New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-12-23

pprHIr
pho" IN" LONDON, December b.
A correspondent sends to The Standard the follow
,ng very interesting example OF Radical appear 10
Abe agricultural voter;
NORTH SOMERSET ELECTION.
n Won want Free Trade, VOC 10. tor S Strachey'
~ yor want free lant, Note lOr ordchey'
m Won want frce schools and no ponce 10 pay, e,,
70 want cheap bread and cheese. Vote for strachey
m You cheap tea and sac ar Note tor Straoueg'
II you want cheap clothes ana ooo' Xote or th
If yOu want cheap tobacco ana shu Note or
II you want cheap newspapers Note ior olra e9
!od bs We home OF your own Vote strachey.
II YOU ant good wages, QUE TOT otI"eneJ'
you want OWL anu '''''D' Vote for strachey.
II YOU want more small farms. Vote for strachey
Il you want your uthes rates, and taxes lover
Ifyou want moro security for your capital invested i'll
tue house and land you rent, vote Tor Strachey'
il you want any oil these Things YOU InusI ~, o.ono
rs Mr. IAcwelyu's party will give you none OF them
Mr. Ieweiyn's party want him in Parliament to
,o.s laws for the rsn but Mr. strachey's party Will
ma <e laws for the poor as well as the rich
This seems to have had tue official sanction of the
Liberal Committee and was sent with the Liberal
rolling card to the electors of North Somerset AT
the bottom of the same card are the words, " vote
for Strachev, and you will get Free Schools Free
Food and Free Land" The phrase is capable of an
honest interpretations bnt the question is How was
Hodge likely to understand it, On the back OF the
form was a letter from Mr. Gladstone saying how
much interest he takes in the of this enter
prIsing candidate
This is, perhaps, an extreme specimen Oh the way
in which the Liberals canyassed the counties II
goes beyond the words. but it hardly goes beyond
the spirit of Mr.. Chamberlains speeches. ana II
must | think be admitted that 1t Is MI Chamber
him "a whom the Liberals are, on the whole, III
dbted for their triumphs in the counties well as
for their defeat IN the bOrOughs. The exceptions,
no doubt are numerous. l hear of many cases
where Liberal candidates who have come in 10y
GREAT maiOritieS have thrown over Mr. Chamber
lam and his hot gospel, and have avOwed them
selves Moderate Liberals. Gentlemen who have
won seats by this honorable means naturally think
others might have been won in the same way. They
insist that Hodge is by nature prone to Liberalism
aad that hc grateful to the Liberal party Tor the
vote which lie knows that party gave him. lhe
theory is a pleasing one, but am AFRAID the evil
dcnce to support it is wanting. If the whole cleo
torae of England had been agricultural the tactics
a. Mr.. Chamberlain would have been shrewd
c3odyl. 1t is beyond question that he succeeded in
sp.elllng abroad belief that Liberal victory
would mean a victory Of the poor over tine ricb and
4 at the effect Of il would be TO make the rich less
Tch aud the poSr less poor He himself never gave
ut:eiance 20 the now famous formula of three acres
and cow. But the three acres and a COW express
accurately enough the conclusions which an
ignorant agricultural population drew from what
th,y heard.
It is this appeal TO the cupidity of the new voters
which lessons the moral value Of the Liberal sue
ees,e, in tae counties. They were asked, IN effect,
to consider which Of the two parties made them
the largest offers. The Old standards of political
ethics were put aside Prejudices too, were traded
on The Radical view is that the Squire and the
Paron have long been the two tyTants Of rural life
SO lie Radical canvasser went 10 the victims OF
these two monsters ald said: If you want your
REVENGE on ParsOn and Squire. vote for us Ana
so in many cases they did. it is probable that tbs
American who takes a littlo interest IN Lnglish
tics may find it difficult 10 realize the degree OF
ignorance prevailing among the voters 70 "Aoih
snch arguments were addressed The proportion
who can read is very small indeed OF the inval-
uablc political education which comes from eXper
fence in municipal affairs, thew had absolutely
none Local government in the counties. in the
sense in which we in America understand 1t, does
not exist Both parties now agree that 1t must be
established and that county government IS hence
forth 10 be the work of elective and representative
bodies Municipal experience, or the habit OIL TAX
ing mart in the conduct of local affairs, is the very
germ of political education and Of that knowledge
which fits a man TO form wise Judgment on
broader questions. 1t is universal in America, in
France and in other countries but the rural laOorer
in England has grown to manhood without single
onnortuuitv of instructing himself for public duties
of any kind whatever Tho franchise has been
thrust suddenly into his hands, and when he asks
what he Is to do with it, his Radical ADVISER
answers in the words of the circular above
ouoted: "Vote yourself free land and free tood.'
The county Constituencies it is true. do not consist
entirely of agricultural labOrers, but apprehend
there can be little doubt that it is Hodge who has
turned the scale decisiyely in favor OF the Lib
eral party.
This is one Of the reasons which makes 1t dIihcult
for an American strong as his sympathies must be
with English Liberalism, to regard these county
victories as genuine Liberal triumphs. You must
have heard all the way across the Atlantic Mr..
Cladstones cry of exultatOn AS the county returns
poured in TO upset the verdict of the boroughs Ills
address to his Midlothian constituents need not
De Judged harshy. lie left Dameny on Saturday
night in deep depression, notwithstanding the
splendid majority which Midlothian itself had
given him. He knew that the constituencies when
had put him in office in 1880 had condemned hltl'
had withdrawn their confidence, and had refused 20
give INN that new lease Of power which he had
nassonately demanded The voice of the most
intelligent experienced, disinterested and high
sprited portion of the English people had gone
definitely against him iThe blow was cru sblng
the humiliation to a man Of Mr.. Gladstones temper
ament bitter indeed. Nobody then believed that
fine countlcs would prove Liberal enough to over
come the ant-Liberal majority in the boroughs
SO it was that the great Liberal chief went nome
to Hawarden, which three weeks before he had
omitted with the confident expectation of "a great
triumph and of a return TO power at the head OF a
victorious and powerful majority. Then followed
that astonishing series of Liberal successes i'll Tory
strongholds The reaction of feeling was violent
enough to disturb his judgment and his sense OF the
dignity of his position and he sent forth that loud
shout of purely party and personal elation which