Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-01-16

The Elections IN England.
Great Britain Is now in the midst Of an
exciting and decidedly strenuous cam
paign for the election Of members Of Par
lament, which must be completed by
February 18th, ON which date the now
Parliament has been called to convene.
Parliamentary elections are not held on
one day in England, as is almost entirely
the case IN this country, but are scattered
over a period Of greater or less duration,
according 20 the length Of the interval be-
tween the dissolution Of one Parliament
and the date for the assembling of the
next body.
Saturday last was a great day for the
Liberal party in elections for members Of
Parliament and in eighteen contests the
Liberals gained ten seats. The result Of
this days work is regarded by the poll
ticians as Indicative of n Liberal triumph
which win give TO that party a complete
majority in the new Parliament over the
lately dominant Conservative party, with
out the necessity of resorting to a coalition
with any Of the side issue political organi-
cations.
II was at FIRST supposed that tho ques-
ton of Home Rule for Ireland would
figure largely in the campaign, but il Is
now apparent that Free Trade vs.. Pro-
lection Is the only issue which the great
body of the voters is taking into serious
consideration, and Free Trade seems des-
= tined 20 win tremendous victory.
The efforts OF Mr. Arthur James Balfour,
Premier Of the last administration. and
Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, to convert the
policy of Great Britain irom Free Trade
Go Protection ARE meeting with poor sue
cess, Mr. Ballour himself having suffered
defeat at last Saturday elections in q dis
trict that had been regarded as surely
Conservative. Mr. Baliour is not an open
rrotectionist, but he Is sympathizer
with Chamberlain, and that is sufficient.
The vote in Mr.. Baliour's district shows
how completely tho voters Of Great
Britain are ignoring other issues IN their
determination that the country shall not
depart from the policy Of Free Trade,
which has been followed for nearly thnec-
quarters Of q century. and under which
the business Of the kingdom has grown
with amazing strides AZ the previous
election Mr.. Ballour received, as the Con-
sentative candidate in the East division
Of Manchester 5,SO3 votes to 1850 for
Mr.. A. ii. Scott his opponent a majority
Of 2,i53. On saturday Mr.. Baliour re-
ceivod only a,i23 votes, TO 6.fOS for his
Liberal opponent Mr.. n. G.. Houidge a
majority for the latter Of 29S0. Among
other notable Liberal triumphs was the
election Of Mr. Winston Churchill by a
Liberal majority Of l,2il. against a Con-
servatiye majority in the same district az
the last election of Az. IL is also sig
nihcant that Bradford. Burnley, Bury and
Rochdale, great industrial centres, gave
heavy maionties for the Liberal candi-
dates, all standing for Free Trade. Yes
terdays elections in the city Of London
also resulted in Pronounced Liberal gains.
Although the interest in the campaign
is overwhelming and the excitement in
tense, It is not without It's humorous
features. Tho chief of the latter is fur
nished by women suifmgists. leader
among whom Is The Countess of Warwick,
who is working hard and addressing
numerous meetings in the interest Of
the Socialist Democrats. The countess
dashes of in variety of motor cans and
costumes, and. addressing dock laborers
ms comrades urges them to fight their own
fight independently of either party. The
Countess IS bitterly indignant that such
newspapers as notice her meetings con-
fine their reports 20 descriptions of her
motor cars and costumes. She herself
has begged her comrades" not to regard
her as West End woman in a motor car
but as fellow worker, and has written Ia
the press complaining that IN noticing one
OF her speeches "the subject matter wa.
completely ignored in oryler to record the
fact that ! woc a dress and mun. and
noted q little aneodoio in passing, during
speech Of about thirty-hve minutes
Other advocates Of woman suffrage ar,
attending meetings and hecSling candi
dates. Winston Churchills caustic rcpl,
to one Of them: 81 will not be hen
pecked, madam" has become one Of IN,
classic phrases of the campaign. AZ
meeting where Sir Henry Campbell-B Ban
herman the new Premier, was a speaker
seven women sulingisis they are nov
nlcknamed "suhageites' had to be for
ciply removed from among the audience