THE RELIGIOUS PAPERS ON THE £6,000,000 VOTE AND THE CONFERENCE.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2864, 20 April 1878, Page 2

THE RELIGIOUS PAPERS ON THE £6,000,000 VOTE AND THE CONFERENCE.

, (FHOM FINANCIAL Ol'IJflOIf.)

Chpbch of England. The Hock, writing on the ere of a division, said :—" Mr Gladstone and tho peace-at-nny-price party are evidently ill at ease, and to extricate themselves from their embarrassing position, hare pro* posed a ridiculous compromise, which, if listened to, would at once neutralise all the good that this tardy display of Minis, terial energy has effected. The Bassophils evidently thought that they had the country with them, but now that they are beginning to be rudely undeceived, they •re getting alarmed—not for their coun* try, but for their party prospects and combinations. The whole thing is happily without a precedent in British history. We trust the Ministers will stand firm. The liecord observes that—"ln anj case the Government were assured of a great majority, but the events which had occurred since the commencement of the debate rendered it overwhelming, : . . . The policy of the Government has, on the -■? whole, been alike pacific* and judicious. The crisis seemed last Thursday to be one of extreme»peril, and even how there are cogent reasons why the Government -, -should not be exposed to harassing criticism until the time arrives when explaoa- . tions can be demanded and granted with* ' out danger to British interests, or to the peace of Europe." The Church. Review observes that " Conservatives hare been talking for a week, and likewise Liberals, but we are ' unable to see why the vote should have been asked for, it should have been resisted. The Opposition would have done better to have contented themselves with '. criticism and refrained from amendments. An addition of £6,000,000 to the national debt, in order to strengthen the hands of the British Ambassador at a conference of the Powers,; is a proposal not serious enough, to be the basis of a party fight. If Ministers had said that the army, and nary needed an increase of strength their 1. reason would have been a solid one."

The Church Times, commenting on the discussion, upon the eve of the division, •aid:—" The rote, treated as a proof of public confidence, has been to unmercifully quilted both in the House and outside of it, that Ministers fairly lost their temper. : .... Belative to the Congress, and the diffif culties of the future, the Church Times, further on in the same article, observed: —" It is much to be hoped, though hardly to be expected, thai before the debate closes some formal expression will' be given to the real approximation of feeling which has been arrived at There still I remains a hard battle to be fought .at the Conference, and it would be well to present to the world the spectacle of a really united people." Writing before the result, Church Belli said:—■" Whatever the figures may be when the division is taken, no one will be able to say that the.vote has not been fully and freely discussed." Referring to the acceptance by the Bussian Government of the proposals for a Conference/ ■' the same paper says : —" We mast not, however, count too confidently on a prompt and permanent peace."' For, referring to the Czar's speech to the Viburg Begiment, that—' We are still far from the end, and must continue .to r ; hold ourselves prepared until we obtain sv< durable peace worthy of Russia ;'~signifi« cant words, coming from a power flushed with successes, whose ideas,, of what ii worthy of Bussia may perhaps not be quite in harmony with, those of other European Powers."

BOMAN CITHOKIC. .' "■; The Tablet, in a leading artjicle headed "Public Perils and Legislative Loqua* city," says: —" Were it not for the gravity of the crisis impending over the country, the efforts of the Opposition to prolong a i sterile and worthless discussion might . well deserve a treatment in the spirit of I the Comic Sluse rather than, any more ! serious attention. . . . Men, whose „ mouths were full last year of fine words about the dignity of Parliament, now seem to hare devoted their supreme endeavors to making Parliament as ridica* loms ait possible, not only in the view of the English people, justly indignant at such a spectacle, but in Tiew of all the nations and Governments of Europe, watch* ing with an amused and puzzled interest the extraordinary scene. . . . Is this the proverbial common sense, and sobriety of English statesmen ? Whence have come into being in such a place all those windy speeches, all thai clatter of contradiction, . those absurd sentimentalities, those shirkings of the. only question at issue, that prolixity, that garrulity, that irrelveneet .... It was a deluge of articulate sounds, an avalanche of parts of speech. The real question before the House was clear ana simple as question can be, 'Should the House, should all English-, men, support the National Government by ererv, means in their power to preserve the peace of the Empire and* of Europe at a crisis of. such admit* , ted gravity ?' One would have fancied' that unanimous acclamation would have settled it at the first proposal. But, no; still the interminable file of orators ', : pressed on. ... Yes, if we were not Englishmen we should find it probably a highly entertaining andamunnc' spectacle which has been presented Hue fortnight past in the House of Commons. Nero fiddled while Borne was burning, i£ is said; and the Imperial Parliament of Britian talks, and talks, and talks,-while all that our ancestors have gloriously bequeathed to us is threatened with rain through oar inaction." ' •■'>•-

