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DIARY OF COMING ENGAGEMENTS.

THE TIME AND THE MAN.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

THE TIME AND THE MAN. The Hon. GEORGE T. KENYON is to be the Unionist candidate for East Denbighshire. In making this selection the party leaders in the division have exhibited the best possible tact and discretion. There were, it is true, other gentlemen in the constituency who had in a sense prior claims, by reason of past services, such, for instance, as Sir WATKIN WILLIAMS WYNN and Mr. ST. JOHN RAIKES, but these gentlemen have too good sense to stand in the way of an old campaigner like Mr. KENYON. If East Denbighshire is to be won in the interests of Unionism, it will be a long and unprece- dentedly stiff battle, and without in the slightest detracting from the reputation for pluck and perseverance that previous contests have won for these gentlemen, they themselves would be the first to acknowledge the wisdom of the choice. An adverse majority of 1,784 requires an enormous amount of work to wipe off, but the task is by no means a hopeless one. Some inspired statisticians have begun already to analyse the majority of the late member, and to put down so many hundred votes for his own personal influence, and so many hundred recorded for political conviction. For all such speculation given with the air of authority we have nothing but contempt. That the late Sir GEORGE OSBORNE MORGAN did receive hundreds of votes on account of his individual personal popularity there can be no doubt, but he is- little better than an impostor who pretends to be able to gauge the exact number of those personal votes. The figures at the last General Election did not truly represent the political convictions of the electorate, but whatever the percentage of voters who supported Sir GEORGE for his own sake apart from the issues on which the election was bought, there will have to be a stern, long struggle before the positions of the two candidates are reversed. Mr. KENYON is just the right man for that task. Rejoicing in a charming manner, with contagious geniality, abundance of pluck and perseverance, and possessed of a taking platform style, he is the beau ideal candidate for a working-class constituency, and makes friends, whether in the crowded meeting-place or in the more private conversation during canvassing opera- tions. In his hands, we may rest assured, the splendid record of the present Administra- tion will not suffer. The voters of East Denbighshire will hear during the next few weeks to their hearts' con- tent all about the achievements of the Government of the day. There will be no dearth of speakers on either side, and much will doubtless be made by the Opposition out of the recent and present troubles abroad. The oppression of the Armenians by the Turks, the dynamite outrages perpetrated by the Armenians, the Cretan crisis, the Greco- Turkish War, the JAMESON raid and subsequent difficulties in the Transvaal, the Venezuelan dispute, Indian famine, and the fanatical outburst in our Indian Empire, the present little war with wild hillmen on the frontier of India-these will all be laid at the door of the wicked, belligerent Tory Govern- ment of Britain. It will rest with the Unionist speakers and workers to defend the Govern- ment from such calumnious accusations, and to shew, as can easily be done, that throughout a period of almost unprecedented stress and strain, with all Europe ready to break out into the all-consuming flames of war, Lord SALISBURY conducted the affairs of this great Empire with masterly diplomacy, avoiding for us and for the great nations of Europe the horrors of modern warfare. In fact, the Radicals had better say as little as possible on the subject of war, for had they got their way they would have hounded on our states- men to a declaration of war, for the sake of the Armenians, the Cretans, and last of all the Greeks. The campaign in Thessaly was indeed in great part due to the incendiary speeches, writings, and telegrams of the jingo Radicals in this country. They incited the Greeks to fight the Turk, and they were fatuous enough to prophesy that the Greeks would win. Through all these trying times we may reason- ably flatter ourselves we have as a country been able to keep out of the strife, but no thanks to the Radical politicians for this. In the region of domestic legislation, too, the Government hold a splendid record. To take I the last session of Parliament as a sample, they have given us reforms which, if not sensational, confer wide spread advantages upon various classes of our fellow-countrymen. The pledge given to the supporters of Voluntary schools has been fulfilled by the passing of a measure which adds very largely to their income out of the public funds. The necessitous School Boards, which had already gained a very pal- pable relief from the Agricultural Rating Act, have also been additionally assisted from the public exchequer. Scotland has been conceded several important reforms. A Judicature Act for Ireland has been carried, reducing the number of judges by three, and applying the saving of £ 7,500 thus effected to the benefit of Irish enterprise. Two most vital measures for strengthening our national defences, a Naval Works Act and a Military Manoeuvres Act, have passed into law. A stop has wisely been put to the importation of foreign prison-made goods to the undue competition with the free labour of this country. Besides these, there has been a Land Transfer Act/ and, last but not least, a Workmen's Compensation Act, which will give' compensation to 80 per cent. of those persons meeting with accidents in the course of their employment. Against this, what have the Radicals to advance ? Nothing but a pro- gramme of destruction-the disestablishment of the Church, the disendowment of the public- house, the starving of religious education, and the ruin of Ireland by severing her connection with England. Who is to be entrusted with the unenviable duty of promulgating these doctrines during the campaign remains to be seen. There is a perfect plethora of candidates en the Radical side, and out of the multitude it is to be hoped the party will derive wisdom. They are taking plenty of time to make up their minds, the highly democratio course of submitting the names of the nominees to all the polling districts being adopted. Those who appear to know most of the inner workings of Radicalism agree in placing Mr. SAMUEL Moss, barrister, of Chester, in the fore-front. We always thought that Mr. Moss was being specially retained to nurse' the constituency of Chester, and that it was with this object that he had been run for the Town Council. Should the Radical caucus ordain it otherwise, however, Chester can make up its mind to lose the inestimable services of such a prospective candidate without serious pangs. In truth we need not despair of having Mr. Moss still as a possible candidate for the city. Mr. Moss resembles the young man in the song who was always so awfully unfortunate.' He does not win the first time, but he has learned the lesson of BRUCE and the spider. Thus it is quite conceivable that he will merely fight East Denbighsbire with no mortal hope of success, but simply to keep his hand in practice, so that he may return to his dream of repre- senting the ancient city of Chester in the House of Commons. It will be interesting, if not amusing-Mr. Moss is never intentionally amusing-to note with what bait he will angle in the wilds of Denbighshire. We trust we are not doing him an injustice when we describe Mr. Moss as of a sepulchral cast of mind. He tried to woo the municipal electors of Chester on a programme of cheap graves for the working men. Now, it may be the inviolable right of every workingman to be the proprietor of his own grave at a reasonable cost. It may also be commendable providence for each man to invest in a plot of burial ground early in life, so that his relatives may be spared some of the cost of interment. We are not experts in these funereal subjects. But if a man should have his own private grave, why not his coffin as well ? There is a well-authenticated story of a Highland fisherman, who, following the herring industry during the season at Aberdeen, observed some remarkable bargains in coffins at an undertaker's shop in the Granite City. DONALD bought the coffin, and took it in triumph on his boat to his Highland home, to the utter bewilderment of his friends and relatives, who were not practical enough to see the great bargain that the canny fisherman had secured. We should advise Mr. Moss to try his fortunes among the Highland fishermen, whose sombre views of life would suit his own disposition to a nicety. It is, however, very questionable whether the Denbighshire miners will be induced to take this gloomy view of life. After all, cheap graves, however desirable in themselves, are not the be-all and the end-all here.' Men have something else to think about in this stirring active lite at the close of the nineteenth century than the cheapest manner in which their mortal remains may be ultimately bestowed. 'Life is real, life is earnest,' and there are a hundred and one other things of more importance nationally, Socially and domestically than discussing the market price of grave-yards. If a hint will be accepted in such a quarter, we should urge Mr. Moss to choose some more cheerful topics for his Denbighshire admirers. <*

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CHESTER CATHEDRAL.

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