Mr. Gladstone spoke at Manchester on Monday and Tues- day.
He thought the conduct of the Government required explanation as to Crete and Armenia. He was not prepared to condemn it, but he did hope that there would be no attempt to keep back the facts or to gloss over Turkish cruelties and persecutions. He repeated his well-known view of the by- elections. He declared that he and his party had given much more help to the good measures of the Government, such as the National Debt Bill, than Liberal Unionists had givei ; only the Liberal Unionists had supported the Government in resisting Liberal amendments of their measures, and had thereby shown themselves not Liberal. He referred to such proposals as those to amend the licensing clauses in the Local Government Bill, and those to tax real property more heavily through the death-duties. With their interposition to save the Government from Liberal attacks upon it, he bitterly reproached the Liberal Unionists, and he further pressed upon the Government that their Local Government Bill would remain a mere skeleton measure until they had filled it in with District Councils, and even Parish or Village Councils, a proposal in favour of which he quoted an old speech of Mr. Chamberlain's that had received Mr. Goschen's approval. Of Mr. Chamberlain's name Mr. Gladstone affected to make a mystery, mentioning only that it began with " C " and ended with "n." But we doubt whether his audience fully appre- ciated that little bit or dramatic by-play.
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