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Tongued of English Ministers deigned to whisper to Austria that her conduct scandalizes the electors of Tiverton , and other respectable persons in England ? When anything is said in the House about the independence of Italy , or when the Minister of a despotic Sovereign , angrily demands to be informed respecting to « intentions of Downing-street upon a Continental topic , there is
one invariable reply -. —England will maintain the treaties of 1815 . But when Hungary is quashed , and Rome occupied , and the citiiens of the free town of Hamburg are massacred in their streets by Croatian soldiery , then the satin Foreign Minister looks benignantly around upon his honourable but Radical friends— " if he may call them so "—and whistles , Lilibulero !
The hostile feelings evoked by the despotic decree of the Prussian Minister of the Interior reestablishing the Provincial diets , does not in the least surprise us . There has fallen on the eyes of the German bureaucrats a judicial blindness . They live apart from the people , whom they pretend to rule , governed by the watchwords which go forth from Warsaw and St . Petersburgb . The com monest fae ts , of which an English Minis ter could not be ignorant and live , are out of the range of their comprehension . Hence the attempt to reestablish the feudal assemblies , called Provincial Diets : about the same thing as if a good old Tory Ministry should come in and propose to repeal the Reform Bill and substitute the rotten boroughs .
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PARLIAMENT OF THE WEEK .
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As yet the House of Commons have done nothing but vote money , and money they continue to vote . Thus © a Monday , after listening to a speech of Mr . XHaxaeli ^ on % hat he would , and-whatwouldnot do > reapecting the Customs and Inhabited House Duty , laying down the doctrine that the financial arrangements of the country had become provisional , " and then permitting the bills , to be read a second time pro forma , under protest , the House resolved itself into a Committee of Supply . The object of the Committee was to vote the estimates for the Civil Service . Mr . Hume objected to several items included under the £ 97 , 747 demanded fox royal palaces and public buildings ; especially the vote of £ 2615 for Frog more and for Hampton Court stud-house ; and he recommended that there should be a parliamentary inquiry instituted as to how the Dean and Chapter of St . 'George ' s Chapel had " got hold " of an estate left for the behoof of the Military Knights of Windsor , before the money demanded was voted . Under the head " Scotland" he found an item which puzzled him immensely ; £ 840 for righting and water-rate 3 for the house of the British Ambassador at Paris ! JLord John RessBM , defended
the vote ; and took shelter under the plea that the public were now admitted to Hampton Court , Kew , and Richmond Park—of which , he made a great merit , considering the right of admission in the light of a privilege . As to Frognoore , four kitchen-gardens had been given up , and a complete garden formed there . A desultory discussion ensued — Mr . Ellice backing Lord John ; Colonel Salwey complaining of the lion and the unicorn at Buckingham Palace , famous for turning their backs upon the Queen ; Mr . Bright fastening on the charge for the house of the British ambassador at Paris ; and Colonel Salwey actually going the length of moving that the note for the Military Knights at Windsor be expunged for the reasons mentioned by Mr . Hume , characterising the estimate as a gross robbery ; but he withdrew his motion , when Sir James Graham , showed
that there was absolutely no legal remedy against the Dean and Chapter . The whole vote was agreed to . In the discuHsion on the next vote , £ 41 , 829 for royal parks and pleasure-grounds , Colonel SxhthouI * took occasion to deny that he had been to the Exhibition , but he " would not Bay that h > e would not go . " This vote , together with votes of £ 3529 , lor ventilation , in the House of Commons , lor providing hounea for the clerk and housekeeper ,, and . of £ ll ( i , HH 5 for the works of the now houses of Parliament , of £ 7000 for a record office , £ 61 , 481 for works at Holy head , and £ 144 , 000 for constructing hurbours of refuge ,, woie agreed to . With , respect to the lust vote great complaint wan made about the charge for fortifications on the Channel Islands ; Mr . Humb suggesting that Govern-» ii « njt tihould ) Bend dawn some " uober men" to
tiautmiiie the mutter . The irne »«» fc of the owning ? attached to the vote fou MutVitooLh , Mb . fck'OOMKit proposed that it be reduced bj £ 123 tf Wa . ; in oLlior wouds , that there should' bo nothing , granted to Muynooth Uiis year . The discuti-• ian . on thin , vote ran high and the division clone . The opponents of the vote urged that tlie Cutholics had treated the vote with contempt , and proved I&ientsehren ungrateful ; that th « y only had a right to " toleration , " a-nd no right to equality . " antJ that Aoi voftt- wan wrong , inasmuch' a » it directly en-—i mmud ) » rulutiort adtyecse to the welftivo of tliu
nation . Among the opponents the most notable were Mr . Anstet , -who declared bis intention of opposing all votes of a similar nature , and Mr . W . J . Fox , on the ground that we have no right either to persecute or endow any religion whatever . " When , the committee divides there
