Show GLADSTONE As I Knew Him SirI should be failing in my duty a an old English Radical and Democrat were I not to say a few words In fayor of that Grand Old Man The Tribune says that He ba gone to his grave tin mourned Not so Tears have been shed for him even in this city of Zion Human sympathy sym-pathy ha gone out to him and even crossed oer the broad Atlantic He must be a narrow minded soul wholly void of principle prin-ciple and lacking in intelligence who cannot can-not appreciate the labors of his life He has been undoubtedly one of Englands greatest statesmen The English working classes have worshiped wor-shiped him and they have made allowance allow-ance for his little failures Did ever man or statemaxv exist that had not his failIngs fail-Ings When T have read denunciations of this grand old l man I feel within me an indignation which knows no bounds and IndignatQn t the conclusion that ths Tribune would have made a lirstclass Tory and monarchlal organ Now let us look at the political career of this great and grand l c1 carrying car-rying out the reforms which were neces sexy for the good of the community he sar to contend against mighty opposition opposi-tion He would undoubtedly have gone much further than where he did but he was held in check by the aristocratic wMgs To pacify Ireland he disestablished the Irish churh For that he a accused of catering to the Roman Catholic heir nirchy He also introduced that measure for peasant propriatorship in Ireland He fought hard for Irish home rule and be It said to the credit of Irishmen that they were not unmindful of his noble services for they even oegged of him not to resign In ISffi he enfranchised the civil service when he kn w that almost every man especially es-pecially in the customs service would vote gainst him Again in 1884 he extendel the franchise to ledgers ana enaeavorea to bring about manhood suffrage In all those changes md reform he had to fight monarchists and aristocratic the Tory monarhists aristocrtic whigs whig brought about the redistribution of seats and remodelled that august system sys-tem of representation In fact 1t would take volumns to record hs political wvrk He revised the tariff from time to time so that the burden of taxation would fall as light a possible Upon the shoulders of the poor He was In fact the very opposite of Beaconsfield Gladstone was honest un Beacnsfeld Gadstone ambitious and sincere Beaconsfield was a cunning ambitious unscrupulous political tical trickster The one labored for a title and distinction the other refused lUstntton such paltry distinctions even more than I once when they were offered him by the queen Beaconsfield was a monarchist of the Bourbon type d sat rter of that proud pompous and brainless aristocracy while Gladstone was a man of the people anil was loved by them His last speech love hous of Icrds was worthy of the man Long ago would he have re modelled that house but the people were I not ready for It Yours JOHN respectfully STUBBS |