7 FEBRUARY 1874, Page 2

The contest in Bradford has ended, as we expected, in

the victory of _Mr. Forster, who is returned at the head of the poll by a crushing majority, 3,500 above his nearest Radi- cal opponent, Mr. Godwin, who only obtained 8,398 votes, while Mr. Forster had 11,945, or about 2,400 more than at the last election. These 2,400 are probably Tories, but without them he is still far beyond the Radicals, Mr. Ripley, the second on the poll, being a man of most moderate opinions. Very late in the electioneering the tide began to turn heavily in Mr. Forster's favour, but it is evident that one grand cause of his success was the Ballot. The caucus screw would not work, and the majority of the electors being proud of their Member, and weary to death of the malignant attacks on him, sent him to the head, of the poll. The return is one of the few proofs offered by these elections that a man may have a mind of his own without alien- ating his constituents.