Defeat of the Roseberry Government.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 190, 10 August 1895, Page 4 (Supplement)

Defeat of the Roseberry Government.

A Trick or an Accident—The General Election—The Government's Record— Nothing to be Ashamed of — The Liberal Programme — Scene in the House—Chamberlain's Little Bill— The G.O.M.— The Lifetime of Govern- ,. MENTS.

(Fkom Our Own Correspondent.)

London, June 29.

Sir William Harcourt was eibting oa bhe Terrace lasb Friday evening enjoying the Blight breeze from the river, and sipping some excellent Hock Cup compounded by Mr Rocbfort Maguire. ' Thank Heaven,' he observed piously, ' there is one night on which we need nob expect a crisis.' Jusb ten minutes later the division bell rang, and the Governmenb were defeated. Stories differ as to how bha catastrophe came about. Some say the Opposition had no real desire to bring tbe Government to grief on the ammunition question, which, if it reflected on anybody, reflected on certain permanent officials, and that they quite thought the War Secretary had a dozen votes to the good. On the other hand, it is stated that the whole business was a carefully contrived coup of Mr St. John Brodrick's. Mr Balfour's face when the numbers were announced did nob look aa bhough bhe labber bheory waa correct. _If ever a man appeared to be hoisb wibh his own petard that individual was the Leader of bhe Opposition. And one can quite understand his chagrin. The Governmenb were in parlous straits and any nighb mighb be defeated, in all probability would be defeated on one of their leading measures. Instead of this they were bowled oub by a trick and given a distinct tactical advantage. The country could hardly fail bo nobice bhe factiousness of an Opposition which dealt bhis blow bo tbe Governmenb only a tew minutes afber ib had announced one of bhe greateab adminiabrabive coups of labe years. I refer, of course, to tbab reform of the War Office Administration whicb Governmenb after Governmenb has considered, bub which no Government until bhe preaonb baa .had bhe courage and resourcefulness to effecb. There is a curious irony in bhe facb, boo, thab the particular Minister whose conduct and even whose word his opponents have ostensibly refused bo accepb.ieone of bbc strongest and most popular members not only of the Ministry but of the House, and the very man whom only the other day hia present opponents were desirous Fof raising to the highest dignity in the House aa the best possible repository of its honour. Lord Rosebery jumped with greab relief at bhis opporbuniby bo resign. Ib leb bim and hia colleagues down fairly easily, and lefb bhe Opposition in a moeb uncomfortable position. A dissolution in bhe middle of bhe London season means the loss of thousands upon bhoueands of pounds to brade, and musb bring down odium on tbe parby proposing ib. Yeb Lord Salisbury can hardly be expected to abbempb to evon temporarily govern the country with a minority. to . The General Election. /'.>"'-'.'' Nob even bhe mosb sanguine Liberal wirepullers have tbe smallest hope of preventing the Conservatives sweeping bhe country ab bhe pending elecbions. Tbe only question discussed is the size of bhe probable majoriby. The Government's Record, Tbere is (Liberals are beginning to point out) absolutely no necessity for tbe Rosebery Government to depart with their tails between their legs. When the Gladsbone Ministry was formod in 1892, nob merely Unionists, bub bhe Radical wire-puller^ bhemaelves. pronounced the skinny majority an unworkable one, and gave the Governmenb a lease of life of six months ab furthest. Well, bhe Administration, despite bhe deadly blow of Mr Gladstone's retirement, has lived, nob six months, bub bhree years, and can boast a creditable record of acbually accomplished legislabion. The Parish Councils Act, wibh iba possibilities of Home Rule for the English villages,will long be remembered as one of the mosb far-reaching measures of bhe labber part of bhe century. The greab Budgeb Acb of lasb year will ' achieve an equal or even greater fame as having laid foundations for a system of democratic finance which will redound to the safety and prosperity of the country in days when other countries are convulsed wibh difficulties due to their failure to apply in time moderate and equitable measures of fiscal readjustment.' In bhe administrative as distinct from the legislative sphero, bhe record of the Government is equally distinguished. Even bhe ' Times,'of labe years the moab unsparing opponenb of Liberalism, cannob find serious faulb with Lord Rosebery's executive record. He oughb never bo have become Prime Minißber, of courae, should have declined bo accepb Mr Gladstone's succession and dissolved. But recognising the difficulties he had to face through ignoring bhis simple courae, bhe 'Times' grudgingly admits bhe Premier has nob done badly. His colleagues almosb without exception have done extraordinarily well. Ab bho Foreign Office, the India Office, bhe Admiralby, bhe Educabion Office and the Home Office, bhe outgoing Ministers leave behind them an oxcellenb record. Mr Asquith has perhaps proved the brighb particular star of bhe Miniabry, and Lord Ripon its weakest spot. The noble Marquis possesses an absolube genius for muddling, bub Sir Robert Meade did nob allow him to do much mischief ab tbe Colonial Office. As for the War Office, it is bhe irony of bhe presenb aituaticn that bhe Opposition assailed bbc -Minister on bhe very day thab he had announced an impending reorganisation, which bobh sides have for years recognised as desirable, bub which no Ministers unbil Lord Rosebery and Mr Campbell-Bannorman have had bhe requiBite courage or address to take successfully ip hand. The Liberal Record and Liberal Pro- . gramme. Ib ia being airily stated by the Tories that all the splendid promises of the New-1 castle programme have proved Dead Sea fruits of which the bitterness must linger with the constituencies. By way of counteracting such mischievous lies, the following brief summary has been issued :— The Liberal Record. twenty things done. Since the Liberals came into power in 1892 they have— (1) Carried through the House of Commons a just and gonerous measure of Home Rule for Ireland which would be law to-day but for a few hundred Unionisb peers. (2) Paßßed two Pariah Councils Acts, giving to tbe people of our villagea in England and Scobland bhe righb bo manage bheir own affairs, and placing on a popular basis all over England bho election of Poorlaw Guardians. (3) Carried through the House of Commons bhe Employers' Liabiliby Bill, but bho House of Lords insisted on allowing ' conbracting oub,' so bhab bhe Bill, which was bhua made worthless, had to be withdrawn. (4) Passed an Act to regulate the Hours of Railway Servants, which had bettered the condition of thousands of railway men. (5) Passed an Act bo provide for bhe Educabion of Blind and Deaf Children. (6) Passed an Act to increase the sums allowed as deposit in bhe Post Office Savings Bank. (7) Passed bbc Budgeb of 1894 in which ib was laid down for bhe firsb bime bhab exbra baxabion ought bo be borne by thoße who can besb afford to pay.

