The latest intelligence from the United States is most serious.
The elections have been held for Maine, and the "Greenback- Labour party," which proposes large issues of inconvertible paper, legislation on behalf of labour, and a Poor Law of the kind advocated by M. Louis Blanc, has shown unexpected strength. The party has polled 33,000 votes, against 23,000 Democratic votes and 47,000 Republican. It will, it is known, coalesce with the Democrats, and the two together will appoint the Governor and control the Legislature. To understand the significance of the vote, it must be remembered that the State is in New Eng- land, is full of small proprietors, and is without a great city. If the new party can win in Maine, what will be its success in New York, Pennsylvania, and we fear, in Massa- chusetts, where the shoemakers throw such a power- ful vote. The leader of the party is General B. Butler, and although its ideas are still misty, they all point to laws for taxing bonds, for securing a minimum rate of wages, for severe limitations on the hours of labour, and for restrictions on the immigration of competing workmen, especially Chinese. The vote will seriously affect the November elections, as very few of the "politicians " suspected the extent to which semi-Socialist ideas have spread in the Union during the general distress caused by the war, by protection, and by the corruption of the political leaders.
