The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-01

Ns~@n ~ SNaA ~
party against the principles Of free trade
and the gold standard. But, when the test
came not long age, Lord LONDONDERRY
proved powerless In the House Of Lords
against Lord SALISBURY and the Duke OF
Devonshlre, and the failure OF the Wolcott
Commission showed that, not even In
India, had the bimetallists any strength.
That MIR. CHAMBERLAIN, in his zeal for
Imperialism, might be personally willing
to make a slight departure from Free Trade
principles is evident from his colloquy with
Sir WILFRID LAuRIER, wherein he said
that England might impose q small duty
on food products from foreign countries,
thus giving colonial commodities q prefer
ence, provided the colonies, In return,
would admit British products duty free.
As 1t happened, Sir WILERID declined the
offer, but, even had he accepted 1t, MIR.
CHAMBERLAIN could not have made IL good,
for the British worklngman will never sub
NIT to an increase In the price Of bread for
the sake Of con~ciliating the colonies.
As for the British Liberals, they are still
at sea for want Of a leader and q pro-
gramme. Sir WILLIAM HARooURT, al
though, by far, their most skilful Parlia-
mentary debater, is heartily supported by
only a fraction of the party, and Lord RosE-
Berry has even q smaller following. Mr..
AsoUITH Is not yet ripe for the leadership.
and Mr.. JOHN MORLEY seems to have lost
ground decidedly since the shelving OF
| Home Rule, In which he was o sincere be-
lever. The mantle cast of by Mr.. GLAD
STONE has been, In o word, assumed by no
one. The only man In the House Of Commons
who might, conceivably, lead the Liberals
to victory In 1901 Is Mr.. CHAMBERLAIN,
but he, unluckily for them. Is on the
other side. BY entering tho Unionist
Cabinet, Mr.. CHAMBERLAIN not only de-
prived the Liberals of the man best quail
fed to succeed Mr.. GLADSTONE as a politi.
cal strategist, but he also took with him
some of the most tempting planks in the
Liberal platform the Accident Insurance
bill, for instance, which he has already
passed, and the old age pension scheme,
which he will presently bring forward. AS
for the local option project, it powerfully
helped to bring the Liberals to grief In
1895, and yet they do not dare to renounce
1t, because 1t is Sir WILLIAM HARooURTs
hobby. There has been an attempt to
make a popular cry Of the Zone
Man, One Vote" proposal, but the
Unionists have met 1t with clamor
for "One Vote, One Weight" pointing out
that some of the Irish electoral districts
are so small hat q vote In them counts for
many times more than does o vote in the
large English constituencies. Altogether,
the Liberals are In a bad way 30 far as
Great Britain Is concerned, and they have
not mended matters by repelling their anti.
Parnellite c%oadjutors, through their re.
fusal to permit Home Rule to figure any
longer as the chief plank in the Liberal
platform. That step, which was lately
taken by the caucus Of the British Liberal
Association, has caused Mr.. JOHN DILLON
to repudiate in a speech at Dublin any fur
Their alliance with the British Liberals.
This new attitude of the ~Anti-Parnell-
ties, who nave been hitherto reproached
with a lack of independence. should smooth
the way to reunion with the followers of
Mr.. JOHN E. REDMOND. Were sue a re-
union once effected between the two main
factions of the Nationalist party, Mr.. T.
HEALY and his friends would also be obliged
to acquiesce in it, or they would quickly lose
all popular support in Ireland. The Liberals,
therefore, by turning the cold shoulder to
Home Rule, in the hope of gaining votes in
England, have really removed an obstacle to
the ultimate success of the movement, for
a consolidated Nationalist party casting
once more SO votes In the House of Com.
mons is certain, soon or late, to hold
again the balance Of power. Mean.
while, the agitation for a readjust-
ment of the fiscal relations of Great
D,;tatn o-l T,oJ,-l 10 li1,olu 70 ~
cur at no distant date. although it has
been adroitly postponed by the device of
requiring a new investigation Of the sub
feet by a second Royal Commission. In the
former Commission all political parties
were represented, yet by a nearly unani-
nous majority 1t reported that, under the
existing fiscal regime Ireland is contribut-
ing to the Imperial Exchequer very much
more than her due proportion. This Is a
question which, when 1t comes to the front,
will, not improbably, array, temporarily at
least, not a few Irish Unionists ON the Ma
tionalist side.
AS regards England's foreign policy. that
part of 1t which relates to Africa and the
far East may be considered more conven.
iently In another place. Here, We need only
remark that Lord S~ALIsBURY's refusal to
countenance the uprising Of the Cretan
Christians against Turkish oppression and
his indifference to the invasion of Thessaly
by an overwhelming Ottoman force would
doubtless have cost him the Premiership,
but for the overwhelming Unionist ma
jority in the House Of Commons. Events
In the far East will soon disclose how
much solid basis there was for the
alleged necessity to maintain invio-
late the concert of the Powers, a con.
cert which thus far has resulted in leaving
the Armenian massacres unpublished. in
blocking the efforts of the Cretans for gen.
uine autonomy. mi In sitting the hopes
of Greece. Meanwhile, England, while
protesting devotion to the European con-
cert, has held herself aloof from the Triple
Alliance on the one hand, and the Dual
Alliance on the other, though 1t is under.
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