(8) Passed the Equalisation of Rates (London) Act by which the poorer London districts ere relieved of rating ab tbe expense of bhe richer, which have bibberbo escaped bheir fair share of payment. (9) Passed an Act compelling employers to notify accidents. (10) Passed an Acb giving increased probecbion to shareholders in Building Societies againsb fraud. (11) Passed an Acb to make additionally safe bhe lives and limbs of those working in quarries. . i (12) Insisted thab every child whose parents asked for ib shall have Free Educabion, and bhat school buildings shall be healbby, of , eufficiehb size, properly drained, etc. •$■ (13) Appointed a number of practical working men to be Assistant Factory Inspectors, and for the firsb bime appointed Women Inspectors for the occupations in whicb women are engaged. (14) Made inquiry into dangerous . and unhealthy trades, so tbab rules my be framed to protect tbe workers. (15) Increased the wages of workmen employed by the Government by £30,000 a year, reduced tbe hours of labour to eight hours a day for every man and boy employed in the factories and workshops of tthe War Office, of the Post Office, and in [ the Dockyards, and given Trade Union wages and Trade Union hours to the workmen at South Kensington and Bethnalgreen. (16) Created, a Labour Department of the Board of Trade with a monbhly 'Labour Gazette,' giving full information on bhe cbabe of employment in the United Kingdom, and assisted, with tbe help of Lord Rosebery and the Labour Department, in settling bbc great coal dispute of 1893 and bhe greab boob diepube of 1895. (17) Appointed a number of working men magistrates in the boroughs, and commenced to deal with tbe county benches. (18) Increased tbe facilities for investing and wibhdrawing money from the Post Office Savinga Bank, and for transmitting seamen's wages, extending the system to foreign parts. (19) Abolished the rule forbidding Gomen b employees to join trade unions. (20) Appointed Royal Commissions to inquire inbo agricultural depression and tbe condibion of bhe aged poor. __~\; The Liberal Programme. <$.<;■:.' ',"." TWRNTT THINGS TO BE DONE. (1) To secure bbc passing inbo law of'the Home Rule Bill. (2) To secure the passing into law of the Employers' Liability Bill. (These two Bills were lost through the action of the Lords.) (3) To disestablish and disendow the Church of England in Wales, and also the Established Chnrch in Scotland. (4) To amend the land laws of Ireland bo as to give additional security to bhe tenant for his own improvements, and to make provision for the reinstatement of tbe evicted tenants. (5) To amend the law of registration, bo that every man who is entitled shall have a vote, to secure ' one-man-one-vote,' and to hold all elections! on one and bhe same day. (6) To put tbe liquor traffic nnder popular control. (7) To extend bhe benefibs of bhe Factory Acts so as to put a stop finally to all sweating, and bo make additionally cafe bbc lives and limbs of workers in facbories and workshops. (8) To place all public elementary schools under popular control. (9) To tax ground rents and land values, mining royalties, etc. (10) To make the Returning Officers' expenses in Parliamentary elections a public charge to recognise the principle of payment of members as bbc only means of securing an adequate representation of labour in bbc House of Commons, and to shorten the duration of Parliaments. (11) To take steps to equalise the rates between owner and' dccupie?; "" r^-~i^j, (12) To secure compensation to town and country tenants for disturbance and improvements, with a