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    g28 The SqlMrdap -Analyst and Leader/ [S...

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    STATE OF PARTIES IN GERMANY. npi-IROUGH ...

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    Lord Brougham On The House Of Commons. I...

    tual and progressive character .. Ho . wever . it begins , it ends i ; i ' ¦ ' stagnation , if it escapes being overthrown . To be in harmony with the best tendencies of our times , wii ' mitst abjure methods of violence and sec > k improvement by conviction , rather than by authoritative direction or restraint .- Lord Brougham does not see this , and repeats the arguments in favour of promoting temperance by a Maine Liquor Law , which he propounded on a former occasion . In a like spirit "he purposes to deal with the vices of our parliamentary system , lie . describes our House of Commons , truly enough , as mainly composed of an . inferior sort of persons who have no public , character or reputation , and he blames the tendency which these people exhibit to chatter about everything which they do not . understand .

    That sessions are wasted in very silly and idle chatter , none will dispute , and Sir J . Pakington , who thanked Lord Brougham for his able address , expressed his concurrence with the comp laints of . his noble friend . It . is also true that ihe evil is not a new one , although it has certainly increased , and the session of 1 860 was so bad in this respect that it deserves to be made the subject of the emphatic warning which Lord Brougham utters with all the solemnity of an experience extending through two generations of ordinary men . His Lordship does not think that we are in danger of losing our liberties from causes similar to those which have operated in

    France , but he fears ¦ " . that parliamentary governments will become contemptible- , and that the nation will consider anything better than sessions like I 860 .. In these views we fully concur , and they have often been expi-essed in this journal , but we cannot coincide in the remedies which Lord BiioroHiM thinks adequate to the case . He condemns the idea of extending the suffrage , on the supposition that it would aggravate the mischief , which he seems to fancy is connected with the number of electors . This is certainly untrue , for large constituencies are by no means remarkablefur returning inferior irien . The metropolitan boroughs may be" foolish enough to elect a silent incapacit y like Mr . ButLkr , or . a talking incapacity

    like Mr . ¦ Ariiibx , but the small towns are chiefly represented by men who have not the faintest intellectual pretensions to back their claims- Manchester is represented by men thoroughly acquainted wich the great trade of Lancashire , and who are not open to Lord Brougham ' s complaints . Liverpool is f ree from the same charge ; and Birmingham , whatever may be thought of Mr . Biugiix ' s principles , deserves no blame ; nor can Sheffield , or Newcastle , or Rochdale , or Oldham , or Halifax , plead guilty to the charge . So far fronv the popular element being the cause of silly persons getting into Parliament it usually operates the other way ; and as a rule , the worst members sit for places where political activity is chiefly confined to the electioneering marauding of opposing

    attorneys , AVo have in many previous articles stated our conviction that ¦ measures ¦ calculated to pi'omotethe habit of political discussion , and mtike elections turn more \ ipon opinion , are the only means that would succeed in improving the quality of the House of Commons ; and the only repressive , enactments we have faith in would be those judiciously directed to the stoppage of profligate expenditure . If we omit nomination boroughs , and those habitually sold by Whig and Tory attorneys to the highest bidder , wo . shall rind , the most mischievous members of Parliament -arc returned by places which contribute least to tho general stock of political opinion , and which are not under the domination of any great tmdo

    having- special interests to advocate in tho Imperial Legislature . An extension of tho suffrage would set us free from the mischievous effect of the rotten boroughs , and the others must be dealt with chiefly by tho spread of" political education , and the repression of electoral expenditure-. If the public can be convinced that tho habit of investigating , understanding , . and discussing political questions is one that ought to bo increased , appropriate means will easily be found . At present , men of business seldom like to seo their sons politicians ; they fancy it will unfit thorn for tho duo supervision of tho banking account or the till , although it is far- loss likely to do so than the shallow frivolities in which tho youth of England arc chiefly engaged ,

    Wo ore not only deficient in tho general diffusion of anything that deserves to bo railed political thought , but nlso in the ¦ class of political stuclentrt . Wo , want a career open for men who make politics n profession ; who hnve been woll grounded in first principles ; who go through the drudgery necessary tj keep up a constant acquaintance with the latest facts nnd features of public affairs , Political inoroeuoriofl , ns contemptible ns those who sold their swords to the Pope or tli . o lalo King of Nnplos , any Government enn find ; bul there-is ii proa ! lack of men who dovnto

    themselves , to-politics as Fauad . vv and Lyell have devoted themselves to science . It is not that ' our country is deficient in political talent , but that there is no career for it . Jf a dozen constituencies would seek for the ¦ men we have indicated ,-and return them for nothing , we should witness ii , beneficial result ; as the presence of a few really able and independent members in the House of Commons would not onl \ - give rise to a direct improvement in its proceedings , but , by raising the standard of political speaking , excite a wliolosoin ' p intolerance of impertinent twaddle

