On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
nolicv— = wijfcn £ SS suck . suggestive measles as & ^^!^ m ^ Oa tb ^«^ ipsalMMJ . fe ^^ fewt . ^ ^ w ^ ias ^ ord ^ jtmi ^ JJWJ . jgnoTOBt of Cabinet ^ nyete-: r ies ^ iB ^ oani » oii Jftsaftrt , though we . aurna ^ that they are wore advanced—at least they were parties < t * the Refor « vBillof last session . And , more-fa ^ ate Jfcajr ^ Whigs , the PeeKtes are not only the " liberal party , " but they are ,, thje intellect of the Liberal party * Mr . Gladstone is acknowledged on all hands to
be the . £ i |« fe . pesapnage in the House Qr Commons jspTMngirom the middle class , the aristoewktie iaaytinct has detected his tendencies , and the aristocracy hate him . His colleagues are the only men * e . f < qfl&pial , prestige , to whom the country can look » s the successors of the weary ^«* e jjiiotii statesmen who are all now at sixties apdsqsenfos . The Duke of Newcastle , honest and deyo . tsd . . a politician , eloquent as a debater , laborious as a man of business , is distinguished by ^ his popular sympathies and his
ambition to s « rve the country , in the sense df obeying the voice of the country and not in the sense of securing family or class predominance . Mr . Slbuex HEB 3 KBT , happilyforhimself separate ^ , ^ ikethevPuke of Newcastle , from the oligarchical eonspiraoies of Whigs and Tories ^ is q 4 ^ wt . not in , the aristocracy : bound up with the Peelite policy , his whole career
indicates a conviction that the great nobles cannot stand merely on their titles and their wealth . Aria , fourthly , there is Mr . Card-1 VELL , a man of the middle class , born / to be the Minister of Commerce in a commercial country , i With four such leaders—four such men to place in front office—the ^ " national party" would be omnipotent . Who will forbid " the banns ? -
The national party means nothing that can rendqir . its organisation a difficulty . It eontemplates a revolution of the political system ; but it is a revolution to which the common sense ! bf the country assents . It does not mean the destruction of the aristocracy ; it means merely the destruction of aristocratic ascendancy . It means , not the annihilation of aristocracy , but of oligarchy . It means , * ML- En . gla ^ nd shal ^^ lect of iJEngland , the nonour of England , the morality of England . We'have the men—and there is the opportunity , Shall we miss it ?
Untitled Article
THE DUTY OF INDEPENDENT MEMBERS . Tjpeb issue between the people and the Government is every day narrowing , and the time is rapidly coming when , we are to ascertain whether the public is as far short of its duty , as the Government has proved—as corrupt . as " rthe system . " In the brief debate before ifche moving of the army estimates , on
SMferi'day , the question was very distinctly laid down by Mr . Layabd . He admitted what every man who probes the subject must admit , that an inquiry carried on by the House of Commons into the practical administration of the army , even with reference to grievances , must cripple the Executive Government . The first majority in favour of Mr . Roebuck ' s motion was a vote of no
confidence in the late Ministry ; and ; the 2 ? aemejisto : n" Ministry would have had a rj ght to claim a reversal or suspension of that vote , in one or other of two caseseither if ii presented new men not amenable ¦ J ; o ; tixe . ce ^ sdrious inquiry , or totally new xupajsures . superseding the necessity of intaiury . > The Ministers undoubtedly exhibit S degree of activity which would have been Teiy we ^ conve at the earlier stages of the "tear . But J ^ it . ¦ would be greatly under * flptttagf the ftofcwll complaint of the publio , to ' suppose that ithe Bfowness of the siege
at Sobas ^ opol is b » w Hie g * ia « mwe < 'the fay . 'She amatory proceedfegs these , the At , of ^ jthiogme efilQient ad ^ wistratipn , and , tte . dieajaters ; that h . ave resulte ^ gnevQUs * s they are , are only the meanSiof ^ closing to-the English people the really painful , facts . These larger . facts may be thus set down : the departments organised to serve , the public ^ rft » ent the service they were destined to
execute ; the Ministers of the public _ a * eisoo feeble to compel the departments to do-their duty ; the Sovereign is forced ; by a certain ( routine to . continue alternating w a . ronnp . ox three sets of statesmen who have proved tneir inability to grapple with the enterprises exacted by the country ; and , finally , the BObost painiul fact of all , the Houseof Commons , as it is at present constituted , cannot present better men , and demands for them the acceptance of the Savereign . It is that state of things which is the grievance . It is
not the disastrous siege of Sebastopel , W * the impregnability of the Treasury bench against all but those privileged with the entree . There may be many reasons why the army in the Crimea was too weak for its work , and yet the work could not be delayed ; why a : &ufficAency © f . provisions , of clothing , and of shelter was sent out , and yet they did not reach , their- destination—the long peace and the habits of routine tending to harden the
iSfeffeiif we admit the recognised rule . of Ministerial appointment , wedo , jiQii see what we ahonld gain by turning ottt Lord Paimeestoit . The Qtjebtt mu ^ t then send for the next set in the small circle of selection , and that - of course would be -Lo * d JX&rbx , with Mr . Disbaeli and others . Now , if those gentlemen are not seventy-years of age qjx an average , too many of tHem are men of such a afcamp . as to have attained the cnara ^' teristieof that age precocioiKily . They have
