The Examiner. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY. NOV. 28, 1891. PARTY UNIONS.

Woodville Examiner, Volume VIII, Issue 808, 28 November 1891, Page 2

The Examiner. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY. NOV. 28, 1891. PARTY UNIONS.

J?.vi!TY Unions appear to be the order of the day. We have here in New Zealand the formation of a National Liberal Union with a view of keeping in power the present Ministry, and in England we have the Conservative Party forming a strong “ National Conservative Association” with a similar object. This Association lias been meeting at Birmingham this week, and our cables have kept our readers posted as to their doings. The platform adopted is certainly sufficiently comprehensive. Lord Salisbury embodied his view of Conservative policy in his address to the Conference. He said it was unjust to tax the landlords and exempt the mortgagees and debenture holders, but he favored a tax on all property except poor land which would not grow corn. Ho expressed continued

adherence to the principles of Freetrade, said the tendency of the times was to transfer the powers of the State to a Federal authority, and urged that steps should be taken to cement the alliance between the Unionists and Conservatives. Having listened to the speeches of their leaders, the Union passed resolutions expressing sympathy with, and approval of, the labour candidates ; agreeing to discuss on the floor of the House the claims of women to be granted the franchise; proposing to establish a Department of Labour ; favouring the disqualification of illiterate voters ; offering assistance in the establishment of small rural holdings and thus relieving the towns of surplus labour; and condemning the principle of one-man-oue-vote. Also a motion by Mr Howard Vincent, favouring the principles of the Empire Trade League, which is a hobby of our late visitor ; and another urging the Government to promote a mutual and favourable Customs tariff between the Colon es and Great Britain, This last is of course the one which interests us most, whether anything practical will come of it is another matter ; but, whatever may be the result of the meeting on the politics of the country, this banding together in a species of politic " trade union ” is a significant sign of the times, and one -which, while it may politically quicken the mass of the people, will have a tendency to still further accentuate party differences and party feeling. In New Zealand we will no doubt see the National Liberal Federation in full working order before the end of the year, but their programme is likely to be considerably different to that quoted above.