THE ALLEGED DECLINE OF PARLIAMENTARY EFFICIENCY.

New Zealander, Volume 13, Issue 1133, 25 February 1857, Page 3

THE ALLEGED DECLINE OF PARLIAMENTARY EFFICIENCY.

[From the " London Illustrated Newt,'' November, U. Tuk unfortunate and unfounded assertion of an illustrious person thai Parliamentary Government was on Us tial in this country seems to have emboldened a certain class of party writers and politicians, whose perversities have shut them out of office, to decry our Parliamentary -system, and to deny 'he efficiency of our constitutional form of government. Perhaps also the natural disappointment which they fee' at their exclusion from power, and that, too, by a Parliament elected under tie ir own auspices, ha-, contributed to increase the iilsap.ioiiitm.int. wih which they regard those representative institution 1 * which were once their pride, and might again i> come so, if Downing-street Were safe in their own keeping. Late-t among these growlers is our venerable friend the Quarterly Review, which in its last number nukes doleful lamentatious over what it calls "The declining efficiency of Parliament." We shal not attempt to follow the discursive writer over the wide field ot politics which he has traversed, but, joining issue with bim on the tact winch be alleges, .shall endeavour to prove that Parliamentary efficiency is noi declining, and i> not likely to decline, in this country. That tie' old parties of Tory and Whig have declined in efficiency, and are either moribund an i eff-te, or partially delunct, i- a fact that few persons will deny. By whether names these pa ties have recently called themselves — whatever by those of Protectionists and Conservatives on the one side, or by those of Reformers ami Liberals on the other their old organisation has been broken up tor want ol something more substantial to dispute about thai, the mere possession of office. As a consequence their vitality hi- been dlllli - ish>'d, their character urnisbed, and their usefulness impaired. The causes of this state of things are apparent enough to most men. The greatest ot' all the vexed questions of'he last tinny years hive been, successfully, disposed of. " Corn an I Catholics." which, with Parliamentary Reform, began to excite the mutual animosities of Whigs ami Tories as soon as the peace conquered at Waterloo allowe I the national energy io display itself in the consideration of domestic politic*, have, one after the oih.r, been removed Iroin the arena. These great bones of contention, together with ad the meat that was upon them, htve been devoured hv the greatmawol lime. Parliament, so far from bavmgbeenineflicent, has done his duty by discussing all ibose topics with earnestness and ft illtv. and lias ended by adopting the popular and reasonable view in each case—by emancipating the Roman Catholics, by amending the s ate of the representation, and by establishing that great principle ol free-trade which has put great Britam as far at the head of the World fiscal.y aud com mercially, as she before was socially, morally, and religiously. I' it w.re only out of gratitude for such acis of wise legislation as these, the country would refuse to reiterate the cry of placeless politician';, who are out of humour b cause they are out ol power, and who would flatter Parliament is much ,s they depreciate it—-if it would only be go id enough to give tuem a majority and a long lease ol office. The late Sir Ro >en Peel, though hj" administered more than one heavy blow to the party with which he acted thr imrhoul his valuable life, administered no blow to the clficn-ncy of Parliament. What Pany hist by his two great measures of Roman Catboho Emancipation, and the Abolition of the Corn laws, the Country gained. Tories and Whigs lost theii cries and their banners ; but Parliamentary and Constitutional Government achieve I a triumph. 11l all this there is room, not for foreboding, but for rejoicing. If party government he desirahl.— us we think it is-.Conservatism and Liberalism ibe two natural parties, which are to be found in every State, and which tyidfy the Age and the Youth, die Experience and the ILipe, the t'.utiou and the Daring, of the nation—will be reformed and the norganised at ihe proper tune, whenever there is an object of sufficient interest and importance to arouse their energies and kindle tueir passous;and whenever le.deis arise ofalequate genius to marshal them in the order of battle, and whip up their enthusiasm by the eloquence of word or deed. There are at present no objects and no such leaders. Ihe sympathies of the people are not roused into action by those who sit on the Treasury benches, or by those on the opposite side. After ik storm there has come a calm, and the calm as well as the storm is in the order of nature, and will last only so long as the elements will allow. That a perpetual calm of politics has come upon us no one is fatuous enough to believe ; but while that calm lasts, he the time long or short, it is foolish to attack the Parliament for its Quiescence. When the wind blows the waves will answer. When Parliament has work to do it will do it, as it always has done, with more or less of grace and readiness, whenever it has been called upon by ihe pressure of real business to bestir itself. Kvetl during the Sessions of 1855 and 1856, when it was the fashion in some quarters to deny the efficiency of Parliament, and to re-echo ihe doubts of the Prince Consort as io the compatibility of Parliamentary instuutions with a state ot war,, the British Legislature did its duty in the most manful and energetic manner. If the wai languished it was from no fault of Parliament, lor Parliament voted the supplies ungrudgingly; and by the expression of opinion, in unison with that of the country, ousted the dilatory, faint-hearted, and hesitating Ministry of Lord Aberdeen, and gave its zealous and hearty support to that ol Lord Palmerston, because it knew the nation il honoui and the nation il fortunes were sale 111 the hands of the latter. If it Heated with comparative inattention other matters of great importance, the fault ii fault it were, was one which it shared wi'h the great hoik ol the nation. The question ol questions was the conduct of the war; and the most inveterate enemy of free institutions, would have been sorely puzzle I to sh >w how the British Legislatuie could have done inoie t:.an it did to suppott the Government in the vigorous prosecution of hostilities. What the Parliament required were honesty in tlin Ministers, and capacity in the Generals and Admirals ot Engloml. Though not qui e sure of these, it was sine ol the readiness of the people to bear the burdens of the war, and of the indomitable pluck and daring ol the British soldier and sailor to equal or to surpass all the bvgone glories of British history. Diplomacy may have failed to do the best, and General-ship may have been found wanting at the fight moment; but neither the Parliament nor the people of England failed during the war in maintaining the ancient reputation ot (hi- country. Whatever its shortcomings in minor matters may have been, Parliament acted as became its dignity and its patriotism in the one great question that then absorbed all thoughts and taxed all energies. To that praise it iscutitled from its contemporaries, and

