New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-03-28
WHY MR.. GLADSTONE rs HATED.

WHY MR. GLADSTONE Is HATED.
craftsmanship is running riot i'll English puDhc
life. When the leader of the Opposition III the
Upper House openly charges the Premier with
being revoluionist, it is only natural for his
headstrong followers to exhaust the resources
of maleyolencc in disappearing and de-
nOuncing the tendencies of the Liberal Admin
istration The closure is condemned with pre-
cipitate folly as a device of Continental deSp0t-
ism utterly alien TO English practice, or as "A
deliberate plot to stitlc free speech, to enslaVe
minOrities and to make the Premier little less
than political dictator. The vote OF censure
on the Lords is construed with passionate IN
disnation as an insidiOus attempt 70 bring CO.
ordinate branches of Parliament into direct
conflict. The Premier is portrayed by the Con-
servativc press now as IA naughty and arbitrary
Mandarin, beating back his foes on the CHI
nese system by frightening them with false fire,
stage thunder and pastebOard masks and
again as political desperate who does not
shrink from proposing tyrannical measures
from which even the Stuarts would have re-
coiled. Because he questions the right of the
Commons to investigate Mr.. Bradiaughs con
science, he is classed as an enemy of religion
who is not ashamed to associate with political
lepcrs; and we doubt not that the abstention
of three members of the Government from the
votes on the grants to Prince Leopold will be
scored against their chief as a glaring proof OF
personal dislOyalty.
When one seeks for an explanation of these
excuses of partisanship, he will have TO go
long way back OF the records of the present
session. The Lords have been Censurcd Tor
their unwarrantable interference with the
Operation of the Land Act. but this attrOnt they
brought upon themselves when they attempted
to paralyzc the administration of justice III Ire
land and struck blow against the supremacy
of the Commons. As for the closure, there Is
nothing revolutionary in it-nOthing that
smacks of either despotism or democracy. 1t
is a practical expcdcnt 10 whicl. nearly every
National Parliament with the exception of the
Commons has deliberately reSOrted, and which
has borne satisfactorily the tests Of practical
experience under political conditions thc most
diverse. 1t is a measure which Lord liaFting
ton. the heir of one of the greatest house, il
England, prcnounces the very least that can
possibly be adequate to the eXisencies of the
OCCASION" while the new rules as whole are
omen to criticism on the score of undue caution
new methods of procedure has long been adj
mitted, and there is no evidence that Mr.. Glad
stone is advocating revolutionary principles or
exceptional processes in legislation. He would
Iiberate the majority of the Commons from de-
grading and enervating thraldOm to capriclous
and unreasonable minoriteS. He would have
that body profit by the legislative experience
of the civilized world. The recess is close at
hand and the debates on the closure are drag
ging. The measures outlined in the Queens
speech are still held in reserve. There have
been no startling surprises-nO revolutionary
tendencies The new rules have been pro-
posed and the Lords have been censured, and
little else has been accomplished. What has
there been in a half-scssion so barren in result
and SO tedious in detail to excite partisan out
breaks of such unparalleled violence
The half-session would have promoted feel
ing of political apathy if it had not afforded
conspicuous proofs Of Mr.. Gladstone's sagaclty
and efficiency as a party leader. That great
speech on the action of the Lords was not only
unanswerable as "a plea for the supremacy of
the only assembly that could decide great
issues and express the popular will Gil supreme
occasions but it massed together the various
the heir of the Cavendishes gives to his leader
in the proposed revision of the antiQuatcd
methods of procedure, the subOrdinatiOn in
which old time Wings like Mr.. Goschen are |
kept, and the effective use which is made of
the most progressive element i'll the party
even of Radicals so OutspOken as Sir Charles !
Dixie and Mr.. Fawcett have been in the past
are signs that the lines of division in the Lib
eral party are rapidly disappearing; that 1t is
becoming under Mr.. GladstOnes leadership, |
homogeneous organization, repre- |
senting the nation whole, rather than its |
privileged classes 1t is because Mr.. Gladstone |
has done what no other Liberal statesman |
could possibly have done-haS united and rein |
party distracted with internal divis- |
ions and educated it for great future of en- |
lightened legslatiOn-that he is exposed to the !
hate of partiSanship.
TIE POLITICAL OUTLOOK.
The political situation throughout the whole |
In il hot