The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-02-21
THE ENGLISH CANVASS,
The Conservative Victory and
it's Meaning.
THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION
A Meeting Of Sympathy
with the Pope.

A Meeting of Sympathy
with the Pope.
LONDON, Feb Z, 1874
am anxious to send you some trustworthy
notes as to what Is passing in the English cleo
lions, and what will be the probable result OF the
bursting OF that bombshell OF "dssolution" which,
Two weeks snce to the establishment as much OF his
followers as OF his opponents Mr.. Gladstone hurled
among the somnOlent members OF a slowly morn
bund Parliament. AT tue present moment OF writ.
Ing, the added up figures give to the conservatives
gam OF slxty-siX seats, as against liberal gain
OF twenty-seven. This is a net gain Of thrty-nino
seats by the conservatives equal to seventy-eiRht
on division, which, have not the slightest doubt
means that within ten days OF the assembling Of
the new Parliament the GOOD fortune which has
for 80 long waited on Mr.. Gladstone Will have
melted away, and Mr.. Dsraeli will be Premier OF
England. The result Of the elections in certain
boroughs and In many counties has yet to be made
known; but, even making allowance for this and
for other contingencies, 1t seems to me indubiable
that the conservatives will have working
majority OF from twenty to twenty-five, and
they have been too long out OF once, and
they are too hungry for the loaves and fishes, to
neglect the opportunity. and, for time at ieast'
Be it now my task to point out how this has come
about. From the commencement OF the struggle
it was easy to see that the majority Of the liberal
party would not be content with the programme
developed in Mr. Gladst0ne's address to the cleo
tors Of Greenwich, His policy, therein set FORTH
was essentially moderate, economic and unitarian;
1t carefully avoided all external interests and I'D.
dressed itself exclusively to the taxpayers IL was
entirely by financial measures that Mr.. Gladstone
hoped to achieve majority and to recover mis- wan
ing popularity. ITO the pretended conservative
reaction" he SAID ~ oppose programme which
may be resumed in these words-'fnancial reform
and liberal union.'" Other members of the Cabinet,
notably Mr.. Lowe and Mr.. Stansfeld, seemed also
TO attach the highest Importance to the question
of economy. Mr.. StansfeId, addressing his In
tended constituents, declared that II any such re.
forms had been promised by less earnest or
less competent man there would have been good
reason for laughing them to scorn. Nevertheless.
1t impossible for the blindesr follower OF tho
Premier not to see that even on that ground Mr..
Gladstone would encounter strong opposition, as
In the strong distrust Of which the tories would
not fail to take advantage. 1t was not only the
conservatives who attacked the projects so much
admired by Mr.. Stansfeld. Certain LIBERAL organs,
prominent among which were the Times and the
Morning Post echoed Mr.. Disraeli's criticisms.
to tighten local taxation aud to lessen the duty
on certain articles OF general consumption. II was
evident that the surplus OF 000 600 would not be
sufflcient to carry out these reforms So 1t would
be necessary that those who would profit by the
abolition OF the income tax must be prepared Tor
other dues destined to facilitate an equal redistri-
button OF taxation. In word, It looked like
question Of an entirely new system Of taxation, Of
which Mr.. Gladstone had not even limited at the
outlines, leading people 70 think that he had in
view the Immediate eject of an apparently large
concession TO them Than any real alienation OF the
imports which press 90 heavily on the taxpayer.
EDUCATION AND TIE IRISH QUESTION.
The question OF national education was another
apple of dlsoord thrown into the Ministerial camp.
MIR. Forster having declared that he saw no reason
Tor modifying his opinion In regard to the reli-
gious character which the State ought to give
to primary instruction, and Mr.. Gladstone
having expressed himself very nearly IN
the same sense, 1t seemed to any capa-
BILE looker-on impossible that the ministry could
count on the support OF the Nonconformists. Al
for the Irish electors their attitude decidedly
hostile to the Cabinet which had declined to listen
to the cry for Home Rule" The irish adherents
to Mr.. Gladstone endeavored to persuade their
compatriots that the Premier had no stronger wish
than to give to the national aspiration the same
Roman Catholics. There were In Mr.. Glad.
stones address certain passages in which
he spoke OF legislative decentralization
and OF local organization under the control Of
Parliament Evidently, cried the Irish liberals,
this means that Mr. Gladstone's principles are not
hostile to the doctrine OF home rule. II this ID So
said the Times, If the Minister wishes to en-
courage the separative tendencies of the Irish, he
commits at the same time Jolly and o crime;
while the tories declared that Mr.. Gladstone was
merely coquettng with his Irish adherents and CIV.
ing himself the loophole for accepting or declining
the home rule doctrince, according to the pressure
| OF circumstances.
| FOREIGN POLICY.
The conservatives tried, not without success, to
prove to the electors that the losses by the
sometimes vacilIatlng, sometimes Fash, policy Of
| the Foreign ONCE, we're not sufficiently COM
| pensated by Mr.. Gladst0ne's financial successes
At the same time It must be allowed that In one n-
stance Mr.. Gladstone entirely refuted the
| assertion OF Mr.. Dsrael, who accused him Of hav-
1 ing compromised the position of England as much
| IN the extreme East as in Africa. In the circular
which he addressed to the electors Of Buckingham.
shire Mr.. Disrae strongly insisted on the "folly
| ana the ignorance" which the Foreign once had
shown in permitting the Dutch to extend their do
minon over the island OF Sumatra, and in contract
| ing on the West Coast Of Africa ''equivocal and
| embarrassing engagements" which had dragged
England into war with the Ashantees. To this
Mr.. Gladstone replied that the policy 80 energeti.
caly blamed by Mr. Disraeh had been inaugurated
! by conservative Cabinet, Lord Derby having pre-
pared the treaty which, according to Mr. Disraeli,
had been the original cause Of the war
against the Ashantees and Lord Malmesbury
having approved. In 1885, OF the annexarons Of
the Dutch in the island OF Sumatra ANY one,
however, could have perceived with hall an eye
that this discussion on foreign policy was nothing
more than an electoral dodge of very secondary
Importance for no one could be blind to the essen
italy negative character OF Mr.. Disraeh's pro-
| oromma what really disheartened the liberals