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Leader (1850-1860), 6th November 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 17, '' v . / ?^lThlTr "?l "fflT f t' Pi ¦ •jJHUI.ll XllUlilXJ *

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    • 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.

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      ^ ,; «„. Wnv,Mnn, Fi. 1858.1 The Leader....

      ^ , ; «„ . wnv , mnn , fi . 1858 . 1 THE LEADER . 1193

      In Consequence Of The Great Importance A...

      In consequence of the great importance and the crowing interest attached to the subject of REFORM IN THE REPRESENTATION , A Series of Original Articles , entitled "Pacts , Thoughts , and Suggestions on , the Coming Reform : Bill , by a Practical Legisiator , " will commence in the Leader on Saturday next , the 13 th instant , and be continued weekly .

      Tlie Articles On The Royal Family Of Pru...

      Tlie articles on the Royal Family of Prussia having been much approved of , No . 1 of a New Series , entitled " BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GERMAN PItTNCES , " by the same able and well-informed writer , will appear also on Saturday next , and be continued weekly .

      Notices To Correspondents. "N"O Notice C...

      NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . "N " o notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence . Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by tlie name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . It is iinpossiblo to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the communication . AVc cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

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      ^-^ Vy — • Saturday, November 6, 1858.

      ^ - ^ Vy — SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 6 , 1858 .

      '' V . / ?^Lthltr "?L "Fflt F T' Pi ¦ •Jjhui.Ll Xllulilxj *

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      There Is. Nothing So Revolutionary, Beca...

      There is . nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep " things fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dk . Ajuiolj ) . ^

      Probably Form Prominent Items In The Bil...

      probably form prominent items in the bill oi' fare . But tlie jiii'ce do resistance , as French cooks call the substantial dish of the fensfc , will assuredly be the long-expected measure of Parliamentary Reform . How far it will go , where it will stop , what it may contain , in tho iirst instance , and what may be added to it in the course of legislative cooking , no man at tlie present moment really knows , or will undertake to tell . For ourselves , we lean Jo tho opinion that in the coming Parliamentary biddings for popular favour , tho upset prieo , as auctioneers call it , is more likely to bo a liberal than a stingy one . Among a considerable section of tho Tories an idea has long prevailed tha't

      MINISTERIAL MOVEMENTS TOWARDS REFORM . TiiE Cabinet having reassembled this week , we may well believe tha t , their attention will be speedily fixed upon the measures to be prepared for next session , on which their fate as a Government depends . A settlement of the Church Rate question upon some reasonable basis , considerable reduction in the estimates , a scheme for the reconstruction of our bankruptcy system , and a bill to simplify the sale and transfer of real property , will

      it is not their party whoso influcnoo would bo most materially affected by a general widening of tho franchise . They believe sincerely , that what with their vast territorial away , and what with tho iniluonces of the universities and tho . Church , and what with tho aid of a hirgo portion of tho bunking and brewing and ship-building interest , they would be quite as well able to hold their own with the Wluga , as they now aro at , tho hustings and tho poll , No doubt there is a largo olass of Conservatives "who still adhcro to tho Eldon and Crokcr version of things , and who would , if they could , havo no Reform at all . But , intellectually , this seotion is utterly helpless either in Parliament or in tho fu'ossji and after what we havo heard during the »\ st six wook 3 in tho way of preparations for "

      yielding to circumstances" aiid sd forth , it is clear that even these long impenitent and impracticable ones are coming at length to a sense of their condition , and that from them no serious obstacle is to be encountered . . And with us we own that the substantial and comprehensive extension of the franchise is the one thing which outweighs by far all others in our estimate of a Reform Bill . Give us that fully and fairly , and everything else will of necessity follow , if not immediately , ere long ; that is to say , everything else that is " really useful and needful . Redistribution of scats , voting by ballot , cheapening of elections , effectual measures to check corruption ,

      are all good things in their way \ but none of them separately , nor all of them together , are to be named in comparison with a broad and bold enfranchisement of the intellect and industry of the country . Wrong-headed on many points , as some of our present rulers in times past have been , we are willing to believe that they are fast coining to see the matter in this light , and that they are making up their minds to take their stand on the right side as far as the full and free concession of electoral rights is concerned . We do not say that unanimity prevails , or is to be expected , amongst the members of'the Government on this fundamental question . We should not be the least surprised at

      learning any day that dull and obstinate men like Lord Hardwicke , and Mr . Walpole had refused to go with their colleagues , and declined to assist them in carrying their bill . But the mere fact of such withdrawals , should they occur , would in itself do much to commend the project to public approbation . Lord Chelmsford may oppose all liberal progress in this matter , as he did on the Jew Bill ; but it will be contrary to human nature to expect him to resign the Great Seal on a point of j ) olitical conscience . History hardly contains a precedent for such a proceeding . Neither do we imagine that a shrewd and'ambitious man like . Lord Salisbury would keep scruples that were troublesome " . " Lord Derby himself is by some supposed to be more apt

      to be stiff-necked in 1859 than he was in 1833 , when he was specially charged witli the conduct of the Irish Reform Bill , and which he contrived most effectually to spoil . But it is hard if he has learnt nothing m his hitherto disappointing and disappointed political career . Were We to venture on a surmise at tills early stage of tlie business , it would not be the carriage of any Earl or Marquis that we should name as stopping the way . We purposely abstain from entering upon the topic to which we arc tempted to refer ; but our readers may be satisfied that if events threaten to justify our suspicions , no consideration of conventional reserve shall withhold us from giving them the plainest and most unqualified utterance .

