THE Otago Daily Times. DUNEDEN, THURSDAY, DEC. 3.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2131, 3 December 1868, Page 2

THE Otago Daily Times. DUNEDEN, THURSDAY, DEC. 3.

The Suez mail brings us news from London to the 30th of October —three weeks later than the news received by the Panama mail, some ten or twelve days ago. The chief elements of interest are of a political character. The general elections occupied public attention in the mother country throughout the month of October ; the now conditions under which the struggle was carried on investing it with a far greater degree of importance than usaaL The whole world wil* watch with interest the results of that extension of the franchise from which so much evil is to flow, according to the prophecies of Mr Robert Lowe and those who agree with him. A foretaste of the coining change is furnished in the

universal acceptance of the ballot. Up to the present time, the advocacy of vote by ballot has been left to a few who apparently contended against an overwhelming weight of public opinion, j Now wo find candidates for election all over the Kingdom pledging themselves without heaitation to that ' un-English ' method of recording votes. Mr Mill has set hia . face against it in the most resolute manner, but he stands almost entirely alone. ' The Liberal candidates everywhere ' —says the great organ of tho Liberal party, the Spectator— ' aro pledging themselves to the ballot in heaps. They seldom talk about it, they never praise it, but they swallow it down somehow with tho excuse that if the electors like it they have a right to decide.' The name journal Bpcaks of the ballot as ' a mode of voting which is at this moment endangering the solvency ] of tho United States and the prosperity of the Australian Colonies,' — a remark which shows how very little the most highly informed men in England know about the practical operation of the ballot in tho Australian colonies. While the Spectator thiiß records its protest against tho ballot, it t rings forward .i striking illustration of the necessity which exists in the mother country for such a protection to tho voter. There never has been an election, wo are told, which promised or threatened to bo marked by such unblushing intimidation. I The landlords insist upon their tenants voting according to their instruction?. Tho tenants have to chooso between complying with these instructions or suffering the consequences. It is difficult to understand how it is that, when the electors are subjected to such insufferable tyranny, so much determined opposition can be offered to tho ballot by Liberal journals. Tho argument of the Spectator is, that tho electors have no right to Becresy ; that they aro in the position of trustees who are bound to render an account of their trusts. Their present position seems to be rather that of slaves, who are mockingly told to oxerciso the rights of freemen. Tho electoral right is a faroo when its exercise depends' on the dictation of others. Mr Murphy, of Manchester notoriety, has figured extensively during the great campaign. His return to Parliament as one of the representatives of that city, seems to be quite within the bounds of possibility. Who can estimate tho power of Orangeiarn ? Even in tho neighbouring colonies, Orangemen are found to muster in formidable bands, and to manifest the same intolerant Bpirit towards Roman Catholics as they do in Ireland. In all the large towns of England, where the labouring population is thickly sprinkled with Irish Catholics, there is always danger of collision between them and the Orangemen. The fact has been painfully proved in Manchester. A Protestant fanatic began a few montlis ago to harangue tho people on the dangers of Romanism. Ho made his appeal to the passions and the prejudices of his audience; using the same old arguments which gave a temporary triumph to Lord Gboiuje Gordon, ho denounced the priests and their rites, the confessional, the nunneries, and every sign and symbol of Popery. But ho went further than Lord Gkohgk : he carried on the war not only against Papists, but against Irishmen, and succeeded in exciting the animosity of Englishmen against them. The result was a succession of riots. The Magistrates attempted to silence him, and committed him to prison. From prison he passed out on bail, and then declared himself a candidate for a Beat in Parliament. This occurred in tho beginning of September. His candidature was something more than a joke ; and nothing is more probable than that he should persist in it. This is one of the results of tho attempt to do away with the Irish Established Church ; and according to present appearances, it is the beginning of a religious war throughout the Kingdom. Tho cause of Protestantism is identified, by all the hotheaded Protestants in Great Britain and Ireland, with the existence of the Irish Established Church. Such a state of feeling is an irresistible incentive to tanatica of the Morphy typo. The old feuds will revive ; No Popery will again become a popular cry ; Orange Lodges will multiply in >\ll directions; Irishmen and Englishmen will fall foul of each other, and the peace of Her Majesty the Queen will be seriously endangered. The politicians who undertook to abolish the Protestant Church of Ireland might have foreseen these consequences. The religious feelings of the masses, both in England and Ireland, were not unknown to them ; our social history abounds with lessons on the subject. Instead of serving to allay the irritation in Ireland which was supposed to have given birth to Fenianism, this attempt to destroy the Protes'antChurchwill probably assist the cause of Fenianism. If a state of hostility grows up between English and Irish, as we have now reason to fear, the Fenians will take courage and renew their machinations in every town in England. During the Murphy riots, ' one of the Irish speakers' —we are quoting the Saturday Review — ' significantly reminded his followers that the question was not a religious but a national question. This is true and noteworthy. With a vast body of the Irish, especially with those who have spent any time in America, the religious idea is subordinate to the idea of nationality. They identify themselves with Romanism, because they know that Romanism is especially disliked by so many Englishmen, and .they take up the cudgels for Romanism because the religious difference alone supplies the occasion for a fight. Their real object is to hare a fight with Englishmen, and the recent Manchester riots shew how veil disciplined and organised Irishmen are when they are about to take up a national quarrel/

Continental news is highly satisfactory. War between France and Pnuei»

has been confidently predicted for somo months past; but tho French Emperor and the Prussian King have both held out tho olive branch. Tho former has given some proof of his good intentions by granting furlough to thirty thousand soldiers. Tho example will probably to followed by Prussia. Europe has been waiting for some show of disarmament on the part of these powers, as the only satisfactory evidence of their desire for peace. Jt was scarcely possible tobelievo in peace when each was armed to the teeth, and ready for a march into tho other's territory. The reduction of tho Italian army is a further indication of peace. Tho Italians have been calculating on obtaining either French or Prussian assistance in completing their nationality ; and their disarmament may be taken as some proof that neither France nor Prussia is disposed to lend them a single bayonet. The Spanish revolution seems to heathoroughly accomplished fact. Holland and Italy havo officially recognised tho now Government, and other European powers .will no doubt follow the example. A long period of disturbance may be expected in Spain before a new Government can succeed in replacing tho old one. With some sections of the people declaring for a Republic and other sections declaring fora Monarchy, a speedy settlement of tho difficulty cannot to looked for. Perhaps the best way out of it consists in placing tho King-of Portugal on the throne. Whoever may occupy that perilous seat, it is not probable that Queen Isabella will ever bo welcomed back by tho people whom she so despotically ruled, and who have now succeeded in regaining their civil and religious freedom.