New-York tribune., 1880-01-11
OPPOSING MIR. GLADSTONE.

OPPOSING NIX. GLADS lONE.
OLD wHIGs STANDING ~ TIE WAY OF ME. GLAD
STOPS RI INSTArrMENT As LEADER OF HE
LIBrRAL PARrY-LorD, GRANVILLE AND HART
INGroN READY 10 YIELD TO HIM-NO M
MEDIATE DISSOLUTION EXPECTED.
frroM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or THE TEIBuNF.l
LoNDoY, Dee. 22.-In telcgraphng yOu on Satur-
day SAID that The official and Old Wing element
among the Liberals had for the moment. got the
upper hand and that the leadership Of the Liberal
party would not at present be officially rendered to
Mr. Gladstone. This statement believe to BE quite
correct but it is possible hat in condensng 1t for
the wires put II too bluntly. certainly did not
mean to throw any doubt upon the accounts had
previously sent You Of the general uprising among
the Liberals in Nr. Gladstones favor. There can be
10 doubt what the party, as a party, thinks.
There can be no doubt thar it looks to Mr.. Glad
stone rs the one man capable OF leading 1t out OF
the house of bondage-Out of the cold shade OF
onposion into the warm sunlight OF office; out OF
the domain of Intellectual criticism and gallant but
homeless warfare in the present House of Commons.
into that more fertile country where 1t may reap
what il has for five barren years been sowing The
great bulk of the party care little for Office for the
sake of Office They desire to see their leaders
IN power. believing that Liberal leaders in
power will relieve an overbutdened country and
restore an impaired national credit-that England
will be not a less but greater country, when pol
lev of meddng and bOastng is exchanged for q
| policy OF honestly minding her own business.
But The Liberal party is one thing: the leadership
of the party quite another. There are still men
high in position who were bred in Wing traditions:
| TO whom government means government accOrdlng
TO the notions OF Pamerston and Russell who look
upon the representatives of certain great families as
| tho natural dcpOsitaries of power and the fore
ordained pOssessors of Office. Ihey view
with utter dstrust aud dislike the growing author
I inv Of the Constituencies, and discourage IN all
avs what they call the interference of the people
with the old.fashioned guidance of public affairs
They still, to great extent--if / may apply an
American phrase to English politics-run the
machine They have resisted TO the utmost of
their mower the growth of those Liberal Hundreds
which have cncroached upon their ancient mo-
nopoly; which have, as they say, introduced the
caucus system in its worst form into English public
life. And nearly all these officers of the old
guard have done their best since Mr.. Glad
stones Midlothian triumph to chill the
General enthusiasm he had evoked; to stiae
| tbc popular cry for Mr.. Gladstone as leader
and 10 retain in their own hands the control which,
| a. they say, was committed to them by Caucus of
tho House of Commons and 4 cabal OF distinguished
ornaments Of Wing society. They have, as said,
succeeded for the moment, but It by no means fol-
lows that they have rclegated Mr. Gladstone TO
| that back seat which they would ike 70 see MN
occupy in permanency.
Again to infer from this statement that the two
tular leaders of the Liberal party have taken any
share in these manGuvrcs would be quite wrong
Neither Lord Granville nor Lord Harrington
ia n man to take any more initiative
than hc can help. Neither of them believed to be
10 hp,fN OFT tafhin IN hpi praS
emf positions Neither has much avdity for the
hard dry work: the sustained attention to business
the innumerable vexations. the burden of political
rosnousibilfy the endless unrequited toll Which Is
| lupoSed upon party chief Both are men OF sutl-
c;ent abilities and both are of that clique which |
have referred 10 as hereditary leaders. Lord Gran
vile il said to be almost indoent as Lord Bea-
con.iicd Lord Harrington. down TO recent
period. had made the Turf the serious business
| ~ Ills life and it is but quite lately
| +,o4 bc has shown signs of regarding politics as
! copablc of aifOrdng him equal amusement. 1t Is
Int feeble cheer you can raise for either OF these
from popular audience, unless they happen to be
! present, whereas you would fud it impossible to
| mention Mr. Gadstone's name without elciting a
hearty res,onse from Il Liberal meeting in mat
ter what part of the Kingdom His is name to con-
ure with theirs is not, and they know it is not
resign their nominal cheftanship into the hands of
the one man whose title to it is recognized ana ac-
| claimed by the mass of the party
| Bat behind Lord Granville and Lord Harrington
| stand the wlre-pullers-the workers." to borrow
nm American word again-and the cotere OF able
| and active Wings to whom the notion Of anything
| less than a Wing monopoly in politics is repuslve
Cbev II is who have taken the lead IN the opposition
20 Mr. Gladstone, called out by his wonderful sue
ooss IN Scotland. They have secured The sk1ul ad-
vococv of the only daily morning paper IN London
which "a still Liberal, but which keeps occasional
,,rnr;ses in store for it's best friends. They have
had naturally enough. the of the leaders whose
interests they profess to promote. They have great
| social influence They have allies in every Tory who
botes Mr.. Gladstone and in every Liberal who de-
lights above all things in being moderate "a
wing of the party defined by Mr.. Gladstone him
| self os seldom moderate and never Liberal. Ana
tbev have. II is believed, succeeded In persuading
Lord Granville and Lord Harrington that 1t Is their
dutv for the present least to disregard the pop
h,or voice. the almost universal demand OF the
Iiheral rauk and file for Mr.. Gladstone as leader
and things are TO go on before 1t Is only far to
odd that Mr.. Gladstone himself has never uttered
| a word which would indicate any wavering in his
npbliclv announced resolution to remain In
spbordinate position. Possibly you remember that
during last Autumn. while he was on the Conti-
nent. the reporter Of French paper who inter
| vi.nved him made HIM declare that he should not
resume the leadership of the Liberal party unless
constrained by circumstances-by an overwhelming
demoustrat,on OF the wishes Of the party, or some
thing of that Sort ! happen to know that Mr..
Gladstone said Of this report-which ranged over