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Leader (1850-1860), 15th May 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 13, PUBLIC MEN AND "PRIVATE" ADMIN ISTtt ATI...

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      The Independent Liberal Pabty. A. Hundre...

      bring them " into contempt with the country . "I see , " Mr . Clay added , " but one solution of the difficulty—that the "Whigs v ? ho follow Lord Palmerston . must shake hands with those who are attached to Lord John . Russell . Both must then take a wide step in advance to meet the Radicals , and must meet them on something like equal terms in the formation , of a Government . " This was the spirit of the first meeting . At the second , held on " Wednesday last , no formal resolutions were adopted , and the discussioa derived a colour from the events which appear to be forcing on a new Parliamentary crisis . At the third , the impending crisis in Parliament hushed every other

      question , and , while Mr . Bright defended the Cabinet , Liberals of Mr . Buncombe ' s stamp agreed to go with Mr . Cardw <|} l into the lobby . There has been in existence , for a considerable time , a committee of parliamentary Liberals , with whom originated the plan of appointing two whippers-in . to keep the party informed upon all matters affecting its organized action , and to assist in establishing apolitical concert among the members before every important debate . It may ^ be hoped , therefore , that we shall no longer hear of Ballot motions rejected without a discussion , and of a parliamentary Liberal , upon asking leave to introduce an important "bill , being deserted by his seconder , shouted down l ) y his friends , confuted by a Treasury speech , which it is impossible for him . to hear , and thus made to contribute towards a Conservative

      triumph . Two grand objects may be accomplished by the Independent members if they do not tire in their attempts to consolidate themselves into a working party . They may wield immense parliamentary power , and act vigorously upon the public mind , and they may compel a reform ia the composition of Cabinets . It is simply owing to their disunion that no Administration has hitherto been formed representing the opinions , principles , and talents of the great Liberal party , that forty families have monopolized the great offices of state for forty years ; that courtly influences are obeyed when

      popular influences are despised ; that cliques and compacts dishonour the very theory of constitutional government . All - this it is in the power of the independent Liberals to amend if they go to work without egotism or apathy , and especially if the most adroit of their immber are capable of resisting a temptation , to sink the party , and accept the first offer of a service under the Whigs . Some there are , we fear , in this expectant attitude ; but if the widening of a Government is to consist merely in the absorption of any Bernal Osborne willing to be gagged by a secretariat , the process will only damage and demoralize the Liberal

      organization . The resolution , " that any Government wishing to have the confidence of the Liberal party should be established on a broader- basis , " means more than this , or it means nothing at all . Much time has been sacrificed to the dilatory indifference of the independent Liberals . la the middle of their second session they are preparing to move . Their time for preparation , however , will in all probability be short , since their votes arc now challenged upon a question afTcctingthc duration of the existing Government . Mr . Bright , we think , expressed the universal sentiment of the Liberal party when he said that no reason existed

      for prematurely dissolving the actual Ministry ; but if a decision must be taken on a point involving something ; of far more vital importance than the calculations of party—the security and regular government of the Indian Empire—and if members act upon their convictions , a change may be precipitated oven sooner than , upon general grounds , he considered desirable . Is , then , the Liberal party in readiness for such a contingency ? There have been negotiations , and the Whig leaders thoroughly comprehend the terms upon which the independent members will support them ; but , for the present , wo can offer no satisfactory statement of results .

      No. 425, May 15, 1858.] Ijljl?. Leader.....

      No . 425 , May 15 , 1858 . ] iJLJL ? . LEADER .. 469

      Public Men And "Private" Admin Isttt Ati...

