The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-03 00:00:00

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LONDON, 1110NDAY, AUGUST 3, 1868.

_____,

Now that Parliament is over it is to be expected
that we shall have election intelligence in all direc-
tions, and speeches from all parties of every class
and section. On Saturday last a meeting was held
at Preston for the purpose of hearing addresses from
the Conservative candidates, the Right Hon. Ccl.
PATTEN and the Hon. F. A. STANLEY. The greatest
enthusiasm pervaded the assembly, and the number
was very large. Colonel PATTEN spoke at some
length, and he informed his hearers that he had
been accused by both parties that whatever
was the result of the approaching contest,
no attempt woull be made to interfere
with his seat, but' still ho felt it to be
incumbent on him to appear on the scene and state
hia views on public questions. The Parliament
which has just ceased to exist has not been one of
long duration, and during the greater part of its
existence the present Government has held office,
and though not in a majority, it is true, there is
jest ground for Colonel PArrEN's assertion that it
has done good service to the country and reflected
honour on itself. It is certainly somewhat strange
that a Government in a minority should have held
office for so long; but the reason of its assuming
power may be found in the weLkneEs of its adverse-
rice, who,numerically strong, were defective in unity,
an 1 could not combine with success to their cause
or service to the business of the country. There
has been nothing extraordinary in the assertion
made by the Constrvative leaders to the, effect that

they had a right to remain in office until the country
had expressed that it had no confidence in them.
This, however, did not meet with the consent of
the Opposition, and hence the last Session through
which we have passed has been distinguished for
party conflicts of a very acrimonious character.
Mr. GLADSTONE and his immediate circle knew that
a direct vote of censure, a motion, or a want of
confidence, could not have been carried, and
therefore they resolved to find some question
which would rally their party and discomfit their
opponents. After a consultation they decided that
the Irish Church would be the best thing to take
hold of to answer the desired ends ; and Colonel
PATTEN may perhaps be excused, when he says
that though he is not in the habit of expressing
himself strongly, or of imputing motives to political
parties, he ventures to say that " there never was
such a question brought forward with such exclu-
sively party objects as the question of the Irish
Church." The land question in Ireland is of great
importance, andsome attention was being diverted to
that, until the idea of the Irish Church became the
uppermost one in the minds of the Liberals. On
the land question great discussion prevailed in the
Opposition benches, and it seemed wellnigh im-
possible to arrive at a definite conclusion, but it
was otherwise when Mr. GLADSTONE'S Resolutions
engaged notice, and it was fortunately settled by
them that they should be the battle-field at the
general election about to take place.

Colonel PATTEN held out no prejudicial opinions
on the matter. lie said that he believed the Irish
Church question did require serious attention, and
that it was impossible to deny that there were
" anomalies" in that Church which demanded in-
vestigation. One objection to Mr. GLAD-
STONE'S Resolutions is that he had not the
patience to wait until the Report of the Commis -
sion moved for by his own leader, Lord RUSSELL,
but insisted on bringing matters to an issue before
the general election. The Government arc entitled
to the credit claimed for them by the Colonel for
having worked most sedu!ously to shorten the time
for the dissolution to take place, and to put a period
to the confused state of things now existing.
The lion. F. A. STANLEY spoke at some length,
and alluded to his three years' connection with
Preston. He dropped his connection with
that place as its representative with mixed
feelings, and he acceded to the request
made to him to stand for the county,
because he thought he could thus serve more effec-
tually the interests of his party by standing for
North Lancashire. Mr. STANLEY forbore to dwell
on the past, and directed his attention to the sub-
ject which must engage Parliament for the future.
The Irish Church ranks prominently among those
questions which must be attended to, and the hon.
member observed with truth that Ireland altogether
must be treated with attention, for much remains
to be done there. Like Colonel PArrEs, he thought
so much haste need not have been made, and
regretted that they had not waited to see the
result of the inquiries of the Commission. Mr.
STANLEY concluded his spirited speech by calling
on the eleetors to decide on the day of election
which party could best serve the interests of the
country, and to act in accordance with that decision.

President JOHNSON, we learn by the Ilammonia,
has put his veto on the bill recently passed by Con-
gress excluding certain of the Southern States from
participation in the Presidential election. The
PRESIDENT, of course, was well aware that in the
present position of parties in Congress there was no
chance of the bill being actually rejected, but he felt
it only consistent with his duty to set clearly before
the people the real nature and object of the mea-
sure. It provides that such Southern States as
have not been restored to representation in Con-
gress under the Reconstruction Act shall not
participate in the election : that is to say,
it excludes a large proportion of the popu-
lation from having any voice in an election
which concerns every American. It is quite a new
doctrine that one-half the country shall settle pot
only how the other half is to vote, but whether it
has a right to vote at all. The old theories of per-
fect equality have been altogether lost sight of in
the chaos, and the North assumes au authority over
the South such as no aristocracy dare claim over
the lower orders in the most despotic European
kingdom. The white men of the North treat the
white men of the South with as little regard as the
latter treated their slaves in the old days of
involuntary servitude. Mr. JoHNsoN, in his veto,
declares the bill to be revolutionary and unconsti-
tutional, bang based on the assumption that several
of the States are out of the Union. The bill, he
shows, might enable the Congress to control the ap-
proaching Presidential election (no slight argument
in its favour in the eyes of the Radicals), and
Congress had his authority to exclude from the
Electoral College any State because a portion of the
inhabitants had joined the rebellion. All
this logic was naturally wasted upon
Congress, u hose members immediately passed
the bill by 48 to 45 in Senate, and by 124 to 36
in the House of Representatives; but it will not, we
hope, be lost upon the people. Time has shown
them the truth of many of Mr. JOHNSON'S former
addresses and expostulations, and the Radical in-
fluence is no longer what it was. The movement
in question is clearly unconstitutional, but that con-
sideration has long ceased to weigh with the leaders
of Congress, and the motive is in this instance suf-
ficiently powerful to make them disregard a
much more pressing reason. The election of
a President in America is conducted on a
principle peculiar to itself, and is founded
on the not very Democratic theory that
the body of the people are not duly qualified for the
onerous task of selecting a President, but must
select delegates to vote for them. These represen-
tative voters constitute what is called the " Elec-
toral College," and their total number is 316.
Each State has its electors in proportion to its Re-
presentatives in Congress, and thus the larger and
more populous States can greatly influence the
election. New York, for example, has 33 votes,
Pennsylvania 26, and Ohio 21, while Delaware
and Kansas have each only 3, and Michi-
gan and lowa 8. Of course the same
rule is in force in the South, and Vir-
ginia heads the list with more electors even
than New York. It is no great wonder, under
these circumstances, that the Radicals are anxious
to exclude Virginia, Texas, and Mississippi, the
three unreconstructed Southern States, with their
23 voters, from the Electoral College. The sum
total of the voters of the seven reconstructed States
is only 47, so that these three would almost double
the Southern :vote. Virginia alone has 40, and
the politics of Richmond are not unknown at
Washington. What matters old theories of consti-
tutional rights and
,privileges with such statistics
staring the Radicals in the face. Allis fair in love and
war, says the old adage ; but, it should be added—
and in an American election. The excitement into
which the whole country is thrown by the near
approach of an election for President is something
which we do not even dream of. The campaign
is carried on all over the country by indefatigable
committees, whose members never rest, who busy
themselves about every one's affairs, and arc con-