The most tremendous of the Tory victories is that at
West- minster, where the two Tory candidates, Mr. W. H. Smith and Sir Charles Russell, have been returned, the former by a vote close upon two to one, and that over a candidate supported by the whole strength of the Licensed Victuallers, and of the religious philanthropists, as well as of the Liberal party in general,—Sir Fowell Buxton. The return is as follows :—
Mr. W. H. Smith (C.)
9,871 Sir C. Russell (C.) 8,681 Sir T. F. Buxton (L.) 4,749 General Codrington (L.) 3,435
Now, on the last occasion, Mr. W. H. Smith polled only 7,648 votes, which is much fewer than Sir Charles Russell has polled on this occasion, while Captain Grosvenor polled 6,584 votes, nearly two thousand more than Sir Fowell Buxton polls now. This is Conservative reaction with a vengeance. Its violence is, no doubt, due more to political reaction in Mayfair and what Ls ordinarily called " society " than to any such change amov, the middle-class proper. In places like Liverpool, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, there is no perceptible change. And though the reaction is discernible in patches all over the country, there is nothing like the intensity of the change in Westminster to be seen elsewhere.
