The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1885-12-15 00:00:00

A YCK)I.ISII 1-1111 C.

William Bennett, 24, grocer. assistant, was charged
on remand with assaulting P.C. Chinn in the execu-
tion of his duty on November 27th. —Defendant
pleaded guilty, and said he had no intention of injur-
ing anyborly.—The constable stated that on the even-
ing in queetion he waa stationed at the Corn Exchange
on duty, where a political meeting was being held.
Just before the meeting clewed witness came out and
stood in the d,sirway, and remarked to P.C. Julian
that he smelt I..pper. Just at that moment a paper
parcel struck him on the halnwt, and a quantity of
pepper went into Ilia eye,. Ili. helmet., cost, and
shouldern were cuvereil with white. The parcel must
thrown from, the htreet. Witnu-N WaA eon.
veyed to the surgery, and from there to his lionie.
He was LAW up for three days,— Poline.,piconnt Long
said he went to the defendant's lionise and asked if he
had been to the meeting at the Corn Exchange. At
first he denied having been there, lett suliacquently
admitted that he had. 16 said lie threw the pepwr
into the room, but it struck against the wall. He
; took him to time station and charged him, and he was
remanded that night by Colonel Harria—Colunel
Harris .aid he might say the reasyn why he
remanded at 11 "clock at night was because Dr.
Parkinson said his health might suffer.—l'risoner's
employer said Mr. Rawlins intended to have defended
prisoner, but he was unable to do an. The assault
wed done accidentally.-- Defendant said he was very
sorry for what had occurred. He didn't intend to
hurt anyone, lout did it more in a joke than anything
else.—Colonel llarri, avid it was a very dangerous
thing. —Ti,.' Chairman said the bench d.iiibt,olwhether
they mmlit not to send prisoner to gaol ; but, believ-
ing it war moire tleinglitleminewsi than anything else,
they would tine him £2 2.. and E 2 2s, coots.-1/efend-
ant having eviires-ed a request to compensate the
con.table, the bench ri.conimimeude4 that the Chief
Coloaable alLiw this to 6. done,
Charles Top., butchsr, Fiddleferd, was charti.l
with being aAleep in charge iil a hire. and cart at
Corfe Mullen, the '21141 iust.—Polivi-coustable
1/urrant pros ed the CAN`, adding that when he woke
the defendant up, end told him to drive properly, be
used fearful language.--A fine of El la, including
oasis was imposed.

SALISBURY.
I BrlltllVl DRATII OF A lIAGIATIAT/L—M nixed mid.
niabt on Fridny Mr. II 11. Ittiern, estate ne, who
ha.fr many rani magi..tratm .4 the, cite, thed
iddenlAl hoe reeideno from heart cliaoa.r. Ile had
lawn ailing for 1.1110 thin.. on the afternoon preeed•
ina hi d.nkth he had rrturnwl from Cornwall, where
he bed been Ptaying for sumo days.

SIR W. HARCOURT ON Till ELICTIONS.
Kir W. Harcourt, in a long letter to the 'Neve,
asta...atr•s.hiii—nit bent
II ow...ninuoitnire2wiriadfbiktie,3,l2iiit.et.fthrnre,liet,tedr:h..t.r. eia
iii neematli.iett
Britain, the Liberals have gained 22, the Tories nine,
and the Peritonitis& eine. The Liberal tnej•eitv over
th.• Teri.e in lined Britain was in the last Parini.
mint /17 ; in the penmen Parliament it in 103. Thin
le • pretty concluni re disproof of the "Tory reaction. '
England, Bvolland, and Wale,' hate given to Mr.
