The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 9, 1868.

speech on the occasion, which seemed to afford • the Radica is to bring forward such a charge is
general satisfaction. He asked the electors of North not a lift le amusing. Their manoeuvres during
Northamptonshire to ratify the choice of his SOVE- election seasons to secure the return of their
REIGN by again returning him as their representa- chosen candidates are certainly not such as to
tive to the House of Commons. Mr. HUNT de- qualify them for censorship of others. The charge
dared that he little thought when he last ap- of violating the Constitution brought against the
peered before his constituents that in so PRESIDENT by those very men who have themselves
short a time he would solicit their suffrages in laboured assiduously to undermine and overthrow
the character of Chancellor of the Exchequer. By the old Constitutional laws and doctrines is another
a curious combination of circumstances the Prime instance of inconsistency which would be ridiculous
Minister had little choice in filling up the place if the issues involved were not so momentous. As
vacated by himself, and he had to select an untried Lord STANLEY said the other evening of Mr.
man, though certainly not an unqualified one. SEWA.RD'S indignation respecting the use of the very
Great allowance must be made for the new Chan- term .he employed in his own despatches, we might
cellor of the Exchequer, for he is placed in a some- almost ask the Radicals whether they could with
what invidious position, succeeding, as he himself gravity prefer such a charge. The Constitution in
remarks, to those " intellectual giants who filled their bands is nothing more than a string of Acts
so large a space in the public mind." He of Congress, to be repeated, overridden, or set
can but do his best, however, and a aside in any way the caprices and passions of the
fair trial he has every right to ask for and expect. moment may dictate. The Tenure-of-Office Bill,
Another thing to take into account is that the pre- ueglect or infraction of which constitutes one of
sent time is au inauspicious one for the peculiar Mr. JoinesoN's chief offences, is of itself unconstitu-
office which he has undertaken, and no ordinary tional, and has been so declared by competent
anxiety attends those who have to fulfil its duties. judges and legal authorities. Yet the Articles of
The " commercial panic" has not yet gone by, and Impeachment are based on these grounds.
the bad harvests of the last two years have produced The PRESIDENT, meanwhile, has ordered a writ
evil consequences, so that already in taking the to be prepared, requiring Mr. STANTON to show
post of Chancellor of the Exchequer during the cause why he holds possession of the War Depart-
temporary absence of Mr. DISRAELI, Mr. HUNT ment, so that he is resolved to bring this quarrel
has had to inform the House of Commons that the at least to a legal issue. Mr. STANTON will find
revenue of the country has lost its elasticity for it a different thing to vindicate his conduct before
the first time for many years. But perhaps out of a legal tribunal and to put forward
evil may come good, and when at last the evil arrogant pretensions which Congress is sure to
effects of the last year or two are passed away, we support. In regard to General THOMAS, too, Mr.
may recognise a better order of things, for specu- STANTON seems likely to get into trouble. It will
lation, such as it has been for past years, should be remembered that he had caused the arrest of the
not be continued. The overtrading and reckless General, on the ground that he intended to take
character of too many of our men of business have forcible possession of the War-office. Whether he
brought great distress on the country and ruined found his evidence fail him, or whether he thought
hundreds, but after the fearful warning we have discretion the better part of valour, it seems that
had the public will be slow to lend its countenance when the trial came on STANTON failed to appear
to a repetition of such proceedings. against the prisoner, who was discharged by the
Turning to general subjects, Mr. HUNT observed Court. General THOMAS upon this immediately
that we had now on our hand a costly war ; and, instituted proceedings against his adversary for
in answer to an unwarrantable question, Whose false and malicious imprisonment, laying the
fault is that? he replied, very properlf, that no damages at $150,000.
one could say that the blame attached to the present The American people, who are fond of excite-
Government. The right hon. gentleman declared ment, are certainly likely to have enough of it just
that he never wished to find fault with his political now. This affair of STANTON and THOMAS would,
opponents when they were not there to answer him, in less troublous times, afford topic for debate and
but still the Abyssinian difficulty was no doing of discussion all through the States. Now, however,
the Conservatives. He entirely agreed with the public attention is engrossed by the Impeachment,
late Chancellor of the Exchequer when he says and meetings indicative of popular feeling are being
that those who object to risking so many lives held in all directions. The preponderance of the
to save so few seem to forget that if England had Radical Conventions, under the recent legislation,
acted on this principle hitherto she would not now naturallygives a good deal of support to the Radi-
g
occupy the present position which she does. It cal party in Congress, but we must re-
would be, indeed, a most dangerous precedent to member that where the feeling of the
establish that foreign potentates may ill-treat our country is fairly shown and tested the
countrymen, and yet that we are to raise no voice result is very different. In some directions
on their behalf, and do nothing to rescue them the provincial bodies appear apprehensive of an
from their sad durance. No one of proper spirit and actual collision between the contending authorities.
accurate judgment can conscientiously blame In Pennsylvania, whose Senate passed a resolution
the present Government for having undertaken in favour of the Impeachment, numerous Demo-
the affair, and be the Expedition successful or not cratic bodies are effecting military organisation.
in its immediate object of rescuing the prisoners The New Jersey House of Representatives have
they will have done their duty, and no more can be inquired into the condition of the State armament,
expected of them. It is indeed peculiarly a ques- in view of the peril in which the country is placed.
tion that does not admit of party interpretation In New York itself there are ominous signs. The
being put on it, for it is a national one, and Eng- police have seized the muster-roll of a society called
lishmen should rally round the cause, feeling assured the " Johnson Club," on the ground of a breach of
that it is one of common interest and importance the peace being threatened. What their real intention
to all. The occasion which called them together, was may be:questioned. The PRESIDENT as heretofore
being the first time he had seen his constituents stands firm in his old footing. He has recently
since the passing of the Reform Bill, Mr. addressed some delegates from Baltimore, and he
HUNT naturally made some observations on that declared that he thought no personal sacrifice too
interesting subject. Some speakers and writers great to bear in defence of the Constitution ; and
have indulged in remarks to the effect that the yet a breach of the Constitution is one of the
Conservatives were " dragged" into that measure. charges against him ! In his speech to the Balti-
Speaking for himself, the right hon. gentleman de- more delegates, Mr. JOHNSON expressed his belief
Glared that so far from having been dragged into that the intelligence and patriotism of the people
giving his support to the bill he could con- would yet rescue the country from the threatened
scientiously declare that he gave his " entire ap- ruin, and we must hope that this confidence which
prover to the main features of it. As for the pro- he has maintained unshaken through all vicissitudes
position that the principle of household suffrage will not p rove to be misplaced.

