THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

West Coast Times, Issue 677, 25 November 1867, Page 4

THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

FROM THE HOME NEWS. Lord Derby has had the gout once if not twice since our last, and he is now laid up by that enemy to social and personal enjoyment. It is natural that these constant attacks should a~bate in the Premier " the last infirmity of noble minds," and that he should be willing to resign the cares of office ; and he will after the Scotch and Irish Reform Bills have become law. Meanwhile, it is said that there is a rivalry between Lord Stanley and Mr Disraeli for the right of success. We do not believe it. Mr Disraeli would not stand in the way of Lord Stanley. With. Lord Stanley as Premier, and the Scotch and Irish Reform Bills settled, the Conservative Government would have a long lease of power — long enough, perhaps, to effectually dispose of Mr Gladstone's chances until he has arrived far into the sere and yellow leaf. There is a great probability of some ministeral changes before the next session. General Peel will probably go bacH to the Waroffice, and Lord Carnarvon to the Colonial, Sir John Pakington and the Duke of Marlborough being either shelved or transferred. The necessity for rest, the obligations of social position, and the diversions of the moors and the forests have hitherto prevented many of what were once called " extra-Parliamentary utterances" being made in the recess. A few, however, have been made. They have not been such as to call for special attention, except in the case of Mr Forster, who has spoken - at Bradford in a really Liberal spirit, both as to what has yet to be done and as to •what has been done. A large-minded man like Mr Forster, who appreciates the responsibilities of intellectual statesmen, can afford to be just ; and, therefore, he did justice to the sincerity of the Government in the late Reform conflicts. No other member of equal weight has yet spoken ; nor have any, of the Ministers. The other day there was a sort of Harvest Home at Hughenden Manor, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer only spoke of things agricultural. He has, however, accepted an invitation to a banquet in Edinburgh ; and then will come the mot d'ordre to his supporters from which a gleam of light will be shed on the political future. It may indeed come before, as the Manchester people have invited to a dinner not only the right hon. gentleman, but Lord Derby and Lord Stanley, with more than half the Cabinet. The Edinburgh people propose to invest Mr Disraeli with the freedom of the city. By a like resolution they propose to confer the same honour on Mr. Bright. Here are two statesmen who have attained eminence by different paths, and who have acted upon different principles throughout their careers. The Lord Provost will have the pleasing duty to perform of showing the ingenuous youth of Scotland, who indeed have learned it in a national sense already, that there are more roads to distinction than one. Mr Gladstone has said nothing political this recess ; but Ms Lancashire constituents are, it is said, about to draw him out, He has made a speech in Wales on Church extension, and another at Barrow-in-Furness on dock extension in connection with the iron trade. It is on these and cognate subjects that Mr Gladstone can be great when his mind is not disturbed or distracted by politics proper. Accordingly he was great on both occasions. As to Earl Russell, he is paying a series of visits in Ireland, sounding opinion and preparing materials for the onslaught on the temporalities of the Irish Church next session, of which we have all had notice. We shall see what comes of it ; but we rather think the noble earl will only " meddle and muddle." The two wings of the Reform party, the Reform League and the Working Men's Reform Association, have a very pretty quarrel on hand, with respect to a banquet that is to be given to celebrate the passing of a bill which, they both opposed. There is nothing objectionable in a good dinner to celebrate a great event. The peculiarity in this instance is that there is almost a fatal rivalry between the two wings. Neither would give way to the other, nor would the two amalgamate even for such an occasion ; and at present Mr Potter's association has the the card. Their dinner comes off in a few days at the Crystal Palace, where there are to be all sorts of junkettings besides. The Reform League seem to have given up in disgust, or something like it, for Mr Beales, M.A., has gone out of town, and the ship is so far without a rudder. Mr Gladstone and Earl Russell were invited by Mr Potter, but they pleaded some of the old excuses mentioned in the sacred parable. So they will not be there, and Mr Potter is engaged in bagging as many lesser luminaries as may happen to be in the way. He will succeed with several of the metropolitan members. We suppose that after his last correspondence with Mr Crawford he will not ask that hon. member, though it is not improbable he may secure Mr Goschen and Mr Alderman Lawrence. Mr Beales, in company with Mr Ernest Jones, has been agitating in Ireland and in Scotland for the ballot and manhood suffrage. They do not appear, however, to have gained many converts. The London correspondent of the " Scotsman" says :—: — The frequent recurrence of the Pre- v mier's attacks of gout strengthen his determination to withdraw from official life. It was said to be Lord Derby's intention to place his resignation in the hands of the Queen as soon as the English Reform "Bill became law. His colleagues have, however, pressed upon him the importance of giving his present Cabinet and his party the prestige of his name and the benefit of his counsel until the bills for Scotland and Ireland are passed ; and it is understood that the noble, earl has given a reluctant consent. When, however, the Reform question has been settled for the three kingdom?, Lord Derby will consult alike his tastes and his health, which is very precarious, by retiring from the Premiership. His nervous system is, I hear, much shattered, and his digestion greatly impaired. The probabilities are, therefore, somewhat against Lord Derby meeting Parliament again as First Lord of the Treasury, and remaining in office until the Scotch and Irish bills are passed. Whenever the moment comes for Lord Derby's withdrawal from the Premiership, there are but two names which can be submitted to her Majesty — those of Lord Stanley and Mr Disraeli. If the Queen's choice fell upon Lord Stanley, he would be called tothe Upper House during his father's lifetime, and would be at the head of the Government in the Lords, Mr. Disraeli continuing to lead the party in the Lower House. Lord Stanley is an eminently safe and judicious minister, and he would be a more acceptable Premier than any pther member of the I ; went Cabinet. Jut the question re-

mains, whether Mr. Disraeli would consent to serVe under a politician so much his junior, and give up the grandest prize of an Englishman's ambition. I doubt, indeed, whether the offer would ever be made to Lord Stanley to succeed his father in the Premiership, or to Mr. Disraeli to fill a subordinate position in his Cabinet. So far as I can learn, Mr. Disraeli's claims to be the next Conservative Premier are pretty generally ,though somewhat grudgingly, acknowledged by his party. If I am not misinformed. Lord Derby himself regards Mr. Disraeli as his lawful successor in the Premiership, and is probably at this very moment continuing to hold office solely at the entreaty of his Chancellor of the Exchequer, who knows how much better he fights the battle of Reform under the asgis of such a chief. m