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Sept. 8, I860.] The Saturday Analyst and...
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POLITICAL DUTIES OF THE RECESS. r B \E£E...
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'. < ITALY AND HUNGARY. SOME politicians...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Sept. 8, I860.] The Saturday Analyst And...
Sept . 8 , I 860 . ] The Saturday Analyst and Leader . 779
Political Duties Of The Recess. R B \E£E...
POLITICAL DUTIES OF THE RECESS . r B \ E £ E recess is the season for meetings between Members an " -L . their constituents , and before these events begin to com off in any considerable number , it would be a good thing if som general principle of action could be agreed upon by Reformers In reply to an invitation from the Walsall Reform Association Mr . Bright lias declined to undertake the task of agitatinj the country . In this he has acted with more than his usua wisdom , It is quite true " that it is impossible for any persoi to undertake to speak at meetings during the recess , and t < attend Parliament during the session , without overloading himself with , labour and responsibility , " and it is hopeless foi any individual to attempt , as Mr . Bright has done on formei occasions , to be the whole reform cause in himself . If the people want political change , they must work for it themselves , and form local committees in each town or borough . The public is not in the humour for abstract principles , nor prepared to support an agitation of a comprehensive kind , but there is a very general discontent with things as they are , and a desire to obtain some measure which will relieve us from the unpleasant condition of constantly talking about changes which do not take place . . The most ardent believer in Universal Suffrage will not consider the present restrictions of the franchise to be the greatest evil of our electoral system . Parliaments , as now constituted , do not represent the opinions and feelings of the existing body of electors . JAn elaborate system of corruption stands between them and any reasonable chance of returning a member to their taste ; and scarcely an election takes place in which the favorite candidate is any more than a makeshift , accepted because nothing better is to be obtained . When a vacancy occurs in an open borough , inquiries are made in all directions for parliamentary aspirants ; the lawyers , or political agents look out for a victim , and usually find one , while the honest politicians in the place seek in vain for a man . willing to he victimised , and able to perform the duties of the M . P .-ship . In many cases an extension of the suffrage , wide enough to overthrow the existing organisation , would do some good by rendering it possible to return a . different sort of member ; but with the present electoral machinery , popular appeals to a large constituency are so expensive , that few can afford to encounter them , and this sort of property qualification practically excludes the most desirable men . If wealth is to be repi'esented , to the exclusion of intelligence , the landed gentry have by far the first claim , and a mere transfer of political power from the landed class to the mill-owners and mercantile speculators , would be a national misfortune , and by no means a gain . The fundamental want of our system is the means of representing intelligent opinion , and the number of electors on the register is , compared with this , a secondary question . But while this may be freely admitted , the two things are strongly and necessarily connected , for the working classes do contribute a considerable share to the sum total of intelligent opinion , and their admission to the franchise would increase this action to a considerable extent . As a philosophical problem , we need not trouble ourselves with conservative elements . In a wealthy and settled state of society such as our own , they are quito sure to take cure of themselves , and public exertion ia needed to give adequate power to those forces which arc naturally opposed to them . andAvhich result from t : ie clisseiiiniination of knowledge , and the propagation of ideas . Two things appear practicable at present . One is to induce a large portion of the middle class to urge upon the ( rovemmont the duty of bringing iorwurd a reform bill early in the next session , and the other is to commence some movements among constituencies for the two-fold purposo . of spreading political knowledge , and of obtaining the control , of the seats nominally ' at their disposal . The working 1 class cannot be expected to be enthusiastic for the modicum of reform possible to be obtained at present , but fthey would in a quiet way emhrucea five or six pound rental suffrage if not diminished in value by a ratepaying clause . Having made up our minds to get reform piecemeal , we must be contented with u modest extension of the franchise as an initial measure , nnd not cumber our pluris with propositions for extenoivo diafmnchiscment of rotten boroughs , which it will bo far easier to obtain u , t a subsequent time . Reformers out of doors should throw upon tho Govornmont the . task of deciding the : specific measure to be proposed , contenting thorn- ! solves with existing- public opinion as far aa they , can , and requiring- from the Cabinet thut , -whatever may be the details of their Bill , it shall be atraightforwurcl und satisfactory as far as it goes . So fur from nuking the working- classes to give ii |> their claim a for a complete enfranchisement , they should be stimulated to make them loudly heard , und the point of union