were—For Mr . Spooner't amendment , 119 ; against it , 121 . Majority for Ministers , 2 . After narrowly escaping this shoal , the question of official salaries . came on . Government demanded £ 55 , 700 for the Treasury department . The Secretary of the Treasury , Sir C . Trevelyan , has had his salary maintained at £ 2500 , in the teeth of the recommendation of the Committee on Official Salaries , that it should be reduced by £ 500 , —a reduction which Mr . Beuesfobjj moved should be made . He was supported by Mr . Disraeli ; and Lord John Russell came to the rescue of the Chancellor of the Exchequer . A long discussion ensued , but neither party advanced anything new . The committee
divided—For Mr . Beresford ' s amendment , 72 ; against it , 118 . Majority against , 46 . After agreeing to two other votes , the Chairman reported progress , and the House resumed . The only other notable incident which occurred during the evening was the rejection , by 66 to 12 , of the Act of Parliament Abbreviation Repeal Bill . The House adjourned at a quarter to two o ' clock . The House must have felt it quite a lelief , when on Tuesday they had other than supply matter to debate . A series of election questions came on first . John Strutt and Charles Cunningham were ordered into the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms , for having signed or caused to be signed the name of Thomas Hughes Bradford , without his authority , to a petition presented to . the House against the return of Mr . Bethell for the borough of AyLeabury . At a later hour , the Sergeant reported that the culprits were in custody ; and on the motion of the Attorney-General , it was agreed that they should be brought to the bar , reprimanded by the Speaker , and discharged on the payment of fees . They were accordingly brought in and severely reprimanded , The Speaker said that , John Strutt and Charles Cunningham had been guilty of " gross misconduct , " which could not be palliated or excused , as they were not , and could not be ignorant of the rules of the House . He was commanded to convey to them the expression of the " marked displeasure" of the House . The offenders bowed and withdrew .
The House went into committee on the St . Alban s Bribery Commissidn Bill . Mr . Bankes objected to the first clause : and moved that it should be omitted . The House divided on the motion that the clause 3 hould stand part of the Bill . For the clause ,. 66 ; against it , 17 . Majority for , 49 . The remaining clauses were slightly amended , the bill reported , ordered to be reprinted , and the House resumed . Mr . Wodehouse presented a petition from an elector of St . Alban » , averring that Mr . Edwards had been so long and so intimately mixed up with
the bribery and corruption carried on at St . Alban s , that the ends of justice would be frustrated by hia discharge before a full inquiry had been made . Mr . Spoonek moved that Edwards be discharged , on the ground that he had made a full and complete confession of his guilt , that he had been in prison nine weeks , that he was very ill , that his imprisonment had caused his wife so much anxiety that she was confined to her bed , and that Edwards denied that he could exercise any control whatever over the absent witnesses , and that he would willing appear before any tribunal the House might appoint , and give a full account of all the transactions in which he had been
concerned . Ihe motion was objected to , but Mr . Spooner pressed it to a division ,, when there were—For the motion 4 ; against it , 133 . Majority , 129 . Mr . Bass , brought on liis motion for a repeal of one half of the malt tax . The House seemed to feel that this was only a weak repetition of the debate on Mr . Cayley ' s motion . Mr . Buss , however , being a brewer made some new points . lie denied that it was a brewers' quention— lew were in favour of it . Neither did he think it a minsters' question—both parties being desirous of keeping things an they are . He contended that a change had taken place in the taste o £ the public with respect to beer : —
' Ihe public , instead of having recourse to the strong intoxicating beer which they formerly drank in gr « ut quantitk'H , now preferred beer of moderute strength . { Hear , hear . ) He could speak on thin point from hiu own experience ; because for one barrel' of beer of moderate Btrcngth which he sold twelve years ago , h « now sold move than ttin ; and for three of strong bear which he then sold , ho did not now sell one . { . Hear , hacw . ) Thero _ was another reason why the consumption of beer was not ho largo us it might have been . AlmotU all ot »»«« artiolcH had decreased in price , whereas beer had not ahuuged its price for twenty-one years . Whilte barley had ranged ) fvom 30 b . to QOa . p » -r quarter , the price of beer hud uLwaya , ruiuuinud thu sumo . ( LtvugJUar . ) , He aunurod the House that there ; were rcaaouu for the atabili » y of the price of beer which did not exist in all tradea . ( Continued laughter . )"
