The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-06 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1866.

Mr. BRIGHT IS determined to ride his hobby to I
death, and no sense of propriety or feeling of jus-
tics can restrain him. His conduct with respect to
the Jamaica affair has been one of the worst things
he has done throughout his political career. He
belongs essentially to that class of persons who the
more they get the more they want. Last night he
inquired of thes
path
de Government if they would under-
take that all
and all information re-
ceived at the Admiralty and the War Department
connected with the recent transactions in Jamaica
should be laid before the Commission in that
replied that it would
island. Mr. GLIpSTONE
now be very late to make alterations, because
tie Commission had already made considerable pro
-
Y STORKS was the Commander-in-
gress. Sir lIENR
chief, as well as chief commissioner, and all
the
documents relating to the officers who had had
assisted in putting down the outbreak, were already
in his possession. As for the navy, its officers had
reported to the Admiralty, and the Admiralty hesi-
tated to give up the papers because the officers had
given up their reports in obedience to orders, and
had not been cautioned against criminating them-
selves. However, the Admiralty have desired
Admiral HOPE to give Sir HENRY STORKS all the
information:which he can. This explanationdid not
suit Mr. BRIGHT, and he forthwith announced that
unless the despatches were produced in the House
or in Jamaica, he would bring forward a distinct
motion on the subject. What right has Mr. BRIGHT
to constitute himself
a judge in this janlaiCA affair?

And why should his opinion outtinveeraigehntthethanleLo, y
the service, and be held of more
arra)teraents thgk are made I_4 Xperienced indivi-.
duadlse? a
hl
aovwe a
an
gc
iet aht
eads already
t hs m a bt
teeer:
ma
and to Ttrosemuwchlio
the Government had better be on the defensive,
against any more encroachments. At any rate let, •
them be on their guard respecting Mr. BRIGHT,.
to whom they are paying too much court I,
and, indeed, have been since the commence-
ment of the session. If they attempt to,
make a compromise between expediency and jus-..
tice they will get into a very awkward dilemma. In._
the discussion on the cattle plague the amount t,O
be awarded as compensation was altered to suit the
opponents of the measure, foremost among
whom was Mr. BRIGHT. Let not a simi-
_ lar course be now followed in respect
• to the Jamaica Commission of Inquire.
There is no reliance to be placed upon the state-
ments made off hand upon a question being asked,
and perhaps after mature deliberation, rather than
face the fury of the hon. member for Birmingham,
Earl RUSSELL may adopt some of his tame and
subservient courses, and change the aspect of affairs
in order to mollify the wrath of the MOLOCH of the
Ministry. Such a course will not suit the tamper
of the House and the sense of the country, and the
best way to treat Mr. BRIGHT will be to let him
alone, and show him that his threats are disregarded,
and his counsels held of no avail. It is difficult to
conceive how a man of any political knowledge and
general experience can go on in this unseemly fashion,
taking up one idea exclusively, and making all con-
siderations of right, honour, and justice give way to
it. A more mischievous course could not be devised
than that which Mr. BRIGHT has marked out for
himself this session.

