MR. BRIGHT THE REFORMER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 652, 5 February 1859, Page 3

MR. BRIGHT THE REFORMER.

(From the ' Times,' Oct. 29.)

:It has been said that nothing truly great Avasever done by an-effort, and, though" the' maxim vis somewhat dangerous, it nevertheless contains a portion of truth which we cannot but acknowledge. The mountain in labour is an;old fable, and strange enough it is. that mountains which have in their time shot forth their redhot rocks, rolled down their streams of lava, and covered the landscape with their clouds of dust, should sometimes, after many weeks of volcanic rumblings and ever thickening volumes of smoke, bring forth nothing but an abortion; Mr. Bright is a man ofpower and passion; his eloquence has received the tribute of praise from all parties, and. of late he has held a position in the country which may well have inspired him with confidence in himself and in the teachings of his own political school. Tory noblemen, " broadacre.d" squires, military politicians, University representatives,—all those who of old showed themselves most arrogant and vindictive and supercilious towards Manchester and its apostles,—all those who formerly looked, or affected to look, on Cobden and Bright as the impersonations of an evil spirit, which was in fulness of time to pull down the Throne, violate the altar, and despoil the Peerage, have been within the last few months prodigal of compliments and blandishments, which.may have made the strongheaded member for Birgmingham smile with a consciousness ofpower. He has been "this eminent and thoroughly holiest politician," " this remarkable man, who, although I may differ widely from him on some things, I still sincerely believe to be, &c." In short, Mr. Bright has been the protector of the Tory camp against the old Whig phalanx, which, taken by surprise, and routed in that memorable night of February, soon rallied and advanced to the attack with the obstinacy and discipline learnt in its long campaigns. The member for Birmingham was half looked upon as an imgazetted prime minister, who, with limbs 'which' court: suit had never encompassed, and lips which had never-approached the Royal hand, was .yet .-to dictate the policy of an administration and keep the men of his choice in office as long as they complied with his wishes. The speech at Birmingham was looked for, accordingly, with some little curiosity. As November approaches, and the world once mure applies itself to the steady business of life, Englishmen naturally turn to that period of promise—tinl next session. After all, real earnest politics are something different from the literary or scientific or philanthropic discussions which are in season every autumn.. Two ■ months of "papers!" on the distribution of fungi, the importance of vocal music in education, and the progress of unreclaimed young pickpockets in agricultural chymistry, give us all an appetite for.. something more vigorous and exciting. "Mr. Bright is known aY a man of energy, he is believed to have plunged heart and soul into the politics; of the'present hour, and the meeting at Birmingham was understood -to be a great political demonstration. ; Expectation was at its height, and inasmuch as Mr. Bright has made a long and laboured speech it has not been disappointed. But those who thought thtlt something mw would be qmincjatedo,r something; old spiritedly revived, — that the last session would he moralised for the in Structlon- of ? politicians, or<the future course of affairs indicated with subtle penetration, have been wofulfy deceiyW. Mir,', Brjkht' h»3 made an ordinary Uoforra Bill fipeedlii1 k^ch' as might be made by fifty men' with not? a titli^ bf hiS-abilityJahd experience; It is impossible to follow'i). speaker who runs from onesub-

