THE TIDE OF BATTLE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9697, 22 January 1910, Page 4

THE TIDE OF BATTLE.

After the General Election r>f January, 1906, the strength of parties in the British Parliament was as follows:—Liberals 376; Unionists 130; Nationalists 83; Labour 54; Liberal Unionists 27. Since then various

by-elections altered the strength of parties to some extent, but after the 1906 election the actual genuine Liberal majority over the Unionists was j 246, certainly a huge majority, and j the largest Liberal majority since 1832, when bo less than 514 Liberal candidates were returned, as opposed to 144 Conservatives. The Liberal majority in 1832 was the largest ever secured in British politics, but after several later elections, in each of which the Conservatives strengthened their position, they were returned nine years later with a majoiity over the Liberal party of 76 members. At the time of writing election results

are coming to hand, but it is, as we ventured to remark in a recent issue, impossible to piedict what the final result will be. It is clear that the Unionists will bia more numerous in the new House than they were in the old, and assuming that they continue to gain seats in the same proportion during the coming contests as they have in regard to those already held, the Liberals would not have a larger majority over the Unionists than, approximately, 50 — a tremendous set when one thinks of the 1906 majority. Of cruise, what we have written is pure assumption, but the glorious uncertainty of election contests, has been demonstrated times without number. Should, however, the final result be such as we have suggested, the ballance of power in the new Parliament will be in the hands of the Nationalists—a position that would not be particularly "palatable to the people of Great Britain. No other position could possibly be more satisfactory from the Nationalist point of view, and it may he remarked that even the present known strength of parties, apart from the utterances of Mr Asquitn on tne question, is a sufficient ground for believing that Home Rule for Ireland will shortly be once more a much debated subject in the House of Commons. The present election, however, may be the forerunner of several in rapid succession before any very decided advantage is gained by either party. The. attack oc( the House of Lords appears to have largely failed, and, moreover, as we previously . remarked, vthough the Government have expressed their intention of "reforming" the Lords no indication has yet been given as to the means that j they intend to employ to effect that reform. "The most popular Budget of modern times." as Mr LloydGeorge's Budget ,has been described, is certainly being somewhat unkindly treated by "the country."