      PUBLIC MEN AND " PRIVATE " ADMIN ISTtt ATION S . We have new revolutions of hidden statesmanship . The great accusation against Lord Ellenborough in iact is , that he has not paid sufficient attention to the private portion of official writing . He had Lord Canning ' s Proclamation , and he had a right to judge il- ; but ho is accused of not bavins sought instruction from private notes addressed to the other gentlemen wlio have been in office . Years back we exposed the extent to winch this practice ot concealed statesmanship has gone . The correspondence between each department and its outlying

      subordinates is carried on by notes , by despatches which may or may not be read , or by private letters which profess to be intended exclusively for the information , of the officials . In India this style of correspondence has been developed to enormous dimensions . The correspondence between the several departments extends to masses which would scarcely be conceived by the purely English mind ; every document being repeated at almost every exchange of letters . But besides those public and recorded communications , there has been growing up a literature consisting of purely private letters ,

      and the practice has extended from the Govewior-General downwards . No gentleman has carried it so far as Lord Canning , who may be said to have reflected his public correspondence in a constant accompaniment of private correspondence , modifying , amending , contracting , enlarging , and reversing the public and responsible instructions "by private and irresponsible suggestions . 3 ? or this is a form of administration which completely avoids the inconveniences of publicity and responsibility . The practice has now been carried yet a degree further / In explaining the nature of the letter which Lord Ellenborough is reproved for not seeking , Mr . ¦ "Vernon Smith says that it was not a private note addressed to him as a minister , ' but it was a letter addressed to him as a private friend . If so ,

      he was certainly not bound to produce it . But let us understand this statement . It would appear that public administration has come to be a matter discussed between ' "' private friends , " as an affair of their own . Lord Canning issues a Proclamation substantially confiscating the seigneury of the land of Oiide . It is a document which needs explanation , fully at a . convenient time , but in * some degree at once . It is not , however , thought necessary to make this explanation to the public Minister , though it is necessary to tlie private friend . In . short , the true spirit and intent of a great act of confiscation in Central India is a merely private matter . We suspected this view of public affairs , and we believe that it has existed for some time . It has

      been said that the administration of this country has been so long carried on by forty families and their connexions , that they regard it as a family property . Their 3 iolding , indeed , is subjected to certain usages , as many a baronial tenure has been . A great corporation has retained its ' "holding on condition of counting certain hobnails ; a Lord of the Manor is obliged to give a flitch of bacon in some cases ; others nave been under compulsion to give ahorse , or to > lend a certain number of armed men on demand . In the same way , the forty families

      are obliged , upon certain occasions , to consult the Commons ; but all these little matters can be arranged . Even the consulting of the Commons can be managed through agents , who see to the right composition of that body , and lake care that it cannot do mischief or encroach upon the power of the families . Thus -the administration of England , as well as of India , is settling down into a family matter ; and it will be bad taste as well as bad manners to pry into family correspondence .

      These facts are the great arguments against any mesalliances . If statesmen will unite themselves politically to persons who arc beneath their caste , they must cither admit profane people to the family confidence , or they must occasionally break the routine by excluding improperly promoted officials from , initiation into the family letter-writing .

      Opposition Under Difficulties. Tiieitb I...

      OPPOSITION UNDER DIFFICULTIES . TiiEitB is some instruction to be derived from the last election wliich has taken place in Paris . The candidate of the Opposition , M . Hmcst Picard , was totally unknow 11 to the constituency , and even to most party leaders . He came forward only a few hours before the period fixed by law and took the oath . No address was issued in his name . All the Government journals received orders not to mention his existence . The only means of publicity at his command were the Sihclc and the Pressc , which simply stated his name as candidate for the Opposition . A few hills bearing his name were pasted on the walls . Yet , in spite of this , he very nearly obtained the majority ; and as other candidates were in the field and got votes there was no return .

