The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-07-30

these statements. The brewing and
distilling trades have always been on
the side OF the Tories. Here and there
Is a brewer who Is a Liberal. McEwan
OF Edinburgh Is a Liberal; SO Is Whit
bread Of Bedford. Both were In the
last hOuse Of commons. But the over
whelming mass OF brewers and publi-
cans and OF the shareholders In English
brewing and distilhng companies are
Tories. Their interests were assailed.
hut never put In any actual danger, by
Sir William Harcourt's veto bill.
The bill was not taken to seond read
ing. Had 1t got that far In the house
of commons 1t would have been defeat
ed by the votes of the Nationalists. and
of a number OF English Liberals who
made no secret OF their opposition to
the measure. The bill. however. dis
turbed the liquor trade quite as much as
though 1t We're q measure which had
some chance OF becoming law; and at
| this election the trade has risen as n
body to defeat the party which was res
ponsible for the introduction OF the bill
into the house of commons. The measure
has been decried by the brewers as one
which would depreciate the value of
every brewery share In the kingdom;
and the share and debenture holders
In the many great brewing companies
were besought by the political leaders
of the trade to use their votes and
their influence to help to return MEM
bers to the house OF commons pledged to
oppose such iniquitous and disastrous
legislation"
Enormous sums have been raised In
| the trade for use In the campaign, and
1t is not at all unlikely that many OF
these three-cormred contests, which
for the present have ruined the Liberal
party i'm the English boroughs, were
financed from the war-chest Of the
brewers and the publicans Some in
terested people must have put their
hands into their pockets pretty deeply
to FIJI up the exchequer of the Social
lists. II the money. or any large part Of
1t. has come from the liquor trade. from
the point of view of the trade II has
been. we'll and dlscreetly invested. The
Icorrupt-practices acts, drastic and far
| reaching as they undoubtedly are, do
not. of course. apply to money expended
| in this way; and after this election no
government. Liberal or Tory, will enter
upon any scheme of licensing reform
which does not embrace some method
for compensating the owners and occu-
piers Of public houses which may be
closed by the working of the scheme.
Tories as well as Liberals admit that
the licensing laws are in a most unsat-
isfactory condition and one in which
| they cannot long remain. There has
IL, ha 4 cin tbx.
| early sixties. There Is. however, a wide
| difference between the two political
| parties as to the principle on which the
| reform has to be carried out. The Tor
| les ever since Mr.. Goschen's proposals
| in connection with the local govern
| ment act of 1883 have contended for
compensation for the owners of public
houses dispossessed of their licenses in
order that public houses might be re-
| duced. If the Radicals headed by Sir
Wilfrid Lawson, had not so strenuously
opposed this proposal in 1883, and forced
the Salisbury government to abandon
| 1t, there Is no doubt a scheme of licens-
| ing reform would have been carried
when local government in the counties
was overhauled by the 1862 Unionist
administration.
Generally speaking. the liquor trade
| is not hostile to any reform. 1t does
| not contend that matters should be left
as they are, but 1t has always insisted
that some compensation scheme must
| accompany any reform, and this Is the
principle the trade has fought and in
| trigued for at this election. 1t is not at
| all likely that the liquor interest has
| exacted any pledges from the Socialists.
| They would not expect to see any Of
them elected. All they have wanted
| from the Socialists was their help at
this election in defeating Liberal candi-
| dates. If there really has been a bar
| gain between the trade and the Social
| lists 1t has been well kept, for in one
way or another up to to-day, and before
| the contests in the counties have begun,
| 1t is possible to count more than a score
Of English boroughs formerly Liberal
in which the Liberals owe their defeats
| to the activity and manOeuvring of the
Independent Labor party.
Next to the hostility of the Socialists
and the brewing interest in the causes
| accounting for the extraordinary rout
| OF the Liberals in the English boroughs
Is the active hostility of the Church of
England. The bill for the dlsestablish
ment of the Welsh church which was
before the house of commons In the two
last sessions OF the late parliament was
always regarded as an attack on the
church of England as whole: and
I throughout the country, especially In
| the county constituencies. the influence
of the clergy has been thrown against
| the Liberal candidates. At any cleo
ton this clerical influence is far
reaching one, and the working Of It is
not always easy to trace. At this elec
| ton 1t has been exerted with unusual
energy. and has been a most difficult
influence for the Liberals to combat.
Almost every clergyman has been more
or less an active agent for the Tory
candidates.; and with the speakers and
canvassers OF the Primrose league. who
in their own peculiar and sometimes,
underhand ways always do such effec-
tive work for the Tories In the rural
districts. the Established church and
It's defence from Radical attack has
been put in the fore front of the Tory
programme.
The vast influence of the railway in
terest and of the Industrial interests
generally was also in opposition to the
Liberals. The new factory act and the
other stringent measures in the inter-
ests of labor have antagonized the cap
italists. 1t was. however. the bill to
amend the employers liability acts car
ried through the house Of commons in
1893 which most aroused the antagon-
ism of the railway. the shipping. and
the coal and iron compapies II that
amending measure had been carried as
drafted and as sanctioned by the Glad