THE BRITISH ELECTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13094, 6 February 1906, Page 7

THE BRITISH ELECTIONS.

Sir, —As a native of London and a resident iii Great Britain I naturally take the greatest interest- in the politics of the Old Country. The eagerness with which I have opened the paper each morning to pee the results of the general election can be imagined. The result of this election is no matter for surprise; neither is it altogether a matter for regret, as there are several reforms to be carried out in which no Conservative Government would take' any partNo one can deny that the Liberals have been returned on the question of tariff reform. The masses have rejected Mr. Chamberlain's sweeping proposals and Mr. Balfour's " Via Media," and have plumped for freo trade as it has existed in Britain since the days of Cobden and Peel. It is regrettable indeed that the bulk of the British people are incapable of seeing matters as they are and of inferring what they ought to be; it is regrettable, but only natural. lb is the revenge of the ill-edu-cated masses on the influential classes, who reluctantly afforded- them an education so inadequate that they still, in this twentieth century, can with one voice uphold a system which the rest of the civilised world regard as mistaken. The bulk of the socalled '"classes" are in favour of tariff reform, cither because their personal interests tend in that direction, or because they have thought the matter out thoroughly, and can see how ridiculous, under prcsont conditions, is our present fiscal system. The masses —now the real rulers of the country —cannot think tho matter out, and do not know their own interests. Unconsciously they have revenged themselves on the classes. Until starvation brings thorn to their senses free trade will remain one of the leading principles in British politics. Archibald E. J. Lek.