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P°IFDON CORRESPONDENCE.

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P°IFDON CORRESPONDENCE. ^AFFORD WANTS MORE PAPERS — OLIVER I**18T NOTHING TO HIM—TACTICS AND FACTS -ARAKI-BARTLK1T-BEY — WHAT MIGHT B4\'K BEEN DONE—MR BRIGHT'S RESIGSATION- TLT* HISTORY OF A RUMOUR—RECONSTRUCTION TH* MINISTRY—A NEW FACTOR IN LONDON | WLTB—THE END OF THE SEASON. [L, LONDON, THURSDAY. Ujjj1* Opposition in the House of Commons, b llnK to wound, are still afraid to strike. From jj&e to time, dragged out by the young men be- L* gangway, Sir Stafford Northcote presents n*isetf bellicose attitude, and entreats the Go- pJHoent to furnish him with an opportunity for J* Like the Irish boy of fame, he is blue- H^dy for want of a batinV The particular ^°n assigned by Sir Stafford for his forced in- Ott is worth considering as fairly representing tof tactics upon which the Opposition y in tlieir effort to discredit the Government. *>11 see nearly every night in the House of :urnrnona Sir Stafford Northcote wringing his and crying aloud for papers. When will 6 lepers be ready? Give us the papers You keeping them baelf because you are afraid to F^ciose the springs of your policy, and know that ^9 ,n°roent we have these papers in our hands, abaU jump on you and grind you to powder." ( he precise meaning of this is very well known the House of Commons, where the Conserva- cheer, the Liberals laugh, and, the perform- over, something else comes on. But Sir ord Northcote is speaking not to the House t to the country, and reckons upon catching ear of some people who are either too .a1 or too careless to master the facts, and who h therefore, accept his version. The facts are ify simple. With an expedition, which certainly Ids no parallel in the administration of the late overntaent, the Foreign Office have got out all e papers relating to Egypt up to the date of the toference. Beyond this, they are not free agents. far as I know, there never was a case in which ^pers, relating to the proceedings of a conference, ,ire published whilst the conference was sitting. | the case of the present conference, there is a reticular reason why this could not r* done. On entering the conference the repre- L^tatires agreed that their proceedings should be absolutely secret till such time as their task accomplished, and thetr respective govern- joined in the undertaking. Hence Sir r~arles Diike is strictly debarred from taking a urse that would at any time be unusual. Sii afford Northcote knows this very well, but he 1 cries for more papers, and indignantly de~ the criminal cowardice of a Government having hopelessly gone wrong, deliberately :eeP» back proof of its guilt, a.ud so attempts to censure of honest men. Whilst the leaders of the Opposition are thus kicked by the iniquity of the Government, it Ultimately happens that soma members of the ttrty. free from official restraint, are *able J Uplift in the House of Commons e voice of honest indignation. Sir lenry Wolff nightly baits Ministers, d is assisted by the other eminent diplomatist, •town in the House of Commons as Ashmead- ^bi-Bartlett-Bey. A short time ago it was the of these geutlemen to denounce the Govern- for delaying action at Alexandria and per- aittitig the growth of the fortifications. These ^V*°R been knocked down. Sir Henry Wolff. jj'th Uublushing front, comes and denounces the °vetnment for being in such a reckless hurry. ,ey should, he said, have waited for the troops, all would have been well. ""On thig particular score, of which wo shall hear 1 great deal when the inevitable debate does :ane on, there is on the Opposition side full acquaintance with the facts and deliberate snppression of them hich sometimes becomes an appall- re feature in political warfare. Sir Henry Wolff, Stafford Northcote, and even Ashmead-Arabi- ■artlett-Bey know as well as Mr Gladstone does at this country had no authority to land a body jf troops in sufficient force to give battle to Arabi. Whether that is a fortunate or an unfortunate ^rcumstance is a matter of opinion. But the fact femains. It will have to be done some day; but he very question the conference was summoned decide, and is even now discussing, is—Who hall undertake this task? Shall it be Turkey, England, and France in joint action, or England ^>ne? For England, whilst her representative ^as sitting in this conference, to land an army 'orps, ocoupy Egypt, and give battle to Arabi, J^ould have been. a procedure on which it would J* exceedingly interesting to hear Sir Henry Volff after the event. Of course there was an alternative, though the ^position, warily indefinite, do not commit "^emselves to it. Admiral Seymour might before "he bombardment commenced have landed Marines and'bine jackets, and stormed Alexan- *na, This, would have interfered with the work- of the guns, and there would have been a •esperate battle in every street. The city would ■*ve been burnt all the same, since the petroleum ad been stored ready for more than a week, and he number of people slain, including the British orcc, would have greatly exceaded those killed hiring the pillage. Yet this might have been tone, aud the Government might have been able show that the force landed was detached simply W police purposes, and so have preserved the teace with the other powers. Whether on the ^hole it would have been a more desirable course a question on which each one can form an pinion for himself. The resignation of Mr Bright has ceased to be ^Iked of, and there is even some surcease of the *ild rumours