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    ftXLY 28, 185*.] THE LE1DES, 717

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    r ALMERSTON ON LIMITED LIABILITY. Lord P...

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    Vacancy Of Her Majesty's Opposition. The...

    Ministers proposed a loan for Turkey—a measure upon which there may be various op inions ; and members have a perfect right | p state their opinions . Ministers intend to aid the loan in a particular manner , and on the method there may equally be a variety of sentiments , \ yhich members have a right to

    deliver . It is not to be maintained for an instant that the House of Commons has not & distinct right to give or to withhold its sanction upon a money vote . But there must always * be certain . literal constructions allowed to the Executive , particularly in matters that bear upon foreign relations . The present was a case in point . It is usual on such occasions for the Executive Ministers

    fco enter into negotiations with foreign Governments , to bring the arrangements to a proximate conclusion , and then to seek the ratification of the House of Commons . There would be real objections to making the earlier stages of such . joint arrangements the subjects of discussion in a popular assembly . Even under a republican Government joint operations with foreign states would be referred to a " committee of foreign relations , " as in America , for the very purpose of

    avoiding those debatings which are never conducive to the smooth working of measures , but which become peculiarly obstructive when foreign ideas are introduced , and give endless opportunities for misunderstanding . In most cases of the . kind the plan of the Executive must be adopted whatever it is , unless the popular assembly be prepared to displace the Executive and substitute another . Any comparative disadvantage resulting from the loan can hardly be

    commensurate with the enormous disadvantage of creating a bad intelligence between this country and France or Turkey , coupled with the consequence of discrediting our own Government before tbe enemy as well as before our friend . A gentleman may not approve of all that his attorney does for him in a difficult negotiation ; but it will rarely happen that he will discuss the disputed point before the

    opposite aide in the cause . lie would much more frequently be' disposed , either to replace the attorney by another more Suited to him , or to submit to a smaller disadvantage in Order to avoid a larger . Any fundamental objections to the finance of the present Government would be ample reasou for sweeping away Lord Palmerstoh ' s Cabinet , and bringing another into office ; but the strength of Lord Palmeuston lies in the fact that we look round in vain for another Cabinet ; and the absenco of that Cabinet out of office .

    the vacancy where we ought to iind her Majesty ' s Opposition , reminds us of the laches of independent Members and popular parties . The nature of the mistake made by the popular leaders does not lie very deep below the surface . " Whether popular leaders , or parties out of doors , arc capable of rectifying mi is another question , better answered practically than theoretically . The mistake consists in supposing that it is the- substantive duty of popular and independent Member * to resist the Government . Inn free country it mostly happens that popular and

    independent Members who are not in office have to resist the Government , and for an evident iXieaaon : a party with strong political conactions , which places its leader in office , Will mostl y carry with it those who share Such convictions , and the Government will . Have on its sido all men who sympathise with it «» main opinions . Thoso who are not in , ; # » Government , not aharing those political < jpiniona , will bo guidod by other opinions , i Wtinct , and in mimy caaos opposite ; and in the endeavour to carry out thoao separate Mid antagonistic opinions , it will happen that

    they will have to oppose the party in power . It is not their business to oppose their Executive , but it is an incident in their course that they do so oppose . But then they must have a purpose of their own ; and it is here that we find the master reason why Hjbb Majesty ' s opposition is vacant . Have pooular parties who might stand on the opposite side any distinctive purpose ? If they have , do they pursue that purpose sufficiently to give themselves a distinctive existence ? We cannot

    answer the question in the affirmative . When we turn to those who stood against Ministers in the matter of the Loan , we cannot accept them as embodying any distinct popular purpose . The man . who looks most like the leader of a party at present is Mr . Disraeli , who has some project of his own with reference to the conduct of the war , and the finance by which it has to be supported ; but be has never stated his scheme . He has never stated how he would pursue hostilites against Russia , or on what

    plan he would construct his Budget ; and if we allow ourselves to form a guess constructed out of his latest proposals , -vre cannot accept him as giviflg life to any distinct wish which the public entertains , or any plan which the people has at heart . Mr . Cob den has relations with the Peace party ; but does not oppose the war . He objects to subsidies and votes against a loan ; but we are not aware that at present he is giving expression to any practical object , pursuing any mission

    which specially belongs to the people . Mr . Joiin Bright , a member of the Society of Friends , in whose genial nature and power Englishmen would naturally feel so strong a sympathy , certainly does not take such a position in reference to the war as constitutes him spokesman for the people . Mr . Gxaijstoite is not the tribune of the People in that behalf , or any other . If we turn from politics to any subject which is at present engaging public attention , do we find an organised party identified with it ? Is it the

