STATE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN ENGLAND.

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 704, 12 January 1853, Page 3

STATE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN ENGLAND.

(From "Timo»." July 24.) We have all of us been sufficiently ready (o point out with painful minuteness the mischances which have befallen those ninety gentlemen who in 18iG followed the fortunes of Sir Robert Peel, and gave us the blessings of cheap bread and commercial freedom. They have been almost as much reduced by a couple of eleclio;. as a crack regiment which has served with tiis'inctien through two bloody and desperate campaigns. Three-fourths of the officers are gone, and (he rank and file are scanty and disorganized. How well have Whig and Tory moralized over this spectacle ! What excruciating pity—what tardy admonitions —have they not lavished on these victims of popular caprice—we had almost said of national ingratitude. But while thus intent on the misfortunes of one devoted party, it seems hardly to have occurred to these discriminating critics that T\hat has pappened to (he Peeliies is only a symptom of what is taking place more or less decidedly with regard to Whigs and Tories themselves. It is a very noticeable fact (hat (be result of the election, now nearly concluded, is not so much to alter the relative proportions of different parlies, as to diminish the strength which they can put forth, and loosen (he bonds which bind them together. The division into Whig, Tory, and Peelile is felt to be no longer an exhaustive one, and the present election has considerably swelled the number of (hose who come under none of these denomina(ions. The election found all parties weak, and has left them weaker.

To begin, as in duly bound, with the supporters of Her Majesty's Government. Having the happiness in most cases to sit for very snug counties, from which the " vile rabble" is effectually excluded, or for .still snugger boroughs in which its voice is utterly powerless, the supporters of the Derby Ministry have generally contrived to get re-elected. But for this privilege they have had to pay a heavy price. The men, the mere aggregate of human beings, are (here, but (he principle, the invisible essence which held them together, has evaporated, and (he attraction of cohesion is dissolved. A {tarty they may still be called, but they have substituted names for things and persons for principles, and await the first rough shake to scatter them abroad to unite no more, at least under their present colours. Protection was Ihe soul which informed this mass, and unless a substitute can be devised as tangible, as level to Ihe meanest capacity, as comprehensible by the selfish and short-sighted among us, the mass is destined to remain soulless.

Willi the Whigs Ihe principles remain and gather strength, but the men whom we identify wiiii them are rapidly disappearing. Lord John Russell, Lord Seymour, Sir Francis Baring, Sir Charles Wood, and Mr. Labouchere have indeed contrived to weather (he storm, for it would be si range if the veteran statesman of the house of Bedford, the eldest son of the Duke of Somerset, and two of (he connexions of our wealthiest merchants, could not find rest for the sole of their foot amid (he Parliamentary deluge. But these successes have not been purchased without a dismal list of casual lies. The Parliament which is now nearly completed must make up its mind, as best it may, to dispense with the services of Sir William Somerville, Mr. Cornewall Lewis, Sir William Gibson Craig, Mr. Bellew, Admiral Stewart, Mr. Parker, Sir John Romilly, Mr. Uatchell, Sir David Dundas, and last, though not least, Sir George Grey. Nor can we say that those who remain hold a position in the eye of the country which qualifies them for the reconstruction of the parly thus dismally thinned and shattered. Lord John Russell, if not exactly magni nominis umbra, is forced to refer very far back indeed for popular achievements, and while (be principles of bis first Reform Bill have every chance of being greatly extended, and the com- i mercial policy which be maintained is sure lobe carried out, he is so far from being able to en- j list new support that he cannot even command a j personal following, or exercise sufficient influence over the country to obtain the return of his ancient friends and devoted adherents. Lord j Grey would never be tolerated by any Government except as Secretary for the Colonies, and in that position he has become absolutely im- { possible, nor is it very probable that the nation will ever demand the restoration of Sir Charles j Wood to (he office of Chancellor of the Exehequer. We think that the elections have pretty j we'd dispelled the fear which lurked in many, minds of a reconstruction of the Whig party on j its old exclusive and dynastic principles. While •,

men are entering Parliament without a single tangible profession except their willingness to support Lord Derby, others are starling in publie life advocating almost all the principles of Lord John Russell, but carefully guarding themselves from expressing any intention of fighting his leadership. The name of the dead Sir Robert Peel has yet a charm ; (he name o£ the living Lord Derby is all that his party has to cling to; but the name of the great Whig leader conciliates few supporters and enlists no proselytes. This is no new thing. For the second time in twelve years we see the Whig party in a slate of disorganisation and dissolution, and in both cases this result was preceded by a phenomenon of a precisely similar nature. For all essential purposes there is a complete historical parallel between the last years of Lord Melbourne and Lord John Russell In both cases the party had outlived its strength, its prestige, and its popularity. Growing narrower and narrower as it grew weaker and weaker, the charmed circle of Whig connexion occupied less and less space in the public eye. In both cases the Government was content to live on sufferance. The squabble about the bedchamber ladies prevented Sir Robert Peel, and a well-founded distrust of his own party prevented Lord Derby, from seizing office until a year after the Whigs had become incapable of holding if. In both cases there was a warning and a respite, an opportunity to weed out incapacity and to enlist available talent. la both cases the warning was disregarded. Aristocratic connexion—powerless to keep out its enemies—was a wall of adamant against its friends. In both instances measures were relied on as a means to bring back popularity so wantonly sacrificed. Rut the really sound commercial reform of 1811 and the futile electoral reform of 1852 were alike incapable of conciliate ing a people wearied by inaction, alienated by incapacity, and disgusted by the incongruous mixture of aristocratic exclusiveness with liberal professions. If the Whig party was even feebly reconstructed in 1840, this was owing, as everybody knows, to influences purely external, and from the period of its return to office it steadily rejected every means of strengthening itself and averting the destiny which has again overtaken it. Had Lord John Russell enlisted all the available strength of his party, and proposed measures responsive to the feelings of the country, there would have been little occasion for public writers to speculate on the manner in which the opposition to Lord Derby is to be conducted, for Lord Derby would have been still himself an opposition leader. We cannot, however, suppose that men so entirely blind to their first warning would accept the lesson conveyed by the second, and even if they were prepared to do so the Whigs can hardly hope to have in the same twelve years a third opportunity of ruining themselves. If an effective opposition is really to be organized—and never was it more needed than now—the irksome labour of reconstruction must be submitted to. It will not do for the leader, whoever he may be, to act on his own views, and assume that he will be able to carry with him a party which he lias not consulted." If fate shall send us again a Chatham, a Peel, or a Grey, he may exercise that undisputed supremacy which commanding genius never claims in vain ; but those who are but a little higher than (heir fellows must not deem themselves of heroic stature. If the Liberal party is to be held together and become a really efficient instrument of Parliamentary warfare, its leaders must be content to submit their opinions and projects in private to those whom they expect to follow them in public. " Caucus," as (he Americans have it, is (he one (hing needful for the rcccnstruelion of (he Liberal party. It has become disorganised by the neglect of its leaders to consult its feelings and opinions, it can only be reconstructed by allowing those who compose it the right of private remonstrance, of suggestion, and of discussion.