Omaha daily bee., 1889-04-21
BlRMINCHAMS KING.
Chamberlain Becoming Very Tired
of the Conservatives.
PRiMROSES AND POLITICIANS.
Joseph and Brethren Showing Off
in Colors.
AN INSTRUCTIVE SPECTACLE.
1t is Especially so For the Liberal
Party.
THE HERMIT OF HAWARDEN.
Gladstone Said to be Watching Jo-
seph From the Corner of His
INSTRUCTIVE SPECTACLE.
He HERMIT OF HAWARDEN.
Gladstone Said to be Watching Jo-
seph From the Corner of His
Tye-The Fatted Calf is
Waiting.


lCOpyriDht fSSJbB James Gordon Bsnlstr.l
LONDON, April 2O.-[New York Herald
Cable-Srecal to The BEE,l-Of course all
know there ought to be no politics this time
of the year, but how are you to keep them
out of mind when three fourths of the people
you meet are persistent in wearing prim-
roses. Is not that an exasperating sight for
any true radical' The simplest, sweetest
flower of the year has been adopted as po
litcal emblem. l for one am sorry. There
is nothing better worth seeing in all England
than a country lane with deep banks each
side covered with primrsses but now the
whole land is secured for primroscs for the
London market, and for many miles there is
not primrose to be seen. In the course of
a few more years the primrose will be an cx
tinct flower IN England. The meadows
hedges and woods, already stripped of their
brightest ornament. l do not know
whether the primrose was Lord
Beaconsfield's favorite flower, but If
it was his admirers ought to spare it out of
respect for his memory. In the preface to
some speeches lately published 1t is said peo
pie of rank and station who throw flowers
on the grave of Dizzy threw nothing but
mud at him during the greater part of his
life. That is true, although the mud
throwers will not like to be reminded of
their exploits. The poor primroscs are made
to do penauce now. AS l passed Lord Bea-
consfield's statue this morning and noticed
a huge wreath hung around his neck and the
pyramid of prmroses ten feet in height
placed at the base of the monument and the
thousands of lunches Of flowers scattered
all around, l could not help thinking of the
time when used to see him sitting in the
house of commons q solitary, neglected,
moody man, Stunned and distrusted by his
party, hated by the, aristocracy, reviled
numerically by the press, especially by
the conservative portion of it, the
object of universal diststi5, and suspicion. l
have heard some of hss greatest speeches,
| and when he was at his best no man could
equal him in the particular line of satire
most polished and cutting, which came from
his mouth in sentences of the most exquisite
| finish, delivered in perfectly modulated
voice with all the art of an accomplished
actor The whole house would sometimes
burst into a roar of laughter at some of his
| hits, but never the ghost of smile fitted
| over the sphnx.like face of the speaker
| Sometimes he showed real feeling and
| warmth in what he said, but such occasions
| were rare During the time that Lord Sails.
| bury was endeGvorng to overthrow the
| DerbyDisrael ministry an incident now
| only to be mentioned with bated breath, Mr..
| Disraeli referred one night TO the obstacles
| which surrounded him, 'Diiliculties,n he
| exclaimed proudly, "why sir, am prepared
| to fight the greatest difficulties" and before
| he could get any further loud and universal
] cheer rang through the house, for his long
| struggle against tremendous odds had won
| the admiration of his bitterest opponents,
| except among the arstocratic section of his
own party. In his old age he fell little
| under the influence of these very persons
! but his best work had been finished long be-
! fore. Fortune did very little for Dsraeli
| down to the very last 1t has been much
| more kind to some OF his successors. The
| public generally persist in remembering him
| gratefully at this time of the year. How
| long will it last! Well, the fact Is that a very
| important political organization has grown up
around the primrose legend, and that must
| give it vitality. l have never seen so
| powerful society in any country working
| openly and attracting all classes of
| the community. 1t now numbers three
| quarters of million and is managed almost
| entirely by the fair sex. 1t was founded by
| Lord Randolph Churchill and Sir Drummond
| Wolff, and has turned the scale of many an
election. How it could have delighted Dis.
|
| he was satirislng titles, honors, peerages and
| all such vanities No doubt these same lit
| tie vanities have helped to render the Prim-
rose league popular. There is an order worn
| upon the coat or dress, and titles of an
antique kind conferred upon the members.
| The people like it and every year the league
| increases in numbers and influence The
| radicals began by ridiculing it, and now are
| trying with might and main to get up an imi-
| tation of it, but live lion is not worth so
| much as dead one for this particular pur-
| pose. A Gladstone league, therefore, with
| his favorite flower, which will only be dis
| covered after his death, will not come
| into existence just yet, let us hope
not for some time for great men
| are not so abundant that we can
| afford to lose one Of them. The great man
| of the future promises to be of the modern
| type, shrewd, adroit, fertile in strtegem,
| deep in craft and always on the lookout tor
| the main chance. II o man is deficient in
these qualities he will very likely be boy
cotted by his own party and gently pitied by
| the other side. Some persons hate Glad
stone fiercely, but only y few lunatics bear
him any ill-will,
Meanwhile our Easter rest is disturbed by
this violent hubub in Birmingham. Joseph
and his brethren are showing themselves in
due colors- Everything Belongs to them.
They have done everything, The conserva-
tives exist only upon sufferance, and when
ever Joseph likes TO do so he can swallow
! them up at single gulp. The Alpha and
Omega, the be all and end ali is our Joe,
king of Birmingham and director-general of
the universe including Oklahoma. He is on
the bounce just now, celebrating the re-
ligious season and there is no holding him
back He snaps his fingers at everybody
and dances round the conservatives of Bir-
mlngham like a red Indian might caper
around poor wretch of captive tied to the
stake, q truly instructive spectacle, especially