New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-11-27
NOTES FROM LONDON.
,n,o,1 PERSONAL, LITERARY.

-, s,,reading statement that the Il our" -
:, Item nm and that its leader LORD hahuoip"
@,'robiIl has returned into the regular lory iViu
,1T,o terms of the agreement between Loru h"nuoI"
and Sir Stafford NorthcOte have never Oeeh naue
tJ;o lint II has been limited that the troublesome
PuDn Tho has heretofore sat on the front bench
IT. +he caneway is henceforth to sit on the fro'
80, hove the oapCway No doubt the change
I'D signify something. 1t would imply tne
aoooniton Of Lord Randolph by the chiefs OF MS
nor+v as one of themselves. III might DC Iahon "
mean that he would have seat III the next Cohsci'
49, Cabinet Bat the question would remain
,betber meantime he was to acquiesce In the nomi-
nal leadership of Sir Stafford Northcote
Not much light is thrown on this dlihcult QUESTION
Inv the first letter which LordRandolph SENDS 10 the
naners this week. The letter deals with tne QueSVn
which the Leeds Conference dld It's oeSV " mani
,,air question of the day, county franchise. Inc
iaador or ex-leader as the case may be- OF the
Iorrtb PARTY declares as might be expected
oinst wing the vote to the agricultural laDorers'
1T La declares also his belief that the time mas
come for measure Of redistribution OF seats ana to
arrangement of borough bOundaries.-a measure
that will remove existing anomalies "i'hou' ~
atinQ new ones; and so on This proposal h,snt
aoo to souare well enough with Lord Sallspurys" az
Reading. the more so as Lord Randolph thlhhS sum
a measure would be the proper work Oh Uoh''i V"
five statesman. But then he adds;
-. thot am. like yourself. surprised and con-
a1 At the silence of the leaders OF the CosoI' s
Ave Marty on this vital question: Silence mt0n, -
prolonged might g tSsv O DID not know their
Winds or that they were waiting 20 SEQ o9 s ~ nt
side the wind likely to blow ana eC d o so de-
s;fndes would be highly improper anu moeV "o
plorable ,:s d pordoI,l
This surely does not read as II LORD hanooiph
c,robuI had relapsed into the good little boy
which good Conservatives are trying TO oelieVe nun
70 ba Rut second letter has since appeared III an
swer TO an inquiry by student of the university Vi
edinburgh whether he and his friends can CON
soentionslv vote for Sir Stafford Northcote as Lord
Rector of the University, they feel that ne docs
80 ouite adequately represent the Conservative
oortyp To this ingenious interro gatory LORD Kan
dolnh renlies with heroic energy. III, nc says
Sir Stafford Northcote does not represent the Coh
servatiye party as adequately as 1t Is possipie i
any human being to do, am at loss 10 kno" VIM
il his sunerior in that respect" And then follows
this irst-class character: ~
Cir stafford Northcote leads the Opposition IN the
Honse of Commons; he has deNoteo ni i1s ~
"ryer of n century to Parliamentary laDors III
Hat time has sacrificed all his energies anu luc vi
-; health To the maintenance and dnuslOn Oh sounu
nlt;cal doctrine and among modern puDlc men
possesses the unique the unpreceuSnleu qu" III T.
ton of being respected ana eulogiDo" do Ahu' ~ w
opponents as by his irlehos
That is emphatic enough; perhaps TOO emphatic
- 70 the suspicion of slight irony, or more than
.i;gb+ Yet The Times where / seem now to recol-
lct having seen the first proclamation OF the dSln-
tegraton of the Fourth Party is content to consider
Il serous and on the strength of OF 1t repeats 'h
.bo orcanization of which Lord Randolph was the
chief has come to a happy ending
Now as the Fourth Party never consisted OF more
than four members you may not think thequestlon OF
its life or death a grave matter But the COhserNa-
tiyes think So and perhaps the Liberals Moreover
tbe dearb of really serious subjects in the domestic
nolitics of England is remarkable There has been
whole week of speeeh-making, and out OF the col
umns of reports which fill the papers not more than
one or two important contributions to the discussion
of any serious subject possibly be collected
ITndoubtedly the most important of all Is the
second speech of Lord Salisbury at Reading. That
spesch is definite response to the perhaps lndls-
Greet challenge of the Leeds Conference ana Oh us
president. Mr.. John Morley. 1t was the purpose OF
that Conference to give precedence to the new he
form hill over the other important measures OF Lon
don aud County Government TO which the MINISTRY
stond n1edced Mr. John Morley. whose view OF
cu,rent affairs is with all his ability sometimes
bookish and theoretic, urged, first that the new
Reform bill should be cut into halves, and sec
ondly. that the half of it which he wants passed
frst-the extension of the franchise pure and sim
ME sbouId be sent again and again to the Lords as
often as they chose to reject it, To this Lord Sails
bury answers that the House of Peers will insist on
having the whole scheme of the proposed remod-
Cling of the Constitution before them, and not
mart of it that they will refuse to sanction any one
fragment of it until complete disclosure OF the
whole shall have been made; and that they are per
feotlv ready to 20 to the country on that issue.
That is an Open frank statement and very
plausibe one 1t is we'll calculated to strengthen
the already strong party in the Ministry which is
for putting off the Franchise bill till year after
next If Lord Salisbury perseveres and if he has
+he support as this question he probably Will, OF
tha Conservative majority in the Lords, there can
he little doubt of the result. What he wants. and
what the whole Tory party want and what l think
Abav can get is one more election on the old regis
ter And confess think they more likely TO
onneal 10 the country successfully on the ground
now indicated by Lord Salisbury, than if they SIM
MY reiectedo on its merits proposal including both
tbe extension of the franchise and the measure Of
redistribution which everybody agrees must ult-
mately accompany 1t.
of tba other speeches of the week not much need
be said. Sir Henry James's was largely devoted to
promse. The series of studied harangues which Sir
1,horles Dixie pronounced before largo and cordial
audiences in Glasgow and Paisley were able as well
os hilarious and are applauded by the London press
not less loudly than by those who heard them
IL any inference can be drawn from them 1t is IN
favor of the theory that County Boards and Lon
don Municipality bill to make part Of the Min
isteral programme this session But there is an un-
reality about all this talk on the Liberal side. Its
Importance, save to the orators themselves is bnt
,oomentary What people are waiting to hear is
tbe authoritative declaration of policy from the
Inns of Mr. Gladstone which may be expected at the
Guildhall week from to-day.
The situation in London might, in fact be
summed up with the remark which heardyester-
day from a man whose position would insure his
knowing anything and everything that was going