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j^fl TSHK B: IiiJSr A IEOEfr Ifo [No. 3a...
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ROEBUCK. TflE'Administrative Ref6rm Asso...
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HOW TO KEEP UP TB3! MILITIA. AMOira the ...
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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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National Parties In Europe. The Flattere...
lot ^ ' pride-andpariiftli ^ . ^ ™ t ™^ . jS & , andWIfcafito foTltaty j' that ? is 0 summarV df * tteir ~ dflinfenfti Oi * r gr * at orgairiftrtiotr- is sWeS & ing' fidmr . the central slltes , Northwards" aaKd BbtitHwards ^ so extent sive , tfrat it may bV said to embrace the larger tfarfc' of' the Italian m & nhood , and so seefWy wjor & ea , fcfet cortcenmtions otf the A ^ tfiani ^ oo ^& fre < mentl y : tafce place at points ^ ere ^ tfinreat activity- prevails . The Capuan fortfSSs s * a ? eirgtheiied by ttfe engineering skill of two-Russiai * geireraV , the Papal prisons fBHiof ^ th ^ ' proscribed , the Austrian police m and
Tuscanj £ the , Austrian , troops in Parma Mbderia ,- the' Austrian- army watching the Central C ^ bngregfttiona in Iiom-bardo-Venetian the Austrian teachers compelling their Italian ptrpiii' to learn ! * and : speak the ( German langaa & b , the political and' military demonstration against Piedmont , all prove that repression is not order , ; and that a cottp d ' etat is the worst sort of salvation for society . Ubw will- thisr : end ? "We want no prophet ; btit a" plainreasonex , to answer the question : It cannot' end , except in a successful
revolution , whether constitutional or ^ demo'cratic , which * shall restore the natural relations'of governors and subjects . ' Nb permfanent systems are established by the code of op- * pression . The opposing "parfcies ^—the despotic governments , ; and the disaffected nations- ^—are preparing , on one side' for- attack ^ on the other fbr ~ resistance . Whence if may be concluded , that ~ both parties cannot remain for' ever in- ' the ' ¦ same attitude . One must surrender , or- draw the other' into an engagement . ..., _
__ "We * suppose that England may be said to Have an" interest in the political condition of the Continent , Tfte question is , what course should that interest dictate to our diplomatists and statesmen . If England has anything to gain —if , indeed , she does not lose , in a moral and' material sense , to an incalculable degree , by tile prevalence of absolute and' barbarous authority , we are much deceived ! "We think it possible to show that England has a direct and palpable interest in the freedom , of France and Italy .
J^Fl Tshk B: Iiijsr A Ieoefr Ifo [No. 3a...
j ^ fl TSHK B : IiiJSr A IEOEfr Ifo [ No . 3 a & fr 6 > A ! Ei ! rftnAK ; w ?**"* . . . . ; - ^ ^ —
Roebuck. Tfle'administrative Ref6rm Asso...
ROEBUCK . TflE'Administrative Ref 6 rm Association have sent ' for Mr : Roebuck , who has' formed his 3 Ntinistry and' explained' his principles . He himself is to be First Lord of the Iiondon Taverny Mtedors 1 . TfiA-vaofis , MobIiEY , and G-ABSlOtt ' are tobfehiEr Secretaries of State : Tlte Conservative , Samueii' BiSOWN " , disapp"ear » ---v « iy ' pro » eriyJ too—and the Associa ^ tion aniioinices lttelF . in readiness' to act as tbe tfcaifblcling 4 ' of af new < warty in Parliament . Inv Pferiiainent , as actually constituted . The proposal ' carries wifctHt a suggestion of failare . iDepend upon it , tfie present Parliament * is the best you can g'et from the present constituencies ,. and the- present'Ministry iff the best you ' ean get from th * e present Parliament . TSou may correspond I with the electors ; you may penetrate the secrets of influence and agency j' you may wtctdh . the intercourse that talkies place between an independent memBer and a government in want of supporters •;; y < ou may stand' at the doom of the public offices , atid examirwr the credentials of the oandidates , buf the political caste will have ite -Wff ylattdlords wnll check the voto » of their ttenonwy * tradesmen will 1 be intiniidatfefd by their 1 cuBtttmerH ^ pertinacious applicants , who can work d-jaertty' Ideal interest ; will' have situationsin'thee ^ oitjio ;• parliamentary leadere tr tU provide for- their friends -, the army will ' continue to be what it is—the asylum of younger sono , the property of the -Equestrian < nrder .
! Beeatrae ~ cry 6 u expeofc to mafce a bfe ^ otnalehine ¦ Work well . Tftoxp may , indeed , regulate the movements , and mend the gear , so that matters may « not go from bad to worse ; - but , really- to improve your systemy ybm naust improve the political ' organization of the country . At the apex of our parliamentary constitution stands the prime minister ;> at the base the constituencies are grouped , in irregular- masse ®; you must wide ** , and strengthen the foundations , if you would ennoble the structure .
Plainly , nearly every man who sits in the House of Commons represents some special interest , which has sent him there . Not the interest ' of'the Cabinet only , or of the aristocracy * but the interest of the aristocracy and the Cabinet mixed up and identified with other interests , equally narrow and partial , which are not those of the nation at large . Without
counteracting this power that encloses the Legislature , and determines all its Acts , it is hopeless t & expect administrative purity , the exercise of patronage on high principles ^ the conduct of public business witk , exclusive referene © to the public interests ; That can never be Tintil the nation at huge determines that it shall ; be , and possesses itself of the meansto enforce its will .
