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    1066 * THE LEADE IL [SATukiUY ,

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    HINTS TO NEW M. P.'S. PROSPECTS OF TITE ...

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    A Kciuow For Wullii Iikai/1'H O1t1ckrs. ...

    beings in health , and paying him an annual salary for so doing , but stopping bis payment during the illness of any one under his charge . We in civilized England might be imitators of a practice less rational . The principle , we imagine , might be beneficially applied in the working of public as well as private affairs ; Wide as is the gap between rulers and people , and Utopian as may be the desire for a nobly Internal government , we still indulge a hope'that a being made in " God ' s own image" shall be at least as well provided with the physical comforts necessary for his sustenance as the beast of burden .

    In the [ Registrar General ' s returns we lately read— " Mr . Lane , the medical attendant , writes on his certificates , ' The effluvia from the drain very offensive ; ' and Mr . Murray , the registrar , adds , ' I learned from informant that the drains mentioned are not the house drains , but a gullyhole , in connexion with the sewers , directly at the corner of the house . Another child in the family is now suffering from the same complaint . '" And the Times of Wednesday last recounts how two men repairing a drain perished under the very mischief which they went to correct . These reports are still of disasterously frequent occurrence . We do not feel it to be as necessary now as it would have been five or six years ago , to

    detail the peculiar character of the evils arising from bad ventilation and drainage ; those evils are become patent , and there are few of us who inhale the fragrance of a gully-hole or dead-well without knowing that we do but smell fever and premature death . W ^ e know these things well enough , and we appoint men to do the right thing—to eradicate the evil ; but it isn ' t done . There wants a sufficient motive . Why not try the application of the principle with which we started ? Create an organized body of active men , to be well paid during the proper performance of their functions , but to be direct sufferers when the certificate of a medical man should bear testimony to the inadequate fulfilment of their duties .

    Indeed , there are a number of men who already possess both knowledge and place ; apply it to them . Suspend the salary of the Commissioners of Sewers , or other health officers , during infectious fragrances or endemic diseases ; or , if they have not power enough , suspend the salaries of their superiors .

    1066 * The Leade Il [Satukiuy ,

    1066 * THE LEADE IL [ SATukiUY ,

    Hints To New M. P.'S. Prospects Of Tite ...

    HINTS TO NEW M . P . 'S . PROSPECTS OF TITE SESSION . Gentlemen , —Whileyouareprogressingthrough the barbarous rite of "taking the oaths" upon faiths , as " Christians" and " Koman-Catholics " ( for Parliament distinguishes ) , which you may vaguely entertain ; while you are sauntering about club rooms , yawning your scepticisms as to what is to become of Ministers , and lounging away your lftnging for the 11 th in November fogs ; you may have time and inclination for a few more hints and warnings , which , like my previous suggestions , may still be acceptable to you for their perfect unreserve . I flatter myself there is at leant this point in my

    remarks—bluntness . In a word , then , Gentlemen , I fancy that your feast of reason , at Manchester , was a , rnesH ; and I suspect from the look of the rehearsal , that the performance may b ( J a failure . Not that the casting of the parts does not seem adinimble ; and from Mr . Ceorgo Wilson , the benevolent : uncle of the piece ( why was his firm selected for

    [ Radical pledges ?) , who is to bless everybody at ( in autumn lmnqwet , to Mr . Marplot , M . I ' ., who is shyly to Hct everybody by the ears , and ho , as usual , ' keep ii |> the interest for Mr . Wilson , the selection does credit to Mr . Bright , hv . nijicjvr on Tuesday . But there is an objection I . start to you all at the outset . You Jire beginning as amateurs , Gentlemen . The Manchester banquet was only private thealrienls . You forget your and all too in

    author , the people , are eager making parts for yourselves . A | id there in another error I notice . Who is your . manager ? Not Mr . . Mright , mirely ; such a manager would be Charles Kean in a company—alwayH having the stage to himself . And even Wmajcmiuv af . f roi . i on . qua Ire pou ptc . x" would beat M r . Dinraeli out of his present yralu anut . on the sunny Hide of the House , I doubt your qualification for MarionotteH . Well for us , the strangers , jierhapn , if there were more sticks than " whips' among you .

