The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-13 00:00:00

SPIRT' OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The Irish debate will excite, in the opinion of the Times,
a certain disappointment among all real friends of Ireland.
It is of the highest degree of excellence as an exhibition of
oratory and argument, nor would it be easy to find an
assembly where three speeches of equal ability with those
delivered by Mr. Horsman, Mr. Lowe, and Mr. Mill
could be heard. But it is clear that nothing can come of
the debate. It will occupy three, perhaps four nights,
hour after hour will be consumed in oratorical efforts,
and the single valuable resnit to be expected is that
every one at the end will be convinced of the inade-
quacy in all respects, the positive mischief in some,
of the Government policy. That conclusion might
be secured with less cost of time and labour.
The House of Commons give a very decided opinion on
some of the Government schemes. The proposed endow-
ment of the Catholic University was aptly described by
Mr. Lowe as a mere pyrotechnic device, sent up into the
air that men might gaze at it for a moment, after which it
would disappear. it would seem, indeed, that this parti-
cular rocket is very likely never to rise at all. It is impos-
sible that the House of Commons, after such an exposure
as was made of it by Mr. Horsman and Mr. Lowe, can
entertain so retrograde a suggestion. There is but one ques-
tion, the Times continues, now before the House, and that
is whether the consideration of the condition of Ireland
can be postponed to a new Parliament. We have
already adduced reasons which appear to make a
reference of the question to a Reformed Legislature
not merely possible but proper ; and the House
of Commons is called upon to decide whether it
will sanction the postponement. The Government have
no policy. They advise, as Mr. Horsman says, inaction
as to the Church, procrastination as to land, and
reaction as to education. The last branch of
their programme is already practically disposed
of, and nothing remains but inactivity. Is this
endurable ? The answer must depend on the question,
`What alternative exists ? The front bench of the Oppo-
sition has made no sign, and the fair deduction is that
they are as distracted as the Ministry. If they had any
scheme of action ready, it would have been made public
before this; and though it is at all times possible to submit
a plausible resolution, the House of Commons cannot afford
to make Ireland the sport of party devices. The solution
of the great Irish question must be put aside as a task
beyond the energies of the moribund Parliament, and the
sooner this truth is recognised, the sooner the appropriate
labour of the existing Legislature is undertaken and dis-
charged, the sooner it is remitted to its rest, the better
will it be both for Great Britain and for Ireland.
What the Daily News thinks to be the most satisfactory
feature in the debate was the unanimity with which the
speakers on the Liberal side—Mr. Horsman, Mr. Lowe,
Mr. Jacob Bright, and Mr. Mill—denounced the sectarian
scheme of University education which the Government
propose, and their inaction in regard to the Irish Esta-
blishment. Mr. Gathorne Hardy defended the course of
Ministers on the Church question by the language and
conduct of Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone. A Ministry
which seeks its rule of action in the phrases and excuses
of its predecessors is self-convicted of incapacity. Mr.
Hardy's logic is very convenient. Because he and his
party were guilty of successful Tory obstruction when in
opposition, they may [claim, he thinks, to be exempted
from Liberal pressure when in office. They must not be
humoured. The recognised leader of the Liberal party
will on this point, we hope, use a language not less firm
than that which its chief independent members employed
last night.

Strong as is the sympathy felt for Ireland, earnest as is
the desire to relieve her, such speeches, says the Herald,
as have during this debate been delivered from the benches
below the gangway on the Liberal side repel that
sympathy and render that desire less active and less
hopeful. They tend to weaken and dull the feelings
which at present pervade both the House and the country,
and to inspire at once a doubt as to the sincerity and
reality of Irish
,grievances, and a despair of satisfying
Irish discontent, and are calculated neither to promote the
cause which the speakers espouse, nor to improve the
understanding between the two countries. •
Mr. Horsman's speech was, the Standard observes,
somewhat like his Irish policy when he was in office.
Nothing about it will enable one to guess what he meant
or means to do for Ireland. It was merely a criticism of
the inactivity of the Government. He gave Parliament no
idea of what should be done. Mr. Lowe's speech was of a
higher character. Though there is much in it with which
the Standard cannot agree, yet the manner in which he
disposed of " cant" was most admirable.
We are drifting again, remarks the Post. An uncertain
hand is at the helm—or, rather, the steersman is not
allowed to steer his course. There is little doubt that the
new Premier has been outvoted in his first Cabinet Coun.
cils, and he must regret the day when he exchanged the
teachable Chelmsford for a successor far more difficult to
educate. The present Government has broken down in
its first trial. Instead of coming forward with large and
determined measures, it has only to propose postponement
of serious questions. The endowment of a Roman Catholic
University opens up the whole question of Roman Catholic
endowments. The help to Irish railways, in whatever
form, points a severe contrast with the mode of dealing
with English enterprise, while it distinctly announces that
the Government is willing to bribe Irishmen and Irish
votes if they can be had cheaply. The Irish Church
question is postponed. The policy of the Government is
a weak attempt at postponement and a puerile attempt at
bribery.

