The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-31 00:00:00

BF/RIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The tnes, speaking of the prophecies made by Mr.
Milner Gibson at Ashton-under-Lyne, says :—Could we
be quite sure that all human affairs are revolving round
Mr. Milner Gibson, it would at least save trouble. But
he must excuse our boldness if we think that in almost
everything he says there are indications to the contrary.
When everything is changing except Mr. Milner
Gibson, it is natural to ask whether the movement or
the fixity will survive. The author of the political micro.
cosm before us is so intent on his pretty work, so busy
arranging it, and fitting it, and fastening it, and polishing
it,- that he overlooks the possibility of other people
putting things together their own way, and that to quite
as much purpose as he does. The Conservatives
have been pursuing tactics of their own in the matter of
parliamentary reform, and Mr. Milner Gibson sees
nothing in it but a wicked appropriation and a gross
inconsistency. Yet he has to admit that they have
inflicted upon him ratepaying, small boroughs, and the
representation of minorities, and be has also to lament the
inde4;nite postponement of the ballot. This last topic he
handles with a subtlety not quite in keeping with the
severe simplicity of his usual attitude. Indeed, the cause
does not prosper in his hands. lle instances the favour-
able working of the ballot iq Australia, where it produces
orderly and peaceful elections, instead of the scandalous

scenes we sometimes witness at home. He then throws in

incidentally that the ballot has the additional merit o

being a refuge from intimidation. Why, that, of course,
is what it's wanted for, if it's wanted at all. But, in the

first place, Mr. Milner Gibson admits that almost every-
body will wish to say how he votes ; then, also, that it is
found necessary in Australia to have a secret record for
the event of a scrutiny. Then he omits here, what he is
obliged to lament in another passage, that household suf-
frage and the ballot, if the latter has any effect one way or
the other, have resulted in the establishment of highly pro-
tective tariffs in our colonies, so as to check commerce,
and thereby immigration. The ballot was never seen in
such difficulties as in the speech before us. It must be
carefully guarded ; few voters will avail themselves of its

shelter. It is introduced under false pretences as a secu.
_ _

rity against disorder ; it does no other good that even Mr.
Milner Gibson can see in the colonies ; and the last and
best thing he can say for it is, that it is to enable a poor
dependent man. a servant, an artisan, or a small trades-
man, to look his betters boldly in the face, and decline to
say which way he means to vote. To give to this argument
the weight it evidently wants, Mr. Milner Gibson makes
some shrewd remarks on the inveterate and widespread
flunkeyism in the English character. Power, wealth, rank,
and position present a phalanx to bully any poor creature
out of ms very soul. So stands Mr. Milner Gibson's arg-u-
-ment. His proposed shield and antidote is to give every
such poor creature a dark corner from which to exercise
his political rights and powers, without eye ever meeting
eye, tongue, encountering tongue, or eventvvo souls coming
into mutual recognition. Certainly this comes rather close
to the theory that assassination is the natural, just, and
proper antidote against tyranny. We are prepared to
say of the ballot, as we should say of assassination, that
no better means could be devised for creating a nation of
cowards.

The .Fleratd holds that Mr. Milner Gibson's time has
gone by. His opinions now are of little weight compared

with what they once were. Our political ci-d vane. *tle
homy. in his latest appearance among his constituent;
makes but a weak attempt to sustain his old character.

