The Dominion. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1910. FEROCIOUS POLITICS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 748, 22 February 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1910. FEROCIOUS POLITICS.

Fob some weeks past wo have been finding the British newspapers extremely trying things to read. Week by week, and day by day, the political struggle that was imminent occupied more and more space in nearly all the daily papers in the Kingdom, until at last they became screaming political manifestos, in which space was found, certainly, for/foreign news and tho non-politi-cal Home news, but such a disproportionately small space that the advertisements, or those of them that wore not tinctured with political allusions, were really restful and enjoyable reading. The papers that arrived by yesterday's mail carry us up to January 14, the day before .the polling began. It is impossible to over-state the terrific energy and astonishing ferocity of their political pages. No doubt tho people of Britain were a great deal calmer than their newspaper advisers, but there must nevertheless have been great public 'excitement, for the newspaper _ fury was after all the public feeling in a fiercely illuminated and highly coloured setting. The headlines for onco were more moderate than the general intention of the matter under them. "Tories' Deadly Dilemma," "Tho War on the Nation,'.' "Lordly v Anarchists"— these are lively phrasce, but they are almost , quiet l spots in tho uproar. ''Tory Double Dealing," "The Savile Lie," "Lordly Insolence: Housing Speech by Mr. Churchill," "Tory Intimidation," "Tariff Eeform Taxes the Cradle," "A' Scurrilous Vicar," "Me. Chamberlain's Despairing Cry"—such headings as theso filled the Radical journals. Tho Unionist newspapers relied more for their effect upon the,matter of their articles—many of these were as violent and remorseless as anything in any of the Liberal dailies, with the exception of the Daily News and Morning Leader, which never, even in quiet times, regard self-restraint as a virtue.

: To, anyone •at this distance who has followed the course of events very closely, by , leading;the; Londonnewspapers. ' there, was ■ not much to choose between the; average, Unionist and the average -Radical journal in the,matter of unfairness and misrepresentation. Both; sides consistently ■ "hit .below ■ 'belt," -foul; blows were. so..much, the rule 'that fair r fighting..;wasr. of -little - effect. Nor was it only,': the,.; newspapers that forgot the rules of fair-play. Me._; Lloyd-Geoege, ;amongsfc ■ the; leading men, .was easily, first; in vituperation, birt he had cause of complaint."• Loed :Satile declared that ■ Me. Lloyb-Geoegb;'had. joined, the Irish members in cheering a British defeat in' South : Afriria.'' : The Chancellor fiercely ~denied this charge, and ; Loed Savile apologised. About' the same time Lord Roths : child , apologised ;to '■ the Chancellor for an inadvertency ,' in criticism, and the Chancellor,' in his , reply, stated that he would send Loed Rothschild's letter;.to, Loed Savile in order to teach him how gentlemen apologised. To this Loed , Savilb retorted :■ ; "May •■ I suggest -that' you would bewise! to retain Loed Eothsohild's.-: letteryourself in case '.you' should/ever, chance to meet Genbeal BntrcE /HAMiLTOw?'.;.-It, may have, escaped your memory .that you said of .thisVprave"; and:>humane; ;CQmmander in the House of Commons on: February 18,, 1901, 'All ; I can, say is, that man is a brute and, a disgrace to the uniform ho wears.' For this scandalous statement you were very: properly morally horsewhipped by.no less a person than a member of the present 'Radical Cabinet." One cannot but feel that even, this; unpleasant' reply was not unmerited. . Me. Lloyd-Geoecie's;. finest .effort, , however, was his reference to Loed Midleton. How, ho asked, did Lord MiDLETON enter' the House of Lords? "Was he; chosen? (Laughter.). A re-! lative;'of. 'his passed away..'. (Laugh;ter;)'-: He-inherited a great property and. title, and his .gain became the nation's .loss. . (Laughter.) .-..:'. The Lords did not even require a medical certificate,to ; say they wero sound in cither body or mind. They merely required a certificate of birth to prove ;that they'were the first of a litter. (Great:-; laughter and cheers.) , ' With the'author of the Budget sotting the pace in this fashion, it is not surprising that the decencies were , frequently forgotten ',by lessor men. ; : . The saddest feature' of the fightso at least it appears from the journalistic pointof view—-was the total disappearance of the Press's sense of humour. In the Daily News ono day the principal special article was entitled "How to Heckle," written in the grimmest earnest and with an appalling ingenuity of detail. For a whole week the; centre' of the fighting was black bread. It was asserted Liberals that Protcc--1 turn would, as in Qormans, lead to

th<s establishment of black bread and horseflesh -; as , the worker's staple diet. Black bread was defended from a thousand Unionist platforms. :At one meeting a Unionist candidate produced a loaf of black bread, aind was extolling its merits when a member of the audience, who had doubtless mastered the article on "How to Heckle," produced a counter loaf of a most, unsavoury appearance, which, he said, was the real article, tho other being a sham. He challenged the speaker to cat a slice, but the challenge was declined. Finally, Mβ. Chiozza Money .wrote 'to the Daily News to "inform Parliamentary candidates and others that Me. Jomr S. Lobb, of Augsburgerstrasse. 35, I, Berlin, is prepared for a fee of 7s. 6d. paid in advance to forward to any-address_ in the United Kingdom two Berlin, household rye loaves." We-have noticed only a few of what the Westminster Gazette would call the"bewildering incidentak," but they are typical of tho whole campaign—typical of its destructive effect upon the. sense of fair-play, upon ;■ the . good manners, and upon the sense of humour and the sense ] of proportion that are the best things in normal British politics., One does not know whether to feel glad that British politics can be so spirited or to feel dismayed 'at what may ba ike eyjnptoms, of the growth of emotionalism and instability in the British.mind. : '■•'- ■■ -, -.'.