MANCHESTER NOT "SENT FOR."
Jr there is a want in the present Ministry, the public will be in- clined to perceive it in the omission of "Manchester." Manches- ter is not specially represented in the Cabinet, nor in the Govern- ment at large ; and the fact disappoints some expectations. Not, indeed, that the assertion often uttered in a studiously confident tone, that "Manchester can no longer be left out" is so confident as it would seem to be. For although the leading representatives of the party have in a marked degree added to their discretion in public bearing, still their mien has not been exactly that which is taken to indicate men in office or destined for office. Neverthe- less, as the present Ministry, according to the common view, is one selected from all parts of the Liberal world, it was presumed, some- what hastily, perhaps, that no one part of that world would be omitted; and Manchester is so distinguished a part, that its friends would hardly have selected it for omission. There must, however, be a reason for this omission ; and as such reasons are not often officially stated at once, we must endeavour to find a sufficient motive in the general facts. The ;first fact that encounters us in seeking a reason why so popular a party should have failed in consummating the ambition of a party, is its imperfect organization. That set of men, which, for the sake of convenience, we are in the habit of calling the Man- chester party, has in general deprecated the attempt to give it a distinctive character or appellation. Its substantive name has generally been asserted by its enemies, not by itself. It has pro- fessed to act in the name of the public, and we all perceive at once that it is difficult to treat the public as one of the " parties " claiming to be represented in an administration. The leading men who represent the opinions of their followers expressly disavow the nickname of "Manchester School." They have, they say, no distinctive " school" ; and when you carry this disclaimer some- what further, into an examination of the party, you find curious divisions in its public. For instance, in their capacity of financial reformers they are subdivided, and the Direct Taxationists of Liverpool have as doubtful a nexus with them as the Financial and Parliamentary Reformers, who take a much more advanced position in politics. And when you pursue the main body into its constituency amongst the boroughs, you will find it merged into the ordinary local political parties of the " Blues" or the "Yel- lows" or the "Green s,"—the voters with Lord This or Mr. That, who would rather claim to be classified by some of the ordinary political designations. But if the party were capable of being comprehended as a sub- stantive and distinct whole, there would still be practical difficul- ties in appointing its chiefs to office at the present moment; and mainly, perhaps, on account of certain impressions, which time may remove. There is an impression, for example, that the party represents too exclusively the employing class in the community ; and that it does not thoroughly sympathize with the class whose social and political position just now demands a peculiar degree of sympathy and stern thought in adjusting its claims for admission to larger powers. On the other hand, there is an impression, paradoxical only in appearance, that the party is so essentially democratic and utilitarian that it would be inclined materially to alter the character of our institutions; that in abridging public expenditure, for example, it would be inclined to go so far as to cut off all such state as cannot be shown in a very mercantile man- ner to "pay." Thus, it would take a sort of United States Whig view of our regal institutions ; would seek to abolish the pa- geantry, and with the pageantry some part of the body perhaps ; cutting down state business to parish affairs, and reducing the me- tropolitan realms of the empire to a species of American State un- attached. Others, -who take the coolest view of such ideas, per- ceive striking distinctions between American circumstances and English circumstances ; and the most enthusiastic of Americans even might pause before he would suffer one State of the Union to lie floating close to the Continent of Europe, overridden as that Continent is by gigantic executive powers, and yet leave that little State no better furnished with executive powers than one of his own well-protected provinces. This idea of Manchester feeling, however exaggerated or erro- neous it may be, is brought to a practical issue by another idea, certainly not altogether baseless. It is difficult to understand how gentlemen who have expressed the views which have distinguished the leading men of the Manchester party on the subject of national defences could enter into the conduct of public affairs. There is a notion abroad that our condition is the very reverse of that which would enable us to do without a numerous army. There is a strong conviction, indeed, that we must greatly strengthen our national defences ; and that in doing so we must lay out a good deal more money—nay, that a large proportion of the population had better be called from its ordinary avocations to look after its national duties. And there is a correlative impression that recent avowals of opinion by Mr. Cobden as well as others would make it very embarrassing for him to find himself in the midst of a Cabinet engaged as our Cabinet will be in the business of armament and fortification. All those difficulties, however, pertain peculiarly to the present day ; while some of the impressions are perhaps erro- neous, and may be corrected by time. Thus we may consider that the omission of Manchester in the Cabinet is but temporary, and that the omission will be supplied when doubtful impressions shall have been corrected.
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