THE REFORM DEBATE.

West Coast Times, Issue 266, 31 July 1866, Page 2

THE REFORM DEBATE.

COLONIAL STATESMEN IN PARLIAMENT.

ME. LOWE.

Just as the last Australian mail was being despatched from London, Mr 'Lowe, by whom the Reform debate was resumed and reinvigorated, was thrilling the House of Commons with a speech of extraordinary force and fellcity. It is admitted by friends and foes alike to be the speech of a debate remarkable for the display of oratorical power and dialectic skill. The reform discussions culminating in the critical division of Saturday morning, the 28th. - ult., spread over sixty hours, during which, period no fewer than seventythree speeches were delivered, the majority of which were marked by great and varied ability. Those pronounced on the last two nights of the battle, when the fate not only of i bill but of a Government was in suspense, will well repay the thoughtful perusal of all xlustralians lukini; an interest in the progress of Parliamentary institutions. Those colonists vfh^ - knew Mr Lowe during his antipodean career, and are familiar with his earl}- dtw nocra tj c utterances, will k« doubt be vandalised by his recentNpolitical baek&<v,]ings, and indisposed to lSsajken to the £lool*.jv vaticinations of ama 24^ n o under the' x stigma of apostacy. Thei Same prejudices produced by Ms app^ nt defection from the Liberal ranlcs havVS^Efa* - ted strongly to his disadvantage in England. Radicalism has poured out all its vials of venom on his head. Never loved even by the members of his own party, the hatred provoked towards him in some quarters by the course he, lias adopted on the reform question bagl^rtaken of the diabolical. He has been vilifiM as though he weie the arch-fiend himself. But his last magnificent deliverance seems to have charmed almost everybody. Although differing in toto from bis arguments and conclusions, many of the most strenuous supporters of the policy of Government, and the most indignant denouncers of the' Adullamite faction, have spoken and written in terms of generous eulogy of his last wonderful feat of dialectics. One rabid Radical newspaper, certainly, its discriminating faculty muddled with rage, elegantly characterised Mr Lowe's speech as " gabble." On this glaring unfairness the " Patriot " remarks that such political passion is a disgrace to Liberal journalism. "We read the strictures , in which that word occurs with shame. To our miod, apart altogether from matters of opinion, Mr Lowe's speech, was' one of the finest specimens of debating power we have ever witnessed."

No paper has more resolutely, yet temperately, condemned the factious course taken by the Liberal malcontents on the franchise question than the " Daily News," yet that organ of the earnest reformers makes the following handsome comments on the speech, with which Mr Lowe re-opened the debate : — " It was a performance of which every member of an illustrious political assembly, rich beyond compare in memories and traditions of eloquence, might well be proud, whether he listened with exultation or regret. It is unquestionably one of those rare Parliamentary speeches which, long after the occasion has been forgotten and the orator has become the shadow of a name, will be read and read again, and studied for the niasterly disposition of its attack, the brilliant rapidity of its movements, its skilful feints of argument and sudden flashes of illustration, its constant incisive terseness, its occasional felicities^ its dexterous descents of thought and language, and its soaring flights of heroic cynicism. Mr Lowe was evidently armed for an extraordinary effort, and he surpassed himself. Tory acclamations were never fought for with a better will, or more heartily and honestly earned. Mr Lowe's eloquence is, perhaps, the least of the uncommon merits which distinguish him from the leaders of the party in whose rank and file he is content to serve. His chief distinction is an uncompromising sincerity, and an utter contempt of the fashionable hypocrisies of the hour. There is a tonic virtue in the bitterness of his abhorrence, amidst the? nauseating doses of aristocratic sympathy for men who are excluded from politoal rights as a dangwoas cl&as, y«t declared worthy p/ all ceases (^4 *«neptr!'

" There appear^to be no reasonable ground for believing that Mr Tnpperell (who is ono of the long list of ' missing ' persons on the West Coast) lost his life by other than accidental means. Mr Inspector James has just returned from the Arnold district, where he has been making careful enquiries concerning various missing persons, and he ascertained beyond doubt that Mr Tapporell must have been drowned in ono of the numerous creeks he had to cross, he being the worse for liquor when he started from the Arnold."

The leading journal, as was natural, was still more condemnatory. " Those who delight," it remarked, "in a wellsustained argument can enjoy' the whole of Mr Lowe's great speech; but every one who heard it, and every one who may read it, can appreciate the felicity of its language, the point of its illustrations, the' wit of its personal retorts, the dignity of its peroration. These graces are evident to all, but the speech deserves^ to be studied for the rarer merit of close and continuous reasoning. Column by column his forces were marshalled, one position after another of the enemy was attacked and taken, until in the grand charge at the close, the whole line bore down upon the already discomfited antagonist, and the field was cleared by the victor. There may have been, and doubtless were, mistakes in a contest covering so much ground ; but the unusual cheers, prolonged with a vehemence and heartiness unmatched in the previous course of the Reform debate, showed how thoroughly the majority of his audience sympathised in the triumph of a man who has been exoosed during the last month to ever)' art of misrepresentation , and abuse for the manly expression of opinions which, whether erroneous or not, deserved the respect due to their evident sincerity. Mr Lowe's speech may be taken as the complement of Lord Stanley's. F/ach is of the highest order, and together are irresistible. ,