that praise it will receive from history when the heats and prejndices of the present day shall have subsided forever. Bui, whilst denying (bat Parliamentary efficiency has declined in the manner asserted by the Quarterly, we are ready to confess that the efficiency of the existing Parliament is less than it was Ir is probable, too, that the older it grows the more inefficient it will become. Parliaments elected for seven years begin to waver in their virtu" about the middle period of their existence. The Minister for the time being may coerce a Parliament such as we now have by threatening to dissolve it. There is nothing that a middle aged Parliament hates so much as the prospect of a dissolution ; and a majority of the memb rs will put up with any mediocre Ministry, provided it be decently honest, rather than he sent upon their business, and brought face to face with their cm gtituenU. In this sense we may admit that the efficiency of the present Parliament has to some extent declined. liut instead of losing faith in Parliamentary Government, or believing for one moment that anything has happened to render the nation less fit for such Government than ever it was, we look with hope to a new parliament, new leaders, and a new crv. When these come together, not even the venerable Quarterly will have a plausible pretext for sneering at our Representative system. The state of Europe indicates that the questions on which parties will reconstitute themselves, and on which their cries will he raised, will be foreign, and not dome-tic. But, whatever they may be, there is nothing in the history of any Past, or of the Present, Parliament to show that the new Parliament will be false to its trust, or foregetful of the interests of the great people of which it will be the creature and the representative. THE ARMY. Purchase op Commissions.—There is a rumour afloat that new rules J.>r purchase are to be published by winch a certain length of service will be required before the purchase will be permitted. In such cases, the senior for purchase in the army or a selected officer from the army wnl be offered the promotion. The Good Service Pensions of £IOO per annum each have been bestowed on the following lirevet-Co-lonels:— Inspecting Field Officers, T. E. Kellv and A. Hill Trevor; Al. Slade, halt-pay, 4th Foot, who commanded a Brigade in the Kaffir war, 1846-47 ; Hodge, C.8., Kb Drag.on Guards, who served with distinction in the Crimea ; Xorcott, of the Rifles, most deservedly praised by Lord Raglan for his conduct at the Alma and subsequently; Sticks, wl.o behaved so well a' Scutari, and previously at the Cape; Hon. G Upton, a < luardsman of great merit, wounded st Inkennann ; Fiumore, who was in Spain, France, Ita y, the Medit rianean, and India, including the Burmese war and l)bnrtpo.ie ; and ,J. Smith, Unattached. The Military Train (lately the Laud Transport Corps) will consist of three Battalions; two for service in Great Britain and one in Ireland. Each Battalion will form a pack-horse squadron, and a waggon squadron, ami an atnbulai.ee squadron, and wilicompnse 1 major, 6 captains, 6 lieutenants, o' comets, 1 paymaster, 1 adjutant, 2 quartermasters, 1 ter, 1 suigeon, 1 as-ist-surgeon at least, 1 vetenuaiysurgeon, 1 sergeant-major, 1 quartermaster-sergeant, 1 paymaster-sergeant, 1 orderly-room clerk, i hospiialseiueant. t saddier-sergean , t trumpet-major, 6 trumpeters, 12 collarmakers, (j wheelers, 3 farrier-majors, 6 farriers, 6 troop sergeant-majors, '.24 sergeants, 3" Corporals, and about 380 driver-. I lie corps will consist of about 1000 men and IbOO horses, and will be under tlie Command of Colonel M'Murdo, with a staff ot officers.

