TOPICS OF THE DAY.
THE COMING SESSION.
NONE of our Ministers or leading Members of Parliament are young men. The greater number may be fairly enough termed "old stagers," and of the most juvenile among them there are scarcely half-a-dozen who have not doubled Cape Forty. It is the downhill way of life that lies before them, along which men are hur- ried with quickened pace, like mail-coach passengers when the hacks which draw them get heated in harness and know they approach the end of the stage. It is the afternoon of life with them, when even the most unreflecting labourers cast hurried glances at the declining sun, and contrast the large portion of their uncompleted day's work with the little they have accom- plished while dallying with the fresh hours of morning as if they were endless. The session of Parliament now on the eve of open- ing will be a brief space in the life of the nation ; but it must ne- cessarily occupy a large proportion of the span of the natural and a still larger of the official life of any statesman now existing. To one and all of them the night approaches, " when no man can work" : the long shadows which coming events cast in the sunset of life are types and heralds of that universal shade which will soon envelope them all.
Meanwhile they have much to do. The people say, you have taken upon yourselves the task of ruling us; you asked us to place you in the positions of trust and confidence you respectively occupy ; it is your own ambition, not our solicitation, that has subjected you to the. responsibilities of legislators. They say, you have been talking long enough, let us see at last what you can do. Since the days of BELL and LANCASTER, public men have been talking about the advantages of a general system for teaching and training the whole people, even the poorest : the people want National Edu- cation. Since the Corn-law was first laid upon our necks, not a year has gone past without some remonstrances against it. The tales of pauper myriads who cannot earn dry wholesome bread—of milliners sewing themselves into consumptions, and shirt-makers earning a penny the shirt—of Nottingham lace-makers forced to sin that they may not starve—of manufacturers working at a loss to prevent their machinery from going to ruin, and thus wasting the fund for giving employment and food to the workman— have made of isolated grumblers against the Corn-law an orga- nized force, with a military chest not to be despised, to war for its repeal. The Minister placed in office to save this law nibbles at it himself; and speaks of his modification as an experiment only ; while the very class for whose benefit it was imposed begin to ask how this controversy, which keeps the value of their property fluctuating, can be adjusted ? All classes are vexed and injured by the present state of the question : until it be settled, there can- not be peace or stability for any Ministry. The period for recon- sidering the position of the Bank of England in its relations with the public approaches : if there is to he any change before the year 1855, the notice, made necessary by the existing statute, must be brought before Parliament in the coming session. Surely the state of the monetary circulation has not been so entirely satisfactory, or the management of the Bank so uniformly unimpeached, since the last renewal of the Bank's charter, that the Legislature of the greatest mercantile community in the world ought to tie up its hands on such a subject—delivering us over to the will and plea- sure of an irresponsible company of traders—for another ten years! With corn and currency pauperism is not unconnected : the poor we have always with us, let the seasons and trade be ever so favourable. The experience that has been had of late years of the inadequate working of the Poor-law even in England, of the abortive nature of the attempt to introduce a Poor-law into Ireland, and of the utter neglect of this duty in Scotland, has excited a strong desire that something shall be done to provide better by legalized institutions for the treatment of the poor in the three countries. A belief which has been rapidly gaining ground since 1830, that the territorial possessions of the British nation scattered over the globe might by judicious management be rendered available for the maintenance ofour redundant population in comfort, and that even our old-established Colonies, by being better governed, might be rendered more valuable to the Mother- country, has turned the eyes of the nation in that direction. The people are anxious to see systematic colonization, and systematic management of existing colonies, established by law. An exten- sive Law reform, for which the way has been cleared by the able labours of several Commissions, though not a topic of eager popular clamour, would be most thankfully received; and would relieve the nation from perhaps a larger amount of vexatious annoyance and wasteful expenditure than any other single improvement. Lastly, the public mind, whether dwelling upon these or other themes, finds its progress perpetually interrupted by the obtruding image of a danger at the door. The miserable and lawless state of Ireland excites even less sympathy than alarm. The question incessantly recurs, if this portion of the empire occasions so much anxiety during a time of profound peace, how will it embarrass us when we again come to be engaged in war? The people demand the settlement of Irish disturbance. Here are definite practical problems urged upon our legislators, alike by the ripeness and ne- cessity of the time and by the wishes of the people. On these topics the pros and cons have been weighed in Parliament and out of doors year after year—men's minds are made up on them— it is full time to act. It will not be enough for Members of Parlia-
ment in the coming session to repeat the farce of former years— to show in didactic discourses how well aware they are of the necessity of legislation on these points, and to plead in excuse the difficulty of bringing men of clashing opinions and interests to concur in the adoption of one line of action. It is to overcome such obstacles that they are sent to Parliament and placed in offices. They are there to emulate the surgeon, who uses his know- ledge of the risk of an operation, not to torture the patient and in- crease his fever by a tiresome harangue about it, but to teach himself the course he must pursue in order to effect a cure.
