THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, JULY 21, 1888. THE LATE DIVISION.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2586, 21 July 1882, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, JULY 21, 1888. THE LATE DIVISION.

The improvements which have been made in the art of war have very truly been said to have lessened the total of human misery. Although the number of soldiers in Europe at the present day far exceed that which existed at any previous period in the history of the world, and although the death bearing implements that have been invented wonld lead one to wonder, how, when hostilities have actually commenced, there should be any chance of anybody being left alive at all, still the rapidity with which campaigns are concluded owing to their enormous expense, has the effect of more than neutralising iho extra evils entailed by the hosts of men employed and the dbstructiveness of the weapons used. "Short and sharp," therefore, is the motto which it is desirable should be adhered to in active warfare. It is tho

same in political warfare. The sharper and more decisive the struggles for power are, the better for all concerned. From this point of view the debate on Wednesday night may be reckoned as very satisfactory. The long interminable nights of windy oratory that generally precede a "no confidence" division were avoided. The Government, although, to a certain extent, unprepared for the fight, suddenly determined to see how they stood with the House, and, | after a brisk skirmish, the solid phalanxes met, and victory declared for the Ministerial Party. Of course it may be objected that the Government were inconsistent in making Sir George Grey's Bill a pretext for closing with their adververies. They have important Bills of their own, which it may be held they should elect to stand or fall by. But that, after all, is more or less a matter of taste. As far as the general public are concerned all they care about is that the money of the country should not be wasted and the time of the House frittered away in an endless debate, of which the conclusion is almost a foregone one. The public are now made pretty well aware of the relative strength of tike two parties—that is to say, of the Government and the Opposition, treating the latter as a united body. As regards Ministers, too, they can now form more

decided views as to whom they may reckon ou for support, and that knowledge should certainly tend to throw life into their proceedings. "We trust, therefore, that now a new chapter in the Ministerial programme will be opened, and that the affairs of the country will, for the remainder of the session, be conducted with a vigor that has as yet been wanting. Wednesday's division list will have shown them that what we may term the party of all promise and no performance, have not been won by the many concessions made to their supposed interests. But at the same time it will be made clear that the true Liberal Party, the men of action, are still willing to adhere to their old leaders, provided only that these latter are, on their part, ready to conduct their troops with energy. Let the Ministrythen take heart of grace, call their supporters together, glean out their most important measures, and push them through at all hazards. List them cut ont of their programme those items which have been introduced with a view of conciliating tha moi« extreme partyj.The moral of the old man, the boy and the ass is as true now as it was when the fable was first written. It is of no use endeavoring to please everybody. Nobody thinks one whit the better of a Ministry which tries such an impossible feat. Although much mischief has already been done by the attempt, we trnst to see that Wednesday night's division will mark the era of a new departure.