should be applied to the counties, Mr. HUNT thinks

that it would not be a beneficial change. It has
already been said that the influence of the landed
proprietors is too great, and this would make it still
more so, and give that preponderance to one class
which is always found to be prejudicial.
Another theory which the new Chancellor of the
Exchequer sought to contradict was that which !ays
down the law, that the Conservatives being ob-
structives they bad no right to introduce popular
measures. This he indignantly denied, showing
very forcibly that if the Conservative policy is
to be a successful one it must look " not only
to the past, but also to the requirements of the pre-
sent and of the future." Nothing could be fairer
than the manner in which Mr. HUNT spoke of the
duties which devolved upon all who aspired to direct
affairs at this time. He declared that they must
recognise the great progress that has been made
intellectually, morally, and materially, if they ex-
pected to gain the support of the intelli-
gent men of the country. In conclusion, th 3
right hon. gentleman affirmed that Mr. DISRAELI
had the entire confidence of the Conservative party,
and that they had had long experience of his ability
and assiduity in the House of Commons. On the
whole we consider that this first speech of a mem-
ber of the new Administration in a full and unfet-
tered style is a most successful one. It imparts
confidence, and inspires us to hope that the career
of the new Administration will be a brilliant and
effective one, and that it may long retain the con-
fidence and goodwill of the country.