    The result of the Manchester banquet ? Is there a Radical party for specific Radicalism ? I have read the speeches , and admire them properly ; wondering , however , why all you new M . P . ' s were brought there to hear the slight variation of Wilson , Cobden , Bright , and Gibson , upon the more stock entertainment- of Gibson , Bright , Cobden , and Wilson . Anything for a change , however . There were other speeches in the mere list of names—eloquent , though silent members , whose presence spoke of vast resources , each name representing a different principle , and

    the congregation reminding us of Sancho Panza s account of the muster of the peasant-knightseach new comer was the " most valiant , " on his own showing , and each had a different weapon ! The Radical armoury has no pairs . Radical politics are got together on the same system pursued by economical Germans at the fair—twenty bad razors are bought at a time , with the chance that there is one in the lot which will shave ! Still , it is true , there are some precautions taken .

    The rule is , that every gentleman is to regard party success in Parliament as a lottery ; and the word is passed that each is to take a different number—except to Mr . Hume , who goes halves with all . But there are some gentlemen high in regard—say Mr . Gardner , of Leicester—who act upon the cunning idea of the Parisian grisette , who took no ticket at all in the lottery , but still thought that "Ze Hasard" might bring her up a prize !

    Clearly , however , although the Radicals have not yet learned how to originate a parliamentary policy , they frequently find themselves in a party made for them by others ; and the attitude they have now assumed , strengthened on one side by ex post facto defiance of Lord Derby , and on the other by anticipatory sneers at Lord John Russell , being an attitude of preparation to be knocked down by the highest bidder , we must look , in enquiring into the chances of popular legislation , to the prospects of Tories , Whigs , and Peelites , on whose manofiuvres and fortunes the chances of

    helpless Radicals themselves are completely dependent . It was an American ( General Jackson ) who said that history was a " series of accidents , " implying that statesmen should consider themselves mere Micawbers—perpetually awaiting something to " turn up" ; and ax , leaoo i-t ia obvious that Radical statesmanship would reduce itself to the functions of shutting eyes and opening mouths—to bawl at and bully fortune . As it

    has been so it will be . It is still a question , not what will Moles worth , Roebuck , Cobden , WalmRley , Bright , or Osborne do ; but what will Sir James Graham bid—how far will Lord John Russell go—is Gladstone open to reason ( of the rougher sort ) — is the Duke of Newcastle in earnest P Let us , then , discuss the probabilities for Manchester Micawbers . Out of the vague and circuitous eloquence of that class of orators , let us endeavour to extract some fact we can rely

    on , and work upon . The pivot of the Manchester Banquet avhs an " if . " " If the Tory Government do so and so , " was the refrain of " the evening . But "if" the Tory Government should eventuate am a l / iberal Government—that contingency Mas insufficiently ealculated . And why not P " There is not ^ much heartiness of political sentiment in the Engli s h nation just at present : and a character for Liberalism ( as Sir James Graham arid Mr . Cardwell ought to know ) is easily got . It may be that Mr . Disraeli would prove himself to be an

    excessively dishonest man if he brought forward a budget " ( as Home people anticipate he will ) which should not only not re-tender Protection , but which should develop the principle of " I < Yeetrade" throughout our financial system . But would he not be forgiven ? Our morale for oiir statesmen is not very high . Peel did in 182 !) what Disraeli is ex period to do in IH 52 . In 1827 , Peel opposed Canning bo vehemently on tin ; question of Catholic Emancipation that ho carried Wellington and others out of Canning ' s

    cabinet with him ; mid people said that Peel ' s hostility broke ? Canning ' s heart—other people , however , attributing tliat usually not over sensitive Htatesman ' H death to catarrh . Canningdied : and in two yearn Peel passed Catholic Knmncipation , and as Wellington's oa . pers will surely show , not because either he or YVellington feared a civil war . Peel underwent , a good deal of abuse ; but be lived through it ; and rose the higher for all ( he opposition , which drove him into self-development . Are wo more precise in our principles

