THE VACANCY IN THE CABINET.
itifR. GLADSTONE is taking time about naming the III successor to Mr. Bright. And this is perhaps one of the matters on which he may fairly lavish time with some- thing of the prodigality which Nature herself usually shows in effecting a great change. The Cabinet is not the weaker
for the loss of Mr. Bright, for he had been lost to it already nearly a year, and in order to make it the stronger, and the whole Administration stronger, no doubt consideration is required ; for natural selection seems to have done little for Mr. Gladstone,—no great, or at least obviously great, solution of the problem seeming at hand. It is, however, worth while noting what the chief conditions to be satisfied, so far as they can be satisfied by any new appoint-
ment, are.
Mr. Bright was a strength to the Cabinet in some ways and a weakness to it in others. As it will be impossible to supply his place in everything, it will be at least desirable to find some one who will bring what Mr. Bright could not bring, as compensation for not bringing what he did bring. He was a great Parliamentary orator and a trusted leader of the middle-class Radicals. To hope to fill up his place ade- quately in either respect would probably be hopeless. Parliament has produced singularly few orators of late years, and we know of none whose qualifications in this direction would materially strengthen the Government in the House of Commons. But, on the other hand, Mr.
Bright was certainly distrusted and disliked by the Nationalist
Radicals, by those who do not think that England's greatness consists in selfish isolation from all the rest of Europe' and
he was never fully trusted and followed by that large section of the Radical party which we may call the work- ing-class Radicals, as distinguished from the middle-class Radicals. Mr. Stansfeld, if he were to take Mr. Bright's place in the Cabinet, would strengthen the confidence placed in it by the people on both heads. He is known to feel the most profound sympathy with the Liberal cause in Europe, and not to believe in that creed of absolute non-intervention which has so seriously estranged many of the warmest Radicals of the day from Mr, Bright. As a speaker, he is one of the most pleasing of the younger statesmen, and though he could not of course throw the depth
and passion into his speeches which have gained so unique a
fame for Mr. Bright, he could always state the views of the Government in a way to win the confidence of Parliament and recommend them strongly to the English people. Unless there be some other Northern Radical, who is still more closely and cordially trusted by the working-class than Mr. Stansfeld, and who has at least equal administrative ability, we cannot con- ceive of a better appointment. Mr. Mundella's name has been mentioned, and there is no doubt that he would bring a considerable accession of working-class confidence to the Government, and a reputation for great administrative ability. He is a constructive Radical of the best school. But he is by no means so well known to the Liberal party or to Parliament as Mr. Stansfeld, and there would be no sort of difficulty that we can see in combining the advantages which the accession of either of them would offer.
For we must remember that the problem is not only the appointment of the best successor to Mr. Bright, but also of so recasting the Cabinet as to obtain a really strong War Secretary, —which even Mr. Cardwell's best friends hardly seem to assert that he is, since his magnificent blunder about the 200,000 Snider rifles. We see it suggested that Lord Halifax, who certainly achieved the fusion of the Queen's and Company's Armies in India,—a most difficult task,—with great credit to himself, has been suggested as a really capable man
for the War Office ; and, though he is a little old for such a task, with a thoroughly good and reforming Commander-in- Chief, and an able Under-Secretary to help him and to repre- sent the Office in the House of Commons, he might do. He has lucidity and nerve, and does not mind being unpleasant. Why not make Mr. Cardwell Privy Seal,—an office of the very existence of which Mr. Cardwell may, for anything we know, be the " final cause,"—he might be made a peer, too, if that foolish bit of etiquette were de rigueur,—Lord Halifax Secre- tary at War, Mr. Mundella the Under-Secretary, to represent the War Office in the House of Commons, and Mr.. Stansfeld President of the Board of Trade, with a seat in the Cabinet ? Such a combination would really leave the Government stronger than it was before Mr. Bright's resignation, though, of course, without the prestige of his great Parliamentary eloquence. Mr. Stansfeld would supply the Cabinet with an accomplished and pleasing debater, and draw to it the sympa- thies of all the Nationalist Radicals. Mr. Mundella would gain for the Government quite a new popularity among the opera- tives of the North, and would lend it real and efficient help in the reorganization of our Army. Lord Halifax would be utilized instead of being shelved, and Mr. Cardwell would be utilized by being shelved.
But whatever changes are made, we do trust that the drift of all of them will be a stronger War Office and a bolder Ministry. Even for the sake of peace, it would be a pure gain that the English Cabinet should be recognized abroad as one that, though unwilling to fight, would not hesitate to fight on sufficient occasion, and vibuld not hesitate to find grounds other than grounds of pure interest sufficient, as, for example, the imminent danger of any great nation or any great liberal cause from an intolerable oppression which we could adequately resist. The weakness of Mr. Glad- stone's Government, which, in relation to domestic policy, is a Government such as England never had before, is its want of mettle and firmness on international questions. Lord Gran- ville is able as well as courtly, but he whittles away all his strongest cases, first pointing out how flagrantly an ally has broken faith, and then consenting to discuss with him how to meet his views without even compelling a retractation of the formal act of offence. Mr. Gladstone has hardly a mind for foreign affairs. He loves subjects on which all the details can be mastered by him, on which he can act with a full and precise knowledge of every datum,—on which it is not necessary to judge by general principles and the vague indications which political character and antecedents give. Mr. Lowe is never to be counted on. He is apt to take precise but unexpected views, and sometimes to change them as unexpectedly as lie takes them. We want more Foreign- Policy character in our Cabinet, and we want more energy and originality in our War Office. Some such changes as we have- proposed would give us both.
Previous page
