3 MAY 1856, Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK,

Mn. Wierrsam's motion on the subject of Kars assumed an importance not originally contemplated. The capitulation ap- peared to be the weak point in the conduct of the war ; it was just one of those unguarded places—the Inkerman of the Minis- terial position—which the enemy might be expected to assail ; and if Mr. Whiteside had not taken the duty upon. himself somebody else must have done it. It promised, indeed, the ad- vantages of an effective attack. There was something so ex- tremely painful in the neglect experienced by General Williams, in the sixty unanswered letters to Lord Stratford de Red- cliffe, the failure of supplies, and the delay of Omar Pasha's relief, that there seemed to be at least a clear opportunity for damaging the Ministers. But since Mr. Whiteside had placed it upon the notice-paper, circumstances had materially altered. In the first place, the position of Ministers seemed to be growing daily weaker ; and the defeats coming upon them sometimes as a consequence of blows from behind, enlarged the oppor- tunity, and invited Mr. Whiteside's colleagues on the Opposition- benches to enlarge their plan. Instead of being only a damaging attack, it was now intended to be a pitched battle and a trial of party strength. Rumours of a Ministerial resignation and of a dissolution increased the necessity of taking time by the forelock : all the followers the Derby-Disraeli party could muster were summoned to their posts in order to augment the weight of the onset, and to be prepared for events. Of course these prepa- rations could not be made without becoming known on the Ministerial side. The appearance of a demoralized discipline in the Liberal ranks rendered it necessary to take active steps, in the first place to ascertain whether the grand attack could be fairly met., and if it could, to meet it with a preponderating strength. Hence the meeting at Lord Palmerston's on Monday, at which the Premier talked over the subject with his Whig sup- porters and his liberal admirers ; made a clean breast of it in respect to the weak points in the Ministerial case ; persuaded Mr. d. G. Phillimore to withdraw an embarrassing impartial amendment ; and obtained an assurance of House of Commons support more than sufficient to confront the impending assault.

Meanwhile, another change of circumstances had been pre- paring, which would probably have superseded the extensive preparations on the Opposition side. Kars, which was nominally the object of the motion, had been restored by Russia to Turkey. Lord Clarendon returned with the treaty of peace, the conven- tions, declarations, and protocols of the Conference ; which were laid upon the table of both Houses on the night of Mr. White- side's motion. Considerable light also had been thrown upon the subject of the Kars capitulation ; and the information was used freely and fairly enough in the debate of the three nights, Mon- day, Tuesday, and Thursday. Mr. Whiteside, indeed, overlaid his case by too elaborate a statement from blue-books and any other materials that he could use ; and the Ministerial case only came out piecemeal; but when put together it can be expressed in a few words, and it seems completely to close the question of Kars. It is this. The relief of Kars or its maintenance was not the object of the war. No British force was appointed to the duty of defending that post. The delay in its relief was oc- casioned by the extremely wild and impracticable plans which the Porte first designed. The interception of provisions and of money.

arose from the thoroughly disorganized state of the Turkish ad-' ministration particularly in Asia. Omar Pasha's better-designed. course of relief only obtained sanction at a late date ; the men. for the purpose could not be spared before a certain stage in the defence of Sebastopol. General Williams succeeded almost beyond belief in diminishing the calamity of Kars : whatever the true extent of that calamity, it must be assigned entirely to the inefficiency of the Turkish organization ; and it is retrieved by the plans which concentrated the efforts of the Allies upon Sebas- topol, said have thus enabled them to obtain the restoration of Kars.

Even with regard to Lord Stratford de Redeliffe there is a case. He was somewhat neglectful on the military matters ; perhaps he Considered General Williams too much in the routine light of a " Commissioner " assisting the responsible Turkish General : but in the mean time, Lord Stratford has succeeded in accom- plishing the task of his diplomatic life in the East, by obtaining that charter for Christian equality in Turkey which is annexed to the treaty of peace : *to that any censure that might be justly assigned to him for his deficiencies in regard to Kars is over- whelmed by the grateful credit accorded to hint for his services and his success in a larger field.

If the judgment of the House of Commons had to be pronounced on this case pure and simple, no political predilections could leave any doubt that the judgment would have been given for Minis- ters. But none of the three divisions turned upon the question of Kars ; that was altogether foreign to the true issue before the' House of' Commons. The purpose of the Tory Opposition, as it had grapally developed itself, was to drive the Government into some kind of extremity. If the Premier's position had become - what is fitly expressed by the word "shaky," Palmerston is not the man to fail for want of daring. It was obvious that if his strength were to continue declining, he must soon either be driven from office, or relinquish it spontaneously ; and he preferred to anticipate necessity by choosing that alternative which was most consistent with his repute for decision. The intimation of the resolve operated powerfully on the doubtful portion of his sup- porters ; and a liberal rally had its influence on the Opposition camp. The generals on that side were committed to a pitched battle, but they did not all of them relish the prospect of being included in the return of killed and wounded. Lord Malmes- bury, who had copied precedent by announcing a parallel attack in the House of Lords, seized the opportunity afforded by the production of the treaty of peace and its appendages to with- draw his notice of motion ; so that the Blucher of the Lords distinctly informed the Opposition Wellington of the Commons, that he certainly should not arrive on the grand Waterloo day. On the second night, Tuesday, Mr. Ker Seymer endeavoured to provide the same opening for the Opposition-leaders in the House of Commons, by bringing forward an amendment on the motion, declaring it undesirable to call for judgment on the subject of Kars until after the treaty of peace should be taken into consi- deration. Mr. Disraeli, however, missed his opportunity. Not content openly to back . out, still having some hopes against all the statistics of the whippers-in, he only used Mr. Ker Seymer's motion as a pretext for again adjourning the debate; and although the motion for adjournment was negatived by 243 to 173, he announced that he should remain to support those repeated motions for adjournment with which obstructive Mem- bers can always carry that motion by force. Thursday brought no change of position. If some of the Irish Members were willing enough to avenge slights upon themselves, or to punish the Liberal party for having permitted Mr. Spooner to succeed in the first attempt towards Maynooth, no other off-lying as- sistance came to the Tories, already doomed to defeat. Sir James Graham is a host in himself; but, while he permitted the public to know that he still exercises his vigorous mind in correctly criticizing occurrences like those in Asia, or conduct like that of Lord Stratford de Radcliffe, he madethe same public understand that he is a business man, who decides upon practical grounds, and that he should vote on the stronger side. Lord John Russell disburdened himself of a judicious "article," neatly summing up some of the reasons for and against, and also voted with Ministers. The House now understood its duty and inter- est. Mr. Ker Sejrmer's indecisive amendment, which might have disturbed the effect of the decision, was set aside by an overwhelming majority ; and then, having been invited by Mr. Whiteside to censure Ministers for the failure of Turkey at Kars, Members voted, by 303 to 176, that they would not at present have a Ministerial crisis or a dissolution of Parliament.

This result closes the Kars chapter, and turns all our interest towards the debate of next Monday, on the treaty and, the papers—and on Italy ; for Lord Lyndhurst has deferred his mo- tion on the Austrian occupation and the long sufferings of the Italian peninsula, in order that Lord Clarendon may make his explanations untrammeled.