New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-05-04
BRITISH TOPICS.
DISCUSSIONS IN PARLIAMENT.

pR0pDHAL
GARD TO THE rICHBORNE TRIAI-TuE QUESTION
or PRIVILEGE.
trnOM TIE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or TIP IRib'NhI
LONDON. April 2O.-Dr Kenealy--1 hepe you are
not vet tired of his name for this - not the L'S'
time shall have To wIte of him-put hls quesnoh
last ght 70 the Prime Minister and got his answer
That peas4s Its all very well 70 say keneaIy IL
q bore and 10 express Indignation at his CONDUCT
Nm, the fact il that the public shows great interest
in his proceedings. This interest il not confined TO
stoke-uIpn-Trent TO the readers Of The English
man The Honse ia thronged when kenealy
il to appear. lie takes mp more space III
the papers this morRing than the Germany and
Belgium business-which latter. indeed, has been
exaggerated in . most INSCRIPTIONS way, Tor Stock
joblnDg other purposes. Europe Is sleeping on a
volcano remarked an earnest politician the other
dav. and the British Parliament devOtes It's time TO
Kenealy aud Breach Of Privilege. There 70 great re-
spect for Germany and Belgium but, on the whole
they have had their fuu share Of attention Inc
ecare OF the last fortnight has had az little to bd
on M any one Of the dozen var-panics since
the CONCLUSION Of the last conflict. 10 ls
natural the French should make much Of IT.
They see In every angry word, in every
diplomatic incident, in every exchange OF notes On
no matter what subject between no matter what
other Power and Germany, CLEAN Of hope for them
s,ives; a fastening OF that day ol revenge which
some Frcnchmen hope the next generation may see'
IL then commence nv letter with Dir. Kenealys
name and find myself led incidentally into stating
what is said and done the same night IN Pallla-
meut about the Belgian question, only follow the
order which the subjects take in most Well regulated
minds in the Kingdom of Great Britain. There was
a crowd in the Commons to hear Kenealy. There
was none at all in the Lords TO hear Earl Russell.
We All open our papers his morning eagerly TO see
tha f.1nk.
most OF us-that there is Belgian incident also,
and the average Briton discovers, viii venture 20
say with considerable ACCOMPLISHMENTS that in some OF
IA. leading organs Belgium takes precedence Of
Kenealv. II is concession % conventional preju-
dice-t0 European as distinguished from English,
opinion.
oddly enough, the question Of Freedom Of the
Press is mixed up in the Belgian correspondence
with Germany, just il was last week IN the House
OF Commons debates upon Breach of Privilege.
Ii II from this point Of Niew-oertainly not
the most important in THE case-that Lord
Russell approaches the subject of Belgian and Ger
man relations He treats the German note az raising
the question of the proper limits of press criticism
Oh Foreign Potentates. This question he undertakes
60 answer by a Precedent. He would not be Lord
Russell If he did not have q precedent concealed
about HE person on this az all other occasions
The il less ancient than usual. IL comes from
neither Fox nor Burke, and one Is rather surprlscd
10 find that the monopoly of constitutional wisdom
they have hitherto possessed Is shared with so me
Tor q parsonage az Lord Hawke1bury. fear most
of Us had forgotten Lord Hawkesburye existence.
IL So we are indebted to Lord Russell for reminding
us uf him, for he II who IN Lord Russelfs "pln-
ION laid down the right rule respecting the conduct
Of the press The rule is that, while nothing should
be done to curt the liberty OF the press. we-that
Is, Government,-shOuld take care to prosecute and
punish those who make hbeous attacks on
persons in power and authority in other
countries. Lord Hawkesbury IN ls02 was
Foreign Minister, as Lord Russell 60 years
later lie acted on his principle az the memorable
Petier trial and others sufficiently prove II Lord
Rnssell had acted 0D il when some of the London
papers filed day after day and year after year
with hbel0us attacks on persons III power and au-
thority in other cOunies-say the Unted States. for
example, dare say should have applauded him.
The principle is dangerOus one, all the same for IT
j. difficult say when the limits Of political crlti-
cisn are passed and those Of libel reached. doubt
whether. after all, Lord Hawkosbury will rank per-
nanently with Fox or Burke, or even with Lord
Russell himself as an authority in constitutional or
international law. He is better known as Lord Lv-
erpoo and was plain Mr.. Jenkinson before he be-
came Lord Hawkesbury, and, IN 1s0s by the death
Of his father Earl OF Liverpool IL was some years
fater-I think about 1S13-when Madame de Stiel,
then on a visit To England, put TO Lord Liverpool
the terrible question: If he could tell her what had
become Of that duh man, Mr.. JenkinsOn y
Earl R.ls.clrs treatise the Liberty Of the Press
was. however, only incidental to his main object.
That wac 10 ask Lord Derby whether the eorrespon-
.ence between Belgium and Germany causes him any
fears for the maintenance OF peace IN Europe. Lord
perhy's answer ought to Teassure the most deter
mined crcaker. Mr.. Dsraeh told ~ last week that
the first German note was bot mcnace-as blum
dering M Owen Lewis described 1t in bis House of
Cmnrnons Nlucstion-but friendly remOnstrance.
Lord Derby confirms this account Of II. The second
nOte-abOut which some apprehension arose, merely
because il was a secoNd-is officially described 10
Lord Derby by the German ambassador, conceived
entirely in q friendly spirit. There Is nothing IN 1t,
saws Lord Derby, who hal read 1t hastily before he
came down ~ the House, 10 create difference Ae-
Their patty has formally consulted England about the
matter If any Pow or is consulted, all the gu2r3n-
tetue governments will e consulted together On the
merits of the question al issue between Germany and
Beiginm Lord Derby thinks 1t premature to express
an opinion But no declares with emphasis that
European opinion has considerably exaggerated the
Importance IF the incident, and that for anything
he now knows, lac looks forward tn its termination
without any uneasiness. This ought TO be nearly as
satisfactory 10 the various stock exchanges OF tu-
ropo a. the prctentious eOjectUres Of unofficial Ger
man newspapers, the Inventions of Boulevard
journalists III Paris Less important, bat in the
same general tone, was Mr.. DisraelTs answer 10
question in the House Of Commons, whether Ger
many had ever asked England 10 join in rcInOn-
STRANGE 10 Belgium against the Ultramontane con-
spiracv carried on in Belgium, Snch a request bad
been addressed. SAID M Disraeh, to the late Gov
,xou,,-o. o,d Granville had rPplied that he Was