At the annual meeting of the United Kingdom Alliance, held
at Manchester on Tuesday, Sir Wilfrid Lawson expressed his conviction of the bona fides of the Government in regard to their Local Veto Bill. He went on to argue that the alliance between the Government and the Temperance party was mutually beneficial, and that there must be give and take. " The Government could not do without the Alliance, and they could not do without the Government. The present situation was that the Government was playing fair with them, and they must play fair pith the Government. As the drunken man said when he had hold of the lamp-post, 'United we stand, divided we fall." Mr. Caine also expressed his belief in the good intentions of the Government. That is all very well ; but we expect that the Government will prove the lamp-post and Sir Wilfrid the man of elevated sentiments. The man, that is, will find the post too slippery to hold on by, and will fall into the gutter. The truth is, the Temperance party has lost its political power by its thick-and-thin alliance with the Gla,dstonians. On Tuesday also, the Bishop of London, presiding at the Church of England Temperance Society's meeting at Nottingham, dealt with t-he liquor question. The Bishop was in favour of compensation, but thought it should be paid by the retail houses themselves. The reduction of houses would increase the profits of those remaining, and these could, therefore, afford to provide compensation. That is, in effect, a partial adoption of the High-Licence system, but without the advantage of an increased revenue to the State.
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