The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1880-02-24 00:00:00

THK RECENT ELECTIONS.

The elections of lag week have resulted in a victory
for both parties. The revolt of Barnstaple election
was • foregone conclusion, and the London
aldermaa went back as he came. In the borough
of Southwark the Liberals have lost a seat
—have bees beaten, absolutely beaten—we will
not disguise the fact. The Tory candidate
inlied more votes than his two Liberal opponents by
This is a blow we all feel; but the art of political
warfare is learnt by suffering defeats, am much as it is
by gaiaiug victories, and whil,t we rejoice over the
latter let us utilise the former by inquiry int, the
circumstances under which it happened, especially am
In Poole we may expect our opponents to fi4ht us
with the mine weapons as the bottle alluded to has
bees fought with, and we should be pre ared with
other weapons equally as effective. In the first place
we must notice that the Liberal+ of Southwark were a
divided party—they were comprised of Liberals per
g simple on the one hand, and Shiptonitee on the
other. If the London " are to be believed,
the election expenses of the I tter clam were pall by
the Tories, who disorganimd the Liberal party by
Inciting a candidate ta come 10, ward to split the
motley. That the Tories of to-day stand neither +loon
ceremony or trifles so long al they can gain their
ends can neither be denied or c moealerl, and
whether their cry be "Church and Ste's" or "Beer and
the Bible," it is a cry into which they can Infuse •
sufficient amount of to make it listened t
by sbay *mad e, and those whose imtreesion.
sig. rsiads are s ten to be acted upon by eneempty
nothings as Tarnerellre wreath. Southwark brought
no Church Influence to bear upon the merit election;
the good of the State mast have been the last thing
that lettered the minds of the supporters of the Tory
maan The Bible played no " part lath. coated, ,
but the tidal wave "King Beer swept everything '
befogs it. The question asked by the Swathe/mit Tories
wag—" What will carry the election?" The answer
arae—" Seer." A ..rdingly they flushed the gutters
with itood the working roan, soaked with it, maddened,
And eoßeed by 1,, threw hie country's welfare to the
winds, forgot the badness of the time*, and the
iniquities of the 00 worn mint which presided over them
mid hie political eon', and, reeking with beer, placed
his man must the Dare of the man who put his
tfu Twg ~ vain, Is the aillap of the multitude for
that tuitional ounie—dria On the other band, the
Liberal aeadidet• wee a tatataler ; not only that/ .but
wee • men with ablated ideas apaa eatianaz
ineelioa. as did aot so eat at Ids way to ak his

crotchet. but he admitted its existence without the
least reserve. Ile waa also w rkinr with a divided
party, a party, too, which showwl its disgust at the
division in question by not responding to the appeal
made to it by the Liberal candidate, for several
thousan I Liberals kept away from the poll Let us
take a lesson in Poole from what has happened in
Southwark. The Tories will try to win Poole by beer,
corrupt practicer and undue influences Every day
fresh proofs of this are (rapping up, and they become
more bold, they are now doing what they call "work
fog hard." We know it, let them work, we know how
they work, whom they work with, and why they work.
The undue influence they have brought to bear upon
the electors sire idy does nat spesk well f n the acumen
I th.ir legal advisers, unless they are bolstering
themselves up with the vain h that we are ft.A gto
meekly lookon, andneverdo anything, whilst they filch
the borough mit of our pnese.sion. They tax us wrvh
inactivit• , with lassitude; they taunt us with being
afraid of our position' they chsff us that our case is
hopeless. Let them indulge themselves with these
delusions if it amuses them, hut let them assure them.
selves on the one hand that the doors of legitimate
success are closed to them, and should they seise upon
our borough through other than legitimate portals our
records of their trail actions of the plat sre cerefully
treasured up, are improving daily by keeping, and
sh uld they ever have to face legal .lavlight Poole will
furnish one more example of the self-degradati na it is
necessary to resort to, to converts town in which reside
"Britons who never will be slaves" into a polka'
borough.—Poole Te/egran.