The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-26 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1844.

A Morning Contemporary observes that a notion is
rapidly gaining ground among some of the Irish
Repeal agitators, to the effect that Government are at
the bottom of the present movement in favour of a
Federal Parliament ; and that it is got up by way of
a feeler to test the sincerity of the O'Connellites, by
trying how far they might be prevailed on to yield in
their demands for a domestic Legislature. " Although
nothing," adds our Contemporary, " can be more
preposterous than the bare supposition of such a ruse,
its truth is so firmly impressed on the minds of several
members of the town council, that it will possibly
have the effect of decreasing the list of Dr. Maus-
SELL'S supporters." Nothing, certainly, can well be
more preposterous than a Ministerial ruse of this
nature, for we cannot see one earthly object that is to
be gained by it. It is impossible that a man so wary
and even timid as Sir ROBERT PEEL, and one, too,
who, from the tendencies of his mind, shrinks with
fear and distrust from all violent constitutional
changes; it is impossible, we say, that such a man
can ever, even for an instant, meditate conceding a
Federal Parliament to Ireland, in the hope of inducing
her to forego her demand for an absolute, uncondi-
tional Repeal of the Union. He must know—no
one better—that the minor concession is but a step
to the major one—a point gained by the Repealers,
and a point lost by the Government. Grant Federal-
ism, and from that moment the power to resist un-
qualified Repeal is nearly, if not quite, lost for ever.
Mr. O'CoNDIELL must be well aware of this, other-
wise we are convinced that so acute and experienced
a politician would never advocate so lame, halting,
and imperfect a measure as a Federal Parliament.
We call it a halting and imperfect measure, for what
can be more so than the institution of a House of
Commons which will be deprived of all power to
legislate on a comprehensive scale, and will be com-
pelled to confine itself exclusively to matters of petty
local details ? So far will the concession of a mea-
sure of this half-and-half character be from satisfying
Ireland, that it will make her more clamorous and
determined than ever in her demands for a Repeal of
the Union. At first, no doubt she will be highly
delighted at the idea of having wrested from the
English Cabinet something like a Parliament of her
own—a Parliament that she may pet and fondle and
take liberties with, just as a child does with a new
doll ; she will expect too, most probably, that it will
do everything for her that she requires to be done; that
it will pare down, if not altogether abolish, the re-
venues of the Protestant Establishment; shift the
burden of taxation from the shoulders of the rich to
those of the poor; put an effectual stop to absentee•
ism ; draw the teeth and pare the claws of tyrannical
landlords; put money in the wallet of every wander-
ing beggar, and enable him to live just as he pleases;
give every peasant a pig and a potato-field; and
finally restore much of the lost rank and influence to
the Catholic Church; all these requirements " Young
Ireland," in the first ebullition of her joy and in the
hour of her triumph, will expect to obtain at the hands
of a Federal Parliament; but when, on its being set
actually to work, she finds that its power is crippled;
and that it can furnish her with few remedies but such
as are of minor importance ; when, in fact, she finds,
notwithstanding all her agitation, that she has got
rather the shadow than the substance of a Parliament,
she will begin, first, to regard the legislative abortion
with indifference, next with contempt, thirdly, with
downright abhorrence ; and ultimately will insist on
cashiering it, and renewing with an energy, ren-
dered fiercer from disappointment, her old demand
for an unqualified Repeal of the Union ! The
Chronicle, we see, speaking of Federalism, calls
it " the semi-independence of Ireland !" " Semi-
independence !" This one word expresses, as
fully as language can, the utterly unsatisfactory cha-
racter of such a measure. What nation, when once
it had seriously embarked in the struggle for what it
conceived to be its legislative freedom, was ever yet
content with stopping short of the goal, and putting
up with "semi-independence"-that is to say, with
an independence that has nothing but the mere name to
recommend it ? We can understand the demand for
Repeal, much as we disapprove of it; but we cannot
understand the demand for half-Repeal—alias Fede-
ralism—unless the smaller concession be regarded as
the Precursor of the greater one.

The approaching election of an Alderman of the
Corporation of London to the distinguished and respon-
sible post of Lord Mayor of this great city, appears
to demand from us a few.words of incidental commen-
tary. The importance of the position—the moral
influence which the annual contest for its occupation
may be considered to exercise on the character and
conduct of those who are already, or may, in after life,
become eligible for it ;—the distinction which its te-
nure, short-lived though it be, must be considered as
conferring on the private demeanour and public in-
tegrity of its holder ;—these are trite topics that
readily suggest themselves to every mind, and re-
quire no sort of elaboration at our hands. But in
and thus readily sug-
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Presenting
himself to the
notice of his fellow-citizens as a candidate
for the office. There is no circumstance more
remarkable about the pending canvass, if we
may venture thus to designate it, for the Mayoralty,
than the feeling of distrust, or the presumption of
disqualification, which it is actively attempted to ex-
cite against Mr. Alderman Thomas WOOD—the
senior Alderman—and therefore entitled, by the cus-
tom, at least, of the Corporation, to be elected into the
civic chair. We crave the reader's attention
to a report which we have given in another
column, of certain proceedings at a recent meeting
held at the Swan with Two Necks, of the friends of
Mr. Alderman WOOD, assembled for the purpose of
supporting his appeal on the present occasion. They
seem very satisfactory.

It will be remembered that, some years ago, the
connexion which Mr. Alderman T. Noon had had the
misfortune to form with a certain Joint-Stock
Company, became a subject not only of legal pro-
ceedings in the Law Courts, but of angry and con-
flicting comment in the columns of some of our
Contemporaries. It really appears to us that the
animadversions which have, in this way, been heaped
upon the Alderman's head are absolutely undeserved,
judging of their amount and extent from the state-
ments put forward by those who oppose his election
and impeach his eligibility. If we are right in this
impression, it is our duty to endeavour to instil it into
the minds of others : for, so long as the perversion of
facts, and the prejudice thereby generated, which we
have spoken of, are permitted to prevail—unrefuted
because unexamined—so long is an individual of some
mark and considerable ability ousted of the legi-
timate aim of an honourable ambition ; so long,
indeed, are his character, his prospects, and his sta-
tion in society seriously compromised. Let us see
what the sum of the charges against Mr. Alderman
THOMAS WOOD really is.
It is imputed to him, first, that he and the other
Directors of the Talacre Iron Company appropriated
to their own use a large number of shares, as fully
paid up, without advancing the money for the calls
thereon :—Mr Alderman WOOD'S answer is both
emphatic and circumstantial, and confirmed by the
report of those whom the General Meeting of Share-
holders had delegated to inquire into the whole
affairs of the Company. He denies that he ever
sanctioned —he proves that he expressly op-
posed—such appropriation, on the ground of its in-
justice to the General Proprietory ; that although the
other Directors accepted such shares, he refu'ed to
take them, even after they had been by those Directors
expressly received for him in his absence from town ;