RECENT BRITISH ELECTIONS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 6315, 16 September 1907, Page 3

RECENT BRITISH ELECTIONS

SOCIALIST VICTORIES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, July 25. The election of Socialist candidates at the last two bye-ek-ciions—Janow and (joluo S uiiOy—has caused a treiuiumlou» I war Ui botli the Loiucrvativc and Liberal camps. To itiad some oi tne excited Tress comments, one would suppose that the hrst great battle between Troperty and Socialism bud been lougut, whereat* the fact is that the real campaign has not yet begun. Capital is oniy beginning to awaken to a sense oi danger, just as Labour is oniy beginning to awaken to a sentse oi its rights; but neither part 3' can yet be said to be thoroughly awake. Jarrow and Colne Valley are merely oiTairs of outposts. Ko doubt the election of Mr Vidor Grayson, standing a* a Socialist at Coine Valley, and pledging allegiance to no political party, is the thin end of the wedge that is ultimately going to.split up the old party lines of cleavage m this country; but it is a far cry indeed from this to the great campaign which must some day bring the forces of Capital and Labour into desperate conflict. These two victories at the polls are naturally very encouraging to the champions of Labour and Socialism—'and that is about all there is to it. As Mr Jowctt, the Labour M.T., puts it, “The Millennium is not yet come. The majority of the electors are not as yet Socialists” The campaign, in fact, is only beginning; the enemy is barely aroused. The reai battles have all to be fought. Probably the moral of these election results is that the working classes are dissatisfied with the achievements 01 the Liberal Government, They promised so much, these Liberals, and the}’ have done so little. They talked su boldly, and their actions have been marked bv fco much timidity and hesitation. Of course the Government papers will not admit so much ae this. They ea ill effect, “We have been beaten at these bve elections, but it is a worse blow for the. Tariff' Reformers. _ There was never a cause so (.lead as Tariff Reform.” Aim the Unionist papers retaliate by saying, “We have not won, but at any rate the Government cannot claim the result as a victory for Free Trade.” Rut the*? are merely the perfunctory comments of party politicians, seeking to minim.se defeat. The real feeling; on both sides of professional politics seems to Ce one of nervousness and dismay. The good old “Daily Telegraph, J for example, glows almost hysterical. id Grayson is the ''avowed forerunner oi a Paradise of conefldation, It is no longer any question of mere tendencies. Organised Socialism has risen up in the nmht. The thing is upon us now. Its advocates are only commencing to throw off the cloak.” The Labour Tarty is, “in reality', nothing but a pure Socialist organisation, afraid to show its moral credentials.” Its members “got into the Mouse of Commons at the last electioft by hoisting a fustian jacket to the peak, and pretending that their vessel mas freighted with oil the hopes of honest toil. If they had avowed thcmseives m tneir proper character they would have run up the 'Jolly Koger' and revealed themselves as a political crew,* whose whole desire is to make property walk the plhnk." What has happened in Colne Valley and Jarrow "may happen in time, and in no long time, to three hundred other seats" ,and a Socialist majority in the House of Commons is-not impossible. So says the “Telegraph, and the “Daily Express” is even more ex-, plicit. “There,is in English politics today,” it says, “only one issue. that issue lies between Socialism which means consiioation and revolution, and Unionism, which moans devotion to national interests and the development of national life. . .' . While _ Unionists and 1 Liberals are indulging m discussions about the House of Lords, Home Eule, and Education, the Socialist is undermining the Constitution of our country, and it'-is to the bitter ngm .against Socialism that the whole country must be called in J tones that are insistent. unhesitating, and unmistakable. , That is the rod! issue as between the forces of Capital and Lobour, and the "Telegraph” and “Express” would like all nice, quiet working men and women to be desperately alarmed at the very thought of Socialism. ' And yet we find another of the leading Unionist papers, the “Morning Post,”, calmly coming - to the conclusion that-there is a kind ot Torv Socialism which is much to be desired. The “Post” ouotes LordWlilne remark that "there is a nobler Socialism which is born of genuine sympathy and .a lofty and wise conception.- of what is -meant by national life.” • The “Tori ; prints a column article by a Socialist M P., and in its leading columns declares that-the question is merely “Which-kmd of ■ Socialism will ultimately bo adopted by the masses in this country/ After this calm pronouncement the cries of “oonsfication.” “robbery,” "ruin.” and so forth seem to fall ratheP fiat. • And in any cose, it is of fuse to make because a Socialist candidate has been elected by a majority of 153!