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Leader (1850-1860), 20th March 1852, Edition Country of 2, Page 2

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      Monday Arrived, Has Passed, Arid The Der...

      not been Irish enough in his votes , haying opposed the Maynooth grant , and supported Lord John , who now ranks with Cromwell i * nd Castle--reagh in Irish abhorrence' ! . ' . Jfe b ^ ftfceaV . liixqufieM northward in search of a seat . The conversion of the French 5 per Cents , which took the petits rentiers by storm a fSg | W days sinc ; e , was one of those measures which ha ^ lMpeh predicted

      andannounced , but contradicted ov $ jr and over again , by the Moniteur , so long as its disclosure was inconvenient . The pros and the cons of a measure involving so many public points of policy , and $ q large a field of private interests , are not easily to be stated : it is not easy to assent to the sweeping opposition of the DeT > ats 3 nor is it possible to concur with the more sweeping approbation of the Constitutionel . A measure that makes so serious

      an inroad on the hard savings of small tradesmen , and even of the working classes ( many of whom were , in ' 48 , compelled to accept rentes for a reimbursement of their savings banks deposits , ) and that strikes at the resources of so many charitable institutions , must needs arouse a tempest of complaints , and what is more formidable , a deep and sullen undercurrent of distrust and discontent . But does it relieve the finances of the State ? if

      so , the operationy in itself , is certainly not , whatever the Dtbats may say , illegal or unjust : it is not even unusual , as we know in England ; but in France the holders of the Five per Cents , maintain that there was an implied engagement ever since * 97 , never to reduce these securities : still , if it relieves the State ? But to what extent ? to little more than half a million sterlingto little more than will pay the self-appointed Civil List of the dictator !

      This measure , then , will unsettle and disturb still more the finances of the country , paralyze the confidence of fundholders , and not be atoned for ( as appears by the estimates just decreed ) by reduced expenditure . The military and naval estimates are increased ; so are the " extraordinary works : " and the difference presented in these estimates in favour of tlie receipts is , we need scarcely say cooked , " as our correspondent informed us weeks ago it would be , by important " omissions . " Reduced taxation is rendered daily more impossible .

      The triumphant election of Carnot by a second majority of more than 3000 is an unmistakable protest . Rumours are rife , as usual , of the coming Empire ? What matters it ? Louis Bonaparte will have his day : but like Balzac ' s Peau de Chagrin , it shrinks even with every fresh gratification- —nay , with every new lust , of his disordered

      ambition . The clergy seem to be half afraid of taking their share of the prey . The game is in their hands , and they are afraid to play it out . They know that in France no power is so ephemeral as theirs . The Revolution of February respected the Church : the Church betrayed the Revolution . The lesson is not lost .

      The young Emperor of Austria has been playing the sailor on the Adriatic . It is amusing to here of this modern Canute , that he astonished all the sailors byremaining quite " calm andfirm" upon the deck in a gale of wind , and was not at all seasick . Verily , a " divinity doth hedge" your Kaiser , and supplies him with sea-legs and a sea-stomach The downfall of Rosas , the dictator of the Argentine Republic , was brought about by the fleet , army , and money of Brazil . The River Plate

      question , which for fifteen years has baffled the diplomacy , and even the arms , of England , has now been settled—at least , seriously modifiedwithout our interference , it may be , against our interests . Certainly our influence cannot be very great there at present , for the past policy of Palmerston in that remote region was even more feverishly v * --ftWfcjambi guous than his European exploits . The A / a ^ hS ®^ affair wft 8 > from first tolflst > an almost inu } y ^^^ X ^ QlWle mystification , but the Argentine Republic & Pp ^ J ^ J iV Sh 55 iast to be consulted ) will hardly regret Rosas , 2 f' ® li ^ 5 i <^ » i ( h > fcover may be its welcome to Urquiza . W feiirt ? iV hni Aj second Burmese war appears almost inevit-& - _•• Vmii / W s' ** ^* * - * til . Iff ^* r ? W--fel 4 W M « iW / Im flBS ? em 5 y

      able . The first ^ ne , whjch , j > egan in 1826 , lasted for three year ^ fbst many millions -sterling , and the lives of fttftny thousand brave men * If the continuance of pace depended entirely on the Indian QaYernn \ e # , we should have no doubt ' r . QJt their decision . Put an arrogant Oriental desjpotj , Surrounded by women and ^ tterertij ! has an equaj voice in t ^ matte *; and a ^ attempt on our part to avoid war would be construed by the Burmese Cabinet into pusillanimity .

      The close of the Kaffir war is announced ; but so positive an announcement is somewhat like " hallooing before you are out of the wood . " Sir Harry Smith has had a signal success . He had attacked the Kaffirs , it may be said , in their home —in the part whither they had taken their women and cattle ; he had made a great capture of cattle : and the Kaffirs seemed to be crushed .

