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Leader (1850-1860), 20th March 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 274, ^nt Ifnirs.

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      Untitled Article

      THE DERBY INTEBKEGNUM * WiTHOtrT a right to be in office , Stanley _ of Derby is obliged to ask leave * of the Opposition to remain there on sufferance : he and his chief colleague , the leader of the House of Commons , have concerted the petition , and both h ^ g on a set story . ' I ask for justice , " says Lord Iterby , " not to me or to my colleagues , but to the great interests of our common country . " " What we ask , " says Mr . Disraeli , "is not fair play for the ( xovernment , but fair play for the country . " On that plea Lord Derby petitions not to be . " interriipted" in " the usual financial arrangements , " in preparing for national defence , in " useful reforms ; " he " entreats" the Lords "to look back to the circumstances under -which her Majesty ' s present Government have assumed office ; " for " the late Government fell by no adverse . motion of ours . " This importunity is as falser in common reason as it is in constitutional theory or conventional dignity . Lord Derby asks forbearance in the name of "the countrr . " He has no right to speak in the name of tne country . He deprecates questioning , as if the country had not a right to know on what principles its government occupies office . He palliates Ms conduct by the example of Lord John in 1846 , as if one mean

      precedent could justify another . Let us look at this precedent which a Stanley borrows from a Russell , as the constitutional warrant for remaining in office without a parliamentary majority . In 1846 , Lord John Russell got up a coalition of Whigs , Radicals , and Irish members , against Sir Robert Peel , on the plea that coercion was not needed for Ireland . Once entered into office ,

      Lord John and his colleagues continued ** with no difference but diminished vigour and mastery , the main policy of Sir Robert Peel , and they resorted to the coercion which they had affected to resist . They had previously , in 1835 , turned out Sir Robert by adopting Mr . Ward ' s " appropriation clause . They were now , in 1846 , asked what they meant to do with the Irish church , and IJord John , remembering one false pretext , and then using a second , declined to answer . That is the precedent advanced by the chivalrous

      Stanley of Derby ! The debate of Monday night full y corroborates our view as to the absence of any right to justify Lord Derby ' s tenure of office : he sits , upon sufferance , b y favour of an applogy , a plea for the country , the precedent we have juat cited , and a false pretext of his own : he wishes to push " the usual financial measures , " which any Minister for the time being would be permitted to do ; he would urge Chancery reform , which any future Ministry for the time being will feel compelled

      to do ; ho desires to disfranchise St . Albans , which is virtually done ; and to give the four members for St . Albans and Harwich to other constituencies , which must be done , and ought to bo done by a Ministry possessing the national confidence . Lord Derb y sits by only half his warrant—the warrant of the Crown without the warrant of the country . Ho declares that he has nothing special to propose—quite the reverse . He cannot justly protend , that he has even the

      warrant of a winonty in the country ; for the Protective principles , which alienato the national majority , he holds bo slaokly that he must irretrievably have alienated hi * , own minority . The bad precedent of Lord John , who had an ostensible majority , is no warrant for Lord Derby , who has no majority . The plea that he entered office by no act of his own only adds a fresh negative to his right : ho had not even the right of seizure . Hia apology amounta to a claim , that he should'be permitted to Hold a Provisional

      Government , and to keep it provisional for an indefinite time . . ; .. - '¦ - ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ u W If the Government abuses its want of right * the Opposition does not display much power in the use of its rights * The right of the opposition is , to test the government , to see that no government of a minority' continue m office , and to compel the nevr Government either to make for itself a majority or to resign . Thepresent Opposition shows no disinclination to that compulsion , but it fails in resources and in the power of conceiviner a true popular policy . To harass a

      feeble Ministry is not a popular kind Of policy To aim at the restoration of a Russell regime is not a fine specimen of invention . If Lord Derby , abandoning Protection , is ; a Peel without anew policy ; if the nek Chancellor of the Exchequer shows a disposition to consider the position of his party too much as a " situation , " to be worked out dramaticaljUr ; Lord John Russell ' s taunting behaviour is Keble in conception and utterance : and the more advanced [ Liberals do not s £ ent to have made tip their minds whether . they shall

