The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1890. ENGLISH POLITICS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2004, 6 February 1890, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1890. ENGLISH POLITICS.

In papers just received from Home we find long reports of the stumping tours of two English statesmen, one being Mr Balfour, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, and the other the Grand Old Man. There is a difference between the way in which they travel, which is verv remarkable. Wherever Mr Gladstone goes he is received at the railway station with great rejoicings, and conveyed to the largest public hall in the town, where he addresses the multitudes. Ho such demonstrations greet Mr Balfour, but still it must be said that he does not pass unnoticed. The aristocracy of Glasgow and Edinburgh took care that he should have an opportunity of speaking in these cities, and with that object in view they banquetted him. The Edinburgh banquet was a brilliant affair. The Duke of Eite, the Prince of Wales’s son-in-law, was in the chair, and the array of Dukes, Earls, Lords, and aristocrats was something extraordinary. How, what we want to direct attention to is the difference between the way both travel and speak. Mr Gladstone speaks to the people; Mr Balfour to the aristocracy. That is exactly the difference between them, and from a political point of view it is a great one. One has the people at his back, the other the aristocracy. Ibis is an important point, and ought to be sufficient food for reflection for those who are still opposed to Mr Gladstone. Thev ought to see that he is, as he has been through life, working in the interest of the people, and it is now evident the people are beginning to recognise it. At Manchester Sir James Kitson, who presided at one of Mr Gladstone’s meetings, said— lc During the recent municipal elections at Birmingham some very striking results had been obtained. In East Birmingham the Home Ruler, who last year was defeated by 20 votes, won this year by 285. (Cheers). The whole” of the eastern division of Birmingham had been fought, and it proved conclusively that Mr Matthews would be defeated by from 700 to 1000 votes. (Cheers). In the Bordesley Ward, which contained two-thirds of the electors, the workingman Home Ruler defeated the Liberal Unionist by 1177. (Cheers), which was verv much like the notice to quit to Mr Jesse Collings • and he had seen a paragraph in the papers which said that Mr Jesse Collings had already overworked his brain. (Laughter). In the northern Division, which was Mr Kenriek’s, the Home Ruler carried the largest ward by 500 votes. Then Joseph’s son (Laughter) Mr Austen Chamberlain, attended ward meetings, surrounded by Primrose dames, and at one of the meetings at which he was accompanied by his sisters, his cousins, and his aunts, be boasted that he would carry the ward by 2000 votes ; and he was defeated by 11 votes. (Cheers). It was pretty clear now that the Liberals would gain in the next election three of the four seats in Birmingham. All he could say to Manchester was ‘ Go and do likewise.’ (Hear, hear). The truth coming out, the wrongs of Ireland were being made fully known.” That gives a good idea of the trend of public opinion in England, and shows that the next general election will settle all the difficulty. Birmingham is the place where Mr Chamberlain has been all powerful. It is oyer Birmingham that he and Lord Randolph Churchill have quarrelled, but according to this it appears that neither of them will have much chance of being elected for it. As regards the duration of the present Parliament, it has passed the average age now and there are reasons to believe that it is drawing to a close. We notice that Mr Parnell has called upon America to send him money to" assist him in the next election. It is evident from tips that Mr Parnell sees the end approaching, and is preparing for the battle. M r Balfour’s power will remain undiminigbed until then, but the moment the hour comes Dukes, Marquises, Lords, and aristocrats will be powerless to retain him in office.

PARNELLISM AND CRIME. The London Times has at last swallowed the leek. It has paid Mr Parnell £SOOO and all expenses in settlement of his libel action, i'he expenses of course will not include the costs of the Parnell Commission, That the Parnellites will have to bear. ' r £ hat cost between £IO,OOO and £50,000, so that the £SOOO Mr Parnell has got from The Times would not g° very far in settling it. The civilised world has assisted the parnellites in this, and £12,000 has been subscribed for it, so that in fact the cost of the Commission has been pam in that way. The costs which j . Parnell receives are the costs which he has incurred in prosecuting 6 -t lme s lor libel, and they must be very eavy. First of all ho commenced e action a long time ago in Scotland, and there it was adjourned from time to tune until at last it was thrown out of couru on some technical point. Mr Parnell next took it to Ireland, and it was for a long time before the courts 1

o£ Dublin, till at last he withdrew it and took it to London. There it has been before the courts several times too, and now, judging from the cablegram, it has been settled privately, ihe Times preferring to pay the £SOOO than run the chance of lettinothe case go to a jury. But will the matter end here ? Every one of the Parnellites have been libelled as well as Mr Parnell. They have been called murderers, and associates of murderers, and the probabilities are that all these* will individually take action against The Times for libel. If S o,° the thunderer will sing small before it has disposed of 60 or 70 of those whom it has so foully and cruelly libelled almost daily for the last ten years. J he surrender of The Times is a great victory. The parliamentary inquiry as to the origin of the Pigott letters is to come on yet.