    purification of the Thames ? the construction of drainage ? the supply of water ? Then , the leading men who are doiug most at the present time , Mr . F . O . ¥ abd , Sir Benjamin Hall , or persons actually in office under the auspices of the Queen ' s Ministers . There is indeed one subject that of all others most concerns us at the present day—Administrative Reform ; but what is the last public fact in reference to this subject ? It is that the Administrative Reform Association has passed a resolution approving of the appointment of Sir AViuliam Moleswortii to be Secretary

    of State for the Colonies , because he is " right man iu the right place "—a great colonial reformer appointed to be chief governor of the colonial empire . This is a piece of practical candour on the part of the Administrative Reformers to which we cannot refuse our approbation . They uphold the right act whether the act be executed by Ministers or not . They pursue the public interest , whether they march by the side of Ministers or against them . In spirit , therefore , the Administrative Reformers exemplify the kind of public action which we desiderate . Administrative Reform is a

    great want , the very thing which at the present moment we most require . But what measures are before the public ? The mensures of Ministers , and not of tJne society which has its rooms at King William-street , City . Is it the admission of candidates to the" civil service that we would re \ vard—the reconstruction of public departments—the improvement of promotion in tlio army ? It is Ministers who nro left to keep the load in these reforms . One of tho departments that moat require reform is the Admiralty ; but tho Administrative Reformers

    have as yet done nothing more for that department than publishing a few extracts from past writings of other men . The Administrative Reformers may have their plan inpo 88 e ; they may be intending to lay before ua an , anatomy of one department alter another , and to tell us how each can be reconstructed , far better than Sir Chables

    Tbevei / fan , Sir Stajbtokd ! Nortiicote , or any other official can tell us ; but the Administrative Reformers have not yet done so . They have , therefore , not yet established their claim to be the Ministry in posse for the Administrative Reform party . They are useful critics though not practical leaders . Yet there is no time to be lost . The state

    of the army in the East , weakened aa it is by the deficiency in the number of energetic officers eager to perform their duty , in recruits for the ranks such as this country could supply , and in materiel , requires something more than Government is doing . The state of the fleet , and still more of the naval department , —the unequal pressure of taxation , daily rendered more grievous as the burden is increased , —the want of public education , — the total absence of any machinery for giving

    the bulk of the people of England a means of pressing the Honse of Commons , which professedly represents them , —these are great wants which should be urged upon the Legislature and the Government . But the pressure cannot be managed by any but her Majesty ' s Opposition . In order to the organisation of such an anti-Cabinet , however , it is necessary that there should be in . that Cabinet on the left hand of the Speaker , men as well informed in every branch of

    public business , —in the details of the army , the details of the navy , the details of every department , —as men sitting on the Treasury bench . There is , indeed , the Quarter-sessions Cabinet , in many respects as competent as the Cabinet in esse ; but it has little to do with the people , and nothing whatever to do with some of the greatest reforms that we

    require . But the men who might expect to be sent up into that post have hitherto , either displayed a want of personal capacity , or have neglected to master the administrative as well as political knowledge required for the post , or have failed to earn for themselves that strength of support out of doors which would give them strength and weight within the House . It is useless to talk of controlling the Cabinet , until we have effectually reorganised her Majesty ' s Opposition .

    Ftxly 28, 185*.] The Le1des, 717

    ftXLY 28 , 185 * . ] THE LE 1 DES , 717

    R Almerston On Limited Liability. Lord P...

    r ALMERSTON ON LIMITED LIABILITY . Lord Palme rston is a riddle to the vulgar , which those who undertake to look beneath the surface * ought to have no difficulty in solving . The trait that most strikes the common observer is his insoucicnice next it is noted that he is a thorough man of the world ; and occasionally he puts profound truths into expressions so clear , concise , and forcible , aa to show that he has reached the very kernel of philosophy in things of

    most tangible import to the human race . Philosopher and man of tho world , he is also a man of healthy instincts ; hence , intelligent and practical , ho is in earnest , yet not troubled about thoso matters that ho has not in hand ; conflict makes him hopeful of success , if not for himself , yet for others that como Tho public

    after him in the right season . can scarcely believe that he is m earnest though in the compass of a short speech ho will put the whole truth of n ™ f- ° ™*? subject in a way that shows him to understand it from beginning to end The debate on Limited Liability had few speeches , 0 short ns Pai . mebbton ' b ; not one that present * the real truth bo pure and

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 28, 1855, page 717, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_28071855/page/9/