At a demonstration to congratulate Sir W. Hart-Dyke on having
completed a quarter of a century of Parliamentary work for the Conservatives, which was held this day week in the grounds of Oakfield, Dartford, by the permission of Mr. R. C. Miller, Mr. Stanhope, who pronounced a warm eulogy on Sir W. Hart-Dyke's statesmanship, especially as shown in his administration of the work of education, remarked that in the last quarter of a century, Conservatism, while it had not to any great degree lost ground in the counties, had immensely gained ground in the large towns, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, London. We should have supposed that Con- servatism had lost a good deal of its ground in the rural districts, especially since 1885, though it is unquestionable that the greater the city, the greater now is the power of Con- servatism in it. We interpret that as meaning that the more clearly our large properties stand alone, the more jealous are the working classes of the influence of proprietors, while the more extensively property is subdivided amongst the people, the more cautious they become in their popular policy, both legislative and administrative.
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