On this page
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
paMMHBMIIIHMMIIMWHWWIHMHMHHMHMMliHHWV b « passed over . To reject Mr . Cobief , Mr . Bbi&ht , or Mr . Milneb G-ibson would be to discredit the very principle of independent representation . Nor can it be said that Mr . WrLKiNsoN and Mr . " William Williams bare failed in their Parliamentary duties . Mr . Weguehn has proved a respectable accession to the party , by the side of Mr . "Wilcox , a genuine Liberal . Mr . M'Cttllagui is ri —~ ^
a little hesitating in his professions , but Mr . Watxht , at Great Yarmouth , speaks out with emphasis and candour . But the contest coining on is not one of names , but of principles ; not an appeal on Lord Palmeb-BTOn ' s Chinese policy , but the trial of an issue between liberalism and Toryism . We should regret if one suffrage were given exclusively with , reference to the recent vote . The
policy for Liberals to pursue is that of returning members to represent their general opinions . To expel a man from Parliament because he acted with the coalesced opposition would be almost , though not quite , as insane as to elect his rival for seven , years to a seat in the Imperial Legislature simply because he thought the lorcha Arrow entitled to protection .
Untitled Article
RETIREMENT OF THE SPEAKER . The scene in the House of Commons on Tuesday night was one of the most impressive ever witnessed within the walls of that assembly . Mr . Shaw Lepevbe had announced his intention of retiring from the Speakership ; Lord PAiiMERSTOir , as tlie leader of the House of Commons , stood up and made a plain statement of facts , the effect of which was , to declare , that in the most important permanent post of the House of Commons , requiring the highest qualities—knowledge to conduct business , firmness to control disorder , conciliation to win support , patience to assist members who go wrong through inexperience , incapacity , or other foible , memory to recal the laws applicable to each unrehearsed situation , tact to keep up old privileges in the midst of constant and rapid reform—Mr . Shaw Lefevre had passed eighteen years of his life ^ and had gained the esteem of eveivp-part y and every person in the House . This is a simple truth ; and it is , we
hold , a great and valuable public event that those high qualities , which constitute the very spirit and substance of chivalry , should be thus bodily presented and receive their homage , at a day when political intrigue , jointstock gambling , the superciliousness of aristocracy , and the pride and meanness of the purse , appear to have obliterated all signs of chivalry . Yet chivalry is the great safeguard of every nation : it is the religion of man in action .
Mr . Lefevre , indeed , has not displayed one quality which might , perhaps , have been called forth by rougher times . He lias not shown a legitimate ambition to recover , as well as to preserve , the powers of the House of Commons . For it is the House of Commons after all which really should rule the State , and which should , upon occasion , bring a mutinous or a shifty Minister with a cord round his neck and make him cry peccavi . On the contrary , Mr . Lefevbb has , to a certain extent ,
suffered the sacred unity of his post to be invaded , by sanctioning tho appointment of a Deputy Speaker , lie did not do so until his strength in some degree had begun to fail ; and then he forgot that ono advantage in keeping the Speaker without a Deputy was , that it excluded from tho post any but that strong typo of man who ought to be the Speaker of a strong popular assemblage . Who will be the next Speaker ?—that is tho question suggested by tho retirement of tho present . Thcro arc several candidates
for the post . Amongst thoso who have been named are , Mr . Walpole , Mr . Pitzboy , Mr . Stuabt " WojiTMs y , and Sir Euedebiok Tuksioeb ; all of them good men , but not one of them proved to possess tho spirit , or tho strength to embody and assert popular power , as contrasted with aristocratic or royal power , which is demanded in a Speaker . On tho contrary , the election of the Speakpr on tho reassembling of Parliament will probably bo made a question to try tho strength of Ministers ; and thus , perhaps , again tho
Untitled Article
as any declaration of war . Against these we are Avithout protection . The nation must recognise the . acts and fulfil the pledges of its officials . Every minister for foreign affairs is for the time being , a plenipotentiary ; every ambassador , if not a plenipotentiaryhas an unlimited faculty for mischief ; every consul has the privilege of quarrelling with authorities abroad ; and , the spark once kindled , a long supplementary
process is conducted in secret , the con ^ sequences of which are never known until they are irretrievable . Six months of negotiations pass ; Ministers Come down and say , " Gentlemen , we have determined our differences with America , and we invite you to congratulate us ; " , " We have been unable to settle that matter , and have advised the Crown to declare war . You will , of course , give us a patriotic support , and pay the hill . " It is thenceforward held to be
unwanted for the settlement of home questions ; but while Continental disputes are simmering in one direction , American differences fermenting in another , there is no chance for the principle of Reform . This belief has made great progress in the public mind . It is felt that secret diplomacy is an abyss of lurking
dangers , and that while we are distracted by affairs beyond the seas , in which we can only have a partial interest , the growth of our institutions is arrested , and our enthusiasm frittered away . Meanwhile , our international sympathies bear no fruit , . so that while we neglect our our own necessities we afford neither assistance nor consolation to the peoples of the Continent .
