New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-02-10
THE NEWS OF EUROPE.
OMENS AT WESTMINSTER.
THE MINISTERIAL MAJORITY FASTENING
TOWARD THE VANISHING POINT
MR.. cREMER's MIssIoN-THE COMEDY OF cHAus
ytNrsM-rHE LOSS OF THE ELBE AND THE
VOYAGE OF THE MAJEsTIc-MR JAMEss
PLAY-MR. sTANLEY's AUrOBIoG-
'RAPHY-MR. BAIFOuRs
THEOLOGY
,pr CABLE TO THE rRrstSx.I

tcopyrtght; ; 1885 BY The Tribune A"oefatio"'
London. Feb 9-Twelve majority That IL the
figure by which this Ministry last night escapeo
defeat in the House of Commons When MI.
Gladstone took office his majority was ~.
When Lord Rosebery took Office his majority
was 35 How long it will be a majority at all v
the question which occupies all political minds'
The session opened ominously. The Queens
Speech is perhaps the most laconic on record
enocch NJ reserves of extreme caution, deliber-
ate effort to say as little as possible. ana 70
commit the Ministry TO nothing at all peyoho
good intents II Is bundle OF compromises the
offsprngs of Cabinet divided against itseil' ana
on some vital questions split hopeessly ana IT.
reconcilably into two nearly equal sections. Lord
Salisbury remarked in the House Of Lords that
Queens speeches usually promised efficiency ana
economy in the estimates but this speech prom
ises neither. Il can only construe that curious
omission by supposing that the party for economy
and the party for efficiency were equally balanced
in the Cabinet, and that after heightened con-
fict they determined TO say nothing about either
efficiency or economy"
That comment will do equally we'll for other
parts of this halting message. One more attempt
has been made to ride three horses abreast
Irish Land, Welsh Disestabishment, and Local
Veto-but the horseman cannot keep MS steeos
in line One pulls ahead and then another Ire"
land gets her neck in front only to be passed BY
Wales 1t is the Prime Minister who nxes one
order in the speech and another in the house.
Then comes Sir William Harcourt, holly protest.
ing that Local Veto is as good horse as either.
Which is the straight tip nobody knows Loro
Rosebery allows himself to be voted down IN MS
Cabinet and Sir William Harcourt comes within
twelve Of being beaten on the first test vote OK
the session In the House Of Commons
Where. meantime. is the House OF LORDS ques-
ton? What has become OF the revolution, tho
tremendous revolution, soemnly announced last
October at Bradford by no less a person than tne
Prime Minister himself? That was the one issue
which was to swallow up all others. There 10
not a whisper of it in the Queens Speech any
more than Of Home Rule. Challenged in the
House of Lords Lord Rosebery can only say that
there is no precedent for 1t. Are revolutions built
on precedents? But why not introduce at once
in the House OF Commons declaration OF the
policy of the Government? Because, says Loro
Rosebery, 1t must be followed by dissolution OK
Parliament and general election why does the
Prime Minister shrink from an appeal TO tne
neople ON the issue he has himself raised? Why
does he even now. after months of delay, refuse
to disclose his real purpose, or to state by wnat
method he intends to deal with the House OF
Lords? He has never stated It. Nonody KNOWS
it. Probably no policy has been settled On this'
as on other tess solemn questions, the CABINET"
distracted and the Prime Minister Is not master
in his own house. The nation is not to be allowed
70 know what il is to vote on till 1t is called on
10 vote There is to be no time for discussion or
reflection A policy is to be sprung on the people
at the last moment and a snap vote Is TO Do
taken on the greatest constitutional question
since 1855 Such are the circumstances in whicn
this session opens They dwarf the issues, i'm"
portant as some of them are, raised In the de-
bate on the address in the House or Commons.
Mr. Jeffreys amendment, on which Ministers
got their magnificent majority of twelve, dealt
with the question of agricultural distress and OK
unemployed labor, and regretted that the Gov
ernmen, showed no appreciation OF the gravity
of the situation. Mr.. Balfour made 1t his own.
saving agriculture was becoming great ma
tonal tragedy The House debated it for three
DAYS The chief result is to show that the Par
nellites are clearly resolved to turn the Ministry
out II they can.
On Monday or Tuesday will come Mr.. Chamber
lain's resolution, that the House ought 10 nave
an opportunity Of voting on the Ministerial House
Of Lords programme without delay. 1t may not
be carried But party disntegrauon proceeds
apace. The two sections of the McCarthyites are
Healyites are at open war. How long will they
act or vote together? Note that another Liberal
Member OF Parliament, Mr.. Clement Higgins.
we-known O. c. has severed his connection
with the party He Is a good Liberal, and even
Radical but he writes that he cannot support the
Government In its aggressive policy against the
House of Lords" and that no more party whips
need be sent to him. This reduces their majority
in the House OF Commons to thirteen at most
which again may be reduced at critical moment
by the abstention of such independent Liberals
as Messrs McEwan and Wallace, and perhaps
others
Mr. Higgins gees so far as to call the policy OK
filling the cup dishonest policy. Filing the
cup means rushing measures through the House
of Commons by party majority merely In
order that they may be rejected py the fouss
OF Lords The calculation is that all the paru-
sans of each Of these measures VIII De angry
enouph te support the abolition of the chamber
which has rejected their pet measure Inis II -
which Mr. Clement Higgins denounces as dishon-
ss, The word is needlessly strong He haA
however. proved Lis sincerity BY Offering to re-
s,,, bis scat The offer was made to the
Mid Norfolk Central Liberal Association, and de-
,lned An attempt to discipline Mr.. Higgins and
to instruct him to support the Ministry was
voted down. Here again. therefore. an impor-
tant constituency like the two divisions Of Edin-
burgh represented by Messrs. McEwan and Wal
lace arrays itself against the Government on the
very question which they regard as vital to their
political existence; and the whips are gloomily
asking, Who next?
Some of the Radica-that is, anti-Amercan-
journals announce that Mr. Cremer is well
pleased with the success OF his mission to Ameri-
ca in behalf Of a treaty Of arbitration between
England and the United States. Mr.. Cleveland
and Mr.. Gresham were cordial and satisfactory"
Mr.. Morgan Chairman OF the Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations was as enthusiastic on the
matter as Mr. Cremer was himself" Moreover.
"thc President ard Secretary Of State are now