The Press. MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1908. THE MANCHESTER ELECTION.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13100, 27 April 1908, Page 6

The Press. MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1908. THE MANCHESTER ELECTION.

Two yeais of Liberal representation proved more than enough for the electors of North-west Manc-iest&r, and the constituency has returned to iia former faith. The ddfeat of Mr Winston Churchill is, beyond all doubt, -the severest blow that the Government has experienced, surpassing in moral, effect th© reverses it has sustained during the last few montihs in; . th© bye-elections for Peokham, South Hereford, and Mid - Devon. The keenness of the struggle is shown by the fact that 89 per cent, of the number of voters on. the roll cast their votes, thus eoHpsing the record of 1906, when of 11,411 electors nearly 88 per cent. voted. And while scoring every vote that was available, with.the assistance ' of one of the most popular Cabinet Ministers," with all . the eclat of his vioboiry at tho general elections still fresh in the public mind, and with all the distinction conferred upon him by his recent promotion to Cabinet rank, : Mr Churchill has been beaten soundly. His opponent, Mr Joynson-Hicks, is apparently not so> sound on the question of tariff reform as the tariff reformers could wish, and he preferred to take his e.__nd , on wholesale cond emulation of the Government's policy and administration. This may havo been good tactics, for Manchester's complete repudiation of Mr Balfour and his supporters two years ago is said to have been due, to fear, on the part of those engaged in tlie cotton industry that fiscal reform might lead to damaging reprisals by tho United States, on which, it' depends. But rthe Government, and their supporters can hardly,' on tius point, olaira that the result of tho contest is not a victory for tariff reform, seeing that Mr Churchill's chief plank was anhounced to be free trade, and he him__el| lias * admitted that his defeat is "a- heavy, bitter, and crushing blow" to that policy. He will, of course, secure another ! seat. .There" was talk some days ago of a Welsh member -©tiring in his favour, but he will more probably contest Dundee, a cafe constituency, which has been rendered vacant by Mr Edmund Robertson's elevation to the Peerage. But his success there will not remove the sting of defeat in M-_nchester, nor efface th© memory of his failure, in tho first flush of gratified ambition', to retain the seat which he had captured from th© enemy. His defeat wilt be'the subject of- little regret in the. colonies, which, have by no means appreciated his attitude towwrds ______ during the last two years. Tihere will be all the lorn pity for him because of a general conviction that the kesoo he has received may do him good;' by teaching Mm that he is not quite so powerful as he seems to have betlievfid. So .far. his great natural

abilities ha-ve been ma_Ted by' an amount of self-confidence that must havo made him a good deal less than popular among his colleagues, and that has seriously discounted his usefulness. The Manchester defeat was an acknowledged trial of strength, a great election duel, and coupled with' tho serious diminution in the Liberal majority at Dewsbury, where Mr AValtar Runciman has just been reelected by 1500 votes, as against 3800 in, 1906, it may well cause the Government some disquietude. Sooner or later every Government experiences the "swing,of th© pendulum," but for the Liberals to suffer so many and such sijja-1 reverses after little more thaji two years of office is a matter of more thaji ordinary significance.