20 APRIL 1901, Page 3

Mr. Samuel Smith, M.P., addressed a meeting of his con-

stituents at Tryddyn, Flintshire, on Monday evening. While utterly opposed to conscription for the Army, he saw no insuperable objection to requiring all able-bodied men to belong for some time to a Volunteer corps for home defence. "The physical drill does young men good, and as they live at home and follow their callings unhindered by the thirty drills they have to do in the year and by a week or two of camping out, I see no great harm in making it obligatory on all who do not serve in the Militia." His views on our relations with Russia were most sensible. Finally, he declared that what the Liberal party needed above all else was a leader under whom all could unite, and who would command the confidence of the country and of foreign States. He saw only one man—Lord Rosebery—who could fulfil these conditions. " He is what I may call a sane Imperialist, but not a Jingo, and this is the temper of the mass of the nation," which Mr. Smith further defined as "moderate Conservatism." Let them, therefore, be ready with an alternative Government when the crisis came. With- out endorsing all that Mr. Smith said of Lord Rosebery, we Can at any rate most heartily applaud the courage and modera- tion which animated this admirable speech.