"MANCHESTER POLITICS.
WE are not in the habit of discussing local electioneering politics, except when any incident occurs which is illustrative of a general principle. The proceedings at Manchester, detailed in a letter which appears in another part of to-day's Spertotor, fall under this exceptional class. If the statement to which we 'der is correct, there has been something very like shuffling on the part of the leaders of the Manchester Reform Association. The terms of their resolution imply a desire to fish out of Mr. COBDEN whether he would stand ihr the borough under certain eirettinstances, but do not explicitly promise him the support of the Association in the
event his cepioosing a wish to stand. Again, unless the expres-
skins toed by Mr. Comex in his letter—the substance, not the words of which are I..A■a•C us—Wee 111011; explicit than they appear to have been, the As.weiation seem:: to have been rather premature is internreting it into a positive and final refusel on his part to stand. It scene: rather to be an indirect reply to their indirect application. "1)0 you wish to stand for the borcnigh?" say they : o wool(' you take a men professing slid, and such views?" says
he assuming that Mr. ConnEN's letter is tantamount to a declaration that he will under no circumstances come forward as a candidate for Manchester at the next election, the As- sociation lots declared that nothing could induce it to sup- port a candidate entertaining the sentiment:: lie has expressed. And by its suppression of the letter, it lies confessed that it would be unsafe to allow the general constituency of Man- chester to know the kind of candidate it will sueport. These proceedings seem to us to warrant the suspicion that the predominating influence in the Manchester Reform Associa- tion is timeserving and Ministerial, and that it wants a Member less to assert the interests and opinions of the constituency of Manchester, than to be the medium for conveying its support to Ministers, and reconveying their grateful patronage in return. It is for the eleutors of' :Manchester to determine whether this is the manner in which they wish their representation to be disposed of: and in their hands we leave it.
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