Mr. Ward Hunt moved the second reading of the Telegraphs'
Bill on Tuesday, and stated that he was prepared to buy all the Companies' lines at their highest price before 25th May, at a cost of between three and four millions. Mr. Leeman opposed the Bill. from the private-enterprise point of view, and Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Goschen asked for more information, especially as to the guarantees against an illegal or indiscreet use of the telegrams by Government. That fear seems to us a relic of the wretched old days when the Government represented a caste ; but it can easily be met, as Mr. Goschen suggested, by making a breach of con- fidence a misdemeanour punishable summarily by the nearest magis- trate. Proceedings were interrupted by the four o'clock rule, but it is understood that the whole subject will be referred to a Select Committee, and that the country must endure the Companies for another year. What a perfect Government the House of Com- mons would be if men only lived a thousand years !
