The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-04-25 00:00:00

PRESENT POSITION OF POLITICAL

PARTIES.

THE Easter recess has, as usual, caused a lull
in the political world ; and, even without this
pause in the business of legislation, it would be
difficult to point to any one great question which
occupies public attention, except it be the all-
absorbing subject of the impending war. It would
seem, indeed, as though the coalition of opposing
factions had afflicted the public mind with apathy,
and that the spirit which is sometimes aroused at
a contested election had been quenched in listless
indifference. If our institutions were assailed with
the definite attacks of any one of the various
phases assumed by Liberalism for party objects,
we could imagine that the true Conservative spirit
which animates every honest and intelligent man
might be awakened into vigorous activity ; but the
conglomeration of political opinions which consti-
tute the present Administration have neutralised
each other, and the Conservative public appear to
have concluded that such a fusion, though inca-
pable of doing any good, is powerless to do harm.
We have not yet recovered from the excitement
which struggled so manfully for ascendancy at the
last election, and was rendered futile through
Peelite treachery ; but it is almost time that the
country was once more aroused to the importance
of the cause at issue, with the advantage of all the
experience which has since been acquired. There
should no longer be a compromise between duty
and inclination, or any foolish reliance on specious
promises of Conservative tendencies. The ground
of difference should be the intelligible one of ad-
herence to the Constitutional principles avowed by
the supporters of the Earl of DERBY, as opposed
to any support of the present Ministry. The
Peelites laid claim to the dignity of being Con-
servatives in all but their adherence to the doc-
trines of Free Trade, but their claim should on no
account be admitted. All the value of their pre-
vious services has been cancelled„ their professions
have been proved to be false and utterly worthless,
and in future they ought to be ranked with the
ultra-Radicals, with whom they have chosen to
ally themselves. Indeed, in estimating the title
to public confidence of any representative when he
shall again seek the suffrages of his constituents,
the surest test should be the support or opposition
which he has afforded to the Coalition Cabinet in
their, fortunately, unsuccessful attempts to revo-
lutionise the country by concessions to democracy.
We are by no means premature in directing at-
tention to the necessity of being prepared for
another appeal to the country. The Ministry are
inherently weak ; and, however ingenious they
may be in patching up their quarrels and conceal-
ing their defects, they have already shown many
unmistakeable signs of speedy decay. Scarcely had
they been formed, when three of their Romanist
allies tendered their resignation, because Lord J.
RUSSELL had given vent to one of his occasional fits
of Protestantism ; the mysterious resignation and
resumption of office by Lord PALMERSTON has not
yet been explained, except on an hypothesis which
no one believes, however probable may be its truth ;
a similar course by the President of the Poor-law
Board, and. its injurious consequence in the with-
drawal of the bill for the alteration of the Law of
Settlement, has not been without a damaging
effect ; and only recently, the loss of their principal
man in the House of Commons has been with
difficulty avoided by allowing him to give vent to
his mortification in a flood of tears. It may be
thought impossible that any Ministry, however
strong their tenacity for office, can long endure
such assaults; and though their cautious craft has
enabled them to steer clear of shipwreck, by literally
doing nothing—postponing every measure, suc-
cumbing to every reverse, and falsifying every
promise—it is a course which cannot long put off
the day of reckoning. They have also had their
share of fortuitous circumstances on which to
found a claim for the forbearance of their oppo-
nents, and the suspension of popular indignation
for their multiplied failings. In 1851 the Great
Exhibition served as a convenient excuse to enable
Lord JOHN RUSSELL to hold office for another
year without precipitating his own downfal ; and,
now, bad management, treachery, or something
worse, have involved the country in an expensive
war, which is made to serve a similar office for that
legislative trifling which consists in proposing
measures which no one cordially approves—mere
compromises between Whiggery, Peelism, and
Radicalism--and afterwards withdrawing them
when their discussion becomes dangerous. The
war, however, is not without its inconveniences,
the worst of which have yet to come. It may suit
the complacency of Mr. GLADSTONE, whose career
as a Chanctllor of the Exchequer has been a series
of financial blunders, to talk of not drawing on
posterity for the cost of the war, and providing for
the expenses of the first expedition by an issue of
a million and three quarters of Exchequer Bills ;
and subsequently by a proposal for the issue
of six millions of Exchequer , Bonds, to be
repaid out of the anticipated surplus ; but long
before another Session of Parliament the coun-
try must be called upon to burden itself with
new taxes, if we are to expect that success to our
arms for which we are called upon to-morrow to
offer our prayers to the Majesty of Heaven. The
demand upon the national resources must be made,
despite the shuffling off which the question,has yet
received from Peelite insincerity, and the discus-
sion may prove more dangerous to Ministerial
stability than even the dreaded infliction of that
democratic abortion, the Reform Bill.

With such prospects of political changes before
us, where are the preparations for the coming
struggle, which cannot be indefinitely postponed ?
What associations are formed to collect the
scattered elements of Conservative strength, and,
by union, to present a fair front in defence of the
great principles of Church and State, endangered
by hostility from without, and treachery from
within ? Where is the rallying point where the
standard should be reared, and from whence the
trumpet should sound to call England to its duty,
and, mindful of its former glory, to ensure victory
abroad by loyalty and fidelity at home ? Alas, it
would seem that the incubus of Whiggery has
paralysed our noblest energies, and that, having
been defeated in one contest, we hesitate to engage
in another. We should not need to be reminded
of former triumphs, but let us not forget that
Liverpool led the van on' the last occasion, and to
Liverpool the country will again look for an en-
couraging example when political principles are
once more tried in the balance. The metropolis
has lost its prestige in its huge parliamentary
boroughs given over to the short-sighted selfish-
ness of the ten-pound householders in the back
streets ; and Liverpool, the great head of British
commerce, should justify its well-earned reputation
by proving also the great centre of Conservative
principles. Manchester, to carry out its Free-
trade policy, inoculated the whole country with
its dogmas, and did not relax its exertions till it
had achieved its object. Liverpool should take
example from its earnestness, and redouble its
exertions for a far worthier cause ; and who dare
doubt of its success P There is ample Conservative
feeling throughout the country for the call to be
cordially responded to, and all that is required is
for a nucleus to be formed, which would rapidly
bring within its influence the electoral resources of
the Empire. An association of a purely national
character, with the avowed object of uniting all
Conservatives in one common bond for the preset.-

vation of our constitutional privileges and their
legitimate representation in the House of Com-
mons, would place political principles once more
on an intelligible footing ; would revive almost
despairing hopes, encourage the timid, sustain the
wavering, give practical efficiency to the efforts of
the bold, and, under the blessing of Providence,
rescue the National Faith from the insidious de-
signs of Rome. The opportunity for action cannct
much longer be delayed; but the most prudent
course is to be prepared, and, while all admit that
union is strength, its application was never more
important than in helping to secure the blessings
of a Constitutional Government.