El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-21

IT ONDON, England, July 21.-The
Liberal party in Great Britain is
1A an even less compact political or
gnaization than its great rival. the Con-
sentative party. When in power, as 1t
has been since 1905, the Liberal party
has the support in parliament of the
distinct Labor party, and of the Irish
NatiOnalists. Yet these two groups are
most insistent upon their independence
and each of them has its own leaders
who are the equals in party position
Of the cabinet ministers who are the
accredited and responsible leaders OF
the liberals The coalition of these
three parties has proved to be success
full and effective, however, and there is
an increasing disposition to regard the
Liberals and LabOrites, at least, as one.
In the last campaign in nearly all
constituencies, the Liberals and Labor
ties fused and united their strength in
opposition, 20 the Conservatives. The
body of the Liberal party proper IS COM
posed of several more or less distinct
groups, although all of them do not
bear distinctive names There are many
trades union members who are allied
18th the Liberal party rather than with
e Labor party, and there are few
owed Liberal-SocialiStS- Then there
e the Moderates AMI the Progressives,
I'd less distinct groups such as those
,ade, land reform. educational reform,
church disesta ohshment-
Unity of Purpose
There is no national party authority,
1T the party and it's allies unite for
re purposes of campaign activity In
he National Liberal Federation and
Liberal Central association" In support
of this general office are the special
tstic organizations. the Free Trade
union; the Budget league, having land
reform as its principal object, and the
Irish Home Rule propaganda All OF
these concerns support publishing
house under the name OF THE Liberal
Publication Department, which prints
the greater part of the Liberal htera-
ture and which also publishes month
" magazine AS in the case OF the
conservatives, this publishing house is
seIf-supporting, and the profits from It's
business are sufficient TO support the
headquarters of the National Liberal
federation. AS in the case of. the Con-
servative party, this federation keeps
constantly at work. regardless of wheth-
er an election is expected OF not.
The Liberals always are called Rad
icals" by their political enemies, just
as the Conservatives are called Tories
Neither party seems to object, and
man boasts of being Tory or Rad
with every evidence of pride But the
Liberal party is not the residuary lega-
tee of the old Wing party as the mod
ern Unionist party is of the ancient
Tory clan. Practically all of the wing
gish element deserted the Liberal stand
ard when Gladstone espoused the cause
of homerule The word Wing is prac-
tically obsolete in British politics
Middle Glass support.
The Liberal party is supported by
what Americans would call the middle
class, although the term does not have
quite the same meaning in Great Britain
In the English phraseology one prob
ably would say that the Liberals find
the bull, of their support in the lower
middle class and the upper lower class
But, nevertheless, Radicalism. like To-
ryism is a class political creed.
OF course there are some aristocratic
Liberals. There are Liberals in the
house of peers " no did not turn Tory
when they got their titles; there are Lib
erals among the land-holding gentry;
there are Liberal clergymen and
great many Liberal milliOnaires. But
the most of the rich men in the Liberal
party are manufacturers and merchants
who are supporters Of the Radical pol
icy because of its position with respect
TO free trade and social betterment. The
others are exceptions.
The rank and file of the Radical par
" Is maze up Ol ldDOIcAS, Oh LiSeN9,
small farmers, dissenterS and non-con-
formists. A Congrega tionalist, Bap-
fist or a Methodist is even more certain
to be a Liberal than a Churchman Is TO
be a Conservative. The dissenting re-
ligious bodies are ever at war with the
established church. In Wales they de-
mand Observation-Disclosures, and in England
they demand that the school system be
taken out of the control of the Church
of England.
The greater number of laboring men
are supporters of the Liberal party
proper, although an increasing numoer
are giving allegiance TO the distinct La
Dor party. The reasons for this schism
| lie in the desire of the labor people TO
| take advantage of opportunities pre-
sented to a small but compact body N
parliament to hold the whiphand over
| a government by possessing the balance
| Of power between the ministerialists and
| the opposition. In the present parlia-
ment the Labor party can compel the
government to be even more radical
| and progressive than it might desire
/ if it had an out-and-Out Liberal party
majority.
Much Work: No Pay.
Members of the house of commons