THE LATE TORY DEMONSTRATION IN MANCHESTER.

To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Having some experience of the powers of multiplication possessed by the Tory local and district press, when the "good cause" is to be served, we were yet hardly prepared for the enormous dimensions assigned to the late Tory Demonstration in the Pomona gsounds, which were accepted and retailed by the Tory organs everywhere, and by which even the "-very elect" were deceived. The Morning Post quoted 90,000 to 100,000, and even the sober Standard took the numbers at 80,000, and pointed the appropriate moral accordingly ;

while-

the Daily News and the Times speak of the meeting as very successful ; and the Spectator, anxious to do full justice to our opponents, speaks of the numbers as probably not exceeding 50,000.

The fact is that till very lately there have always been very exaggerated estimates of the numbers which can be accom- modated in the Pomona buildings ; and it is not very surprising that these wild guesses should have passed freely among Tory partisans, and have been at first accepted without much ques- tion by Liberals who got their reports of the meeting at second- hand. The weather, which had been dead against us, was all in- favour of the Tories ; so that we were fully prepared for a Tory meeting double the size of the Liberal meeting. It was, there- fore, with a great feeling of relief that on Monday, on a com- parison of notes by many Liberals who had attended both demon- - strations, it became clear that the attendance at the Tory meet- ing not only did not exceed, but fell considerably short of, that at the Liberal meeting. Our numbers were very carefully cal- culated to be about 30,000, while the meeting was going on; and the Tory numbers are pretty clearly demonstrated to have been- under 20,000. I enclose a letter to the Manchester Examiner and Times of Wednesday, the 13th inst., from a well-known and highly-respected Liberal, whose bona fides would only be doubted by a Tory controversialist, and whose object was, of coarse, to-

get at the truth :— -

"A correspondent sends us the following note for publication :— Four trustworthy men, anticipating that the numbers present at

the Conservative demonstration of Pomona on Saturday would be greatly exaggerated by Tory journalists, made a careful effort to -count the actual number of people who passed into the gardens. They stationed themselves on the canal bridge, which, as many of your readers know, forms a sort of bottle-neck, through which Pomona is reached. The actual numbers present, ascertained by -carefully counting the people who passed over the canal bridge, and including those in the barge from Worsley, was 18,277. The following -details show how this total is arrived at :—

Sly there were in the gar 'ens at 1.50 p.m., when the counting began 1,000 118 5,100 2,700 69 486 537 345

147 480 168 148 232 80 56 1,557 412 408 24 40 50 120 3,70)

He thus brings out the utmost possible numbers, allowing liberally for the contents of all the vehicles and a barge from Worsley, as 18,277. All possible allowance for errors could hardly bring the numbers to 20,000. At all events, the general opinion among Liberals, and also that of not a few men of all shades of politics present at both meetings, is that our meeting was decidedly larger than the Tory meeting. Certainly the quality of our meeting was superior to that of our opponents. Our meeting was a fair representation of all classes ,of Liberals, including the wives and daughters of many of our leading merchants. Oar zeal was shown by the eager pur- chase of tickets at 10s., 5s., and 2s. 6d., which made the meet- ing a financial success. Twelve thousand free tickets were also issued, and no doubt would have been much more largely used -than they were, but for the dreadful weather.

AL the Tory meeting there was a conspicuous absence of the female element, and, I believe, of the upper classes generally. The tickets were limited to 2s. 6d., and free tickets were lavishly .distributed everywhere. Moreover, the zeal of the Tory working- men from the surrounding districts was largely reinforced by the free admission to Belle Vne Gardens, which was given to some of the outside contingents; while the quality of the working- class element present may be fairly judged of by the fact that large numbers left the hall with the Marquis of Salisbury in full flow to listen to the wilder and more exuberant oratory .of LoL It. Churchill in the Agricultural Hall. In conclusion, it may be confidently affirmed that the Tory demonstration, whether as a counter-manifestation of public feeling in this district or as a mere array of numbers, was a decided failure.

Lord Salisbury spoke of the policy of the Tory Party being to follow up every Liberal gathering with a more important Tory meeting, and to confute Liberal misrepresentations by 'Tory corrections. So far as this district is concerned, these tactics have signally failed.—I am, Sir, &c,,

From 1.50 to 2.0 there passed •••

•••

From 3.15 to 3.25 procession of 25 lines, 3 abreast ... ... ... ... From 3.25 to 3.35 27 lines, 9 abreast, and 5 lines, 5 abreast ... ... From 3.35 to 3.40 44 lines, 8 abreast, and 37 lines, 5 abreast ... ... From 3.35 to 3.40 not in procession ... ... in barge from Worsley ... ... ... ... ... From 3.40 to 4.10 80 lines, 6 abreast ... ... ... ...

ll SI 28 lines, 6 abreast ... ... ... ...

37 lines, 4 abreast ... ... ... ... 29 lines, 8 abreast ... ... ..• ... 20 lines, 4 abreast ... ... ... ... 28 lines, 2 abreast ... ... ...- ... ...

not in procession ... ... Number of cabs 103, counting 4 persons to each ... ... ... ... 'Number of hansoms, &c., holding 2 each, 204 ... Number of open conveyances, holding 8 each, 3 ••• Number of open carriages, carrying 4 each, 10 ••• Large omnibus, carrying officials ... ... ... Five bands, of 21 persons each ... ... ... ... From 4.10 to 5.30 ... ... ... ... ... ... ....