Tho "Wellington Advertiser" of Friday say We regret exceedingly to learn from the report of tho Postmaster-General that it is the intention of tho G-overnment to imposo a postage rate of Id upon all newspapers .forwarded through tho different post-offices in the colony. Mr Weld's Government tried the same experiment, but, finding that it was strongly condemned upon til sides as being most inconvenient 'and unnecessary, with no adequate return, they abolished the system. We trust that the houßO will net permit this measure to pass, if Mr Stafford should deem it advisable to press the matter. The benefit the revenue would derive from such a tax would be merely nominal, while great public inconvenience would result from it. If we are to have further taxation, let us have it in some tangible form — not in little dribblets of a few hundreds of pounds upon a class of people who are already contributing heavily to the revenue. Such a tax as that proposed would materially interfere with the freo circulation of newspapers throughout tho Colony, and the reading public would suffer. When the Postmaster-General asserts that the system ho proposes obtains in almost evory other country, he makes a statement which is not entirely in. accordance with fact. For instance in Victoria the rate is only imposed upon "papers posted for delivery," and papers directed to be " kept till called for," are exempted from postage. Here, excepting in the case of letters, there is no delivery whatever, and in the country districts, even letters are not forwarded to their addresses. This makes a wonderful difference in the matter, and we can only say that if the Government of New Zealand contemplate " delivery" they will find that instead of increasing the revenue they will very considerably diminish it. Postmasters-General, like others of the human species, are not infallible." j

Mr Lowe deduced from the Franchise Bill the single legislative principle which charity could discover in it — the principle, favored by Mr Gladstone, that the franchise is the right of every one — and argued that the natural consequence of this principle is the enthronement of a democracy, the swamping of a minority by a majority, against which Mr Mill has in his writings raised the most vigorous protests." In arguing that the bill was not founded on any calculation of results, but on a sweeping principle which must lead to universal suffrage, Mr Lowe created great merriment by vturning Mr Gladstone's " flesh and blood " and " fellow-Christian " arguments against the L 7 franchise, by showing that they led to female suffrage, and even a beasts' Parliament, after the model of Reynard the Fox : and in the same vein he exposed the fallacy of the argument derived from the estimated income of the working classes as compared with that of the middle and upper ranks, by showing that if used only to admit the L 7 householders, Mr Gladstone's figure would give them an income of Ll2ooa-y ear each. The qualification derived from the consumption of taxed articles, it was shown undeniably, would entitle everybody indiscriminately to an electoral vote.

The following is the paragraph from th. report of the select committee on the Postal Service just issued, recommending penny postal stamps on newspapers :—": — " An Order in Council was issued in December, 1864-, iruposing a penny postal rate upon all newspapers conveyed by post. It was found expedient ab a later date to revoke the order and abolish the rate. But as tho system of charging a small postage oil newspapers conveyed by post obtains in nearly every country where pqstal arrangements exist, it is proposed to x*e-establish it in New Zealand, as it is found that the number and bulk of newspapers passing through the Post Office causes, to a considerable extent, the large expendi* ture at present incurred on account of the transmission of mails inland. It is not considered that requiring prepayment by stamp of one penny upon each newspaper posted could be regarded either unreasonable or as likely to press with a^iy degree, of severity upon th c population generally ; it would, however, considerably increase the revenue, and so far reduce the disparity complained of."

MR. CHIXDEBS. The cheers which saluted the conclusion of Mr Lowe's grand intellectual . display were unusually prolonged, and for a considerable lapse of time no member rose. There were loud cries for Mr Childers, who, it appeared to be assumed, would follow. That gentleman hung back till later in the evening, numerous speakers of no special repute iv the mean-while pressing forward to discharge their small artillery, 'or to flesh their maiden swords. Mr Childers, as was natural and proper, as an experienced colonial statesman, challenged and controverted some of the arguments employed by Mr Lowe, Mr Marsh, and Mr Gregory, in relation to the developments of democracy in Australia ; he defended colonial legislation on such subjects as religion, education, and self-defence, maintaining that the defects of the Australian commercial pclicy were attributable to the influence of the agricultural interest. He contended that the colonial institutions were, on the whole, working admirably ; but his greatest " hit" was a reproduction, of Mr Lowe's earlier opinions in favor of democracy, in eloquent praise of American institutions, and in condemnation of the House of Commons as "blind, ignoraut, and besottedly stupid."

In' reference to the new ground opened | between the Saltwater and Tereinakau rivers, \ Saturday's " Grey Eirer Argii9" says :—": — " The • rush to the Saltwater bids fair to be one of the beat rushes that has occurred for some time in the G-rey district. Although, as in every other easily accessible new diggings, there is a certainty that it will be overdone with respect to population, wo may predict I that there, will be lucrative employment for ! hundreds of men for months to come. The indications of the ground are so far exceedingly favorable, payable gold having been struck at each end of the terrace, so there is every reason to expect that a well defined and regular lead has been struck. The prospectors' claim is undoubtedly very rich, the gold being plainly visible throughout the washdirt. It is the opinion of the pros- ■ pectors that they have fully twelve months' ■work before them. Other claims have bottomed'with very encouraging prospects, and a general feeling of hope and confidence prevails. Largo numbers of men continue to flock in from all directions, and not a few I have gone back, disappointed in getting a claim suited to their wishes. Several parties are prospecting in tho adjoining terrace, and it is quite probable they may find something to reward their exertions. Stores and shanties are springing up in all directions like mushrooms, and a busy little township will soon be in existence. The means of approach to tho ground are, however, very indifferent, a good deal of climbing and tumbling having to be accomplished before the rush can be reached. Sir Warden Revell proceeded to tho new rueh yesterday, to settle several disputes which havo arisen, and tp, arraago the site of the township." The "Grrey Siror Argus" believes that ]&r TtppereU did not afcefc with foul play,