The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1912. BRITISH BY-ELECTIONS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1518, 14 August 1912, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1912. BRITISH BY-ELECTIONS.

. — » — ; He musfc be an unusually optimistic and stout-hearted English Liberal who can regard without anxiety the accumulation of evidence that the Asquith Ministry no longer cnjoys the support of a majority of the British people. Within the past few days we have had cabled to us the result of the b.v-election in Aorth-U est Manchester, which rc- | suited in the loss of another seat* to the Government. A Liberal majority of 445 was converted into a m ?j o . vit .Y of less than ! - Viii 0 Unionists, it is reported, fought the election on the Home Rule and \\ elsh Church issues, while the Liberals, trusting in" Manchester's devouon to Free-trade, endeavoured to, make the fiscal issue the determining factor. The Unionist victory is ascribed, however,' to the unpopularity of the National' In-surance-scheme and the Radical policies of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Standing by itself, this reverse to tho Government would be very significant—for is it not an article of Liberal faith that- "what Lancashire says to-day, the Kingdom will say to-morrow" I—but its significance is reinforced by the result of some other recent by-election. On J"lyl an election took place to fill the Ilkeston vacancy created by tho appointment of Colonel Seely. the sitting member, to the head of the War Office. It- was a straight-out fight between Colonel Seely and the unionist candidate, Mn. Marshall I UEEiiAN, and-resulted in a nominal win for the Government by 1211 votes. But since Colonel Seely in 1910 had defeated Mr. Freeman by '10-14 votes, _ 1-lie result was obviously i a very serious blow to the (loveninient, and the Liberal press found ! its ingenuity taxed to the utmost by ' the necessity for somehow or other i explaining away a fall of nearly 1000 in the Liberal vote, and a, gain of nearly iiOOO in the Unionist vote,

all within two years. On the d-iv of the poll, the. Crewe seat became vacant, through the death of Jill. W. i. .13. M Lakes, h Government sunlmrter and the Unionists won b^a majority of just tiiulcr 1000, 'although at the | ;Ujt flection the Libual majority was ifiDS. Ever since the clectio;i in HllO the tide lias run I sUongly against the Government. A ve-u 0y - M by-elections of dhis j, ds some sinking facts. In T l Cl,e Llijerill majority of fr ? o- l:i00 ' ln , Kast Edinburgh from J2700 to 900, 'in St. Kollox iy'fSow) from 1917 to 370, in South from 1825 to 500, in N W Aonolk from 2800 to 700, in Holrnni'th from MOO to MOO, in Hanlev from :!700 to 2200. At the East , j? and North Herefordshire bvelections, Unionists were returned Jin'Jljnoscd: in Hythe and East Notts -jo Unionist majorities remained practically unaltered. In South Manchester, Crewe, and North-West Manchester Liberal majorities were converted into minorities—in the case of pouth Manchestor a majoritv of 2452 became a minority of SSO. 'Without a exception, that is to sav, the, oy-elections have shown a reviiliitrn of feeling against the Government. Excepting in North-West Manchester, other issues than Home hulc have been the dominant issues at the polls, so that it is LloydGeoi'geism which has been condemned bj the nation so far as it has had au opportunity to pass judgment, ihe, result of tins long scries of Government reverses will be the hardening up of the Unionist party into a confident determination to concede nothing in the _ fight against Home Itule, Welsh Disestablishment, the National Insurance Act and the new Radical Jiiutl policy. Bv grimly clinging to office and using all its Parliamentary resources the Government may be able to_ carry on for the full term of Parliament, but the signs point to disaster thereafter. The plight of Mr. Asquith should be a lesson to politicians everywhere in the advantage of a solid and coherent party and the disadvantage of being dependent upon factious minority groups.