The Preston election has turned out badly for the Liberals.
In April, 1880, the highest Liberal, Mr. Bahr, was 884 votes below the highest Conservative (Mr. Hermon). Yesterday week Mr. Yates Thompson was beaten by 1,664 votes (6,004 for Mr. Ecroyd, to 4,340 for Mr. Yates Thompson), or nearly double the majority of last year. In part, no doubt, the result was due to Mr. Yates Thompson's rather extreme pro-Irish views,— the Irish cause being by no means popular in Preston. But in a large measure it was probably due to the disposition of the Preston Conservatives to flirt with various forms of Protection, and the delusion of certain classes in Preston that such Protec- tion might give a stimulus to Preston manufactures. Nothing is more difficult than to persuade a people suffering from a de- clining trade that the decline is due to general causes, which no tinkering with tariffs could alleviate, or indeed, fail to aggravate. Protection is one of the most popular of popular fallacies.
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