New-York tribune., 1867-08-16

high considerations that would have been honorable
70 their members. In fact, they have been disre-
garded by different members of eHher party for party
reasons only, and the jntCnlingling OF votes is
striking evidence Of the confusion which has been
produced IN tlCiI minds 10y The novelty ana muIilSs
plicty Of issues now raised If the ordinary signs of
political changes may be trusted, the moment IS near
when a reconstruction Of parties VIII re lheVGahe.
The amendment OF Lord Cairns rs bStantlaily
the amendment ptlIhaciohsly uiScH ~ u'' liOuSg5
by Nj Lowe, opposed by ihf OoFoLmeht, ana
beaten by great majority. IL proposes that IA any
county or borough returning tltc menDcls no per
son shall vote for more than two candidates-ln
other words that in every such county OF borough
one of tc three members shall not lie the choice of
tho majority, but Of the minority. Whatever may
Le the theoretical prOpTiety OF this mease, the pu-
pose of Lord Cairns IN proposing il must be sought
10y inGUirlng into its practical effect The number OF
the tlnee-cOneled constituencies is at present small
not exceeding, | think, twelve The tour great
towns to which thsd member was recently
given are Liverpool, Manchester, blrming-
Fam, and Leeds. These four return six
Liberal members. Under the new bill as lt
passed the House they would probably return twelve
Liberal members. Lord Cairns proposes that the
four members shall not be Liberals, but Torres,
and would leave them with but four votes on any
the population were really at stake Nevertheless
he had the support Of Earl Russell and of a great
number Of Liberals, and carried his proposition
against the opposition Of the Government. though
with the assent Of some of its members. Lord Derby
was at home with the gOut. He seized the first mo-
ment of his return TO the House. ON Thursday TO de-
Very probably If Lord Derby had been present it
might have been defeated, and as MT. Disrae is in
heXIbly hostile to it, there can be but slender
chance Of It's passage through the Commons. Te
1nCs which has been an eager advocate OF the prop
OsitiOn all along, welcomes It's success IN the Lords
with glee that Is almost boyish, and bestows IN
measured eulogy upon the House of Lords, and upon
everybody in it who spoke for its pet measure.
Since writing the above have seen letter from
MI Bngh Protesting ir0pEy ynogiiay aga2it % S
BImin CHAM, whose future Tory member VIII pair
with one of the Liberals and leave but one vote tCr
that great community birmingham, says MI lHlght,
is thus TO be reduced TO the position and weight OF
Arundel Calne Whose ia electors send Mr.. Lowe
10 PorliamentI IN great parliamentary alViSon, ana
this in the year of Reform and extension OF popular
poweri You will see that certain of the Whig peers
have joined this childish or nefaliOus scheme lt IS
not the less dangerous on that account" Aud he
goes 10 urge that deputation should he sent rom
Birmingham 10 protest against this audacious pro
posal 10 destroy the political weight and force OF
your borough"
The importance Of the measure is however manly
prospective and there is as appears from the dlVis-
ion, radical difference OF opinion among the upper
most men to its operation. Had Earl Grey amend
ment been adopted 2l additional constituencies would
have come under its influence. From every conStitu-
ency numbering between 10000 and 1900, and now
returning two members, Earl GREY proposed 10 take
away one member. There are II befOughs that would
be affected by this, and - seats would thus be dis
posable Eleven more were ere TO % De egtsnfG m oy OMp
OF the % seats thus gained two Were to be gwen TO
a new constituency cOmpOsed-of all things In TINS
might have chance TO be heard IN defense OF their
rights. The remaining II TO be distributed among
the Counties and boToughs. which, having now popu-
latiOus of over 10000, return but two members.
