The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1912-12-28
BRITISH PARTIES
BADLY DIVIDED
The Stumbling Block in the Path
of the Liberals is the Welsh
Church Bill.
Tories are Split Over Question of
Free Trade or Tariff on the
Peoples Food.
The Irish Nationalist Members are
Standing Noby by Welsh in a
Just Cause.

In his letter to the Chicago Tribune
of last Sunday MIR. 7. p. O'Connor
writes as follows on British politics.:
We have had an exciting week dur
ing which both of the great parties
have had their hours of severe trouble.
The revolt of the Liberal churchmen
against the Welsh church disestab-
{ lishment bill forced on the ministry
modification of the original measure
and to the giving away OF large funds
to the Welsh Anglican church.
This produced, in turn, something
like revolt among the Weshmen,
who were enraged at this desertion by
the English Liberals, and even some
Of the English nonconformists, and at
ure would be defeated or abandoned.
Hurried and frenzied meetings were
held by the Welsh members. Some of
the hot-heads seemed disposed to
leave the house of commons altogether
and to take no further interest In the
measure, but wiser counsels prevailed,
and though several hot and strong
speeches were made by some of the
| Welsh members, the Welsh party
agreed to support the bill.
A further shock to the Welshmen
came Thursday night. when the ma
jority in favor of the bill sank to fifty
five, only half of the r-ajority given
the home rule bill, but the storm now
Is past and the further progress of the
bill will be smooth.
Tories in Serious Split.
In the meantime the Tory party
came In for much more serious and
more enduring split. A Bonar law op-
position leader has been steadily going
down and he has further helped rs
own downfall by the stupid speech in
which he reasserted his belief in the
policy of food taxes.
This error produced such a revolt
that he went down this week to Lam
cashire to make another speech in the
hope Of bettering the situation and
once more he is trying to find some
policy which would reunite his party.
The speech has had just the oppo-
site effect and the revolt and disunion,
instead of disappearing, now are
fiercer than ever. The Tory papers
have got to the point Of calling each
other liars and suggesting treason and
treachery.
One Tory paper which is in bitter
revolt describes the Tories as in dan
ger of extinction IL the party adheres
to the food taxes. while another Tory
paper declares the Liberals will be In
office for twenty years if the food
taxes are abandoned.
NorthoIiffe Fights Food Tax.
The fight is so bitter and the prn-
ciples of the two sections of the Tories
are SO irreconcilable that 1t is difficult
to see how the fight can end without
further split. 1t is significant that
Lord Northcliffe, the most shrewd and
frigid watcher in the popular atlnos-
phere among the Tory journalists,
comes out openly against the food tax
section and has brought into action
, not only the Daily Mail, but much
more formidable enemy in the Times,
which he also controls.
This desertion by Northcliffe has es-
pecially angered PraSes Garvin. the
brilliant but erratic Irishman, who for
some years has inspired the Tory pol
icy and Is one of the high priests OF
the protectionIst section.
Garvin recently gave three long COL
umns to an attack on NorthclifG in
the Pail Mall Gazette and wound ur
with the prophecy already quoted that
the Liberals had twenty years before
them If the Northcliffe policy of aban-
donment Of the food taxes were
adopted.
Resent Appeal to Colonies.
In the meantime this tempest
against Bonar Law has come from
across the Atlantic with equal vehe.
mence because of his extraordinary
suggestion that the whole question OF
food taxes should be referred to tn