New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1901-07-11
THE BRITISH LIBERAL WRECK.

A hollow truce is our London correspond
ents apt estimate OF the result Of the 'ehar-
mony' meeting Of the Liberal and Radical
leaders In London on Tuesday surface
truce there is. But it is only a truce NOT
peace; and even it is hollow and delusive
Seldom If ever in political history has a great
or once great party presented as deplorabIe
spectacle as does the so-caIed Liberal party
OF the United Kingdom to-day. We speak of
Ii as once great. 1t was indeed, once one of
the greatest political organizations that ever
existed and great not only In numbers and
political strength, but also in beneficence TO
the whole nation and In the highest forms of
constructive craftsmanship That was when
its leaders were Gladstone and Forster and
Bright and Granville and Harrington. We
speak OF it as the so-called Liberal party
Some OF its members still cling to that hon
ored name, while Others eschew 1t and call
themselves Radicals, socialists and what not
III put TO party vote we are not sure which
or the names would be chosen by the major
ity; but it is more likely that it would be Rad
zeal than Liberal. However, let us for the
present hold TO the historic and honored name
Now this is the state of the party that it is
nearly everything that 1t was not and is al
most nothing that it was Once it was united
and harmonious; to-day its name is synonyme
LUZ usCOIu ullu OlSSeuSiOu Olce II was the
popular party; now 1t seems to study to offend
the people Once it gloried in constructive
power; now it aims solely at destructiveness
Once It was preeminently the party of prin-
ciple, Of conviction, of conscience; now it ig-
nores those things and seeks only the policy
which will win tricks In the game Once It
was powerful; it is so weak that il is
unable to take advantage even Of the weak
ness and errors of its antagonist. In the last
two or three years the government party has
made dozen blunders, any one Of which
would have proved fatal TO it had there been
an alert, united and competent Opposition.
But there has been none. The government
might commit suicide to-day, and the OPPOSE
ton would not realize or at any rate try to
take advantage of the fact until the govern
ment had come TO life again In a new incarna-
ton.
1t would not be easy to point out any one
cause TO which we might attribute this
wretched state OF affairs. Parties are not
killed; they die: and dying is process, not
an incident When Parnellism killed Forster
the party suffered one irreparable loss When
Gladstone drove out Bright it suffered another
third blow was self-inficted when Gordon
betrayed unto death There are those
who think another, of greatest lethallty was
suffered when Gladstone sought to make the
party's last great act of construction ali act of
destruction. Certainly both cause and index
were set forth when the once Incompatible
leader openly threw principle to the winds and
shouted I'm the face of the astounded nation
that what he was working for was "Votesi
votes. votes!' The public political conscience
may be no more tender in the United Kingdom
than elsewhere; but nation loves 10 fol-
low leadership which cynically proclaims self
ish power to be its sole aim. In vain the net