simpler process for getting it. (13) To reform tho land laws as they affect town and country. (14) To Reform the Municipal Government of London, bringing tbe City under the County Council, and giving greatly increased powers to bhe County Council. (15) To abolish bhe qualification for bhe Counby Magistracy in England and Waleß. (16) To amend the Law of Conspiracy. (17) To provide for Courts of Conciliation and Arbitration to settle trade disputes. (18) To provide Lighb Railways for country districts, so bhab agricultural produce may be conveyed to the towns ab cheaper rates. (19) To secure the Free Breakfasb Table; and (20) To bake such steps as will prevent tbe House of Lords from exercising a veto on the will of the House of Commons. Chamberlain's Little Bill. Long before these lines appear in print the world will know how Mr Chamberlain's services to the Tory party have been rewarded. On dit he presented his little Bill yesterday, and thab with characteristic meanness. Lord Salisbury pronounced ib excessive, nob bo say grossly exorbitant, and prompbly began to deducb heavy discounb. Joe modestly demanded first class office for himself and the Duke of Devonshire, and the Wooleack for Sir Henry James, good places for ' faithful Jesse Collings,' Mr Heneage and Mr T. W. Russell, and minor berths for 'my boy Ausben ' and Mr Anstruther. Mr Courtney having been * diddled' oub of bhe Speakership, was to be placated with the Chairmanship of Committees, and certain peerages unspecified were to be conferred later. Of the above appointments, that of Sir Henry James to the Woolsack would be most popular. The handsome barrister is a greab favourite with friends and opponents alike, and should make, in the matter of presence, etc., an ideal Lord Chancellor. Neither Lord Heracbell nor Lord Halsbury were much to look at. The G.O.M. : Mr Gladstone returned from his craise in the Tantallon Castle on Monday to find thab bhe Governmenb had fallen. Those, who half suspected, half-feared be would throw himself into tbe breach and for bhe lasb time pilot his parby through the quicksands of the general election, don't really know whab a very old man he has become, or how libble inberesb he bakes in presenb--day politics. During bhe cruise of the Tantallon Castle he talked to many of the older guests, but always aboub the past. On Sunday morning the G.O.M. attended 'Bervice in the saloon, singing the hymns wibh greab fervour. Firab he commibted each verse in turn to memory, and then throwing back his head and closing his eyes he sung them. 'Ib was impossible,' writes Mr Rider Haggard, a fellow guesb, 'bo wabch unmoved bhe greab statesman alone with his thoughts in the crowded saloon and nob bo reflecb bhat more bhan probably his mind was in the same groove as when a short bime previously ha said in bhe same spob, " Afber all, ladies and gcntlomsn, everything must come to an end."' Amougßb the guests on the Tantallon Castle was Mr Nicol, the sweetvoiced tenor, who is ono of the most valued stock-dishes at bhe Savage Club. His singing delighted Mr Gladsbone, and no matter how bired the G.O.M. happened bo be, Mr Nicol had only bo lifb up his voice bo bring him oub of his state-room. The Lifetime of Governments. Lord Rosebery accepted office as Prime Minister in tho beginning of March lasb year, so that he has held it a year, and four months. It is, therefore—the Liberal Publication Deparbmenb points oub—by no means the sborbesb of Governments bhab haa juab gone oub of office, bhough ib does not come up bo bhe general average which, baking bhe cenbury through and excluding