As the day for developing the Government Re-
form Bill draws nearer and nearer the public
curiosity increases rather than diminishes. Genuine
Reformers are not indeed very sanguine as to the
merits of a measure which has gained the support
of a divided Cabinet, winning the suffrages alike of
the Whig members of the Cabinet and of that
Radical party who acknowledge Mr. BRIGHT as their
leader. The Ministers have not a very easy time of
it in answering the various questions put in the
Lower House, and the manner in which their replies
are received is not always very encouraging.
It seems that the quibble about the statistics which
excited so much displeasure a few days since has
been abandoned, for Mr. GLADSTONE now says
that the errors demanding revision are likely to be
so slight that it will not be worth while to incur
further delay, and that the tables will be circulated
on Saturday morning. Another fact was elicited
from the Leader of the House of Commons last
evening which is less satisfactory. The Bill, when
it comes, is, it seems, only to affect England and
Wales, leaving Scotland andlreland to be dealt with
hereafter. It is not easy to see what advantage can
possibly arise from this needless division of interests.
The members are all returned to serve in the same
Parliament, why not under the same bill ? Lord
RUSSELL, it will be remembered, introduced three
bills in 18G0 for the three kingdoms, subsequently
beating a retreat with them all. He appears to be
partial to this mode of doing business, and if his
English measure proves a good one, he may well be
allowed to indulge his own inclinations as to
the time and manner of introducing its fellows.
The bill or bills will be probably submitted
to a severe criticism, both in Parliament
and out of it, for there are so many parties
to please in a measure of this kind, and so many
whom it is impossible to avoid displeasing. Among
the latter we must class the extreme Reformers and
the extreme anti-Reformers alike. The former have
a theory of their own, which we shrewdly suspect
may be compared to those will-o'-the-wisps which re-
cede as the pursuer advances. More and more extreme
and democratic grow their measures till universal suf-
frage and all its kindred theories are gravely pro-
posed as the panacea of all political evils. But
supposing, by some wave of an enchanter's wand, a
thoroughly Democratic Constitution was established
in this country, should we have peace ? The expe-
rience of America and Australia emphatically answer
in the negative. The Radicals of the United States
are. in a state of perpetual combustion, while the
manhood suffrage of the Australian colonies very
recently brought one of them to a political dead-
lock. So that if, for the sake of a quiet life, we
allow these good gentlemen of the BRIGHT school
to have their own way, we shall find that like
spoiled children similarly treated the result is any-
thing but pacific.

At the same time we cannot help regretting that
those gentlemen who claim to be the leaders of the
working classes should so very ill represent their
real interests, and thus damage the cause which
they profess to serve. We have always advo-
cated the admission of a large number of
working men to the franchise, believing that they
would be found fully as intelligent, as patriotic, and
as disinterested as any other class of voters. But it
is on the ground of their intelligence, and not of
their ignorance, that we would have them ad-
mitted ; it is because they have profited so
largely by the opportunities now offered to them
of acquiring at least the rudiments of knowledge ;
it is because many of them belong to a generation
which had the benefit of a good schooling in early
life, and because they have shown the fruits of that
education in their increased enlightenment, modera-
tion, and tolerance, their appreciation of the diffi-
culties of those above them, and their sympathy for
classes other than their own. The working men of
the last century would not have been qualified for
the franchise, but the tide of progress has carried
every class forward till they, in common with those
about them, have been trained to the possession of
power. But education must be the level to raise
them, and he who advocates the immediate admis-
sion of a vast number of totally uneducated and
illiterate men to the franchise, is either declaiming
for the sake of effect, or supporting a measure as
derogatory to the working men as it wruld be ruinous
to the country. A man who can neither read nor
write, and will not take the trouble to learn, had cer-
tainly better let politics alone ! Ho can neither read
the foreign news, the speeches in Parliament, the com-
ments of the, journals; he is indebted for his political
knowledge to the garbled accounts of a mob orator,
or the chance assistance of some better informed
friend. What merchant or man of business would
consult a totally illiterate man on any complicated
and important matter, yet the legislation for the
momentous
p largestriveinindividual.
ivempireid uora in
le the
Independence
world is certainly not less
difficult
is
tsn
the h e a
first
ff affairs of
requisitea
of a conscientious voter, but it is impossible for a
totally ignorant man to be independent in his
opinions, because he has to depend on others for his
information. Those who wish really to raise and
benefit the working classes had better seek to
educate than to enfranchise them. Education is a
mental enfrranchisement which will elevate them in
spite of every obstacle, the mere possession of a vote
by an unreflecting rabble will lower the influence

or our Parliament, while it will do themselves, either
individually or collectively, not the slightest good.
We were apprehensive that Mr, CLAY'S Bill