Were the business Members of the present House of Commons to enter upon the approaching session with a due sense of the ripe- ness of the time for action, of the urgency of the business pressed upon them, and of the brief term in which it must be done if they are to do it, much good might be accomplished. The Minister, above all, has much in his power if nerved and stimulated by such convictions. He knows that the questions here enumerated ought to be settled; and that the public, harassed almost as much by agitation as by the evils agitation is intended to remove, will thankfully support any statesman who proposes measures calcu- lated to settle them really and for endurance. He knows the ex- tent and nature of the hold he has upon his own followers ; and any one sees how he may disarm partisan opposition, by taking up ground on which they who look to popular favour for support dare not assail him. To these advantages he adds the privilege conceded to him by the constitution or courtesy of Parliament, of taking the initiative, of choosing the earliest and most convenient opportunities of developing his measures. He can preoccupy the time and attention of the session—can forestal others by announcing at the outset, that, in addition to the annual routine finance-legislation, he has measures to propose for the permanent pacification of Ireland, the improved management of our Colonies, the settlement of the Corn question, the relief of Pauperism, and the reform of the Law—that he will bring on these questions in such an order and at such a time. By thus preoccupying the attention of the Legislature with real business, he would preclude a multiplicity of aimless word-fights; he would impress a character of methodical business-like application on the whole proceed- ings of the session ; and would be able at the close to point to some maturely-weighed and carefully-finished enactments of para- mount importance as the fruits of its labours. The actual benefit realized to the country would be great, and even greater the lesson as to the best way of turning Parliamentary labours to account. Next in Parliamentary power to the Minister are the leaders of the organized Opposition—of the party lately holding office. Suppo- sing them to enter upon the session with the same earnest reso- lution to do which we have hypothetically attributed to the Minister, their part is to wait till he has developed the plan of his Parliamentary campaign, or, by failing to do so, given reasonable ground to believe that he has none. In the former case, their duty will be to estimate fairly the proposals of the Minister, to support these in so far as they coincide with their own views, and to propose such amendments as may seem calculated to render them more efficacious. In the event of its becoming apparent that the Minister has nothing in view but to tide over the session, then comes the turn of the Opposition leaders to take the initiative ; to arraign the Minister for neglect- ing the high duties of his office ; to announce a series of resolu- tions or bills such as we have supposed him to announce ; to inti- mate the order and the times at which they will take the sense of the House upon those measures. Thus they will accelerate the progress of good legislation, in two ways : they will give greater precision to public opinion on these questions ; they will force their opponents to discuss the questions, to show that they entertain un- tenable opinions regarding them, or that, entertaining just opinions, they have neglected to act upon them. By this means, too, they will have it in their power, though not to the same extent as the Minister, to cultivate regular business habits in the assembly. There remain the Independent Members, who, as representatives of important interests out of doors, or from- personal reputation, have weight on particular questions, though unable to guide the course of general business in the House. Whether the Minister or the Opposition leaders take the initiative, such Members have great power to lend a real, practical character to the discussions, to suggest and enforce improvements on what is proposed, and even, in the event of both parties neglecting their duty, to force on the discussion of the questions with which each is most conversant.
