The St. Louis Republic., 1900-10-28

always said by its enemies 10 be dying. yet
never dies. He agrees. In substance. If not
In particular. with Sir William Harcourt
and Mr.. Morley. II he had acted on his
own convictions. he would have denounced
from the beginning the policy which led to
the war and its authors Sir Henry'S noni-
nal supporters in that case would have left
him, but the bulk OF the party would. 1
believe. have followed him through thick
and thin. But the Liberal leader in the
House o! Commons is not lit by character
or temperament TO be Il commander. lie
likes to put people in good humor and keep
them together 80 as 80 preserve an out
ward semhlance of union, and ne has so
far succeeded. The opposition appears on
paper much what it was in the late Parlia-
rent, but it is on paper only. The result
has been obtained by keeping together Mr
Birrell. Sir Henry Fowler. Mr. Asquith. Mr.
Morley. Mr.. Haldane. Mr.. Labouchere, Sir
William Harcourt and Sir Edward Grey.
Now. what have these men-the nominal
leaders of the Liberal party-in common?
IL may be said that they agree on home
politics. though even that IL doubtful. But
il was not upon home politics that the elec-
tions turned They turned upon the war.
Many candidates elected IN the Liberal In
terest made a point of defending the war
with even greater enthusiasm than their op-
ponents. party so constituted. unless 1t
paralyzes itself by agreeing TO differ. is an
organized hypocrisy
ChnmberIains Skill.
Mr.. Chamberlain for his own purposes
chose TO ignore these differences in his
campaign speeches. He declared that the
whole Liberal party had encourage Boer re-
sistance TO Great Britain. He played his
own game from his own point Of view. and
played IL with great skill. He dil not want
Mr. Asguith. or Sir Edward Grey. to get
any credit for his war his policy or his an
nexation of South Africa.
For the moment. at least. these things
are popular. Mr.. Chamberlain's idea of pop
ularity is that while there cannot be too
much git for one there must he too lit
tie git for two, but if we look at facts
and not theories we shall find the opposi-
tiou contains dive-Eencies OF principle
quite as wide any which separate the
two sides of the House. Although Sir VIII
fred Lawson. Mr.. Philip Stanhcpe ard Doc
tor Clarke have 10 q their seats. many OF
the most pronounced pro-Boers have been
returned by large majorities Foremost
among these are Sir William HarcoUrt and
Mr. Morley. and among the others are Mr..
Bryce. M. Labouchere. Mr.. Ellis. Mr.. Chan
ming. Sir John Drummer. Mr.. John Burn,
Mr. Broadhurst. Mr.. Floyd George Mr..
Evans and Mr.. Hugh Roberts. who was I'M
opposed.
Speaking generally. though not without
exception. the supposed advocates and the
thorough-going opponents of the war have
kept their seats. while those who sat on
the fence have come down on the other side.
Those members of the Liberal party who
believe In the imperialistic policy of Mr..
Chamberlain. but who abuse Mr.. Chamber
lain personally, are said to be contemplating
the retirement Of Sir Henry Campbell-Ban-
herman and the substitution for him of Mr..
Asquith. but Mr.. Asquith Is the last man
who would lend himself to an intrigue
against his leader. There are others. how
ever, who will intrigue for him unless he
openly repudiates them. The lea6AG g .