Lord Rosebery spoke at Stratford yesterday week, his chief eubject
being an exhortation to the Independent Labour party, represented by Mr. Keir Hardie in the neighbouring constituency of West Ham, to co-operate with the Glad- stonians at least so far as they could so co-operate without a sacrifice of principle, instead of assailing them on the ground that the Gladstonians could not adopt Socialist principles on issues which had not yet arisen, and which were not likely to arise in any important legislative measure for some time to come. Lord Rosebery did not see what was to be gained by anticipating conflicts which are not as yet practical, especially when the present Government have done so much to meet the less extreme demands of the Labour party. Mr. Keir Hardie replied on Monday in a speech in Canning Town, and the drift of his reply was that the Gladstonian party is so indifferent to the Labour movement that it is no better than the Conservative party on this class of questions, and that therefore there is really no reason for bolding fast by either party except when it proposes to do what the Labour party desires. That may be more or less true ; but what Mr. Keir Hardie ignores, is the very great mischief of acting on the purely selfish policy of owning no loyalty in politics, but insisting on the bargain-and-sale system of always getting a quid pro quo for every cause that is supported.
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