Hitherto we have contemplated the possible results of a session in which the majority or minority, or even, a few individuals, should return to the House impressed with an adequate sense of the urgency of action and of the brief term allowed for it. There is a reverse to this picture ; and the experience of former years may seem to mark it as the true portrait. The Members—Ministerial, Opposition, and Independent—will meet without any definite plan of action. There will be a rambling debate on the Address—per- haps an adjourned one—in which the only aim of the speakers will be to make hard hits at the opposite side, and say what they think will please their constituents out of doors. After a week of this work, there will be a pause for many days, to allow the heroes to recover breath : during this interval, Messrs. WALLACE and EWART will give notice of thirty motions apiece ; Colonel SIIITHORP will move for information about Dr. BOWRIND'S missions, and intimate a bill to regulate cabmen ; Dr. BOWRING will ask questions about the Bishop of Jerusalem and the King of the Cannibal Islands ; Mr. FERRAND will talk about '' Devil's dust," and Mr. DisasEra about Consuls and Diplomatic Agents ; and Messrs. Hu= and WILLIAMS will move for all kinds of partial and incongruous returns. By this time the orators will have recovered breath; Since the Irish Repeal Members seem inclined to stay away, Lord JOHN RUSSETS. will have Ireland to himself for the subject of his grand yearly motion as leader of the Opposition. He will draw a Claude Lorraine pic- ture of the halcyon state of that country under Whig rule, and con- trast it with a Salvator Rosa sketch of its present condition; con- cluding by a vague motion which binds his party to no course of action. Lord &tor and the Recorder of Dublin will club their forces to repel the attack, and will say little to the purpose. Mr. MACAULAY will speak an Edinburgh Review article, tracing the history of Ireland from the time of St. Patrick to the present day. Sir ROBERT INGLIS will stand up to defend the Church from some side-blow of the last speaker. Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD will speak about fixity of tenure, and a federal union ; and Mr. PETER BORTH• WICK will flourish his white gloves. Lord PALMERSTON will quote satirical rhymes ; and by his mere mingling in the debate introduce a new topic, and draw down upon himself an avalanche of taunts touching his diplomatic meddling and mischief-making. Person- ality will lead to personality : Mr. FERRAND will fasten upon Mr. COBDEN, and Mr. BRIGHT upon Mr. FERRAND. An universal hubbub ofrecriminations will ensue, (with a running accompaniment of braying and cock-crowing,) in which Orangemen and Poor-law agitators, Anti-Corn-law Members and Diplomatists of the Urqu- hart school, Repealers and Palmerstonians, will be each pum- melling his neighbour, without asking too curiously what he is, or why they strike him ; till all trace of the original question is effaced from the memories of the disputants. Sir ROBERT PEEL will then, like Neptune in the storm of the ./Eneid, rise amid the hurly-burly, tell a plausible story, catch at some irrelevant re- marks of a speaker on the other side, make a magnanimous de- claration, and move the previous question. The combatants will then allow the turmoil to cease, from pure physical exhaustion. It will now be time for Mr. VILLIERS to intimate when the annual Corn debate is to come on. Like music between the acts at the theatre, there will be, between the Irish and the Corn- law hubbub, slashing speeches from Messrs. DUNCOMBE and WAKLEY, to show their parts ; some talk about the Church affairs of Scotland, by Messrs. RUTHERFURD, COLQUHOUN, Fox MAULE, BAILLIE COCHRANE, and Sir JAMES GRAHUA ; and a field-parade on English Church-rates, by Sir Jona EASTHOPE. In the Corn-law debate of seven nights, each speaker will con- scientiously repeat the same speech he made last year, neither more nor less ; and the result of the division will be the same within half-a-dozen votes. Some business will be transacted, but not the business of the nation. While this talking and squabbling is going on, Members will be as busy as pickpockets in a street brawl, smuggling jobbing private bills through the House. By this time the Premier will think the session far enough wasted to admit of the Estimates and the Budget being tabled without much risk of lengthened or at least of searching discussion. Summer will be on, and Members eager to be off. There will be formal debates on the motion to go into Committee ; and much vague inapplicable talk about free trade ou the one hand and the importance of agriculture on the other. But the de- tails of the Estimates will be hurried through Committee in thin Houses, most of the votes being taken after midnight. Pairs will become frequent ; and the A ppropriation•clause being passed, haste will be made to prorogue Parliament before all the Members have taken French leave. And thus another session will pass, leaving no impression on the national memory, save Cassio's " speak parrot, squabble, swagger, swear, and discourse fustian, "—the House counted out to avoid a motion from Mr. ROEBUCK on Scinde or on Law Reform ; or 29 Members civilly pretending to believe themselves a House, in order that Mr. C. BULLER may make a speech on Colonization, and receive compliments (with a request to withdraw his motion) from Sir ROBERT PEEL and Lord Joni.? RUSSELL. The repetition, year after year, of such dull six-month farces, were enough to make a man wish for another Caosiwzra, to step in and bid his Ironsides "take away that bauble."
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