Wednesday's Times gives prominence to the communication of a correspondent
in which it is stated that " Mr. Schnad- horst has lately informed the Liberal leaders that, after reckoning all contingencies, he can only promise that the next General Election shall secure to them a majority of thirty at the most, including the Nationalist vote." The statement' has been denied, but we believe it represents the opinion of the Glad- stonians. Of course their expectations may be, and probably are, completely illusory. The significance of the calculation rests, however, in the fact that the best-informed Gladstonians have no hope of obtaining a majority greater than that which is given them by the gross over-representation of Ireland that at present exists. If the twenty Members which Ireland and the three Members which Wales has in excess were taken away, their hopes, even on their own showing, would be doomed. to the most complete disappointment, for no Ministry could carry Rome-rule by a majority of seven. It may be that there is not time enough to redress this Session the injustice suffered by England in the matter of representation ; but the Glad- stonians must remember that merely winning the General
Illection by means of the over-representation of Ireland cannot he counted as the final' decision of the democracy on the question of Home-rule.
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