tiladatone and his policy, againat feint tialiol.iiry, •
majority greater by In than that which Mr. I • ladstone
poweeeed at the :lope of the last Parliament
thin in spite of the whole weight of the Parnellite vote
omit againat the Liberian anol in (tinier of the Tories
in the newt itilenciea of t fried Ilricein. If there were
nothing na.r.• than this we might well be content
with the into. ..*I vote .4 confident*. them ;Po en by
the venlict of I:real Britain to the late Adininietra•
lion. It j• a •pleteliol testimony of the aentinients
thi• leople .4 England, tindlimil, MAI Walt% to the
leadt•rship aid iwlit•y of 31r. Olailetome. But this is
he no mean. Hi, whole .4 the can, If conree„ for the
nee*. pope*. of omitting new'it in the halloy. A vote
is a 000te howi•ver IL has been obtained led politicians
alto look beyond their wee* and have to coneider
L/I•11AIATIIW a. well AA LO• day Wlll IN. Lo
determine whether at the last election the Liberal or
the Tory party boo increaned forme
throttle
the ciiiintry. It in quite certain that the
&num home, showing, as they 010, an increased
majority of the Isteral over the Tory party in the
present Parliament. An. not the whole ineaeurr of
their n lative etn•ngth. That the Tories gained at
the last election many seat. from 11:oi Wherein, to
which they %WC led intrinsically entitled, by the
Paniellito• vote in • matter which canted be disputed.
No one. I suppone, will contend that the Setl of the
Prime 31inistrr onVes 10. se.lt in Lanewthire to Tory
reaction. Mr. T. P. LI Connor has taken care Corrode
that Lord Cranlionte's return nut' exclusively iii LhA
vote. seVe it iol A very molests
estimate to say that in Isuanwhin• and in the in..
tropolis the Conservative return, have been nernited
1.4. the extent of 23 vote* from tide source They owe
half a dozen 'wee to lipids among the Literal condi.
date. Thew. are thistga which it would le foolish tot
leave old ..f eiglit ii, estinuxting, with a i.'w t•• the
future, ti .• relatio stmegth of the Liberal and Con•
aervato. I. oves as evidenced by the recent election..
When ti •• real facto are scrutininod it will i.e dearly
wen that tlw tree strength of the Liberal (arty in far
larger, and that (4 the Tory piety far less in the
prevent than in the former constituenciee. I tn.. thing,
at least, this election haii proved—that the Tory party
am never, under any conceivable circumstances, bare
a majority in the House of Cuatinonn. If, with
all the extrannme aid they have received at this
election, they have not been able to inereaae their num-
len, as compared with the last l'arliament. they are
never likely to do better ; indeed, It us certain that they
will do a great deal wore.. As • fact., in the last
Parliament they had an indinanding majority against
thrill •if lee In the premed Parliament the
(outstanding majority against them is 170. I pointed
out at ',weevil', what is very imieetant, that not
only is the strength .4 the Liberal party largely
incr.:wed, unit that it in far more generally diffused
over the whole face of the country than before.
Indeed, with the exception of Lancaehire (due to the
circunedances I have referred to), if you group the
country into (lietricte such as the eastern, the western
column., the midland counties, er tho' rorthern
counties, in each group it will le found that the
Liberal majority largely prevails, to an extent much
greater than in any previous election, and even
Lancashire is more than balanced toy Yorknhire. The
Conservative majority is concentrated within aniline(
atively narrow limits in the I • anol nuleirban
counties which chaster round the isietropolie,
el 1111 l I need lint env are not polities' convert*.
They elven. have been Tory, and are Tory still. Out
of the fo2 comities of England and Wale. I think
there ere only 13 in which the Toren have A majority,
awl of Dew.. 13 tw•• are the countiee .4 tt'estnerndand
awl Rutland. lit 32 countiee of England and Wales
the Literal majority prevails. I need not nay in
Sc' tland tho• Liberal majority is even MeV over.
whiled lig. Ti... noliarkabli• feature if the last election
hae beim the great extension .4 area of the Liberal
inajoritV into whole provirces 04 the rural districts
when. Toryient was formerly "mmuirch iof all it nun
veyed." Since the couvernion of the Pranks there has
never been 'inch • moral transformation as that which
1i.... come over the party wipect of the eastern, the
wo•stern, the sioutli•wentern, and a. f the lland
countiwo. It is at once A social and a political revolit
that. The infliience of the leer, the wenn., Anil the
pareon lute eaniehiell. The revolt (nom the old Tory
etandard has leen complete and crushing. In Suffolk,
which I have recently visited, where an unbroken
wieenoion of Tory county members have sat (or half
ientury, the Liberals IlaVe WIIII every rood. The
waits which the Parnelliten have presented to the Tory
party are a temporary winolfall, lent the low of their
hold on the twenties i.e permanent diannter. It is A
very interesting matter to inquire whet causes have
given Liberal inaj witiea, or established a Liberal vote
where it wan unknown before, in much counties as
Suffolk, Norfolk. Catabridgeshire, flxfordshire,
Devonehire, Wiltehire, Glinicesternbire, tehropshire,
Cheehire, I lorsetehir•• tionitenetehire,
Huntingdon, lencesterideire, etc. As far eh I have
1...,, el& be hunt (nun those who have taken •
turt iii them, contests, a main came ••1
the I.iheral outcome haa leen the milemillarity
of the clergy with the agricultural labourer.
