New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-01-19
Mr.. CHAMBERLAIA

pirr,inoham against Manchester. mat IN
,,,+sbe11 is the condition of British politics. as
fxed by the current elections we sdlu tne
other day that the overwhelming Lloeral Flcto-
ries amounted to a political reVou1on' ulluei
constitutional forms The result Of that revo-
-, is tho reaIignment of parties and the
arraving of what we may call the birmingham
school against the Manchester School. with the
newly risen Labor party as a present make
weight and potential balance or power oe-
tween them For, second only to the sweeping
Liberal tri1mphs, the success OF MT Cnaln
berlain and his followers is the signlncaht 1edt
IRE of the elections. Without the ofnclal pach-
ing of his party. and in the face of the siren
uous opposition Of many of its most 1nnuehI4al
members and little more than the peneVolehI
Neutrality of its head. Mr.. Chamberlain has
won a resounding victory ana mas saVeu ptaC
tically all that has been saved of his party
from wreck Lord Hugh Cecil, Mr.. Bowles and
the other free trade Conservatives who OPP
nosed Mr. Chamberlain have been badly beateh-
Mr. RaIfo,nr himself with his benevolent neu-
traIitv and his personal popularity ana cnarm
has been rejected by his old constituency. anu
NOV not he able to find another that will ac-
cent him But Mr.. Chamberlain and MS tarlh
reform followers are sweepingly reelected by
increased ma jorities. The meaning of that fact
should he visible even to blind man.
that the tariff issue. or the Home Rule issue
mr. indeed any other of the political issues that
have been put forward upon the hustngs, mas
controlIingly Influenced the general electorate
of the United Kingdom The Liberal victory is
due chiefly to desire for change, such as
more than once in recent years has caused
similar revolution in America. The ConserTa-
tives have been in power for ten years, times
are not so prosperous as they might be- there
are nearly million paupers in the land dnd
there are a million voters who have become
voters since the Liberals were last in power
In such conditions it is simply characteristic
OF human nature TO seek change. new
deal" in the vague hope that it may improve
matters and in the pretty confident assurance
not always realized in American experience
that il cannot make them worse. If to that
we add undoubted dissatisfaction with some
of the acts of the late government, the dis
sensions among Conservatives on the tariff
question and the circumstance that Mr.. Cham
berlains propaganda had in general gone just
far enough TO draw upon itself the fire of the
enemy. and not far enough TO commend itself
to the whole nation, we have ample and, as we
believe substa ntially correct and complete
plantations of the result of the elections
But If tariff reform was not the deciding issue
before the country. this weeks pollings at Bir
mingham, Liverpool and elsewhere may have
made it the dominant issue within the councils
of the Conservative party. At home. where be
is best known and where he has had oppor
tunity to make his policy best understood, Mr.
Chamberlain is triumphant. The logic Of such
success invests him with an authority in party
councils such as none of the defeated leaders
Of the free trade wing hope TO command
In the ranks Of the Opposition, depleted by de-
feat and discredited by lessened maiorities, he
will loom large and predominant. and in the
debates of the House he will speak. not on
sufferance. nor by virtue Of tolerance, but with
the mandate Of great local matoritles. If that
fact does not make him the titular leader of
the party, ii makes his policy the logical policy
OF the party. and IT will set the British nation
10 thinking of his policy n II has never thought
of it before 1t is impossible 10 say now that
tariff reform has been squelched by these cleo
lions. 1t has, on the contrary, been invested