A POLITICAL REACTION.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11565, 23 April 1903, Page 4

A POLITICAL REACTION.

T'.ie poition of t-hs (jovernment in Ervg-

Inr.d at vho present, time affords an inJrrr.uine study. That the Mini-try has

<sui!Vre;l loss of popularity of late it. would be id!* to deny. Tho resignation of Earl Temple from the Presidency of the Bath Conservative Association, referred to in our

cab-'.-,* news to-day, is by no means an iso-la-ic-d instance of the growth of discontent in tho ranks of the Unionists, and in tho cf>uiAry as a whole, in regard to the pre«T.t Adr.iinif-trarion. Returned to ofSco

eoiru? two and a tali yea-ns in overwhelming strength, the Government etill retains a huge majority in Parliament. But the popular enthusiasm wiiih which its war policy was supported throughout tho country has long since nbat«d, and in the turmoil of domestic po-liticß following tbe war

the hies been subjected to all the ■frititiron and animosities inseparable, from a. fy.stpm. of party government. Tho partial reconstruction of the Cabinet has failed to satisfy the demands of the country for "efficiency," and "there- seems to be a growing belief that the Government as at present constituted is not in touch with pub3in opinion on qu«-tir>ne_ of national importance. The political reaction can be traced in the results of (recent by-elections. At Xorth Leeds last year the seat, which had represented a. Government majority of 2517 at the previous election, was lost by a margin of 753. Later on West Kent reduced Mr. H. W. Forster's majority from 4812 to 891. During the prc-e-ent year the Government hae lost rthreo important sea<ts —Nenvmarket, Woolwich, and Rye—in each of which itheir majority at the- general elections had been very large. Tlhe byeelection for the Che-xtsey seat was only won through a, split at the last moment in tho Liberal party over the vexed question of Home Rule. Since tho reassembling of Parliament, moreover, the Government has liad Ito face the opposition of a small but vigorous "Fourth Party," composed of a number of the younger Conservatives, under the leadership of Mr Winston Churchill. Various explanations have been put forward for the growth of all this political unrest.. The Education Act, the recent licensing! legislation, the Venezuelan embroglio, the failure of Mr Brodriclrs army scheme, and the increasing burden of national expenditure, have doubtless all contributed to the reaction. The London " Spectator" suggests as another probable factor in the situation the popular belief that the Ministry has, in sporting phrase, "gone a " iittlfi stale, ,, and it makes out a plausible case in (support of the contention. "'You

" give thorn nearly absolute power in the " shape of a majority which nothing can " shake, you drown them in details as well "as great questions, you leave them with- " out. the effective, opposition which is act "strong an intellectual 'stimulant, you

deprive them—this is accidental, but it is

'•.a well-niaiked accident—of any spurriiig " incentive from ambitions below them, ,, and the natural result, we are to believe ie that "they do their work carefully, bat

■' they work in a groove, they postpone any " new job as long as they can, they tnint "well-worn subordinates, and they cease to "think out difficult propositions. Above " a:l, and most disastrous of all, in a State "ultimately governed by opinion, they lo.*e " touch with the outride world. ,. So ioEg as the Liberal party remains aehopcle&sly divided against it-fell us at preset it appears to be, the position of the Government is secure, but if they wore, faced, however, with a well organised opposition, and an " s>Herontive Ministry of good men, led by an cble leader, they would soon bi displaced from power.