The miniature General Election in Scotland began on Monday with
the contest in the Leith Burghs. Here Mr. Munro-Ferguson kept the seat, but by a majority diminished by 511 votes. The figures of Monday's polling were : Ferguson (Home-ruler), 5,823; Bell (Unionist), 4,692 ;—majority, 1,131; and in 1892 they were : Ferguson, 5,738 ; Bell, 4,095 ;— majority, 1,643. The Unionist gain must not, of course, be exaggerated; but it shows, at any rate, that Lord Rosebery has not " caught-on " in Scotland. Mr. Munro-Ferguson is, in a special degree, Lord Rosebery's political henchman, Leith is under the shadow of Dalmeny ; and, lastly, Lord Rosebery went down to speak at Edinburgh in order to give his party a helping hand. If Lord Rosebery were going to carry Scotland with a rush and obliterate the Unionists, things would have gone very differently. In the case of Tuesday's election, that of the Hawick Burghs, the Unionists did not better than in 1892, but worse by 282 votes. Here are the exact figures : Shaw (Home-ruler), 3,203; McLeod Fullarton (Unionist), 2,556;—majority, 647. At the General Election of 1892 the figures were: Shaw (Home-ruler), 3,004; Watson (Unionist), 2,639 ;—majority, 365. But even here the figures, though favourable to the Home-rulers, show no wave of enthusiasm for Lord Rosebery.
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