The East Cornwall election ended yesterday week in the return
of Mr. Charles T. D. Acland, by a majority of 200, he having obtained 3,720 votes, against 3,520 given for Mr. Tremayne. The majority is very much less than that gained by the Liberals at the general election of 1880, when Mr. Robartes polled 4,018 votes, against only 3,033 polled by Mr. Tremayne, the highest Conservative. But, as we remarked last week, a by-election never really tests fairly the trite political feeling in relation to the two great parties ; and, moreover, on this occasion, Mr. Acland's majority was farther diminished by the great popu- larity of his Cornish opponent,—who had immense advantages over a Devonshire man,—and by the very free use of the armoury of weapons furnished by the Bradlaugh question against the Liberal candidate. On the whole, the majority of 200 was very satisfactory, and the Liberal Party will have a valuable accession in Mr. Acland, who is able, keen, and lucid, and a thorough-going Liberal. We have also had this week a certain light thrown on the causes of the Liberal defeat in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The election expenses of Mr. Dawnay and Mr. Rowlandson have been published, and it appears that Mr. Dawnay spent 29,417, against only 25,600 spent by Mr. Row- landson. For the conveyance of voters alone, Mr. Dawnay spent more than double what was spent by Mr. Rowlandson, and yet Mr. Dawnay's majority was only 386 on a poll of nearly 16,000 voters. Which way the poll would have gone, if the Liberals had spent near 29,447, is tolerably clear.
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