As 9 critic of the Government, even some of his favourite

resources appear to have deserted him. The airiness has
degenerated into languor ; the elegance into feebleness.
Indeed, in Mr. Milner Gibson's forced sarcasms on the
Reform Bill, there is more of the watery than the airy
character. His most successful point, if we may judge by
the applause which it called forth from the generous people
of Ashton-under-Lyne, was that with reference to the con-
duct of the Conservative leader : it was contrary to the
etilstette of the legal profession for a barrister to take a
" retainer " from both sides. If this piece of wit required
a retort, we might ask what is the etiquette of the legal
profession when a learned gentleman takes a fee from one
side ? Is he not held to be under some obligation to pro-
mote his client's suit ? But Mr. Milner Gibson was some
six years in office, under a Liberal Ministry, as the avowed
friend and partisan of Mr. Bright. He owed his eleva-
tion simply to his Radical connections. Yet, during his
tenure of office, what help did Mr. Milner Gibson give
to the promotion of household suffrage, the ballot, and
a general redistribution of seats—all of which he now de-
clares to be points essential to a true Reform scheme ?
The Post regards the appeal from Hungary for money
as the first result of a Constitutional Government. It
only needs a glance at the map of Hungary to see how
well the produce of the Present loan may be applied. In
Northern Hungary there is, as we have noticed, an almost
complete absence of railways, whilst in the east existisss
lines need to be completed and extended so as to establish
communication with the Danubian Principalities and with
the Black Sea. With the exception of agricultural ail
mineral produce, little has heretofore been obtained from
Hungary ; but experience has shewn that facilities for
sending wares to the proper markets invariably tend to
creation and production of new articles of commerce. It
is not, however, in the construction of railways alone that
these eight millions and a half will be expended. Hun-
gary is perhaps better watered than any country in Europe,
and none is better adapted for the construction of canals.
Those hitherto made, and they are neither few nor incon-
siderable, have been cut to regulate the courses of winding
rivers. The most important of these is the Leitha.
Another is the canal which connects the Theiss with the
Danube. It is seventy miles long, about sixty feet wide,
and eight feet deep, and its construction cost upwards of
a quarter of a million. All the Hungarian rig ers. save
one, empty themselves into the Danube, and of these,
several are navigable. The importance of utilising these
rivers, regulating their course by the construction of short
cuts, and connecting them where needful, has long beer
recognised.
The problem of how to deal with a bankrupt is not, say.
the Daily News, in itself the simplest. A man incurs
debts, and then declares he has not-wherewithal to pay
then. Two Processes, then, are obviously called for.
The one is to place his whole means in the hands of his
creditors, that they may as far as possible pay themselves.
The other is to inquire whether he has contracted any
debt by means of fraud or recklessness, and, if he has, to
to punish him, The first ought to be an easy process, for
to realise an estate and divide it among those inerested is
no very unusual or complicated matter, and if the parties
concerned are only left to themselves, with the help, but
with as little as possible of the control of a court of law,
it will prove in general an easy and simple affair. Next
will come the question whether on surrendering everything
the debtor should be free from every claim. On this we
humbly think it is impossible to lay down any fixed rule.
Every case has its own peculiarities. It may be right in
one to stand out for 20s. in the pound, in another to be
content with 6d. But as in separate transactions
the liberation of the debtor is dependent on the creditor's
being satisfied, it is plainly the right course to apply tlos
same principle to the case of complex transactions, and tie
leave to the partnership of creditors to decide, by
majority of such proportions as may be fair, what grace
shall be shewn to the debtor, who in strict honesty is liabh
for the last farthing.
The Star advocates the cause of the 'junior barrister
wishing to obtain a practice in the county court, but who
dare not do so if he cares to appear in the higher courts,
on account of the great loss of time. If a young barrister
has a case to come on before a superior court, he is com-
pelled to wait for a considerable time, perhaps for some
days, before his turn comes ; but his time is not wasted.
He hears the decisions of a picked bench ; he listens to
the conflicts of eminent counsel with critical attention.
The delay is in itself a training for him. But what will be
the case when the business which now brings our young
advocate to the superior courts takes him, on the hypo-
thesis that he cares to go, to a county court? He has to
wait as long perhaps, or nearly as long, as he would have
waited in the higher court ; and he spends his time in the
same way in listening. But in the county courts the
pleadings are not carried on by leadiog counsel, but by
local attorneys, and the decisions are pronounced by men
whose names carry no authority, and towards whom even
an unlearned layman may feel anything but respect.
Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that ths
junior bar should feel disposed, with some unimportam
exceptions, to say, We will not follow the business that 4
being now turned aside into these county courts except 0:
certain conditions. Our contemporary, therefore, ems:.
tends that days should be set apart in which counsel ouls
should be heard.

The Berlin journals give an account of a curious
ceremony of the burial of the Police Gazltee in that city.
Letters announcing the decease of that journal were sent
to a number of persons connected with the press and thei,
friends. The funeral procession started from the printing
offic', preceded by a band of music, to the place of inter-
ment. Compoiitors dreel in black paper carried th,
body. A hunior, fun,ral oration was then pronounced,
after which the j.l- at was ilungrA into a tub of printer's
ink, and 10

The village of o.lrpitio, iii th Neapolitan pro-
vince, has been visited by a calamity. The Balk reports
that a few nights back enormous masses of earth and
stones, loosened by the melting of the snow, became
detached from the mountain at the f. of of which the
village stands, and came down like an avalanche, corn.
pletely burying the parish church, the priest's residence,
and two houses adjoining. The inmates, warned of the
danger in time, escaped half-clad ; but although no lives
were lost, these poor people have been reduced to desti-
tutia. .