THE CLOCK TOWER, WESTMINSTER PALACE, 1870.
The Civil War in America naturally caused many discussions. The Cabinet, on the whole, were loyal to the policy of the Queen and the Prince Consort, which was that of scrupulous neutrality. But they were not quite loyal to her Majesty’s desire that neutrality should be tempered by generous consideration for the great and unprecedented difficulties with which President Lincoln’s Administration had to contend. The effect of the virtual withdrawal of the Queen from public life was soon seen in the supercilious tone of Lord Russell’s despatches, and in the latitude of criticism in which Lord Palmerston too frequently indulged in his references to American affairs in the House of Commons. The partisans of the Southern States made strenuous efforts to induce the Government to declare that the blockade of the Southern ports would not be recognised. But Lord Palmerston and Lord Russell, greatly to their credit, refused to yield to pressure on this point, although it was known that the French Emperor would have supported them gladly if they had yielded. The argument of the Opposition, beaten out over many long wearisome speeches, simply came to this—that the blockade was inefficient, and was, therefore, by international law invalid. It will always be difficult to understand how responsible persons could gravely maintain that position in face of the fact that Lancashire was starving because she could not get cotton out of Southern harbours, and that English trade was suffering because English goods could not get into them. The affair of the Trent gave rise to a brisk passage at arms between Mr. Bright and Lord Palmerston. Mr. Bright complained that whilst the Foreign Office was busy settling the dispute by firm but conciliatory diplomacy, the War Office and Admiralty were spending £1,000,000 on provocative preparations for war, which inflamed popular excitement in America, and really rendered it difficult for the United States Government to admit that they were in the wrong. “It is not customary,” said Mr. Bright, “in ordinary life for a person to send a messenger with a polite message to a friend, or neighbour, or acquaintance, and at the same time to send a man of portentous strength, wielding a gigantic club and making every kind of ferocious gesticulation, and still to profess that all this is done in the most friendly and courteous manner.” Lord Palmerston’s defence was that Mr. Lincoln’s Cabinet was in danger of being overawed by mob dictation, and that the preparations for war which Mr. Bright condemned, neutralised the pressure of popular passion in the United States Government. A curious illustration of the provocative tone adopted by the Ministry in their dealings with the United States was given by their condemnation of an order issued by General Butler, the military governor of New Orleans. The ladies of that city, after its occupation by Federal troops, appear to have been in the habit of publicly insulting their conquerors by methods which most respectable persons would hesitate to adopt. General Butler put a stop to these practices by ordering the military authorities to treat the culprits as if they were loose women plying a disreputable vocation. What the British Government had to do with the police arrangements of a foreign army in a foreign city it is not possible to conceive. Still, Lord Carnarvon, Sir John Walsh, and Mr. Gregory insisted that the Government should protest against General Butler’s order; and Lord Palmerston considered he was entitled to denounce the order as “infamous,” to assert that “Englishmen must blush to think that it came from a man of the Anglo-Saxon race,” and to declare that the course which the Cabinet would take “was matter for consideration.” As Lord Palmerston took no “course,” it is to be presumed that he preferred to “blush” for General Butler, rather than run the risk of being snubbed by Mr. Seward. On the 18th of July Mr. Lindsay, in spite of protests from Mr. Ewart, Mr. Clay, and some others, persisted in pressing a motion in the House of Commons which, if carried, would have pledged the Government to mediate between the belligerents in the interests of the Southern States. The debate was an elaborate argument on the part of Tory speakers for the recognition of the Confederate Government. But the responsible leaders of the Opposition took no part in it, and Lord Palmerston refused to abandon his policy of neutrality.
Towards the close of the Session it was seen that the operatives of Lancashire must quickly sink into pauperism. The blockade of the Southern ports cut off the exports of cotton. The cotton mills in Lancashire, it was evident, must soon be stopped, and a teeming industrial population must become a prey to famine. Mr. C. Villiers, President of the Poor Law Board, accordingly introduced a Bill enabling Boards of Guardians to meet extraordinary demands for poor law relief. It provided that any parish which was overburdened by extraordinary pauperism might claim a subvention from the common fund of the Union to which it belonged, and that in certain cases one Union might call upon others in the county for assistance. Mr. Cobden, Mr. Ayrton, and Mr. Puller were strongly in favour of permitting distressed Unions to raise money by loans as well as by a rate-in-aid, and Mr. Villiers ultimately yielded to the pressure which they put on him.[131]
Mr. Gladstone’s Budget was hotly attacked. His estimated expenditure—including supplementary estimates—for the year 1861-62 had been £71,374,000. The actual expenditure had been less than that by £536,000. But still the revenue had only amounted to £69,674,000, so that there was a deficit of £1,164,000. Had there been no supplementary estimates voted there would, however, have been a surplus of £335,000. The harvest had been bad, and the American War had depressed trade. Hence it was not natural to look for elasticity in the revenue. Yet Mr. Gladstone estimated the revenue for 1862-63 at £70,190,000. As the expenditure would be £70,040,000, he could not look for a surplus on the existing basis of taxation of more than £150,000. He would not, he said, impose new taxes. But on the other hand he could not remit any old ones. He even proposed to abolish the duty on hops, and as a set-off readjust brewers’ licenses, so as to sacrifice by this change only £45,000 of revenue. His scheme, in fact, consisted of a Budget without a real
MR. SEWARD.
surplus, and its only popular feature was the simplification of the wine duties.[132] Why had Mr. Gladstone failed to provide a surplus? Had not Peel said that one ought always to begin the year with a surplus? Why was the Paper Duty surrendered, seeing it would have provided a surplus? Why did Ministers persist in exceptional expenditure when they assured the country that their relations with the only foreign Government that could be distrusted were friendly and satisfactory? Our expenditure was due to distrust of Napoleon III., whose objects were the same as ours. And yet,
