TOPICS OF THE DAY.
THE MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. THERE is always a feeling abroad just before the Session that the meeting of Parliament will imme- diately pour light on the situation, will clear off political fog, and thus enable the public to see how matters really stand. The expectation is often disappointed, and it has been disappointed this time. The country has still to wait for definitions. The rather long King's Speech, though satisfactory so far as it goes, does not clear up anything, for it goes not even refer to fiscal reform, which is convulsing all parties ; to the attitude of this country in presence of the coming war in the Far East ; or to the great question in South Africa, which, apart from its merits, may act as a new line of cleavage among politicians. Imperialists, at least, cannot forget that a man so strong and so little scrupulous as Lord Palmerston, and so entirely devoted to the greatness of his country, was ready at any moment. to risk his position and break with ha supporters rather than tolerate for an instant a revival of any form of slavery. It is interesting, of course, to hear that the Government desires peace, and sympathises with the Macedonians, and is not sorry that the Alaskan question is out of the way, and is fairly confident about Somaliland, and so on ; but these are not the questions which now divide parties and threaten the Government, and will in all human probability bring this Parliament to an end. Their careful avoidance shows either that the Cabinet is divided—an idea which is strengthened by Lord Lans- downe's permission to members of the Government to differ on the urgency of fiscal reform—or that as yet the Premier has not made up his mind what precisely his policy is to be. Then when business began it was paralysed by news that the Premier himself, upon whose utterances all will depend, was unable to appear. He was not, we r.ijoiced to hear, in any danger ; but we all know what influenza is, and how impossible it is for any one upon whom the pest has laid even a light grip to run the risk of pneumonia by facing the House of Commons. Lord Lansdowne in tiie Lords made a good speech, and in saying thattheGovernment,and he himself especially, sympathised with Mr. Chamberlain, but would net be induced to "rush" the question, he probably indicated the policy of "beating time "which the Cabinet has resolved on ; but the matter does not rest with the Lords, and the Commons felt them- selves to be reduced to an academic body. Sir H. Camp- bell-Bannerman made an amusing speech, in which he asked with great point whether the Government thought that the old law that the greater includes the less was suspended for their benefit ; but there was no Premier to explain why he was not the less, and Mr. Chamberlain not the greater. The Chancellor of the Exchequer attempted a reply; but between the unexpectedness of his povition, and perhaps some trouble in his own mind, he was obviously ill at ease, and when he sat down the mental fog was just as dense as before. The absence of the Premier, in truth, disconcerted everybody, a fact which, among other things, proves this,—that the exact position of Mr. Balfour is not yet understood—pace the Home Secretary—even by his nearest colleagues. If it had been, there is plenty of ability on the Front Bench to defend it, and summon the hosts who form the majority behind them to defend it too. It is nonsense to say, as we see some Liberal journals are saying, that the Cabinet is incompetent. It is not a very strong Cabinet, but it could do the work of debating just as well as its opponents if only it were as sure as they are of what it intended to do and say. It is not equally sure, and therefore such powers as it has—and we do not even wish to depreciate them— are of necessity unused. The atmosphere is too thick for any powers to be fairly displayed. A man is not powerless because be cannot swim as fast as he could run.
A radical weakness born of uncertainty, and extending from the Government to the House of Commons, seems to us to be the note of this fresh Session, and to pre- sage an early Dissolution. To "sympathise " with Mr. Chamberlain while refusing to accept more than a morsel of his policy can only indicate uncertainty. An uncertain Government is a Government with. no mind, and a Government without a mind cannot control a party in which there are already half-a-dozen groups, each marked by its own- special degree of restiveness. The Free-trade Unionists have broken loose already. The.Half-Free-trade Unionists, who accept "retaliation," but not taxes on bread, are waiting to see whether they must break loose also. The Agrarians, of whom Mr. Chaplin is the representative, are fretting with fear lest they should be deserted, and their last hope of recovering their old rents should disappear under a cloud of soothing words ; while those manufacturers who desire Pro- tection are all doubting whether if they keep the pledge to raise wages their position will be any better than before. And behind and above these groups, enveloping the whole Unionist party except the convinced Free-traders, there is the uneasy fear that the country which votes may after all be against them, and their seats may be forfeited_ through their hesitations. Mr. Chamberlain's meetings do not look like that ; but the by-elections do, and who is to tell for sure whether the latter are ominous or only accidental ? If Mr. Balfour when he is about again— which we heartily hope will be soon—supports Mr. Chamberlain, this uneasiness will become more acute ; while if he throws his dangerous ally over—we only sug- gest that to exhaust the argument—the Chamberlainites will form one more hostile group, and a group with the power of forcing a Dissolution. All parties will soon weary of a situation like that; and when all parties are weary, and yet the situation cannot be changed, a Disso- lution cannot be far off. It is all the nearerobecause the Government itself, as the best excuse for its indecision, declares that nothing can be decided until the people as a nation has been consulted. That is but a poor saying for a man who once said that, being leader, he intended to lead ; but still, this is a democratic country, and as no one else seems able to decide, recourse must be had to the only power which cannot speak without deciding, and whose decision is irresistible.
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