Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-21

| LONDON. July, 10, 1910.
The liberal party in Great Britain is an
even less compact political organiza ton
than it's great rival, the conservative
party. When in power, as it 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 o.
| these three parties has proved to be sue
cessful 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 con-
stituencies the liberals and laborites fused
and united their strength in opposition to
the conservatives. The body of the lib
eral party proper is composed 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 with the~ liberal party,
rather than with the labor party, and
there are a few avowed liberal socialists.
progressives and less distinct groups. such
as those whose principal devotion is to
| free trade, land reform, educational re-
form, or church disesta blishment.
There is no national party authority,
but the party and its allies unite for
the purpose of campaign activity in the
National Liberal Federation and Liberal
Central Association" In support of this
general Office are the specialistic organ
ization, the free trade union; the Budget
| I on having land reform its Dr1n-
cipal object, and the Irish home rule
propaganda. All Of these concerns sup
port a publishing house under the name
of the Liberal Publication Department,
which prints the greater part Of the lib
eral literature and which also publishes a
monthly magazine. AS in the case of the
conservatives this publishing house IS
self-supportfng, and the profits from its
: headquarters Of the National Liberal
Federation As In the case Of the
conservatives, this publishing house is
constantly at work, regardless OF whether
an election is expected or not.
| -
The liberals always are called 'radi-
Gals" by their political enemies, just as
! the conserv-
Liberals Called atives are
Radicals by Enemies. Neither
party seems to object, and man boasts Of
being a tory or rad with every evil
dence of pride. But the liberal party is not
| the residuary legatee Of the old whig party,
as the modern unionist party Is of the
ancient tory clan Practically all Of the
whiggish element deserted the liberal
standard when Gladstone espoused the
cause of home rule. The word WING is
practically obsolete in British politics.
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 probably
| would say that the liberals find the bulk
of their support in the lower middle class
and the upper lower class. But, never
theless, radicalfsm, like toryism, IS
class political creed.
OF course, there are some aristocrat1c
liberals. There are liberals in the house
of peers who did not turn tory when they
got their titles; there are liberals among
the land-holding gentry, there are lib
eral .clergymen and q great many liberal
millionaires. But the majority OF the
| wealthy men In the liberal party are
manufacturers and merchants who are
supporters of the radical policy because
and social betterment. ~The others are
exceptions.
II
The rank and file of the radical party
is made up of laborers, artisans, small
farmers, dis
Rank and File senters and
Consists of Laborers. formists 4
regationalist, a Baptist or a Metho-
dist is even more certain to be liberal
than a churchman is to be conserya-
| tive The dissenting religious bodies are
ever at war with the established church.
In Wales they demand disestab lishment
and in England they demand that the
school system be taken out of the con-
| troll of the Church of England.
The greater number of the laboring
men are supporters of the liberal party
| proper, although an increasing number
are giving allegiance to the distinct labor
party. The reasons for this schism lie
| in the desire of the labor people to take
advantage of opportunities presented to
| a small but compact body in parliament
| to hold the whiphand over government
by possessing thes balance OF power be-
tween the ministerialists and the oppo-
sition In the present parliament the
labor party can compel the government
to be even more radical and progressive