The Radicals in the United States are pressing
on their preparations against the PRESIDENT with
vigour and determination, but they are beginning
to find the difficulty of the task they have under-
taken. They appear to be above all things
apprehensive of loss of time or any unnecessary
delay, and the Senate has adopted a resolution
prohibiting dilatory motions during the impeach-
ment proceedings, and limiting the debate on
the Articles of Impeachment to one day. Possibly
this has been done in pursuance of the old
idea of checking discussion, and silencing
all opposition ; but it also no doubt proceeds
from the anxiety of the Republicans to
hurry on the impeachment without interruption.
No attempt to curtail the Presidential functions
during the trial is to be made according to present
appearances, and the New York Herald declares that
the Impeachment Committee of the House of Re-
presentatives have nearly completed the Articles
upon which the PRESIDENT is to be tried. At first
these were said to embrace six specific charges, but
now the Articles are only four in number, charging
the PRESIDENT with violations of the Constitution
and Tenure-of-Office Act, also with bribery ; and
even these charges occasion some perplexity to the
framers of the Articles. They find it difficult to
secure the object in view, and at the same time pre-
s Ave the unity
of the party. The New York Times,
in referring to thi3 difficulty of the Impeachment
Committee, says that it seems to be widening the
basis on which Mr. JOHNSON is to be arraigned,
and, as the Articles are at present reported there is
nothing very new in the charges. Bribery is an
accusation very easily brought against any public
man or political party in the States, and unfortu-
nately not very difficult to substantiate, though for

DM PARIS.

RE-ELECTION OF THE CHANCELLOR OF

THE EXCHEQUER.

KETTERING, Saturday.

The election for North Northamptonshire, occa-
sioned by the appointment of Mr. G. Ward-Hunt
as Chancellor of the Exchequer, took place to-day
—the High Sheriff (Mr. H. de Stafford O'Brien)
presiding as returning officer. Dr. F. R. Lees, who
had suddenly appeared as a candidate in the ad-
vanced Liberal interest, bad placarded the town with
his address, which was of great length, but it was
never seriously supposed that he would go to the
poll.

- The HIGH SHERIFF, who created some amusement
by referring to Northamptonshire as " this splendid
and aristocratic county," having briefly opened the
proceedings,
Mr. T. TRYON proposed, and Mr. WATTS RUS-
SELL seconded, the nomination of Mr. G. Ward-
Hunt.