      But a second expedition was necessary , and of that we do not yet know the Tesult . Enough had been done , however , to shame Lord Grey's heartless scolding of the old soldier for inefficir ency . "We cordially hope that Sir Harry may return to England with the dagger-wounds of Downing Street covered by fresh laurels , green as the memory of Alivval and the Peninsula .

      2b2 Th| Teader. Tsatufeto ^Y - ¦ ' . , '...

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      Histoet Of Parliament. Ministeeial Expla...

      HISTOET Of PARLIAMENT . MINISTEEIAl EXPLANATIONS . Thebe was a numerous attendance in both Houses , on the 15 th , and Ministers were ensjaged in their first contest with the Opposition . This makes Monday a night remarkable in the annals of Parliament , and affords a new starting-point in the strife of parties and principles . We take the House of Lords first , because the debate was more compact , and the opposition less various and comprehensive ; but still it was sufficiently so to show Ministers that they will have to face , even in that mild region , determined and hostile antagonists . Lord Beaumont was selected as the catechist of Lord Derby . In order that he might place himself within the rules of the House , and enable their lordships to join in a debate , he presented a petition from certain persons , owners and occupiers of land , in , Yorkshire , who prayed that they might be relieved from the existing uncertainty as to the intentions of Ministers regarding the re-imposition of a tax on corn . ; and he asked whether Ministers intended , as soon as a new

      Parliament assembled , to recommend to Parliament an alteration of the present policy , with respect to the importation of foreign corn . His lordship occupied above an hour in putting this question in a dry , uninteresting speech , the main points of which were that great uncertainty and great alarm prevailed as to the intentions of ministers , and that it was impossible to discover , from their election speeches , what policy they really intended to pursue .

      Lord Debut ' s reply amounted to a virtual abandonment of protection , and , aa will be seen , to a shifting of the ground of antagonism between himself and the late government from protection to parliamentary reform . At the outset of his speech , ho ridiculed the pompoaity of Lord Beaumont ' s address , made merry with the insignificance of the petitioners , and said ho looked in vain for the alarm and uncertainty which were said to prevail in the country .

      How could tho moro categorical declaration of the intentions of governmout respecting the imposition of a few shillings moro or loss on . corn , affect tho relation between landlord and tenant , tho amount of rent , and tho covenants concerning land P To say that it would , was to depreciate tho value of the final settlement of the question . But supposing that a email duty wore "imposod , ho would not contend about tho amount , whethor it were 4 s . or 6 s . or 7 s . a quarter , ho would assert that a very small augmentation of tho price would ensue ; and would any ono tell him that tho question , as to whethor that small dut y would bo imposed sorno six or eight months honed , would have the offoct of introducing tho smallest amount of uncertainty as affecting- tho relations between landlord

      and tonant , with regard to tho permanent cultivation of tho land P Still , ho »| jrood with Lord Beaumont , that this was n question 'which ought not to bo allowed to remain any longer in abeyance , than possible , ( Cheers from both sides of tho House . ) But , as to the question of uncertainty—why , my lords , there } B a- large par . ty in tho country , well Known , who have doclared in the most omphatio terms , that not till next . election shall that uncertainty bo removed ; tlint by tho noxt election tho question must bo definitively eottlea : and to that oleotion , therefore , they on thoir own part , confident in tho strougth of their own cause , will bo ready to appeal , and to submit if tho sense of tho country should bo pronounced against them . But then ho contended that tho foil of tho late Ministry had shortened tho period of suspense ; and , after again assorting that tho appeal ought to po mo 4 o M soon

      as the great iintesMs of ) the country would permit v made a further and ap emphatic declaration :--- ^" vae '/ Sofar as ? l am * individually concerned , no taunt V chftUenge , n 0 diffieuttto to which I may be B 2 w io ^ ortificationa M which I may be exposed -2 induce , me to recommend to my Soverei gn that that disHrT lution of P » hajnent , however anxious I may be fop deeisiofl /' sh ^ taJte place one hour sooner than those ereaf and pwamount interests render necessaiy . ( Cheers V * He en > eated thei ? lordships to consider the mean , stance * wnder which ; he and his party had ; " assume ? office . Not by any averse motwn of theirs had the late government fallen . Noble lords opposite would not veiT ture to say that they had been encountered by a " faphW

      opposition , " or by a " desire to eject them from office " No ; they fell from their " internal weakness , " their " no torious mobility to conduct business , " the " absence of their friends , " the " quarrels of their colleagues . " Th division on the Militia Bill could not have been the real cause ; perhaps thenoble . earl who was taking notes ( Eari Grey ) Imew the real ; cause . But when that hostile division took place , Lord John Russell had consulted his colleagues as to whether they should resign or dissolve Parliament and they had come to the conclusion , that a dissolution would be " inexpedient . " " Inexpedient to whom ? Inexpedient for the noble lord and his colleagues , or inexpedient for the interests of fhn

