The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1886. THE ENGLISH LIBERAL PARTY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1362, 5 October 1886, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1886. THE ENGLISH LIBERAL PARTY.

In New Zealand we are all “Liberals” in politics or profess so to be. Nobody dares to be otherwise. If such a person ns an avowed Conservative could be found in the colony an enterprising showman might safely calculate upon making a handsome income by exhibiting him to the public at so much a head; while a real, genuine, true-blue Tory ought to yield a fortune. Indeed, it is just possible that if our Liberalism were sometimes a Hole less fervent and a li:tie more discriminating it might be none the worse for the country. As it is, it seems quite sufficient for any political nostrum-monger to dub his wares “ Liberal” and to proclaim them as such loudly to secure their acceptance, quite apart from their leal merits or demerits, while anyone who ventures to question their utility or to hint at possible mischievous effects is at once regarded wnh suspicion and in politics as in other matters those who wish to lead an easy life must go with the stream. Fortunately in the Mother Country, where political questions of the highest moment are constantly presenting themselves for solution, greater moral courage is displayed, and men who disagree with the views or actions of the leaders of the Liberal parly are not afraid to call themselves Conservatives, and to act accordingly. We say “ Conservatives ” because,

although English Liberal journals are apt to call all Conservative politicians “ Tories” (knowing how distasteful that term is to the masses)., Toryism—using the term in its legitimate sense—is, as a matter of fact, defunct. Nor can the Conservative parly of to-day be said to represent the aristocratic element in British politics as opposed to the democratic, for the aristocracy of England is prett) well as largely represented in the Liberal party as in the Conservative. Again, except that the Conservatives claim to be opposed to sudden and violent changes, there is little real difference between the Liberals and Conservatives on the subject of internal reform, but in practice the two parties strive to outbid each other for popular support. The real and essential difference between them is that the Conservatives have always displayed a much bolder and more enlightened policy in dealing with foreign and colonial affairs than their rivals have done. It would seem as if the Liberal party had now come to a turning-point in its history. A great schism has taken place in its ranks over the Home Rule question, and while the numerically strongest section ot the party remains ranged under the banner of Mr Gladstone, the other section looks to Lord Harlington and Mr Chamberlain as its chiefs, Tne disparity in numbers between the two sections is, however, far more than counterbalanced by the fact that whereas Mr Gladstone’s following in the House of Commons consists mainly of political nobodies, the intellect of the party is gathered together in the other section. It is true that the schism is at present confined to the Irish question, but that question is not likely to be settled in a burry, and when it is borne in mind that it was by Mr Gladstone’s efforts that such distinguished l iberals as Mr Goschen and Mr Trevelyan lost their seats at the last general election it becomes apparent that there is a strong probability of that schism becoming a permanent one. Moreover, other causes have for a considerable time past been tending to disintegrate the Liberal party, and, in- i

deed, the reason for its existence as a party has to a considerable extent disappeared. The Liberal party of today is the lineal descendant of that great party which carried the Reform Bill of 1832 in face of a strong aiistocratic opposition, and which afterwards devoted itself to other internal reforms to tire almost entire neglect of foreign and colonial affairs. During the last fifty or sixty years, however, the social and political stale of England have been peacefully revolutionised and, although much remains to be done, still, gigai I c reforms have already been achieved, and England no longer contains any set of politicians who would shut out the people from the blessings of education or from a voice in the government of the country. The danger now to be guarded against is the risk of intelligence being swamped by force of mere numbers. Hence the intellectual classes of English Society, whose sympathies were formerly almost exclusively with Ihe Liberals, have of late years shown strong Conservative leanings. Then, too, the Liberals have made a serious mistake in the opposition which they have manifested to the extension of British territory and their utter want of appreciation of the value of her colonies to England. The Empire has grown enormously during the last thirty or forty years, but Mr Gladstone has never disguised his objections to each successive annexation, and from the beginning of his political career to the present day he has never shown the slightest interest in the colonies. His want of sympathy with colonial feeling was quite recently displayed by his absence from the opening ceremony of the Indian and Colonial Exhibition —an historic event, the importance of which the Conservative leaders did not fail to appreciate, as was shown by their presence on the occasion—and also by the silly insult which he has cast upon the people of Tasmania. When we consider the position in the world which the British colonies have now achieved, it seems almost incredible that a quarter of a century ago most of the leaders of the English Liberal party regarded them merely as so many encumbrances to the Mo'her Country, and were of opinion that it would “ pay ” to get rid of them ; hut old colo lists well remember the surprised indignation with which they received the broad hints thrown out by Earl Granville, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, that the colonies were welcome to “cut the painter ” if they wished. The younger members of the Liberal party, like Lord Rosebery, no doubt estimate the value of the colonies more accurately, but still the broad fact remains that while the Colonial Empire of England was in its nascent state it was the Conservatives, and not the Liberals who had the sagacity to foresee its future splendour. If the Liberal party is to continue to exist and to be entrusted with the reins of government, as frequently in the future as it has been in the past, its chie's must grasp the fact that the future prosperity of England depends as much on a sound foreign and colonial policy as it does upon a judicious administration of affairs at Home.