Mr. F. WALLIS proposed, and Mr. W. WELLS
seconded, the nomination of Dr. F. R. Lees.
Mr. J. T. STOCKBURN proposed (but only with a
view to put himself in order) the Hon. Fitzpatrick
Vernon. Mr. Stockburn said he did this to enable
him to ask Mr. Hunt what his opinions were upon
the Irish question, the education question, and Mr.
Coleridge's bill for more freely opening the univer-
sities to the middle classes.
The nomination of Mr. Vernon was not seconded.
Mr. WARD-HUNT, who was received with loud
cheers and groans, said when he last solicited the
suffrages of the constituency, he little thought that
within so short a space of time he should appear
before the electors in the character of Chancellor of
the Exchequer ; and he had no doubt that no one
would have ventured to predict that this would
have been the case. It had been a curious combi-
nation of circumstances which had limited the
choice of the First Minister of the. Crown in filling
up the post which he (Mr. Ward-Hunt) now occu-
pied. He could not pretend that any merits of his
would have pointed him out to the public as the
person most specially fitted for that appointment,
and when he looked at those who had preceded him
in office—those intellectual giants who filled such a
large space in the eyes cf the public—he must own
that his qualifications would compare very badly
with those of the Ministers who had preceded him.
He could only say he should approach the task which
now devolved on him with no feeling of triumph at
his rapid elevation, but with great anxiety whether
he should be able to discharge with competence
the duties which he should have to perform,
and he should look forward with confidence to that
which he was sure every one who endeavoured to do
his duty always received—viz., a fair trial from the
country. The time in which he had to undertake
his duties was one of no ordinary anxiety. We had
had a commercial panic in this country from which
we had not yet recovered ; we had had two harvests
of inferior quality ; and as it was his duty to an-
nounce to the House of Commons, iu the tempo-
rary absence of his predecessor, the revenue bad for
the first time for many years lost its elasticity. lie
believed that the trade and commerce of the country
were now in a sounder state than they had been for
a long time past ; and he considered that that over-
trading and over-speculation which had brought
about so much distress was now looked upon by the
commercial world as a thing no longer to be pur-
sued. He consequently looked forward to a sounder
state of things, which would enable the revenue to
rise again to that favourable position which it had
lately occupied. In addition to the adverse circum-
stances that he had mentioned, we had at the present
time a costly expedition to Abyssinia ; he hoped
it would not prove a costly war. (Cries of " Whose
fault is it?" " Russell's ;" and " No, no.") He was
asked whose fault it was. He never wished to
make charges against opponents when they were
not present to answer him ; and, therefore, he
would not attribute the Abyssinian war to any one,
but he would venture to say that it was not the
fault of the present Government. Mr. Wells had
sought to fix blame upon the present Government
for having sent an expedition for the relief of our
fellow-countrymen in Abyssinia, and he spoke of
risking the lives of 10,000 men for the sake of a few.
But he (Mr. Ward-Hunt) would ask Mr. Wells, if
he had a child or a brother pining in the dungeons
of Abyssinia, would he complain that 10,000 men
had been sent to release him ? (A Voice : " Who
was it stopped the presents which were given to re-
deem the prisoners ?") Mr. Wells thought that we
ought not to risk the lives of 10,000 men for the
sake of a few, but if that had been the principle
upon which Great Britain had acted we should not
be in the proud position in which we now stood. (A
Voice : "And we should not have had a national
debt.") It was right that it should be understood
in foreign countries that the lives of the meanest of
her Majesty's subjects would be anxiously and
jealously guarded by those at home. (A. Voice :
" Jamaica ;" and laughter.) The knowledge that
a few persons of no great position and not many
in number would have the strong arm of Eng-

land raised to protect them would have the effect of
protecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of her
Majesty's subjects in all parts of the world. It
was, however, a great misfortune that there should
be any necessity for sending out the Abyssinian
expedition. Even in the subordinate position
which he had lately filled, viz., that of Secre-
tary to the Treasury, the cost of the expedi-

tion had occasioned him great anxiety and very
great labour, and in the more responsible post to
which he had lately been called the immense ex-
penditure which was now taking place in Abys-
sinia must enhance the difficulties of the task which
he should have to perform. The present was the
first occasion on which he had been able to address
his constituents since the passing of a measure of
reform by the Government of which he had been a
member. (Voices—" Not by the Government ;"
" No, they are in a minority ;" " The best clauses
were passed by the Liberals," &c.). Well, he
wished to say a few words upon the question. It
had been the fashion with some portion of the
press to speak of the Conservative party as having
been dragged against their will to support the mea-
sure. (Hear, hear.) He wished to speak plainly
and honestly as to his own course in the
matter, and he could say that, so far from
being dragged unwillingly in support of the
measure, the main provisions of the bill had his
entire approval. He had watched with interest the dis-
cussions which took place on the Reform question
in 1866, and had come to the conclusion, after the
many promises made from the Throne of a reduc-
tion of the fronchise, that the question could na
longer be deferred. He had also come to the con-
clusion with regard to the borough franchise, which
was the principal bone of contention, that if you
went down to a lower figure than that at which it
was placed by the Reform Bill of 1832, there would
always be a new agitation to go still lower, and
that we could not consequently look forward to a
settlement of the question. (A Voice—" It is no
settlement in the counties now.") Under these
circumstances he had come to the conclusion that