The Weekly Begiuter says: "Earnestly is it to be hoped that, from the dilemma into which End land has been led by the •ruel delays forced upon the Executive by a factious and-Unpatriotic Opposition, the now formidably imperilled interests of the Empire may be even yet extricated." ..:,.- In a leading article headed " The Conference," the Weekly Register observes that, " The question of the hoar is not simply where the proposed Conference, is to be held, but whether it is, after all, worth holding it any where P When one. of the Six Signatories of the Treaty of Paris openly sets at defiance, at one and the same moment, the Law of Nations, and the Code of Honor, and the Dictates of Humanity, it hardly seems reasonable to entertain the notion of entering into ordinary relations anywhere, or under any circumstances, with its diplomatic representative. . . , The ralqelessneis of any.Conference at all is proclaimed, as it were, from the house-tops by the astound* ing revelation that the C*ar, io the very act of pledging himself to an armiistioe, 11 advancing under covert with fire and

sword, and armed to the teeth, upon Constantinople."

The Westminster Gazette, in an nrticle entitled "England United in tho Face of Russia," says:-—"Eugland is fast bocorning of one mind now. There is no longer any fear of being dragged into war in support of the independence and integrity of Turkey, because there is no longer a Turkish Empire in Europe to fight for. What we have now all to do is to look to the independence of the Christian Provinces, and to watch Russia with a j nlous ©ye We are, therefore, at a loss to understand why the 'Opposition, now that there is no Turkey to fight for, should not give the vote of credit demanded by the Government as necessary for the purpose of strengthening the arm of England, and of increasing her authority in tho Conference. The position of England, and the great part; she is called upon to play in the final settlement of the Eastern Question, are of such paramount importance as to impose upon political parties the duty of sinking minor differences, and of standing together on the common ground of patriotism, shoulder to shoulder, in opposition to any designs which Russia may harbor adverse to the interests of England, or to the rights and independencies of the various races lately subjected to Turkish dominion."

ATfTrious observation of the Westminster Gazette, coming from one of the Roman Catholic papers is, that there has been too much mixing up of the cause of Turkey with the cause of Catholicism, —an observation savouring more, of press rivalry than true policy. Tho Catholic Times says :—" Should the Conference dissolve in disagreement, there will be no alternative but a grand trial of strength, out of which it will be impossible to keep this country. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, and with such a prospect looming it is the duty of the Government to be proof against surprises. The Powers of the Continent, with their huge war machinery, cau move instantly. England either can or cannot do the same; and if she cannot, it is wrong to withhold the power from those authorised to direct her forces." : - '

The Universe, though making no direct reference to the Tote or the Conference, gays :—•" .Russia, wherever she has had fall sway, has tried to force the barbarons Greek form of worship upon the recalcitrant Catholic people, and even within the last few years has committed the most atrocious butcheries in Poland to force a number of harmless peasants to abjure their Catholic faith and bow to the fetish of Pontificial Casarism, What Russia has done in Poland she is sure to repeat in Bulgaria as soon as she gets a chance of doing so with impunity. For this and other kindred reasons it behoves Catholics rather to choose the lesser than the greater evil. Turkey has certainly never inflicted the same persecution on her Catholic subjects as Russia, and therefore the increase of Russian power south of the Danube can only be looked for with apprehension by all Catholics." .

