The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1903-12-17
VOTE is SIGNIFICANT
chamberlain Men Garry Two Sup
posedly Free Trade Con-
stituencies.
LIBERALS THOUGHT THEM SAFE
And Are Somewhat Dazed by the Re-
sult-Tar:ff RefOrmers Are
Elated.

London, Dec 16.-Few bye-elections
CT recent years have evoked a tithe
of the interest shown in the contests
in the Dulwich division of Gambler
well. and at Lewisham, to fill the va
cancies caused by the deaths of Sir
John Blundell Maple and John Penn,
both of whom ha1: represented their
respective constituencies for many
years i'm the Co St ;vative interest. DR..
+. Rutherford Harris Conservative,
who was confidential agent of the late
Cecil Rhodes. and c. F. G. Master
man H.iberaD, contested Dulwich,
while Major Coates and J.. w. Cleland
represented the Conservatives and Lib
erals respectively in the Lewisham
borough.
Fiscal Question Was Prominent.
The fiscal question was prominent
throughout the campaign. and Cham
berlain interviewed with letters in sup
port of the Conservative candidates.
The question of the importation of Chi
nese labor into South Africa was used
by the Liberals at Dulwich as an anti
Harris slogan while the Conservatives
even dragged in the kings name. at
taching the words "Edwardus Rex"
to posters in such way as TO create
the impression that the king was
supporter of Chamberlain's fiscal pro-
posals.
Triumph for the Chamberlain idea.
The king. on being telegraphed dis
avowed all connection with the cleo
ton. The result of the voting was
the election of Major Coates by ma
jority of 2.012. and r Rutherford Har-
ris by q majority OF li37. The re-
suit has pleased the tariff reformers.
Chamberlain expressed himself as de-
lighted with the result. and the pro-
tectionist dailies this morning claim
the results as complete triumph for
ChaIpberlan's policy.
Significance of the Result.
Both constituencies polled very heav-
lily. Lewisham. which is largely Il
working class district. shows reduced
majority of about 400 compared with
the last contested election in 1892. 10
Dulwich. which is mainly the home
of city clerks. greater reduction
is shown, the majority for the Con-
servatives i'm 1895 having reached s..
COO. These reductions are of small
significance. however. in the face of
the fact that the Chamberlain can
didates secured large majorities where
the free trade party undoubtedly hoped
to win. This double victory will be of
great advantage to Chamberlain. VINO
resumes his campaign tonight at
Leeds. when he will address biz
meeting.
What the Great Editors Say.
The Liberal dailies confess discour-
agement. and urge the free traders to
redouble their efforts. since, as The
Chronicle remarks, Mr.. Chamberlain
is a power in the country which it
would be most serious not TO estimate
highly" The Daily News discusses the
probab bility of the government. encour-
aged by yesterdays results. appealing
to the country without delay. The
Daily Telegraph boldly suggests that
the result must dispel Balfour's doubts
as to whether the country is ripe for
preferential policy. and proposes that
Chamberlain should be invited to pro-
ceed personally to the colonies and
see what practical arrangements can
cial union within the empire