    , Lord Brougham recommends relieving the House of Commons of much private business , which every one will admit to be necessary ; but although he declares the Wednesday morning- sittings are the most satisfactory , he does not follow this natural indication and advise that morning sittings should he the rule , although this would in itself be a most valuable reform . He thinks , something like the French rfntttre , ora vote for closing a discussion , must be adopted—; md is favourable , to the rule in the American senate , which limits speeches to one hour . Upon this we would remark that the time of cur House of Gonimons is hot materiallv wasted bv long speeches , as onlv

    a few second-rate lawyer * venture upon them without , having something to say . The waste aiiscs from the infcrininribli ; succession of short . speeches , seldom ex-tending twenty minutes or half-an-hour , and often much , less . The rh '> tnn ' - might work well if the host of small chatterers-tb-no-p ' urpo-e could be persuaded to hold their tongnes . unt . il those who . can argue a question had spoken upon it , when the debate might be closed -without mischief ; but notwithstanding the experience of France , we are afraid of trusting to restrictions imposed upon bad members , instead of relying upon their elimin ; iri . > n and tlici substitution of better onc ^ .

    It . is in vain to try ; to make a bad House of -Ciuninons do the work of a good one , and the task wlucli ini ; . « t be xin . dortaken is Parliamentary -Reform—not only in the way of extending the suffrage , " so that tho masses may enjoy a wholesome share of political life but that the House of Commons shall not degenerate into a more , club for shallow-pat-pd vanity , and the \ lpper circles of the swell-mob , who fill ilieir pockets by Joint Stock Company diddles .

    G28 The Sqlmrdap -Analyst And Leader/ [S...

    g 28 The SqlMrdap -Analyst and Leader / [ Sept . - > y , i ^ gq

    State Of Parties In Germany. Npi-Irough ...

    STATE OF PARTIES IN GERMANY . npi-IROUGH the recent general assembly of the Xntioniil JL Va-eia , at Coburg , we obtain an insight irito the feeling pervading , the different sections of the Liberal party in Germany . If we were to classify political parties in the Confederation , we should put them under three heads . 1 st . The Conservatives -who desire to preserve tho shtt / t

    The first-named group , the Conservatives , go-in for the continued existence of the u thirty tyrants , " with the Hapburg and the Hohenzollern Dioscuri at the head thereof , and with the dominion over the subjugated Italian , Hungarian , and Polish provinces preserved . ' There are many . shades to this political party ; ultmmontanists , feudalists , worshipper s of the monarchical theory jmr sa / ig , and so for ! h . Tho second group , the moderate . Constitutionalists , plaeo their hopes not so much in the union as in tho rivalry of tho two leading dynasties .- In tho opinion of tin's party , tho Prussian government is to assume tho xeins of a movement <> t regeneration in spite of , and against the pretensions of influence put forward by tho court of Vienna , h \ other words , tho even balance hitherto maintained at Frankfurt betwevn

    tho two chief German , powers is to give place to the preponderance of the court at Berlin . If this cannot be cairied out without tho ejoction of the Gorman portion of Austria tVoin the Bund , or oven the Ios 3 of other Fodor . il pruvh . rcs ii must , nevertheless , in llnv idea of some of tho m . >< K-rni * - ' Liberals * till i > o attempted . It mast bo uttomprod n /<> " //»' " < Prussian hegemony lining the ? moro or le . « s nvinvod u- cm " ic , we will not say of ( lie numerioj . il majority , luit nt Iom-i "' many of tho influontiul leaders uf iho party alluded in .

    The-third group , the Democrats , re hi so _ huililiny ; up tho edirtco of Geiinan liberty and union from tho npex >¦' ¦ ' ihlJ pyramid , but pro for beginning with the ba . ^ is viz t the i-cop l ; 1 . Tl » ey arc averse at the same , t ' nnu t < " > all idom of diminution ^ tho national , / . «' ., tho Federal territory . Hut they readily fonoedc tp the non-Federal races which urn subjected t' » Austrin , that is , to the Venetians , tho'Hungarian- * , the Tolos , tho r \ ffh \ - to moi'cro tlionisclv . 's into tho nntionnlitv to wliii'h

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 29, 1860, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_29091860/page/4/