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permanent payments on the Consolidated Fund ' some of which ¦ would very properly come under occasional review , such as salaries or permanent offices . The object of the "bill , therefore , was entirely of a financial and administrative kind , — an improvement upon the plan of keeping the public accounts , for the purpose of their better revision . Nothing could be more improper than
to impart into such a measure a sectarian squabble ; the less , since Mr . Spooner ' s question might have been raised in . a Separate amendment bill next session . The debate was destitute of novelty on either side , with one exception . Lord John was spirited enough to declare that , if the House supported Mr . Spooner in rendering the charge for Maynooth the subject of an annual vote , Ministers would withdraw the bill . The House cheered .
aiid Mr . Spooler ' s motion was negatived by 106 to 90 . Perhaps Ministers would not have had so many votes even as that , if they had suffered waverers to pass over to the enemy by want of decision themselves . The House of Commons has rejected Lord Harrowby ' s bill to remove the deserted City churches to the suburbs ; has not adopted Mr .
Blight ' s suggestion to discontinue the regium domim r * ir ~ and , in short , is bent chiefly upon doing nothing m religious as well as temporal matters . It is a plan suitable to the House as at present constituted : to do nothing is the easiest kind of labour for men of compromised opinions , whose ¦ v ery seat in the House , " virtually " representing a fractionally enfranchised people , is a compromise .
Another debate in which Ministers have shone , 5 s , that raised by Mr . John Phillimore ' s motion respecting "the right of neutrals at sea during war . It is well known that during the last war , our Government insisted upon a principle which had been asserted in a previous war , for the purpose of annoying France— that the goods of an enemy found in a neutral ' s ship were confiscate . In asserting this principle , England relied upon the oldest commentators of international law ; but the object of the revival was , to vex
and injure Prance . On the outbreak of the present war , France and England were brought into joint action , and it would have been very unfortunate if their treatment of enemies , neutrals , and allies , at sea , had differed . Now , it so happened , that in the treatment of enemies' goods on board neutral ships , France had adopted the same liberal principle which was maintained by England in the middle of the seventeenth century , in its treaties with several continental powers , and which the United States have done much to
inculcate "by incorporating it in all their treaties with important States . On the other ha , nd , England has been in the habit of treating with greater liberality the property of nputrals found on board enemies ships . In ai'ranging their joint action , the Governments of France and England reciprocally agreed to adopt the most liberal construction on both sides , and to treat with equal freedom the property of an enemy in a neutral ship , or the property of a neutral in an enemy ' s ship . _ Free traders at home , es pecially in the / utAi ium iiiub uua
uauju ***^ « iiwjrau , ^ j ^ , jirr « nn"emenc tends to encourage neutral tradors , to the injury of our own subjects ; and hence , as well as a love of old authorities , Mr . Phillimoro ' s attempt to revive the old principle . It would have been difficult , however , to introduce it into practice , since express stipulations with so many countries , including Spain , Holland , and the United States , would have compelled froquont exceptions in the enforcement of the rule . Wo boliovo that the
present arrangement does injure some of our ftjllow-fiubjects ; but there is no doubt , that it , is ( advantageous to commerce at largo , and wo quite agreo with Mr . Boyer , that any amendment upon the present rule must he , to give a further extension to the immunities of commerce during war . It is expected that tho suspended writs for Canterbury , Cambrid ge , Hull , Maldon , nnd Barnstaplo , will isauo next week ; and , in anticipation ol that OTont , . candidates for tho vaqant scats are beginning to appoar . For Canterbury , Mr .
Auchnauty Glover comes out as a Liberal Conservative of a Derby cast!—at least , such is the impression created by an address which couples a willingness for approved reforms with objections to the war as entailed by want of Ministerial " firmness . * ' For Hull , General Perronet Thompson h « 8 been invited to stand ; and he accents the invitation , if he be n&t called upon to « pend thousands sterling in defending a seat Vitiates by others * bribery . If Hull be again represented by the cl « ar-headed , independent , and indefatigable gettetwl , whose vitality age cannot dim , it xpifl do the best tfomg available for retrieving its damaged character .
