Mr. Chamberlain made a speech at Bristol on Monday, at
the meeting of the National Liberal Federation, which was singu-
larly clear and vigorous, though without the higher qualities of the orator, without passion and without warmth. Out of the thirty impending questions referred to by Mr. Gladstone, before the present Administration was formed, as needing early attention, the Government had dealt with eight, besides the formidable Irish Land Question, which was not one of the thirty. Mr. Chamberlain was very anxious to deal with the Government of London in the next Session, as well as with the county franchise, if possible, but he thought that nothing should be allowed to elbow se pressing a matter as the extension of house- hold franchise to the counties out of the way. Ile thought it absolutely necessary to deal with this, before attempting a Redistribution measure—first, because it would strengthen the hands of the Conservatives to offer them all the resisting surface which a Redistribution Bill would offer, before bringing in the simpler measure ; next, because it is impossible to project a fair Redistribution Bill till after the county electorates have been enlarged, and their precise strength on the Register accurately estimated. Mr. Chamberlain re-expressed his own strong pre- ference for manhood suffrage, while avowing that the time for manhood suffrage had not yet come; and he ridiculed the notion of contriving any special guarantee for the representation of minorities, till it should appear that, under the new system, minorities were likely to lose their fair proportionate influence in Parliament. He thought that London, with household suffrage, proves that the minority of one electoral district is the majority of another.
