National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-06-14
Tories, wings, and Radicals,

tell him which OF the newspapers lying be-
fore him were In favor of Mr.. Glndstone's
Irish policy. The clerk was not quite GER
tain, and called upon a journalist who hap
pencd to be close at haud The journalist
Informed the stranger that crerg paper on
that stand was In favor Of Gladstone's pol
icy. "Well, them" muttered the dlscrimi
mating Brlton, who had been artfully ap-
plying what mathematiciaus call the process
OF elimination, ~ don't want any of 'em."
lie evidently hungered for a good strong
conservative editorial which should, at the
same time, conslgn Gladstone to perdltlon
and defend, without stint, Lords Salisbury
and Churchill, and the blood-and-whisky-
thirsting Orangemon of Belfast
At first sight It is little strange that any
Englishman who had brains enough to get
in out OF the rain, or to find his way to
America, should know so little about re-
publican institutions in America as to ex-
pect that any newspaper in this country
could hope to live and strongly defend the
political principles Of the English conser-
vatlve party. It would be as stupid and
ridiculous as to defend the American tories
Of the revolutionary war, Notwithstanding
they formed a party which contributed to
the world so valuable factor of civllza
tion as the illustrious Count Rumford,
"who banlshed beggars from Bavaria"
This Willard incident, however, Is not so
remarkable when we remember the un-
fathomable depths of human ignorance
generally, and the particular deeps existing
in America and England with regard to each
other. The London Times referred, few
months slnce to Pennsylvania as the capt.
tai Of Philadelphia, and we are inclined to
think that there are still good grounds for
Cobden's remark that few undergraduates
Of oxford and Cambridge know whether
the Mississippi flows north and south or
east and west, or could point out within
thousand miles Of Chicago II required to
find that city on n map of the United States.
Probably not one out Of a thousand in Great
Britain knows the difference between o
Democrat and a Republican,, though, in
deed, there are many Christian people in
this country who are exactly In the same
beat. This being so, 1t is very natural that
some American citizens have no very clear
ideas about the essential differences be-
tween tories, wings, and radicals In Britain.
1t is, however, very much easier to in-
derstand political parties in England than
in America. Since the civil war, which
terminated with the death of Charles l. in
1919, the distinction between the two great
political parties IN Great Britain has been
clearly defined, though there have been nu.
merous variations and notifications. The
history Of this party growth is without the
compass OF a newspaper article, but the dis.
tlnctions at the present day are easily ex-
planned. There are a couple OF lines In
Macaulny's "Battle OF Naseby" which,
changing the names Of persons, Lord Sails.
bury would doubtless accept as n fair
formula of his party creed. \ cavalier ex-
claims, "For God, for the cause, for the
church, for the laws, for Charles, king of
England, and Rupert, of the Rhine" For
King Charles substitute Queen Victoria,
and for Rupert Lord Wolseley, and we have
the tory catechism, never forgetting that,
as Lord John Manners said in earnest or
Disraeli in Jest, "God is always on the side
of the English tories"
There is a popular deluslon that tories or
conservatives--fo the terms are synony-
mous-are all austocrats, and that the
Wig or liberal party is composed of the
bourgeoisie and horny-handed. No doubt
the tory is the aristocratic party tradition
ally, but there is just sufficient sprinkling
of whig noblemen and country gentlemen
to form a whig arlstocracy, which, In wealth
and power, AMI 1t may be added pride, is
in no sense behind its rival. Many aristo-
crats are tories, but all tories are not aristo-
Gratis. Ninety per cent. of the London shop
keepers are tories, and Disraeli was ingeni-
Gus enough to discover the conservative
workingman who, in England, has so very
much to conserve. III country districts
almost every man who patronizes
the Episcopal Church asks the Deity
| on Sunday to have mercy upon him as a
miserable sinner, but on Monday he is q
| conservative, gentleman, and almost an
aristocrat, as compared with the people
who worship In any dissenting chapel. To
make a long story Short, the conserva-
tive believes in the reigning sovereign, the
house of lords, and the established
church. He believes, moreover, that those
institutions are OF diyine or quasi-diyine
origin, and that the very existence of the
British empire depends upon their inviola-
bic maintenance. The most serious defect
In the mental makeup of the tory Is that
lie has no sense Of humor.
The whig-or modern liberal-has sort
OF sneaking or half-hearted belief In much
OF the tory creed, but, in addition, he
thinks that the people have certain rights
which wise government would do well to
respect Hallam and Macaulay, when
summing up the results Of whig and tory
/ influences, state that "upon the whole, the
wings have been upon the side of liberty
and popular privileges, and the tories have
been Invariably against all popular con-
cessions." So great man as Edmund
Burke said that the ideal form of govern
ment for any country would be one COM
posed of men who were "aristocrats by
birth, but possessing popular sympathies," !"
and this may be taken as general descrlp-
! ton of the wings.
The tories say, "God made us superior to
| all other men. We have what we want ,,in
this world and don't intend TO admit any
body else to our privileges" The wings
say, "God and the British Empire are very
| good to us also, but when we see other peO-
pie deserving Of our privileges we will ad-
NIT them to our order.n
And now we come to the radicals, who
are very easily understood. They do not
belong to the gentry or the shopkeeping
classes, but find their strength in the great
army Of intelligent mechanics of the large
cities. Considering that the wealth Of
England depends mainly upon her manu-
features, 1t is readily seen how important
are the political opinions Of her skilled
workmen. Those men have realized their
power, and are united In organizations as
strong and far-reaching as the Knights Of
Labor in this country, They think for
themselyes, and have for leaders some Of