New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-11-14
POLITICS IN ENGLAND.

| PoOL~HIS EXPLANATION OF HIS ATTITUDE
TOWARD THE COERCION AcT-THAT MEASURE
| ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO ACT AS A MENACE,
AND NOT TO BE ENFoRcED-MR. CHAMBERLAIN's
| ENDEAy0Rs TO HAVE THIS BUGBEAR POLICY
CARRIED OUT.
| IFROM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRrBuxEl
! LONDON Oct, 27.-It is a notable fact that
political pilgrlmages in England are so often di-
rected to the North, but it is fact from which,
when the pilgrims are Liberals, wrong inference
might easily be drawn. Sir William Harcourt at
Glasgow, Mr.. Chamberlain at Liverpool, Lord Rose
berry at Dundee, not by any means a mis-
siOnary tour, any more than Mr.. Gladstone was on
missionary tour at Leeds The people of these great
towns not exactly heathen nor do these Liberal
| preachers-tO borrow Lord Sasbury's word
seek to convert them from political Pa
gansm to political Christianity. In the
one instance where there might be scope for
the exercise of apostolic functions, Liverpool,
| Mr. Chamberlain's discourse was not of "a prose-
ytizing character In all the others ii is perfectly
obvious that what tie orator sought a great
| audience sure TO be in harmony with himself. When
| Mr. Gladstone went to Leeds, he had something to
say to all England-a weighty deliveranee for which
he wanted both good platform and sounding
board To the due effect of those powerful ad-
dresses, the echOing cheers of a sympathetic audi
essential or at least helpful. Mr.. Joseph
something of the same assistance to Sir Stafford
Northcote and Lord Salisbury at Newcastle.
but the reverberaion had much of the
hOllOwness of the CALCULATIONS it repeated.
The significance of the Scotch demonstra-
tons of this week at Glasgow and Dundee lay in the
fact that they spontaneous, sincere and over
whelming III their magnitude and enthusiasm. They
were meant, in part, TO supply the general public
with answer to the elaborate attacks of Sir Stat
| r IL. 4
supply it, Nothing could be better OF more forcble
than the retorts of Sir William Harcourt and Lord
Rosebery upon the two champions of Conservatism
unless twere the retOrtwhch came from Berwckl last
night Berwick lies close to Newcastle, and there
if an ywhere the eloquence of the two Tory orators
| should have had an effect. An effect OF
| certain sort it did have. Berwick has
almost doubled its Liberal vOte and has returned
| Liberal to Parliament by majority all but equal to
| the total number of Tory votes. At the last cleo
tion she chose Tory. AT this election she was ex-
pected to return another, and to increase his ma
| Ority. There are Irishmen in Berwick, and with
their help an utterly adverse verdict upon the Irish
| policy of the Government was counted on. The
verdict has been returned but il docs not appear to
! be adverse. 1t is only last week that the Govern
ment developed ITS complete purpose with respect
| TO Ireland The first testimony from any constit-
uency that has had chance TO pronounce upon tits
one of enthusiastic approval. The audiences
| of Glasgow and Dundee spoke with not less
sonorous voice, and even from Liverpool comes
noise as of the clapping of hands. But in Liverpool
the circumstances so peculiar that Glasgow and
| Dundee Sir William Harcourt and Lord Rosebery,
must he kept waiting till Mr. Chamberlain has been.
heard
| Mr.. Chamberain's claim to priority may be put
| on another ground. He had a much more difficult
task TO perform than either of his two associates.
They had only to defend the Government. Mr.
| Chamberlain had to defend himself. There were
two points on which he had been called
upon for an explanation. He had TO justify
| himself first, for his pertinaciOus opposition
! 10 the policy called coercion; second, for his
subsequent adoption of that policy He had to
reconcile two things which, to people who have only
Main good sense to guide them, seemed irrcconcil-
able People of that sort have signited their desire
| 10 learn how il came about that during the Last
| autumn and the early winter Mr.. Chamberlain
maintained coercion to be wholly inconsistent with
the radical principles of which he is leading pro-
fessor; and little later found means to combine
| the two. These very interesting questions,
and not the less interesting because full answer to
them would disclose the secret of Mr.. Chamberlans
continued membership of a Cabinet which Is at this
moment carrying on the government OF Ireland upon
| tbe very principles of which Mr.. Chamberlain has
| f.
word. during some months one Of the chief oppo-
ne,ts of policy of which he is now both an agent
| and an apologist What is his account of the pro-
cess by which this surprising transformation was
| effected
There is of course one simple and straightforward
wav of elucidatng such puzzles as these. There
are men in public life to whom it would be easy 10
saw: q was wrong when | opposed coercIoni
events convinced me that l was wrong; ana
changed nv mindD Mr.. Chamberlain, however, Is
NOT one of those men. He says: Il was night
when opposed coercion if the facts have turned
ont the other way much the worse Tor the iacts.
II is not | who have changed; IL Is Tue eireuih-
| s+orcos. my nr1nciples remain the same.' NOdoubt
they do But like Sergeant Tilman JOY, OF PlSe
Conntv Illinois, Mr. Chamberlain has laid them away
for 70 keen until the war is through. His speech is
! frI of INGENUITY; the speech Of an able and de1-
torous man. of skilled advocate defending his own
cause and far too clever to seem TO shirk the real
issne or take refuge from a damaging ac-
cusaton in cloud OF counter-caumnles'
uo saws all that can be said IN pallia-
tion of his inconsistency. He answers l may
say. everybody but himself Butthe Mr.. Chamber
| lain who denounced coercion as unconstitutional ana
declared he would never be a party TO the govern
! ing of a constitutional country by unconstitutional
methods and the Mr.. Chamberlain who is now using
these very methods are one and the same man.
| That both Mr. Chamberlains are sincere don't
donbt for n moment The Mr.. Chamberlain OF last
autumn really believed Ireland could be governed
nv conciIation and conciliatlon alone. The Mr.
| chamberlain of this autumn has discovered that
something more than Cancellation Is needed, and lke
sensible man he accepts political necessity when
he declares to be. and which beyond
doubt is, hateful to him. His mistake was
not in changing his policy under the stress OF an
admitted necessity but in not sooner pereeNins
the existence Of the necesslty-perhaps aio' III n0'
IL. l.. in