Mr. H. H. Fowler addressed his constituents at Willenhall on
Thursday, in a speech which on one point was a little con- tradictory. He declared that the time had arrived when the energy of Parliament should be concentrated on social questions, and was particularly strong upon the necessity for controlling the liquor trade, a subject to which he reverted again and again. He would even make this the immediate and imperative object of Liberalism. He would also readjust taxation so as to press more hardly on the rich, provide for free education, rearrange the incidence of rating so as to be more fair to communities in towns, where, he declares, the occupier, and not the landlord, pays the rates—though the con- verse, he admitted, was the case in rural districts—and would abandon Mr. Goschen's system of spreading some naval charges over a series of years. At the same time, with that large programme before him, he maintained that the Liberal Party must carry Home-rule for Ireland, and indeed, he hinted, for Scotland and Wales also, before it did anything else. He will find, we fancy, even if the General Election goes in his favour, that he cannot settle the Irish Question and the Condition of England question together, and that in order not to lose Irish votes, the former must come first. The speech suggests to us that Mr. Fowler meant to speak chiefly of Ireland, and finding his audience fretful under that worn-out topic, diverged towards State Socialism as a more acceptable subject. He was wise ; but odd things happen in this world, and perhaps neither will be the governing topic of the next Election.
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