The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-07-28
Disrnelt,s Surrender.

DisraelPs Surrender.
Mr.. Disraeli's failure as Prime Minister has
never been more clearly shown than in the
case Of Mr.. Plimsoll. AS we said few days
ago in commenting upon Mr.. Plim-
soils remarkable speech in the House
of Commons, Mr.. Disraeli had made a
mistake in not considering the romantic
aspect of politics. He forgot, what he of
all men should have been the last to forget,
that there are no questions more powerful in
free country than questions that appeal to
TIE sentiment and the imagination. Mr..
Plimsoll has for years been agitating England
in behalf of the sailors. He claims, and be
has shown the truth of his claim by burden
of proof, that many of the shipping masters
of England are so Indifferent to the lives of
the sailors, and so anxious to obtain large
revenues from their freights, that they allow
vessels to go to sea so badly built and so
heavily overladen that in the event of a storm
they are sure to sink He has shown that
vessels have gone down at sea from sheer
wantonness on the part Of their owners and
after they had been warned of the danger
Plimson, in pursuing his agitation, has, no
doubt, said and done many foolish things.
But he believed in his work. He was con-
vinced that this great wrong existed. Eng
land, mistress of the seas, was deliberately
allowing her sailors to be sacrificed to the
avarice and neglect of shipmasters. A man
in this mood may say in the words of Mac
beth -
who can he wise, smazed. temperate and furious,
Loyal and neutral, IN a moment No man.
Mr. Plimsoll may well say in extenuation
of his attack on the government in the House
of Commons that the expedition of his NO
lent love outran the pauser reason" Our
readers will remember when his bill compel
ling the shipping masters to use proper care
as to their ships and their freights was with
drawn by Mr.. Disraei in anticipation of the
speedy close of the session, that Mr.. Plmsoll,
in furious manner and in violation of all
Parliamentary usage and propriety, denounced
the government and many members of Parlia-
ment on the floor as "villains, as men cog
infant of o great crime and neglecting to
remedy it. The scene was SO violent that
Mr.. Plimsol was directed to leave the House,
and all that his best friends could say in his
behalf was that he was probably insane. 1t
was expected that unless he made al apology
for his conduct he would be expelled from
his seat A debate on the question OF
expelling him is set down for tomorrow
evening. But, thanks to the public press, il
was seen that, whatever Mr.. Disraeli and his
Ministry might think, the people of England
were with Mr.. Plimson His friends might
soy on the floor of the House that he was in
sane, but in the eyes OF the people of Eng
land his course was wise one Conse-
quently we have Mr.. Disraei publicly avow-
ing his defeat, and fastening to put new
| bill on the calendar to meet the case.
No Prime Minister ever suffered more hui
initiating defeat Lord Palmerston made O
mistake of this kind when he imagined the
English people would consent to change their
laws at the pleasure of the late Emperor OF
the French. Mr.. Disraeli evidently looked
upon Mr. Plimsoll as persistent and RI thel
foolish fanatic, to be pushed asile in any con.
tingency of public business. Behind Plim.
soil and Disraeli and the governing party
in Parliament there is the great English
people, people who when reused can speak
with an emphasis that not even Ministers OF
thrones can resist. The fact that Mr.. Disrae
should have invited discontinue so humili.
ating is only another illustration of tue truth
of those critics who see in his present career
only q succession of failures. At the same
time the fact that England rose like one man,
as it we're, to the defence of this honest, plain,
private member, who was championing the
rights of the sailors, and compelled the gov.
eminent 10 assent to his wishes, is one of the
noblest illustrations of the power of fret
thought and free speech over the administra.
ton of great country that we have seen in
modern times.
The GEOGRAPHICAL CoNGREss which i.
| aIout IN agqamlln af Doric ;o tho e,,h;oot of or