      Meanwhile , it is the aim of those who seek to snatch the handling of the Reform question out of the hands of the present Ministers to create an impression that the latter will not be prepared at the commencement of the session to bring forward a bill . They hope by this to have it believed that they themselves are the only sincere reformers , and to prepare the public mind for receiving with ridicule and contempt any proposition which may eventually emanate from tho existing 'Cabinet . They ealculuto probably , moreover , that such a belief as they seek to diffuse will predispose unwary Liberals to cuter the more readily into party

      combinations for a change of ministry early in the approaching session . Their mode of dealing with the question will consequently bo to lay an effective stress upon points like . wholesale redistribution of scats and the ballot , which they take for granted will not bo included in the ministerial scheme . It will be our duty , as the general diaoussion proceeds , to deal with all such discussions separately and . in detail , and to examine carefully how far any of them can bo justly considered essential . But we cannot too strongly warn all who have cause of peaceful progress * at heart not to bo caught by

      plausible projects for turning the subject of doctoral change to mere party acoount . It is essentially one which deserves , ami wjiich noods , to bo dealt with irrespective of party interests-and combinations . Whigs and Tories huvo alike trilled with it , and arc alike unworthy of being implicitl y trusted with its euro . Neither of thorn , us political parties , would have oyor moved an inch in tho right direction , and neiLhor of them will now go as far as public happiness and welfaro require , without the steady application of pressure from without . With that pressure wo can hardly fail to obtain a good Franchise Bill before many months roll by .

      Manchester Wares. Manchester Is On The M...

      MANCHESTER WARES . Manchester is on the market . There ought to be no lack of bidders at the auction . For any enterprising young politician , with moderate capital and no encumbrances , we consider the above as a most eligible investment . It is" true that'doubts have been expressed , as . to the solvency of the house , owing to the failure of their American connexions ; while the fact of their having recently dismissed their old and valued foreman , without notice or retiring pension , has g iven rise to unpleasant surmises . At the same time the stock in trade is standard , though somewhat out of date . The

      value , too , of the good-will is considerable , especially in the manufacturing districts ; and finally with fresh capital and improved management , the concern is capable of indefinite extension . In spite of all these inducements the sale hangs fire . Political capitalists fight shy of the speculation . In default of competition Manchester is likely to be knocked down at his own price to the only bidder in the field . The representation of the great manufacturing metropolis , the birthplace of the League , the head-quarters of the Manchester party , is about to fall , without a contest , into the untried hands of Mr . Bazlcy . In the local aspect of the Manchester election there is not much to interest' the outer

      world-There were so many things deserving of praise in the late member for Manchester , that a man must be singularly wrong-minded who chose in his instance to break through the traditional precept as to speaking of the dead . It was his misfortune , and not his fault , that he was placed in a position for which nature had not qualified him . From his numerous personal and civic merits his friends assumed too hastily that he was fitted to shine in public life . Few men , indeed , could have usurped the seats of Bright and Miiner Gibson without suffering from the comparison ; and of these few ,

      Sir John Potter was decidedly not one . " The Emperor Otlio , " said Tacitus , " would have been esteemed , consensu omnium digmes imperid nisi imperasset . " You might paraphrase the remark , and apply it to this occasion by saying that all Manchester would have thought Sir John Potter the model of a public man , if he had not happenedto get a seat in Parliament . Of his presumptive successor not much is known beyond his own circle . He has taken an active part in electioneering matters , is a strong partisau of the League , and a disciple of the Manchester school . If not

      Gamaliel himself , he has sat at Gamaliel ' s feet . The election politics of Manchester deserve more importance from a negative than a positive point of view—from what did " not" occur than from what actually took place . If the pure Manchester school were to recover the ground tliey had lost at the last elections , now was their opportunity . The Palmerston mania was extinct—the idol was overthrown ; and the converted idolators sought to atone by the iittcrness of their present scepticism the ardour of their past devotion . The general ostracism of the independent Liberals had been condemned by the verdict of the country—the new Potter and Turner regime had been calculated to shed a kind of retrosnoctive lustre on the old dynasty—the political

      influence , the peculiar reputation of Manchester , had avowedly declined—tho recent successes and renewed activity of Air . Bright , all tended to further the reaction of feeling . Yet , in spite of all thesefavouring circumstances , tho attempt to restore tho exiled parly by acclamation proved a complete failure . At the meeting , which decided tho fate of the election , Mr . Wilson—the old champion of the League—was received with signs of disapprobation . The proposal to offer tho seat to Cobdon was heard coldly . A secondhand statement of his probable refusal to stand a contested election was welcomed as an excuse to cover the retreat , Mr . Buzley was accepted as a compromise , and the League coup d c ' tat was tried and failed .

      We have before now done full justice to tho high merits and'grcat services of tho Manchester party . It is , thcrcforo , with no unfriendly f eeling we would point out tho fact and causes of their failure . Since the repeal of tho corn-la \ vs they have steadily lost ground in popular oBfimftUon . Their peace * predictions havo been falsi"od- —tlioir economical proposals havo bocu unsworud ty *« - creased expenditure—thoir party , has > * m scaUcrect to tho win ! ls . Those fads oonstiluto of < l ! c" 1 S ( j 1 fcs u strong pnma JUcio ,, rc * unmliuJi tJiu they havo been going on a wruiiff . took . I'or the Ins o , * yoars their efforts havo bcon devoted to tho reduc-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 6, 1858, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06111858/page/17/