      follow Lord John Or strike out new courses for themselves , or do both . Hence we see a wavering course , with many leaded , besides the superannuated leader of 1831-2 . Lord John , Mr . Henry Berkeley , Mr . Locke KMg , all are leaders , and there are more to come . The Opposition-lays itself open to the taunts of the Ministry and its friends , that among many minorities no one has a right to be in office any more than the Protectionist party . 'Ttie rejoindet of the Liberals is an intimatioit that j ) ossibly the adhesion of Sir James Graham and Mr . Cobden may give to the Whiff Ministry that " wider basis '; at

      which Lord John hinted , and convert two minorities and a half into a majority . As to Mr . Cobden , Lord John seems to be thinking of it ; perhaps he will if he must * And as to Sir James , Ae ^ seems to be thinki ng of it ; perhaps he won't if he sees his own interest . Two minorities and a half , we say ,- because we observe that the majority of the Peel party sits below the gangway . We note that it is below the gangway that a truly statesmanlike view of the situation is to be found— declining to hurry or harass Ministers in measures needful for the routine of public business , but refusing to sanction the initiation of any great measures , until Ministers shall have obtained the sanction of the

      nation , without which the tenure of their seats is only provisional . Mr . Gladstone puts forth that view ; Lord Palmerston , who sits near him , coilcurs . And Lord Palmerston , who so eloquently denounced the " distrust of the people" displayed in Lord John ' s Militia Bill , now deprecates a tax even of five shillings on the food of the people , because it would set the poor against the rich in a manner fatal to the harmony of the state . Lord Harrowby foresees that the question is no longer whether the country shall oe

      Protectionist or not , but whether it shall be Democratic or not . He forgets another question , whether the country shall bo National or not . The material interests of the people , justice to labour , the defence of the country , fair play to our colonies , alliances with free states abroad—these are elements of a national policy which would for a time supersede parly pettinesses and interested intrigues , if there were but the leader strong enough to initiate such a policy . In the meantime P Why , in the meantime

      the Derby-Disraeli Ministry is as good a stopgap as any other ; and if it chooses to stay in office without a technical right , so incurring divers pains and penalties , let us remember that the penalties fall upon the leaders of the party ; and that in these days of indifferentism , Ministerial responsibility is as tenderly enforced as it is lightly assumed . Call it what you will , the present state of affairs is an interregnum under a Provisional Government , and the longer it lasts the better will the next Government bo able to study its opportunities and its duties .

      Untitled Article

      SOCIAL REFORM IN THE ARMY . It is commonly supposed , that notwithstanding the changes Inado within the last few years , our military 1 punishments are still very severe , when compared with those employed in the continental armies , particularly in that of France . This is a very mistaken notion . Although flogging may not figure in their published regulations , it is well known that the stick is freely and unsparingly administered in Auetria by officers of every rank , from the colonel to the lanoe-corpOral j that carelessness at drill , and other minor delinquencies ,

      are cruelly punished hi Prussia with theflat- of the sabre ; and that 'running the gauntlet' * is not an Unfrequent ceremony id a Russian bat * talipn . The punishment of death for rnilitarv offences , virtually UnknoWii in the English ariuv is by no means untistial in the other countries of [ Europe . In 3 ? rarice , more than thirty men are shot fevery year for heinous breaches of discipline ; and for an act of insubordination , which would subject an English offender to six months ' confinement , the French soldier is condemned to five vears of the " bouiet , " hard labour in -m ™™

      with an eight-pound shot chained to his ancle . The authorities at the Horse-guards ^ and ' the older officers of the army , haveat all times shown themselves averse to any relaxation in the system of terror and coercion which ; was formerly considered indi 8 pen 8 able ,- ^ -in fact * the onl y possible plan for the maintenance and preservation of dig . cipiine : but they have been unable to check in * qttiry , or to withstand the force of public opinion , and they appear invariably % o have carried out the progressive alterations m our military code

