The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-12-23

| Ing ITSELF responsible Tor the MAINTENANCE
Of the nations superiority on the ocean
would reserve the disclosure Of its nsva
plans until the proper occasion. that lie Il
cay, until the whole budget could be sci
forth. In the division which followed, the
Government was sustained by the normal
majority ofabout forty. Lastly. the House
OF Lords sent down the Employers Liabil.
ity bill, rendered worthless for trade-unlon
purposes by an amendment allowing work.
ingmen to contract themselves out Of It's
| provisions. The Commons. under Mr..
GLADsToNE's leadership. refused 20 assent
TO this amendment by considerably more
than the average majority.
SO much for the mistaken hold still re-
tained by tho Prime Minister on tho popu-
| lar branch OF the legislature. Tho by
election at Accrington. which took place on
Thursday. Afforded an opportunity Of judg-
ing whether he Is az strong with the con-
stitucncies also az ho was before the passage
Of the Home Rule bill. In the last Parlla-
ment. Accrlngton was represented by Con-
| eervative, but at the general election OF
| 1899 Gladstonian. Mr.. LEEsE, carried It by
| O majority Of above five hundred. Owing
to his acceptance OF q municipal office, Mr..
LEEsE was recently obliged TO vacate hfs
seat and offer himself for reelection, where
upon the Conservatives made the most
strenuous efforts to recover possession OF
the district. They put forward q candidate
OF great local popularity. and endeavored
to promote q schlsm In the Gladstonian
ranks by inducing n Soclalls. to solicit tho
SURFACES Of workingmen. At the last mo-
ment, however, the Socialist candidate
withdrew his name, and the result was that
Mr.. LEEsB was reelected, although by
majority reduced to below three hundred.
The Accrington election proves that tho
masses OF English workingmen do not hold
Mr.. GLADSTONE in any sense responsible
for the hardships and privations to which
the depressed condition OF British industry
hns subjected them. On the contrary.
his unninching support Of the Employers
Liability bill and his efficient interpositon
between the coal miners and their employ
ers. has convinced tho whole body Of work.
ingmen that they have far more to expect
from him than from any Unionst Prime
Minister. The fact that. nevertheless. the
Gladstonian majority at Accrington fell Off.
bears conclusive testimony to the obstacles
presented by the registration laws TO tho
faithful expression OF popular opinion.
When we remind the reader that, In Eng
land. worklngman must live twelve
months and may have to live twenty-three
months. in given voting precinct in order
to be registered. the disabilities imposed on
working people by the present registration
laws will be sufficiently manifest. But. It
may be said by those who favor an imme-
diate dissolution Of Parliament. there is no
certainty that the House OF Lords will
accept a bill embodying tho needed i'm
provements OF the registration process.
The answer Is that, II the Lords throw out
bill intended to secure to workingmen
their votes. by reducing to three months
the period OF required residence in a given
precinct. they will do 1t at their peril. After
such an attempt to disfranchse the prof.
etartat, 1t would be idle to talk OF Copserva.
tive Democracy. and useless for Unionist
to request the suffrages OF worklngmen. All
that Mr.. GLADSTONE has to do is to keep
faith himself. and thus force his opponents
to reveal themselves In their true coors.
OF course. the whole political situation In
Great Britain may be suddenly changed.
should there turn out to be any foundation
for the rumors, said to be rife In London,
that an outbreak OF war early in the spring
is impending. and that the intended victim
OF the war Is England. We have reason to
believe that 80 much credence Is given to
the reports that a leading London news
paper has already engaged an experienced
war correspondent. That Is matter. how
ever. to which we may recur hereafter. For
the moment. we repeat. Mr.. GLADSTONE
seems to be as firmly planted in the House
OF Commons and in the constituencies as he
was at the opening of Parliament. His ma
jority has never been large. but 1t is always
there when 1t is wanted. 1t is undoubtedly
the most heterogeneous majority that any
English Minister has had behind him. and
yet 1t has seldom been surpassed for CO.
hesion and trustworthiness The fact bears
the most impressive witness to Mr.. GLAD
STONES personal ascendancy.