ject to another, and. .groups, ideas, which have no manner of connection; nay, it is-hardly necessary for such unsteadiness and 'absence of close reasoning are little likely; to produce an effect. Mr.'Bright attacks the small boroughs, and t>he counties, aud the House of Lords', and the Bishops, an.l the country gentlemen, and more than one other element. In. our social state,—his -panacea for the evils caused by aIJ these being a full and fair representation of the people in the House of Commons, lie has hard words for the existing House; he calls the present state of.the representation a hypocrisy and a sham, and exposes, with unanswerable statistics, that disproportion between the constituencies of which no one is ignorant. Now, our own opinions on tha subject of a reform of Parliament have been given, not once or twice, but*many times, and extend o.yor a considerable number of years. We are in favour of a greater equality between tho constituencies. We trust- that any Keform. Bill which may be brought forward will be art honest and a fair one, though we.agrcewith Sir Corne.wallLewis,that any such measure must add_,to the nopular,pc>wer in the State. That- in; the -next few years some of the changes' which Mr. Bright mentions will take.placOj, no mat? cau doubt. Numbers, energy,' increasing wealth"; and, what ;mnst riot, be.despised, the strict logic of the question, are on one side; on the other are proscription and the dislike- of change, the timidity of the rich, the fastidiousness.of the.educated, and the caution of the reflecting. It is'not difficult to see that in the long run the"rougher and morei vigorous party will make great breaches in the other's fortress. That Mr. Bright will some years hence be able to point out how his arguments have prevailed we have no doubt; we also trust and believe that he will be able to add that no evil has befallen the nation and its constitution. Having made these concessions, which we-might equally make to any. publichouse orator who indignantly compared Thetford and the Tower Hamlets, and declared that a change must come some day, we are compelled to stop. The whole spirit of Mr. Bright's speech is at variance with the feeling of the country at the present time. . The member for Birmingham seems to fancy himself in October 1831, instead of October, 1858. If the House of Lords had just rejected the abolition of old Sarum, if Bristol,was on fire, and the Birmingham people ready to march, Mr. Bright could not be more acrimonious and combative. To listen to him it would seem that.the three kingdoms were misrepresented by a. Parliament whose only thought was to extract money from the pockets of the people. One would think that the Pension List was overburdened with .the parasites of the great, that the Church was full of foxhunting plnralists, that :Chancery suits always last fifty years, that slavery in the .colonies still existed,, that the Corn Laws and the Navigation Laws were in full force. But what is the feet ? That the people in whose behalf Mr. Bright is making; his ' protestations feel that, whatever anomalies still remain in the representative system, yet there is every year a crop of good measures, and that even a Parliament reformed to the utmost would "find little to do but to continue its work on the lines laid down by the present race of legislators. Let Mr. Bright explain.the apathy; of the public compared with its excitement; 27 years ago on any other grounds than' that then there were great evils to remedy and now there are none or few..

When Mr. Bright descends; to.details, he is eminently vague.' What is this scheme of a franchise based on the parish or vestry .systems? • Is he prepared to adopt the principle,of voting recognized in _those ; ,systems, namely,- according to :the rateability of theivoter;? The Ballofis made a necessary part of the scheme; but will Mr. Bright asserfcthat any public man of any party has given his assent to it, or that there is any chance of its receiving the support of Lord John Russtll, whose sympathy with Reform he justly eulogizes?'. Eor. our own part, we must reiterate an; opinion that, the demand for; the ballot springs, from the. irritation, of the onstitiiencies at petty pieces of. intimidation, or exclusive dealing, which, however of bajd blood at an election, haver no appreciable effect ■ on' the composition of a House; of .Commons.: •■ We think that the evils which secret~ vvoting* would bring with it, which it has brought; wjth'it- in other countries, are such , as,;<.tq-^counterbalance r the trifling advantage^ which-.- here ■.arid there a tradesmanoorrr a tenant might receive. We are also of ;•' opinion that, though;,- a; certain :>number of members vote for it in. obedience toi.the wishes of a section of their; constituents, :yet, ■: if there were the slightest chance of Mr.: Berkeley's motion becoming anything more than a motion, a spirit would be roused in the country, to prove how deep is the antipathy to any sj-stera of secret voting. Mr. Bright, cannot imagine -why we should-make these,remarks anonymously and yet object: to the ballot-box. We, on the other hand, are unable to perceive any analogy between the two cases'. The vote for a borough or county as a legal act, and affects every, man, whether elector-or non-elector, as well as every woman and child, in the country; The voter helps to choose a member who bears a part in governing us. We may, therefore, fairly demandthat he should perform this legal act openly and publicly. An article in a newspaper has no. power but from the justice of. its arguments. No one need read it; no one who reads it need pay any attention to it. It matters to no one whether it is written by A. or B. or C. A man may fairly write anonymously, because his name is no concern of the public. When he proceeds to exercise the functions of a citizen his countrymen may demand that the act by which they are bound" be done openly and above-board.