We much regret to record the death of Mr. Thomas
Gibson Bowles, which occurred at Algeciras on Thursday, January 12th. Whether•as a journalist or a Member of Parliament he was a man who always made his mark by sheer cleverness. It was his stile in life to be a free-lance. He never lived comfortably inside the four corners of any party or any political creed, and he developed the candour of the candid friend to a degree unmatched by few other men in modern politics. He began by being a Conservative but he became a Liberal in order to support Free Trade during the Tariff Reform controversy, and he ended as a Conservative once more. He was witty and pungent, and when he was making the objects of his satire ridiculous mercy did not cause him to refrain. Although he had not the co-operative faculty he was an extraordinarily useful man in our public life. Again and again he called attention to financial abuses. It was he who obtained in the Law Courts a decision which prevented the Government from levying taxation upon the strength of a mere resolution in the House of Commons. He had the compli- cated procedure of the House of Commons at the ends of his fingers and he could put everybody right on the most obscure points.
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