New-York tribune., 1867-04-24
WR. GLADSTONE AND THE LIBERAL
PfRTT


According to n Cable dispatch which we pub
isl,cd yesterday morning, Mr.. Gladstone has
written letter virtually rcsigning the leader
ship of the Liberal party He has doubtless
been driven to this extreme step by the COM
plicatcd difficulties in which he found himself,
owing 10 the unexpected detection OF con-
siderable number of the party on point, in
connection with the Reform bill, regarded as
vital .o the Liberal cause. We find from our
mail adviccs that no fewer than forty-eight
Liberal members of Parliament suddenly bOlted
from their party, driven TO do So it would ap-
pear--at least so insinuates The Daily NGlrS-
10y fear of "ponal dissolution" which,
in sending them back 20 their constituents,
would compel the candidates, for renewal of
popular confidence, to rcdgce, by such nice little
sums ms five, or eight, or ten thousand pounds
sterling apiece, the credit side of their bank
accounts 1t seems that mt meeting OF
the Liberals, held at Mr.. Gladstone's London
residence on the 9TH inst, and attended by over
$50 members, it was unanimously agreed that
n certain resolution, embOdying the views OF
tho party on the question of the payment of
Rates ms qualification for the franchise, should
be brought forward in the House of Commons
on the Stl inst, and he supported by the
whole strength of the party. Before the day
arrived, however, the courage of forty eight of
the phalanx had failed them, and these faint
hearted gentlemen induced Mr.. Gladstone-un-'
fortunately for himsclf-to consent TO such an
alteration of the resolution as reduced it in effect
to mere nulity, thus defeating the very OBJ
ject for which the meeting had been held.
Finding that in his too anxious desire for peace
80. l. l....l Tod
blunder. the leader of the Liberals endeavored
to repair his error by introducing the resou-
ton on which he was defeated on the 18th
inst Immediately before the adjournment for
the Easter recess The triple calamity OF a
blunder, a deserion, and a defeat, has, we
imagine, so seriously affected Mr.. Gladstonc's
prestige as q leader, and SO greatly demor-
allied the party of which he was the acknowl-
edged chief that no alternative was left him
but resignation of the distinguished post he held.
The question, who is to be Mr.. Gladst0ne's
successor? affords an interesting subject for
speculation but this question is bound up with
another and far moro important one-viz.:
what is TO be the fate Of the Liberal party
itselfl The history of the party for the last
eighteen months, and It's present position, are
by no means calculated to inspire hope as to its
future. There is evidently no real unanmty in
its ranks, otherwise the forty eight "bolters"
never would have thought of recedng in the way
they did from an arrangement formally and sol
emnly made OF party question and there could
have been lpt little confidence felt in the leader,
and but seant respect entertained for the man,
whom large section of his followers could so
deliberately and grievously compromise as Mr.
GladstShe was compromised in this business. al
though his conduct in yielding to them wears the
appearance of culpable weakness. On the prin-
ciple that house divided against Itself capnot
stand, such state Of things is of evil augury for
the party. Bnt there is, after all, nothing very
surprising in these divisions; for they are not
accidental, but the result of causes which have
been at work for years past. The Liberal
party,lds been composed all along OF inhar-
Uonious clements, for it has embraced
J ut once tho Radcalism that vergos on Denoc'