ENGLISH ITEMS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XII, Issue 514, 3 October 1867, Page 1

ENGLISH ITEMS.

(From tlia Panama Star ana Herald.)

PARLIAMENTARY.

iue Iroiif'c of Lords from illness. The Earl of Malmesbury, in his absence, has *« if h tV»a nnnfinof nf tKi»

llefonn Bill. On the 29ih he moved to go into committee thereon, and the first blow was then struck by Lord Halifax, who proposed a resolution to the effect that tlie scheme was inadequate, and that it was expedient to provide the means of giving more representatives to large and important constituencies than were allotted by the bill. In making this proposel the noble lord avowed he had no alternative plan of his own to oiler as a substitute for that of the Government. A long debate ansued, Lord Malmesbury opposing the resolution on the ground that it wag unbecoming of the House to interfere at the eleventh hour. On divining there appeared For the amendment 59 Against it ICO

A motion brought forward by Lord Cairns, that in boroughs and counties returning three members no person should vote for more than two, and in the city of Lodon for more than three candidates The motion, which was opposed by the Earl of Malmesbury, gave rise to some discussion, and was carried by 142 to 51 votes. A further proposition from Lord Cairns, viz., that the lodger franchise be raised from £lO to £ls, has been accepted by the Earl of Malmesbury on the part of the Government. This it will be seen entirely alters the bill, and will lead to strong debates if the bill so amended is returned to the House of Commons. Lord Stretford de Redcliife has at the request of the harl of Derby and Earl Bussell, withdrawn his motion ou the death of the Emperor Maximilian. In reply to the Marquis of Clanricarde, the Earl of Derby announced that in the case of the Tornado a new trial had been ordered by the Spanish Courts—ihe trial had, however, not yet commenced, and from what he could understand, neither party seemed anxious to bring the case to trial on its merits. The Government would not lose sight of the question. A motion which was brought forward by Mr Headlam in the Hoa-e of Commons to the effect that an humble address be presented to Her Majesty, stating that in the opinion of the House the demand for compensation from the Spanish Government made in respect to the destruction ef the Mermaid was just and right, and that the demand should be persisted in, has been withdrawn at the request of Lord Stanley, who considered that two great powers should not be involved in war until every other means of arriving at a satisfactory conclusion had been exhausted. In answer to Mr. Watkins, Sir J. Pakington said the number of rifles converted in the Snider principle was 216,223. There remained to be converted 114,237. The daily rate of conversion was 1,1.0. ! In committee of the whole House, authority has been given to raise £IOO,OOO on terminable annuities for the fortifications, £150,000 of which Sir J. Pakington explained would be expended ou iron shields.

THE REFORM BILL. The passage of the Reform Bill in the House of Commons is the theme of remark in London journals of the 16th July. After seventeen weeks of discussion, the bill now goes up for review to the other branch of the legislature. The Times says:— “The bill may prove to be perfeotly safe, and more than safe, in its operation. It may improve the character of the House of Commons at the same time that it will widen the base of the Constitution by putting on toe register a large proportion of the adult population o‘. this counti’y. We hope and believe it will produce these happy results. Independent members are justified in supporting it, and, as they have supported it, in the confidence that it will produce these results. But there remains the fact, undeniable and inexplicable, that the sponsors of the bill were pledged to oppose the very measure they had fathered, and had declared unalterable hostility to the scheme they have since submitted to the House of Commons.”

From s leading article in the News we extract the follow ing : “The bill in its present shape is not the work of any individual author, and least of all can Mr Disraeli claim its parentage It is the product of party rivalry and popular agitation, of ambition and fear, of weariness and impatience, and, let us hope, of that Providence that shapes man’s ends, rough-hew them as he will. The GovernSPtut and the Conservative party, instead of designing what they have accomplished,! aimed at something precisely the reverse.! The manner in which they have outwitted themselves is sufficiently obvious. They thought that the people of England were capable of being deluded by large principles ami theories, potentially of the widest application, but practically restrained within the narrowest scope. The people, however, under the leadership and enlightened by the expositions of Mr Gladstone, Mr Mill, and Mr Bright, accepted the principles, and insisted on their being fully carritd out. In attempting to evade reform, .Lord Derby and his colleagues have effected what to conservatives of the old type seems a revolution. The minister who proclaimed it his mission to check the

encroachments of democracy has thrown oden the gates and allowed the enemy to jmarch in and take possession of the citadel. The party whose theory it was that the range of enfranchisement must be restricted within limits compatible with the maintenance of the balance of classes, end who loudly avowed that the electoral privilege should be the reward of proved or presamptive fitness for its exercise, now casts aside all discrimination, and through ns leader openly tramples on the hard and fast line which, to some degree, marks the distinction between wealth and indigence, between the intelligence of the skilled artisan, and the mental stagnation of the untrained day-laborer. The actual franchises of the present bill will not, we believe, when supplemented by an equitable mea sure of distribution, be found to go beyond the limits of safe and beneficial reform ; but the principles on which it is based have no limits at all.

