NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Municipal constituencies throughout England were em- ployed on Tuesday in electing members to fill up the vacancies in the Town-Councils, occasioned by the retirement of those who, having been chosen by the smallest number of votes last year, went out of office on the 31st of October. The result of these elec- tions cannot but be regarded as an index of the state of political feeling, and of the strength of parties in the towns where they occur. The Tories have for some time past been loud in their boasts of a reaction in the urban population. Let us see whether the returns, as far as they have been received, justify these vauntings. In the following places the Tories have elected more Councillors than the Liberals.
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Newark, Pontefract, York, Daventry, St. Alban's, Grantham, Ipswich, East Retford, Colchester, Stamford, Lymington, Bewdley, Tewkesbury, Marlborough, Guildford, Barnstaple, Dover, Bridport. Preston, 'The Liberals have elected most in Liverpool, Leeds, Bristol, Bath, Coventry, Oxford, Leicester, Devizes, Chichester, Northampton, Carmarthen, Harwich, Kidderminster, Banbury, Sandwich, Plymouth, Wigan, Maldon, S tockport, A glance at these lists will show on which side lies the favourable balance. It will be seen that in the Tory schedule there is not a single town which can be placed even in the second class as re- gards population and importance. It is clear, therefore, that if the Municipal elections afford the means of testing the truth of the Tory vaunt that the civic as well as rural population arc com- ing over to their side, there is no reason to be alarmed at the pro- gress of our opponents. The Tories, indeed, point to Liverpool ; where, though the Reformers returned a majority, the numbers stood at 9 to 8, 17 being newly elected. Last year, in the s hole Council there were only four Tories, and now they have elected eight out of seventeen. But this advantage does not result from any newly-awakened affection for Toryism. The Reformed Town-Council, by refusing licences to the keepers of disorderly public-houses, have given offence to a consider- able number of voters ; and by throwing open the Corporation Schools to Catholic children, they have excited the enmity of the bigots. On the Tory list, too, were several gentlemen—such as Mr. JAMES HEYWORTH —who are considered very fit persons to have a share in the local government of the town, and who there- fore reccited many Liberal votes; the anti-Tory majority in the Council being already overwhelming, and independent of the result of the elections for the vacancies.
But if the Tories boast so much of having raised their minority in the Liverpool Corvocil to 10 or 12, what do they think of the returns for Bristol—the solitary town of any size in which, by the of Mr. PRAED'S blunder, they managed to secure a majority year ? At Bristol, four Reformers displaced four Tories,
Cambridge, Exeter, Lichfield, Evesham, Dartmouth, Totnes, Swansea, Beetles, Kingston-upon-Thames, Lincoln, Warwick, Boston, Louth, Droitwich, Weymouth, Truro, Liskeard, Falmouth.
making a difference of eight votes in the Council; and thus de- priving Alderman DANIEL and his virtuous allies of the benefit of Mr. PRAED'S mistake.
