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Peoember 13,1856.1 THE LEADER. 1U1
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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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¦ . . . • . ^ ' * ¦ .- ¦ . "¦'¦ Electors...
gislature , and every class of officials in the Administration . Again , is not Mr . ^ Nicholl resolved to repeat his venture at Fronoe ? Will not the Liberals reconquer Carlow , the great "borough , of Liverpool , Youghal , and the other constituencies lost at Lord Derby ' s general election ? , ' They will probably make tlie attempt , and succeed , in Liverpool especially , where the electors are ashamed of their choice of a per- eon so totally insignificant as Mr . Tubneb , and a person so feeble and so rash as Mr . Mackenzie , in preference to Mr . Caedweli , and Mr . Ewaet , both men of intellect , whatever may be the limitations of their Liberality . But the result of an isolated election , here and there , is comparatively unimportant . The main question is , why should the constituencies trouble themselves to return to Parliament representatives of tlieir own choice ? We must believe them to have political objects of one kind or another in view ; but , if we may judge from the pro- ceedings of borough meetings , those objects are not very large or various . Upon what grounds did Mr . William 'Williams claim the confidence of Lambeth ? First , for a ; reason very much to his credit—that he had attended the House of Commons every night and day during the last session . Then , be- cause he would have supported the coutinu- ance of the Russian war ; would support Lord PALMEKSTON ' sinterpTetation of the Treaty ; and , not very consistently , would insist upon a reduction of our naval and military esta- blishments . He had helped to defeat Prince Albert on the question of a neve National Gallery ; had resisted Sir GS-eorg-e ( Ibe y's Police Bill , on accoxuit of its centralizing tendencies ; and had a violent objection to military camps and civil forces under the control of the Government . As to the ¦ ¦ In- coine-tax , he would abolisli it ; as to the Crystal Palace , he would open it on Sundays and lie would not . The meeting reminded him that he wns a political reformer , and he did not deny ib . Only , he had nothing to say on that matter . Mr . William "Williams is not a gentle man of much political importance ; _ but he is an honest Liberal , and Lambeth is a great constituency . Its Liberalism has grown with the growth of its electoral list , which num bered less than five thousand at the date of the Reform Bill , and now numbers not far short of nineteen thousand . It is a consti tuency which may safely bo reckoned xipon to return a thorough Reformer , and we say that it should be the pride of such a con stituency to send to Parliament , not only Liberal representative , but a man of the highest character , and of commanding intel lect . Lambeth has done with the innocuous officialism of Mr . Benjamin Hawes , and t elegant Whiggery of Mr . Tennyson D'Eyn COTJiiT ; but it might improve upon the con sulate of Messrs . Wilkinson and Williams It is not probable that the Tory opposition in Parliament will l ) o more powerful during the next session than during the last . has had no accessions of numbers or of tellect ; its unity is gone ; it is broken up the Earl of Deuby is no longer its leader Sir John Pakinqtotjt stands at the licad one section , and another appeals to Mr . IIf . xey , while garrulous gossips insist that Mr Gladstone has been invited to supersede Mr . Disbaeia as chief of the Tory orators the House of Commons . In the midst the bickerings and jealousies of this unfortu nate faction , a vigorous Premier may hold his course unimpeded ; but , were a decisive division to prove that Parliament had thrown off its indulgent allegiance to ' tho AVnr nister , ' the result would be , not a chango Cabinet , but a dissolution , followed by an '
pea tor totlie Soi cou <*> cer of siii pol Lil to ser tki to flu < of ral co : to th ov in < le < H « 1 < C < -m : lit M liJ B be ee hi b ( it ; sti B n < o 1 si , I ^ u -n ^ - u <] t V peal to the country . ' At this point the elec- . tors are challenged . What have they to say , ™ to wish , to propose ? What , for example , is a j the ' policy' of th & Southampton Liberals ? rt Southampton , it will be remembered , is a tt county in itself , and one of the most ancient ™ constituencies in the realm . It still contains o j certain freemen , and more than two hundred v < of those scot and lot voters , the former con .- tc stituents of the present Premier ' s father . Its political influences have wavered between ^ Liberals and Tories ; it returned two Liberals to the first reformed Parliament , two Con- q servatives to the second , one of each to the a tkird , two Tories to the fourth , two Liberals u to the fifth and sbcth . Greenwich also has ^ fluctuated from the incompetent Conservatism o of Woxtekly Attvood to the forensic Libe- a ralism of Mr . Mohtagtt Ciiambebs and the ^ contractor ' s docility of Mr . Peter Hoxt . As 0 to Lanarkshire , it remains to be seen whether ^ that county , which was three times walked t over by a voiceless Tory , will return to the ( independence of former days , when it selected a popular representative in spite of the Hamilton ' family , whi ch now insults tlie electors by attempting to force Mr . Baillce ( CocHBANE upon them . Tewkesbury is a , miserable little borough , with scarcely four - hundred' voters , whose habit it is to return , a Martin of Overbury and a gentleman who , like Mr . Htjmphiiey Bfiow , has British Bank resources at his disposal for the : time being . Glasgow , the seat of a fourfceentheentury parliament and of an earldom , aud haunt of scarlet-robed togati , has , since 1832 , been invariably liberal , if not judicious , in its choice of members . But what shall be ¦ said of Middlesex , winch ; clings to Mr . Beunal O su oune as though his tongue had not been cut : out by the paymaster of the . official departments ? And . what of the con-. stituency which enthrones in Parliament the \ Naturalism of Major Eeed ? Or of theBorough I which qualifies Mr . Hjenby Dbummonb to j utter in the House of Commons that which t more scrupulous talkers than lie would call licentious ribaldry , if it appeared anonymously - in a newspaper ? There are not a few personal 3 questions of this sort to be considered before b tlie electoral class is again summoned to the \ polling-booths . ¦ i the of to s J 3 1 L' B 1 '• > 1 e '• ¦ a e l ie ! fti to . i ~ Lv al L ' ie