It is in contemplation to make a considerable increase in the coma df Royal Engineers quartered at Brompton Barracks, Chatham, which, there is every reason to believe, will he increased to 3W companies, so that one or more companies may be attached to eai hj brigade or division of the army, in addition ton portion ot the Field i rain Corns. Tins has been decided upon by the authorities in order to provide a force complete in every department on the occasion of their services being suddenly required in the field.

I'he Military Knights op Windsor.—Quartermaster S. Ooddard ha* been appointed in succession to the hue Sir John Mill y Doyle, K. C. 8., and Major Hopkins 10 the vacancy caused by the death of Lieutenant Fleming. (Juarternia.-ter 6. Goddard was 44 jears in tiie Buckinghamshire Regiment oI Foot, and served at ihe battle of Waterloo and the storming of Cambray. He was nI so at the siege of Hat trass, throughout the Campaigns of IblS in tlje Deccan, and at the siege and storming oi Bburtpore in Major Hopkins is a klll£ht of Hanover, ami lonnerly ot the-ikd and 98tb Regiments. I lie case ot Ensign P. Cobbe, of the 46th Regiment, when has attracted mueh attention from the military authorities, in consequence of Ins having absented himself without leave from his raiment while stationed in t;ie Crimea, and afterwards enlisted into the depot of the Bth regiment at Chatham, has been finally disposed of by the Duke of Cambridge, the result being that be i> dismis ed irom his regiment. Great efforts were made by > ije friends of tbut young othcer, whose father is a major general in the Royal Artillery, to obtain a lavourable view of ins conduct. Mr. Cubbe still does duty with In- regiment at Chatham, but it is expecteuV .ii it his friends will purchase bis discbarge from the servii e. It is rumoured that Lord Seaton, and not Sir Alexander Woodford, will have the Lieutenant-Governor-ship of Chelsea Hospital. i'he Duke of Cambridge has appointed Sergeant .Murphy, of the 1-t Battalion Rifle Brigade, to be a yeoman of the Guard at St. J time's Palace. The Sergeant was selected for the situatiou from his gallant conduct in the field, both in the Katfir war and in tbe Crimea. Hkgimkntal Organisation—Xtw Regulations. —Tbe Duke of Cambridge has just caused a circular memorandum to be transmitted to all tbe infantry regiments at home and abroad, and to their respective depS's, which is for the iuture to regulate their formation. Henceforward everv infantry regiment is to be maintained at the strength of 1200 men, divided into 12 companies. Tbe service companies are to be eight in number, each com puny K)() strong. The depot companies are to be four, each company to be raised to the strength of tbe companies on active service. This unit, then, the company of IUO men, is to be taken as ihe basis oil which our military system, as far as tbe infantry is concerned, is to rest. The memorandum regulates the partition of the companies between active and depot service. It is at the depot that the young recruit, and the young officer too, are to be indoctrinated in their military duties. Tbe recruit is to be well drilled, and, as we rejoice to see, is to be well instructed in the use of his rifle before be is draughted off to headquarters. In order that be may gain some experience of military operations on a more extensive scale, the depot companies are to be formed into battalions under competent officers, which are to be thoroughly exercised in field manoeuvres, as far as the numbers will permit. I'he memorandum contains in all 39 provisions, chiefly tor the regulation of the economy of depots.

It is believed that the dismissal from ber Majesty's service of tbat misguided young man, Lord Ernest Vane Tempest, is of mom serious consequence as far as be himself is concerned than is generally supposed; it not only entirely precludes him from ever again entering the army, but will, it is understood, be a total bar to his employment in any civil capacity, whether in this country or in the colonies This, it is now said, his lordship—freed henceforward from the evil examples which in their results have proved »> injurious to his prospects—feels both deeply and Mutely. In ("act, it is whispered that his more matured and chastened inclinations now incline towards the church, a field in which he may be employed as hcnonrahly and as useiully both to hiaiseif and others, as in that of Mars. As the noble family to which he may still prove an ornament have more than one living in their gilt, it is not improbable that this may be liis ultima e and not ungraceful destination, however distressing may have been the events which led to it. EPI GR A M ON THE ACTS OF THE LATE SESSION OF THE AUCKLAND PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. The Council has achieved at last Some useful legislation, For two important Acts arc passed,— "Thistles" and "Education." From Donkeys loud complaints arc rife (But few will ever heed cm,) That one invades the Staff of Life, And one Religious Freedom. Donkeys, be calm and keep the peace, Listen to reason, pray, Let your proud heels subside, and cease An inconclusive bray. Though Thistles satisfy an Ass,— Ignorance fools delight,— Metliinks eartli should bear corn and grass, And Man should read and write. Let then all rulers of mankind, And those who legislate, Foul weeds from soil of earth and mind i Try to eradicate.