ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1901. LORD ROSEBERY AND BRITISH POLITICS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXV, Issue 170, 25 July 1901, Page 2

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1901. LORD ROSEBERY AND BRITISH POLITICS.

The attitude assumed by Lord Rosebery with regard to the British Liberal Party must be highly satisfactory to all who, like ourselves, hold in frank detestation the unpatriotic policy of the pro Boers. Lord Rosebery is over quick to read the signs of the times, and he has hit the right nail on the head when he says that the Liberal Party, despite all its glorious traditions and its long hold upon tho democracy can ever hope to control the destinies of its country until it has purged itself of Little Englandism and risen to a full appreciation of the necessity for developing the resources of the Empire to the fullest extent. In a word, Lord Rosebery advocates Liberal Imperialism, as against the narrow, unprogressive, unpatriotic views of the Little Englanders. It remains to be seen whether he will follow up his brave words by coming out once again into the political arena. Already it is rumoured that such is his intention, and that a new Liberal Party, a party pledged to internal reform, it is true, but none the less imbued with a due sense of the importance of Imperial questions, will find in him a leader. We believe that, hitherto, a good deal of the support that the Little Englanders have received from the British working classes has been caused by tho indifference to much needed domestic reform legislation which has been exhibited by the Conservatives and Unionists. If-, however, Lord Rosebery and his friends cannot put forward aprogramme of social reform measures, dealing courageously with the land, licensing and other problems in which the rank and file of the Liberal Party are so much interested, ard at the same time make it clear that* his party would pay equal attention to over-sea or Imperial interests, we believe that many constituencies now returning Unionists (simply because they are afraid of "Little England" influence amongst the Liberals) would then return to the Liberal fold. Messrs Labouchere, John Morley, and W. T. Stead have overdone theiv pro-Boer sympathy, and recent revelations must have convinced the British public that it is this proBoer sympathy of the "Little Englanders" which has actually encouraged and brought about the prolongation of the war. The nation as a nation is, as we are convinced, determined to " see tho war through" at all hazards, at any cost; but this does.otfc. mean that it is fully satisfied with the T^ry-Unionist Government. But up to the present there has been no alternative to. the Tories but a divided and weak Liberal Party and a group of socalled leaders —men like Sir William Vernon Harcourt and Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman, for whom even the Liberals themselves feel no enthusiasm, and in whom they place no great confidence. Given Lord Rosebery as chief, with a man like Mr Asquith as his lieutenant and a strong programme in foreign and internal affairs alike, and we should not be surprised to see a very decided change before the next two years are over. But until the Liberals have a leader who is pledged to a strong Imperial policy as well as a programme of internal reforms, they cannot hope to gain the ear and the votes of the constituencies. It is to be hoped that Lord Rosebery will decide to come forward and fill the vacant

position.