the only plan by which anything like a settlement
for the future could be secured was to make house-
hold suffrage in the boroughs with personal pay-
ment of rates and the condition of a certain resi-
dence. So far from his being converted suddenly
to this opinion when the bill of the Government was
introduced, he might say that although he was not
at the time a member of the Government, yet his
opinion on the subject was asked long before the
bill was introduced, and he gave it unhesitat-
ingly in favour of that borough franchise which
ultimately became law. (A. Voice—" Why not
in the counties as well ?") Why, supposing
that it had been proposed for the counties, would
the great Liberal party have supported it? (Cries
of " Yes," and " No.") Why, what was the accu-
sation in the waggon that morning but that the
counties had been too long in the hands of the
squires and parsons. (Hear, hear.) If there were
household suffrage in counties, would the influence
of the squires and parsons be greater or less ?
(Voices : " Try it, and their influence would be less
with the ballot.") lie had said before,and be said
it again now, that he should be sorry to see the
supreme power in the State vested in any one class
all over the country, in counties and boroughs
alike, for the only way in which our complex syE,-

tem could work was the having different classes re-
presented. If supreme political power were once I
put into the hands of any one class, some question
would sweep over the land and there would be no-
thing to stem it, so that to preserve the constitu-
tion handed down to us by our forefathers it was
most desirable that there should be a distinction be-
tween the county and borough franchise. (Hear,
hear.) It had been said with regard to the Reform
Bill that the Government had cared for nothing ex-
cept to keep their places—(A Voice : " True")—that
they did not care what they sacrificed so long as they
remained in office. It was very easy to make such a
charge, but he did not think, if one looked at the
conduct of public men on one side of the house or
the other, that it would be found that this kind of
morality really existed among them. Who was the
strongest supporter of the late Reform Bill outside
the Government in the House of Commons? 'Who
was it but his right hon. friend Mr. Henley? Yet,
when a Reform Bill was brought in by Lord Derby's
second Government in 1859, Mr. Henley and Mr.
Walpole, who were then members of the Cabinet,
disapproved of the bill, and they resigned office be-
cause they could not support it. Iu doing this they
gave the strongest proof that they were not persons
who would sacrifice their convictions for place ; and
in 1867, no question of place being at stake, Mr.
Henley came forward and gave the strongest sup-
port to the bill then introduced, and particularly to
the principle of household ratepaying suffrage in
boroughs. There were two parties—or rather there
was a party and a small section—who disapproved
of the conduct of the Government upon the occasion
of the Reform Bill. First of all, there was the great
Liberal party, and what they said to the Conserva-
tives was—" It is your place to be obstructive and
to run your head against every wall you can find ;
we have long had a monopoly of power in
introducing measures that the country is desirous
of having, and you have no business to come
forward and propose measures which will be accept-
able to the public." One could understand the
feelings of the great Liberal party; they wished to
be always conducting the affairs of the country, and
to point to the Conservative party as an obsolete,
old-work set of people, who never got a ray of light
into their heads. There was also a small section of
the Conservative party who viewed the proceedings
of the Government with dislike, and he must say
that he honoured the course taken by his late friends
in the Government at the crisis of the Reform Bill.
He believed that they acted sincerely and according
to their convictions, and he always honoured a man
who did that ; at the same time he considered that
they took a wrong course, as they set their eyes too
much upon the past. and did not sufficiently regard
the present or look forward to the future. He was
convinced that if the Conservative party were to
look forward to the intelligent mind of the country
it must recognise the great progress which the coun-
try had made, not only materially but morally and
intellectually; and, recognising this fact, it was the
duty of Conservatives not to think that measures
which were right and proper in the days of our fore-
fathers might not have occasion to be altered in the
present day. He had always felt it was the beauty
of our constitution that, as we increased in intelli-
gence and wealth, and as knowledge permeated into
remote parts of the country, and got down to classes
among whom we could not expect to find it years
ago, our constitution was capable of expanding to
meet the requirements of the day, so that, without
violent changes, and preserving entirely the spirit
of our constitution, we must from time to time be
removing restrictions and giving privileges which
in former times our ancestors might have been quite
wise in withholding. We could not look upon the
effects of the press in this country—effects which
had been greatly multiplied by the introduction of
steam—we could not look at the results of the rapid
communication which railways had given us from
one part of the country to another, we could not
look upon the increased knowledge of the mass of the
people without seeing that the country had made
great strides in intelligence. He had entered with
this feeling the Ministry which had been formed
under the presidency of his right hon. friend Mr.
Disraeli, and he thought that the Conservatives
must not be mere milestones to register the progress
of their opponents, but that they must approach
the different questions of the day in a candid spirit,
and with a desire to meet the requirements of the
age, without violating the principles handed down
to us by our forefathers, and without destroying
the great institutions of the country. (Hear, hear.)
The Conservatives had lost Lord Derby, whom they
had looked forward long to guide them by his
counsels and to support them with his advice ; this
was a great loss, and the Conservatives would long
feel it, but they had in Lord Derby's successor one
who had stood by his side for many years, shared
his confidence, and fought the battles of the Con-
servative party in the House of Commons. It was
a great comfort at the present time to find that the
Conservative party had rallied round their new
leader and given him their confidence. With that
confidence Mr. Disraeli would direct them in the
path they ought to pursue. He had been asked
certain questions, and he approved of the open-air
discussion which had taken place. Had he still
been an independent member of Parliament he
should have had no hesitation in giving a frank
answer to the questions put to him ; but, as the
Ministerial policy would be announced upon these
questions in a few days, he thought it would not be
unreasonable if he asked Mr. Stockburn to wait till
then. With regard to education, the Government
had announced their intention to bring in a bill
upon the subject.
Mr. STO:IKBURN-1 think there is one thing you
might answer, Mr. Hunt. Will you insist upon a
conscience clause being inserted in such a bill ?

