Mr. John Morley's first speech to the electors of the
Montrose Boroughs was delivered on Thursday. It was the speech rather of a candidate than of a statesman. He did not take up.the attitude of Sir Henry Fowler and Mr. Bryce on foreign policy. He treated Lord Salisbury's despatches to the United States on the Venezuela question as disfigured by a blunder,—the blunder of attacking the Monroe doctrine. And in this he was not on firm ground. As a matter of fact, Lord Salisbury never attacked the Monroe doctrine, but ex- pressed his personal agreement with it, though he quite rightly denied that it has any validity as a doctrine of inter- national law. What he disputed was the contention of the United States that the Monroe doctrine has any bearing on the Venezuela dispute at all. On the Transvaal question also Mr. Morley took the very unwise ground of apologising for Presi- dent Kruger, even if be refuses to admit the Outlanders to the franchise, after their bad behaviour in inviting Dr. Jame- son's intervention. As the Times justly remarks, Mr. Morley did not think the Irish party's disloyalty to England any excuse for shutting out the Irish people from the benefits of a popular franchise. Why does he apply one standard to dis- franchised Irishmen in Ireland, and quite a different standard to disfranchised Englishmen in the Transvaal P We regret to see Mr. John Motaey so deeply interested in gaining his seat for the Montrose Boroughs, that he forgets the impres- sion which such a speech as that of Thursday will have on his reputation for impartiality as an English statesman.
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