Year: 1868

Of Cemnens.


The Right Honorable Benjamin Disraeli, in
attaining the object of his ambition, the Pre-
miership of England, has not found his now po-
sition, proud and enviable as it is altogether
bed of roses. 1t would have been strange, in
deed, If he had. Disraeli, we may rest assured,
is neither disappointed nor made unhappy by
the furious storm that RACES around him. His
is the coolest and most Indifferent as well as
the most daring and ambitious brain in either
house of the English Parliament at the present
moment.


1t is not the less to be denied however, tina.
Lord Derby has left to his successor in Office
sufficiently Herculean task. There are Scotch
reform bills and Irish reform bills, bribery
bills Church rate bills, education bills, pub
lie school bills, with all their accompanying
difficulties. Reform is the watchword of the
hour, and 1t remains to be seen whether Dis
raeli can prove himself equal to the situation
or whether it will be necessary for him to yield
up his place to some more fortunate rival.


The Scotch reform bill has been introduced.
Its provisions are substantially the same with
that which has been passed for England. In
boroughs every householder rated and paying
rates is to have vote. The lodger franchise
is omitted because, in the opinion of the gov
ernment, the system of registration in Scot
land renders it unnecessary; but if the Scotch
members think differently lodger clause will
be introduced. In counties there will be an
ownership franchise of five pounds clear yearly
value and an occupation franchise of twelve
pounds rating. 1t is proposed to give to Scot
land seven additional members, the number OF
members in the House of Commons being to
that extent increased. OF these seven mem
bers two are to be allotted to the Scotch Uni
versities, three to the counties of Ayr Aber-
deem and Lanark, one to the city of Glasgow
and the seventh to a new group of boroughs.
TO the bill as it stands the Scotch members
have two very serious objections. The first is
that the new grouping of boroughs is practi-
cal quitting of the counties-a rObbing OF them
of what liberal elements they have and leaving
them entirely in the hands of the tory land
lords. In this they discover Disraeli trick
a liberal concession in the interest OF the
tories. The second is, that in place of re-
ceiving seven additional members Scotland
ought to receive twenty-five. In addition to
these local objections to the bill there is gen.
eral objection that the membership of the


House of Commons is already greatly too
large, that it ought to be diminished rather
than increased and that to increase it would
establish dangerous precedent. The House
of Commons is already the largest legislative
body in the world, numbering as it does six
hundred and fifty eight members. When 1t is
remembered that in the United States Congress
there are only two hundred and sixty-one men,
bers, in the lower French Chamber three hun
dred and seventy-six and in the Parliament of
the North German Confederation two hundred
and eighty, it is not much to be wondered at
that it should be urged that the balance of
expediency is rather in favor of reduction than
of increase Such is the portion of work
which Scotland gives to the new Premier.


Not to speak of the various English ques-
tions which loudly demand solution, what shall
we cay of Ireland, with its unsurpassed
Fenianism, with its suspension of the Habeas
Corpus law, with its prospective reform bill,
with its Church and land tenure difficulties,
with its numerous and contradictory remedies,
from that of Earl Russell down to that of
John Stuart Mill, and with its other thousand
and one questions, all of which must in some
form be settled before the inhabitants of the
Green Isle can be expected to settle down into
a condition that shall promise lasting peace
and prosperity? We have already had by
telegram outlines of reform which Mr.. Disraeli
is disposed to grant to Ireland. Whether his
means of cure shall be acceptable we must
wait to see. Meanwhile, it is well to remember
that so far as Disraeli is himself concerned
he is the last man likely to fail through want
of knowledge of the actual requirements
of Ireland. So far back as 1914, as Earl
Russell in his recent letter reminds him,
he uttered the following remarkable SEN
tences:-" That dense population 0he Irish),
in extreme distress, inhabited an island where
there was an established Church which was not
their Church, and territorial aristocracy the
Thus they had a starving population, an absen-
tee aristocracy and an alien Church, and, in
addition the weakest Executive in the world.
That was the Irish question. Well, then,
what would honorable gentlemen say if they
were reading Of country in that position ?
They would say at once the remedy is revolu-
lion. But the Irish could not have o revolu-
ton; and why? Because Ireland was con-
nected with another and more powerful coun-
try. Then what was the consequence? The
connection with England thus became the
cause of the present state of Ireland. If the
connection with England prevented a revolu-
ton, and revolution were the only remedy,


England logically was in the odious position of
being the cause Of all the misery in ireland