between the masses and the rich Liberals will be practically fou . , in the willingness of both to support any reasonable .. measure which the Government will produce . ¦ Associations for manhood suffrage- may , like the Northern Reform Union , achieve much good ; but there is a mass of political opinion too timid for extreme measures , and yet available for all that the manhood suffrag-e folks expect to get as the first instalment of their claims . Each locality should decide for itself what sort of an Association it will form * and a central society in London might endeavour to combine them all for common action , when there was anything definite to : support . We should like to see the formation of Political Knowledge Societies in every town , and in this matter London might advantageously set the example . Isolated meetings do little good , and the daily press wastes its columns in miserable reports of speeches made by men who are not in Parliament , or whose reputation is not already made . During the late agitation-. in' the Metropolis against the . aggression of the Lords , many elaborate speeches were made , full of historical and legal information ; but scarcely any were reported with sufficient accuracy to give any idea of their character , or diffuse the knowledge they contained . If , however , a society announced for the winter a series of monthly meetings , and at each took up a single subject , and by the aid of one or two-speakers treated it exhaustively , all . this would be : changed , and [ the press would give a very different sort of report . In the provincial towns similar means should be taken , and the Political Knowledge Societies should exert themselves to . make elections turn upon opinion instead of upon corruption . Where the electors are not very numerous ^ small subscriptions ; and a good registration would enable such an association to return its own candidate free of expense . _ . We may come upon distressed times when popular anger will carry everything before it f but with such tolerable prosperity as we may hope to witness , no agitation will be successful which is not essentially educational . The country can 6 nly advance by fighting 1 the battle of ideas against wealthy class interests . When properly appealed to , the people will range themselves on the right side ; but there is as much Toryism in the working-class as anywhere else , as the average man is usually a supporter of things as they are .
'. < Italy And Hungary. Some Politicians...
' . < ITALY AND HUNGARY . SOME politicians who have never been friendly to popular movements , but who now worship Garibaldi because they dare not withhold their acclamation from success , have thought proper to warn the Italians against mixing themselves up with the affairs of Hungary ; but the wise-thinkers and truer lovers of liberty will rejoice to see the good understanding -which has been established between the two . great victims of Austrian tyranny ; If FjtANCis Josicrn could trust his Hungarian troops , he would , instead of talking about oonstitutional freedom , be booted and spurred at the head of an army , to put down the movement in Sicily , which ho knows will not stop until it has carried the flag of United Italy to the towers of St . Marks . Ho" may avoid fighting this year , but if his empire Lists sis long , he must make a final struggle in 1861 ; and the success of that adventure will very much depend on the continuance of union between the-national parties on the banks of the Danube , and on the shores of the . Mediterranean . The English Cabinet will continue its silly remonstrances , " Don ' t touch Venice , " " Don ' t go near Fiumee , " " Leave the Hungarians alone ; " but all wisdom will have forsaken Oav . ouk- when he prefers fighting the Hungarian regiments to enlisting them on his siclo . Ho has shown such remarkable ability up to the present time , that he is entitled to retain the post of' political loader , imd to find his judgment deferred to by the patriots of the sword . As a human chai'actor there can bo no question ns to the comparative incuts of Garibaldi and Cavouk , but thero are times when the chivalrous lion has need of the assistance of the cunning fox ; and it is to bo hoped that the statesman at Tux in and the hoi-o at Naples , will find themselves able to work together , until their noble task is finally achieved . By this timo it is probable that Sardinia is in formal possession , of , Naples , and" sonic will represent thu event as a movemoni , of suspicion on tho part , of Cavouk , and intended , to check CrAiUKAi . pi ' s independent onrour . It may possibly ,, throw soinu niinox difficulties in tho way of tho gallant Dictator , i \ iid we hope he will bo uhJo to secure the contents of the arsenals before handing them to tho Sardinian Kino ;
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 8, 1860, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08091860/page/3/
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