The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-07 00:00:00

JOURNAL a,

e

all, and to deny any extension whatever, rather than •
to give a part of the ground on which to erect bat-
teries which would command the rest. The danger
of the present Government appears to lie less in
being too bold than in being not bold enough; and
the desire of fusing into one trimming bill the oppo-
site opinions of a Cabinet composed of such hetero-
genous elements may yet prove fatal to it, unless
there exists sufficient authority among it leaders te.,
enable them to procure the adoption of a billframea
more with a view to the merits of the question than
to the diversity of opinions on the subject. A
ib°
fter
all, reform in this country is not revolution. r
adoption of a £6 franchise would not entail either
socialism or anarchy, and any reform bill o°l
may be passed in 1866 is, at any rate, not likely to
be followed by more serious consequences than that
which was passed in 1832. The important features
of the Government bill are, we believe, not Yet
finally settled, but the statistics have, it is under-
stood, not been without their influence on the mea,"
sure in determining the adoption of a rental
tile
will admit a fair additional number of voters to
franchise. The bill introduced by Lord Palmer-
ston, who was not likely to propose an excessive
extension, would, if adopted, have added sere,!.
180,000 to the 450,000 borough electors already "
the enjoyment of the franchise, and there is ever
reason to expect that the forthcoming bill will n"
in this respect fall short of the standard of exten-
sion fixed by the late Premier. This would be all_
addition, so far as boroughs are concerned, of 40 per
cent. to the present electoral body, but as the eell%
ties would probably not get the same proportion'_.
extension, the relative aggregate increase
ld
the whole number of voters in the kingdom wail
of course be less. If, however, the bill proceossi eds. °.e
the basis above indicated, it will not be pbis
even for Mr. Bright to say that the question had
been trifled with, or for an agitation to be pronleo
on the ground that enough has not been done. „e
redistribution of seats will, it is presumed, foil:111es
subject of a separate bill from that which pro' e,
ci
for the extension of the franchise. The two n.e
tions are, in fact, perfectly distinct, and, belD
founded upon different principles and supportedca'i
different reasons, their separation is quite lofilf,he
and proper, as well as being perhaps politic. ,
reasons for conferring a vote for members of Paolis
liament upon an increased number of individtifor
have no resemblance whatever with the reasons .
redistributing the members among those individa',;
In a system of government which aims at represesn
tation, the constant changes of the population-
as constantly for a readjustment of the callreprese
tives divided amongst it, but do not necessarily t a
for increase in the numbers of the electors, so thadxie
bill to provide for the one cannot properly be In the
to go hand in hand with a bill to provide for dig
other. It is certain that the House of Commonsnor
appreciate the difference in principle, andwilidisc"to
an advantage in the difference of treatmentof the Iv,
questions. The one one thing that is clear is, thtt the
form is approaching a settlement, and if, and 'vent
disadvantages it has to face, the present Govern,tio,
succeeds in introducing a bill which is net I that
and illusory, there is every reason to believe of
it will obtain sufficient support in the llonsemr.
Commons to carry it. It is understood that.i.cle,
Disraeli has announced to his own immediate e;iini,
though not to the party at large, that, if the tbel
stern are driven from office on the mensure tbe
will propose, he will be prepared to felle,w, with
policy Of 1859, to accept the Government ,of
its engagements," and to take up the ques':'' not
Reform himself. The question, in fad, but
whether Reform shall be accepted or rejeete' its
whether it shall be carried by its friends or
enemies. Mr. Disraeli, if the present ineaisati 0,11
rejected on the ground of insufficiency, 01.1.1 gill 173
hope for success by outbidding it ; and it vier
for the House of Commons to say, before the rernte
has been lost, whether they will prefer a ref) 0. one
but complete measure now or a more sweePalpeat
hereafter; and it is in the power of the Govern tae
to assist them to a wise decision, and at the
sing
time to strengthen its own position, by Pr°P°tioc-
measure calculated to settle the question sa
'orily and definitively.