New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-20

Mr. Kerr Hardie has unbosomed hlinseIi 10 the
British public In The Nineteenth Century i2r
January. which publishes an article signed by
him on THE Independent Labor Party The ar
tice is not we'll written. non is ii an able st'''-
ment OF Mr.. Ker Hardies own point OF view b"'
that does not matter Mr.. Ker Hardie has neve!
been thought an able man. What is valuable In
the paper is its unblushing revelation both OF
the man and his cause The gospel Of sheer plum
der has never been preached with more opennesS
Mr. Knowles the editor Of this Review, has been
censured for publishing such paper, ana some
which have preceded IT. But he performs. !
think useful public service. Such men as MI
Kerr Hardie arc only dangerous so long as they
work in the dark. When the community or even
when their own class. understand what they are
really aiming at their power for mischief is I'M
paired IL not destroyed
They are usually men with such extreme no.
tions OF their own Importance that they do not see
this Mr. Henry George did rot see ii. He
thought he had only to go writing and speak
ing In order TO bring the world round to him. He
wrote and spoke till he had satisfied what curios-
ity there was about him and his notions: then the
world went quietly about its business. leaving
Mr. Henry George 10 cry aloud in the desert, no
man regarding. Mr. Kerr Hardie has little OF
Mr. Henry Georges rhetorical eNuberance lie
has on the other hand some turn for practical
politics which may or may not prolong his noto-
riety He is said to have lost his hold on his
present constituency. or at any rate TO be IN dam
ger Of defeat at the next election.
The Independent Labor Party. so far as it has
any political existence. is understood to be the
creation of Mr. Keir Harde. Perhaps he and MI
Tom Mann are entitled to divide that honor be-
tween them. There may be others less known to
fame. 1t is not yet very numerous or very
powerful, but II has played part in at least
three elections: Mid-Lanark. the Attercliffe d.
vision of Sheffield and Leicester. Its creator dls-
PLAYS the usual parental affection for his or
snring and enlarges upon the organization and
strength and prospects OF his little clique, per-
hans AT greater length than the public cares for.
We may skip most of that. / am disposed to
think that if anybody could once convince 'he
English workingman that his class interests
would be promoted by casting in his lot with the
Independents, the workingman would do so. In
that case some strong or relatively strong man
would come to the front and Mr. keir Hafdle
would go to the rear But that is in the dim
future.
What Is interesting now is the disclosure first
of the attitude and secondly of the programme
of the Independents. The attitude is of most
hatred of the Liberals. and it is clear enough
that IL the present member for South West Ham
can carry his squads with him they Will vote
anti Liberal at the next election, now probably
very near For the present" says Mr. Hardie,
1.-The party is strongly anti-Liberal in feeling
This is not due to any sympathy with Toryism'
but to disgust at the way in which the Liberal
party has broken faith with its supporters In
stances of the broken faith are not given Tnere
is to be National conference before the gen
era election. in order to secure uniformity OF
action all over the country. what the Con-
ference will do is indicated in the following
rather portentous paragraph:
Either the whole of the Independent Labor
Party vote will be cast for one or other OF the
orthodox @ parties the whole party VIII ao-
stain from voting in ali constituencies wheie
there is no Independent Labor Party or Social
Democratic Federation candidate, and, Judging
from what know Of the present temper Of the
members my opinion is that. at the approaching
general election. the vote will be withheld.
This raises the question how large the vote Is
which is to be withheld and what the effect OF
Tho abs,cntion is likely 10 be on the general re-
suit Mr.. Harde goes into some rather elaborate
calculations based upon figures which have no
authority II has to be said that his mere as
ssrtion is not sufficient evidence He is not well
informed and his statements in time past have
often been very reckless: for instance, MS re-
cent declaration that more than million OF men
within limited area were out OF employment.
If IL were true. Mr. Hard,e asserts that MS
marty controls at least % per cent OF the total
voting power in the centres OF INDUSTRY he OF
they might probably hold the fate or the MIL
fstry in their hands. In which case Lord Rose
hery womb probably he called upon to make an
other speech and the place of the LABOR ques-
ton in the Ministerial programme would nave
TO be altered Says Mr.. Hardie, in his confident
cocksure way:
Eighteen seats arc held by supporters OF the
Liberal Government by maJortes OF less thsh
1O0 votes Thirty-five seats are similarly held by
majorities over 100 but under 2oo votes
Now If. in these constituencies inc ihoepeIlue .
labor Party vote was withhold e. If the mem
hers NJ the independent Labor Party did not
vote for either candidate, the present members
would be defeated If 1t were decided TO cast inc
Independent Labor Party vote exclusively LOT
srory candidates. more than one-half OF the pres
ent Liberal members would be defeated through
out the country.
That is pretty tall talk for leader whose ioi-
lowers by his computation DO not eXceeo
10000 The total electorate Of Great Britain II
about six millions The strength Of the Inde-
pendents, such as 1t is, Is concentrated III Ian
caebire. Ctcshire. Yorkshire. Scotland. and Lon
don Mr. Hardie's contention is that with less
than one per cent OF the whole nunDer Oh Vo'erS'
all grouped about few industrial centres ne can
nut a Liberal or Conservative MINISTRY 'h'o power
at his will. The absurdity oi 'h's 10 oo''ouA
enough There are seats. no doubt, which the
Indenendents may carry may give TO either
,heraI or Conservative. Even this assumes that
Mr.. Hardies statement Of the numbers OF MS
own enrolled followers is accurate Moreover ne
contsnds that the Labor vote comes In nearly
equal proportion from each political party; a con-
tention Of which ne probably does not see the
force I have not heard that the whips or party
managers on either side greatly disturbed by
Mr. Kelr Hardie's Vaccinations.
These are days, however. when each vote ana
each seat counts. Some power Mr.. Hardie and
his rabble have and II Is therefore desirable 10