New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-08-29

The election Of the Oppc>l ton candidate Radi-
col ar Liberal 10 snccccd Mr. 'urzon ~ -.
Stenbcn'e would IN any case hay" been dlsal-
nojntncnt To the Govern mcnt party III Great
BRITAIN The constituency of southport has
hitherto been safely II not over strongly. Mon
Isl. OF Conservative. Mr.. Curz'n himself had
held the seat for twelve years NJ HE last cl"c-
ton he carried The district 10y '1i majority III "a
total vote Of oJG2 defeating SIR II. ;. Mayor
IcvIanl on Wednesday last the laiirr won by
II minority Of - in total OF ",?2S. That III
dlcates II change Of DIS votes. counting lHi on
division Three years ago Mr.. Curzon got '.l6'
votes; now Lord Skrmcr-dalc gets only ass.
Three years ago Sir II : Naylor- lcyland got
only / 3cg: now he gets 5.lup. \ot an enormous
loss and gain. but sufficient Ia hr decisive. bnt
If the result in itself be- disappointment. The
manner In which II was Effected IL something
more and worse II was hrough. about 10y
splt in the nOnist PARTY. or by "A rcvrrSlon or
y LOT of I'nlonistS 10 Radlcalism. or Liberalism.
They took the gronnd that Home Rule the
issue on which they mad thirteen years ago de-
serted the Liberal party-waS dead, and mat
thus they were free 10 <" back 10 their OLD ale
claucc or at any rate were no longer bound &c
vote for a Conservative. Yet only the other day
nj Gr!mabv the InioniStS won a seat through
thc resignation Of the Radical Member. Mr..
Doughty. 10 mark his remuneration OF Home
Rule and through his election again rs Il I Mon
ist Southport may thus be rcckoncd Roland
for the Oliver Of Grimsby. If the principles or
Grimsbv were generally adopted Radcallsm
would disappear. If llbcral-i nionistS all FOL
lowed the Southport example the Government
nigh; find itself in Il minority in n new election.
There Is no reason 10 suppose. however, that
either of these constitu, ncics VIII serve as a
model for the kingdom. No indication appears
OF ANYTHING Ike a party revolution There Is a
little drift. from temporary and local causes,
and that is all The present Parliament has eX-
is,cd lust three years, or about half lis normal
term In that time the majority Of bye-rlcction
changes have been against the Government.
That hns long been the rule in tn" United King
dom lust as in this country Congress cleo
lions in the middle Of Presidential term have
often gone against the Administration party.
Down 10 date there have been SiXty-slx bye
elections TO this Parliament. In ffty-two OF
these no party change was Effected, and the
changes in sizes OF ma jOritics were not, on the
whole significant. OF the other fourteen IN
which there were changes, the Radicals have
gained eleven and the Inionsts only three. The
drift has thus been away from the Govern
ment and toward the Opposition. The Oppo-
eition has made net gain Of eight seats. and
the Government majority has thus been re-
duced by sixteen votes. That sounds more for
| mdablc. however. than It really u.s. For the
Government majority WAS lJ2 10 begin with,
and is still at the handsome figure Of 1856: and
so If the ratio Of losses IS maintained. the Gov
eminent will get to the end of The Parliament
arv term with more than hundred 10 the good.
The feelings of disappointment and worse
therefore. over the result NJ Southport may be
rcckoncd more sentimental thnn practical. The
Opposition ran an uncommonly strong candi-
date some Of the local InionSis were bit OBJ
strepcrous. and there was possibly some little
dissatisfaction with acts recently committed
omitted by the Government. Moreover the ey-
sience Of so overwhelming majority rs that
which the Government has in this Parliament
| inevitably induces some mIcn 10 bc careless and
| others to make experiments, assured thar the
| loss Of a few seats will not affect the stability
| OF the Government. 1t would be injudicious 10
| base any prognosis, or diagnosis either. upon
| such fugitive symptoms as those presented at