Mr. WARD-HUNT believed that what Mr. Stock-
burn bad called shrouding oneself in Ministerial re-
serve took place upon every hustings when a Cabi-
net Minister presented himself. Electors were
anxious to elicit a declaration of policy not yet
vouchsafed to the Legislature, and every Minister
always declined to satisfy that curiosity, on the
ground that an election was not the proper occasion
on which such an announcement should be made.
He hoped, therefore, that Mr. Stockburn would not
think he was treating him with rudeness when he
asked him to defer the question for a few days. la
conclusion, he had to thank his constituents for the
great confidence which they had reposed in him for
10 years; and he should never forget that it was
to the electoors of North Northamptonshire that he
owed the distinction to which he had lately suc-
ceeded. (Cheers.)

Dr. LEES spoke at length, but intimated that on
the present occasion he should not go to the poll.
On a show of hands being taken, it was declared
to be in favour of Dr. Lees, but as that gentleman
retired, although he said he should possibly go to
the poll on soma future occasion,
The HIGH SHERIFF declared Mr. Ward-Hunt
duly elected.
A vote•of thanks to the High Sheriff closed the
proceedings.

DEATH OF Ma. CROSLAND, M.P.—(By Tele-
graph.)—A. 'vacancy has just occurred in the representa-
tion of Hudelersfield. Mr. T. P. Crosland, M.P. for that
borough, died at his residence, Gledholt, near that town
yesterday afternoon. He had for some time been in a de-
clining state of health. He was 52 years of age.
THE BISHOP OF WINCHESTER.—A slight improve-
ment was manifest in the health of •the Bishop of Win-
chester on Saturday, and still further yesterday, in conse-
quence of quiet and refreshing sloop. His Lordship is still,
however, in a critical condition, and prayers, of which
printed forms have been circulated, were offered yesterday
on his behalf in almost every church within his extensive
diocese. The confirmations arranged to be held by his
Lordship during the past weak wore performed by Dr.
Hobhouso, late Bishop of Nelson Island, New Zealand ;
and Dr. Ryan, Bishop of the Mauritius, has undertaken to
hold confirmations in the Channel Islands and the Isle of
Wight, commencing his tour on Tuesday next.

Burtyr AT SEA.—There s emus every reason to
believe that the now bark the Cauaradzo, of Sunderland,
which sailed on her first voyage from the west on the
21st of June last, for Valparaiso, and after leaving the
Downs has not since been heard of, has been destroyed by
fire. The master of the Otorsa, which arrivod at Valparaiso
in September, reported having seen a vessel on fire while
rounding Cape llorn, and there is every reason to believe
that she was the one missing. The Canaradzo was in com-
mand of Mr. Thomas Robertson, of Kirkcaldy, and had a
crow of 16 seamen all told.