, 1881-09-04

session 3*hch has just closed WAS
su cuf55tly~~takelr up with Irish leg
islatFdE t}lat* tile domestic reforms which
tie l:Aisa!@isaye been discussing ever since
1S9a11t-~hig go' by the bu1tQ Scotch
lbGntll4lG1f more to ,eetu1llafsgf tli;ill the
Mtkh!leformezz.4d s:4ss:sab6aEf: Outside
a; ,tiEassiXt *}ndnibets nobody pre-
3}ts41fs to dandeTEstaiid i ~Scottl. questions. The
-Sf5AAe Of ldsid tenure, the ltlarriagc
tEa&Ns,* tue judlcaturc of the multitude Of
;flAGstfoias bearing upon. the laws Of realty
which grow out of the kirk clldowinents and
tAc blu inallsc lands are So hOpciesly Scotch
THAT English lawyers aid laymcn never
undertake to study thenl. lic1lcc Scotch re-
forms. Unlike Irish reforms, must be initiated
by Scotcllmtn only, alld the discussion of
tile measures introduced l'y The Lord All
yoss,tc
| Is WHOLLY coSr1SE!, To scolc11,lES.
Last session Alr. Gladstone. grateful rs he
is to Midlothian, could not clear tile decks
for the ScoieEMen and their bills were
dropped, Next session, however, Lord Rose
berry will undertake : ali. Scotch lcsis-
lAllon Ut Il noll-egal character,
and "A great. deal Of time will
l,t given to Scotch law and law reform. The
English Radicals will also i,sisu upon the
Government taking up Il large number OF
their purely domestic measures Some Of
the questions now being asitatcd by tile
Radicals are, Of course, too " :.ontiy-SoOd:' -
for practical legislation. 4 late Lord
Chancellor l,sct to say that lle could not
tlraw up an indictment against II mun for not
loving his ncishbor rs himself. and it would
1aS tile ingenuity Of Lori Wcstbury to put
into the form nf iii act of Parliament many
ff af.3,f
trr and Birn!insll moralists. Even Sir
Wilfrid 1.awsull's scheme for
THE PROHIBITION OF THE l.iQCoR TRAFFIC
conld not BIZ reduced to the shape Of bill
without cutting OIL over eao, ,0o0,o 900 a year
from the revenue. But the Radicals have
resolved OH several important measures
which Mr.. Gladstone will have to face
or abdleatc. They will trump the
IT ''fair-trade" card by promising the En-
glis!i farmers II compulsory reduction of
ren1s. Something must bc dune to neutral
iZr the ill-efecl5 Of Il deficient harvest :rti
tie growing demand for duties OIL
foreign imports, and tile r:ldicais are
| no doubt right in surprising tllat. all
Aquarium agitation somewhat similar to tlat
which las just been ;.pptascd III ireland will
draw The attention u the 1A;tsscs away fruln
the free-trntle anu protection controversy.
Tile preliminary skirMisl,inr is bein. uOnc
in the provinces, where the press cain put
out feeler5
WITHOUT SERIOUSLY COMPROMISING THE
P-.l:TY LE.ADI:i:S.
Tile Birmingham Janissaries Of the 1:c
form Club are already lard ut work assuring
the farlner that The abolition Of priliogeniturc
aud entail will relieve him Of. Ills burdens,
and persuading the agricultural laborer
that il he Only votes the Lib
cral ticket Wien the ballot is
put into his hands next session lie will sooil
bc his own landlord by grace Of a Liberal
Land bill. Tie Liberal leaders see that they
cannot fight the fair-trade agitation by sini-
ply dcnounciug Mr.. Mac1vcr, Mr.. Ecroyd,
Sir Edward Sullivan, and Sir -AlgernoM
Dotllwith us "lunailcs.' At first
they thought the movement Wuuld die u
hamilton the moment trade began to revive,
butas there is 10 prospect Of trade revlvln5
| they wcre forced to tight the devil with fire.
understand that the ide. Of putting for
ward land reform as counter irrltallt
against fair trade
ORIGINATED WITH ME. BRIGHT
aud Mr.. Chamberlain. They learned from
their agents in the manufacturing districts
that the artisans were tlocklng to the retalia-
sclf-ciface1nent Hint at return to the corn
laws, 1t occurred to them that a crusade.
against the landlords and the ''hereditary
aristocrucy'' would be what Mr.. Bcrnal Os-
borne called ia paying rival entertainment
So it comes about that the Tories are now
posing as the friends OF the Liberal artisan,
while the Radicals are cultiyatinS
the Tory farmer, 1t is just possl-
bic thai we may see 1lr. Gladstone fol-
lowing Disrueli's example, and appearing Mt
harvest homes and agricultural shows i'll tile
traditional garb OLA Squire. The Conserv-
atiyes thought that the fair-trade cry was
irresistible, but think the lana-refoEm cry
is just us attractive Moreover, a land-re-
form platform will always hold good,
whereas should trade at the north pick up
the far-trade movement will die out. There
is no blight SO effective as that OF national
prosperity for
POLITICAL. AND ECONOMIC QUAcKEEY.,
Meanwhile the fair traders are working with
extraordinary vlgor. Clubs arebeing formed
i'll all the chief manufacturing centres, and
st>lmp-speakers are out i'll all directions. So
far, however, the movement is
SADLY LACKING IN MEN.
The Anti-Corn law agitation forty years ago
owed as much to the earnestness OF Golden.
the eloQuence Of Bright, and the viEor OF w.
J. Fox, the Unitarian minister, as to
its own abstract merits, and the
fair traders can never become truly
formidable until 4 leader arises. The
Duke of Rutland yesterday addressed alarge
gathering at the Sheffield cutters feast, anu
excited great enthusiasm by repeating the
prediction OF Sir John Macdonald, the Call-
:.llan Premier, who has been here
for some time, that England will
be compelled to protect her industries,
and that the laboring classes will
drive the Government to do it. The Duke
added: II tell the laborers and artisans Of
this town that it such is their opinion they
must show 1t at the polling booth.'' This
speech was received with immense cheering.
Mr.. Gladstone and his colleagues are
aware of the growing feeling aglnst "one
sided free trade" and will make desperate
efforts between now and next February,
when the House will meet to push the coun-
tcrnovemcnt for sweeping land reforms, the
reduction of rents, aud the extension Of the