One of the most remarkable facts brought out by the
blue-book of the Boundaries Commissioners is, the Tele-
graph observes, that a strong feeling prevails among the
inhabitants of suburbs against extending the municipal
areas. In all the Boundaries Report, from the first page
to the last, there is no piece of information more impor-
tant than this—that the people themselves do not desire
changes. It follows, therefore, that by disturbing the
present landmarks Parliament will legislate against the
inclination of the persons principally interested. It is not
that the suburbans object to the 'enjoyment of municipal
and political benefits of any kind, but that they would
rather not pay for the privileges. Well paved and well
lighted streets, a vigilant police, well-constructed sewers,
and effective sanitary arrangements, are great blessings,
but they are costly ; and the dwellers on the outskirts
of large towns would rather not have them at the price
demanded. Is it politic to force privileges upon people who
do not want to have them.

The Star confesses that it is of those who utterly
refuse to believe that Prince Napoleon's expedition is
without political object. It is very likely, indeed, that he
)ias undertaken some political enterprise on his own respon-
sibility—some enterprise at least, which can be politely
and decently disclaimed by the Tuileries, in the event of
its coming to nothing or proving unsatisfactory. Formal
and direct commission from the Emperor be doubtless has
not ; but we think a man must be very credulous indeed
who believes that there is no understanding on the sub-
ject, whatever it may he, between the two Imperial
cousins. But whatever the object of Prince Napoleon's
visit, we are convinced that it had an object, and that
that object was entirely political. A growing conviction
of this kind may be noted throughout the press of France
and Germany alike, and it now only needs the positive
and formal assurance of the Moniteur that there is nothing
in the whole affair to remove the last lingering doubt inthe
public mind that another little secret chapter of la haute
politique is being prepared by the democratic Prince,
whose marvellous likeness to the great Napoleon is just
now the theme of •under and admiration to the populace
of Berlin.

Sir Morton Peto's appearance in the Court of Bank-
ruptcy has added, remarks the Standard, a notable
chapter to the chronicles of Basinghall-street. His
examination will rank among the classics of insolvency,
and the smaller fry shrink into insignificance by the side
of the great firm that stopped payment with liabilities
exceeding the national debt of a small State, £6,661,000 of
whi▪
ch was claimed by a single creditor. The contrast
between the present and the past is at once painful and
pitia▪ ble. Beyond all doubt, a few years ago the honour.
able baronet andhispartneri were men not only of great, but
of colossal fortune. They had made their mark and done
their work. In every part of the empire they left the im-
press of their energy and skill. They did good service at
the time of the Crimean war by making a railway ; the
nation was grateful, and they were popular. They were
known to have, made much money, and were credited with
from four to ten times as much more. Had they then
thought fit to close their career they would have gone
down to posterity as model men, without. whose biogra-
phies no future edition of " Self-help," or collection of
the lives of successful traders would have been complete.
The pity is that they have lived too long for this happy.
ending. They went into new schemes, and entered upon
new contracts, but especially upon that almost intermi-
nable series which arose out of their connection with the
London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company. The
result has been the all but hopeless involvement of the line
they made, the total wreck of their fortunes, and the
irreparable damaging of their reputations.
The decision of Mr. Justice Lush in the matter of trades
societies is of mat value. As the Telegraph says, the
members of a trades union were in all other respects
en-
titled to the same protection as ordinary citizens. Ihe
money embezzled must be taken to be the property of all
those members in their individual capacity. The question
was, Had the man committed forgery under the common
law? The jury found that he had, and he was
punished accordingly. Our contemporary notes the
result with particular satisfaction. Mr. Justice
Lush rendered a service to all the hard-working
artisans of the country when, in passing sentence on
the cowardly fellow who had for years systematically
plundered his fellow-workmen, he warned him, " and all
others in a similar position," that they need look for no
immunity at the hands of the law. Next in importance
to passing a new enactment, is an authoritative interpre-
tation which gives freer scope to the existing law; and on
the present occasion we have to thank Mr, Justice Lush
for perforating so valuable a duty.

