GENERAL SUMMARY.

Southland Times, Issue 658, 17 April 1867, Page 3

GENERAL SUMMARY.

(Prom the " Horae News.") All eyes are turned to the opening of Parliament. Is there to be a Beform Bill ? What do the League men mean to do? Mr Beales has declared that they will do nothing illegal. It must be presumed, however, from their programme, that their notions of legality are not likely to be confirmed by the sanction ofthe law officers ofthe Crown. Nothing has transpired as to the intentions of G-overnment, except some semi-official gossip about a coming Beform Bill which it is hoped will allay the discontent, and avert a threatened display of physical force. That Lord Derby's Cabinet will bring in a Beform Bill is highly probable; but that the bare intimation of their intention will satisfy the demands of men who have a vested interest in anarchy is in the last degree chimerical. We should not be at all surprised if the Tory Government should ultimately sue-, ceed in carrying a perfectly satisfactory bill. It has been the luck of the Tories on other occasions to inherit the glory which properly belonged to their predecessors in office. They may come in for a similar stroke of good fortune now. After a strenuous resistance to the Catholic claims, through a long tenure of office, it was their happy destiny to bring in the Emancipation Bill. In like manner free trade was conceded by Sir Bobert Peel. Why should Beform prove an exception to that eccentric course of legislation which dooms the friends of progress to labor in vain for the accomplishment of any given object, and then opens the opportunity of achieving it to the party of obstruction ? The approaching opening of the Session is looked forward to in the metropolis with no little solicitude. It has been known for some time that it is the intention of the Beform League, in concert with the Trades' Unions, to organise a monster meeting in some central place for the purpose, it is understood, of proceeding with a vast number of petitions to the door of the House of Commons. That the presence of such a gathering thronging the entrances of the two Houses of Parliament is intended to overawe the deliberations of the Legislature, can be known only to those who are getting up the movement ; but that such a turbulent assemblage, obstructing the free passage of members, interrupting traffic in the streets, and otherwise jeopardising the public peace, is eminently calculated to produce disturbance out-of-doors, - and disorder, if not alarm, within, cannot be doubted. According to a sort of official announcement which has been made by the Beform League, the proposed "demonstration" is to take place on February llth. A grand procession is to be formed, headed by the councils of the several trades; and, in addition to the Amalgamated Engineers, the Amalgamated Cordwainers, and numerous other amalgamated bodies, *;he stream is to be augmented by the majority of the Temperance Societies, although what the Temperance Societies, as Temperance Societies, have to do with, such demonstrations is by no means apparent. The experience ofthe last display of Trades' Unions in the streets will justify the Go- ] vernment in preventing a second. Trade was literally stopped. . For one whole day peaceable residents could not safely stir out of their houses, and the principal thoroughfares were kept in a state of siege. : ; A movement has at last been made with respect to the Alabama claims, or rather with respect to the cluster of demands that are comprehended under that designation. In consequence of a special communication from the Washington Cabinet, the English Minister has been instructed to submit to the American Q-pvernment a proposal for referring to arbitration the pending differences arising out of the war, on condition that an agreement be previously entered into as to the particular matters .to be so referred. It is to be hoped that the American Cabinet wiU recognise the equity and good sense of this proposal.- Earl Bussell peremptorily refused- to discuss the Alabama claims. His successors are copier and wiser, and should they succeed in carrying the negotiation to a satisfactory and honourable termination they will have rendered an important service to the public interests on both sides of the Atlantic. It has been a source of general regret in England for many years past, just as' eld times and old cußtolris a,re regretted, that the Christmas season, ushering in the New Tear and its festivities, has undergone a complete revolution. Instead of tottering Father Christmas, with old age written in deep wrinkles in his face, aria a folorn white beard lengthened to his waist by icicles, we had a Bpruce beau, with the sun shining in his eyes, and a rejuvenescent gaiety in his airy step, This year the tables have been turned upon, us, and for several days we have been indulged •With frost and sriow arid hurricane, such as we are not likely to forget in a hurry» Christmaß«day in the. opes cqu^try was