current as to his successor. Several these have been impossible, and all have been absolutely unfounded, from the simple fact that Gladstone has take no steps in the matter, In one report it was gravely announced as lite result of a Cabinet Council held on Monday, that Mr Forster was to be invited return to the Cabinet. A fundamental error In this lies in the fact that the Cabinet have Nothing to do with the appointment of Ministers. U rests entirely with the Prime Minister of the &*y, and Mr Gladstone has never shown himself Inclined to take counsel in the matter. He could, If he liked, dismiss all his colleagues to-morrow, *od appoint fresh ones in their place, subject-^ tourse, to the" approval of the Queeg. -^s not in Wie slightest degree to his oolleagues in •he Cabinet. The^st»^y^f tbo rumour about" Mi Forster, "iWi, after it had run through some country papers, tho Morning Post pom^wusly adopted as r8 own, is instructive and amusing. On Jlonday night, during a division taken just dinner on an amendment to the Arrears rill, Mr Gladstone met Mr Forster in the lobby, jtal desiring to consult him oa some point touch ing the working of the new Oririie Act, drew him into one of the alcoves and conversed with him during the six or seven minutes the majority were streaming past. This incident was talked about, and some people who, like nature, abhor a vacuum, and are uneasy tillMr Bright's place is filled up, I jumped to the conclusion that Mr Gladstone was then and there pressing Cabinet office upon the acceptance of his former colleague. A crowded I division lobby is, perhaps, notthemost convenient spot for such delicate negotiation but that is a mere detail. ^«; far as any intention has been found with respeCt W ^ie vacancy, I believe it runs in the direction of Mr Bright back- He has left it jr. rmrely iierfon^! grovmds, for his unswerving prejudice against utl^er any circumstances cannot be called a policy, t K^OW that at least two of Mr Bright's colleagues in the [Jabmet en- tertain the expectation that when the trw1 Egypt is over he may return to a Ministry which he is on every other point in full accord. I fancy that this expectation may fail of fulfil- ment owing to Mr Bright's growing disinclination tor the toils of office. He has never cared for office, is now growing a little feeble in health and strength, and is, on the whole, glad to be out of it. This feeling may or may not be overcome. But I believe matters in the Ministry will stand over for a couple of months in order to give this scheme a chance of working. Mr Bright's executive office is one that can very well do without an incumbent for a month or two. When it is filled up there will be a general reconstruction of the Ministry, and probably when Parliament meets again in the last week of October, it will find amongst other changes a new Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Treasury Bench. Some weeks ago I mentioned that an enterprise was on foot of great magnitude, and which if brought to the head was calculated to effect a revolution in the commercial and domestic life in London. This was a proposal to invest London with hydraulic power, which, laid along the streets, could be served out to houses, offices, warehouses, and hotels just as gas and water for domestic purposes now are. The scheme, which at one time seemed like a page from "Gulliver," is now a practical enterprise, and in a short time London will have this new joy. Parliament has sanctioned the scheme, it has been taken up with great spirit by practical men, including several of the big firms and associa- tions, who already use hydraulic power, and pre- sently wo shall ha ve the streets up on this new mission. It appears that hydraulic power for lifts is already largely used in London, but it stands something on the same footing as the electric light. Hotels, warehouses, and the vast piles of buildings known as residential flats have their lifts, but in each case have to have costly machinery and a staff specially maintained to work it. In all but the cases of very large institutions the cost is pro- hibitive. Now, when the hydraulic mains pass along the strept,anybuildingcan be connected with the working at a moderate cost. As I mentioned before, all the houses in the aesthetic village to be built on the site of Kensington House will be fitted up with hydraulic lifts, just as houses are now fitted up with bell wires. The lifts will take up the dinner and deliver it piping hot; carry up coal and waters take away the dirty dishes, and 1 am not sure whether, as science advances, it will not brush the table-cloth, fold it up, and put it away. To-morrow night there is to be a dance at Marlborough House, after which no one careful of their reputation in society will be seen in town, unless, indeed, they are staying for Lady Hol- land's garden party on Saturday. We cannot, with literal truth, say that the summer is over and past since we have had no summer. But the time of the flight of society's plumed birds is cer- tainly at hand, aud already houses at the West End begin to assume the ghastly appearance bestowed upon them by closed shutters or blinds of brown holland drawn down. It is, perhaps, not wonderful to find people glad to go. Work is hard enough in Parliament, what with all-night sittings and motions for adjournment at question time. But it is nothing to the life of a consci- entious devotee of fashion in times when, unless you have been to five parties in a single evening, you have had a quiet day.

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