LORD STANLEY ON THE AMERICAN
QUESTION.

A deputation from the Peace Society has just waited on
Lord Stanley, to present a memorial expressive of the deep
anxiety felt "in view of the unsettled state of certain
questions between the Government of Great Britain and
that of the United States, which have arisen out of the
civil war lately prevailing in the latter country, more par-
ticularly those relating to the depredations committed
upon American commerce by cruisers sailing from British
ports, and the alleged premature recognition by the
British Government of the belligerent rights of the
southern Confederacy."
Lord STANLEY said that he thanked the deputation for
the honour and pleasure of this interview. He could assure
them that the Government, and he thought he might say
any Government that might come into power in this
country, was as anxious to maintain peace as they were.
War, no doubt, was the great antagonist of civilisation,
and, bad as war would be for any country, perhaps for no
country is it of greater importance to maintain peace than
for England. We are burdened with a very considerable
debt, and our taxation, though not intolerable, will not
bear augmentation without seriously affecting our pro-
ductive power. He was fully conscious of the magnitude
of the interests involved in the question of peace or
war with the United States. He must say that he never
felt the same amount of alarm on this subject as had been
expressed by some friends for whose judgment he had great
respect. He had listened with much interest to the re-
marks of Mr. Newman Hall and the other gentlemen
who had visited America, on the state of public feeling
there. He had also been in America for several months,
though that was twenty years ago ; and though no doubt
they often used strong language, he found, to use a homely
phrase, that their bark was worse than their bite. The
strong language was perhaps their means of letting off the
steam of popular discontent ; but when they came to the
actual arrangement of affairs, he thought they were much
more moderate and reasonable. And he thought they
were not likely to be less so now, for they were now, like
ourselves, bound in heavy securities to keep the peace.
He felt, as the memorial said, that it would be an honour
and happiness to himself and his colleagues to bring the
matter to a satisfactory settlement. And while he agreed
that it might not be necessary to be very rigid about the
terms, still there must be a feeling of reciprocity. It is
only reasonable to expect that that if concessions be made
on one side, concessions should also be made on the other.
If the demands were too exorbitant, it would render it
more difficult to bring about the unanimity which was so
very desirable. He could not state the precise terms on
which a compromise might be effected, but he had
little doubt that if they were met, as he hoped and
believed they would be, by a corresponding spirit of con-
ciliation on the other side, means would be found to set
the question at rest. With regard to the general ques-
tion as to the foreign policy of this country, there had
been a great change of late years, and he thought he could
congratulate the members of the Peace Society that their
principles were becoming more popular. It is now
known throughout Europe, and, much as other nations
may have been puzzled by it, it is acknowledged
as a fact that the policy of England is a policy of peace.
Unfortunately, at the present moment it is not so over the
world. Never, perhaps, was there a period when arma-
ments were so large, and the rumours of war were more
frequent. But this cannot last always. Out of this state
of confusion and transition there must of necessity come
a better state of things. There are financial, among other
reasons, why this cannot go on much longer, since military
expenditure must nearly have reached its limit ; when
there will come a period of comparative disarn ament, and,
let us hope, of general peace. And then, gentlemen, con-
tinued his lordship, you will have the satisfaction of
knowing that the ideas and principles you have been
4 propagating will have had much to do in bringing to pass
this better condition of things. His lordship thanked the
deputation for the friendly terms in which they had spoken
of himself. (Cheers.)

Mr. BAINES, on behalf of the deputation, cordially
thanked his lordship for his kind reception.