Can we confide the issue to-the Admittistrative ^ Refbrm Ass 0 ci « ttion- * -even though Mr . SAMtnnt Mobi » et , who could not have faced another general meeting , has resigned the chair to John Aethijb RoEBTTOEi member for Sheffield , an earnest and an honest man , on whose name will fall a ray of English history ? No ; if all he means is contained in his programme . Tho members of the Council of the
Administrative Association were empowered , we may infer , to dethrone Mr . MobIiET , and to appoint Mr . Roebuck , who will probably find the post more congenial to his-faculties and to his habits than the chairmanship of the Metropolitan Board of Works . But already some of the subscribers are asking upon whose authority is the Portfolio of Correspondence entrusted to Mr . MobIiET , the Portfolio of Finance to Mr . Tbavebs , and the Portfolio of Statistics to Mr . GUssiot ? The circular affords no information on this point 1 . It has , in this respect ^ all the brevity and all the absolutism of a decree . It has
occurred to many persons , who have a right to speak on these subjects , that the political sections throughout ' the country will not feel that they are called npon to adopt Mr . MoBiiEY as their Iiondon agent . Indeed , with Mr . Roebuck in the chair , the contrast becomes more painful between the genuine politician and the eager but unpolitical reformer . It is not a question of polities , ' the City Reformers say , but a question of business . They want the public
business and the privato business of the country to be conducted on the same principles . It would be dangerous- to extend the parallel too fhrv Thi » idea , if it means anything , meanB- that the British merchant , as a merchant , carries out his transactions with more ease and effect than the Government 1 as a Government . Perhaps it would be as : well , however , to remember that a
Government is noti a merchant , or' even a contractor . In the civil nmd military administration of a great empire , many qualities of intellect' and of practical' capacity ore required totally and essentially distinct from those which enable a ehipowneivtb complete his contraotsy ornJ tea-merchant to manage a thousand clerks ^ to amass a million , to buy Etruscan villa , and to look contemptuously on the break- down of the public depart *
merits * Ho is quite 1 right to look contemptuously on the break-down . But ia ho right in
suppodingthat government is ; bo simple an affair as ** the IiOndon . Tavern . Reformers pretend ? We ,-for our own part , expeofc little amelioration in the conduct of public business until our Reformers have arrived . at . a ; higher appreciation of state duties , and . of the capacities : essential to their performance : No doubt , if Mr . Roebuck ' s plan be carried out some good practical results may be obtained ?
As- Lord PaiiMEBSTok took care to distance the Association under the MosiiiT chair--manship , so he may endeavour to keep ahead of Mr . Roe-bttck and his three * secretaries . Yet it is not to be concealed that the City Association has been a deplorable , and not a very creditable failure ; and we feel sincere regret in avowing that not much more is to be anticipated from it in its new form .
The point at which it is connected with the real political interests of the country is that suggested by Mr . Roebuck ^—the formation and support of a Liberal party in the House of Commons . But on what basis ? The basis of Administrative Reform , technically and in detail . The first political society that arises with powerful leaders and large : objects- will sweep it out of sight . Even were a general election to take place , what would be the aim of the Association ? To retiirn such ' Tnen as Mr . Tite , Mr . Iitoeam , Mr . Joseph P ^ xton—useful in their own station , but , except as votes ^ utterly lifeless and' insignificant in the House of Common 8 i
It seems to us that' if Government stands in need of Reform , Reform stoaids in need of Renovation .
How To Keep Up Tb3! Militia. Amoira The ...
HOW TO KEEP UP TB 3 ! MILITIA . AMOira the benefits we have derived from the war has been the revival'of the old constitutional fore © of the country—the Militia . One of the possible , we will not ' yet say probable , disadvantages which attend the greater blessing of peace , is the dissolution of that force . " What * is only possible , ifc is our duty to prevent from becoming even probable , and to do our utmost to retain the great benefit which has accrued from the war :
The characteristic of the straggle , so far as we are concerned , has been that we have carried it on with volunteers . " While other countries rely on conscriptions and forced levies , England'Has relied upon the willing agency of her citizens to vindicate her policy . The result of that reliance has shown the power of voluntary service . The Militia uofc
only gave 30 , 000 men to the Queen ' s army , but every embodied regiment was prepared to enter on service beyond the limits of Great Britain . To tliese constitutional corps we entrusted in great part our home and foreign garrisons ; and those not so employed formed the bulk of the camps of instruction established by the Government . If the full force of the Militia , as voted by Parliament , was never raised ; we must trace that to tiio novelty of the voluntary system , and to tno had been long
unacfact that the- people so customed' to their military duties . In aisbanding the Militia- regiments , the Government * act on a perfectly sound princip le , because it is never intended , nor is it necessary , that these regiments should be permanently embodied : Their future service is sec ure ^ provided that an adequate staff bo retained , and that the regiments are invariably en . hcq out for training every year , and that they _ d kept recruited up to their due comp lement 01
In order to keep up tllo Militia , xt will behove their leaders , the territorial aristocracy , to sustain the military spirit in every way , to promote an csprif do corps among the in when disembodied by encouraging their pa ticinationin athletic sports ; to P «" oVlUo * £ the contingencies of the recruitment by m »»
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 14, 1856, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14061856/page/14/
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