New-York tribune., 1874-07-08
BRITISH TOPICS.
NOTES FROM LONDON.


ENGLAND.
FROM TIE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRlBOSE'l
LONDON. June 2j.-The mOnotony of Government
victories in the House of Commons came near beng
disturbed last night by Mr.. Plimsoll with his Mer-
chant shipping Survey bill. 1t needed no llttle
courage to attempt to carry the second reading ol
that bill. The best proof that courage ana good
Judgment went together is that it came within three
votes of succeeding. The nt-you-et-it-alone
sort of people may say what they like; so may the
official apologists of unseaworthy ships. who found
n fit snolesman in Sir Char IS Adderley the rejec
tion of Mr. PimsolPs bill was the death knell of
many n Gallant fellow whose life hlr. PlimsOll has
tried to save.
Mr.. Plimsoll did not pretend that his bill was
complete measure; it was designed to tide over the
interval that must otherwise pass without any egis
lation at all The three main proposals were: J. 10
authorize the Board of Trade to direct the survey OF
unclassed ships instead of their having to wait. as
now until complaint of unseawOrthlness is made
against a particular ship; 2. To prohibit dec loading
between Sept and March 81 3. To require broad
white streak, showing the proper load line, to De
painted on the side of every vessel Another clause
gave the Board Of Trade power to pass rules from time
TO time as to the maximum depth for the loading OF
ships Not very fanatical BILL so lar as can see,
nor was it a fanatical speech which MI PllnsOll
made in supporting it. L need not summarize IT,
for the opponents of tho bill admit That case mas
been made out for legislation. What they urged
against the second reading of Mr.. PhmsolIs bill
was that the remedies he proposed for existing evils
were unsuitable. and secondly that no bill, good or
bad ought to be brought in until the Royal Com
mission on the matter had reported as it is expected
to do soon. The debate turned mainly on those two
objections. The first not pertinent to the ques-
tion whether the bill ought to be read second time
or not. for all details would have been gone over
and all objections might have been obyated after
ward in committee. When the House OF Commons
reads bill second time it afirms the principle OF
the measure, simply; that and no more, as all the
official and officious enemies of this bill knew per
fectly The same dispOses, therefore, OF the
second objection, which was met equally by the
known fact that Mr. Plimsolls could in no event be-
come law this session. What he asked the House to
do was to say that it recognized the urgent necessity
of some legislation for the protection of sailors
lves and the House has refused to say that; noml-
nally, or / may say numerically refused to say It,
But the strength of the minority, the fact that 1t
was so nearly majority in the face of the most
strenuous Government opposition, would on almost
any other subject be counted victory. l fear it
can 0dTuy Dc 50 III lilo 'dSC' phibO'HNi'
with taste for manslaughter will interpret it as
giving them another years license for their favorite
pastlme. They know that public opinion will COM
pei the Government by and by to do something to
put down the existing custom of sending overloaded
and unsound ships to sea with freight of human
lives But for the present they have leave to go on
as before.
The speech of Sir Charles Adderey, President OF
the Board of Trade is good specimen of the worst
kind of departmental Obstructyeness and insoence.
Mr. Bright some time ago described Sir Charles as
rather dull man. He isalso bitter He had to answer
last night man who has made himself an honor
able fame by his Jealous efforts for the protection OF
an unprotected class of men. He naturally began
by sneer at philanthropy of which he said the
advocates of tho bill claimed n monopoly There
was a great meeting on Tuesday in ST. Georges Han
in support of the bill, and Sir Charles sneered at
that because ladies were present Then he sneered
at Mr. Plimsol as a man who had a heart but no
head. Then he sncered at the bill as whole, and
sneered at its details; protested against doing auy
thing before the Royal Commission had reported,
and wound up by asking Mr.. Plimsoll not to divide
the House on bill which they could not adopt
without stultifying themselves. A tremendous whip
was put on and the Government defeated the
second reading by l73 to 40.
MT. Dl-Tdcll has OuCb TOlc given lh' NOiih ~ h'N
view of old history, and contributed perhaps a
new phrase or two to our stock OF convenient cir
cumlocutions fer the expression of inconvenient
facts. With Lord Derby and Lord Salisbury, the
Prime Minister was last night made an honorary
member of the Merchant Taylors COmpany-one of
those cty corporations which exist mainly for the
giving of banquets and aflordIng occasions for
speeches Reminding his hearers that it was more
than a generation since he first addressed the
Merchant Taylors, he spoke of those as days when
an eminent statesman was attempting to rally the
fragments of a beaten. broken, and a dsheartened
party The reason for their being beaten. broken,
and disheartened was that " for a considerable
period the Tory party had not been in due relation
with the people of England on three subjects which
interest them-Hberty, industry, and religion" Let
beaten parties in future take comfort The
coming historian will not say they smashed
their heads against stone walls OF their own
building, but that they and the walls were
not in due relation Nor is he to say that the rela-
ton of the Wings to the country quite what it
should have BEEN The Wings tried to remedy the
grievances of England by the aid of doctrines
chiefly of Continental growth, and which have SUBJ
seauently been known by the name of Liberal
opinions No one, admits Mr. Disraeli, can deny that
those opinions contain much that is Just and true
and beneficial and that they have done great good
to the community; yet they were essentially alb
stract doctrines, and when pushed as of late, to
their logical conclusion, they alarmed and offended
the English people, who believe in traditions and
not in doctrines, in their fathers rather than in
themselves in old times rather than in these times
If | do not quote Mr.. Disraelis precise words am
equally far from trayestying them; it is the true
meaning of his imposing phrases which give when
take the liberty to alter th EN- slightly If the
Taylors understood them "a they were spoken. the
average intelligence of that fraternity must be
high.
Now of course, things have gone far enough. The