, 1880-03-28

| Should the Tories retain power as a result
| of the English Parliamentary elections, the
| policy to be pursued by them, while as nearly
| i'll accordance with the present one as it well
| can be, will yet possess some features Of in
| terest and embrace many changes, though not
| of very radical character. BeaconsGeld's
| advanced age and failing health will force
| him to withdraw to certain extent from
| public life, and there is no member OF his
! party possessed Of anything near i,fs great
ability,-cleverness the Liberals call it. The
| man who seems destined to succeed him is
not Sir Stafford Northcote, nor yet Lord Sails
! b1lry,-indeed, it is doubtful it the Tories
| could retain power for one year under the
leadership Of two men so essentially stupid.
The coming man is Lord Cairns, at present
Lord Chancellor Of England, who presents n
very striking contrast to his chief. The
prospective Tory leader is the son Of Bel
fast mechanic, and has won his way to lis
present position, not by any great and shin
ing abilities, but by studied effort and indon-
liable perseverance. Sprung from the work
ing classes, he has certain degree of synpa-
thy with them, and should lie succeed to
power his efforts will be directed, as far rs
Ills party will permit, to the antelioration of
their condition in an educational, political,
and Industrial sense. Raised in the Presby-
terian Church, which, by the way, he has
since Abandoned d,-Presbyterianism is not the
fashion in England,-he is strongly inbued
with the love Of peace and hatred Of clap
trap characteristic of the members Of
that Church. His aim will be rather to
settle difficulties peaceably than resort to the
arbitralnent Of war. Free from the Oriental
ism of the present Premier, he has not much
fancy for the ce-witll-honor, gunpowder-
and glory policy Of the present Admlnistra-
tion.
Surrounded, as Lord Cairns will be in case
Of Ills succeeding Beaconsfeld. by the stupid,
fat-witted members Of the present Cabinet,
the country 'Squires, and the pompous cions
Of the sold nobility" his individuality will
necessarily manifest itself in the future policy
of the Tories, which will i'll all likelihood be
one of conservative progress, not unlike that
of Lord Palmerston, and may even be more
like that of the late Lord John Russell.
It is certain that whichever party succeeds
to power there will be quite change in the
Parliamentary franchise, followed by redis-
tribution of seats. The Tories will be
obliged to extend the franchise to house
holders in counties and eQualize the Irish
with the English franchise, but will ell
deavor to counteract the advantages which
would accrue thereby to the Liberals BY
redistribution of seats to their own advantage,
making three-cornered constft uencies out of
thelarge Liberal boroughs, that they may get
the third candidate through the minority
representation plan. Another matter which
will have to be regulated is the estab
lishment of County Boards. The Liberals
would make these purely elective bodies,
while the Tories will only provide for the
election Of some Of the members, giving the
landed aristocracy places on the Boards In
virtue OF their being large property-owners.
The liquor interest will be fostcred to as
great an extent Us the prejudices Of the Tory
members will allow, for, although that party
is now the champion Of the runsellers, the
individual members thereof are really op-
posed to them. The alliance is not likely to
last long in any case, and it's not improbable
that, although the Conservatives obtained
power and hope to retain it through the
liquor interest, they may find themselves
driven therefrom in the near future through
the quarreIs that will arise between them and
their incompatible allies.
As to the land question Of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Tories will do as little as
possible. The landlords are the Tory party,
and they will not yield anything, will give I
up none of what they call their vested rights,
until they are forced to do SO. They will not |
compromise now that they may save much i'll |
the future. They are veritable Bourbons; |
they will not read the signs of the times. It |
is a dispensation OF Providence that the Brit
ish and Irish farmers are suffering from now, |
and Providence will come to their aid If they |
are only patient and pay their rents, say the |
Tory landlords. There is no hope for the /
farmer from this party, which must be
beaten to its knees-nay, laid fiat on its back
before it will yield to the demands Of justice
and humanity and relinQuish its traditional
stupidity and arrant sclfshness. The Tory
landlords OF to-day have had their counter
parts in the Jacobites Of the last century, the
nigger-owners of the Southern States, and
King Bomba OF Naples. For these reasons,
the Irish aud Scotch and the educated En-