Increase of consumption had followed reduction of duty in so many cases that he did not see why the same effect should aot result from the repeal of the malt-tax . u Then there was the case of bread , " exclaimed the honourable member . "The Legislature had abolished the duty on cero , and the consequence had been that the peopW had cons « m « d 10 , 000 , 000 quarters of wheat per annum more than they had consumed before the repeal of the corn laws . Now , what was beer but bread in . another forn » { hmg&ter ) , and he would maintain , not the least agreeable foarm either ? ( ' Hear , hear , ' and continued laughter ) . Lord Naas had asserted that the morality of his countrymen would be improved if they had more whisky . ( Laughter . )
Mr . Bass w » s not prepared to accept the proposition of Lord Naas , but he contended that beer of moderate strength would become an article of diet , instead of an agent of intoxication , and would assist in improving the morality of the people . The debate was very dull , and there was a general disposition to shirk discussion . The Chancellor of the Exchequer opposed the motion in a short speech apparently more for form ' s sake than anything else . Some amusement was afforded by Mr . BrothertonandMr . H . Drummond ; the former contending that whisky and beer were both deleterious , and the latter standing up for beer as the poor man's beverage ; Colonel Sibthorp capping the climax by declaring that ' he was not one of those individuals who , like the honourable member for Salford , lived upon cabbage-water . " { Laughter . ) On a division there
were—For Mr . Bass ' s motion , 31 j against it , 76 . Majority against , 45 . Mr . Cobden moved hia resolution on the international reduction of armaments , advocating what is understood to be the peace policy . Mr . Cobden said that he did not intend to discuss the amount of Continental armies ; when he spoke of warlike preparations he alluded only to navies and fortifications . He regarded armies as the " standing curse" of the present generation . ( Cheers . ) Those on the Continent , he was told , were maintained to keep down domestic revolt and maintain internal order as it was called . And how . then , could he
persuade foreign governments to reduce their armies . He believed that if England and France reduced their naval forces and fortifications , other countries might afterwards follow with a reduction of their armies . He then showed that in France , as in this country , the navy estimates were framed with reference to what the other state was supposed to be doing ; the consequence of this policy was not only to keep up irritation , but to encourage exaggerated reports of the armaments of the two countries , the increased preparations of each reacting upon and provoking the other . Groundless panics , thus created , had of late years entailed upon England and France an enormous expenditure for superfluous
fortifications , as well as augmentations of their panes . Was it not possible to put a stop to this rivalry of waste and folly , to agree to a limitation of forces , and thus abandon a policy which was a source of mutual injury ? America was ready to adopt this principle . Russia could offer no practical obstacle if France and England concurred ; and b » contended that , so far from the present time being unfavourable to the experiment , it wa « most auspicious . He suggested no specific form of action ; he only asked that diplomacy should put itself more in harmony with the spirit of the age . He begged to move " an address to her Majesty , praying that she will direct the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to enter into comm unication with the Government of France , and endeavour to
prevent in future the rivalry of warlike preparations in time of peace , which has hitherto been the policy of the two Governments , and to promote , possible , a mutual reduction of armaments . " Mr . UuauHAKT and Mr . MacKinnon opposed the motion ; the latter , as impracticable , though desirable ; the former , because it attributed the augmentation of ou navies to the musty diplomatic policy of former times , whe reas it was Lord Palmerston who had been the cause of all this warlike preparation on the part of France . Lord' Palmhiiston aaid , however little he mig ht think the methods by which Mr . Cobden endeavoured to give effect to his principles were the best calculated to attain the end ho propoeed , lie subscribed rii
implicitly to the general tendency of his views . fl objectiou to this motion was that it aimed too much at divesting this country of her means of defence , without waiting till other countries had placed themselvi'S in a similar position . Mr . Cobden nod avowedly 1 * ' « out of consideration the large military force oi France ; but in comparing relative means of oft . nce , our attention must no * be confined to line of biittio shi p * . If a great country like thia wished to be ai peace with . q&Umv Poweis , it must take care to maintain uni «« puu « di its ability to repel attack , and' without clittriiming aavjr Hostile sentiment , it was our duty to ournolves , and- to . the functions which P » ovid « n « o had destined thia country to fuliiJ , to keep her in nu « H a position ^ . He thought the plan of action proposed by Mr . Cobdon could load to no practicable result ; but n «
said : — " I ahull be ready to adopt the motion and speech <>» the honourable gentleman , « a the . expression of an jn "
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574 ffif ) £ Ufatre r * [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), June 21, 1851, page 574, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1888/page/2/
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