the seventeen years' Government of Mr Pitb, wibh the Jabber part of which the.century opened, comes to about three years each or-a Übble more. The shortesb Governmenb of the century was thab which Sir Robert Peel undertook to form, on the 26bh of December, 1834, and which lasted just 113 days. Next to tbe protracted Premiership of Mr Pitt, the longest Governmenb of the last hundred years was tbab of Lord Liverpool, who took office on the 9bh of June, 1812, and continued Prime Minisber 14 years and 319 days. Thab was the longesb-lived Ministry of the century, and has nob been approached in point of endurance by any other. No other Minister, indeed, has succeeded in keeping together a Government, or, ab leasb, in holding office, for half thab time. The longesb Administrations afber tbab of Lord Liverpool were bhe Governments formed firsb by Lord Melbourne, and afterwards by Lord Palmerston, which, curiously enough, both laated for 6 years and 141 days. Only bwo! other Prime Ministers bave held the. position for more than'six years,'during the present century, one of bhem being • Lord Beaconefield and the other Lord Salisbury, Lord Beaconsfield taking the lead by fiftytwo days, the one being in office for six years and 67 days, and the other for six years and 15 day b. This, of course, was the Earl of Beaconefield'a second Adminiatratration, bis first having been among the shortest of Governmental experiments. As Mr Disraeli, he book office on bhe 27th of February, 1868, and held the reins of Government for 286 days, when he gave place bo Mr Gladstone, who in this, his fireb Administration, held office for over five years, and in his turn made way for bis doughty antagonist. There are four Premiers of the century who have ruled for upward of six years consecutively; twq, Lord John Russell and Mr Gladsbone, who have been heads of bhe Governmenb for over five years. : To'Mr Gladsbone, however, belongs the unique disbincbion of halving been four times Prime Minister of England, his firsb and second Governments both lasting foroverfive years. Lord Salisbury's first essay ab premiership waa far briefer than that of Lord Rosebery, and lasbed only 227 days. His second, as has been stated, was among bhe longest of modern times. This will be Lord Salisbury's third administration. Only one other sbatesman of the cenbnry—Mr Gladstone of course excepted—haa taken chief office bdree times. Of the nineteen statesmen who have formed Governments within the century, ten bave done so only once. Such a task, of course, more frequently than not, comes to a man towards the close of life. Only by a rare combination of circumstances does it fall to a man of Lord Rosebery's age, and he may yet live to be among those who have again and again had the honour of being called to become First Minister of the Crown. -