Widnes Examiner. — 1908-05-02 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

MANCHESTER. that it was by no means • unexpected lessens its bitterness from the Liberal standpoint. The brilliant young President of the Board of Trade showed a bold front against odds which might have daunted the most imperturbable and case hardened politician in the country, and he came so near defeating the hetrogeneous conglo neration of foes arrayed against him that one regrets the early close of the contest. By sheer argumentative power he was beating down the opposition, and in another few days he might have accomplished the miraculous fea,t of holding an acknowleged Tory seat for the Liberal Government in the face of a combination of interests which drew the sinews of war from all parts of the country, and which were determined to stick at nothing to bring about his downfall. They succeeded, and in the howls of jubilation forgot that they had deprived Manchester and Lancashire of the inestimable privilege of direct representation by one of the ablest members of the Government and the head of the department which is most closely identified with liable the National commerce. Our loss is Ii to be Dundee's gain The canny ScoW are not so likely Ito be turned from the straight path by clamour and misrepresentation as were the more fickle and emotional electors of North-West Manchester. ,  • The most curious sequel to this historic election , is the scramble amongst the wolves for the bits. The-..e surely never was such competition to claim credit for a crime as when a Ministerial candidate has been defeated at a by-election. The correspondence-bag of every newspaper has been bulging with the letters of claimants for the honour of having killed Mr. Churchill at Manchester. "Alone we did it," say the brewers; " on the contrary, it was we," cry the Tariff Reformers; and" what nonsense they talk, it was all our doing," cry the Suffragists. "Not at all," put in the clergy, "It was we who drew off the votes, because of your detestable Education Bill " ; and " but for us," say the Catholics, "the whole Irish vote would have gone for Churchill and carried him in." And finally comes the Coal Consumer's League, which is quite positive that " dear coal" did the murder. Really, between them all we are not sure that the best and simplest plan is not that of the "London Observer," which says quite frankly," we will make it mean what we wish it to mean." Since the Liberals, it argues, claimed the 1906 victory for Free Trade, they cannot complain if we claim the 1908 victory for Tariff Reform, though it was "due in part to other than Fiscal issues." That is practically what all the Protectionist newspapers do in the teeth of the ' fact that their candidate laboured his utmost to prove that Tariff Reform was not the issue at this election, and that Free Traders might give him a , vote without prejudice to that cause. The claim 'of the "Morning Post" that Mr. Churchill's defeat sent "thedeath-knell of Free Trade ringing through the land" merely provokes a smile. Let Free Trade be the issue pure and simple and all Lancashire would once again pronounce solidly in its favour. •,.et '  Warrington has now an