Peoember 13,1856.1 The Leader. 1u1
Peoember 13 , 1856 . 1 THE LEADER . 1 U 1
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- 3 - 1 t ] - 1 a j < - he - . It in- ; ; ¦ of 'N " - . in of - on , Miof ap-_ . . t f MORE PROPHECIES ON THE BUCHANAN v r POLICY . o - The journals , American and English , have t a teemed with reports as to Mr . Buchanan ' s i y probable policy , foreign and domestic ^ " We r .- have already explained how totally without v a any authentication these reports are ; they 1 e can , indeed , only be based upon a review of ] 1- the actual events , aided by such light as can i is be drawn from the knowledge of Buchanan's < ie charactei , antecedents , and position . These 1 t- data for a political judgment have already 1 l- corrected some of tho wildest calculations I s . which have been hazarded . A regard for < n their own p olitical acumen has compelled 1 ig somo of those who went tho furthest in It painting him , prophetically , as the agent of a- slavery extension , to admit that that view is ) ; as fallacious as if ho had been called the r ; leader of tho nbolitionist party . James of Buchanan is neither Lloyd Gaiuiisoit nor * r- Preston Brooks . An excellent ¦ paper ap-[ r . pears in a recent number of the New JTorlc dc Herald , a journal which frequentl y admits in into its columns uidicious and well-informed of papers , though ' in tho intervals of such ¦ u- sober exposition it takes tho opportunity ot on startling its readers with representations that ive cannot be so well sustained . Our Xcw 1 ork ; vn . contemporary shows that Mr . Buchanan is li- aa little likely to subserve " tho ultraof soutliern disunion clique" as he is " the antiin- slavery ultras of the north" ;— ¦ N o ve ' s fe ut ey of an si ' s- ? se . dy > ns for led in of ¦ is ; he [ ES lor xp- jr 7 c lits lod ich r of hat ork i is tra- uti-
. : " For our part , we feel assured that it is the pfefeeat ntention of Mr . Buchanan to give tie conntry a conservative and conciliatory administration in his domestic and foreign poKcy , and not a career of lawless "border ruffianism at home and reckless filibustering abroad , for purpose of extending tte area of Sotrthern slavery and the political power of the South in Congress . W $ have no doubt of the lawful and honourable inclinations Mr . Buchanan , for we fully believe that he will endeavour from the outset to take that course best calculated allay our domestic sectional exciteineilts upon slavery , and best adapted , in our foreign relations * td ecure the respect and confidence of foreign Powers , American and European . " With regard to Kansas , the most pinchiig question of the day , the New York iteMtd anticipates that Mr . BucHA ^ JAir will stand upon " the organic law of the territory ' * by which it is ordained that " the territory ia open to settlers of all sections , all nations , and all opinions , slavery or anti-slavery ; arid that w-lien these settlers shall proceed to organize a state constitution , it shall rest with thera to determine upon the establishment of slavery in ; or its exclusion from , the commonwealth . '' With respect to tlie Ostend manifesto and Cuba , the probability is eqiially clear . No possil ) le President of the United Siates can . be expected to surrender the principle of the Muneo doctrine , —America for the Americans ; but no American . states--man , who intends to promote the enduring interests of his country , or to procure for himself an historical repiitation , will apply that doctrine recklessly . Mr . BuohAjstak will not accept as a medium for the interpretation ojf the Mtjneo doctrine any naere adventurer , however energetic and picturesque , like General WAi / EER . " Every President , from JoHif Quincy Aj > ams down , has considered the acquisition of the Island of Cuba as a most desirable thing ; it is . the key to the Grulf of Mexico , the natural lock and key of the southern commerce and the " southern coast . " These expressions less * express an opinion than state facts ; and we have recorded the same conclusion long ago . In the event of war with any really powerful Grovernment , it would be absolutely necessaiy , on military grounds ^ for the United States to take possession of Cuba . In doing so the Eepublic would commit no inj ustice upon any interest whatsoever .. Spain does not govern Cuba , but puts it out under contract to some adventurer like O'Donneli ,, who makes his fortune out of it , on condition f helping certain Spanish families to continue their traffic in official corruption , and in patronage of the slave-trade . The most numerous native party in Cuba would gladly welcome the change of masters , as the transfer would bring with it safety for life and property and certain prosperity . A inagmficent island is now wasted upon the agents of Spanish corruption ; transferred , it would become a grand emporium of commerce for the benefit of the natives , of ti ^ e Unused States , and even of English merchants . But assuredly Mr . Bitoiianan will never lend his countenanco to iilibustering attempts , Whenever the Island shall be annexed to the United States , it will either bo acquired by regular treaty , or taken in . tho prosecution ot military enterprise . The United States have not , for a long succession of years , possessed as President a man who had so completely a knowledge ot State biisiness , European as well as American ; none who has been so completel y elevated abovo the contracted views of sectional parties ; aiouo who has eommitted himself so littlo to any extravagant mission , and baa shown so consistent a fidelity to the laws , tho steadfast traditions , and the broad interests ot America . Mr , Buchanan has hithorto disappointed factious and fussy persona by reserving tho direct statement of his intentions , and deferring tho formation of his Cabinet
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 13, 1856, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13121856/page/11/
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