The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-26 00:00:00

The Government Commissioners had pointed out
the inefficacy of the ordinary remedial measures;
Analogy and com.non sense had shown that
the only hope of staying the pest lay in stamping ld
out. Yet all the provisions designed for this ea,
have been inserted, suggested, or essentially altered'
by members unconnected with the Governmen'f
Isolation, slaughtering, compensation, suspension
of
railway transit, restrictions on the movement
cattle on the high roads—all these are wholly °Z
partly due to members speaking in their perseutt
capacity, not to the Cabinet as an entirety. -""
this is not all. While the Government introduces
and carries one bill for the abatement of the infee;
tion, a private member introduces and carries
another bill for purposes closely connected, and „ rlt,
fact almost identical, with those of the former. v e
suspect that there is no precedent for two bill!,
supplementary to each other, being concurrently
introduced by a Cabinet and a private member 01
Parliament. Nor is there, so far as we can see, any
justification for a practice so unusual. The Go-
vernment has the amplest means of collecting in-
formation from all quarters; it has the greatest re'
tources of organising inspection and repression.
It, therefore, ould charge itself with the duty
of preparing those enactments the execution °
which will mainly devolve upon itself. By shirk;
ing this duty it disregards the traditions of
English government, and tends to throw
fr Par'
liament back into that legislative chaos ail
which it has for nearly two centuries been
happily emancipated. To complete the spectacle.,
of imbecility, when the Ministerial Bill had revile°,
the quiet haven of the Lords' Committee, up juinPeu
a noble hanger-on of the Government with all
amendment directed, like Mr. Bright's unsuccessfo
onslaught, to the enfeebling of that curative extir-
pation of the disease on which the Commons had;
insisted ; and he succeeded in scoring the vote 01
the Privy Seal and the voice of the Postmaster:l
General against their colleagues, their own bill, an
the effective stamping out of the rinderpest. The
apologists of the Ministry will doubtless tell US that
the details of a Cattle Bill involve no gTes"
constitutional principle ; that it matters little
whether a Government or an individual pro-
poses to isolate healthy, and slaughter infected:
beasts. The answer is, that the Government
of the country ought not to be above attend
al
ing to anything which may mitigate a great national
calamity, and that it abdicates one of its chief font"
tions when it transfers this duty to unofficial Per,;
sons. The apology, moreover, is defective in 1',3
basis. Weaknesses generally run in couples, alle
the weakness of the present Administration is 11,
exception to a rule of universal application. The
ti
same doubt and vacillation which are exhibited
with respect to the cattle disease are exhibit
with respect to a Reform Bill. Lord Russell 1'
besieged by anxious deputations at the Treasury'
and Mr. Gladstone is solicited by ingeui°tls
inquirers in Parliament ; but the maportunats„.
labours of each are equally in vain. The orael;
of the Lower House is as inscrutable as th 3
of the Upper. The conclusion at which ordinal
people have arrived is, A
that Ministers have made tP
their minds just as little on the Reform question "-
they had done on the Cattle question, And that thei
will trust themselves to the current of events in the
one case, as they have trusted themselves in tut
other. A Reform Bill, it is assumed, there ralls
be ; not because the educated intelligence and otter;
prising opulence of the country have clamouredi'e
it, but because the Whigs have talked themselves
of
into it, and are now entangled in the meshes is
their own promises. But up to this moment it re
believed that no three members of the Cabinet `ire
as to what ought to be the nature of t
bill. Is it to he a single-barrelled or a double-bar-
relied bill ? Is there to be a lateral or only a 1e„-
tical extension of the suffrage ? Is this to be aeccw":
panied by a redistribution of seats ; or are the ope..:
ratives of the great Northern cities to be made narer
powerful than ever, and the operatives of other
towns to remain just as they are now ? These the
the questions which people ask, and which
Ministry apparently leave to time, to chance' an
the development of opinion in the House of C°L--,
mons. If no one should appear to take much intro
rest in the matter, then, doubtless, the smallest of nu,.
will creep out of the mountain of Whig pronlisro
But if, on the other hand, the artisans should gild
signs of genuine excitement, if educated men sh°"
~„
begin generally to take an active interest in thecia;
tion, and the desire for a really comprehensive me
sure to manifest itself inthe House of Commons' thue
tower we may expect that on some afternoon tow e
Easter Mr. Gladstone will come down to the 11015,
determined to outvie Mr. Bright in a studied 01%,
1
on the virtues of the working-man, and a rhetorical
panegyric on the progress of democracy. This sys-
tem is undoubtedly very convenient to Ministers;
It saves a world of trouble both in thinking anupa
drafting acts. Mr. Gladstone probably is preP";,
to prove by the finest of arguments that it is in
act conformity to the genius of the British _,,
Consti-
tution. But although it would be unconstitutiooL
even if it were not impossible, for any Administ%
tion to govern the country without possessing' Li,
confidence of the House of Commons, this cone,
dente is not to be earned by the trimming and t;;Ilt
serving obsequiousness which the present Governinthe
so persistently displays. The house expects
Minister to lead it but Mr. Gladstone is now follow°,
ing rather than leading it. The novelty of this Prot
cedure may possibly have a temporary charm ; ect
it can only be temporary. Those only who resy,lo,
themselves succeed in winning the respect of of owe
No Government which voluntarily cedes its vg
right of initiating legislation to the casual occdPeao o
of the Opposition and independent benches p
count on long retaining its own position. or
Government can hope to be either ropectenwst
supported which allows its members to vote agar
no
each other on momentous questions. Ali were
Government would bequeath to history 3 011
ignoble memory than one which, by paltering into
the manifest duties of its station, brought back coc-
a busy and earnest age the discords, intrigues; 00l
tradictions, and corruptions which nearly the
the vitality of Parliament in the latter years of
Stuart dynasty. . .

