Evening star., 1898-12-24
Discussion Over the Leadership of tn
Liberal Party.
CONDITIONS THAT PREVAIL In PARIS
London's Interest in Christmas and
the Big Pantomimes.
STEAD ON DISARMAMENT
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.


liberal party and of program for the COM
irg session goes on increasingly, and the
Daily Mails offer Of 100 for the best guess
on these points continues to give the great
est umbrage to the liberal newspapers,
which read lectures to their enterprising
conservative rival every morning. The
Mails list closes tomorrow, and the great
meeting Of the National Liberal Federation
will be held in Birmingham the day after
A profound nervousness appears in liberal
circles before the prospect of the discussion
which Is almost sure to be thrust upon the
meeting in Birmingham. The Nottingham
Liberal Association has placed upon the
agenda a resolution declaring that the lead
ership of the party should be taken into
consideration by that body. 1t is felt that
only further disunion can come Of this
Many liberals abide in the faith that the
ripe hour will give them the man, and that
the man is Lord Rosebery but they are
surer still that Lord Rosebery will make no
sign in the meantime, and SO they are very
anxious to keep the party free of false
Messiahs. If the counsel Of Lord Crewe,
who was lord lieutenant of Ireland under
Rosebery, be followed, the liberals are to
go into battle leaderless, in order that
when the fight is ended all responsibility
of choosing may be taken out of their
hands by the queen.
hOOm IOr Doubt.
The notion is admirably simple, but it as
sumes that the battle can be won and it is
precisely this that most liberals are in
doubt about. Sir William Harcourt has
thrown bombshell into the camp by his
so-called letter of resignation but 1t is not
felt that the situation Is greatly changed
Many think that Sir William does not mean
to be taken seriously, and only desires to
rally the party to his side. 1 believe, how
ever, that he intends to retire from the
quasi leadership which he has held, and
that he is practically out of the run
ming, the liberals will be able to concen-
trate policy, II they do not formally
elect leader. Lord Rosebery is the nat
ural leader, and certainly will take up the
headship of the party when the necessity
arises. Sir William Harcourt is what is
known little Englander," who has no
imperial policy. and nowadays local poll
tics and the Irish question have taken
back seat before the wider and absorbing
question Of the welfare of the empire. Lord
Rosebery has an imperial policy, and is the
only liberal who is fitted to be leader who
can meet the conservatives on this ground.
1t remains to be seen II the VeXed ques-
tions will be solved at Birmingham. The
great bulk of liberal opinion is undoubtedly
Situation In Paris.
The student of history may find in the
present condition of affairs In France all
the ominous signs of unrest which have in
rably preceded outbursts of popular pas
sion and violence. The outbreak may not
come or it may be postponed for time, but
all the symptoms are in evidence, and only
a strong leader is needed to kndle the
spark into a flame The dissatisfaction of
the French with their government, which Is
weak and vacilatng: the wage feeling that
a great injustice has been done. though few
really care for either Dreyfus or Picquart.
and a real fear as to what the army may
do, pervade all classes of society and oper-
ate to the disadvantage of trade and stabil
ity. Business has fallen off in Paris to an
alarming extent, and tradesmen are COM
planning OF the lack of American and Eng
liSh customers in stores that are mainly
supported by foreign buyers. Hotels have
suffered, and the outlook for the great eX-
position is dismal as all Frenchmen will
tell you. If a strong man should arise, or if
one of the roya.ist pretenders had real
backbone, it is quite within the range of
possibility that the reins of power could be
easily seized. for, despite the apparent
glories of the third republic, the French are
net welded to this form of government.
French writers Of the better class daily de-
plcre the present condition Of affairs, and
in many quarters there seems to be a dis
tinct longing for the appearance of a for
eign danger that would give occasion for a
rallying cry to the whole nation.
InHammabIe Patriots.
The students-and students on the conti-
nept seem to be birds of evil omen-.lave
taken up sides with Colonel Picquart and
are making their preference manifest in a
way that proves a source of immense trou-
BILE to the government, because to arrest
students has always been bad policy which
is likely to result in serious consequences.
Almost every day groups of these infiam-
mable patriots have to be dispersed by the
police, but as yet no arrests have been
made. The other day at the Sorbonne, that
hothouse of violent students, a host of
young men on coming from lecture, at
which they had made demonstration in
honor Of their favorite, marched down the
Boulevard st. Michel singing OF droning in
unison,
"Cest Picquart, C'est Picquart,
Qu'f nous faut, qu'f nous faut!'
This dismal refrain went on swelling in
volume until the police charged the stu
dents who did not succeed in reaching their
objective, the Palais de Justice, not far
| away.
1t IS singular how on such occasions the
Paris mob takes to song. 1 remember some
years ago when man named PranZini.
who had murdered his mistress in a peculi-
arly brutal manner, was about to be gull
lotined, the streets around the prison just
| before his execution for his hideous crime
and the low cafes resounded with a coarse
| doggerel Of the same type:
"Cest Pranzini, zini, zini,
| Cest PranZni, qu'n nous faut
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!'
varied by the addition, from time to time,
| of,
"C'est sa tete, tete, sa tete,
C'est sa tete, qu'f nous faut."
| And any one who has ever heard Paris
mob on a similar occasion can imagine the
| awful gruesomeness of 1t. ,
Stead on Disarmament.
| Mr. w. T. Stead has just returned from
| a three months tour of the continent in
| tn, service of the Daily News. He has
been to all the capitals getting opinions on
the tsar's peace proposals, and the result,
in his opinion. is very favorable to the
principle of disarmament In his own
| words, he feels like "a herald angel bear
| ing glad tidings of peace and good will to
| the nations at Christmastide." He has
| written a lengthy article for his paper, the
point of which is this: The writer knows,
| as a matter of absolute certainty, no longer
| to be disputed, even by the most cynical
| and skeptical, that the peace rescript sum-
| moning the governments to a parliament
| of peace is no mers flash III the pan, NO
| sudden outburst of an enthusiastic youth.
/ Neither is 1t the mask covering any deep
| laid Macchi.vellian design 1t is the care
fully weighed and long-considered express