The London Star (Bright organ) asks what the Lords will do, and says there are unmistakeable symptoms of a heavy talk and much futile protest b 'fore they allow the bill to become law. But according to this authority the country would not endure a serious mangling of reform at the hands of the House of Lords. THE SOLDIER’S PAY. These is great joy in Aldershott, and all over the world, no doubt, as Sir John Pakington’s memorandum circulates from station to station, concerning the accumulated twopences which will be poured into the lap of the soldiers of the Queen. It will give many a man a chance of wiping otf arrears and starting fair ; it will prove the basis of a little bank account to others ; to some—how many, we dare not anticipate —it will be so much money to spend in the alehouse, the canteen, and cognate resorts. The conduct of the soldier, and the way in which he uses bis money, will be fair tests of the condition of the soldier’s mind- Now, he is by far the best paid soldier in the world. Fed, beyond comparison, with rations such as no foreign army dreams of j with a system of rewards carried to the greatest extent possible ; well lodged and well clad ; a provision secured for old age, if ha remains in the service ; with a status in public estimation greater than it ever was before j with prospects such as never existed of promotion in and from the non-commissioned classes ; and with a certainty of employment if he leaves with a good character. The British soldi.r, with his canteens, institilutions, lectures, recreation grounds, gardens, medical supervision and care, is beyond doubt, one of the most looked after, if not the best otf, of the human family. —Army and Navy Gazette.

POST-OFFICE ALTERATIONS. fHEßriti.-h Tostmaster-Q-eneral has issued the following notice : “ At the request of the Q-overnment ot Victoria, the transmission in the mails sent via Panama, of newspapers, books, and packets of patterns or samples of raer chandise, addressed to the Colony of Victoria, will be discontinued, and, in future, only such letters and packets will be sent to Victoria by that route as are fully prepaid at the letter rate of postage, viz., sixpence per half-ounce, and are specially addressed to be so forwarded. No altertion will be made as regards the transmission of newspapers, books of patterns in the mails via Suez.”

Mbs. YELVERTON'S CASE. In’ the House of Lords, on the 27th of June, Miss Longworth, alias the hon. Mrs Yelverton, appeared in forma pauperis as appellant in this long-disputed case, and j pie ided her own cause. Tue case came before their lordships on a curious point, i The luestion whether a marriage had taken place between the parties having been determined by their lordships in the previous appeal adversely to Miss Longworth, or, as she still claims to be, Mrs Yelverton, she applied to the Court of Session in Scotland to refer the matter to the oath of the respondent, the Hon. Major Y elverton, eldest son of Viscount Avontnore, whom she claims as her husband. Court of Session having refused her application, the lady lodged the present appeal. The law lords present were Lord Chancellor, Lord Cranworth, Lord West bury, and Lord Colonsay The appellant, who was dressed in a light grey silk, with a light black lace shawl, and bonnet of similar material, took her place at the bar, and in the absence of her counsel conductrd her case with great efi'ect.

Mrs Yelvertou concluded her case on July 9 with a very able speech, in which she said that this unfortunate case had brought to light the anomalous state of the marriage law of the three kiugdoms-a pureiy civil contract in Scotland, the marriage law in Ireland was a tyrannical, fanatical religious one. She concluded in these words :—“ It may be that, instead of giving me the relief I seek, this is but the renewal of strife ; but my heart and soul are vowed to live or perish in the truth, and until it is recognised the light of heaven cannot shine for ms or the !*n of earth cradle me in its sweetness. ‘Yet will I not argue ’gainst heaven’s decree nor bate one jot of heart or hope, but still bear up and steer jright onward.’ 1 have made my la-t apjpeal to your lordships; but nsy prayer I will ever be l Judica me, Detis, et discerne jcattfffHi »neam de gentc non sancta; ab ' homme ct doloso rrto i.ve. 3 ” Tii^ - Lord Chancellor intimated tuat their lordships would take time to consider their judgment,