11 JULY 1896, Page 2

When the division was taken the serious character of the-

defection among the followers of the Government was apparent, the resolution only being carried by a majority of 85 (275 to 190). Matters were, however, in reality worse than they looked, for no Parnellites took part in the division, and only some twenty-five Anti-Parnellites voted with the Opposi- tion. Had these last been present in force, the Government majority would hardly have been more than a fifth of its full number. Among the Unionists who voted against the Government were Messrs. de Tatton Egerton, GibsonHowles, Maclean, Hulse, M'Iver, H. S. Foster, Baird, Bartley, Beckett, Heaton, Moon, Vicary Gibbs, Radcliffe Cooke, L. Hardy, Kenyon, Parker Smith, Bhownaggree, Sir Andrew Scoble, Sir Seymour King, Sir W. Cameron Gull, and Sir J. Dickson- Poynder. Some five or six Unionists walked out when the division was called. It is absurd, however, to exaggerate the consequences of the division. The permanent effect of these House of Commons' rebuffs is very small, and six weeks hence the Suakin debate will be entirely forgotten.