The eentinient hex been greatly aggravated by the
pot to say violence', of these reverend
agitators, and that which WAS fos.uully a social dia.
like how grown into • political ai . i .... wity. As •
Churchman myeelf, I deeply regret this result, but
the clergy 11.1V0 Cho.loll to 111.111,11 to the rustic
t;ereare w• the arbiter* oif their fate; and I fear they
have
the respone• they have evoked. The iof this
alienation of the rustic mind from the 1.1111.0 e are
indicated in the remarkable lettor from the Bishop of
Chichester. That iodate haa read the handwriting
on the wall. The agricultural labourer has, us the
Bishop sadly remark., learnt to fed tied the Church
oof England is the Church of the rich and not the
Chinch of the pwr, li, the town. the Church has
still coneiolerable power, lout there it is practically a
v.ilentary inetitution, and has to consult the feelings
and to depend un the goodwill of the people. In the
rural parish the parson Ime it all hie own way, and
hi* way is not the wwy of hie Hock. He lig a abet.
h••nl whom the 'deep ot . not follow. A national
church can only bow to ..xint when ills onetained hy
the sentiments of the natem, led the clergy have un•
happily Ire themselves. elewen to identify thetneelvon
and their vales, in the letter...it temper with the for.
times of a political party and A social east, which haw
been priool to represent the minority rif the people
awl from n leen political power has departed. In
• Ireland then. is HAW 110111IALLi .... of an Estalilishment.
In Great Britain the clergy have staked their fate on
the fortiwee oof a party which is in it minority of more
than 100; awl Mr. Parnell may not be always willing
to protect hin preeent orthodox allies. I know not
whether there is yet tune for theme children of light "
1,. learn wisdom. Pertiane as the Bishop says, they
will "learn and feel the truth when it Is P-I1
But if they hope ti escape the wrath to Mee the
sooner they give it. the trade of Tory election agente
the better it will be for them. They have already
rieked too much at thin daitgeroue gaine. And their
conduct in the election of Idei will not be noon
forgotten. Another CAUL. I think ham leen the cry of
Fair Trade,which the agricultural labourer hae inter.
preted, and justly interpreted, to mean the diminution
of his wages and and increase of the price of that which
he denims to buy. lie had nenseenongh to perceive
that Fair Trade, if it meant anything, meant
Pndection and nothing else. He remembers what
was the condition of the agricultural labourer in the
old days of l'rotectiiin. aloneiver, an agricultural
community was not particularly reconciled to
Protection by the awurance voitcletafed eomewhat late
in the day that agneultitral produce WY, the imly
manufacture that was not to be iirotecied. But the
most potent of all the causes has no doulit leen the
general an of distrust whieh ham grown lip in the
toreut of the agricultural labourer towards the classes
which for generations hare claimed the reclusive
political control of his interests and his fortunes.
The labourer, fooliehly suppneed to be an dull, has been
acute enough to °beery., that from those wh•• pe•ofess
to be his masters and hie guides he has gained nothing
in the put and can hope for nothing in the future.
He hae endured for generatioina the exintent,
graphically anol painfully pourtrayed in Colioett'm
"Ru,ral Hideo," and now that he ha', olotained a voice,
ho• has uttered what he feelm, knoiws that hie
Tory patrons hare leeen the peraietont and hitter
opisino•nta oof the few advantage* which he halt et sr
acquired; that they had done all they could to make
him hneel, hi* moat. hie Cheese, Ili. tea, his wigar, dear;
that they had ;nudged him his common righta and his
croft ; that they would have keid from him his vote
if they could ; and he naturally gave that vote to the
party which had always advocated his interests atilt
had, so far as it was able, ministered to his weed..
Truly, aa the 'bebop iuf Chichenter nays, " Ti.., reeult
of the county poll ought to teach a leeion," and the
Tory VALLI may exclaim, with the Bishop, " lollipop
when it is too Late we shall learn end feel the truth.-