The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-15
ruTUnE o. rHr nNenTsH LEnERALA
Probable Return of LORD Rosebery TO the
Leadership OF the Party.

Leadership OF the Party.
LONDON, July 1.-AmonR the developments
Of English politics in the near future the re-
turn Of Lord Rosebery to the leadership OF the
Liberal party may be almost looked upon as q
certainty. After nearly two years abstention
from politics he is coming to the front once
moro. and his supporters In the press are
already urging him to reoccupy the place he
abandoned In October. 1898. That position Is
still vacant. For the first time in Its history
the Liberal party Is without an official leader.
Lord Kimberley acts In that capacity In the
House Of Lords and Sir William Harcourt In
the House OF Commons. but the party as a
whole has found nobody to take the place from
which Lord Rosebery was driven by the cabais
Of his colleagues. Whether his retirement isto
come to an end shortly or to last until the next
general election 10 well in sight depends In the
main upon his own inolinations. That large
section Of the Liberal party that looked on
while he was being ousted from the leadership
by the Observation-Disclosures clique has re-
pented OF its Indifference and would now well
come him back again on his own terms,
The reason for their change Of attitude Is
that none Of the men now in command has the
strength to stop the dry rot which has cloven
Mr.. Gladstone's former followers into numerous
and irreconcilable sections, each intent on It's
own particular measure and bound to one an
Obu6Is uOL bb Lney ub6u 70 Dos w COulhIOh
agreement In q certain set OF Liberal principles.
but solely by the tie Of self-interest- Tho Ma
tionalists want home rule and do not care two
straws about disestablishment- The Welsh
men want disestablishment, and 30 long az they
get 1t would allow the House OF Lords to live In
peace. The English Radicals want the de-
struction or reformation Of the House Of Lords
and put It above all social problems whatso-
ever. The temperance men want q Local Veto
bill and consider everything else subordinate.
The Labor party does not trouble itself about
Local Veto bills. having set its heart on an
Eight Hours bill. And so the game goes on.
Each clique has its OWE log to roll and receives
the support Of the other cliaues on the under
standing that. when their turn comes. similar
aid shall be given to their pet measures. But
the party as o whole has no policy, no platform,
to which each unit can subscribe.
1t was only the devotion inspired by Mr..
Gladstone's transcendent personality that held
these diverse sections In line and gave them
the appearance Of unity. His retirement In
| 1894 was the signal for their release, and dur
ing the eighteen months Of Lord Rosebery's
Premiership it was patent that the process Of
di~sintegration had gone far. Lord Rosebery
was chosen to succeed Mr.. Gladstone. not be-
cause he was the best. but because he was the
only man. His election was never popular with
q considerable section of the party. The Radi-
calls disliked him because he was q peer; the
Nonconformists could not forgive what they
called his horse-racinE proclivities; the adj
mirers Of Sir William Harcourt felt agErieved
that his long services to the party had been
passed over without a word. Lord Rosebery.
too. made many mistakes. He never showed
that he really knew how to lead. He alienated
the Nationalist by damning home rule with
the faintest possible praise and subscribing to
Lord Salisbury's dictum that home rule could
never come to pass until England. 1.-The pre-
dominant partner" had been converted to 1t.
He disappointed the Radicals by turning the
agitation against the House OF Lords into a
fiasco. and his Welsh supporters soon found
that his views on disestablishment did not
come up to the mark. The defeat at the gen.
eral election OF 1895. when his party was placed
in a minority OF over $50. was due as much to
his vacillating leadership as to the intrigues Of
his fellow Ministers and the general unpopu-
larity OF his platform.
Lord Rosebery threw down his command
toward the end Of 1895. The reason he gave
was a vital disagreement with the bulk Of his
party on England'S Armenian policy. The real
reason was that the antagonism Of Sir William
Harcourt and Mr.. Labouchere had made his
position insupportable. Neither Sir William
nor the Liberal party has gained anything by
his resignation. Sir William has shown him-
self. what everybody knew him to be. a fine
parliamentary gladiator. who can make the
most Of a good opening. The withdrawal OF
the Education bill Of 1895 stands to his credit
as an example of what can be done by a lively
and persistent debater. But in all the qualities
OF leadership. in sincerity. enthusiasm and
character. he Is as deficient to-day as he ever
was. Sir William Is n good fighting man. and
nothing more; and to lead a party you want
something more than a command Of vehement
pulpiteering. Nor can the right man be found
among his immediate colleagues. John Nor
ley is a statesman Of the cold academic type that
Englishmen most dislike. Campbell Banner
man and Sir Henry Fowler are respectable me,
diocrities. Mr.. Asquith. on whom a good many
Radicals pinned their hopes a few years ago
is a shrewd and very clever lawyer. who. like
Sir William Harcourt. believes in nothing
Among the Liberal peers there is not one. ex.
cept. perhaps. Lord Kimberley. who would moi
be laughed at II he were named for the party
leadership.
Nor have the last three years in the COO
shades OF opposition produced harmony among
the rank and file. The Liberal party as 6
whole does not know where it stands. It ID
convinced that the country is tired Of the cues
tion Of home rule. yet 1t dare not cast it of
for fear Of driving away the Nationalists. 1t II
the same with the attack on the House O
Lords. The bulk Of the party is Indifferent OF
half hearted. and the minority who are II
earnest are hopelessly divided as to the propel
course otake. 1t is the same. once more, will
the disestablishment Of the Welsh Church
Outside Wales the project finds only a luke
warm support among Liberals. and the Will
element in the party would willingly discoun
tenance 1t If they dared. And over the who'll
party lies the old suspicion OF indifference Il
English interests abroad and frank aversion Il
Imperialism,
1t is along this latter path that Lord Rose
berry will probably return to his proper place
With the English, as with yourselves. nations
questions have suddenly overshadowed domes
tic issues. The people are wrapped up Il
foreign andimperial affairs. and cannot be mad
to feel an interest in local politics. Now tn
only man among the Liberals in whom tn
country trusts as an adviser on foreign affair
is Lord Rosebery, A Liberal Cabinet withou
Lord Rosebery as Foreign Secretary or Prim