THE TEMPERANCE OMICHUND.
" IT is now time to undeceive Omichund. Omichund, the treaty is a trick. You are to have nothing." These were the words in which Clive announced to Omichund, whose help and support he had bought, that he did not intend to keep his bargain. It is becoming every day more clear that we shall not have long to wait before we see a similar scene enacted between Mr. Glad- stone and the Temperance party. Obviously, the treaty made before the General Election of 1892 was a trick, and the Temperance Omichund is, after all, to have nothing. That we are not exaggerating when we say that the Temperance Omichund is to get nothing may be seen from an announcement made by the Lobby corres- pondent of the Daily Chronicle,—a writer exceedingly well informed in all that concerns the Government and its intentions. The statement made by the correspon- dent of the Daily Chronicle of Thursday is quite explicit. "I think," says he, " there can be no doubt that we must abandan the hope of carrying the Parish Councils Bill at the Autumn Session. What the Government now propose is to put three small Bills in the forefront —Employers' Liability, Equalisation of Rates, and Scottish Fisheries—and to leave over the great measure for the extension of local government to the English peasant to next Session, coupling it with Welsh Dis- establishment as the two measures of the year." To this statement he adds that " most people are pre- pared to admit that a Dissolution 'cannot be pelponed much after next Session." In other words, the most aggressive supporter of the Government in the Press— the paper which has hitherto been most hopeful and most vehement in insisting that the Government must drive six coaches abreast through Temple Bar--now states that the only thing which the Government can hope to do- before before the Dissolution is to pass 'Welsh Disestablishment and to create Parish Councils. But this is simply saying in polite language, "The time is conic to undeceive Omichund. Omichund, the treaty under which we obtained the Temperance vote at the General Election in. exchange for the promise of a Local Veto Bill, was a. cheat. You are to have nothing." That is the meaning for the Temperance party of the Daily Chronicle's announce- ment. They are not to have the Veto Bill they were promised. The Gladstonians are no doubt quite willing to deceive them again, but in the present Parliament they must understand that they have been taken in and done for. How, we wonder, will the Temperance party take the announcement that they are to have nothing ? Omichund fell back insensible into the arms of his attendants. Will Sir Wilfrid Lawson fall senseless on the broad bosoms of the joint secretaries of the United Kingdom Alliance or the Band of Hope? Omichund„ according to the latest accounts, did not absolutely succumb to the blow. His mind was enfeebled by it, but he continued for sonic time to act as the faithful, humble servant of the East India Company.. At the same time he showed how great was the shock he had undergone by developing a childish self-importance and love of display. We should. not be at all surprised if the Temperance party behaves very much in the same way. It will, no doubt, begin by a violent attack of hysterics ; but it will soon dry its eyes, and become more Gladstonian than ever,—more than ever resolved not to desert Mr. Gladstone, but to- show its good feeling towards him by voting for him steadily. The less he does for it the more loyal it will prove itself. That the corporate brain of the party is. likely to be impaired by the shock seems very probable. Good sense has not been the mark of the party for the last few years, and it would not take much to unhinge its intellect. Many sections of Mr. Glad- stone's followers would have been up in arms at the- notion that they were to be treated to a new version. of the story of Omichund. We suspect, however, that. Mr. Gladstone showed a perfectly sound judgment in deciding that the Temperance party was the party which. could be most safely thrown over—could be thrown over,. that is, without danger of their becoming enemies. There. are certain dogs which the more they arc kicked and beaten the more docile and obedient they become. Sir Wilfrid Lawson's followers are of that kind, and may quite certainly be relied upon to lick the hand that chastises them. It will no doubt be said and be believed by the- Temperance party that they will be doing the best for the- cause by allowing themselves to be tricked without a protest. They will argue that Mr. Gladstone was iu very, great difficulties ; that the Welsh were very pushing and unscrupulous; that the last-named group probably had a. right to claim precedence for Disestablishment ; and„, finally, that Mr. Gladstone, having once used them so badly, will feel bound in honour to treat them next time with special favour. In addition, they will no• doubt obtain from Mr. Gladstone the most positive- personal assurances that he will regard a Local Veto. Bill as among the very first things which ought to. be undertaken by the Imperial Parliament after and when they have discharged their sacred obligations. to the Irish nation. We can quite well imagine-. that such a pledge has been made—that it has even. been made in writing—by Mr. Gladstone. But what, is it worth ? Mr. Gladstone can bind himself, but he cannot bind his party ; and, unfortunately, binding himself is no good whatever, for this very sound reason. He will retire from public life the moment a. Home-rule Bill is passed, and will leave his pledges to be dealt with by his successors. But who is going to pay Mr. Gladstone's legislative post obits? If the Temperance party is in a position to enforce payment, it will of course get paid. If not, it will be told once again that the treaty is a trick, and that it is to have nothing. Howes er the matter is looked at, it will be seen that the adherents of Local Option have sold themselves in vain. They gave their support at the polls to Mr. Gladstone, and they have got nothing by it, and now they are bound under a sort of spell to do his bidding. How very much better would have been their position had they adopted the spirit of the old tactics of the Alliance, and given their 'support not to any one party, but only to such individuals as would promise to vote for certain definite Bills. By going over bag and baggage to Mr. Gladstone, as the Temper- unce party practically did in 1892, they in a large measure -stultified themselves. They became in each constituency merely a section of the Home Rule party, and a section • of no great importance. While in Parliament and in the -country the Temperance party were an independent group standing aloof from party, and ready to fling their weight 'first to one side and then to the other, they exercised a strong influence on both parties. All that was changed after Sir Wilfrid Lawson virtually concluded an alliance between the Temperance party and Mr. Gladstone. Before that, the Conservatives never liked to adopt anything like a hostile attitude to the teetotalers. Now they can and indeed must do so, for the Temperance party have become {heir thick-and-thin opponents, and vote against them on all occasions, Hence the Temperance party have the expectation of prohibitory legislation from one side only. The Gladstonians, however, have not -failed to notice that the Temperance party have burnt their ships, and could not now go over to the Conserve.. tives. They have entered the Gladstonian household, and they cannot now expect the privileged treatment which • was accorded to them when they were but temporary • 'guests, who, if displeased with their reception, could go elsewhere. " The teetotalers must, of course, be treated fairly, but they must take their turn like the rest of us." That is the sort of tone in which the Gledstonians now talk of the Temperance section of the Gladstonian party. That the wiser minds of the Temperance party are pleased at the position into which they have drifted wo can hardly believe. They cannot have failed to notice the loss of -power and influence which the Temperance party has suffered in the course of the past year. The only persons -who are genuinely delighted are, of course, the brewers and distillers. To them the conversion of the Prohibi- tionists into Gladstoniaus must have been exceedingly agreeable. They may say, and from their point of view with perfect truth, that Mr. Gladstone has at least done one thing on which be can be congratulated. He has drawn the teeth of the Temperance party, and has managed to make it as harmless and impotent a group of faddists as Any in Parliament.
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