The Municipal elections this year have, on the whole, gone
against the Liberals; but that must not be regarded as in any degree tending to establish the existence of a true Con- servative reaction. The truth is that in all minor contests there is a disposition to trim the balance, and give an innings to the losing side, but this does not by any means apply to great issues, such as a general election raises. When the stakes are trivial, a great many people like to see them going to the depressed party,—a great manypeople who have, nevertheless, no notion at all of banding over stakes of the utmost value to that party for the same reason. Nevertheless, the Liberals will do well to remember this permanent popular instinct for giving a turn to the losing side, and to work all the harder for their cause on that account.
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