¦ not even the same amount of energy and vitality that is displayed by Lord Palmerston" , their senior by the calendar alone . Beally vigorous membera are not sent up by the country , or if . they are found in the House of Commons , they are not adopted by the House of Commons . Lord PaiiMEestoj ^ treats it as .. a joke to make a Cabinet which shall not include the iamuies , or the seventy . year-old colts ; and when the pleasant Viscount taunts jfcx . JuAXASJ ) with , his unnamed Cabinet , the ; House of Commons pushes home the taunt with laughter . The honourable
House does think it ridiculous not to have a Cabinet of seventy ^ year- old statesmen . Mr . ItA . XABP , fherefore , and those who think with him , must carry on their quarrel , not agaiu&t the Government , but against the House of Commons , and , if necessary , - must appeal from the Commons to the people . Her Majesty is only allowed to " aendT for" some few out of particular cliques j and the House of Commons is prepared to stand by the members _ of those cliques in supporting the
sysexperienced officials against new ways . All this has been pleaded , and might be admitted ; and it would excuse the state of things in the Crimea . But it was of so much importance to grapple with this master evil , that the ^ public has now a ri g ht to make an accusation against Ministers for not doing so effectually . The announcement that they are sending out commissioners would _ do very well , if any one fault were the thing to be
tew . jjefc men like Mr . liAYASD and Mr . Lowe "display anything like Vigorous , patriotism , independence , and true statesmanship , and unless they consent to be tamed into subordinate ^ pincers , they shall be treated as persons excluded from political influence . Mr . iiATARD will get nothing by making speeches to prove the incompetency of the septuagenarians . He may be perfectly familiar with the ground in the Eaat , which others only know by reading or talk . He may be ,
examined ; but it is all faulty . The commissioners selected do not increase confidence in a plan of instituting separate inquiries and separate offices . The Commissariat is to he routed out , but by whom ? By Sir . JTohst MalSTceiT ^ , who is seventy years of age . A chief is to be appointed to the transport s . erviee ,--b . ut . w . ho-is-itP- CaptainXlHBiSTJJi ., seventy years of age , with such a catarrh that he cannot leave his ship after dark- * ra sailor who cannot face the wind ! Lord
as he is , a man ot so much earnestnesg , courage , and organic energy , as to subdue , by sheer force of will and mastery of spirit ; , . tbe jEMJribes l ^ tdNiwO ^^ i ^ to ^^ tudes of Nineveh . He may be prepared to speak the truth about the position of the country in Parliament . But these are not qualities * recognised as essential to English , statesmen . To truckle to those in power , to fall in with the freemasonry of " the system , " and to promote the alternation of gentlemen to be " sent for " - ^ the se are tb , e
E . AOLAW has got an inefficient staff , and it is propcoed to send over an old gentleman- ^ - General Bimbson—to superintend the staff , and to « recommend" Ha . ohjA . tx what to do . This is literally copying the custom of the Laputans , whose statesmen had an attendant with a flapper to call their attention to the necessary Imsiness of the moment . General Simpson" is appointed flapper to KagiiAN . We , therefore , have promise , should these
true qualities for English statesmanship as the privilege of a caste . Mr . Lowe , who had been accustomed to wield . a popular . assembly in New South WaJ . es—who had seen the workings of British institutions in that school which was so instructive to Lord Biowr , a British colony — -comes into , the House only to find how much English representatives have degenerated from the type of their forefathers , and how little a real patriot is at home in the Senate that sits at Westminster .
old gentlemen reach their destination m safety , and should not die or should not breaa ddwn , that there may be improvements in the transport , in the commissariat , the staff , &c . ; but the public service out of which these departments sprout will still be left in its Btate of vitiated organisation ; and by dabbling at the extremities with very elderly haqds , Government confesses that it has neither "fche intention nor the wish to go to the root of the evil . It is this of which the
We much doubt if anything is to be carried , through in that place . The system has to be altered , not only in ihe departments , but in Parliament . If Mr . Layabd and Mr . Lowe , and men like them , intend to reverao the present state i © f things , and to rescue their country , they must bo prepared to do to
public has a right to complain . But , as we observed last week , there really are—and Lord PAtMEBSTON may discover the fact if he will search—men available for the , public service who are less thaw seventy years of age . It may , to certain experienced statesmen , appear rash to say so ; but we are convinced that our assertion would he borne out by the facts . Threescore years and ten is ithe age of men for doing ? rough . and » eady work according to the new Ministerial interpretation !
more than to denounce a Ministry a House of Commons—to denounce an Artful Dodger to a . CnABWSY Batjjs ! Thero is plenty © l discontent out of doors ; plenty of genuine feeling ; plenty of latent resolve to do what Ministers and Commons have , neither thp heav . t nor wish , to d , o—lay the axe to the foundation of . the ,. present system . Ajad if the member-a of the Commons who see their duty
Untitled Article
***> yitB IiaiA-Il ^ [ gATUBPAT ,
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 24, 1855, page 182, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2079/page/14/
-