5 SEPTEMBER 1868, Page 1

The Liberal chiefs should devise some system for restricting the

number of Liberal candidates, who are now in many boroughs treading on one another, to the danger of the party. Some mode of winnowing them is wanted which shall be decently satisfac- tory, and to which they shall submit, under penalty of being "ruled out" of the party. The practice of applying to well known Liberals for their opinion is not a good one, it is too like nomination ; and•the "previous ballot" does not work well, the candidates too often finding some reason to evade its decision. If the present system continues, we shall be driven to adopt the American device of a "caucus," and with it all manner of intrigue fatal to free choice on public grounds. Speeches from Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Bright exhorting Liberals not to vote for any candidate who refused to be bound by the previous vote within the party itself, might have a considerable effect in remedying the existing confusion ; but even these would not get rid of the men put up by the opposite side for the express purpose of making divisions.