FALSE ALARM OF TIIE COLONIAL Bum BuitE . An•RAcy .
FOR the first time in its history. " Office,- 1;;;;,z S moo calls his dominion in Downing- Street, has been made to feel sonic degree of' responsibility. Sir WIT.LIAM ,LE.:w■-+!rrit's motion of 1838 takes complete efl'ect in 1 Lord G i.v.vrt.(-: 1111(1 Sir G oto
GREY are dismissed 11w admitted t: racy. Lord llowtel: profits nothing by his share in the intrinale
His secret influence, as king STEPHEN'S COlt■UI:11 i -Minister, is destroyed. Even the Sovereign himself and his permanent Bumbureaucracy tremble on their stools.
No similar event ever happened before, because never be- fore did a Colonial question excite sufficient interest here to direct all eyes upon " This Office." The distant sufferers by that course of legislation and administration which takes place in the Colonial Office, never did, and never can exert any steady influence on their rulers. The system forbids it. It is only because the public mind of England happens to by moved for once by an expo- sure of Colonial misrule, that some punishment is inflicted on the supposed authors bf the mischief. The storm will soon blow over. All the vices of the system remain untouched. The worst of them is at this moment in conspicuous operation.
The very worst feature of our system of. Colonial Government is, that, whatever may happen to the ostensible directors of the Colonial Office, its real directors are never made responsible in any degree. Lord GLENELG'S successor will be the ninth Chief Secretary in ten years ; and the Parliamentary Under Secretaries have been almost as numerous in that brief period. As the re- moveable Secretaries go, others take their place, who are totally ignorant of Colonial affairs, and necessarily dependent, therefore, on that Secretary who never goes. Into his hands they of ne- cessity fall,—hands experienced in the art of moulding pliant ignorance into that state of dependence which renders them minis- ters of his will ; and thus no change in the personnel of the Office occasions any material change in its policy or mode of administra- tion. The dismissal of Lord GLENELG and Sir GEORGE GREY, is but a change of that Ministry over which King STEPHEN presides, a in mode de Louis PHILIPPE, without the least responsibility. Who is it that really deserves censure for the ordinary misgo- vernment of our North American Colonies as exposed by Lord Dunnam ? We are not alluding now to the treacherous proceed- ings of the Government towards Lord DURHAM, for which the Premier is to blame, and for which Lord GLENELG and Sir GEORGE GaEr are dismissed in order that Lord MELBOURNE may escape censure, but to the common business of the department during the last twenty years as conducted by a succession of nominal chiefs under Over-Secretaries Hay and Smugness The public now know what their ignorance, their neglect, and their meddling have produced. We had some share in procuring Mr. HAY his pen- sion of retirement ; but Mr. STEPHEN'S deserts are still unacknow- ledged. It were scarcely worth while to recognize his great share in disorganizing the North American Provinces. For the system would require that he should be succeeded by one possessing like qualities, who would soon obtain a similar control of the Parlia- mentary Secretaries and the destinies of the Colonies. Besides, Mr. lily's successor has had the wit to take care that the Office shall not contain a man worthy to succeed himself. No Lord Norissamr: or Lord Anybody will be able to dispense with his guidance. The present agitation of a Colonial question is, no doubt, very inconvenient and even harassing to the permanent Bumbureaucracy of Downing. Street ; but as the public mind of this country will soon return to its usual state of indifference towards all Colonial subjects, their distress will soon be over. They must indeed submit to let the Canadas be well governed. Lord Dot- HAM'S Report has settled that point, whether or not united Canada remain a colony of England. But what of that? are there not plenty of colonies still too weak to claim good government with any hope of success? There will be no more inquiries, depend on it, like that which Lord DURHAM was set to make in order to get him out of England : and " This Office" is as safe as the Corn- laws, or the Rotten Boroughs left by Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S " final measure."
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