Each of these was TO become q three corneTed
constituency, and thus Lord Caimss amend
ment to have had its immediate scope not
a little widened. Earl Grey did notsCruple to say
that such was his purpose in bringing forward the
amendment. lie supported it as scheme well calcu-
lated to act as 3 check & upon the & % t Ge @ T.
may ii is certainly scheme OF redistribution con-
siderably more extensive than is embodied III the
bill as il came from the Commons, but yet 80 incom-
plete that it deserved the epthet OF crude which
Lord Derby affixed TO il. Lord Denly, indeed, was
not spariDg of his adjecives He described 1t as ex-
traordinary, immature, crude, absolutely incomplete,
indigested, and ill-cOncOcted, winding mp with a
declaration that Her Alaestys Government did not
feel themselves called upon to attempt to
make sense out Of what al present is nonsense. :"
Indeed poor Lord Grey fares hardly ~
eyerybody's hands. Earl Derby, beside all
these adectlves, charges him with seeking 20
create three-comered constituencies in counties
represented mainly by Conservatives, and 50, under
protection Of the minority vote edge IN a few LIB
erals The UQHB Acr8 alleges that the effect Of his
proposition would be, as the design OF II was TO re-
dress the balance III favor OF tine party OF ObStuc
ton and restriction" Nay, Lord Grey object has
always been 10 prevent the majority from beng rep
resented at all, and ho is at work now ~ the IN.
tereSis Of olieaTchcal ascendancy" Which ls tue
Well pcrhaps neither is quite tTue. Earl Grey is
nan living out of due time. One of his greatest
msfOrtunes is that he IS the son OF ls father-the
EaTl Grey whose name is idenl lhed with the lei9nn
bill OF lbOS W H anu l-litl anu pltuEttl u NJ
form by descent he Is not less bound TO his order,
To that haute nObcssC the supremacy Of which ho be-
Geves to be imperiled by measure that ne dale not
openly oppose. OF great experience and respectable
ability Earl Grey lacks the commanding talents
which alone could Tescne him from such dilemma as
this He sought 10 arrest the course OF events by
yaqne resolution OF comment rather than opposition
TO the bill and IN tho speech by which be supported
that resolution broke down. not more from physical
weakness than from that intellectual mbecihty
which grows ont of an unsettled conflict III the mind
of man. Earl Grey is the Crittenden OF English
politics The Kentuckian, in 1851 resolved, and per.
suaded Congress 10 resolve, that it was not sJl but
1850. Earl Grey shows himself emulOus OF that sue
cess and would be glad, as would many and many
this flG'Oe Is D not 1861 but ISL lie is man
who would-to borrow Websters tgure-JuInp
half way down Niagara: The bitterest OF
all the journals opposed TO Reform finds comfort
in the reflection that, if we see Parliament more
vulgar or more seryile, more reckless II we find
q laxty of principles, surprising even that OF the
conservatives; if advancing democracy brings with
IL evil as well as good we shah be able 10 console
ourselves with the thought that Lord Grey had
proved to demonstration that governmmt 6y men oI
his type had become absolutely impossible"
Earl Derbys answers 10 Earl Grey's proposition oi
a new redistribution scheme were two First it's
the 1st of August, and too late 10 20 into new Plan
Second if you carry the amendment wen drop tne
BILL Parliament is impatient to adiOnrn, knows u
cannot adjourn till this bl IS passed Tor tat' u IL
dared, such a storm would follow as neither PaIha-
ment nor GOvernment-hMdly the CGnsutution
itself-might SURVIVED yet so strong is the feeling
that the Government plan for Redistribution y iIl-
perfect and that the bill in this respect demands I'M
prOvement that, on q division, even Earl OTeys
amendment was beaten 10y only twelve votes. 1t is
perfectly plain 1t is admitted on all hands, that II
the bill goes through In it's present shape the ques-
tion of redistribution must be the first to come up
before a new Parliament. The franchises are likely
to stand assuming that the amendment for the IN
of the odger franchise from 1l0 TO 40 wiz pe
rejected when the bill goes back 10 the
House) till there has been time 10 observe
the working of Household Suffrage. But the pres
ejt boundaries of borough and county constituen-
cins rnnst he snetdilY and mateTially ebanEed HE