NoHCOKFOBMIST.

The Nonconformist says:—" If the vote was discreditable to the Government it was disgraceful to the Opposition, because it left them only two alternatives, of folly or cowardice; folly, if they had not for* seen that their policy might mean a temporary occupation of Constantinople by the Russians; cowardice, if they had meant this and lacked, the courage to foi-

low ifc out.

We know all that can

be said about the difficulty of fighting questions of foreign policy. It is all rery well to talk about shoving a united front to the foe. But the first necessity for the application of this admirable patriotic maxim is the existence of a public enemy. . The country had no enemy

when that rote was taken, whatever pay be the case at this moment."

The Watchman says:—" Some of the organs, the Spectator among them, denounce as cowardly the policy which dictated the withdrawal of the amendment ; but, in the presence of the rumours which were iv circulation on Thursday, it would hare involved tha opponents of the original motion in a very grave responsibility indeed, to withhold the Tery modest supplementary supply which, the Ministers of the Crown declared to be required for the public service."

The Christian World, in a leading article entitled " The Seal Point at Issue," says:—" Nothing has been made clearer, during the debate on the vote, than that the real anxiety throughout the country, and the cause of the strenuous opposition offered to the six millions being granted, is to be found in the general belief that tho Premier is so possessed by tho traditional and exploded policy of maintaining Turkey as a breakwater against a Russian advance upon India, that he has been persistently seeking to involve us in a war .which would be really on behalf of Turkey, whilst nominally waged in the name of 'British interests.'" In a second article, the .Christian World — criticising Mr Chaplin's assertion that the question at issue is whether Europe shall be placed at the mercy of one great, cruel, despotic Power—observes :— "Is it not obvious that, if any such clanger as he describes were to be averted, it would be altogether preposterous fo ask for £6,000,000 ? . If the liberties and independence of Enrope-^that is to say, the civilisation of the leading nations of the world-i-are likely to go down before the Muscovites, how monstrous is the farce of asking us to erect a barrier against them with £6,000,000!" Further on in the same article, ifc says :—" The Tote could not fail to be an insult and a menace to Russia* and would be every way unworthy of this country. On the other hand Russia cannot be regarded with blind confidence."

The Baptist observes that j — " The debate itself cannot fail to have done good; and England may breathe more freely than she has done for some time past. The speeches of Mr Bright and Mr Gladstone should be read in their entirety by all who have the welfare of the country at heart. . . . . As we are going to press it is announced that the Govern* rnents of Germany, France, and Italy have accepted the invitation of Austria to a Conference to be held in Vienna. . . . Most people regard the war aa entirely ended, unless Austria and England inter* vene." In an article on " Parliament and the Country," the same paper says:— " Fortunately, the country, through understanding Lord Beaconsfield, in spite of Jris esoteric tactics, hog interposed a check wb.iph evep a Prime Minister's obstinacy has not dared to overstep. Fortunately, »]go, both for her own~jake and the sake of others, Russia has comprehended the situation, and the magnates of St. Petersburg have condescended to repay the discourtesy of the British

Cabinet in current coin. Lord Beaconsfield's policy is tm-Enj-lish." The Methodist KeeordtM- snys :•—" On both sides of the House n c hdievo that the overwhelming inajorry desire that no portion of the money may be expended in the form of gunpowder smoke, but that the whole, if voted, n\»y siuml over in the Chnncellor of the Exchequer's books to the credit of the nation for the next year " The Methodist says :—" Perhaps no Gorernraent ever seriously made n proposal which was so unmercifully buffeted by circumstances. . . . . Even if we grant, which we do not, that tbe decay of the armistice justified the Government in demanding a vote of credit, that justification has ceased to exist. . . . Ministers have showu that they prefer a party triumph. They want to go into the Conference with the streuuth of a united nation at their back, and yet they persist in a course which lays bare to the gaze of Europe all the divisions of popular opinion."