      with perfect good faith . That barbarous and degrading infliction , so long the opprobrium of Our army and nation , which cruell y ruined many a generous promising young splcher , which hardened more than it restrained , and never reclaimed an old offender , has graduall y been limited in . extent , and its application restricted to some crimes of a disgraceful nature , and to a few of the offences most dangerous to the efficiency of

      an army . The discipline , good conduct , and contentment of a regiment depend ; of course , greatly on the skill , judgment , and governing talents of the commanding officer . In many Corps , flogging has become very rare ; in some , both at home and abroad , such an exhibition has not taken place within the last two years j and in a few , not even for a longer period . The possibility of governing ^ Eng lish soldiers withput military flogging may therefore be said to have been de * monstrated .

      A Report on the Discipline and Management qf Military Prisonsy by Lieut .-Colonel Jebb , the Inspector-General , has lately been issiied , which presents amass of evidence quite conclusive as to the efficiency of a system of punishments , void of the exasperating and degrading effects of the lash , and yet eminently repulsive to rude , sensual , uncultivated natures , and well calculated to deter and reform , without iniurv to body or mind , the

      young and inexperienced culprits . The regimental commandants , whose separate reports are quoted by Colonel Jebb , are all but unanimous as to the good working of the system j but their general opinion is , that the prospect of prisonfare , and even of hard labour , does not exercise much restraining influence over the more depraved and hardened offenders . These men , forming the bulk of regimental " defaulters , in

      and mostly habitual drunkards , are perhaps - corrigible by any system of mere punishment . The lash did not cure them , although it often enlarged the class . They are most unprofitable servants to the state , passing some months or every year in prison , and no inconsiderable time in hospital , and when present for duty , forming a centre of contamination , and damaging tu « character of the whole coups . The obvious suggestion is , that these bad soldiers should bo . discharged the service ; and one of tho regimental commandants , whoso opinions are mcludeci m Colonel Jebb ' s Report , states that ho would ioiy , for the future diminution of crime , rather o « " Jtmtit / v ™/! V > 5 irrnr . lr nr > nnmmodatlOn , and W 10 "'»

      missal of confirmod bad characters , thani upoa " any system of punwhmont . " This goes to uw very heart of the matter : those two ™ ™ £ measures are inseparably connected ; tJl 0 V ,. tain at once tho grand difficulty and its solution . Wo cannot dismiss the bad characters until , j improving tho condition and brig htening * proapeots of tho army , dismissal becomes u and a penalty . At present , tho nuirierou s « sertions attest the ^ Opontanco of rooruits , » ft " free discharge" is hold out in certain cases up roward to tho well-conducted soldier j , f mi . _ T _ . /» . -j _/? i . t . « t : «/» fnvm flve-sixi ' JJHiu

      AJK 5 -1 IllUm I"V Ol UlU * w « — - ,. | TTlOrC tho army , and in thoir ranks thoro is ™ V ; v er . bad conduct , more discontent , and nioro tion , thaain tho Cavalry and Artillery . ^ SapporsUd Minors in ovory respect arc *» V t to ovory other corps in the sonnco . in i » " ^ as in all human sooioty , physical comioic bodily and mental exorcise produce tJioir ^ . in orderly and moral conduct ; and a « uw , . ^ position ia rftised , eclf-rospoot inoreasos , a »«

      Untitled Article

      There is nothing so revolutionary , beoausa there i 3 nothing so "unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by the very la-vf of its creation in eternal progress . —? Db . Abitold *

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      Untitled Article

      lili SATURDAY , MAECa : 20 , 1852 .

      Untitled Article

      04 ' ¦ ¦ :. ¦ . . . ' T il ; B Jp . K ^^^ M l ^ - ^^ X . ^ - ^ i ^ 2 J ^^^ . y

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 20, 1852, page 274, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1927/page/14/