" We have , in a separate paper , noticed the anom&kms concurrence of much difficulty in busi ness , with every sign of continued prosperity for the country at large . One of the most remarkable of these signs is , the state of the revenue . That is , indeed , not so entirely favourable as it appeared on the last account . There is a considerable decrease , both on the year and quarter , under the important items of Customs , Excise , and Taxes . On the Stamps there is a very slight increase ; on Property-tax and Post-office a more considerable increase . Of course the decrease of
duties has gone for something in this curtailment of re-venue , but no doubt a decrease of consumption has also contributed . AVhen , however , we look to the fact , that there is actually a war ; that some foreign countries have been undergoing much financial difficulty ; that we ourselves have had a bad harvest , —the wonder is , not that there should be any decrease , but that the decrease should not be more considerable than it is . The net amount is a decrease of 812 , 789 ? . on the quarter , 474 , 369 / . on the year . The general
maintenance of the revenue is , in great part , explained by the indications which the usual monthly returns of the Board of Trade furnish as to tbe state of commerce . The exports during the month of May ( technically that ending on the 5 th of June ) show an increase of more than 400 , 0007 . over the corresponding month in 1853 . There has been a decrease this year on the April and January months , but the whole of the first five months of the year 1853 show an increase of more than half a million , and of nearly 8 , 000 , OOOZ . over the first five months of 1852 . The totals of the five montlis are—in 1852 , 27 , 780 , ' 29 G £ ; in 1853 . 35 , 093 , 824 / . ; 1854 , 35 , 725 , 362 / .
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The Government carried the Oxford University Reform Bill through its second stage , on Thursday , witiioufc more than verbal opposition from Lord Derby , but with the menace of amendments in committee . The debate was rather a dialogue ; the mover of the second reading and the leader of the opposition alone making enormously long speeches . The mover of the second reading was Viscount CxwsTxa . Having traced the various phases of the question from a period anterior to the issue of the
PARLIAMENT OF THE WEEK
commission of inquiry , he said the spirit in which legislation waa now proposed was that of n , desire to lay down , beyond the risk of disturbance , the fundamental principle of representation in the governmont of the university . Tho bill , therefore , whilst prescribing , in nn obligatory form , certain changes , left both the university and the colleges at liberty , to a limited extent , to carry out that principle . Vindicating the authority of Parliament over the university , he described tho constitution and functions of
the governing body as proposed by tho bill , observing that , being based upon representation , it secured responsibility ; ancl harmonious action . Provision was next made for tho establishment of private halls , by which poor students would bo enabled to reap tho benefits of university education without incurring tho heavy expenses attendant on residence in collegos . At present tho expenses of an undergraduate , at any collego or hall , for three years , could not be estimated at less than GOO / . ; and ho knew of no better way of reducing this great nmount thnn by enabling masters ) to open their houses aa private hn ! 3 s . Tho principle of competition was thereby introduced , from which he anticipated great benefits to
persona of moderate means in tho education of their sons . This competition in tuition would clovato the character of tho teachers and improvo tho class of follows in some of tho collcgos ; nnd it was a provision which tho Government could on no account eonsont to yield or modify , bolioving , m they did , it waa much more advantageous to the university itself tlmn tho acliOHio suggested by the hebdomadal board . He thon referred to the changes mado in tho measure since its Hirst Introduction , nnd vindicated tho policy of Iho Government in ace-opting thorn . Their general effect in the most important particulars irns to render tlio moaauro of nn enabling character , and ho denied tliat in any respect they were op ^ n to the charge of
spoliation or disregard of founders' intentions . The right of preference belonging to schools would not be abolished , and the commissioners would have power to aid ttofi enlargement of the professoriate for the benefit of the university . Pie next described the machinery by which the bill would be carried out . Commissioners were appointed , whose powers he admitted "Were ^ extensive but they were not dangerous , > tf'tillst they were effective for the object in view . Two clauses were in the bill as it now stood which haftbeen introduced into it during its passage through , the House of Commons . He alluded to these "which provided that no oath should be necesssajy on , matriculation save the oath of allegiance , nor upon taking the first degree . The olvject of these clauses vfcas the admission of dissenters to the benefits
of the university . He frankly admitted that the Government would have preferred the decision of this question to have been left to the university itself ; but a large majority in the other House , composed in part of persons who had been prominent in asserting the privileges of Oxford , had decided otherwise . Having traced the progress of legislation in favour of dissenters of late years , he submitted that their admission to university privileges could not now be refused , regard i being paid to the relations subsisting between the university and the State . He urged the House that the changes now proposed would enable the University of Oxford to fulfil it 3 educational duties in a manner satisfactory to the country .
