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CHAPTER VIII 



POLITICS AND THE LAND 



U /■ I >HE English party system is in the 

 melting pot." Such was the sum- 

 ming-up of an intelligent German 

 critic after the last election. 



And within our own boundaries one hears 

 on all sides that the Conservative party is no 

 longer conservative in the old sense of the word, 

 and that the Liberal is no longer liberal. 



Undoubtedly the state of transition has 

 existed for a long time; when it will end, or 

 what it will end in, time alone can tell. Even 

 during the period of quiet, signs of transition 

 were not wanting ; signs which, if the Unionist 

 party had read aright, should have induced them 

 to formulate a comprehensive policy of reform 

 — Reform of Land, of the Upper Chamber, of 

 Education, of the Housing of the Poor, of the 

 Poor Law, of Licensing, etc. — reforms which 

 have been carried out to a greater or less degree 

 by Conservatives in such countries as Germany 

 and Austria to the great good of the people 



In those countries statesmen for years past 

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