THE POLICY OF THE OPPOSITION.
THOSE who expected sensations will, perhaps, be disap- pointed ted with the debates of Thursday, but one con- siderable event occurred in the House of Commons. The Leader of her Majesty's Opposition declared himself. It had been industriously rumoured that Lord Harlington, who, like most men of his caste, possibly thinks enthusiasm a little undig- nified, or at least shrinks from displaying it in his own person, had been annoyed by Mr. Gladstone's action during the Recess ; that he disapproved of the policy advocated by the stronger Liberals in reference to the Eastern Question ; and that he would, when Parliament met, take a distinctively Whig, as opposed to a Liberal, line. Parliament met, the duty of criticising the Address was left to Lord Harlington, without support, and what do we final That he defended in the strongest terms the action of his great predecessor, as action rendered inevitable by the apparent possibility that the Ministry might undertake to defend the Turkish Government; and that after a scathing criticism of the vacillations, failures, and blunders of the Ministry, he laid down a policy evidently con- certed with his colleagues which, though carefully reserved in form, amounts to this,—that England should insist on making the decision of the Conference executive, even though, in the failure of all other means, she should have to form an alliance with Russia. We will give evidence of that statement directly ; but we must first observe that whatever Lord Harlington intends to advise, he spoke on Thursday with the air and man, ner of a man who felt his great position, and who understood that he was the responsible leader of a great party, which had made up its mind to a great and probably most difficult policy. There was an absence of diffidence, a sense of autho- rity, a feeling of weight about Lord Hartington's speech, which was recognised, and we must add, recognised with pleasure, by the entire House. His new self-confidence may, no doubt, have arisen in part from the absence of Mr. Disraeli, whose presence overawed men bred up under the influence of his erratic and dangerous personality, and in part from a feeling that he was at least a match for any opponent likely to cross swords with him; but it arose in the main, as we believe, from the satisfaction every Englishman feels when his line is defined, when there is action which he foresees and does not fear, behind his speeches. That point once attained—and it is attained—Lord Harlington is the safest of leaders, for he possesses in a distinctive degree the quality which is in politics so often the mark of his caste,—tenacity at once of conviction and of purpose. The country may err if it follows his guidance, but at least it will know distinctly whither he intends to lead.
Lord Harlington, as we have said, was reserved as to the future, and his policy must still be gathered from indications rather than explanations, but if carefully studied, and studied with reference to Lord Granville's speech, it cannot, we are satisfied, be mistaken. In the first place, he contends
that the Conference should not be allowed to remain a failure. Quoting the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the 18th of September, in which Sir Stafford Northcote formally admitted the " obligation " and the " duty " of securing justice to Turkish Christians, and the speech of the Home Secretary, in which Mr. Cross declared that the Great Powers had a "right to secure adequate provision" for that purpose, he denied that Government could declare its duty discharged :—"I don't think the right honourable gentlemen will tell us that when they made these declarations, they were merely speaking of proposals to be made and to be carried out or not, as Turkey thought fit. I think that when the right honourable gentlemen made use of these expressions, they undertook not merely to ask for reforms, but to obtain reforms. They must obtain them, because nothing can be more con- trary to the interests of England than that Russia and Turkey should be left face to face. Can anything be more contrary to the interests of England than that Russia should be per- mitted, if not compelled, to take upon herself a duty which is logically cast upon the whole of the Powers I" There is but one .way in which to prevent that calamity, and that is to continue the concerted action of the Powers, or if that proves Impossible, to revert once more to Mr. Cannkg's policy, and assist, in order to restrain and moderate, Russia. "There are some among us—I trust that the Government do not belong to the number—who look with calmness, if not with satisfaction, at the prospect of leaving Turkey and Russia face to face, and the prospect of war breaking out between them.
Sir, I ask whether the danger of that position, as regards Eng- lish interests, has diminished ; whether it has not rather in- creased, since the time when Mr. Canning, rather than encounter the perils of such a situation, rather than allow Russia to take upon herself singly the task of enforcing the proposals which had been agreed upon between England and Russia as to the affairs of Greece, was willing even to go the length of proposing to co- operate with Russia for the purpose of attaining the end in view. I am unwilling to believe that the resources of diplomacy are ex- hausted by the failure of the Conference. Of this, at all events, I am sure that the Government will take upon them- selves a heavy responsibility if they do not strive to do every- thing in their power to preserve a concerted action among the Powers for the accomplishment of those beneficent ends which the Conference laboured, but, unfortunately, laboured in vain, to attain.' No statement so reserved could be more clear. The chiefs of the Liberal party hope that Europe may yet be persuaded to make the Conference executive, as Russia has requested ; and failing that, wish themselves to assist Russia to make it executive, thus binding Russia to consider Europe, and not her own advantage. That is, we believe, the ultimate policy of the Liberal party. Lord Gran- ville, an experienced diplomatist, did not go quite so far. He did not make any allusion to the possibility that we might be compelled to ally ourselves with Russia singly, for he declined to doubt that the European accord could be maintained, or that when this was once perceived, Turkey would venture to resist. But he held as definitely as Lord Harlington, that action could not cease with the withdrawal of the British Ambassador ; and if action does not cease, the execution of the decision of the Conference can be carried out only in one of three ways,—by a European accord, by an alliance with Russia, or by leaving Russia to act alone. This last plan Lord Granville declares frankly that he should " deeply deplore." He recommends, as the first step, that the Euro- pean action should be revived. "I am glad, my Lords, to think that the influence of the Government has been promoted by the Conference ; and if that influence were used in per- snarling Europe in one body to come forward and insist, as they have a moral and just right to do, that Turkey shall perform the promises she has so long delayed, the result could not be doubtful. It may be said,—You are not able to per- suade the European Powers. But I am not sure that an impression does not prevail that England is the only obstacle ; but, at all events, you would not be much worse off after making the attempt. Will anybody tell me that, if once the Turks got it into their heads—if they really believed that not only England, but the whole of Europe is absolutely and seriously in earnest in this matter—that Turkey which up to this moment had been influenced by one Power, could resist the united Powers of Europe." We do not believe that Europe, as a body, will move one step, but that does not matter. It is necessary, during the month of bad weather which remains to us, to exhaust that possibility, and then the next step must be either the one hinted at by Lord Hartington, or the far bolder and more righteous one which may have been hinted at by the Duke of Argyll,—to do the work ourselves, with the assistance of the oppressed. The former is the more practicable alternative, and it is that which the Liberal party, backed, we trust, by the people of England, intend to support.
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