The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SAT

ha .ve said, the greater number of preventible dis-
asters occur on our own east coast in the small
ct .rrying trade. A Flanders paper, in writing of a
inipwreck which occurred at Ostend, where an
English collier striking a rock went to pieces in
two hours, observes that it is incomprehensible how
the English Government, so careful of the lives of
its subjects ordinarily, " should allow certain ship-
owners, from motives of avarice, to send vessels to
sea almost with the certainty of being lost." Mr. Hall,
the gentleman we have referred to declares that the
underwriters are powerless to remedy the evil. They
keep on raising the premiums, but the burden falls
upon the substantial and careful shipowner, not on
the speculator, who buys a ship at the rate of four
or five shillings a ton, sends her to sea, and gets his
insurance when she goes to pieces. He therefore
proposes a regular system of Government inspec-
tion, the appoiutment of a legal functionary to
assist the local Marine Boards in official inquiries
into cases of loss and misconduct in ship captains,
and an extension of examination necessary to a
master before he can take command of a foreign-
going or passenger ship t 3 the home-carrying
trade. Tnese practical methods would no
doubt do much to abate the evil, and we cannot
but hope that they will be incorporated in the new
Shipping Act. There are other points which de-
mand notice, more especially the system of over-
loading, so fatal in the case of the London, and
more stringent rules with regard to the frequent
collisions now occurring. Here is room for our
professing reformers to show their zeal in regard to
a matter involving the safety of thousands of brave
lives and millions worth of property.

Mr. GLADSTONE has again favoured the electors
of Liverpool with one of his orations, and he and
Mr. GRENFELL attended a meeting last night at the
Old Swan, and here the Opposition Leader in-
dulged himself in a few of his sly hits at his oppo-
nents. First of all he declared that the resolution
of approval of his policy was quite justified by the
"political history" of late years. Their opponents,
under many titles, had always been against the
establishment of freedom. It is convenient to have
a short memory occasionally, and therefore Mr.
GLADSTONE overlooks the fact that the Corn Laws
were repealed by a Conservative Premier, and that
the second Reform Bill was carried while the
obstructive party were in office. But the right
hon. gentleman, in his virtuous indignation, intends
to judge men by past professions, and as Protection
flourished when people entertained different views,
so he holds them responsible for the enunciation of
those views. If this doctrine were applied
to himself it would not be quite so plea-
sant, and some passages from his famous work
on " Church and State" would contrast ill with the
processes of opinion his genius has developed. Of
course it is not easy to find something different
each time to enliven his discourse with, but the
versatility and resources of the speaker in question
are most abundant, and the first speech bristled with
the sharp edges of his strictures on extravagrnce in
the estimates, the second set forth the reforms that
the Reform Bill needed, and the sins of omission
and commission in respect to it. Yesterday the
novice would have said there is nothing left to
make the subject of satire, but, not to be baffled,
➢lr. GLADSTONE exorcises the spirit of Protection
and it might have seemed at one time as if a gene-
ration bad rolled back, and the old palmy days of
the League were in existence. What has Protec-
tion to do with the issues now before the country,
and why should Mr. GLADSTONE take up the time
of the electors in discussing it? The reason is plain
to the initiate..l: he desires to damage his opponents,
and takes every opportunity, usual or unusual, to
gain his ends. It is, however, very absurd, to say
the least of it, for the public to be entertained with
these reidniscances of bygone days ; and really one
is tempted to retaliate, and say that if the Protec-
tionist party would have remained in to this day
had they not obtained office, or if Mr. GLADSTONE
had not been disturbed from his comfortable loza-
tion in Downing-street, we should never have heard
of the immediate necessity that existed for the dis-
establishment of the Irish Church. Even now,
however, Mr. GLADSTONE can discern the traces of
bygone events, and he announces it as the result of
his experienc that it was annoying to notice how
the former Protectionists seized upon any oppor-
tunity that presented itself for the removal of re-
strictions.

We must protest against the mode adopted
by Mr. GLADSTONE in discussing questions in
which he feels bitterly disappointed. It
was most unsuitable for him to say that the
" cause of the Reform Bill passing was the pulling
down of the park railings by the mob." Such
language mnight be consistent for Mr. BEALES and
Mr. POTTER, but not for the man who has sat in
the Councils of his Sovereign and led the House
of ,Commons. Besides that, who has been, and
even professes to be, the guide and exponent
of the views of a great historical party
in the State, one which upholds freedom
of opinion, but not an unlicensed abuse of it,
and which has not yet adopted Transatlantic cus-
toms with such avidity that it can put mob law be-
fore the just judgment of the educated and en-
lightened members of the community. It is all of
a piece with the right honourable gentleman's
new style of saying that Irish grievances
must be redressed because Fenianism flourished
on the soil, and it is about as unwise and
impolitic as it is illogical and unreasonable.
Mr. GLADSTONE may succeed in many things, but
he will always fail as the leader of a party for two
reasons : he has no patience with his friends, and
he can show no magnanimity to his opponents.
Daunted in his desperate effort to seize the reins
of Government this spring, he has launched upon
the electioneering venture in a spirit of
bitterness and tone of indignant reproach that
augurs ill for the result when others follow in
his wake. We do not wish in these days of modern
improvements to find our legislators and the con-
' stituencies of the Empire reviving the worst errors
of the past, and making the counties and cities
where the claims of rival candidates are to be set-
tled the scenes of squabbles and unworthy contests.
The opinions of those whom it is worth while to in-
fluence can never be favourably impressed by
the display of rancorous hostility, and it
is therefore a matter of much regret that
so refined a scholar, and so accomplished a gentle-
man as Mr. GLADSTONE undoubtedly is, should
lower himself to the level of the demagogue and
political agitator. The classic grace which once
marked his style is now exchanged for the wither-
ing sneer and the angry taunt, while principles are
promulgated and opinions broached in his discourse
that he once would never have condescended
to li.ten to. Ilis best friends and warmest
admirers must, lammt this change, and if he would
hear reason they should impress upon him that
the prize he seeks may not be worth the price he
is bidding for D. The English public have no
sympathy with clap-trap, and would rather tolerate
a tardiness of judgment and a hesitation to intro-
duce necessary changes than they would willingly see
their foremost statesmen, their men of mark and high
repute making a desperate clutch at office, and, like