TOPICS OF THE DAY.
THE QUEEN'S SPEECH.
THE politicians who a few years ago dreaded or affected to dread that politics would soon become dull, that every question in dispute having been conceded to the people, there would be only parish business left to discuss, may be reassured by the Queen's Speech. Never in the days of the fiercest con- stitutional strife has such a programme of work been placed before the House of Commons. No less than ten large measures are recommended in the Speech, and of these no less than eight are of the first importance,—either, like national education, involve the gravest questions of principle, or, like " the disabilities of members of trade combinations," touch to the quick the interests and the passions of masses of the people. There is something almost of moral heroism in a Ministry which, with Ireland to pacify, and the tenure of land to remodel, and a national system of education to create, and Trades Unionism to ameliorate, of its own mere motion, without severe pressure from outside, attacks a principle of inheritance so intertwined alike with our history and our manners as primogeniture. There is a spirit in that, a hatred of a thing because it is bad, and not merely because it is inconvenient, which will do more to convince the country of the true character of Mr. Gladstone's Government, of its genuine desire to do justice, than even the abolition of the Irish Church. That might have been dictated by a desire for power ; this could be attempted only by a Ministry which regards power only as an instrument for securing the highest welfare of the people. Taken together with his letter to Mr. Rogers on the indelibility of Orders, this pledge, which trans- forms a grand article of the Radical creed into a Government measure, indicates the rapidity with which the Premier is emancipating himself from the fetters of tradition, and develop- ing into the most complete, as he has long been the most earnest, exponent of English Liberal thought and feeling. Every article of his enormous programme points in the same direc- tion, daring but well-measured advance. Tenant-right was not many months ago the proposal of some few thinkers and some half-million of Irish farmers. Mr. Gladstone stakes his Ministry on it, affirming in the most deliberate and solemn man- ner known to our Constitution that the concession will inspire that " steady confidence in law " which, as he has the courage to intimate, has in Ireland hitherto been absent. State educa- tion only three years since was a fantastic dream ; Mr. Glad- stone makes of it his second measure, and promises that that measure shall be " comprehensive," that is, that it shall reach every child within the kingdom. The demand of a " reli- gious test " from all who aspire to govern or teach in the older Universities, has been considered for years the last bulwark alike of Toryism and of the Constitution in Church and State. Mr. Gladstone pledges his Government not indeed to the abolition of all such Tests, but to " such a settle- ment as will heighten the respect with which the Universities are justly regarded," and all men know that the alternatives are the tests as they stand or total and immediate abolition. Primogeniture—the right of the eldest son to inherit his intestate father's land—has for eight hundred years been a fundamental law, a law so little opposed that at this moment thousands of decent persons declare it to be divine, and affirm in the teeth of written evidence that Moses was inspired to establish it. Mr. Gladstone proposes to accept Mr. Locke King's scheme, and sweep it utterly away. If there is a change to which the governing classes of the country are opposed, it is free trade in land ; but that is what the Premier promises when he talks of "laws to facilitate its transfer," even though the immediate measure should not secure that most desirable of all results. If there is a question which excites class-feeling to its utmost bitterness, it is that of the right of workmen to combine against their employers, of labour to assert itself as the equal of capital ; but Mr. Gladstone not only proposes to admit the right of combination, but distinctly implies that it always existed, and that the only work for the Legislature in the matter is to remove the artificial " disabilities " by which the Unions are oppressed. If there is an " interest " in the country before which a government might quail, it is that of the publicans, who have such influence on elections ; but they are curtly told that a licensing bill will be proposed, and everybody knows that its new provisions will all be in the direction of restriction. Except in the single instance of the University Tests' Bill, about which the Speech, though strong in meaning, is hesitating in words, there is no trace in all these proposals of doubt, or shrinking, or fear. The Government advances• steadily to the most difficult tasks, looking only to its end, the complete removal of obstacles to the good order and pro- gress of the common weal. And then, as if to show distinctly that this is his end, that he means good government, and not this or that special measure, still less the permanence of his own power, the Premier turns round, looks his Irish supporters full in the face, and bids them take note that while he trusts mainly to reforms for the removal of Irish evils, he does not forget that civil order is, of all blessings, the one which governments are most bound to secure, and that, if driven to it, he will not hesitate to recommend any measures, however stern, which may be required by that "paramount" interest. The entire Speech, in fact, is full of courage and confi- dence—courage to attack any evil, confidence that in attack- ing it the Government will have the support of irresistible power, of a majority of the whole nation, and no longer of a class.
There is something in a programme like this which stirs the heart of men who believe in government by representa- tion, which renews their vigour in renewing their confidence, and crushes out the lately growing doubt as to the success of Parliamentary government. They had become accustomed, during the seventeen years of successful Cwsarism, to question their own principles, to doubt if the price paid for freedom. were not too high, to say out loud that we bought it at the cost of efficiency and order. But what Caesar dare put for- ward such a programme as this ? Is there a King in Europe who dare propose to limit his people's drink ? Would Napo- leon venture to call in question the justice of absolute pro- prietorship, or impose new taxes upon the whole community for the support of schools ? Compare this programme with the one put forward on January 1 by the Emperor of the French ; our promise to establish tenant-right and abolish primogeniture, and his to reduce by one-half per cent. the tax upon the transfer of land ; our abolition of University Tests, and his mild hope that the CEcumenical Council would be wise ; our bill for allowing Trades' Unions self- government, and his abolition of the workmen's passports. As against the individual, Cmsarism is strong, but not as against the deep-seated evils in the fundamental laws of society, with which only a Parliament, and a Parliament really representative, and an Executive sure of that Parliament's support, dare venture to grapple closely, certain that wherever the right may lie, strength at least, irresistible strength, be- longs to their own side. All men know that whatever the resistance, however bitter the discussion, however deadly the struggle, the law once passed will be obeyed ; that no English village will arm itself against the new rates, that no army of publicans will descend into the streets, that the Universities will not be filled with shouting students, that no body of landlords will charge on the police, that the machine of the State will proceed on its way slowly, noisily, but with a power which forbids even the hope of attack. Force, at all events, is not the special want of a system which can effect such things, and it was of the absence of force in the Parliamentary system that observant men had begun seriously to complain. And this force is not purchased, as the force of Cassarism is, at the cost of immense extravagance. On the contrary, so great has been the economy of the Administration that the Treasury ventures, for the first time in our recollection, not only to submit Estimates drawn up with due attention to economy, but to promise distinctly that those Estimates shall be lighter than hereto- fore, that there shall, in fact, be large remissions of taxation. Instead of endless deficits, supplemented by periodical loans, the British Treasury shows a balance-sheet so favourable, that the only embarrassment is to decide what interest, or class, or occupation shall be relieved from the pressure of contribution to the State ; that the only fear is lest we should sweep away so many burdens that adversity when it comes may be too hard to bear. The difference between the two systems is complete, and it is in efficiency, in actual power of doing difficult or great works, that the free Parliament bears away the palm. "I," says the Omar, " represent the principles of 1789." " We may as well," remarks the British Premier in an incidental way, "abolish primogeni- ture." And which of the two realizes most effectually the
thoughts of the modern world, the ideas of '89 ? To us at least, it seems as if the Caesar prated, while the Parliament advanced.
Previous page