COUNTRY MARKETS.

NORWICH SATURDAY. tD:
There was a fair supply of wheat at this market, 3nd the
condition having improved the trade ruled firm, loarlei
full prices of last week maintained. Good malting aid.
well supported, and in some instances higher rates P ditto
White wheat (weighing 641 b), 50s to 54s ; old rlto,Dtvg
(weighing 651 b), 48s to 50s ; new red ditto rpeOnLif
601 b to 631 b), 42s to 47s ; best'malting barley sy-
-521b to 531 b), 34s to 36s ; runs ditto (weighing
32s to 345; distilling ditto (weighing 501 b to 521*0
'a
27s ; oats, 24s to 26s ; beans, sto 39s ; peas (tnal)
to 38s per qr. Flour, 335 per sack. 511 b toos to

NOT TINGHAM—SATURDAY. icet
There was a tolerable supply of wheat at our Ria1.„0,1311
day. Around here the young wheat plant is f 1 re
spoken of. A steady demand, and full rates vire,r°,4ei t`"
for fine sorts. There was a healthy demand for 1.'3;
prices rather higher than last week. Oats unaltereo• nog
Old white wheat, 57s to 60s ; old red, 50s to 08;00,
white, 57s to 58s ; new red, 46s to 50s per 36 stonel3e2.o s, 00,
old, 30s to 355; new, 26s to 30s per 24 stone.
50s to 52s ; new, 43s to 47s per 38 stone.

YORK—SATURDAY. a tuero
The supply of wheat at market to-day was fair, ,1,1111,,, hone
was about an average attendance of the trade• a.l- pere,
of the Trade was healthy, and prices not Ditto°
Barley sparingly represented, and prices in favour of Iles WO
Oats at last week's quotations. The supply a be
„6
,6
small, and business healthy at recent prices. Ass per Vie;
New white wheat, 46s to 52s ; new red, 45s to
stone. Barley, for malting, 36s to 40s. per qr. ; X 24stop
30s to 32s per 30 stone. Oats, new, 24s to 28s per
Beans, new, 40s to 42s per 38 stone.

LEWES TER SATURDAY. lied
Our corn market to-day was moderately ellPr ' g
wheat; there was a sprinkling of white and red sq
sales effected at former rates. The supply a bofodotbi,eo
limited, and the best descriptions advanced is Per ticitr"
sorts as before. Oats fair demand, and prices steaedp'aiwo
demand for beans was tolerable, and full rates weros
New white wheat, 50s to 52s ; new red, 44e t° 0• 9-40;
white, 55s to 56s ; old red, 50s to 52s per 36 ste° to'2 4
278
ley, for malting, 36s to 38s per qr. ; grinding, „8s per e.
per 30 stone. Oats, old, 30s to 34s ; new, 24s to 43800.
stone. Beans, old, 49s to 51s ; new, 42s to 448

Births. tog, the,
CLAY.—On the 23d inst., at The Mount, v'„,''„ s
wife of Henry Clay, jun., Esq., of a son.
J ARM E.
JS
a. —m Oe s
Ethsqe.72ooftha idnasutg.,htaetr.Leamingt" ur
, tilee f
wif
ad, r
SAVILLE.— On the 24th inst., at 30
i St. George's-I°n
lico, the wife of Edward B. Savle, Esq., of a 0.
0
Marriages. wort()
CHAMPLEY—PHIPSON.—On the 20th inst., at of Po{
Church, Leamington, Robert Champley, Bsclglori btercP „,
borough, to Sarah Elizabeth Mary, elder daav
the late Richard Barrel' Phipsou, Esq., °f ,hert
shire.
DAUBENEY— CASTLE.—On the 22d inst., at Clea,va!se tire)!
James H. Daubeny, Lieut. 12th Foot, to ALL.,., Goa"
second daughter of Robert Castle, Esq., of GI"—
Somerset.

Deaths. ri„ttleP
CATTLEY.—At 11, Regent's -terrace, Bull, Richard v"
Esq., aged 78. - errace,
/.
PALmEn.----On the 22d inst., at Wanlip Ilall, Sir aecd.se
Palmer, aged 54. viri
e scl
STANGER.—On the 23d inst., at Lairthwait 7
.4
Cumberland, James Stanger, Esq., aged 70. a 00w'
STANTON.—On the 18th inst.,at "T
nemouth, --o
chelll4
Stanton, Esq., aged 66.
WELCH.
—On
Thco.
ti rtS:
Davies Welch, agoa 60. 6,
.., A NV011,12.
London : Printed and Pubiished by SVIL LIA-A.-- v. '-ni
of No. 112, Strand, Punter at Tnz Surl o,""e' 001"
mStirdadnidej,
013141 Precinctouday,
Feborfu'
February
in t" °