. (Laughter and cheers.) I will give no
opinion on a measure of that kind until I see what it pro-
poses to do. . . . There is every disposition in this house
to wait their time ; but they must not be putting off the
subject. (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) My hon. friend behind
me (Mr. Bright) I am afraid will hardly be able to restrain
his impatience. (Laughter.) They have given a pledge
in this matter, and they are bound to perform it."
That was the language of the noble earl in 1859, with reckless
haste calling for the introduction of a finished Reform Bill
ready for discussion by Parliament. One little month was
too much to give after the opening of the session. It was
the bounden duty, so he urged, of the Government to have
their scheme ready, and having it ready, to lay it before
the Legislature at once. (Hear, hear.) Well, the noble
earl is now at the head of the Government, and I do not
gather that they have their measure ready. I infer from
this Speech that they have not yet made up their minds
what their measure should be. If the fact be otherwise,
they certainly have done themselves great injustice, be-
cause they say that inquiries are now going "forward with
reference to the rights of voting in the election of mem-
bers to servo in Parliament," and that "when that infor-
mation is complete the attention of Parliament will be
called to the result thus obtained," &c. Now, my lords,
the Government are proceeding either without information,
or with the intention of making the information they may
procure square with their foregone conclusions, or, again,
they may be gifted with a superhuman prescience which
enables them to know infallibly beforehand what will be
the precise result of those inquiries ; whereas we poor or-
dinary mortals must be content to wait until all those pro-
mised statistics are laid before us which are to prove the
wonderful skill and dexterity of the Government in
framing a measuro in anticipation of the information on
which it is to be founded. (Cheers and laughter.) Well,
my lords, imitating the wise caution of the noble earl, I
Will express no opinion upon their measure until I have
seen it. (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) I hope it will be such
a measure as I shall be able to support—that it will be a
reasonable and satisfactory settlement of this grave and
important question, which I believe it is desirable to
settle, and settle once for all. (Cheers.) And I promise
the noble earl another thing—that his bill shall have fair
play, that it shall not be thrust aside by any underhand
methods, that there shall be no factious movement or
combinations against it on the part of those who can
combine for nothing else—(cheers)—that it shall be dealt
with on its merits ; that if we can approve of it we shall
give it our cordial support ; but that, on the other hand,
if we disapprove of it and think it is imperfect, inadequate,
or dangerous, and, above all, if we think it one leading to
future agitations within a brief period of a perilous cha-
racter, then with whatever means we may possess we shall
do our best to throw it out by fair debate and honourable
opposition. (Loud cheers.) -
Earl RUSSELL (after two or three preliminary remarks,
which did not reach the gallery), said :—As the other
topics raised in the debate have been sufficiently discussed,
I will confine my observations to two points—the charge
which the noble Earl has made against me in regard to the
Jamaica Rebellion ; and the other charge in reference to
the Reform Bill. The question is not whether Governor
Eyre was right in repressing the rebellion, but whether he
was right in adopting the means he did to suppress it. It
is one thing to support an officer who may have committed
some errors of judgment, but when it comes to a question
of the lives of 500 of our fellow subjects I do not think it
right to say we do not care whether 500 persons have been
put to death without necessity, but we will support the
Governor whether he was right or wrong, and we care
nothing about those persons' lives because they happen to
be black. We determined that inquiry should be made.
The question then before us was whether the inquiry
should be instituted with Governor Eyre at the head of
the Government. Hero was this obvious objection, that
the Governor could not maintain his authority when that
authority would be shaken every day if the inquiry pro-
ceeded. There was also this obvious objection that if
Governor Eyre retained the supreme authority no one
would have believed that there would have been a fair
inquiry, or that the truth would be permitted to be told
when the person accused retained that high office. While,
too, an apparent stigma was cast upon Governor Eyre,
he would be liable to the imputation of suppress-
ing the evidence, and not allowing it to go fairly be-
fore the public. For these reasons it was deter-
mined that the head of the Commission should be su-
preme Governor of the Island, and I venture to say that we
could not have chosen a man of higher honour than Sir
Henry Storks, or one more fitted to inspire respect, or to
support and maintain authority in the island. (Hear, hear.)
We have associated with him Mr. Russell Gurney and Mr.
Maule, and no two persons are more likely to take a correct
view of the law of the case. We are aware that the Com-
mission cannot take evidence upon oath. Directions, how-
ever, went out that the Legislature should be called
together to enable the Commissioners to take evidence on
oath, and Sir H. Storks has called that Legislature together
to give him authority to examine on oath. It was clear to
us that it was impossible to refuse inquiry, from the case
made out by Governor Eyre himself. It was equally im-
possible to have a satisfactory inquiry if he remained at
the head of affairs, and therefore the only justifiable course
is that which we took. As to the other question, that of
Parliamentary Reform, I have not much further to say. I
think, however, the bill of the Government will be brought
in quite as soon after the meeting of Parliament as was that
of the noble earl. Some of the information has been very
lately supplied, and there is a portion of it of which the
correctness is doubted, and that has been sent back. Ido
not doubt, however, that by the end of the month the Go-
vernment will be ready to propose their measure. The noble
earl has some complaint against me as to the manner
in which his own bill was met, and that makes it neces-
sary for me—though I should otherwise have post-
poned my remarks on this subject—to state that I enter-
tained very grave and solid objections to the bill, which
made it impossible for me to agree to the second reading.
My first objection to the noble earl's bill was that it took
away
a right that had been enjoyed, not only from
the time of Henry VI., but from the very earliest time
o_
our Parliamentary history—namely, the right of
freeholders to vote for the counties in which they re-
sc:le.
essenTthiaai, That right
mghyt was an essential part of the Constitution,
opinion, that when the late Earl Grey told
me it was very likely that a provision would be introduced
in the House of Lords into
the great
veaottißng for
mr
theß un ille,otaktiineg
away from freeholders the
right
they resided in and confining h
told Earl Grey that if thel cam no
tdownn vote in boroughs, I
a,: ivith that altera-
tion I should consider it so vitiated th
move in the House of Commons that the Reformwlllll myself
all its good and great provisions, should be rejected.
The with
The Earl of DERBY—May I ask the noble earl was this
always his view as to the value and importance of retaining
that provision ?
Earl RUSSELL—There was another provision in the