    now P The nation forgave Peel the inconsistent because Peel left off on the nation ' s side . Would not the inconsistency of Mr . Disraeli be equall profitable to us all—his own partv , whom he con siders first , included ? And if profitable woul d we not forgive it P Nemesis may revive in good time ; but meanwhile the unserious British nation only smiles at Mr . Disraeli ' s tmscrupulousness and in fact admires him all the more for having succeeded in spite of dishonesty . Mr . Cobden speaking for the whole Liberal House of Commons , had only one policy for enlightened Radilo ivxr israeu to

    cansm— uuiuptu . x ^ speak out Manchester will insist on retaining its opportunities for being important : and will not admi that Protection is dead . " We must first settle this question , " said Mr . Cobden ; as if JVTr Disraeli ' s last budget had not settled it as if the complete silence of Protectionists had not settled it ! Mr . Cobden obviously , in his speech on Tuesday , retorted on rny " Hints " to him : and he sneers at those who , as I do , call on him and his friends to push on beyond the formulas of 1846 into the real politics of 1852-3 . And , not believing that the Free-trade question is settled , Mr . Cobden scouts the notion of a

    Parliamentary organization of Radicals , and summons the nation simply to take Mr . Disraeli by the throat and to demand a Yes or No ; and while he , by implication , still expresses Ms faith in agitations for progress ( as if any further agitation were wanted to prove that the country wants two or three things—say , for one , extension of the suffrage ) , Mr . Bright , without offering , as a compensation , his aid in a warfare of Parliamentary

    tactics , elaborately announces that be for one is sick of agitation . Mr . Disraeli may rejoice in Mr . Cobden ' s obstinate blunder , and may congratulate the country party on the genteel intentions of Mr . Bright for the future ; and the result will be that while Manchester goes to Parliament to oppose , and to talk its silliness about " speaking ' out" ( nearly one year having been already fruitlessly spent in the endeavour to induce Ministers to confess their fraud , and it is not quite

    usual with men who are winning to cry " Peecavi" ) , Mr . Disraeli will unexpectedly talk " popular principles , " propose financial , aud social , and legal measures , which will force refe & UoH ^ intimating their delight by taking places—one way , at least , of suggesting to Mr . Cobden that " this question" needs no more settling . But this is not certain ; Ministers may not be wise ,

    may flounder , and get turned out . Is that probable P Lord Derby and Mr . Disraeli ( and the talk of society . seems to admit that they are united in objects and motives ) are perfectly masters of the position . They have already practically admitted that the policy of 184 , 0 is irrevocable ; and though they may make such an alteration in the Income Tax ( Schedulo A ) as would tax farmers on their profits and not on their rentals , as at present — this being a clever concession tew would object to—for the purpose of saving

    appearances as farmers' friends—it is an insult to tlie undcrstandingsofsiicliremnrkablykeen politician to suppose that they would court defeat by introducing any measure which a working majority of the 1 louse of Commons would not periom > have to vote for . They wish to keep olliw ' . clearly : they can only keep office by a bom financial liberal policy , and by a partial minusand 11

    sion of all the current popular claims ; u »' is every reason to suppose that , calculating iw confusion in the Opposition , they would remain , after a good Budget , the strongest 1 ' jirlia . ineiitni y party in the country . There are no circumstances around them which lend strength to their opp > - neiits—the Whigs . The country is unwonted prosperous—this prosperity is likely to continue ^ , ind we know that , the English nation w n < " - theoretical in politics when it is easy u » 1 " ,. j The Poelites waver , and would join a » llW (! m ;' ito

    Tory government . Lord Palniorstoii , a p < " - nality of mark in the nation , and who has a r < -l t « , tioii for avoiding sinking ships ( some pn'l supposing that he arranged his cU ; Mwlonjr « thJ / Whig government ) , ^ unpledge , am . w > doubtless , join hi * forces to h « old < " < ' < ' ,, profc ^ , tho member for Bucks if j . » *«" » ,, lively gentleman at all secure ol being <» 1 < lur ()( . by liie country . Against the personal l" ^ " * llor . 1 Derby neither that of Mir . lain . * <» nlM nor of Lord John Russell can bo niatcliotl . ¦ vosft landed , chu * ch , and " gentry , " witlunucn

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 6, 1852, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06111852/page/14/