THE BRITISH ELECTIONS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2711, 15 January 1910, Page 4

THE BRITISH ELECTIONS.

The polling for the British general elections commences to-day, when 67 contests will be decided. Roughly speaking, there are 600 seats to be contended for, and they are divided into Metropolitan, County, and Borough divisions. To-day's elections will be restricted to Borough seats, and although 67 is but a small proportion of 600, the issue of these contests should provide a very fair indication of the result of the biggest political struggle England has undergone for very many years. The London “Times,” after a- careful study of the positon, has come to the conclusion that the Unionists are likely to gain 134 seats and the Überals 3. Should this forecast prove approximately correct, the Government would still have a workable majority. After last election the state of parties could be stated roughly as follows: Unionists 156, anti-Union’ists 514. The transfer of votes suggested iby the “Times” would make the figures: Unionists 257, antiUnion i.sts 383. This majority, though substantial for most purposes, would cause the Government to be largely dependent upon the Irish vote, which totals approximately 100. On the resxdt of the present elections will depend the fate of the House of Lords. If the Unionists, led by Mri Balfour, should

come out with a workable majority, it is likely that -lie will take steps to reform -the Upper House from within. Something will probably be done to lessen the nominative and hereditary clement that at present makes it one of the most anomalous of political Institutions in existence, but any change will be gradual in the making, and far from' revolutionary. If, on the other hand, the Go vernment should be successful, it may be taken for granted that drastic steps will be taken to amend the position whereby the Lords have 'in the past been able to thwart the Liberals at every turn. Just how the change can be brought about, and what direction it will take, has not been clearly indicated, but on one point the Liberal leaders are united: The Lords’ veto must go. On this plank we should imagine Mr. Asquith will have a very large following. Then comes the big question of the Budget versus Tariff Reform. Mr. Asquith seeks to raise .the money for Dreadnoughts and Old Age Pensions •by means of direct taxes, including those on land which have aroused the special antagonism of the Lords. Mr. Balfour, on the other hand, proposes to obtain the funds necessary for national services by moans of a protective tariff, which involves an entire departure from the .freetrade policy that has for fifty years been a guarded tradition of the British people. Whether they are now prepared to change this long-established policy is open to question. For ourselves we fancy that if the issue were decided solely on the tariff question, Mr. Balfour would score a handsome win, for the feeling has been steadily growing in tlie mind of the stolid conservative Britisher that freetrade is for him a losing game; whilst Germany and the United 'States are making such marked headway under a system of high protection. Then there i s the old, but ever vital, issue of Home Rule for Ireland. This will probably be a strong card in the Government’s favor, but in gaining the right to again play it Mr. Asquith has had to give a very definite pledge to the Irish Nationalist party. In consequence a Government victory will bring Home Rule within measurable distance of accomplishment. On the naval question both the main parties claim to be of one mind, namely, that at all costs the British navy mus? be kept in undoubted supremacy on the high seas. The Unionist party, however, will naturally get .the support of those who believe that Mr. Asquith’s Government cannot from its past record be trusted to keep the British margin of safety so substantial that no effort of Germany’s is likely to endanger the welfare of the nation. Those wiho heed the warnings of Lord Beresford will almost certainly follow the advice of the Socialist writer Robert Blatchford, and place the naval question before that of the Lords or any other issue. In such an event they will almost certainly vote against the Government. Whichever way the fight gees there is we confidently believe, little fear that the Government of the day will net be sufficiently alive to the situation to assure the retention of British supremacy on the seas, but it is equally certain that wo in the overseas dominions will have a greater feeling cf security under this head should the Unionist party he successful at the polls. These then are the most notable of the many momentous issues which depend upon the present elections, and the outcome is obviously of the greatest import, not merely to the people of Groat Britain, hut also to tlie whole of the Empire.