English to question the policy of the conflict ; at the dawn of a pacific hope it is declared impolitic to discuss a question still pending ; upon the conclusion of a treaty , all discussion is deprecated as too late , since the nation , through its Executive , has entered into binding engagements and must keep faith with a reconciled enemy .
Excepting , therefore , that lightly rising vapour called the moral influence of publie opinion upon the policy of Grovernment , the nation has no check upon the diplomacy of the Executive . Supposing that a majority of the House of Commons had condemned the attitude assumed by Lord Ci / ABEBTDon towards Naples , any member moving the House to a condemnatory resolution , before the act , would have met with the objection that he interfered with the prerogative of the Crown and the functions of the
Govern-FOREIGN POLICY REFORM . There is no doubt that Lord Palmebston is resorting to electioneering arts to obtain expressions of public confidence . Whatever may be his success , it is certain , also , that the country begins to be dissatisfied with the system of secret diplomacy . Some explanations in connexion with that topic may advantageously be solicited on the hustings . From officialism stamped with pedantry oily one answer can be expected . Lord Paljierston ,
Lard Abebdeun , Lord JohnE-ussexi , ttflEarl of Debby , would affirm that , without the practice of confidential negotiation , ifc would be impossible to keep up relations with foreign states . Other persons , not quite so experienced , might consider this a bugbear . Supposing we had no foreign relations ? We should probably continue to have foreign commerce ; but it is a practical impossibility to cut off one government in Europe from the body of contemporary governments . There
might be an end of secret treaties , undeclared understandings , arrangements concluded within closed doors ; but a powerful state ¦ would retain its power , and influence the world for good or evil , though wax should no longer be used in its diplomatic bureau . At least , the results of the secret system have leen far from satisfactory . War with Russia , subservience to France , treachery to the
Italians , double-dealing with the Swiss , embarrassment everywhere , have arisen from our policy of converting every diplomatic deliberation into a political conspiracy- It is true that we have ratified a peace with Hussia , that we are engaged in settling the Neufchatel difficulty , that we are en terms of official amity with France , that we keep abreast of European questions in general ; but where are our securities ? In the
sealed chests of diplomacy , presided over by a board of directors sworn to secrecy . What wo wish to insist upon is , that a great industrial nation should havo bettor guarantees against war than tho temper or the ability of any single minister . Ac - cording to the theory of the Constitution , Parliament controls tho Foreign Office ; but
if the Foreign Office entangles the country in a dispute , the dispute may liave carried too far in the whispering galleries of diplomacy for Parliament to interfere before the question has burnt itself out . The issue raised , however , affecta 3 iot only declarations of war , but friendly compacts also ; there are some friendly compacts pos-Biblo that would excite aa much regret
ment ; afterwards he would have been appealed to not to interrupt a course of delicate negotiations which were being carried on with every prospect of success—or failure . Then , we have escaped an American war ; but how ? Admit that we have escaped it through the "wise and conciliatory policy adopted by Lord Paimebston . Had Lord Palmebston ' s policy been less conciliatory and wise , what then ? We might have been
dragged into a war ; for , right or wrong , the Minister is the arbiter of our foreign relations . It is true that a vote of censure , or want of confidence , may deprive him of power ; but he has lit the fires of international dissension , he has broken the bonds of peace ; and , supposing even the most favourable issue , the same result is arrived at , after convulsion and disaster , that might havo been attained by a sinrple appeal , in the first instance , to the Imperial Legislature .
We will not go so far as to say that before the Government is permitted to promulgate a hostile declaration against a foreign state , " a Bill for Making War against llusaia , " or America , or Persia , should have passed thrco readings in the Lords and Commons ; but we contend , and the spirit of the times is with us , that the course of negotiation should be open , and that Parliament should guide the movements of diplomacy , exactly as it
marks the plans of legislation . It is true , as we havo frequently said , that if Parliament fulfilled its proper nim , diplomacy could do no wrong ; that if legislation were under real national control , tho Foreign Oflico would submit to a reformed influence ; and it is among the most palpablo truths of our age that , if tho House of Commons wore no longer a club , tho band of foreign miniatora and ambassadors in Europe would no longer constitute a guild .
It would be worth a national effort to place our foreign relations upon a secure and intelligible footing . The next few years are
Untitled Article
March 14 , 1857 . ] THE LEADUR , 253 - — ' - " ~ " ' " - — - ¦ - " ——¦ -- — - ¦ - - — — .- — I . —
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), March 14, 1857, page 253, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2184/page/13/
-