New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-04-22
THE GREAT BRITISH DEBATE.
SPEECHES BY THE PARTY LEADERS.


GLADSTONE BOLD AND vIGOROUs-LoRD BEA-
COSsFIELDs SPEECH SHALLOW, But EPIGRAM-
| MATIc-A POWERFUL SPEECH MADE BY LORD
DERBY, DEPRECATISG THE GOVERNMENTS CON
DUCT
lTRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF rnE rRIDUSE.l
LONDON, April 0.-It might be too much to expect
| from the American reader that he should follow
with attention the whole course of such debate as
that which began last night. Often as one has had
| TO remark on the extreme verboseness of Parlia-
mentary discussions, don't remember that the re-
ports of a single nights talk ever before filed
| twenty-eght columns. 1t may be doubted whether
every one of Her Majesty's subjects reads every
word of it. But there are points in 1t which must
| interest the most careless student of European
politics, and hardly too much can be made
of it when you consider that it is a debate
during which. the Duke of Argyll said, the dread
issue of peace and is trembling in the balance
that IL is probably the last great debate which will
be held before the questions at issue between Eng
land and Russia are finally determined. No vote,
indeed, will be taken, or which has any party
Significance noae which will represent anything
like the real division OF opinion in the nation i'll
Parliament itself. wrote you last week that the
Liberal chiefs Slr. Gladstone included, had resolved
to amendment to the address in reply to the
Queens message respecting the Reserve forces.
Mr.. Gladstone prcfaccd his speech by formal
announcement OF that negative decision. and
It left to such free lance Sir
WIfrid lawson to head the little band of
Independent Liberals who think it their
duty 10 meet The proposal o. the Government with
uDcompromsing opposition. The choice is not
fortunate one, for Sir Wilfr.l Lawson is hardly
reckoned serious politician, except on the temper
auce question. In the Lorls the same policy
followed by the Liberal leader. But there was
every difference IN The way in which it was followed;
for while Lord GranvllIes reply to Lord BcacOns-
field was timid and half-hcartcd, Mr.. Gladstones
speech ia the Commons in his most courage
/ Gus tone Altogether Won viii that the inn
pOrtaucr OF the debate consists wholly IN what was
said, and IN the influence of what was said upon
the country and the Government; bot at all in
the voting if voting there should be. In the Lords,
indeed, the debate was concluded and the Address
agreed to on the first night.
OfLord Bcaconsfeld's speech it may be said at
one" that it adds little to auybody's knowledge of
the policy TO be pursued by the Government Most
Of IL is devoted Ia the review Of tho Treaty of san
Stefauo. The rest of il belongs to that class Of
oratory known in the land where il is most preya-
lent as buucombe. There il nothing new in his COM
plants about the treaty. We have had it all from
Lord Salisbury. Nor does Lord Beac0nslield often
apply himself TO emil glteu the public by display
Of sound knowledge patiently acquired | once
heard a man who knows him well describe ms
method OF preparing himself for debate. Lord
BsacOnstcd, said my friend seldom or never thinks
il worth while 10 master a subject. He turns over
a Blue Book till some phrase oCcursto him which he
considers telling one; then he wants no more OF
such dry reading. For n special occasion he may
continue the process TIL he has accumulated sew
eral phrases And the most marked feature of his
Al. 81 los. iona
il contains. lie quotes long extract from dis
patch y year old for the sake Of saying that it is
"the key note of our policy; the diapason of our
diplomacy lie appeals to the commercial and
legal mind of the country by description Of Her
Majesty. Government rs the trustees of the En-.
pre- He appeals 10 that terror of the I'M
known which agitates the human breast by a careful
cpigram to the effect that in the East there is only
one step between colausc and cOnyulsion. He takes
credit to himself for coucaory spirit in calling
the Russian treaty a deviation from he Treaty of
Paris instead OF violation OF II. And he clinches
what seems to be meant-though couchcd in the
form OF an appeal to popular passlOu-for an argu-
mcnt in favor of increasing the land forces by ask
! ing whether when all Europe was armed England
alone should be disarmcd Lord Derby dryly re-
marked that his noble friend dId not usually forget
| the existence Of the British fleet.
I ]
such charge can he brought against Lord Derby's.
II was the speech Of the debate; onc Of the best
speeches ever made in any debate a speech so re-
markable n 10 bc in itself an event aud to mark
,poch i'm the history of the long dispute between
| England and Russia If the English peopc-or that
portion OF them which is ut this moment the COM
handing class in the country, and has got the bit
| in it's tecth--f such people could he affected by
facts and By reason, the influence of Lord Derbys
/ spccch would be immense with all classes It
vould he decisive against war; for the whole speech
| Is one luminous summary Of the reasons which led
| Lord Derby to withdraw himself from the company
| Of colleagues bent on measures leading To
/ war. Lord Salisbury, his rival and successor,
spoke after him. and spoke with great bitterness;
| but hc attempted nothing like an answer to the
array of arguments and facts which Lord Derby had
presented. believe them to be unanswcrabe. If
the peace party in this country know what they are
about, they will print this speech as n pamphlet
and circulate it by the million. Ii is too compact
/ for ANALYSIS The most | can do is To touch briefly
| nm one or two of the topics Lord Derby dealt
with | believe ] pointed out at the time OF
! his resignation, that it was not he, but LORD
! Braconsicld who assigned the calling out OF the
Reserves rs the reason of that resignation, and that
! even Lord BcacOnsclds speech was so worded as to
induce the henrer TO draw that Inference, while he
| abstaned from positively asserting 1t. LORD Derby
| did not reply TO his former chief on that OCCASION
but he took occasion to reply last night. - have
been referred to-" said Lord Derby, =" by my noble
friend at the head OF the Government, and by news
paper writer's ard Others, having resigned once
in consequence Of the calling out OF the Reserves
| Now, | feel bound 10 tell yonr lordshlps
that, whatever | may have thought OF that step
il was not the SOLE nor indeed the principal reason
for the differences that unfortunately arose between
] nv cnllearnns and mYself. What the other reasons