Mr. Gladstone has taken the opportunity of a letter from
Mr. Broadhurst to deny the persistent report that the Government intend to offer some compromise upon the question of the Closure. He is most explicit. After stating that "the strong safeguards" provided may limit the working of the reform, and "to some extent interfere with its purpose," and noticing that those safeguards only increase the fears of opponents, he tells his questioner :—" We have, however, proposed that when the closing power is to be applied, it shall be applied by a simple majority ; and this proposal we shall, to the best of our ability, press upon the House." No one who has marked the course of the controversy believes that Government will consent to any compromise ; but clever tacticians think that the circulation of the rumour will induce weak-kneed Liberals to apply pressure, in the hope that it may succeed. This emphatic declaration will, perhaps, dissipate that illusion.
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