      country ? I will not impute such an unworthy motive to the noble lord as to suppose that it was for the convenience or advantage of himself and his colleagues that he so concluded . I must consider that both he and his colleagues had coine , to the conclusion that a dissolution of Parliament at the present time , whatever results it might hare upon the future constitution pf parties , was not expedient , but that it would be dangerous to the interests of the country . I ask ; then , my lords , with what face can any man , or any body of men , who have declared that a dissolution was inexpedient- —who have declared that they were unable themselves to conduct a government—who had advised the Crown to send for me to undertake the duty

      and responsibility of Prime Minister to the country—I ask , with what face or with what pretext can any one of those men , or any body of those men , call for a premature dissolution of Parliament , which they themselves condemned , or seek to embarrass that Government which , if they supersede and destroy , they know they _ have not the means of Bucceeding , or of erecting another in its place !" But Lord Beaumont said he ought either to state in plain terms thai he would support the present ' commercial policy , or that he would not , and if not , what course he intended to pursue . That was not the line of conduct followed by Lord JoM Russell in 1846 , who , when Mr . Duncombe [ who , Lord Derby said , erroneously , was now supporting Lord John Russell ] asked his lordship to state

      the principles . on which he intended to construct his government , denied both the right of Parhament to ask and the duty of Government to answer such questions . That was the doctrine laid down by Lord John Bussell in 1846 ; in that doctrine the Opposition of that day acquiesced , and had allowed Lord John . Russell , who had taken power in the middle of the session ,, to carry on the Government " without vexatious opposition . " ¦ . , , _ ., ¦ „ . "My lords , " dramatically exclaimed Lord Derby , 1 ask no more ; ( Loud cheers . ) I ask for justice , not to mo or to my colleagues , but to the * great interests of our common country . ( Cheers . ) I ask not to be interrupted in makinp- the usual financial arrangements . I ask not to De

      interrupted in placing this country in a fit state ot organization and defence in the event of foreign invasion . ( Cheers . ) I ask you not to interrupt the course ol & U pubUc and private business . I ask you not to interfere with those useful reforms which have been chalked out by recommendations , given , no doubt , under a former government , but on whicfi the heart and mind of the people are set . I ask not , " he began- " but" further ^ gument was unnecessary . The advocates of a dissolution had no rea sons for r equiring it ; and if : not , where waj . the ^ anxug , ni « - »™ nnAanni-ALnsion ? "I have told you —witn w" °

      phrase Lord fcerby petulantly began four sontencos sue cessively— "I have told you" that " we do not intend Jo distKho existing state of things ; " . « U »* *» W ^ tfjj doeided « at tho next election ; » « mt the uncertamty » s jo more than before the Government cnangod hanas , ™ „ « the present Parliament cannot bo of Profcr ^ toiSued-Then , in the highly m elodramatic t ^^ SS . « But if a business of tho country m to bo fe « 2 " l terruptcd —( in this house I have » o fear--jn «« ° V inhope ^ ettor counsel wiU pr yail ) -if that busing bo ^ torrupted , whatover may bo tho merits of . ™ o p ^_ 7 iftment ever the judgment whioh on abstract queatio »^ j ; ption may bo prepared to pronounce- ^ hat factious intorrup to nocessarf measures , that interf erence with tue of

      of a Uovornmont onaeavounng wx « u * j- «~ - ftovernment the country in tho absence of any other wovui , ^ which by posBibility could conduct P ^^ J ^ tho ho «< l » vi « itn < 1 _ an . r viflitoa iustlv—by the country on . tbo n « ehoors

      of those who have so mtoriferea . " ( Loud . ; ^ And in vindication of his assertion tliat Wioro . ^ alarm , no uncertainty , ho pointed tn ^ P ^ Tfio funds I " " occurato barometer of publio tolwg—W j *»" t 0 tbo Tho question was not and could not »<> ^"" al of tho re-enactment of tho Corn-Laws ; not to tfoWJ thftt policy of Sir Robert Pool , Ho did not f ° «* 0 c ° Jried to policy reveled , but ho thought it " }^^ C £ Navian unnocoseary and dangorous extent . »»» , thftt tho gation law « were altered , had he not declare ^ ^^ alteration <( involved principlofl which , once aaop final and irreversible P' + -,, „„» ho continued * "I made that statement at tho tirao , jm > . . $ » " and I repeat it now . I dbn'b dosiro to ( Jj bftOk law of 1846 with respect to corn . I *» t . * JJ ^ t « to tho law of 184 . 2 / But ho would havei thoni « tb

      consider whethor they would apply ^^" odi & oa , ^ reversal of tho prosont system , but ^ . buout o ^^ avn > it w would alleviate confessed wjuatico . * » ^ aguO for myoolf m on indmawd— («» dl boUoyo H » y w

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 20, 1852, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20031852/page/2/