      A second election , therefore , became necessary . The Government did its best to agitate the circumscription in favour of M . Eck ; and , as before , ordered its journals to mention no other name . This time , however , the manoeuvre was unsuccessful . The existence of M . Picard had become known ; and , although many Itcpublicans still

      preached abstention , the Liberal party showed itself sufficiently interested in the result to come up to the poll in greater numbers than before , and to give the previously unknown candidate a majority of fifteen hundred . The fab inference from this is , that the means at the disposal , of the French Government for throwing obstacles in the way of the expression of public opinion are very formidable indeed . The Opposition is forbidden to meet in any numbers , or in any public way , forbidden to issue addresses , forbidden to make use of the press in an effective manner . It

      can only attempt to arrive at a common understanding by means of interchanged words or letters ; and we all know how difficult this must be in a constituency of thirty thousand voters . In England , despite the press , and public meetings , and committees , and agents , it is often found difficult to move twothirds of the electors of a tolerably sized "borough . Where should we be if deprived of all these means ? There is nothing , it seems , astonishing in the fact that , except in some very few instances , the Imperial Government always carries the day . We believe that throughout the country its candidates rarely unite much more than a quarter of the electors ; but , as the Opposition generally abstains , partly from deep hostility to the imperial

      regime , partly from , fear , chiefly , perhaps , from the impossibility of coming to any agreement , power triumphs nevertheless . A very curious fact has been ascertained , namely , that a large proportion of the peasantry , who most willingly voted for Napoleon III . as Emperor are disposed , if allowed to exercise their free will , to give their votes for what are called " red" candidates . They do not even now see through the false pretences of liberalism on w * luch Louis Bonaparte obtained his throne . There can be little doubt , however , that , in the course of time , the Opposition will again come to have a clear and defined object ; and then the Government will be placed between the alternatives of changing its policy or perishing .

      The State Ball And Its Dress-¦ ¦ ; . ¦• ...

      THE STATE BALL AND ITS DRESS-¦ ¦ ; . ¦• ; . ¦¦ . MAKER . ¦ ; . - . ¦ ¦ A State Ball at Buckinghain Palace is a picture all the details of -which are rich , and bright , and graceful ; the figures living types of the social refinements of the time ; the beauty exalted to the last step between the tangible and the ideal ; the inner spirit of the whole scene the poetry of ordinary life . Cynics may sneer ; but a State Ball in that palace is a beautiful scene—a dream of fancy realized . Nineteen hundred guests were invited by the Queen to the State BalL on Monday evening ;; but the sense of number was entirely overborne by that of the harmony in which the individual , while retaining a distinctive personality , blended with the crowd . The flooding light over' all was smooth and tender ; the music seemed as if made by the motion of the scented air—it was so spontaneous , so thoroughly a part of the life of the beautiful picture . Nothing could surpass the harmony of colour which the eye took in at every point of view ; in texture everything that met the sight was in perfect keeping ; there was not a discordant form . A rainbow-tinted mist with sparkles of diamond-light playing through and above it ! ' How has this delightful effect been produced ? What is it that jrives the tone to the picture ? . It

      is , above all else , the beauty of the women , heightened and completed by their dresses . Beauty " unadorned" is a * dream of Arcady ; living in the present , \ vc all acknowledge the added charm of dress fitting and beautiful ; a woman elegantly dressed—as the phrase is—we all admit to he externally at her best , that is , for ordinary occasions . But it is on great and extraordinary occasions , such as a State Ball , thai , we ) nost thoroughly realize the value of dress as means for setting oil *

      to the greatest advantage the beauty of woman ; and we use art freely and admiringly to give completeness to the adornment of natural charms . Nay , we arc never satisfied till wo liavc exhausted all the means at our command for the accomplishment of this reasonable object—or till we think we have . Unfortunately , our views 011 the subject , of woman ' s dress and adornment have been limited by the barriers set up by Vaalxion—a system of patents and exclusivcncss applied to a subject on which reason and taste dictate that there should bo the

      most perfect freedom . Tlio beautiful picture noon which wo have been looking at tlio State Ball is the triumph of Fashion ; it has filled us with pleasure while looking upon if ;; but is it perfect ? lias Eashion done for every beauty in that throng

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 15, 1858, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15051858/page/13/