The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1885. THE ENGLISH ELECTIONS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2163, 5 December 1885, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1885. THE ENGLISH ELECTIONS.

Much to the surprise ot nearly everybody in the colonies, there is every prospeflt of the General Elections at Home resulting in a Liberal majority, At the time of writing nearly half the returns had come in, and the Conservatives were then left 46 behind. It is scarcely possible that this minority will be converted into a majority during tho remainder of the struggle, especially as It appears that most of ■the borough returns, where the Conservative strength seems to lie, have already been received, Tt is a fact worth noting that the leaders of both parties entered upon the campaign with the utmost confidence of ultimate success. The Conservatives had apparently gained ground through the weak foreign policy pursued by the Liberals, which had roused a feeling of indignation in all the large centres of population, When Lord Salisbury came into office, the Afghan question was handled with such firmness, that the

claims of Russia,which Mr Gladstone had almost conceded, were at once modified, and a frontier was agreed upou, which w far moresatisfftctovy, ao fav as the British interests in India are concerned, than thatoriginally proposed. This new agreement was naturally received with feelings of general satisfaction, and it was but reasonable to assume that it would weigh very heavily in the scales during the' elections, Mv Gladstone had, on the other hand,, passed a measure largely extending the frauchise, and he seemed to depend upon that for a large accession of votes to his party. It seems to be open to doubt, whether the result has justified his expectations in this direction, It is to be presumed that the additional votes were pretty evenly divided between the borough and county electorates, ttnd if so, they have certainly done him no good in the former, We are.inclined to thinkthat the cry of a revolution of feeling in favor of the Conservatives at Home could not have been justified by public sentiment. In the towns, where thenews circulated through the newspapers is eagerly discussed, they, no doubt, gained ground, but thefeelingexpressed in them has Imen mistaken for the feeling of the country, while all along the majority of the comities felt nothing of the change. There is still the third, or Parnell party to be considered. A small third party, when the other two are about equally balanced, is always a nuisance, because the small majority is then apt to obtain concessions which, under ordinary eiraumstauces, would never lie granted. We had an illustration of this in New Zealand—in fact, we are having it in the present Parliament, in which Sir 1 George Grey, with 'a small following , that has not even the a rag policy, can ■_ divide almost any party question, 1 though lie does not belong to either party. The Home Rulers now number 46, or just as many as the Conservatives are behind the Liberals, and even if this is to represent the full strength of the party, they will be able to exercise a good deal ol influence. The ultimate result of the elections will be looked for with notalittleiuterestin the colonies, wheio there is a strougfeoiing i of sympathy with the Conservatives.