The Earl of Derby congratulated lord Canning upon having , on the 6 th day of July , been the only member of the Government who had been able to bring forward any of the measures promised at the beginning of the session which had obtained the sanction of the House of Commons . Ironically observing that it had gone through five editions , and the most remarkable metamorphoses , he said that ; nevertheless it contained a great deal of matter that required most serious consideration . This was the first direct interference of Parliament "with the internal constitution and management of either of the great universities ; and he contended that it went beyond what was necessary to effect the alterations
required in the discipline of the university . A measure of an enabling character , if introduced ' with a friendly feeling , and in due communication with the governing body , would have done all that was necessary . The university itself , however , had sought to amend its own constitution , and to extend its benefits . When he was in office , application was made to him for a charter enabling the university to deal with the Caroline statutes , to alter tlie constitution of the governing body , and to restrict in certain respects the law of mortmain . He advised , however , that a petition to the Crown for a charter should not be presented until an Act of Parliament had been passed of an enabling character ; but within
a month from that period he resigned office . The present Government then intimated their intention of dealing with the question of reform ; but beyond the recommendations of the royal commissioners tho university had no means of knowing what was expected from thorn . The university lost no time in applying themselves to tho consideration of those recommendations , and having done so , they issued a report , the merits of which deserved their lordships' most favourable regard . Complaining that the university had no knowledge whatever of the intentions and requirements of the Government ! until the 17 th March last , when the first bill was printed , ho compared the constitution of the gobodof
verning y the university as proposed by thebill and that proposed by tho . hebdomadal board . Tho result of the comparison was a conclusion that the body contemplated by the bill would prove useless , obstructive , and mischievous , whilst that proposed by tho university was more liberal in its character and more likely to produce unity of action The university hnd not manifested the sensitiveness ¦ which ho expected on the appointment of commissioners ; , but ho regarded it as a dangerous precedent ; , destructive to the independence of tho university As he did not desire to prevent legislation on thia subject , he should , abstain from opposing their appointment ; but lie should endeavour to place somo further limitation upon their powers . In committee ho should move several amendments , one of which would be , that the legislation of the colleges , to give
olR'ct to their own statutes , should bo with tho consent of their visitors . Ho should further object to tlio provision which required that no oath talcen by any officer of tho university , or of any college , ehojsld bo plcndablo in bar to tho authority of tho commissioners . Ho objected , too , to the establishment of privato halls , nnd contended that hie noblo friend had groatly exaggerated tho nocossnry expenses of a university education . He estimated thorn at less than onahnlf tho amount which had been stated , and ho denied that privato hulls could give eith er so good or so uhcap an education us tho colleges . They -would subvert and destroy tho discipline of tho university and establish mischievous distinctions ; whilst ho submitted that tho university might bo extended ! without them— -through moans which ho pointed out
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626 THE LEADER / [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), July 8, 1854, page 626, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2046/page/2/
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