one of the Jmest^^ the. whole year. It might have been a day in May, it was so bright, and calm, and balmy. This weather, with occasional modifications, lasted up to New Tear's day; but on the night of that day the signs of approaching change became manifest. < Then followed a tempest bf snow of extraordinary violence,, which in the course of a few hours wrought a total revolution in the aspect of all animate and inanimate things. The effect throughout the proyinces. was felt severely in the stoppage and delay of trains, the nondelivery of letters, and the. general hindrance and disorganisation' of traffic ; while the reaction upon. London, together with the condition of the streets,' rendered passsenger transit, either on foot or by vehicle,! afc , "difficult as] Davenaint and. Dryden describe it to have been in the days of Charles I. On some of the railroads the snow had accumulated to the depth of six ..feet. BaHroads, how** ever, , have facilities in the way of labor which are not to. be found so readily elsewhere, and the six feet yielded in time to many hands and persevering exertions. In London it is a very different affair. The city looks after its own affairs-^/ but in spite of its careful division of localities and duties, by which responsibility; is easily^ fixed, it has* not net discovered the art of providing against an invasion of snow. The state of the city was deplorable. The few cabs that ventured/to plough the depths of the narrow streets were drawn by two horses, and even then made a snail's progress with difficulty -and danger. Hardly any omnibuses r were. to be seen, arid such as were out charged fancy fares, in common with all other carriages plying for hire. The struggle of passengers ,, on the trottoir would have been ludicrous, but that it was really attended; with hazard at every step. For the Westend there are Acts of Parliament that make stringent provisions for the clearing, of the streets . under such circumstances, but the practical value of acts of that nature was strikingly exemplified ih> the fact that nothing, or next to nothing, was done to remove the obstruction which paralysed locomotion in the thoroughfares. The great arteries of circulation and traffic, not to say anything of the bye-streets, were literally choked up. . ; Carriages were useless^ horses were dangerous, and nobody attempted to walk, except urider the compulsion of inexorable business. To increase the. general discomfort the cold was bitter, the thermometer being so low at one time as 28 degrees below freezing point. ''•.,._.. .... It were well if nothing but inconvenience and discomfort had followed from this interval of bitter weather. Unhappily serious disasters have occurred 1 at sea, and along the coasts ; and accounts of heavy losses of life and property have reached us from many parts of the kingdom. But a deplorable accident which has .occurred on the ornamental water in Begent's-park transcends all the other casualties in its appalling magnitude. In* consequence of the severe frost, which caked the entire surface of the lake with a solid sheet of ice, thousands of 'persons ventured upon the frailfooting,fqrthe purpose of enjoying the pleasure of skating. Not without warning from the icemen, and certainly not without ominous premonitions, from the ice itself, which cracked and exploded in every direction^ the congealed crust gave way, and hundreds of persons were submerged in the freezing water." A few managed to, battle their way. to land, arid received every care and attention which skill and huirianity could suggest. A-<- great number, however, perished; and the number of deaths which have been recorded amounts to. 41.- ; The- causes of the tragedy are manifold and complex. It is asserted that, if the park-keepers had not broken the ice at its point of contact with the banks, it would have been impossible that. the accident. could have- occurred. The theory which rests upon this supposition is to the effect that ice separated from -water by a layer of air is liable to split, and necessarily, to endanger the lives of those who venture upon it. This view of the case is not denied by the park officials; but theypersist in stating that' the "rotton condition " of the surface 'struck them long before the accident occurred, and that they exerted themselves to the utmost to deter people from trusting it. We hear from another quarter that if a sufficient force of police had been present to prevent skaters from venturing on the ice, the unfortunate mishap might haverbeen altogether avoided. The Committee formed to prosecute, or persecute, unfortunate Mr Eyre have broken ground at last.- Four actions have been commencedrfor .illegal arrests and false imprisonment, aud .others are to follow." But these are trifles. . , Tfiey only form the prologue to the tragedy. The next step is. an indictment, for murder, which the Committee are' said to have drawn up. One question' must. rise to every man's-mind 'in contemplating these proceedings—can a servant bf the Crown be prosecuted by private' individuals for acts ;done in his public capacity, upon which the Government haye already pronounced, sentence ? If he can, there is an end to all responsibility to the , constituted authorities oh the part of persons employed in the public service. What goyernof of a colony, what colonel of a regiment, what admiral on a station, will venture to take decisive measures in a grave emergency if he.is not to be judged, and protected if need be, by his superiors at home, iristead of being handed over to the tender mercies of a' self-elected tribunal. This is a quite irrespective of theguiltoric*nh«fic^df ? MrJEyrei >-v Our foreignnnews. present few facts of importance. ,-Tlie new reforms that are preparing for the French Constitutiorftb complete and crown its "liberty," occupy exclusive attention^ iat 'pfe*Wnt> iii? Paris, Whatever s commotion these : chairiges, .or the alterations in ; the : mode- of ing- business in the- Chata'bersj* -may pc« Casiob, -will soon be swept away in the,

excitement-of the International- Exhibition. The; preparations for.it are pro-; ceeding rapidly, .. and .wheAjijlje political crisis comes,- should ther|^really Jbe 1 a crisis, public ' curiosity .wM" haje /heeni into more' agreeable channels./ The impeachment of President Johnson is an accomplished fact .after all. On January 7, Mr Ashley, of Ohio, introduced the resolution with an air of marked "solemnity. The resolution al; leges that the . President has abused his power, has acted in violation of law, has corruptly used his pardoning and ap--pointing powers- and for these and other high crimes and misdemeanors against the Constitution " I do impeach Andrew Johnson," exclaims Mr Ashley, " TicePresident* and Acting-President of the . Fnited States." Mr Johnson, it is said, bears this prosecution with perfect complacency. He does not believe that it will ever carry its object, and that if it should produce any very marked effect upon. American institutions, the first step will be- on the head of the Badical party. In the meanwhile the G-overnment department exhibit no lack of their usual activity ; and we. have no doubt that the foreign pblicy will be dispassionate in the midst of the domestic hurricane. -