From the speech of the Conservative Whip, Sir W. Hart-
Dyke, in opening a new Conservative Club this day week at Ardwick, Manchester, we should gather that—though he knows nothing as yet—he thinks an autumn Dissolution by no means improbable. " If they were to ask him," he said, " in direct terms, when it was likely a Dissolution would occur, he should have to reply, in terms not unknown to deputations who waited on Ministers in London, that the question should receive the anxious consideration of her Majesty's Government." He then went on to indicate that, in his opinion, matters looked better for the Government than they had done for some time past ; that the close of the Afghan war would give general satisfaction ; that the fulfil- ment of the Treaty of Berlin was also an item to their credit ; and that the revival of trade in the United. States was a ,good omen for its revival here. That sufficiently indicates that, in Sir W. Hart-Dyke's opinion, it would be easy to find a worse time to dissolve than the coming autumn, especially if Sir Garnet Wolseley can do anything to retrieve the condition of affairs in South Africa. Our own impression is very strong that the Conservatives are clearing decks for a general action ; and that unless fortune serves them a very bad turn within the next two or three months, they will not wait to let the country see the application to their own case of the maxim, " Who breaks, pays," before inviting the constituencies to pass judgment on their administration.
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