The by-elections are showing in several places the usual reaction
against the party in power,—which seems to be a permanent feature of by-elections whichever of the two parties may happen to be in office. This day week the Conservative candidate, Sir Joseph Crosland, was returned for Huddersfield by a majority of 35, whereas last July Mr. Summers (the Gladstonian Member whose Bad death in India has caused the vacancy) beat Sir Joseph Crosland by 261 votes,—and this not, apparently, from Gladstoman abstentions, since the total poll was in- creased from 13,935 in July last to 14,101 last Saturday. On Monday a Radical Member, Mr. P. Stanhope, was returned for Burnley, in the place of Mr. Spencer Balfour (who accepted the Chiltern Hundreds, in consequence of the collapse of the Liberator Building Society), by a majority of 693 over Mr. W. Lindsay, the Conservative candidate ; but at the last election Mr. Balfour's majority was 1,415, so that the majority was reduced by more than 50 per cent. Here, again, the total poll had increased from 11,485 last year to 11,701 last Monday. On Wednesday, Lord Cranborne, the Con- servative candidate, was elected without opposition for Rochester, the Gladstonians not even contesting the seat. On
Thursday, in Halifax, however, Mr. Rawson Shaw, the Glad- stonian candidate, was elected, receiving 4,617 votes, against 4,249 given for Mr. A. Arnold, the Unionist, while Mr. Lister, the Labour candidate, came last in the poll with 3,028 votes. And at Walsall on the same day, Sir A. D. Hayter (Glad- 4 stonian) won the election against Mr. Ritchie by the narrow majority of 79 (5,235 against 5,156).
