It seems likely enough that both Mid Surrey and West
Surrey will return Conservative Members to fill up the recent vacancies, without opposition. Mr. Lee Steers was on Thursday elected M.P. for West Surrey in Mr. Briscoe's place without opposition, and the Conservatives childishly claim it as a gain for their party, on the ground that Mr. Briscoe did not profess to be a Conservative except on the question of the Irish Church. Certainly not, but practically in this last Parliament, he steadily voted against the minority in all the few party divisions in which he voted at all. Nor is it true that he remained in any serious sense a Liberal. He opposed the University Testa' Abolition Bill no lees than the Irish Church Bill, and kept nothing but the name of a Conserva- tive Liberal. Mr. Lee Steere does not profess to be Liberal in any sense, and we think so far it is much better for both parties. Mr. Lee Steere did not make any very striking remarks on his election. He observed that he was a county man, and that his forefathers had lived in the county for many hundred years, and that this was an advantage,—which it certainly was to his can- didature, and a very great one,—but we do not see any political advantage in it to his constituents beyond that. His only political point was that a state of the national defences which admits of an invasion of England would cause,—in case of invasion,—a very much heavier burden to the working-classes than the additional taxation requisite to prevent invasion,—a judicious observation, without relevancy, as far as we can see, to any party question.
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