The New York herald., 1876-02-08
Mr. Bright to the English Liberals.

MIR. Bright 10 the English Liberals.
When the late Mr.. Laird arose in his place
in the English House of Commons and said
that he would sooner go down to posterity as
the builder of hundred Alabamas than as
'the man who set class against class" he
thought he was fastening withering stigma
upon John Bright, And the cheers of the
country members" which greeted him,
doubtless contributed to the member for
Birkenhead's belief The builder of the Ala
bama is now mailed in his chest, " and safely
on his short journey to posterity, but the
great Commoner whom he characterized so
hippantly is still at work upon giving that
position in the government to the slower"
classes which has been 80 long denied
them by the upper" The progress of all
reforms in England is slow. We have
seen how the extension Of the suffrage
reaching those far below the British subjects
enfranchised by the Reform bill of 1882, has
left room for the return of conservative
majority in the House of Commons That
was termed reaction" by the liberals and
sent Gladstone into retirement 1t put
Disraeli in power, and he and his party are
endeavoring to balance this plan of quietude
at home by vigorous foreign policy" If
left to itself this shifting of the scene to
Egypt and India might answer for time, as
Englishmen like to exult in that marvellous
empire of theirs which lies outside the
British Isles but while the displaced whig
politicians are busy picking little holes in
the armor of Disraeli and quibbling over
slave circulars and the like John Bright
arises, and, in single speech to
his constituents at Birmingham, opens
up once more the unredressed wrongs
of the masses of the people. 1t is
not a violent appeal to the passions, but
plain, broad exposition of the inequalities of
the law by which class was set over class
and intended to be kept there He places
three live issues in British politics-the en-
franchisement of the non-voting residents of
the counties the redistribution of seats ac-
cording to population, and the abolition of
the laws by which landed property can be
entailed. Here are three points on which
the British liberals can found a sweeping agi-
tation if they are able to grasp them. 1t is
true that the liberal party in England
during the past eight years has become
barnacled over with a class of wealthy
representatives who make the word lib
eral, with a hyphen, the only distinc-
ton between them and the aristocratic
party; they call themselves liberal-conserva-
tives. From these such vigorous domestic
campaign would experience almost as much
opposition as from the conservatives pure and
simple. Hence the minority of the House of
Commons must be reduced still further in
numbers, like Gideons band, before they
will be actually ready to take up the land
entail and county franchise questions and
advance with them to victory. The liberal
party, as it is, has not single cry to march
with and it has no distinct policy to oppose
to the conservative majority. This state of
things marks the favorable moment for the
unfurling of the peoples standard once more
in behalf of the needed, wise and broad re-
forms so strikingly sketched by Mr.. Bright.